PREHISTORIC ART. 497 



bands or ribs. Wheu placed about the base or rim, Ibese fillets are ofteu indented 

 with the fi]i<;er or au implement in a way to imitate rudely a Leavy twisted cord — a 

 feature evidently borrowed from basketry. Nodes are likeAvise attached in various 

 ways to the neck and body of the vessel. In souie cases the entire surface of the 

 larger versel is varied bj^ pinching up small hits of the clay between the nails of the 

 linger and thumb. An implement is sometimes used to produce a similar result. 



Iniatjlio design. — The ;esthetic tendencies of these potters are well shown by their 

 essays in engraving. They worked with points upon both plastic and the sun-dried 

 elay, as well as at times iipon the lire-baked surface. Figures thus produced exhibit 

 a wide range of artistic achievement. They illustrate all stages of progress, from the 

 most archaic type of ornament — the use of dots and straight lines — to the most ele- 

 gant combinations of curves, and hnally to the tleliueation of forms and fanciful 

 conceptions. 



Generally, when a blunt implement is employed, the line is produced by a move- 

 ment that I shall call trailing, in contradistinction to incision, in which a sharp point 

 is used, and excision or excavation, which is more easily accomplished with the end 

 of a hollow reed or bone. Impressed or stamped ornament is of rare occurrence, and 

 anything like repoussee work is practically unknown. The practice of impressing 

 cords and fabrics was common among many of the northern tribes, and nets have 

 been used in the manufacture and ornamentation of vases at many points witbin 

 this province. Stamps especially prepared Avere in use in most of the Gulf States 

 and to a limited extent in nortlieru localities. 



Designs in color. — The colors used in painting are white, red, brown, and black, 

 and have generally consisted of thick, opaque, clayey paste, white or colored with 

 ochers. Occasionally the colors used seem to have been mere stains. All were prob- 

 ably laid on with coarse brushes of hair, feathers, or vegetable fiber. The figures 

 are in most cases simple, and are applied in broad, bold lines, indicative of a strong- 

 talent for decoration. The forms are to a great extent curvilinear, and embrace 

 meanders, scrolls, circles, and combinations and groupings of curved lines in great 

 variety. Of rectilinear forms, lozenges, guilloches, zigzags, and checkers are best 

 known. 



The decided prevalence of curved form is worthy of remark. With all their fer- 

 tility of invention the inhabitants of this valley seem never to have achieved the 

 rectangular links meander, or anything more nearly approaching it than the current 

 scrcdl or the rectangular guilloche, while other peoples, such as the Pueblos of the 

 Southwest and the ancient nations of Mexico and Peru, found in it a chief resource. 



Mr. C. C. Willoughl)y, of the Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Massa- 

 chusetts, has i)ublished in the Journal of American Folk-Lore ' "An 

 Analysis of the Decorations upon Pottery from the Mississippi Yalley." 

 It consists of V2 pages, with 21 figures, and represents the different 

 motifs said .to have been employed in the decorations upon pottery 

 from the locality indicated. The similarities alleged are not always 

 ])erceptible and the arguments based thereon are not always logical, 

 but great latitude is permissible in such subjects. 



Bronze Age. 



It is not the intention of the author to attempt any description of 

 the antiquity, origin, technology, or industry of the prehistoric people 

 during the Bronze age. This would carry us into the realms of archae- 

 ology, while we have been confining ourselves to art. A few prelimi- 

 nary words may, however, be useful. 



' January to March, 1897, X, pp. 9-20. 

 NAT MUS 1)6 32 



