84 



POTTERY. 



rics of clay not intended for culinary and other domestic uses. The North 

 American Indians frequently made their pipes of clay, moulding them into 

 various forms, sometimes with great ingenuity, as previously stated. They 

 also manufactured clay images, which have been noticed in different publica- 



30 1 



so a 



MEXICAN VESSELS (). 



tions. Generally speaking, such imitations of the human form are of a primi 

 tive and uncouth character, and inferior to corresponding manufactures of 

 stone. Much better than the ordinary aboriginal clay fabrics of this kind is a 

 head which, to judge from the remaining part below the neck, may have origi 

 nally formed the handle of a vessel. In this head the features are clearly, 

 though not correctly, defined (Fig. 304). The head is hollow and pierced 



305 



TERRA-COTTA FIGURES (]) 



at the occiput with a hole, which evidently has been enlarged after the discov 

 ery of the relic. This specimen was found among shell-heaps near Mobile, 

 Alabama. The same locality has furnished a rude aboriginal clay manufacture 



