380 



ANCIENT POTTERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 



There are many red vessels of the class under consideration, but the 

 majority are less contracted at the aperture and thus are somewhat pot- 

 shaped. They are rather rudely constructed and finished, and but for 

 the color, would seem to be intended for ordinary cooking purposes. I 

 observe in a number of cases that circula r medallion like ornaments have 

 been set around the rim. These are from one-half to one inch in diam- 

 eter, and are generally perforated or punctured in two or three places, 



Fig. 368. — Bowl: Arkansas. — J. 



apparently with the idea of representing a face. The effect is very much 

 like that of the small perforated disks, riveted upon the exterior of cop- 

 per or tin kettles for the purpose of attaching handles. Occasionally 

 a tail-like appendage is added to the under side of these discoidal heads, 

 suggesting the tadpole figures upon the sacred water vessels of the 

 Pueblo Indians. 



One large basin with slightly incurved rim has a series of triangular 

 figures in red and brown upon both the inner and the outer surfaces. 

 It is rudely finished and of large size, being eleven inches in diameter 

 and seven and a half in height. 



Eccentric forms. — Before proceeding with the discussion of life-forms 

 as exhibited in bowls, I must present a few unique shapes. 



Fig. 369. 



Cuius: Arkansas (?).■ 



These consist of ladle-shaped vessels, and of bowls or basins with 

 rectangular, oval, or unsymmetrical outlines. Ladles are of rare occur- 

 rence. In the Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology I have 

 illustrated the best example that has come to my notice. The Daven- 

 port collection contains but one specimen — a rude shallow cup with a 

 short thick handle. The form suggests the wooden and horn spoons of 

 the modern tribes and may have originated in their archaic prototypes. 



