Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 January 2017
The “South Appalachian Province,” an area defined by the occurrence of the complicated stamp as a major mode of pottery decoration, was outlined by Holmes (1903). Almost nothing can be added to the area definition propounded by Holmes. Actually the area varied in size as it expanded and contracted through time (the temporal factor was necessarily omitted in 1898). Although the province varied in size, it should perhaps be reduced in size to include only the core area–the present state of Georgia with the addition of northern Florida. Areas outside this used complicated stamping only at certain time periods, and in all cases these usages appear to be stylistic imports from Georgia, not local developments.