ANCIENT POTTERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 



i6i 



Two charming vases are shown in Figs. 53 and 54. The surface 

 finish is in both cases very superior. The lines of the figures are 

 carefully drawn, and seem to have been produced by the trailing, 

 under even pressure of a smooth rather blunt point. It is difficult to 

 get so nicely finished and even a line by simple incision, or by ex- 

 cavating the clay. The design in Fig. 53 consists of eight groups of 



Fig. 54. — Arkansas. 



curved lines, arranged in pairs, and separated by plain vertical 

 bands. It might be considered an interrupted and imperfectly con- 

 nected form of the running scroll. This grouping of lines is fre- 

 quently met with in the decorative designs of the Southern states. 

 The design upon the other vase, Fig. 54, is still more characteristic 



1' iG. 55. — Arkansas. 



of the south. It consists of three encircling rows of round, shallow 

 indentations, about which series of graceful scrolls are linked. 



Many other interesting illustrations of the simpler forms could be 

 given, but nearly all are very similar in their more important fea- 

 tures to the examples that precede or follow. 



