"It is not known why people started to produce pottery. Once associated with the advent of agriculture and village life, ceramic vessels are now known to have been produced well before any evidence for food production in many parts of the world. This project will identify patterns of early pottery uses in North Eastern North America, one region where pre-agricultural pottery has emerged as a problem with broad social and economic implications. Focusing on ceramic assemblages selected from a diversity of ecological and cultural contexts, the hypotheses that nuts, seeds, terrestrial mammals, aquatic resources, and/or early cultigens were processed in these pots will be tested using state-of-the-art methods in organic residue analysis.As no facilities for the organic residue analysis are available in Canada, the candidate seeks to carry out the project at the University of York which has facilities for lipid analysis and plant microfossil characterization of organic residues within BioArCh, an inter-disciplinary research centre dedicated to work on ancient biomolecules. Furthermore, the candidate will join the Early Pottery Research Group which is already pursing the question of the use of Early Pottery in Europe and Asia.The mobility of the candidate will allow the group to address the question of pottery innovation and look for common motivations across three continents and create the conditions for an enduring partnership beyond the end of the fellowship. The candidate’s expertise in pottery analysis and her extensive existing collaborative network are essential to achieve these aims. As well as the long term benefits, the project has the potential to make an immediate impact by addressing a major question in North American prehistory and thereby showcasing European excellence in this field."