Chapter 1

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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION--BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

ANCIENT POTTERY

OF THE

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.

BY

WILLIAM H. HOLMES.

* * * * *

CONTENTS.

Page. Introductory 367 Ceramic groups 369 Middle Mississippi province 369 Distribution 369 How found 370 Age 371 Use 371 Construction 372 Material 372 Color 373 Form 373 Finish 373 Ornament 373 Modification of shape 373 Relief ornament 374 Intaglio designs 374 Designs in color 374 Classification of forms 375 Origin of form 376 Bowls 376 Form 376 Ornament 377 Illustrations 378 Ordinary forms 378 Eccentric forms 380 Life forms 383 Pot-shaped vessels 392 Material 393 Form 393 Handles 393 Origin of handles 393 Ornament 394 Illustrations 394 Wide-mouthed bottles or jars 398 Form 399 Ornament 399 Illustrations 399 Ordinary forms 399 Eccentric forms 403 Life forms 404 High-necked bottles 411 Form 411 Ornament 412 Illustrations 413 Ordinary forms 413 Eccentric forms 420 Life forms 422 Upper Mississippi province 426 Gulf province 431 Résumé 434

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page. FIG. 361.--Scale of forms 376 362.--Forms of bowls 376 363.--Rim modification 377 364.--Bowl: Arkansas 378 365.--Bowl: Arkansas 378 366.--Cup: Arkansas 379 367.--Bowl: Arkansas 379 368.--Bowl: Arkansas 380 369.--Cup: Arkansas 380 370.--Cup: Arkansas 380 371.--Rectangular bowl: Arkansas 381 372.--Burial casket: Tennessee 381 373.--Trough-shaped vessel: Arkansas 382 374.--Clay vessels imitating shell 384 375.--Bowl imitating a conch shell 384 376.--Frog-shaped bowl: Arkansas 385 377.--Frog-shaped bowl: Arkansas 385 378.--Animal-shaped bowl: Arkansas 385 379.--Bird-shaped bowl: Arkansas 386 380.--Bird-shaped bowl: Arkansas 386 381.--Bird-shaped bowl: Arkansas 387 382.--Bowl with grotesque heads: Arkansas 387 383.--Heads of birds 388 384.--Grotesque heads 388 385.--Bowl with grotesque head: Arkansas 389 386.--Bowl with grotesque head: Arkansas 389 387.--Bowl with grotesque handle: Arkansas 390 388.--Animal-shaped bowl: Arkansas 390 389.--Animal-shaped bowl: Arkansas 391 390.--Bowl with bat's head: Arkansas 392 391.--Bowl: Arkansas 392 392.--Forms of pots 393 393.--Handles 393 394.--Pot: Arkansas 394 395.--Pot: Arkansas 395 396.--Pot: Tennessee 395 397.--Pot: Arkansas 395 398.--Pot: Arkansas 395 399.--Pot: Alabama 396 400.--Pot: Arkansas 396 401.--Pot: Arkansas 396 402.--Pot: Arkansas 396 403.--Pot: Arkansas 397 404.--Pot: Tennessee 397 405.--Pot: Arkansas 398 406.--Forms of jar-shaped bottles 399 407.--Bottle: Arkansas 399 408.--Bottle: Arkansas 400 409.--Bottle: Arkansas 400 410.--Engraved bottle: Arkansas 401 411.--Engraved bottle: Arkansas 401 412.--Engraved design 402 413.--Teapot-shaped vessel: Arkansas 403 414.--Vessel of eccentric form: Arkansas 403 415.--Vessel of eccentric form: Arkansas 404 416.--Animal-shaped vase: Arkansas 404 417.--Sun-fish vase: Arkansas 405 418.--Opossum vase: Arkansas 405 419.--Animal-shaped vase: Arkansas 406 420.--Head-shaped vase: Arkansas 407 421.--Engraved figures 408 422.--Head covering 408 423.--Head-shaped vase: Arkansas 409 424.--Head-shaped vase: Arkansas 410 425.--Scale of forms 411 426.--Tripods 411 427.--Stands 412 428.--Compound forms of vessels 412 429.--Adaptation of the human form 412 430.--Bottle: Tennessee 413 431.--Gourd-shaped vessel: Tennessee 413 432.--Bottle: Arkansas 414 433.--Bottle: Arkansas 414 434.--Bottle: Arkansas 415 435.--Engraved bottle: Arkansas 416 436.--Bottle: Arkansas 417 437.--Bottle: Arkansas 417 438.--Bottle: Arkansas 418 439.--Fluted bottle: Arkansas 419 440.--Engraved bottle: Arkansas 419 441.--Tripod bottle: Arkansas 420 442.--Tripod bottle: Arkansas 421 443.--Tripod bottle: Arkansas 421 444.--Bottle of eccentric form: Arkansas 422 445.--Owl-shaped bottle: Arkansas 422 446.--Bear-shaped bottle: Tennessee 423 447.--Bear-shaped bottle: Arkansas 423 448.--Bottle with human head: Arkansas 424 449.--Bottle with human head: Arkansas 424 450.--Bottle with human head: Arkansas 424 451.--Bottle with human head: Arkansas 424 452.--Bottle with human head: Arkansas 425 453.--Position of feet 425 454.--Bottle with human form: Arkansas 426 455.--Bottle with human form: Arkansas 426 456.--Vase: Iowa 428 457.--Vase: Wisconsin 429 458.--Vase: Illinois 430 459.--Cup: Alabama 431 460.--Bowl: Alabama 432 461.--Bottle: Mississippi 432 462.--Bottle: Alabama 433 463.--Painted design 434

