Simple stamped wares emerged with Refuge ware around 1100BC. Check stamped Deptford ware is thought to have developed from the rudimentary simple stamping. Indeed, one of the issues that is often discussed is how to sort the simple stamped and plain variants of both types (Waring 1958; DePratter 1991, et al). The roots of the Chicora group complicated stamped wares develop in the middle period as well, as Meso-American influenced motifs moved northward from the Gulf of Mexico coast.
Cartersville (Caldwell nd, link) Cartersville is the inland Georgia equivalent of Deptford. Check and simple stamped variants are noted by Williams. It is said to be thinner and to have a sandier paste than coastal Deptford.
Deptford (Caldwell and Waring 1937; Anderson 1982 (link), Espenshade and Brockington 1989 (link); Cable and Cantley 1998 (link)). Check stamped pottery called Deptford is among the most common found in South Carolina (Anderson et al 1996). It was originally named at a site in Savannah and variations on the series appear to extend as far west as Louisiana (Brown 1982). Middle period check stamped pottery is fairly common on the Pee Dee, but does not extend far into North Carolina in either the Coastal Plain or Piedmont. At Minim Island sherds with the same paste featured check stamping, fabric impressions and cord marking. Fabric impressed sherds replaced cord and check stamped wares there after about 200AD. Some researchers consider wares with these decorations a different type (Deep Creek/New River - Cable and Cantley 2005:119; Herbert 2003) while others consider the textile marked wares Deptford (Trinkley 1991 for example). It is likely that a number of discrete types considered “Deptford” could be sorted out if the detailed analysis applied by John Cable at the Maple and Big Jones Swamp sites was systematically applied at targeted sites. The temper in pottery called Deptford varies from fine to very coarse, with granule and pebble sized pieces occasionally present. Regular and linear check stamped designs are the most common surface finishes, but a variety of others have been identified, including plain, simple stamped, cord marked, fabric impressed, incised and punctate. Interiors are usually well smoothed and vessel walls tend to be moderately thick- 7-10mm.
Most researchers feel that Deptford lasted from about 500BC to 500AD. In South Carolina dates purportedly associated with Deptford range from 1473BC to 1361AD. Many of these are unclear in the validity of their association and are viewed as unreliable. There is a cluster of dates between 302BC and 697AD, but there is also a series of dates between 902 and 1361AD that mostly come from mixed contexts and probably date the later ceramics in the samples.
Oak Leaf (Steen and Judge 2003 - link) This is a Deptford variant that appears to be made from a kaolinitic clay found in a specific area of the Sandhills near Columbia. Local clay samples were used to make a vessel which had a similar paste. The sherds have a distinctive, almost vitreous surface and numerous white inclusions. Some of these are kaolin, while others are bits of fossilized shell and silicified sandstone. The sherds were found in a buried stratum at the Sandstone Ledge Rockshelter site (38LX283). The topsoil contained complicated stamped and cord and fabric marked wares, with only a single sherd of the Oak Leaf variant. By about 35cm bs sherds had dropped off to nearly nothing, and the soil grades into what appears to be a normal sterile subsoil. Indeed, Level 12, 65-70cm bs, was sterile, but levels 13-16 contained large sherds of both regular Deptford and the Oak Leaf variant (images). Radiocarbon dates were obtained from flotation samples, but all of the results were ambiguous, underlining the need for careful consideration of dated samples. The date from the buried midden was much too early for Deptford (4230+/-100BP- corrected with Calib 5.1). As with the topsoil this zone faded into sterile sand with thick lamellae, but about 50cm deeper another buried midden deposit was encountered. This contained two possible fiber tempered sherds and stone tools ranging from Savannah River stemmed, to a fluted point midsection. Dates from the top and bottom of this were 4370+/-70BP, and 4850+/-80BP respectively. This mixing is probably the result of shelter cleaning, and charcoal transport through leaching. Sherds with similar "white speck" temper have been seen elsewhere in the Midlands (Steen 1992) but are not common. This type name has not been used widely, and the variant may be specific to the site, as there is the usual Midlands variant of Deptford in the collection as well.
Oemler (DePratter 1991 link, Waring 1966) Oemler complicated stamped and check stamped wares were identified by Antonio Waring, and defined by Chester DePratter (1991). Like Refuge Dentate Stamped, Oemler Check Stamped seems to be an abused type name. The checks on Oemler tend to be diamonds or rhomboids, rather than the square and rectangular forms seen on Deptford and other check stamped wares. So when researchers see odd shaped checks they often call the pottery “Oemler” as a result. The complicated stamp designs are all rectilinear, with nested diamond, herringbone, and “alternating zones of triangle-filled pyramids and rows of diamond shaped lozenges separated by heavy lines” (DePratter 1991: 173) motifs represented. Sherds are tempered with “abundant fine sand” and “occasional medium grit.” Their texture, or feel is medium to fine- “not as coarse or gritty as Refuge or early Deptford.” Interior surfaces are carefully smoothed to burnished. The dating of the ware is problematic, as no stratified sites are known. DePratter suggests the complicated stamped type may date to his Refuge III period. He includes the check stamped variant with Deptford, and posits an evolution from rhomboid to square checks in his Deptford I period. This is based on seriation however, not empirical evidence. What is notable, however, is that even though DePratter lumps Oemler check stamped in with Deptford, people still seize on the unusual checks to define what they think is “Oemler.” But diamond checks are common on Qualla phase (1300-1900AD) pottery in the Appalachian summit, and on other wares as well (see Marcoux 2008 link) so care should be taken when applying this name.
Santee (Anderson 1982 (link), 1996) Only a simple stamped variant of this ware has been identified, though Anderson suggests plain, cord marked and fabric impressed variants may be present. It is tempered with fine sand and, rarely, contains inclusions as large as 2mm across. Although it is very similar to Thoms Creek and Deptford it was stratigraphically superior to both at Mattassee Lake. It is thought to date between 750 and 1350AD, based on carbon dates obtained at Mattassee Lake. It is seen as the ware of a people pre-adapted to Mississippian lifeways (Anderson 1982). It was found at Mattassee Lake at sites along the fringe of the swamp that were very similar to later Mississippian hamlets. The stamping is said to be “somewhat haphazard” (Anderson et al 1996) with overstamping the norm. Vessels identified include large jars with straight and slightly excurvate rims. This is probably related to or the same as the simple stamped manifestations of George Stuart's Camden type, Mike Trinkley's McClellanville type and Billy Oliver's Savannah Creek ware. This is not a widely used type name, but it appears to be a valid local type.
Swift Creek ((link) Kelly and Smith 1976; Anderson et al 1996 , Southerlin ed 2002; Williams and Elliott, ed. 2002). Swift Creek was originally defined at a site near Macon, Ga. It is characterized by a complicated stamped surfaces that tend to be ornate and well executed earlier, but becomes bolder and more poorly executed later. Plain wares are also defined. Tetrapods are common. Temper is described as fine and coarse sand and grit. This is seldom found east of the Savannah River and is most common in Southwest Georgia and along the Gulf Coast. The type is thought to date between about 100 and 750AD. It is related to the Napier ware group and can be seen as a precursor to Mississippian complicated stamped wares.