308 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 182 



From early historical accounts, it was the function of the wom- 

 en and children, and occasionally men, to go to the various clay de- 

 posits to gather the raw clay which was to be fashioned into clay 

 vessels. Tliis was gathered in baskets, or similar containei*s. The 

 large lumps of clay were pounded to reduce them to a dust and the 

 whole passed through screens to rid the mass of any large stone and 

 other extraneous materials. Before it could be used the necessary 

 aplastic must be added, the whole dampened and kneaded to the right 

 consistency, and then small chmiks of this clay were taken and rolled 

 into small ropes or fillets. These were coiled one upon the other with 

 each coil pressed firmly onto the preceding coil. This reduced the 

 roundness of the coil to a flattened affair and the whole was firmly 

 cemented into a single unit. Large-sized vessels were not constructed 

 at a single sitting but each section was allowed to "rest" and when 

 sufficiently stable another section was added so that in time the whole 

 was completed. 



Counter to the coiling method is that of modeling where a lump of 

 worked clay is punched or pinched directly into the desired shape. 

 Sometimes a large potsherd, a shallow stone vessel or basket, or some 

 other shallow receptacle was used as the supporting base while the 

 vessel was under construction. Even in coiling a small portion of the 

 base may be molded, while the rest of the vessel is shaped by the addi- 

 tion of fillets. 



Wliile still in the plastic state the entire surface was gone over to 

 insure thorough sealing of all joints and to even or smooth both the 

 exterior and interior surfaces. Further annealing may be attained 

 by the impressing of various fabrics into the surface of the vessel. 

 Such fabrics may be baskets, cloth, nets, rush mats, or even a corncob 

 rolled over the surface. All of this took place before the vessel 

 was allowed to dry and be fired in order to modify the nature of the 

 clay. Occasionally a pebble was rubbed over the outer surface to 

 bring the finer particles to the surface and to impart a rough sort of 

 polish to the nonporous surface. 



Firing was done either in the open or in a rough sort of kiln. In 

 open firing the vessel may be burned to a black, brownish, or mottled 

 buff color along with smoke-smudged areas better known as "fire 

 clouds." Such a method brought about uneven firing, which was more 

 or less haphazard since it could not be controlled, and the heat was 

 driven only partially through the walls, leavmg a darkened central 

 core; whereas in the crude furnaces this was more under the control 

 of the one doing the burning and a more even temperature to which 

 the vessel was being subjected could be maintained. This resulted in a 

 more uniform color throughout the vessel, both on the exterior sur- 

 faces and on the inside of the walls, and fire clouds were rarely formed. 



