NO. lO NEBRASKA ARCHEOLOGY — STRONG 65 



figured by Holmes and has since been described by Wedel/' hence we 

 need only discuss its major characteristics. Complete restored pots 

 (pi. 3) and characteristic rim sherds (pi. 2) are figured here, and these, 

 in conjunction with the illustrations given by Holmes and Wedel, 

 present a good picture of protohistoric Pawnee pottery. This ware 

 appears to have been the product of a living ceramic art, variable and 

 well executed in its forms and showing none of the careless formalized 

 technique so marked in the historic Pawnee pottery. In protohistoric 

 Pawnee ware a gray paste predominates, often fired to a light-brown 

 color and tempered with fine sand or crushed stone. It is similar in 

 texture to the better grade of historic Pawnee pottery but is usually 

 better polished on the outer surface. Presumably it has been shaped by 

 the paddle and anvil method, or by lump modeling, since no evidences 

 of coiling have been noticed. The occurrence of vertical ridges- on the 

 body of many of these pots is hard to explain (see pi. 2, fig. 2, d, I; 

 pi. 3, a, b, and Holmes, 1903, pi. 177, upper left-hand corner) but is a 

 rather characteristic feature of the ware and may be the result of 

 molding the pots within a willow twig frame as described by Dunbar.** 

 Decoration is characteristically accomplished by incision and to a lesser 

 extent by modeling, but a small percentage of the sherds have a red 

 ocher slip or wash on their inner surface, as is also the case with his- 

 toric Pawnee pottery. The decoration of lips, rims, and handles with 

 angular incised designs is rather ornate and pleasing to the eye (pi. 2). 

 Curvilinear and cord-marked designs such as occur on Mandan pottery 

 (compare Will and Spinden, 1906, pis. 37, 40) are totally absent, 

 though the ridged surface texture and many of the geometric designs 

 occurring on the Mandan sherds are strikingly similar to some of the 

 protohistoric Pawnee pieces. While a considerable proportion of the 

 Burkett and Schuyler site rims are simple and direct (pi. 2, fig. i, k,l, 

 m) others have marked collar with incised designs (pi. 2, fig. 2, g, h, and 

 Holmes, 1903, pi. 177, lower right-hand corner) which closely approxi- 

 mate both the historic Pawnee (pi. i, fig. i) and certain prehistoric 

 Nebraska pottery types to be discussed later (pis. 5, 9, 21, 24). On 

 the whole, however, the shouldered rims or collars on the protohistoric 

 pottery are less pronounced than in either of the foregoing wares. 

 Instead, the protohistoric Pawnee pottery makers seem to have run to 

 broad loop handles (pi. 2, fig. i, a-g, fig. 2, a-e) or to a pot marked 

 by an outward curling lip and a whole series of loop handles, often 



^ Holmes, 1903, figs. 78, 79, and pi. 177 ; Wedel, no date. The photographs 

 of restored pots, pi. 3, were made available through the courtesy of Dr. E. H. 

 Bell. 



^ Cited by Grinnell, 1893, pp. 255-256. 



