Papers by Susan Dermarkar
Canadian Journal of Archaeology, 2021
The recent interpretation of
ceramic types as fluid and relational (Fowler
2017) has facilitated ... more The recent interpretation of
ceramic types as fluid and relational (Fowler
2017) has facilitated their use in the exploration
of relational identity. In this study,
ceramics from the fifteenth-century southern
Ontario Iroquoian Keffer (AkGv-14) village
are employed in the exploration of matrilineal,
matrilocal household self-identification
as seen through ceramic communities of practice.
The Keffer assemblage is separated into
two categories; local tradition ceramics which
I suggest represent genealogies of family
practice, and non-local tradition pottery,
which I propose communicates contemporary
relations and long distance interaction.
In addition, a new, third category of ceramics
is proposed “emergent vessels.” Emergent
ceramics are materialized in two separate
and distinct vessel forms in the collection, the
Everted Lip and North Shore Durfee Underlined.
Their sudden and geographically
restricted materialization reflects the equally
sudden appearance of newly emergent facets
of the polyvalent identities of potting communities
as seen at Keffer and other north
shore sites. The short-term production and
use of these emergent ceramics attests to the
quickly diminishing importance of these new
emergent aspects of identity while the ceramics
of the latest village occupations verify
the endurance and gradual transformation
of those facets of identity tied to family
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
PhD Dissertation University of Toronto, Anthropology, 2019
This thesis employs settlement pattern studies and social network analysis of ceramics to presen... more This thesis employs settlement pattern studies and social network analysis of ceramics to present a history of the Keffer village and its multiple ceramic practice communities. Keffer is a fifteenth-century Iroquoian site on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Temporally and spatially patterned variability in the diverse local tradition and nonlocal ceramics materialized the fluid, multivalent, and contingent identity of the Keffer potters at the household level. Nonlocal ceramics, particularly locally produced “emergent” ceramics, expressed unique yet shared identities with others within the village.
These same analyses produce a nuanced series of development plans that trace the initial settlement, the growth, and the initial steps in the abandonment of the village. Distinct ceramic practices indicate that, contrary to what has been argued in some of the literature, the longhouse clusters that form the initial village occupation may not reflect kin-based social groups. However, longhouses added independently after this first settlement may reflect the arrival of small, related, kin-based groups. Village growth appears to have occurred at the level of the individual household and was likely unplanned. Village abandonment occurred on the same scale, at the individual household level.
This study also shows that social network analysis of ceramic types is an appropriate mechanism for the exploration of multiscalar group identity. Analysis at the pan-Iroquoian, regional, and village levels demonstrates Keffer’s central position in the highly connected north shore interaction network and its distant relations with St. Lawrence and Eastern Iroquoian groups.
Social relations and the identities they sustained, from the most intimate level of the household to the pan-cultural interaction sphere, can be successfully revealed and explored through the application of combined social network, community of practice, and agency approaches.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
PhD Thesis
This thesis employs settlement pattern studies and social network analysis of ceramics to present... more This thesis employs settlement pattern studies and social network analysis of ceramics to present a history of the Keffer village and its multiple ceramic practice communities. Keffer is a fifteenth-century Iroquoian site on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Temporally and spatially patterned variability in the diverse local tradition and nonlocal ceramics materialized the fluid, multivalent, and contingent identity of the Keffer potters at the household level. Nonlocal ceramics, particularly locally produced "emergent" ceramics, expressed unique yet shared identities with others within the village. These same analyses produce a nuanced series of development plans that trace the initial settlement, the growth, and the initial steps in the abandonment of the village. Distinct ceramic practices indicate that, contrary to what has been argued in some of the literature, the longhouse clusters that form the initial village occupation may not reflect kin-based social groups. However, longhouses added independently after this first settlement may reflect the arrival of small, related, kin-based groups. Village growth appears to have occurred at the level of the individual household and was likely unplanned. Village abandonment occurred on the same scale, at the individual household level. This study also shows that social network analysis of ceramic types is an appropriate mechanism for the exploration of multiscalar group identity. Analysis at the pan-Iroquoian, regional, and village levels demonstrates Keffer's central position in the highly connected north shore interaction network and its distant relations with St. Lawrence and Eastern Iroquoian groups. Social relations and the identities they sustained, from the most intimate level of the household to the pan-cultural interaction sphere, can be successfully revealed and explored through the application of combined social network, community of practice, and agency approaches.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
St. Lawrence Iroquoians have long been seen as being culturally separate from other Iroquoian gro... more St. Lawrence Iroquoians have long been seen as being culturally separate from other Iroquoian groups, a position
supported by their disappearance in the mid-sixteenth century. In this paper, Social Network Analysis of
Iroquoian ceramic collar motifs and two characteristic St. Lawrence ceramic types repositions this group, most
fundamentally the Jefferson County Iroquoians, as a central and integral constituent of a highly fluid panIroquoian
ceramic social signalling system that, we argue, reflects changing socio-political relationships.
