The antiquity of pottery in this country is a question of absorbing interest. Perhaps the shell mounds of Florida shed more light on this question than do other remains. Mr. Clarence B. Moore, who has explored for several seasons, and thoroughly opened numbers of shell mounds, states that sometimes there was no pottery in the lower layers of some of these mounds. This would indicate that some of the shell mounds are very old, and had been in use before the discovery and utilization of pottery by our aborigines. I regret that I have not space to quote Mr. Moore’s remarks at length, but must refer readers to his reports, which take up this important question in detail. Mr. Brown reports on the pottery of his region as follows:— “About thirty-five specimens of the earthenware vessels of the Wisconsin Indians are now in existence. Most of these have been described and figured in the _Wisconsin Archeologist_. The largest of these vessels in the J. P. Schumacher collection at Green Bay is twenty inches in height and twenty-two inches in diameter at the widest part. It has the great capacity of two and one fourth bushels. The smallest specimen is in the H. P. Hamilton collection and is of about the size of an ordinary cup. “Other pottery objects found in Wisconsin include pipes, a few beads, and perforated discs made of potsherds.” I am indebted to Professor Holmes for Figures 637 to 646, 659, 660, 662 to 667, 675, 677, and to Mr. Moore for Figures 668 to 674. CHAPTER XXXIII HEMATITE OBJECTS