One hundred nineteen late Middle Woodland (ca. A.D. 200–900) sherds and 10 clay samples from the Lower/Middle Delaware Valley were analyzed by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis. Principal components analysis resulted in the preliminary identification of 8 compositional groups. Two of these groups (n = 42) and Piedmont-derived clay samples (n = 4) are noteworthy because they exhibit markedly higher sodium concentrations in relation to the full dataset. Given this observed difference in sodium content, we conclude that the Piedmont is the likely source/production area for this subset of sherds. The relatively high sodium content present in the clays from the Piedmont reinforces the conclusion that the reported sodium values are the result of geologic origin and not diagenetic processes. These results are also used to evaluate an existing late Middle Woodland settlement model for the Lower/Middle Delaware Valley (Stewart, 1990, 1998a, 1998b). However, until further testing is conducted, these interpretations must be viewed as tentative.
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