Abstract
Archaeologists have long considered ceramics one of their best guides to the identification of socio-economic status. Presence or absence of expensive ceramics in excavated assemblages has been considered a definer of economic class. However this is an over-simplification of the correlation of ceramic quality and the wealth or social status of those that owned them. To interpret ceramic assemblages, it is essential to have some knowledge of the economic niche in which the site functioned. This is particularly true for isolated frontier communities which had poor transportation links to centers of civilization. The following case describes the impact of economic isolation on settlers in the Connecticut Western Reserve in Northern Ohio prior to the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825. From this study, it is suggested that ceramics break down as status indicators under conditions of economic isolation.
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Miller, G.L., Hurry, S.D. Ceramic supply in an economically isolated frontier community: Portage County of the Ohio Western Reserve, 1800–1825. Hist Arch 17, 80–92 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03373467
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03373467