Abstract:
This paper discusses research concerning redware vessel sherds found in an archaeological excavation at Oregon's historic Champoeg State Park, and comparative artifacts from four known Oregon and Washington late nineteenth pottery production sites. Visual and Instrumental Nuclear Activation Analysis comparison studies were conducted on samples from each site. The New Brunswick Model was the method of artifact evaluation. Finding the individual idiosyncratic behaviors in material culture was the theoretical approach. Visual attribution was only successful in one instance. INAA yielded one statistically viable attribution of a Champoeg vessel to a nineteenth century Oregon potter. However, this research can be used to expand knowledge about each site, provide evidence to assist in dating the site and contribute to our understanding of economic distribution patterns in the mid-nineteenth century Willamette Valley.
