Louisiana Native Americans Learning About Pottery An LSU Museum of Natural Science presentation to accompany the activity

Tchefuncte Pottery Demonstration Pottery replicator- Doyle Gertjejenson Digging clay from river bank Working the clay into clay balls

1.Forming and smoothing the pottery base 2. Starting the vessel walls Base and coils

Vessel walls Starting vessel walls with clay coils Smoothing coils together Smoothing and extending side walls

Smoothing and decorating the vessel Decorating implements- shell and stick

Textured, unfired vessels waiting to be fired Firing of vessels after intital preheating process

Completed pots Boiling water in finished pot.

Making Pots the Native American Way Materials: Air drying or baking clay Soft paintbrush Small cup of water Smooth rock Texturing tools: sharp stick, oyster or scallop shell, grass or moss, loose string, paddle wrapped with string Purpose: Students will learn the traditional Native-American coiling method for making pottery.

Coiling method How it works: 1.Create a circular base of desired diameter. 2.Roll out ropes of clay. 3.Stack the ropes on-top of each other in a circular fashion. 4.After the desired height and shape is achieved, press the coils together by smoothing and pressing the clay. 5.Use tools to decorate the pot.

Becoming a Louisiana Archaeologist Materials needed Hand-out of pottery sherds Scissors Construction paper Glue Colors Purpose: Student will reconstruct their own artifact from sherds.

Vocabulary and references Archaeologist - Sceintists who study the remains of past people Sherds- broken pieces of pottery Vessel reconstruction pictures from LSU Department of Geography and Anthropology, Lot no. Lab-L73