Specifically, we suggest that the strong social ties of the late fifteenth century may be reflected in subsequent
distinct movements and integrations of St. Lawrence Iroquoian peoples with Ancestral Wendat and
Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) communities.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Pottery is a mainstay of archaeological analysis worldwide. Often, high proportions of the potter... more Pottery is a mainstay of archaeological analysis worldwide. Often, high proportions of the pottery recovered from a given site are decorated in some manner. In northern Iroquoia, late pre-contact pottery and early contact decoration commonly occur on collars—thick bands of clay that encircle a pot and extend several centimeters down from the lip. These decorations constitute signals that conveyed information about a pot’s user(s). In southern Ontario the period A.D. 1350 to 1650 witnessed substantial changes in socio-political and settlement systems that included population movement, coalescence of formerly separate communities into large villages and towns, waxing and waning of regional strife, the formation of nations, and finally the development of three confederacies that each occupied distinct, constricted areas. Social network analysis demonstrates that signaling practices changed to reflect these regional patterns. Networks become more consolidated through time ultimately resulting in a “small world” network with small degrees of separation between sites reflecting the integration of communities within and between the three confederacies.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Journal Articles by Susan Dermarkar
Études multidisciplinaires sur les liens entre Hurons-Wendat et Iroquoiens du Saint- Laurent, Lesage, Louis; Richard, Jean-François; Bédard-Daigle, Alexandra; Gupta, Neha. Presses de l'Université Laval , 2018
On considère depuis longtemps les Iroquoiens du Saint-Laurent comme culturellement distincts des ... more On considère depuis longtemps les Iroquoiens du Saint-Laurent comme culturellement distincts des autres groupes iroquoiens, une position soutenue par la disparition de leurs manifestations caractéristiques au milieu du xvi e siècle. Dans cet article, l'analyse des réseaux sociaux (Social Network Analysis) à partir de motifs iroquoiens du Saint-Laurent sur le parement des céramiques, ainsi que de deux types spécifiques de céramique du Saint-Laurent, permet de repositionner ce groupe, en particulier les Iroquoiens du comté de Jefferson, en tant que composante centrale et intégrante d'un système très fluide de signalisation sociale paniroquoien par le biais de la céramique, et nous avançons que ce système reflète des relations sociopolitiques changeantes. Plus spécifiquement, il est proposé que les forts liens sociaux de la fin du xv e siècle se reflètent par après dans les déplacements spécifiques et dans l'intégration ultérieure des populations iroquoiennes du Saint-Laurent au sein des communautés ancestrales wendat et haudenosaunee (iroquoise).
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Ontario Archaeology , 2016
St. Lawrence Iroquoians have long been seen being as culturally separate from other Iroquoian gro... more St. Lawrence Iroquoians have long been seen being as culturally separate from other Iroquoian groups, a position supported by their disappearance in the mid-sixteenth century. In this paper, Social Network Analysis of Iroquoian ceramic collar motifs and two characteristic St. Lawrence ceramic types repositions this group, most fundamentally the Jefferson County Iroquoians, as a central and integral constituent of a highly fluid pan-Iroquoian ceramic social signalling system that, we argue, reflects changing socio-political relationships. Specifically, we suggest that the strong social ties of the late fifteenth century may be reflected in subsequent distinct movements and integrations of St. Lawrence Iroquoian peoples with Ancestral Wendat and Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) communities.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
PLOS ONE, 2016
Pottery is a mainstay of archaeological analysis worldwide. Often, high proportions of the potter... more Pottery is a mainstay of archaeological analysis worldwide. Often, high proportions of the pottery recovered from a given site are decorated in some manner. In northern Iroquoia, late pre-contact pottery and early contact decoration commonly occur on collars—thick bands of clay that encircle a pot and extend several centimeters down from the lip. These decorations constitute signals that conveyed information about a pot’s user(s). In southern Ontario the period A.D. 1350 to 1650 witnessed substantial changes in socio-political and settlement systems that included population movement, coalescence of formerly separate communities into large villages and towns, waxing and waning of regional strife, the formation of nations, and finally the development of three confederacies that each occupied distinct, constricted areas. Social network analysis demonstrates that signaling practices changed to reflect these regional patterns. Networks become more consolidated through time ultimately resulting in a “small world” network with small degrees of separation between sites reflecting the integration of communities within and between the three confederacies.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
Papers by Susan Dermarkar
ceramic types as fluid and relational (Fowler
2017) has facilitated their use in the exploration
of relational identity. In this study,
ceramics from the fifteenth-century southern
Ontario Iroquoian Keffer (AkGv-14) village
are employed in the exploration of matrilineal,
matrilocal household self-identification
as seen through ceramic communities of practice.
The Keffer assemblage is separated into
two categories; local tradition ceramics which
I suggest represent genealogies of family
practice, and non-local tradition pottery,
which I propose communicates contemporary
relations and long distance interaction.
