NO. lO NEBRASKA ARCHEOLOGY STRONG ' 59 



this period had lost interest in their work. It was a dying industry, 

 formalized and decadent. 



The second and less abundant type of Pawnee pottery also occurs 

 in all sites of this period. Ware of this type is hard and flaky but 

 similar to the last in its poor finish. The paste appears to contain much 

 iron and as the result of firing ranges in color from a light yellowish 

 brown to a bright orange red. Pottery of this type is much thicker 

 than that previously discussed, although there is considerable variation 

 in this regard even in the same piece. Uneven drying or firing has 

 apparently caused many of these pieces to crack along the midline of 

 the walls. Its characteristic completed form is a round, open-mouthed 

 l)Owl without handles or incised decoration (pi. i, fig. i, h). The speci- 

 men figured is unusual in having a separate lid with a loop handle (pi. 

 I, fig. I, e). Both pieces were found close together in the same house 

 at the Hill site and have been carefully restored. Since separate lids 

 are unknown in any Nebraska prehistoric culture, it may be that this is 

 a Caucasian introduction. Two other plain-rim sherds of this type are 

 figured (pi. I, fig. I, g, j). A unique characteristic of this ware is the 

 common occurrence of a wash or pseudoslip of red ocher on the inner 

 surface of bowls and sherds. This coating, which is often rather 

 brilliant, can generally be removed by rubbing, but occasionally it 

 appears to have been baked in. The use of this red pseudoslip is not 

 a late trait, as it occurs on the inner surface of about the same pro- 

 portion of protohistoric Pawnee pottery as well as on one type of pre- 

 historic ware. Since the mineral powder present in such bowls would 

 make very unpleasant eating, it seems probable that this type of ware 

 had certain ceremonial functions, a usage further indicated by the 

 unique lid already mentioned. Summing up the matter of historic 

 Pawnee pottery of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, 

 we can say that it seems to furnish a reliable clue concerning the group 

 affiliations and period of any site at which it may be found. It 

 further forcibly illustrates the degeneration of the ceramic art follow- 

 ing the adoption of horse culture and the nomadic life thus engendered. 



Stone artifacts are still numerous at Pawnee sites of this period. 

 For purposes of comparison with the artifact complexes of other 

 Nebraska cultures we may summarize Wedel's historic Pawnee data. 

 In the following list of archeological criteria thus indicated, those non- 

 perishable artifact types which, so far as Nebraska cultures are known 

 at present, seem especially characteristic of Pawnee culture in this 

 period, are italicized. 



Historic Pauniee ceramic type. 



Metates, rare. One recorded from the Hill site, one from the Skidi site near 

 Palmer, Nebr. 



