It seems, then, that the pottery of the Atlantic region was very rude and was modelled chiefly on wicker moulds, and was not abundant[91]; that the lower Mississippi valley and the South-west were the regions within the United States where pottery attained its highest development; that as one proceeds northward pottery diminishes in quantity and in quality till it disappears; and that in a southerly direction it increases in abundance and in excellence of manufacture and artistic design. The pottery area is fan-shaped, with Central America for a handle. This would all appear to indicate that the pottery wave rolled up from the Far South, and that the Moundbuilders and the Pueblos acquired their art from that direction, or brought it north as they came on the retreat of the cold. Attempts have been made to connect the Pueblos with the Moundbuilders, and both with the Aztecs, but there is no good evidence now known which substantiates any such claim. Even if they did come from the South, it does not make a mystery nor does it necessarily prove any direct relationship between these branches of the Amerind race. Those nearest the great culture centre acquired most culture, hence the farther north the less pottery. The homogeneity of the Amerinds was due to causes operating on this continent at a very early period, and the same causes may explain why the Moundbuilder, the Pueblo, and the Southern stocks were good potters, while the Algonquins, the Dakotas, the Athapascans, and other Northern stocks were so inferior in this respect, while not being inferior in others.[92] [Illustration: VASE FROM CHIRIQUI. DECORATED IN BLACK, RED, AND PURPLE]