l60 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



the adjacent archeological culture areas. It would l)e highly desirable, 

 therefore, not only to gather more artifacts and locate more prehis- 

 toric sites east of the Blue Ridge but also to determine the relationship 

 of the Indians of this territory to other Mound Builders. The pre- 

 historic pipes and pottery contained in the above collections are charac- 

 teristic of the southern Mound Builders, particularly those of the 

 Gulf region. Their closest counterparts occur in the mounds of 

 Arkansas and Missouri. As a rule the pottery is not as varied as 

 that of the Pueblo Indians, mainly because none of it is painted. The 

 common types of vessels are unglazed globular food bowls with decora- 

 tions stamped in. Although the material thus far collected may not 

 be sufficient to enable the archeologist to determine the tribe to which 

 its makers belonged, it is probably akin to the productions of the 

 Cherokee or some Indians of the Muskhogean stock. 



The human effigy vase shown in figure i86, C and D, is thought 

 to belong to the Middle Mississippi group, several specimens of 

 which were figured by Prof. Holmes (20th Ann. Rep., Bur. Amer. 

 Ethnol.). This one is of the same general character as others found 

 in sites near the eastern and western boundaries of the Middle 

 Mississippi group but rarely at intermediate points. It has passed 

 through several hands, but the story of its discovery is so definite 

 that there appears to be no reason to doubt it. According to this, it 

 was picked up by a boy at the foot of a low clifif on the left bank 

 of Savannah River not far from Augusta. The clifif had no doubt been 

 occupied by Indians and the vase washed out of it by the river. I was 

 not able to visit the locality myself but quote reliable informants. So 

 far as I am aware, this human effigy vase is the only one of its type 

 ever obtained from the Piedmont region of South Carolina. There is 

 no record of anything of the kind from the Ohio Valley mounds or 

 mounds on the Gulf coast, but Prof. Holmes has figured many from 

 Arkansas. The two sperical bowls in figure 186, A and B, bear incised 

 designs formed by stamping. They are almost identical with similar 

 objects from Weeden Mound near St. Petersburg, Florida, but their 

 marginal decorations are different from those with which I am 

 familiar on all stamped ware from that State. The row of raised 

 rings on the outer margin of B is an exceptional feature that has never 

 been noted on Mound Builder pottery of the stamped variety. 



In figure 187, B and C, are represented two beautiful globular bowls 

 in the Thackston collection, supposed to be ancient Catawba ware. 

 It is reported that they were found near Catawba River, and thus there 

 is some support for the identification, but modern Catawba ware 

 difl:*ers considerably. Several tribes allied to the Catawba formerly 



