Anderson et al 1996
YADKIN CORD MARKED
Sorting criteria: Cord impressions applied over the exterior surface while the paste was plastic; occasionally smoothed somewhat after stamping. Paste characterized by large amounts of rounded and sub-rounded or crushed white and clear quartz gravel (1.0-8.0 mm; average about 3.0 mm). At the type site lips were rounded and undecorated while rims were straight. In South Carolina samples rims tend to be typically excurvate with flattened and decorated lips (i.e. with simple stamped, cord marked, or fabric impressing).
Distribution: The ware is most commonly reported in the inner Coastal Plain and lower Piedmont of North and South Carolina in the vicinity of the boundary between the two states, from roughly the Santee-Wateree to the Cape Fear rivers. The ware does not appear to be common in the lower Coastal Plain of either state.
Chronological position: Early-Middle Woodland (ca. 500 B.C. - A.D. 500). At 38SU83 a date of 380 B.C.±80 ). was obtained from a feature with a Yadkin Cord Marked vessel present (Blanton et al. 1986:146-147).
Background: The Yadkin series was defined by Coe (1964:30-32) based on a sample of 619 sherds recovered from the Doerschuk site on the lower Yadkin River in Montgomery County, North Carolina. Three finishes were reported within the sample, cord marked (n=285, 46.0%), fabric marked (n=270, 43.7), and linear check stamped (n=64, 10.3%). The distinctive temper was described as “large angular fragments of quartz that appeared to have been broken especially for tempering material” (Coe 1964:30); this temper was reported to account for up to 40 percent of the paste by volume. Within the type sample, cord impressions ranged from 0.5 to 2.o mm in diameter and were typically applied at oblique or right angles to the rim, and parallel to one another; cross stamping was not observed. Vessel forms include both bowls and conoidal jars.
The Yadkin series appears related to the Onslow (Loftfield 1976:166-168) and Mount Pleasant (Phelps 1981:vi) series in the central and northern North Carolina coastal plain, respectively; the former is tempered with crushed quartz and the latter with sand and small quartz pebbles. All three wares appear to occupy a Middle Woodland time level, succeeding earlier Badin, New River, Carteret, and Deep Creek types. The presence of clay/grog inclusions with the crushed quartz in some of the fabric marked sherds at Doerschuk (Coe 1964:30, 32; see also background discussion of Yadkin Fabric Marked), suggests the large quartz inclusions may be a substitute for the sherd or clay//grog tempering noted in the Hanover and Wilmington series.
A large sample of Yadkin Cord Marked sherds (N=460) with subangular or unmodified quartz temper were reported at 38SU83 in Sumter County, South Carolina (Blanton et al. 1986:70). Three radiocarbon dates were obtained from 38SU83 that date the Yadkin assemblage, 180 B.C.±70, 380 B.C±80, and 520 B.C.±70 (Blanton et al. 1986:146-147). The latest date was from a feature with a Yadkin Cord Marked vessel, while the middle date was from a feature with both Yadkin Linear Check Stamped and Yadkin Simple Stamped sherds. The earliest date came from a smudge pit from the Yadkin level, and also appears to date the occupation. The 38SU83 sample resembled materials from the type site in that overstamping was uncommon, and cord size ranged between 0.5 and 2.0 mm. Most sherds were well smoothed, and S-twist was reported as dominating the assemblage (73 percent),with the remainder Z-twist. Four sherds of Yadkin Cord Marked were also observed at Mattassee Lake along the lower Santee (Anderson et al. 1982:318).
Primary references: Coe (1964:30-31); Anderson et al. (1982:318); Blanton et al. 1986:70.
YADKIN FABRIC MARKED
Sorting criteria: Fabric impressions, typically characterized by a rigid warp element, applied over the exterior surface while the paste was plastic; occasionally smoothed somewhat after stamping. Paste characterized by large amounts of rounded and sub-rounded or crushed white and clear quartz gravel (1.0-8.0 mm; average about 3.0 mm). Rims typically excurvate with flattened, decorated (i.e., simple stamped or fabric impressed) lips.
Distribution: The ware is most commonly reported in the inner Coastal Plain and lower Piedmont of North and South Carolina in the vicinity of the boundary between the two states, from roughly the Santee-Wateree to the Cape Fear rivers. The ware does not appear to be common in the lower Coastal Plain of either state.
Chronological position: Early-Middle Woodland (ca. 500 B.C. - A.D. 500).
