254 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 93 



trates the wall of the pot ; or in more unusual cases hy having two such 

 keylike projections on each end of the lug. I'nperforated lugs are 

 usually thickened extensions on the wall of the vessel. From the 

 proportion of lugs in his collection of rim sherds Sterns estimated 

 that they occurred in 40 percent of the vessels in this culture. Han- 

 dles are also common, the single-loop handle placed vertically being 

 the main type. In a few cases these lugs are modeled to represent 

 horned creatures, birds or animals (pis. 15, fig. 2, d, 16, fig. i, c). 



In size. Nebraska culture vessels range from large pots holding 

 as much as 6 gallons to tiny toy vessels the size of a quarter dollar. 

 Smaller pots holding a gallon or less and from 5 to 7 inches in height 

 are most common. The smallest vessel secured by Sterns had a 

 diameter of 2 inches across the mouth and held i^ oimces, while 

 the largest was 10 inches in mouth diameter and held 6 gallons. The 

 average capacity of his complete vessels was betw^een i and 2 gallons. 

 Crudely modeled and tiny pots and ladles suggest either the work 

 of children or else by-products of the adults' work which were used 

 as toys. 



Sterns attempted a regional classification of his Nebraska culture 

 ware from Washington, Douglas, Sarpy, and Cass Counties, dividing 

 it into four subtypes: Northern (northern Douglas and Washington 

 Counties), Central A (Sarpy County along the Missouri River), 

 Central B (Sarpy County away from the river), and Southern (sites 

 around Murray, Cass County). In form, color, and predominance 

 of grit tempering no regional differences were noted, although some 

 limestone, hematite, and shell was also used as tempering in Central 

 B ceramics. In size, the vessels from his Northern sites were larger 

 than those from Southern sites. Lugs with vertical perforations were 

 common in Southern sites, intermediate in number in the two Central 

 regions, and rare in Northern sites. The Central sites (both divisions) 

 had the largest number of unperforated lugs. In regard to hori- 

 zontally perforated lugs, these were most abundant in Northern sites, 

 next in abundance in the Central sites, and the Southern sites had less 

 than half as many as the Northern. The size of lug perforation was 

 greatest in the Northern and Central sites and smallest in those of 

 the Southern group. Since this decrease in size of perforation is 

 proportionately greater than the decrease in size of vessels from 

 north to south, Sterns regards it as significant, perhaps indicating 

 the use in the south of a small, stout cord for .suspension. This 

 would also correspond to the greater prevalence of vertical perfora- 

 tions in lugs from Southern sites. In regard to rim, decorative in- 

 cisions or finger markings arc lacking in the majority of rims from 



