[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 coarse 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 principal 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 illustrated. 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 polishing implement, and are somewhat depressed, probably the result of strong pressure with this tool. They are bordered by wide incised lines. The intervening spaces are indented with a roulette.
Fig. 458.—Vase; Illinois.—¾.
A handsome little vessel, obtained from a mound at Albany, Whitesides County, Illinois, is illustrated 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 coarse 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 wishing at present to enter upon the detailed study of the latter class 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 shells.
