Archaeology Terms
Oneota Vessel 108 – Sanford Archaeological District
This large vessel section, called Vessel 108, was found in the early 2000s during excavations in the Sanford Archaeological District in La Crosse, Wisconsin. This late precontact Oneota site was inhabited during all three phases of the local Oneota occupation. Vessel designs and decorations provide clues to an Oneota vessel’s age. The rim of Vessel 108 has bold notching on the lip top to exterior lip, and the shoulder has a probable Pammel Creek Trailed motif of vertical finger trails. The trails begin at the top of the shoulder and are wide at the top, trailing off to nothing by the break in the shoulder. The vessel also has an undecorated strap handle attached just below the lip and a short rim height of 33.6 mm. The design and decoration—especially the bold impressions on the lip—are characteristic of the Pammel Creek phase (ca. AD 1400–1500), the middle phase of the Oneota occupation.