SMITHSOXIAX ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 



neck slightly expands at the aperture, and where it joins the hody of the ves- 

 sel it is surrounded by eight ornamental studs set in pairs. Tliis vessel was 

 never jiainted, and therefore shows the natural gray color of the clay, in which 

 numerous diminutive fragments of shell can be seen. One of the finest 

 pieces of pottery in the collection (Fig. 292) is a bottle-shaped jar furnished 

 with a stout and convenient handle. The mutilated neck only shows a some- 

 what rude linear ornamentation. This specimen, which consists of a gray 

 unpainted clay, mixed with small particles of a black mineral substance, was 

 taken from a mound near Provo, Utah Teri'itory. 



There are in the collection some very large vessels which undoubtedly were 

 designed for cooking purposes. One of them (Fig. 293) is more than four- 

 teen inclies high, and measures nearly thirteen inches across the apeiture. 

 The portion below the rim 

 shows a depression which 

 rendered suspension prac- 

 ticable. This method had 

 to be resorted to, because 

 the kettle could not stand 

 on its lower part which 

 presents an almost conical 

 shape. The outer surface 

 of the vessel shows impres- 

 sions of tolerably regular 

 pattern and apparently not 

 traced by hand, a circum- 

 stance rendering it prob- 

 able that the vessel was 

 modeled in a woven basket. 

 This remarkable specimen 

 was ploughed up not far 

 from Milledgeville, Geor- 

 clay vessels 



gia. 



Large 



CLAY VESSEL (]-). 



of a more elongated form, 



though less conical at the bottom, undoubtedly were employed as funeral 

 vases among certain tribes of the South, for several such vessels containing 

 human bones have been taken from southern mounds. A specimen of this 

 desci'iption is preserved in the National Museum. This vase, which was badly 

 injured during its exhumation, resembles in general outline and size the speci- 

 men just described. The depression below the rim is somewhat shallower, the 

 lower portion more rounded, and the outside shows impressions of a rather in- 

 distinct character. The vessel was discovered in a low mound on the Oconee 

 River, nine miles below Milledgeville, Georgia. When found, it was covered 

 with a well-fitting arched lid, and contained unburned human bones, which 

 soon crumbled to dust upon exposure to the air (Xr. 12305 of the collection). 

 The largest vessels made bv the Indians, it seems, Avere those used in pro- 



