Vessel

Description

A clay food storage vessel found at Pope's Creek in Charles County, Maryland. Fired-clay food storage vessels such as this reflect the shift toward semi-permanent settlements along major rivers. The indigenous peoples who made these vessels stored a surplus of hickory nuts, chestnuts, acorns, sunflowers, and other seeds to protect them from mice, raccoons, or theft when the occupants were out hunting and gathering. A mesh-type woven fabric, used to support the clay as the coil-made pot was formed, created the impressed surface pattern.