Mobile Pottery among Forager-Farmers: A Case of Pottery Transport in the Middle Jeulmun Pottery Period of Korea

In archaeology, the use of pottery was traditionally associated with increasing sedentism among food-producing societies. However, these assumptions have long since been challenged by the widespread recognition of pottery use among mobile foragers in the past and present. While many researchers have discussed how pottery production and use may have been incorporated into mobile lifestyles, few studies have attempted to provide archaeological evidence of the transport of pottery or materials used to produce pottery among mobile foragers. Here, geochemical evidence is presented to suggest that pottery was likely produced within settlements and transported to specialized activity areas, such as shellfish gathering and processing locations, during the Middle Jeulmun Pottery Period in Korea. High investment in production of pottery recovered from shell middens suggests that high-performance, durable vessels were likely used at shell midden locations. Rather than making pottery at specialized resource-acquisition locations, transporting premade durable vessels to shell middens would have minimized opportunity costs, allowing foragers to allocate their time and energy towards shellfish gathering and harvesting.