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Show i9oo] INDIAN INDUSTRIES a primitive but serviceable lamp, which hardened quickly under its own heat. The crudely modelled type of pottery is found widely distributed in North America, though great areas of the north and west are destitute of even that. \ Among the tribes of the eastern woodlands; the gulf coast, and the southwest, pottery was seen at its best, and we may take the ware of the Pueblo as the most perfect type. The Indians had discovered that unmixed clay was brittle, and had devised the remedy as well; the Pueblo woman almost invariably introduces sand and powdered potsherds into her raw material; and even the pottery of the ancient mounds of the Mississippi drainage shows that the clay was tempered by mixture with mica, pulverized shells, and other ingredients. * vvBesides the simple modelling of the soft material, the commonest method of pottery making is by " coiling." The woman rolls out a long, slender fillet of clay varying in thickness according to the size of the vessel to be made. This strip is coiled on itself to form a disk and the bottom of the vessel. The edges are then curved upward and strip after strip added, each one slightly overlapping the one next beneath until the desired size is reached. \ The rough surface is then smoothed out with the fingers or an appropriate instrument. Where the vessel is to be decorated, a slip or wash of fine clay mixed with water is often applied. The |
