POTTERY OF OEMOND MOUND. 181 



than a cooking vessel, as its outer side is not snioke 

 begrimed. 



But one or two of the pieces taken have their sur- 

 face stamped. The markings of these were a series 

 of straight ridges crossing each other at right angles, 

 thus forming depressed squares of small size. 



The material of which the pottery was composed 

 was, in most all instances, evidently clay free from 

 sand or shells. In most cases the outer and inner sur- 

 face is smooth, except for the markings above men- 

 tioned, and dense, while the middle portion is much 

 darker and quite porous. This porosity is due to an 

 admixture of vegetable fibers which were destroyed 

 during the process of burning, each fiber leaving in 

 its place a small pore or canal. In some of the poorly 

 burned specimens the remains of the fibers are still 

 present. It seems that in finishing the vessel, after it 

 had been formed of fibers and clay, the makers cov- 

 ered the inner and outer surfaces with a thin layer or 

 "skimming" of clay alone, thus preventing the pres- 

 ence of the pores on these surfaces. Pieces of two 

 vessels showed the presence of quite a quantity of 

 sand mixed with the clay. These were from the lower 

 portion of the mound. 



Mr. Bristol presented me with a piece of a stone 

 vessel which he had taken from a load of shells hauled 

 from the mound for a sidewalk in front of his resi- 

 dence. It is evidently a portion of a large mortar or 

 bowl, made of a reddish gray steatite or soapstone. 



