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Show LVIII ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR the development of geometric ornamentation. It is shown that forms of decoration, originating in the previously existing textile art and hence purely conventional, were imposed upon the potter's art, which, at the time of the Spanish conquest, had not yet acquired a style purely its own. ANCIENT POTTERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, BY WILLIAM H. HOLMES. The ancient relics discussed in this paper are divided into three groups, viz, those found in the Upper Mississippi, the Middle Mississippi, and the Lower Mississippi or Gulf province. The much greater amount of ware obtained from the mounds and graves of the province of the Middle Mississippi Valley, as compared with that found in the other districts, has required that this paper should be mainly devoted to this province. It embraces the greater part of the States of Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee, large portions of Kentucky, Mississippi, and Illinois, and extends into Iowa, Alabama, Indiana, and Texas. The author dwells upon the age of the objects, their use, construction, material, colors, form, finish, and ornamentation. He gives special classifications and descriptions, with numerous illustrations, under the heads of bowls, pot shaped vessels, wide mouthed bottles or jars, and high necked bottles. It is noted that the vessels, though generally found in connection with human sepulchers, were not to any extent cinerary, probably not even mortuary, in the sense of construction for the purpose of inhumation with the dead. They were ordinary receptacles for food and drink placed in the grave, together with other possessions of the deceased. The material employed in their manufacture was clay in all grades of refinement. The tempering materials, varying in quantity, were shells, sand, and pulverized potsherds. The stage of the art represented was that of primitive hand building. No lathe or wheel was used. Molds, such as could be made from baskets, nets, and coarse cloth, were employed in some sections. The period was also one of open-air baking. A prominent feature is the great diversity of form, indicating the long practice of the art, a high specialization of |
