SCORED BONE ARTIFACTS—WEDEL AND HILL 93 
Middle Mississippi. It seems to be generally absent, also, from Oneota 
pottery, except where it occurs on occasional intrusive grit-tempered 
sherds probably indicative of trade relations with the contemporary 
Pawnee.* 
Various suggestions have been made from time to time concerning 
the instrument or process used to produce these impressions. Holmes 
(1908, p. 199) was of the opinion that protohistoric Pawnee sherds 
in the National Museum had been “finished with cord-wrapped or 
ribbed implements.” Wedel (1936, p. 66) characterizes Pawnee pot- 
tery as “ridged (paddle-marked ?).” Dunlevy (1936, pp. 178, 188) 
speaks of the “use of the carved paddle as a universal element in 
technic” at certain early Pawnee sites. Carlyle S. Smith, in an un- 
published manuscript (accompanying letter to Wedel, Dec. 1, 1939) 
on the Lovitt Site (Dismal River horizon) , Chase County, Nebr., states 
that a minority of the sherds “have the grooved surface such as is 
found on Pawnee and Mandan pottery. In the opinion of the author 
the above finish was achieved by the application of a thong-wrapped 
paddle.” For the rather varied markings on Mandan pottery, Will 
and Spinden (1906, p. 178) suggest “a paddle covered with matting 
* * * anincised paddle * * *” or “the use of a small spatulate 
stick.” The surfaces of many of these upper Missouri sherds have 
a “combed” appearance as if a coarsely notched tool had been dragged 
over the unfired vessels. Concerning protohistoric Wichita (?) pot- 
tery from Paint Creek, McPherson County, Kans., Udden (1900, p. 
28) observes that many sherds bore shallow indentations “suggesting 
partly obliterated impressions of some coarse plaited fabric * * * 
which indicates that the vessels were moulded in some sort of plaited 
form.” Strong (1935, p. 65) also suggests that the ridges on proto- 
historic Pawnee pottery “may be the result of molding the pots within 
a willow twig frame as described by Dunbar.” Whether Dunbar 
ever actually saw Pawnee potters using such a frame is not clear, but 
other than this we know of no statement by a possible eyewitness in 
the central Great Plains or on the upper Missouri that would help to 
establish the nature of the tools responsible for the markings. Until 
recently, moreover, archeologists had recovered no artifacts that were 
recognized as possibly having been used for the purpose. Certain 
specimens found in some numbers during the past year or two in 
Nebraska and Kansas appear to have remedied this lack. 
1 Hill and Wedel, 1936, p. 41. Field notes by the senior author, under date of April 25, 
1936, indicate that sherds bearing carved paddle impressions have been found at the Lynch 
Site in Boyd County, Nebr. On July 19, 1940, through the courtesy of Stan Bartos, a hur- 
ried examination was made of the collections from this interesting site, now deposited in 
the Laboratory for Anthropology, University of Nebraska. It was noted that at least 
one large restored Oneotalike vessel included paddle-marked body sherds. The affiliations 
of this site are still unclear (cf. Wedel, 1940, p. 316). 
