Approaches to ceramic analysis in northern New England have historically followed a normative approach to describing form and decoration. Further, these analyses have, with few exceptions, been limited to addressing questions of culture history and chronology. Recent analysis of pottery from the Woodland and Contact periods as well as natural clay deposits from Vermont and New Hampshire serves as a case study in how regional archaeologists may move beyond simplistic questions of “Who?” and “When?” and begin to pursue the “How?” and “Why?” To that end, these data are discussed in terms of technological choices and transmission of cultural knowledge across generations.
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