Michelle Birnbaum, PhD Candidate, Anthropology, UW-Milwaukee
Title: A Peek below the Rim: A Look at Variation in Ceramic Production Methods at the Richter Site (47DR80), Door County, Wisconsin

Excavations by UWM field schools in 1968 and 1973 collected over 340kg of pottery sherds, including a number of fairly complete vessels. This presented a unique opportunity to examine just how these vessels were constructed. Contrary to expectations about North Bay pottery technology these vessels revealed marked differences in vessel construction. This surprising fact was only made evident by examining body sherds, the sherds found “below the rim”. With a heavy focus on analysis of rim sherds the significance of body sherds and the story they can tell has been overshadowed in archaeological literature. There is no “how to guide” to detecting manufacturing differences making the task difficult. This presentation shares some of the overlooked clues to vessel construction methods with the goal of inspiring others to “look below the rim”.