170 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



of the lip. This internal decoration is much more common in the southern 

 portion of this area than elsewhere in the vicinity. 



In design, we must of course, give up all thought of trying to obtain 

 symbolism, if such there were, for there are no sources now left upon which 

 to base our assumptions. Certain conventional types of decoration seem 

 to have been in vogue, usually consisting in rows of stamped or incised paral- 

 lel lines and much more rarely of dots regularly arranged in the same manner. 

 Zigzag, chevron and "herring bone" patterns are the most common, but 

 other angular forms occur, and rows of parallel lines encircling the vessel 

 are sometimes to be found. Stamping and incision as decorative processes 

 never seem to occur on the same vessel. Curvilinear decoration is exceed- 

 ingly rare, and not enough material is at hand to show that patterns were 

 used, possibly these were scrolls of some form. On account of the lack of 

 material, it cannot be determined whether the designs on the Algonkian 



DSC) 



FIG. 17. INCISED DESIGNS FROM ALGONKIAN VESSELS. 



vessels differ from those on the Iroquoian, except in a very general and 

 unsatisfactory way. 



The angle formed where the heavy rim or collar leaves the constricted 

 neck of the Iroquoian vessel is almost invariably notched, and as such collars 

 and angles do not occur on vessels of the true Algonkian tyi^e, this feature is 

 necessarily absent from them. It is noticeable that Iroquoian vessels are 

 usually decorated with incised designs, rather than stamped patterns. 



Pottery is found abundantly on the majority of the sites in this district; 

 but, while very much more common than in the New England area, it does 

 not equal in abundance that from the Iroquois country. It is rarely found 

 buried in graves with skeletons as in the Iroquoian area; when sometimes 

 found in graves, however, it is usually at some distance from the human 

 remains and apparently not connected with them. Whole or nearly whole 

 vessels are exceedingly rare and the number of those found up to date may 



