The pottery of different sections of the country varies in material, form, colour, and decoration. That the ware of a certain tribe was crude and imperfect does not necessarily indicate that the people who made it were inferior in culture, but that the natural conditions were not favourable to pottery-making. A tribe living near clay-beds would as naturally make good pottery as one around whose homes materials for basket-making grew in abundance would excel in that craft. Perhaps, on the whole, the pottery of the South is more advanced than that of the Northern tribes, probably because of the difference in climate. While the people of the North were wandering hunters for the most part, those of the South were more prosperous and stay-at-home, and would be likely to have more wants than the Northern tribes, with leisure to gratify them.
As to the uses to which the Indians put their pottery; most of the pieces show with simple straightforwardness what purposes they served. In only a few cases is there any doubt—notably some spool-shaped articles of clay, found in the Ohio Valley. At first, pottery was chiefly used for the storing, cooking, and carrying of water and food; taking the place, in some degree, of vessels of wicker, horn, and stone. This has always remained its most important function. Earthen vessels were employed in religious and other ceremonies, and earthen tools were often made, while there are, besides the myriads of pipes, a host of small clay vessels and figures which were evidently toys or used in games (See Figs. [53] and [54]). It is interesting to note the difference between our cooking-pots and those of this primitive people. Theirs have almost invariably a round or cone-shaped base (See [Fig. 55]), which Prof. W. H. Holmes explains was natural, as, among barbarous nations, hard, level floors were the exception, while those of sand and soft earth were the rule. Under those conditions, the rounded base would be much the best. In putting the pot over the fire, the fuel or other supports kept it in position. Often cooking-vessels were made with short, strong handles (See [Fig. 56]) or a flaring rim, so that they could be conveniently swung over the fire with vines or cords. In certain parts of the country where the Indians made salt by evaporating the water from saline springs, large vat-shaped vessels of clay are found which were evidently moulded for the purpose. They are peculiar because of their size and the great thickness of the walls, while almost invariably they have, on the outer surface, markings which seem to have been impressed with a woven fabric.
Other Indians made maple sugar, using earthen vessels to collect and boil the sap.