33
TIL that pottery shards can tell you more about trade routes than gold ever could
I was chatting with a field supervisor at the dig near my folks' place in Ohio last July, and he mentioned he could trace a settlement's entire economy just by studying broken pots... He pointed out that imported clay and glaze patterns showed where people traveled and who they traded with way better than any treasure ever would. Has anyone else had a local expert completely flip how you look at common artifacts?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
hill.andrew1mo ago
Used to think gold was the big clue, but now I see pottery tells a way richer story.
5
hill.andrew1mo ago
a way richer story" reminds me, a buddy in New Mexico found a trade bead in his driveway.
4