In addition, a new, third category of ceramics
is proposed “emergent vessels.” Emergent
ceramics are materialized in two separate
and distinct vessel forms in the collection, the
Everted Lip and North Shore Durfee Underlined.
Their sudden and geographically
restricted materialization reflects the equally
sudden appearance of newly emergent facets
of the polyvalent identities of potting communities
as seen at Keffer and other north
shore sites. The short-term production and
use of these emergent ceramics attests to the
quickly diminishing importance of these new
emergent aspects of identity while the ceramics
of the latest village occupations verify
the endurance and gradual transformation
of those facets of identity tied to family
These same analyses produce a nuanced series of development plans that trace the initial settlement, the growth, and the initial steps in the abandonment of the village. Distinct ceramic practices indicate that, contrary to what has been argued in some of the literature, the longhouse clusters that form the initial village occupation may not reflect kin-based social groups. However, longhouses added independently after this first settlement may reflect the arrival of small, related, kin-based groups. Village growth appears to have occurred at the level of the individual household and was likely unplanned. Village abandonment occurred on the same scale, at the individual household level.
This study also shows that social network analysis of ceramic types is an appropriate mechanism for the exploration of multiscalar group identity. Analysis at the pan-Iroquoian, regional, and village levels demonstrates Keffer’s central position in the highly connected north shore interaction network and its distant relations with St. Lawrence and Eastern Iroquoian groups.
Social relations and the identities they sustained, from the most intimate level of the household to the pan-cultural interaction sphere, can be successfully revealed and explored through the application of combined social network, community of practice, and agency approaches.
supported by their disappearance in the mid-sixteenth century. In this paper, Social Network Analysis of
Iroquoian ceramic collar motifs and two characteristic St. Lawrence ceramic types repositions this group, most
fundamentally the Jefferson County Iroquoians, as a central and integral constituent of a highly fluid panIroquoian
ceramic social signalling system that, we argue, reflects changing socio-political relationships.
Specifically, we suggest that the strong social ties of the late fifteenth century may be reflected in subsequent
distinct movements and integrations of St. Lawrence Iroquoian peoples with Ancestral Wendat and
Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) communities.
Journal Articles by Susan Dermarkar
ceramic types as fluid and relational (Fowler
2017) has facilitated their use in the exploration
of relational identity. In this study,
ceramics from the fifteenth-century southern
Ontario Iroquoian Keffer (AkGv-14) village
are employed in the exploration of matrilineal,
matrilocal household self-identification
as seen through ceramic communities of practice.
The Keffer assemblage is separated into
two categories; local tradition ceramics which
I suggest represent genealogies of family
practice, and non-local tradition pottery,
which I propose communicates contemporary
relations and long distance interaction.
In addition, a new, third category of ceramics
is proposed “emergent vessels.” Emergent
ceramics are materialized in two separate
and distinct vessel forms in the collection, the
Everted Lip and North Shore Durfee Underlined.
Their sudden and geographically
restricted materialization reflects the equally
sudden appearance of newly emergent facets
of the polyvalent identities of potting communities
as seen at Keffer and other north
shore sites. The short-term production and
use of these emergent ceramics attests to the
quickly diminishing importance of these new
emergent aspects of identity while the ceramics
of the latest village occupations verify
the endurance and gradual transformation
of those facets of identity tied to family
These same analyses produce a nuanced series of development plans that trace the initial settlement, the growth, and the initial steps in the abandonment of the village. Distinct ceramic practices indicate that, contrary to what has been argued in some of the literature, the longhouse clusters that form the initial village occupation may not reflect kin-based social groups. However, longhouses added independently after this first settlement may reflect the arrival of small, related, kin-based groups. Village growth appears to have occurred at the level of the individual household and was likely unplanned. Village abandonment occurred on the same scale, at the individual household level.
This study also shows that social network analysis of ceramic types is an appropriate mechanism for the exploration of multiscalar group identity. Analysis at the pan-Iroquoian, regional, and village levels demonstrates Keffer’s central position in the highly connected north shore interaction network and its distant relations with St. Lawrence and Eastern Iroquoian groups.
Social relations and the identities they sustained, from the most intimate level of the household to the pan-cultural interaction sphere, can be successfully revealed and explored through the application of combined social network, community of practice, and agency approaches.
supported by their disappearance in the mid-sixteenth century. In this paper, Social Network Analysis of
Iroquoian ceramic collar motifs and two characteristic St. Lawrence ceramic types repositions this group, most
fundamentally the Jefferson County Iroquoians, as a central and integral constituent of a highly fluid panIroquoian
ceramic social signalling system that, we argue, reflects changing socio-political relationships.
Specifically, we suggest that the strong social ties of the late fifteenth century may be reflected in subsequent
distinct movements and integrations of St. Lawrence Iroquoian peoples with Ancestral Wendat and
Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) communities.