Articles More than Meets the Eye: Reconsidering Variability in Iroquoian Ceramics Kostalena Michelaki † Abstract. This paper presents an approach to the analysis of Iroquoian ceramics that goes beyond the traditional normative creation of ethno-chronological typologies to consider pottery as a dynamic material shaped by, and in turn shaping, complex webs of human and material interactions. To accomplish this goal I consider how the shell-tempered pots that appeared in some Neutral Iroquoian villages in the late 16 th and 17 th centuries AD have been interpreted. I discuss both the hypothesis that they had been made by Fire Nation captives—a typical interpretation in Ontario archaeological writings—and the possibility that they were better suited for cooking maize—an interpretation appearing in archaeometric considerations of northeas- tern North American shell-tempered pottery. I argue that both interpretations are limited and offer instead an approach inspired by recent writings in ethnoarchaeological ceramic studies, social theory, and the social nature of technology. Résumé. Cet article présente une nouvelle approche analytique de la poterie iro- quoienne. Cette approche va au-delà des modèles normatifs traditionnels basés sur les typologies ethno-chronologiques. Je consi- dère la poterie comme un matériel dyna- mique formé par, et formant en retour, des réseaux complexes d’interactions humaines et matérielles. Je réexamine à cette fin les interprétations proposées concernant l’ap- parition des vases dégraissés au coquillage dans les villages iroquoiens Neutres datant du 16e et du 17e siècle. Je fais d’abord état de l’hypothèse, traditionnelle en archéo- logie ontarienne, selon laquelle ces vases auraient été faits par des captives de la Nation du Feu, ensuite je considère l’hypothèse, récemment suggérée dans le cadre d’études archéométriques, selon laquelle ces vases auraient été adoptés parce qu’ils étaient plus appropriés pour la cuisson du maïs. Ces deux interprétations semblent trop limitées. Conséquemment, j’avance une approche alternative, inspirée par des publications ethnoarchéologiques récentes, par la théorie sociale et tenant compte de la nature sociale de la technologie. C eramics vary in seemingly end- less ways: in ways that are visible (e.g., shape, size, colour or decoration), invisible (e.g., raw materials or forming methods), tactile (e.g., surface texture) or even audible (e.g., the high pitch sound produced by highly fired vessels when tapped with the fingernail— a common test ceramic pot buyers perform at markets). The interesting questions are “Why? What does this vari- ation mean?,” and, at a more practical level, “How can we record this variation accurately and systematically, so that we understand its meaning?” Using the example of shell-tempered pottery that appeared in Neutral Iro- quoian villages in the late 16 th and 17 th centuries AD, I examine here how our answers and methodologies change depending on whether we consider † Department of Anthropology, CNH 509, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West Hamilton, ON L8S 4L9 [michela@mcmaster.ca] Canadian Journal of Archaeology/Journal Canadien d’Archéologie 31: 143–170 (2007)