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diverse people always moving and interacting with other Creek towns creating a well-

interconnected society. Chad O. Braley, in his design research paper “Historic Indian Period

Archaeology of the Georgia Coastal Plain,” gives an excellent example of Creek movement from

the 1540s to the “aftermath of the Yamasee War which shows the movement of people after
Hernando de Soto’s army went through most of Georgia and Alabama.”3 Braley’s work studies

the complexity of South Georgia and a detailed study of Indian movement caused by European
incursion starting with Hernando de Soto’s march in 1539–40.4 He places the movement of

Indians in context with the invasion of Europeans and the archaeological phases by river valley
in order to “use…direct historic approach to the study of Indian societies.”5 Taking the same

approach to examining the movement and flow of pottery design through these phases will show

the significance of influence on the Creek Indians made by previous groups or phases. When

looking at any particular piece of art it is important to begin with where artistic influences derive

from.

Following the influence of design in its earliest form to its latest form exposes the impact

of aesthetic design and the frequency of trade. Due to differences among the Creek pottery

designs over a period of time, the flux of cultural influence was evident. It was well known and

studied that the Lamar had a significant influence in the South East region. The time in which the

Lamar civilization lived is often referred to as the Lamar phase which lasted from about 1300 to
about AD 1650.6 A phase is known in archeology “as a culture, a period, a horizon, and a

3. Chad O. Braley, “Historic Indian Period Archeology of the Georgia Coastal Plain,”
University of Georgia Laboratory of Archeology Series Report No. 34 Archaeological Research
Design Paper No. 10, (1995), 4, 7, 10, 12, 13, 15. Look at figures 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

4. Ibid, 5.
5. Ibid, 32.
6. “The Lamar Mounds and Village,” Lamar-National Park service, accessed April 1, 2019,

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:93iTfZZsjkcJ:https://www.nps.

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