Varied visions: an iconographic reevaluation of Ramey Incised production and distribution in the American Bottom,Illinois

ABSTRACT

Ramey Incised ceramics, characterized by incised symbolic motifs, are often viewed as a hallmark of Stirling-phase Cahokia and the surrounding American Bottom region. However, few comprehensive analyses of the regional Ramey motif assemblage have been conducted. Here I evaluate spatial and temporal variation in Ramey Incised motifs across 16 sites in the American Bottom to improve understandings of Ramey Incised production and distribution. Stirling-phase motif data indicate that the Ramey Incised manufacturing process likely was not as centralized as previously proposed. A qualitative analysis of the regional motif assemblage uncovers variation that may reflect stylistic experimentation. Additionally, motif frequency distributions reveal potential site-specific thematic preferences. Both findings support the existence of local production within the region. Diachronic data suggest the collapse of the Ramey Incised tradition in the Moorehead phase, perhaps in response to sociopolitical and religious transitions occurring at Cahokia. Overall, Ramey Incised ceramics may have served as vehicles through which American Bottom Mississippians variably expressed their interpretations of and relationships to the cosmos.