578 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



I had the soil removed from one of these depressions, and found 

 marks of long-continued fire in its centre, from which I infer that they 

 are sites of the lodges of these ancient people. 



The general character of this portion of the hill-range is precipi- 

 tous to the north, with a very gradual descent to the south, forming 

 the north slope of the broad and beautiful valley of Eagle Creek, a 

 tributary of the Saline, a valley once cultivated by the prehistoric 

 people that worked the salines, evidenced by the fine sjDecimens of 

 stone agricultural implements turned up by the plough, and most abun- 

 dant near the earthworks. 



I have in my colle(!tion, from this locality, four hoes or spades, 

 flaked out of chert or quartzite, most probably from the metamor- 

 phic sandstone of the district. They are beautifully wrought, and 

 vary in size from six and a half by three and a half to ten and a half 

 by four and three-quarter inches, and from one-half to three-quarters 

 of an inch in thickness. 



On receipt of Mr. Ewbank's letter in 1859, I examined carefully 

 quantities of specimens of pottery, and found the markings on all of 

 them to have been made by woven cloth of twisted threads, and in no 

 single instance by rush or willow baskets. Some of these cloth im- 

 pressions were of fine texture. 



When I considered that a basket of the large size of these salt- 

 kettles, even if made of metallic wii-e no thicker than the thread im- 

 pressions, could not possibly be kept in form while being lined with 

 heavy clay, the idea of using any twisted textile fabric for such a 

 purpose seemed absurd. We must, therefore, look for some other 

 explanation of these markings. 



They could not be for ornament, or the rough, sharp edge of the 

 projecting rim would have been finished with more care, or where 

 threads had broken, or pieces been torn from the cloth, the defects in 

 the markings would have been repaired. 



Some of the threads of the cloth being at right angles to the rim, 

 and gradually becoming oblique or bias, presented the exact appear- 

 ance which a bandage of cloth would, if tightly bound round a semi- 

 globular bowl. 



I imagine these half-civilized people to have been practical utili- 

 tarians ; and I can see the use of a bandage in holding the moist clay 

 firmly bound Avhile being raised from the mould on which it was formed, 

 and which was essential to prevent cracking as it hardened or dried. 



If a bandage was used in this manner and for this purpose, there 

 could probably be found pieces of the pans showing the width of 

 bandage used, also where and how it had been fastened at its union. 



Therefore, my first object was to secm-e all the specimens that I 

 could, also the mould or core on which I believed the pans had been 

 formed. But from the time I collected the specimens sent to Mr. Ew- 

 bank and Dr. Davis, it was nine or ten years before I again had an 