ANCIENT POTTERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.

By WILLIAM H. HOLMES.

INTRODUCTORY.

This paper is the third of a series of preliminary studies of aboriginal ceramic art which are intended to be absorbed into a final work of a comprehensive character.

The groups of relics selected for these studies are in all cases of limited extent, and are such as can lay claim to a considerable degree of completeness. It is true that no series of archæologic objects can ever be considered complete, but in exceptional cases the sources of supply may be so thoroughly explored that the development of new features of importance cannot reasonably be expected. If any series of American ceramic products has reached such a condition, it is that of the middle portions of the Mississippi Valley; yet, even in this case, I consider it unwise to attempt a monographic study, and prefer to single out a particular collection, making it the subject of a thorough investigation.

When the idea of preparing such a paper was first conceived, the collection presenting the greatest advantages was that of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Davenport, Iowa, which was, therefore, chosen. Other museums, especially those at Cambridge, Saint Louis, and Washington, were rich in material from this region, but none of these collections were so homogeneous and satisfactory.

The National Museum has recently received important accessions from the Mississippi Valley, through the agency of the Bureau of Ethnology, and ere the publication of this paper will probably excel all others in the number and variety of its mound relics. Some of its material has already been published by Dr. Charles Rau, Prof. C. C. Jones, Dr. Joseph Jones, and myself, and several additional examples are given in this paper.

Professor F. W. Putnam has described and illustrated many pieces belonging to the Peabody Museum, and Professor W. B. Potter and Dr. Edward Evers have issued an important work on the Saint Louis collections, in Contributions to the Archæology of Missouri.

This study is intended to pave the way to a thorough classification of the multitude of relics, and to the discovery of a method of procedure suited to a broad and exhaustive treatment of the ceramic art.

I do not expect to discuss ethnical questions, although ceramic studies will eventually be of assistance in determining the distribution and migrations of peoples, and in fixing the chronology of very remote events in the history of pottery-making races.

Some of the results of my studies of the evolutionary phase of the subject are embodied in an accompanying paper upon the "Origin and Development of Form and Ornament," and a second paper will soon follow. Before the final work is issued I hope to make close studies of all the principal collections, public and private. In such a work the importance of great numbers of examples cannot be overestimated. Facts can be learned from a few specimens, but relationships and principles can only be derived from the study of multitudes.

I shall probably have occasion to modify many of the views advanced in these preliminary papers, but it is only by pushing out such advance guards that the final goal can be reached.

