The oldest ceramics that have been found in the Ottawa Valley were recovered near Pembroke and date to more than 2500 years ago. Similar pottery has yet to be found in the Ottawa-Carleton region where the earliest ceramics are several centuries younger.

This pottery is referred to as Middle Woodland ceramics and relates to pottery styles called Point Peninsula in neighbouring New York state. These pots are usually decorated in a variety of ways with toothed or dentate tools. When the teeth of these decoration implements are offset, archaeologists describe the wavy lines they produce as pseudo-scallop shell impressions.

In addition to their surface decorations, pots of this period are characterized by their conoidal or elongated and slightly pointed bodies as well as their manufacturing technique which consists of building up the pot using coils or ropes of clay which are smoothed or welded together.

The examples which are presented here show a wide range of the decorations which have been found on Middle Woodland period ceramics in the Ottawa-Carleton region.