A Study Of Prehistoric Soapstone Vessels Of The Middle Atlantic Region Of The United States (Bar International)

This study began with an intensive search to identify all prehistoric sites with soapstone artifacts in Maryland and the District of Columbia. A review of published and unpublished records and interviews with avocational archaeologists found that the number of (precisely and imprecisely mapped) is at least 340. Avocational archaeologists had collected most of the reported soapstone artifacts, and surface collecting was the most common form of artifact retrieval. These situations result in limited site contextual information and restricted opportunity to interpret site activities. The findings of this study include that soapstone use increased during the Late Archaic and remained high, at least for certain artifacts, through the Woodland periods. The few 14C dates associated with soapstone vessels in the study area and neighboring states point to the initial use of bowls around 3600-2900 BP. Consideration of the distribution of the soapstone sites and review of the anthropological liter