Since the original issue of this paper in the Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Sciences, a careful revision of the text has been made and much additional matter and a number of illustrations have been added.

I wish in this place to express my obligations to the officers and members of the Davenport Academy of Sciences, and especially to Mrs. M. L. D. Putnam and Prof. W. H. Pratt, whose generous aid has been of the greatest service to me.

CERAMIC GROUPS.

In studying the collections from the Mississippi Valley, I find it convenient to classify the ceramic products in three great groups, which belong to as many pretty well-defined districts; these I have named, for convenience of treatment, the Upper Mississippi, the Middle Mississippi, and the Lower Mississippi or Gulf provinces. Other pottery occurs within the limits of these areas, but the examples found in the museums are so few that very little of importance can be learned from them.

The three groups enumerated are not equally represented. The great body of our collections is from the middle province. The ware of the Lower Mississippi or Gulf district, of which we have but a small number of pieces, has many features in common with the pottery of the middle district, and at the same time is identical in most respects with that of the Gulf coast to the east. No well-defined line can be drawn between them; but the ware of the north is wholly distinct and need never be confounded with the other groups.

MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI PROVINCE.

DISTRIBUTION.--It must not be inferred that there is perfect uniformity in the pottery of this, or any other, extended region; local peculiarities are always to be found. The products of contiguous districts, such, for example, as those of Mississippi County, Arkansas, and New Madrid County, Missouri, have much in common, and will at once be recognized as belonging to the same family, yet the differences are so marked that the unskilled observer could point them out with ease.

As indicated by decided family resemblances, the wares of this group extend over the greater part of the States of Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee, cover large portions of Mississippi, Kentucky, and Illinois, and reach somewhat into Iowa, Indiana, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas. The types are better marked and the products more abundant about the center of this area, which may be defined roughly as including contiguous parts of Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee, with a pretty decided focal center, at least in the abundance of relics, at Pecan Point, Arkansas.

The borders of the district are necessarily not clearly defined. The characters of the art products blend more or less with those of neighboring sections. This is a usual phenomenon, and is probably due to a variety of causes. The mere contact of peoples leads to the exchange of ideas, and, consequently, to similarities in the products of industry. A change of habitat, with its consequent change of environment, is capable of modifying art to a great extent. Groups of relics and remains attributed by archæologists to distinct stocks of people, may, in cases, be the work of one and the same people executed under the influence of different environments and at widely separated periods of time.

Mixed conditions in the remains of a locality are often due to the presence of different peoples, synchronously or otherwise. This occurs in many places on the outskirts of this district, a good illustration being found in East Tennessee, where three or four distinct groups of ware are intermingled. As would naturally be expected, the distribution is governed somewhat by the great water-ways, and pottery of this province is found far up the Ohio, Tennessee, and Arkansas Rivers.

HOW FOUND.--All peoples have resorted, at some period of their history, to the practice of burying articles of use or value with the dead. It is to this custom that we owe the preservation of so many entire pieces of these fragile utensils. They are exhumed from burial mounds in great numbers, and to an equal extent, perhaps, from simple, unmarked graves which are constantly being brought to light by the plowshare. Fragmentary ware is found also in refuse heaps, on house and village sites, and scattered broadcast over the face of the land.

This pottery, at its best, was probably not greatly superior in hardness to our own soft earthenware, and the disintegrating agencies of the soil have often reduced it to a very fragile state. Some writer has expressed the belief that a considerable portion of the ware of this province was sun-baked merely. This view is hardly a safe one, however, as clay, unmixed with lime or other like indurating ingredient, no matter how long exposed to the rays of the sun, would, from ages of contact with the moist earth, certainly return to its original condition. I have seen but few pieces that, even after the bleaching of centuries, did not show traces of the dark mottlings that result from imperfect firing. There probably was a period of unbaked clay preceding the terra-cotta epoch, but we cannot expect to find definite traces of its existence except, perhaps, in cases where large masses, such as mounds or fortifications, were employed.

