NO. 2042. ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS— BUSHNELL. 665 



to burn them. * * * In this way they construct large, hand- 

 some, and tolerably durable ware, though latterly, with such tribes 

 as have much intercourse with the whites, it is not much used, be- 

 cause of the substitution of cast-iron ware in its stead."^ This was 

 written to apply to the region west of the Mississippi, and more 

 especially to Missouri, a^ the author had been for many years a 

 captive among the Osage. He might well have had in mind the area 

 about the mouth of the Saline, 



The large vessels were made of clay, to which a quantity of crushed 

 shell had been added. The vessels had been burned, but, strange 

 as it may appear, heat sufficient to burn the vessel was not mtense 

 enough to calcine the particles of shell, and many pieces retain their 

 luster. 



The use of baskets m this connection would not have resulted in 

 their destruction and loss. The wet clay, spread over the inner or 

 concave surface, would within a short time have dried and contracted 

 sufficiently to have permitted the removal of the vessel without injury 

 to it or the basket mold. 



Several fragments of large pans, found near the spring, bore the 

 impression of a coarse, loosely made net. An example is given in 

 plate 56. This particular vessel had evidently been formed in a mold 

 having a smooth surface, otherwise the spaces between the cords 

 would have been irregular. 



The use of these large vessels was not restricted to the area imme- 

 diately surrounding the salt spring, where they had evidently been 

 utilized as evaporating pans in the manufacture of salt. On the 

 village site across the Saline fragments of similar vessels were met 

 with. Here were examples of both the smooth and fabric marked 

 varieties. These undoubtedly served as cooking utensils, in which 

 food was prepared by boiling, the water being heated by placing hot 

 stones in the vessel. 



ADDITIONAL SITES. 



The sites described on the preceding pages are in the immediate 

 vicinity of the mouth of the Saline; the investigations were neces- 

 sarily restricted to this area, but many other spots within a few 

 miles of the salt spring bear evidence of Indian occupancy. 



Following the course of the Saline to a point about 3 miles above 

 its mouth a place known as the "rock cut" is reached. At the 

 lower end of the '' cut" is a small salt spring. It is in the low ground 

 a few feet from the right bank of the river. Several fragments of 

 large "cloth-marked" pottery vessels were found in small chamiel 

 through which the water flows from the spring to the river. The 



1 Hunter, John D., Manners and Customs of Several Indian Tribes Located West of the Mississippi, 

 Philadelphia, 1823, p. 297. 



