“Although some of the peculiar designs with which the paddle stamps were embellished may have come, as has been suggested, from neighboring Antillean peoples, it is probable that the implement is of Continental origin. It is easy to see how the use of figured modeling-tools could arise with any people out of the simple primitive processes of vessel-modeling. As the walls were built up by means of flattish strips of clay, added one upon another, the fingers and hand were used to weld the parts together and to smooth down the uneven surfaces. In time various improvised implements would come into use—shells for scraping, smooth stones for rubbing, and paddle-like tools for malleating. Some of the latter, having textured surfaces, would leave figured imprints on the plastic surface, and these, producing a pleasing effect on the primitive mind, would lead to extension of use, and, finally, to the invention of special tools and the adding of elaborate designs. But the use of figured surfaces seems to have had other than purely decorative functions, and, indeed, in most cases, the decorative idea may have been secondary. [Illustration: FIG. 678. (S. 1–2.) Effigy bottle. Collection of E. E. Baird, Poplar Bluff, Missouri. ] [Illustration: FIG. 679. (S. 1–4.) Effigy pottery from southwestern Kentucky. B. H. Young’s collection, Louisville. ] [Illustration: FIG. 680. (_S. about 1–8._) _Decorated and painted bowls and jars typical of the best pottery, from the Middle Mississippi Valley. Taken from mounds and graves of Arkansas and Missouri. From the collection of F. P. Graves, Doe Run, Missouri._ ] [Illustration: FIG. 681. (S. 1–5.) Three effigy bowls. From the Wabash Cemetery. ] [Illustration: FIG. 682. (S. 1–2.) Remarkable effigy bowl in clay. Supposed to be a life-mask. Found near Blythesville, Mississippi County, Arkansas. From burial-site which was being washed away by river. Side view. Collection of H. M. Braun, East St. Louis, Illinois. ] [Illustration: FIG. 683. (S. 1–2.) Front view of Fig. 682. ] “It will be observed by one who attempts the manipulation of clay that striking or paddling with a smooth surface has often the tendency to extend flaws and to start new ones, thus weakening the wall of the vessel, but a ribbed or deeply figured surface properly applied has the effect of welding the clay together, of kneading the plastic surface, producing numberless minute dovetailings of the clay which connect across weak lines and incipient cracks, adding greatly to the strength of the vessel.