Ancient Pottery of the Mississippi Valley Part 7

The best preserved of the Davenport specimens was described and ill.u.s.trated 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 a.s.sociated with other relics, among which were several copper implements covered with coa.r.s.e 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.

There is a broad, shallow constriction at the neck. The walls are from one-fourth to three-eighths of an inch thick, and the margin of the rim is squared off, showing the full thickness--a strong characteristic of the northern pottery. The form is nearly symmetrical, and the surface is hand-smoothed but not polished. The paste is now dark and crumbling, and shows a rough fracture. A large percentage of sand was used in tempering. The color is a dark gray-brown. The entire surface, with the exception of a narrow band about the base, has been covered with ornamentation. This is executed with considerable care, and shows a great deal of ingenuity and some taste. There is apparently no feature copied from nature or from ideographic art. Two or three distinct implements have been used.

A part of the neck ornament was made by rolling back and forth a circular tool, a _roulette_, the edge of which was notched. A row of indented nodes has been produced upon the exterior surface of the neck by impressing upon the inside the end of a reed or hollow bone about one-fourth of an inch in diameter. Patterns of bold, rather carelessly drawn lines cover the body and seem to have been made by trailing, under pretty strong pressure, the smooth point of a stylus--probably the bone or reed already suggested. Some of the larger indentations upon the lower part of the neck may have been made by the same implement held in an oblique position. The use to which this vessel was applied can hardly be guessed. It was found with the remains of its owner, and probably contained food or drink.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 456.--Vase: Davenport, Iowa.--1/3.]

Another smaller vessel from the same locality and found under similar conditions shows the same characteristics of material, form, and ornament. There are also a few other fragments of the same ware from this group of mounds. One of these shows that decoration by the indentation of twisted cords was practiced here as elsewhere. A similar vase tastefully decorated with indented lines about the neck, and a band of decoration consisting of broad, plain, sinuous bands upon the body, comes from a mound in Scott County, Iowa. Height six inches, diameter the same. The rims of all these vessels are square on the edge, showing the full thickness of the walls.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 457.--Vase: Wisconsin.--1/2.

[_National Museum._]]

A very interesting vessel obtained by Captain Hall from a mound in Wisconsin is represented by a number of large fragments, probably comprising about one-half of the walls. It must have been somewhat larger than the vase given in Fig. 456, and in a general way resembles it closely. It appears to be more pointed below than the other, and has a slightly flaring rim. The walls are one-fourth of an inch thick.

The paste is coa.r.s.e and is tempered with sand, as in the cases already described. The lower part of the body is covered with nearly vertical cord marks. The upper part was smoothed, rather rudely, for the reception of additional decoration, which consists of several bands of indented figures. The princ.i.p.al implement used was apparently a stiff cord, or a slender osier wrapped with fine thread, which has been laid on and impressed with the fingers, forming nearly continuous encircling lines. Bands of short oblique lines made in the same manner also occur. Just below the margin there is a line of annular indentations made from the exterior, leaving nodes on the inside--the reverse of the treatment noticed in the vessel already ill.u.s.trated.

Fragments of identically marked ware from the vicinity of Prairie du Chien may be seen in the National Museum.

A large fragment from Baraboo County, Wisconsin, shows a full body and a slightly flaring rim. The upper part is ornamented with horizontal lines of annular indentations, and the body is covered with rather rude patterns made by rolling a notched wheel or _roulette_ back and forth in zigzag lines.

Two handsome pieces of this ware were recently obtained by the Bureau of Ethnology from a mound in Vernon County, Wisconsin. The finest of these, which is shown in Fig. 457, is six and a half inches in height, and in symmetry and finish rivals the best work of the south. The paste is dark, compact, and fine grained, and tempered apparently with sand. The color of the surface is a rich, mottled brown. The most striking feature of the decoration consists of a number of polished bands, extending in divers directions over the surface, the interstices being filled in with indented figures. The lip is smooth and the margin rounded. The exterior surface of the narrow collar is ornamented with oblique lines made by a _roulette_, and crossed at intervals with fine incised lines. The neck is slightly constricted, and is encircled by a polished zone one and one-fourth inches wide, having a line of indentations along the upper edge. The body is separated into four lobes by four vertical, depressed, polished bands about one inch wide. Two of these lobes are crossed obliquely by similar polished bands. These bands were all finished with a polis.h.i.+ng implement, and are somewhat depressed, probably the result of strong pressure with this tool. They are bordered by wide incised lines. The intervening s.p.a.ces are indented with a _roulette_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 458.--Vase; Illinois.--3/4.]