The relations of the various articles of pottery to the bodies with which they were associated seem to be quite varied. The position of each vessel was determined by its contents, by its symbolic use, or by the pleasure of the depositor. Uniformity cannot be expected in this more than in other features of burial. In other sections of the country the pieces of pottery are said to have been broken before final inhumation took place, but such was certainly not the practice in this province.

AGE.--There can be no reasonable doubt that the manufacture of this ware began many centuries before the advent of the white race, but it is equally certain that the art was extensively practiced until quite recent times. The early explorers of Louisiana saw it in use, and the processes of manufacture are described by Dumont and others.

Possibly Du Pratz had in mind some of the identical vessels now upon our museum shelves when he said that "the women make pots of an extraordinary size, jars with a medium-sized opening, bowls, two-pint bottles with long necks, pots or jugs for containing bear's oil, which hold as much as forty pints, and finally plates and dishes in the French fashion."[1]

Vessels were certainly made in great numbers by the Natchez and other tribes within our period, and it is reasonable to suppose that they belonged to the great group under discussion. If not, it will be necessary to seek the cause of their total disappearance, since, as I have already said, the pottery of this district, as shown by the relics, is practically a unit.

The introduction of metal utensils was a death-blow to the native industry, although some of the southern tribes, the Cherokees, for example, seem to have practiced the art continuously, in a very limited way, down to the present time. There is but little evidence of the influence of the art of the whites upon the ceramic products of this province, although the forms are sometimes thought to be suggestive of European models. It is certain, however, that the art had reached its highest stage without the aid of civilized hands, and in the study of its many interesting features we can feel assured that we are dealing with purely aboriginal ideas.

The pottery of this province is remarkably homogeneous in character, and we are warranted in assigning it to a single period of culture, and, in concluding, that the peoples who developed and practiced the art belonged to a group of closely-allied tribes. We can also state without fear of precipitating a controversy that the people who made this pottery were "mound-builders." At the same time, they were not necessarily of the same people as the builders of the mounds of Wisconsin, Ohio, or Georgia or contemporaneous with them.

[Footnote 1: Du Pratz: Histoire de la Louisiane, Vol. II, p. 179.]

USE.--It is difficult to determine the functions of the various forms of vessels. We are safe in stating that in very primitive times nearly all were intended for use in the domestic arts, and that as time went on uses were differentiated--form, as a consequence, undergoing many changes. Early writers on the Southern States mention a number of ordinary uses, such as cooking, the carrying and boiling of water, the manufacture of sugar and salt, and the preservation of honey, oil, and paint.

Only a small percentage of the vessels, and these generally of the pot-shaped variety, show indications of use over fire. It is well known that with most peoples particular forms were devoted to especial ceremonial uses. The construction of vases exclusively for mortuary purposes was probably not generally practiced, although a few examples, notably those illustrated in Figs. 372 and 420, point decidedly in this direction.

The simple conditions of life with these people are indicated by the absence of certain forms. Lamps, whistles, toys, bricks, tiles, and other articles in common use with many barbaric nations, are not found in this province. Pipes, so neatly shaped by other mound-building peoples, are here of a very rude character, a point indicating decided distinctions between the tribes of this province and those of neighboring sections.

CONSTRUCTION.--The methods of manufacture have evidently been of a primitive character. The wheel or lathe has not been used. At the advent of the whites, the natives were observed to build their vessels by a process known as "coiling," and by modeling over gourds, and over blocks of wood and masses of indurated clay shaped for the purpose.

It is probable that in many cases the support was not a mold in the ordinary sense, but was simply a rounded object of small size held in one hand while the base of the vessel was formed over it by the other. Rounded pebbles, or the mushroom-shaped objects of clay sometimes found in the mounds, would have served the purpose perfectly. Trowels, paddles, stamps, polishing-stones, and other implements were used in finishing.

Baskets were also used as molds, and pliable fabrics, such as nets and coarse cloths, were employed in some sections. The methods of baking have apparently not been described in much detail by early writers, but the ware itself bears the marks of those simple processes known to our modern tribes. It is highly probable that the work was done by the women, and that each community had its skilled potters, who built and baked the ware in the open air, going through those simple mummeries that accompany the work among most primitive peoples.