Shell tempered (white specks) jar fragment, Madison County, Illinois.

The technological hallmarks of Mississippian ceramics are shell temper and frequently thin vessel walls. Although fine craftsmanship is often evident, particularly in the exquisitely designed and burnished Ramey-Incised vessels, there is nothing in the American Bottom Mississippian archaeological record to suggest a pottery industry existed outside of the household. Pots clearly broken during firing are associated with residences or residential areas. Moreover, no massive kilns or concentration of manufacturing debris suggestive of specialized workshops have been found on Mississippian sites. The knowledge of how to manufacture Ramey incised vessels seems to have been widely held, although their uses were of a more specialized nature.

Thus, all available evidence indicates that the Mississippian ceramics industry was a household industry with one or more member of each nuclear family responsible for pottery manufacture and maintenance. Again, like shell bead manufacture, there is little archaeological support for the existence of ceramic specialists who manufactured Ramey-Incised vessels for the elite and for trade outside of the American Bottom.

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