Characterizing Colonoware Vessel Forms from the Late Seventeenth to Mid-Nineteenth Centuries in Charleston, South Carolina

The study of colonoware—low-fired coarse earthenwares produced and used by Indigenous and African peoples and their descendants during and after the colonial period in the United States—has yet to explore the comprehensive variation in vessel form. An accurate and reliable typology is necessary for fully understanding the ways in which these vessels were manufactured and used; however, the conversation has so far primarily relied on vague umbrella categories, such as "bowl" and "jar." This article serves as a pilot study for characterizing vessel form with greater accuracy and specificity. Using a sample of nearly whole vessels from Drayton Hall’s South Flanker Well excavation, I propose a set of mutually exclusive and detailed vessel-form categories based on clear, quantitative measurements that analysts can apply on a sherd level. I then apply this typology to a multisited study sample of two precolonial coarse-earthenware assemblages and six colonial and early American colonoware assemblages, building on the attribute-based study undertaken by Marcoux, Sattes et al. (2023). This vessel-form data, examined alongside other choices made by potters of colonoware, such as treatment of clay, manufacturing technique, and surface treatment, expands the understanding of how colonoware can reflect the complex and intricate cultural identities of all peoples living under the colonial project.