A handsome little vessel, obtained from a mound at Albany, Whitesides County, Illinois, is ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 458. It apparently belongs to the silicious ware of the north. The shape and ornamentation are somewhat novel. Four large flattish lobes occur about the body, on each of which a figure somewhat resembling a Maltese cross has been made by incising or impressing broad, shallow lines. The remainder of the body is covered with marks that resemble impressions of a coa.r.s.e osier basket. This specimen was collected by Mr. C. A. Dodge, and a short description was published by Prof. W. H. Pratt in the third volume of the proceedings of the Davenport Academy.

GULF PROVINCE.

Our museums contain but few pieces of pottery from the Lower Mississippi, and in the Davenport Academy collection there are probably not more than a dozen typical examples of the leading varieties of ware of the Gulf States. Louisiana and Mississippi have furnished some very fine specimens of the pottery of the middle province, more refined, perhaps, in form, material, and finish than the ware of Arkansas and Missouri, but still differing decidedly from the typical pottery of Alabama and Georgia. Not wis.h.i.+ng at present to enter upon the detailed study of the latter cla.s.s of ware, I shall present only the few examples contained in the Davenport collection.

The southern ware is characterized by refinement of outline, color, finish and ornament, and is distinguished from that of the Middle Mississippi by its material, which is a fine-grained paste, tempered with very fine silicious matter instead of pulverized sh.e.l.ls.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 459.--Cup: Alabama.--1/3.]

The little cup given in Fig. 459 is from Mobile, Alabama. It is pointed at opposite ends and was probably modeled after or within some basket or fruit sh.e.l.l, the impressions from which are seen on the surface. The paste contains no perceptible tempering material.

The largest and most pleasing vessel of this cla.s.s is from Alabama, and is shown in Fig. 460.

The aperture is ten and a half inches in diameter, and the height nine and one-half inches. The form is full above and somewhat conical below. The walls are thin and even and the surface well polished.

The color is dark and shows the usual fire mottlings. There is no admixture of sh.e.l.l material, finely pulverized micaceous matter appearing in its place. The ornamentation is simple, but is applied in a way to greatly enhance the beauty of the vessel. It consists of a single broad zone of incised figures. Three zigzag lines meander the middle of the band and the intervening triangles are filled in with groups of straight lines. All the lines are well drawn and appear to have been cut with a sharp point in the dry clay.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 460.--Bowl: Alabama.--1/3.]

Bottle-shaped vases are not found to any great extent outside of the Mississippi Valley, and are quite rare in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 461.--Bottle: Mississippi.--1/3.]

The piece ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 461 is from Mississippi, and in most respects is identical with the ware of the Gulf Province. The paste is silicious, fine-grained, and quite hard. The color is slightly ferruginous and clouded with fire stains from the baking. The body is ornamented with the engraved figure of a bird apparently intended for an eagle. The head, with its notched and strongly curved beak and conventionalized crest, occupies one side. The wings may be seen at the right and left, while the tail appears on the side opposite the head. The flattened base of the vessel occupies the place of the body.

The lines have been scratched with a sharp point in the hardened clay. Certain s.p.a.ces in the plumes, wings, and tail are filled in with reticulated lines.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 462.--Bottle: Alabama.--1/3.]

The bottle presented in Fig. 462 is embellished with a rather remarkable design in color. The material is fine grained and without admixture of sh.e.l.l. The color of the paste is a pale, salmon gray. The surface is coated with a thick slip or enamel of whitish clay, very fine grained and smooth; upon this the design was painted, not in the thick earthy color employed farther north, but in what appears to be a dark purplish-gray stain. The design upon the body is wholly unlike anything yet described. It is developed in the light ground tint by filling in the interstices with the dark color. The peculiar character of this design inclines me to the view that it probably had an ideographic origin, although possibly treated here as pure decoration.

The open hand is sometimes seen, in both the decorative and the symbolic work of the Gulf coast tribes, and is not unknown elsewhere.

The figures alternating with the hands are suggestive of a highly conventionalized face, the eyes being indicated by the volutes and the mouth and teeth by the lower part of the figure, as will be seen in the fully projected design, Fig. 463. The neck has two indistinct bands of triangular dentate figures apparently painted in the dark color. The bottom is flattish and without the coating of light clay.

Both paste and slip can be readily scratched with the finger nail.

This vase was found in Franklin County, Alabama, near the Mississippi line.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 462.--Painted design.]

ReSUMe.

Attention has been called to the great numbers of pieces of earthenware recovered from the mounds and graves of the middle province of the Mississippi Valley. In certain districts--as remarked by one of our collectors--we have but to dig to fill museums. Such districts must have been occupied for a long period by a numerous people who recognized the claims of the dead upon their worldly treasures. The burial grounds of many other sections of the American continent are correspondingly rich in ceramic remains.