Background: The type Yadkin Fabric Marked was formally defined by Coe (1964:31-32), based on a sample of 269 sherds from the Doerschuk site. The ware is characterized by large, angular fragments of quartz (averaging about 3.0 mm in diameter) in the paste and finely woven, wicker fabric impressions (i.e. with a rigid warp element, which were ca. 4 mm wide) over the exterior surface of most specimens. A minority of the fabric marked sherds in the type sample (N=46; 17.1 percent) also had clay/grog inclusions with the crushed quartz in the paste (Coe 1964:30, 32), suggesting some kind of ties with the makers of the Hanover/Wilmington wares to the south and east (see also background discussion for Yadkin Cord Marked). Vessel forms at the type site were shallow bowls and large, straight to slightly constricted jars.
A large sample of Yadkin Fabric Marked sherds (N=523) with subangular or unmodified quartz temper were reported at 38SU83 in Sumter County, South Carolina (Blanton et al. 1986:70). The 38SU83 sample resembled materials from the type site in having stiff or rigid warp elements that ranged from 4 to 7 mm wide. The weft was produced with cordage 0.5 to 1.5 mm in diameter that was all characterized by an S-twist.
A total of 74 Yadkin Fabric Marked sherds were recovered in the 1979 excavation units at Mattassee Lake, almost all from site 38BK246 (Anderson et al. 1982:299-300) The entire assemblage was characterized by rigid warp elements, with cross-stamping infrequent. The stamping is typically applied at high angles to the rim (stamp orientation determined by the alignment of the warp element with the rim). The assemblage is dominated by reddish-brown exteriors, although interiors are more variable and tend to be lighter colored. The paste is characterized by large amounts of rounded and subrounded quartz gravel; these inclusions are naturally weathered and have not been crushed, a primary difference between the Mattassee Lake assemblage and the Doerschuk type site material. The interiors are smooth and somewhat roughened, primarily because the extensive gravel in the paste results in a lumpy surface. Rims are typically excurvate, with flat or thickened, lips that are commonly decorated. Lip treatment includes both simple stamping and fabric impressions. The assemblage appears to derive from large jars.
The Mattassee Lake Yadkin Fabric Marked material differs somewhat from Coe's (1969:31-32) type sample, primarily in paste (rounded versus crushed inclusions), rim form (excurvate versus straight), and lip shape and treatment (flattened and decorated opposed to rounded and plain). The paste differs in the same respect (rounded versus crushed inclusions) from Loftfield’s (1976:166-168) Onslow series, although no fabric impressed finish was reported from that series. Phelps’s (1981) Mount Pleasant series appears quite similar, with rounded gravel inclusions and a fabric impressed exterior finish. Specimens of Yadkin Fabric Impressed from Mattassee Lake were, in fact, inspected by Dr. David S. Phelps (personnel communication 1982, 1995), who pronounced them within the range of variation for the northern coastal North Carolina Mt. Pleasant type. The Mattassee Lake Yadkin-like material was distinctive, however, both in appearance and distribution, from the Cape Fear Fabric Impressed material Phelps also included in the Mt. Pleasant type range, and formal separation of the two wares is believed warranted. Use of Yadkin, as opposed to Mt. Pleasant terminology for the primary type reflects the relative proximity of the Doerschuk type site, and the close temporal equivalence of the two collections.
Primary references: Coe (1952, 1964; Yadkin Fabric Marked type); Ferguson (1976; Yadkin-like ceramics); Cable and Cantley (1979; Yadkin-like ceramics); Trinkley (1980a; Yadkin ceramics); Loftfield (1976; Onslow series ceramics); Phelps (1981; Mount Pleasant series ceramics). Anderson et al. (1982:299-301); Blanton et al. (1986:70)
YADKIN LINEAR CHECK STAMPED
Sorting criteria: Linear check stamped impressions applied over the exterior surface while the paste was plastic; occasionally smoothed somewhat after stamping. Paste characterized by large amounts of rounded and sub-rounded or crushed white and clear quartz gravel (1.0-6.0 mm; average about 3.0 mm). Rims typically excurvate with flattened, decorated (i.e. simple stamped or fabric impressed) lips.
Distribution: Poorly documented. The ware is most commonly reported in the inner Coastal Plain and lower Piedmont of North and South Carolina in the vicinity of the boundary between the two states, from roughly the Santee-Wateree to the Cape Fear rivers.
Chronological position: Early-Middle Woodland (ca. 500 B.C. - A.D. 500)
Background: The type Yadkin Linear Check Stamped was initially described by Coe (1964:32), based on a sample of 64 sherds (about four percent of the total Yadkin sample) from the Doerschuk site in along the Yadkin River in Piedmont North Carolina. A local manufacture was inferred, since only in surface finish did these sherds differ from other Yadkin wares found on the site. A large sample of Yadkin Check and Linear Check Stamped sherds (N=231) were reported at 38SU83 in Sumter County, South Carolina (Blanton et al. 1986:70, 89, 90). The temper was, with two exceptions where crushing was observed, subangular or unmodified quartz. A combined check/linear check stamped category was employed at 38SU83; check stamping was described as the predominant finish. A radiocarbon date of 380 B.C±80 was obtained from 38SU83 from a feature with Yadkin Linear Check Stamped and Yadkin Simple Stamped sherds.
