Florida Native Pottery

• Native people made pots in different shapes and sizes.  These clay pots were made 1,500 years ago by ancestors of the Timucua Indians.

• The left pot has stamped designs and is only 6” wide.

• The right pot has a notched rim and is over 12” wide.
  

Click here to see pottery shards found at Pelotes Island

The following pieces of broken pottery show several Florida pottery styles.

4,000 years ago, Archaic Indians scratched lines onto wet clay pots.  This is called “Incised Pottery.”
2,500 years ago, Woodland Indians carved squares into a wooden paddle and pressed the paddle onto wet clay pots.  This made square designs on the pottery and is called “Check-Stamp Pottery.”
1,800 years ago, pre-Timucua Indians carved swirling designs into a wooden paddle and pressed the paddle onto wet clay pots.  This made swirling designs on the pottery and is called “Complicated-Stamp Pottery.”
500 years ago, the Timucua Indians made pots with either a Check-stamp design or with no design at all.  The latter is called “Plain Pottery.”

Provided by the Pelotes Island Nature Preserve
http://pelotes.jea.com