The vessels were not to any extent cinerary, and probably not even mortuary in the sense of having been constructed especially for inhumation with the dead. They were receptacles for food, drink, paint, and the like, placed in the grave along with other possessions of the departed in obedience to the demands of an almost universal custom.

The material employed in manufacture embraced clay in all grades of refinement, from coa.r.s.e loamy earths to the refined slips used in surface finish. The tempering materials--used in greater or lesser quant.i.ty according to the character of the vessel to be made--consisted of sh.e.l.l, sand, and potsherds reduced to various degrees of pulverulence.

The stage of the art represented by this ware is one of hand building purely. No lathe or other revolving device was known, although varieties of improvised molds--baskets, gourds, and the like, such as are known to nearly all pottery-making peoples--were frequently employed.

The highest degree of finish known was attained by the application of a slip or wash of fine clay which was given a good degree of mechanical polish by means of a smooth implement held in the hand.

Ornament was produced by both flat and plastic methods. The colors used in painting were white, black, and red earths. The plastic subjects were incised, stamped, relieved, and modeled in the round.

The period was one of open-air baking, a moderate degree of hardness being secured. The texture was porous and the vessels were without resonance. The paste exhibits two distinct varieties of color which may be described roughly as light and dark. A certain range of dark hues--blacks, browns, and grays--were probably produced by "smother baking." Another set of colors embracing light reddish and yellowish grays resulted from changes in the clay produced by simple open air baking.

A feature worthy of especial note is the great diversity of form--indicating a long practice of the art, a high specialization of uses, and a considerable variety in the originals copied. The manual skill exhibited is of no mean order. Symmetry of form combined with considerable grace of outline has been achieved without the wheel--a result attained in still greater perfection by other American races.

Notwithstanding the great diversity of the forms of vessels, the very primitive condition of the art is indicated by the absence of bricks, tiles, whistles, lamps, spindle-whorls, toys, and statuettes. The models from which the vessels were copied must have been quite varied, comprising sh.e.l.ls of mollusks--marine and fresh-water--gourd sh.e.l.ls of varying shapes, and vessels of wicker, bark, horn, and wood, such as are in common use with our western and northern tribes.

The execution of the ornamental designs indicates a rather low grade of skill. This is especially true of work in color, which has the appearance of a newly acquired art. Intaglio and relief work evinces much greater skill--the incised forms especially giving evidence of long experience.

In subject-matter the ornament employed bespeaks nothing higher perhaps than could be expected of our historic tribes. The great body of the devices are geometric, and comprise such motives as could have developed within the art or that might have been borrowed from closely a.s.sociated arts. A small percentage of incised linear designs come, apparently, from mythologic sources, and delineate, in a rude way, both men and animals.

The modeling of life forms in connection with earthen vessels const.i.tutes a feature of considerable interest, the highest known achievement being represented by a series of vases imitating human heads. Animal forms are generally rudely modeled, the imitation of nature having been apparently a secondary consideration--the a.s.sociated idea or the fancy for the grotesque being the stronger motive. The animal forms are inferior to those carved in stone by some of the mound-building peoples.

That any of these images were idols in the ordinary acceptation of the term is an idea that cannot be entertained. They are always a.s.sociated directly with vessels, and could not be more than representations of the tutelary deities supposed to be interested in the uses or ceremonies to which the vessels were a.s.signed.

In form there are many suggestions of the characteristic utensils of the north, in ornament there are occasional hints of the south--of Caribbean and Mexican art.

With the Pueblo peoples, notwithstanding their proximity, there is hardly a hint of relations.h.i.+p of any kind. Unlike the Pueblos, the ethnical environment of the Mississippi Valley races would seem to have been considerably diversified; there was less isolation; yet there are strong indications that the art is mainly of indigenous growth, as there is unity and consistency in all its features.

In reference to the period of culture represented by this ware, a few words may be added. There is no feature in it that could not reasonably be expected of the more advanced historic tribes of the Valley. It indicates a culture differing in many ways from that of the Pueblos, ancient and modern, but on the whole rather inferior to it.

The work of Mexico, Central and South America is decidedly superior in every essential feature.

There are many difficulties in the way of inst.i.tuting a comparison of this work with that of the primitive work of the Old World. These I shall not stop to present in this place. In the most general way, I may say that the ceramic art of the Middle Mississippi is apparently superior to that of the stone age in Europe, but little can be inferred in regard to relative grades of culture. In cla.s.sic countries it is difficult to find its true equivalent. To reach a stage of art correspondingly low we shall have to go behind the heroic age--to pa.s.s down through more than the five prehistoric cities of the hill of Hissarlik and descend into the lowest archaeologic substratum. Even this, unless it represent the first achievement of that grade of art upon the continent, would afford uncertain data for comparative study.

A given grade of ceramic achievement runs so freely up and down the scale of culture that alone its evidence is of little value in determining culture status.