378 



ANCIENT POTTERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 



Illustrations. — Ordinary forms. — I have not thought it necessary 

 to present many cuts of simple undecorated vessels, as their shapes are 

 repeated numberless times in elaborated forms. The crude examples 

 teach nothing as to stage of culture. They are of the same time and 

 people as the finer specimens. 



The small bowl given in Fig. 364 is unusually well made, and is pe- 

 culiar in having its interior surface decorated with a rather chaste in- 



Fig. 364.— Bowl: Arkansas.— \. 



" cised design consisting of festooned lines. This was a favorite idea with 

 the ancient potters aud may be seen on both exterior and interior 

 surfaces of a variety of vessels. The rim is beveled on the inner edge 

 and has a beaded or indented fillet encircling the outer margin. The 

 bottom is somewhat flattened. This specimen is from Arkansas. 



In Fig. 305 we have a good example of the dark, nicely-finished ware 

 of Arkansas. The widely expanding rim is neatly scalloped on the 



Fig. 305.— Bowl: Arkansas.— J. 



margin and is finished on the inside with a pattern of incised lines. 

 These lines appear to have been engraved in the hardened clay. The 

 form is rendered graceful by a shallow encircling depression or groove 

 at the base of the rim. The bottom is somewhat flattened. 



Occasionally we find very deep bowls with sloping sides and flat bot- 

 toms resembling our common flower pots. One example from Arkansas 

 is seven inches in diameter at the top and four at the base, and five 

 inches deep. A heavy band of clay has been added to the outer margin 

 of the rim, leaving a channel above and beneath. A number of perfora- 

 tions occur in this rim, as if made for the passage of thongs or filaments. 

 A similar specimen of larger dimensions may be seen in the National 

 Museum. 



