Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

Pottery from Sunga'va, a single-component Haiwee period site (ca. 1,150 B.P.) in southern Owens Valley, was analyzed by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis within a larger study of western Great Basin ceramics. The discovery of pottery in a Haiwee Period site positions the advent of ceramic technology in Owens Valley some 500 years earlier than previously thought. Analyses indicate that the pottery was made from local sedimentary clays collected in or near Owens Lake.