Many anthropologists have now adopted a relational view of the culture concept. Much research has shown that, far from being bounded or self-replicating, cultures emerge through interactions between social Others. These findings are particularly important to research on borderlands and peripheries, where communities routinely encounter wide-ranging social and political diversity. We present ceramic frequencies alongside petrographic analysis from the Late Woodland component at Esseneca (38OC20) to illustrate two main points: (1) pottery types previously understood as culture historical isolates co-occur in parts of Upstate South Carolina, and (2) potters collected clays from two main geologic formations near the site. This research shows that communities in the region traveled freely, crossing cultural boundaries while acquiring potting clays. We suggest that this level of interaction between disparate social groups laid the foundation for some aspects of Mississippianization in the region.

许多人类学家现在已经采用了文化概念的关系观点。许多研究表明，文化远非有界或自我复制，而是通过社会他人之间的互动而产生的。这些发现对于边境地区和周边地区的研究尤其重要，因为这些地区的社区经常遇到广泛的社会和政治多样性。我们展示了埃塞尼卡 (38OC20) 晚期林地成分的陶瓷频率和岩相分析，以说明两个要点：(1) 以前被理解为文化历史隔离的陶器类型在南卡罗来纳州北部的部分地区同时出现，(2) 收集的陶器来自该地点附近两个主要地质构造的粘土。这项研究表明，该地区的社区在获取盆栽粘土的同时可以自由出行，跨越文化界限。我们认为，不同社会群体之间的这种程度的互动为该地区密西西比化的某些方面奠定了基础。