ANCIENT POTTERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 1 25 



CERAMIC GROUPS. 



At least three distinct ceramic groups are represented in this col- 

 ection. These may be distinguished by locality into the Upper 

 Mississippi, the Middle Mississippi, and the Lower Mississippi or 

 Gulf families. Other pottery occurs within the limits of the areas 

 covered by these divisions, but few characteristic examples have 

 come into the possession of the Academy of Sciences. The collec- 

 tion itself shows conclusively that the collectors have seldom wan- 

 dered beyond the immediate shores of the "Father of Waters." 



The three groups enumerated are not equally represented. The 

 great body of the collection is from the middle province. The ware 

 of the Lower Mississippi or Gulf district, of which we have but a 

 small number of pieces, has many features in common with that of 

 the middle district, and at the same time is identical in most respects 

 with the pottery of the Gulf coast to the east. No well-defined 

 line can be drawn between them ; but the ware of the north is 

 wholly distinct and need never be confounded with either of the 

 other groups. 



MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI PROVLXCE. 



Distribution. — It must not be inferred that there is perfect uni- 

 formity in the pottery of this, or any other, extended region ; local 

 peculiarities are always to be found. The products of contiguous 

 districts, such, for example, as those of Mississippi county, Arkan- 

 sas, and New Madrid county, Missouri, have much in common, and 

 will at once be recognized as belonging to the same family, yet the 

 differences are so marked that the unskilled observer could point 

 them out with ease. 



As indicated by decided family resemblances the wares of this 

 group extend over the states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennes- 

 see, cover large portions of the states of Mississippi, Kentucky, 

 and Illinois, and reach somewhat into Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, 

 and Texas. The types are better marked and the products more 

 abundant about the centre of this area which may be defined 

 roughly as including contiguous parts of Missouri, Arkansas, and 

 Tennessee, with a pretty decided focal center, at least in the abun- 

 dance of relics, at Pecan Point. Arkansas. 



