The animal so carefully modeled in the vessel given in Fig. 418 resembles a raccoon or an opossum. The mouth of the vessel is wide and the neck upright and short. The body is ornamented with a pattern made up of triangular groups of incised lines, which may or may not be meant for hair.
Fig. 418.—Opossum vase: Arkansas.—⅔.
The love of modeling life forms shows itself again in the little vase illustrated in Fig. 419. The head of some animal, rudely suggested, projects from one side, while a curved tail on the other carries out the idea of the complete creature. The round body is decorated with broad vertical lines in dark red. A red line encircles the rim.
Fig. 419.—Animal-shaped vase: Arkansas.—⅓.
It is not strange that a people who had successfully engaged in the modeling of life forms, and especially the heads of animals, should attempt the human head. Their remarkable success in this direction is shown in a number of vases, one of which is given in Fig. 420. This and kindred peoples had made considerable progress in carving in stone and other materials, evincing a decided talent for sculpture; but clay is so much more readily manipulated than either wood, stone, or shell, that we are not surprised to find their best work in that material.
It is an interesting fact that with all this cleverness in the handling of clay, and in the delineation of varied models, the art had not freed itself from the parent stem—the vessel—and launched out into an independent field. In a few cases such an end seems to have been achieved by certain groups of mound builders, notably those whose works at Madisonville, Ohio, have recently been explored by Professor Putnam. Modeling in clay was probably confined to vessels for the reason that, through their humble agency, the art was developed.
Up to the present time I have met with but eight of these curious head-shaped vases. All were obtained from the vicinity of Pecan Point, Arkansas, and, like other vessels, have been associated with human remains in graves or mounds. It is true that in all cases the bones of the dead have not been found, but this only indicates their complete decay. The question as to whether or not these vases were made exclusively for sepulchral purposes must remain unanswered; there is no source of information upon the subject. Such a purpose is, however, suggested in this case by the semblance of death given to the faces.
The finest example yet found is shown in Fig. 420. In form it is a simple head, five inches in height and five inches wide from ear to ear. The aperture of the vase is in the crown, and is surrounded by a low, upright rim, slightly recurved. The cavity is roughly finished, and follows pretty closely the contour of the exterior surface, excepting in projecting features such as the ears, lips, and nose. The walls are generally from one-eighth, to one-fourth of an inch in thickness, the base being about three-eighths. The bottom is flat, and takes the level of the chin and jaws.