AP EIN Das 
Nova ScoTIAN ARCHZXOLOGY. 
Ancient Pottery. 
At a meeting of the Institute December 8th, 1879, attention 
was directed to specimens of supposed ancient pottery, belonging 
to the Provincial Museum. 
Dr. J. B. Gilpin at my request brought the subject before the 
Institute. 
He agreed with me in regarding the specimens referred to as 
of pottery of a rude and very ancient character. 
The first specimen of our collection, when brought to the 
Museum was in fragments. When restored, its singular char- 
acter and construction rendered it interesting and perplexing. 
The bottom is a piece of quartzite, flat and subcireular. This is 
the basis on which the rest is formed. The other material 
is a sort of clay. The whole is symmetrical and saucer-shaped. 
The interior is banded concentric. The outside is plain but not 
smooth. There are now 27 specimens in the Museum, all with 
one exception-—a small one-—have stone bottoms. The 
stones are quartzites and argillites. Their several shapes 
generally conform to the stones selected for the bases. Their 
structure is uniform. They are altogether different from speci- 
mens of ancient pottery which have been found by Judge 
Desbrisay in Lunenburg County, and the Rev. Dr. Patterson in 
Pictou County, associated with stone implements, and have every 
appearance of greater antiquity. 
Mr. J. T. Bulmer, the Librarian of the Legislative and Histort. 
eal Library, on a recent visit to the Public Museums of the United 
States, after a search for corresponding pottery, found 3 specimens 
in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington. 
These are believed to be productions of the Esquimaux. 
Our large find in Nova Scotia, of which our 27 specimens is 
only considered to be a representation, thus tends strongly ta 