Six sherds of linear check stamped pottery characterized by a moderate incidence of large (1.0-3.0 mm) rounded quartz inclusions were also recovered at Mattassee Lake (Anderson et al. 1982:317-318). While the paste may reflect the normal range of variation within the Deptford Linear Check Stamped type, an association with Coe's (1969:32) Yadkin Linear Check Stamped type is possible, especially given the presence of other probable Yadkin wares from the terrace. Yadkin-like wares have also been reported from White’s Creek site in Marlboro County, South Carolina (Ward 1978).
Primary references: Coe 1964:32; Ward 1978; Anderson et al. 1982:317-318; Blanton et al. 1986.
YADKIN SIMPLE STAMPED
Sorting Criteria: Cross-stamped longitudinal U-shaped grooves over the exterior vessel surface; occasionally lightly to extensively smoothed after stamping. Impressions typically narrow (about 2.0 mm), with a range of from ca. 1.0 to 4.0 mm..
Distribution: Poorly documented. The ware, like other types in the Yadkin series, likely occurs in the inner Coastal Plain and lower Piedmont of North and South Carolina in the vicinity of the boundary between the two states, from roughly the Santee-Wateree to the Cape Fear rivers. The only large sample reported is from 38SU83 in Sumter County, South Carolina (Blanton et al. 1986:70).
Chronological position: Early-Middle Woodland (ca. 500 B.C. - A.D. 500)
Background: Not previously defined, although Blanton et al. (1986:70, 89, 90) briefly describe the type, based on a large sample of sherds (N=174) from 38SU83 in Sumter County, South Carolina. The temper in the 38SU83 sample was, with one exception where crushing was observed, subangular or unmodified quartz. A radiocarbon date of 380 B.C±80 (Blanton et al. 1986:146-147) was obtained from a feature with both Yadkin Linear Check Stamped and Yadkin Simple Stamped sherds (see also Background discussion for Yadkin Cord Marked).
Primary References: Blanton et al. (1986:70, 89, 90).
YADKIN PLAIN
Sorting criteria: Plain surface finish. Paste characterized by large amounts of rounded and subrounded or crushed white and clear quartz gravel (1.0-6.0 mm, average about 3.0 mm).
Distribution: The ware is most commonly reported in the inner Coastal Plain and lower Piedmont of North and South Carolina in the vicinity of the boundary between the two states, from roughly the Santee-Wateree to the Cape Fear rivers.
Chronological position: Early-Middle Woodland (ca. 500 B.C. - A.D. 500)
Background: The type Yadkin Plain was initially described by Anderson et al. (1982), based on a sample of 60 sherds from the Mattassee lake sites along the lower Santee River in South Carolina. The Yadkin series as originally defined by Coe (1964:30-32) included three types, Yadkin Cord-Marked, Yadkin Fabric-Marked, and Yadkin Linear Check Stamped. Plain wares were not reported, and the only other finish noted within the series was dentate stamping, observed on a single sherd (Coe 1964:30). A number of cordmarked, fabric impressed, and linear check-stamped sherds were recovered at Mattassee Lake that strongly resembled Coe's Yadkin types. These wares, characterized by large, angular and/or rounded fragments of quartz in the paste, were found with a fourth, plain finished ware that was otherwise identical to the other three. Description as a type within the Yadkin series was, therefore, considered appropriate. Possible related wares include Onslow Plain (Loftfield 1976: 168) from central coastal North Carolina, tempered with crushed quartz, and the Mount Pleasant series (Phelps 1981:vi) from northern coastal North Carolina, tempered with sand and gravel. All of these wares occur on a Middle Woodland time level, in rough agreement with their placement at Mattassee Lake.
The Yadkin Plain sample from Mattassee Lake had well-smoothed interior and exterior surfaces, although most sherds are slightly sandy to the touch. The paste is characterized by large amounts of rounded and subrounded quartz gravel; these inclusions are naturally weathered, and not intentionally crushed. The ware was predominantly reddish-brown in color; no rimsherds were recovered. The ware differs from both the Yadkin and Onslow series type materials (Coe 1964, Loftfield 1976) in having rounded as opposed to crushed quartz inclusions, although in this respect it is similar to Phelps (1981) Mount Pleasant series. Plain wares have not been described for either the Yadkin or Mount Pleasant series.
Primary references: Anderson et al. (1982:301-302; Yadkin Plain); Coe (1952, 1964; Yadkin series), Cable and Cantley (1979; Yadkin-like ceramics); Loftfield (1976; Onslow series ceramics); Phelps (1981; Mount Pleasant series ceramics).