Ancient Pottery of the Mississippi Valley: Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1882-83, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1886, pages 361-436Holmes, William Henry
History
Ancient Pottery of the Mississippi Valley: Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1882-83, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1886, pages 361-436
Holmes, William Henry
Indian pottery -- Mississippi River Valley; Mississippi River Valley -- Antiquities
I have already pointed out the fact that most of the pottery of the
Upper Mississippi region belongs to a distinct family. It has never
been as abundant as the pottery of the more southern sections of the
country and is not well represented in our museums. There are only a
few pieces in the Davenport collection and these are all in a more or
less fragmentary state. A majority are from a mound near the city of
Davenport, but a limited number came from Wisconsin.
At this time it is impossible to define, with any degree of precision,
the geographical limits of this class of ware. The tribes by whom it
was manufactured have evidently, at one time or another, occupied
the greater part of the Mississippi basin north of the mouth of
the Missouri River. Similarities of material, shape, methods of
manufacture, and ornamentation, tend to show that we must include the
greater parts of the States of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois,
Indiana, and Ohio, in the area covered by this or closely related
ceramic groups, and indications of its presence are discovered far
beyond these limits. The mounds of Manitoba have recently furnished
examples of this class of ware, and it has decided relationships with
the ware of the Eastern and Northeastern States. It is not yet time
to draw close distinctions, as sufficiently detailed studies of the
products of the various districts have not been made.
On the shelves of our museums the difference between the two great
families of the middle and Upper Mississippi are strikingly manifest.
The ware of the former district, as already shown, exhibits variously
tinted pastes tempered with coarsely pulverized shells or potsherds;
the vases, as a rule, having full bodies, well rounded bases, and
in very many cases, narrow necks. They exhibit great variety of
decoration and no little care in finish. The northern family shows
a dark paste tempered with sand, often apparently granitic; a rough
fracture, and generally a rude finish. The shapes are comparatively
simple, often long, tapering below, and flat bottomed. The
ornamentation is totally unlike that of the southern variety.
It consists of cord impressions, incised lines, and implement
indentations arranged in figures peculiar to the district. There
are many other features that, like the subtile characters of human
physiognomy, cannot easily be described, but which are of first
importance as indices of relationship or the lack of it.
The best preserved of the Davenport specimens was described and
illustrated in the first volume of the proceedings of the Davenport
Academy. This vessel, Fig. 456, was found in a mound near Davenport
along with human remains, and closely associated with other relics,
among which were several copper implements covered with coarse woven
fabrics. Its height is eleven inches, width of aperture seven and
a half inches, and diameter of base four inches. It is estimated to
contain a little over one gallon.
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