Adena Plain Pottery

Adena Plain is a simple, undecorated pottery associated with the Early Woodland Adena culture of the Ohio Valley. Vessels are usually thick-walled, coil-built jars with simple rounded or slightly everted rims and plain exterior surfaces. The paste is often coarse, with visible grit or crushed rock temper and relatively soft fracture. These plain wares often occur alongside more decorated Adena types and are common in domestic and mortuary contexts.

Typical jars range from about 180 to 350 mm in rim diameter and 200 to 400 mm in height. Wall thickness is often 7 to 12 mm, with bases and lower walls sometimes thicker. Small cups or bowls may be under 150 mm in diameter but are less common than medium jars.

Centered in the middle Ohio Valley and adjacent uplands, with sites concentrated in the Ohio River drainage and extending into neighboring river valleys.

Adena Plain is important chronologically because it marks the early adoption of pottery in eastern North America. Temper type and vessel form can help distinguish Adena Plain from later Woodland or Mississippian plain wares.