pip. ffo!' 2¥]''' JOHN H. KERR RESERVOIR BASIN — ^MILLER 309 



There are sufficient clay deposits to be found throughout the area 

 which are well adapted to the manufacture of clay pottery. These 

 clays were "mined" and processed and utilized by the aborigines in 

 their pottery making. Sand is the usual aplastic. The finer particles 

 were used in the earlier wares and proy:ressed to a coarser material 

 during the Middle and Late Woodland stages. Grit, in the form of 

 crushed quartz, quartzite, or limestone was notable for its absence. 

 No crushed shell or crushed potsherds, known as clay grit, were used 

 as aplastics in the reservoir area. 



The earliest vessel to appear was in the form of a deep, wide- 

 mouthed, flat-based bowl which was fragmentary. Only the one 

 specimen was found. Shortly thereafter a number of large wide- 

 mouthed ollas and deep bowls, both with conoidal bases, were made. 

 These forms persisted throughout the span of aboriginal occupancy 

 but there also occurred modified forms of these which began during 

 the Middle Woodland occupancy and the Late Woodland groups. 

 Modifications were made on the bowls so that they became shallower 

 and the bases were rounded off to a certain extent. These changes 

 were made during the Middle Woodland occupancy, but they no 

 longer were made during Late Woodland times. Ollas, on the other 

 hand, were modified during the Late Woodland by making the 

 shoulder and neck more pronounced and the orifice constricted. Lip 

 forms always remain on the simple side as they were made to be flat, 

 rounded, slightly tapered, or a modified combination of these. 

 Molded dippers were added to this assemblage. 



Handles are exceedingly rare and are found only on Jars. Those 

 that appear are in the form of vertical appendages which have been 

 pierced near the upper half and are appended either flush with the 

 lip or a short distance below the rim and occur in opposing pairs. A 

 few molded dipper handles were recovered which are either round or 

 flat in cross section, crudely molded, and of varying lengths and sizes. 



Miniature vessels are fairly frequent. They are either pot or dipper 

 forms. Most of them have been molded, while a few of the larger 

 specimens were constructed by using the coiling technique and were 

 later impressed with textiles. 



Practically all of the pottery recovered from the various sites within 

 the basin was basically treated with some form of textile on the 

 exterior. In a number of instances this was later obliterated to form 

 a plain ware. Whether this procedure can truthfully be classed as 

 a form of ornamentation is questionable, for it appears to be just one 

 step in the final construction of a vessel, even though there may have 

 been some ulterior decorative effects subconsciously harbored by the 

 aboriginal potter. 



