pip. ?fo; 3^5Y* HOSTERMAN SITE — ^MILLER 161 



dium to coarse, and there is a common tendency to develop internal 

 cleavage planes parallel to the vessel walls that is mainly due to the 

 method of manufacture. All vessels were either modeled or made by 

 using the paddle and anvil method. Insofar as we can determine, all 

 of the vessels were basically jar shaped, globular in outline with ver- 

 tical or S-shaped necks, and medium to large in size. Vertical necks 

 are medium to high; some with slightly everted rims. There are 

 various modifications in the S-shaped variety. Vertical types pre- 

 dominated over the S-shaped variety. A few miniature and unusual 

 forms are present but they constitute only a fractional part of the 

 ceramic complex. Handles, although of various shapes, are not nu- 

 merous. 



Most of the sherds — since this is a study based solely on sherds rather 

 than on whole vessels — have smoothed exterior surfaces, but there is 

 strong evidence that a grooved or thong- wrapped paddle was used 

 during the last stages of manufacture and later this exterior surface 

 treatment was partially or entirely smoothed over. The paddle stria- 

 tions covering the major part of the exterior surface are vertical or 

 nearly so. Once the exterior surface has been smoothed it may be 

 given a number of different treatments. Necks may be vertically 

 brushed and the upper parts incised; the shoulders may be incised, 

 covered with the original simple stamp, brushed, or even smoothed 

 over and left plain. Lips, upper rims, and shoulders were the favorite 

 portions of vessels to be treated. They may be incised, punctated, 

 impressed, pinched, or left plain. 



As in other archeological areas of the United States, entirely too 

 much stress has been placed on the ceramics in the Plains. In truth, 

 this trait was only one of the many that made up the economy of these 

 people; however, there are many other traits, though of less perma- 

 nence, that were of greater importance to the makers and users of these 

 forms. Only because of its permanence and durability does pottery 

 overshadow, in quantity, the rest of the cultural remains. Then, too, 

 it does reflect considerable responsiveness to cultural changes, through 

 time and space, in the kinds of decoration used, the shapes of the ves- 

 sels themselves, methods of manufacture, and other features. 



Wheeler's (1954, pp. 3-4) definitions for morphological parts of the 

 vessel have been standardized as follows: "The lip is the juncture of 

 the exterior and interior surfaces of the rim; the rim is the section 

 between the orifice and the neck; the neck is the point of maximum 

 constriction, or the point of marked change in trend or direction of 

 the vessel; the shoulder area is the space between the neck and the 

 point of maximum diameter of the vessel." (See fig. 32.) 



Before going into the morphological details of the pottery remains, 

 I must say that I am in close agreement with Lehmer (1951) and 



