408 



ANCIENT POTTERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 



propriate to it, before beginning bis work. It will be impossible, how- 

 ever, to prove that the portrait of a particular personage was intended. 

 The closed eyes, the rather sunken nose, and the parted lips were cer- 

 tainly intended to give the effect of death. The ears are large, cor- 

 rectly placed, and well modeled ; they are perforated all along the mar- 

 gin, thus revealing a practice of the people to whom they referred. The 

 septum of the nose appears to have been pierced, and the horizontal de- 

 pression across the upper lip may indicate the former presence of a sus- 

 pended ornament. 



Fig. 421.— The engraved figures. 



Perhaps the most unique and striking feature is the pattern of in- 

 cised lines that covers the greater part of the face. The lines are 

 deeply engraved and somewhat " scratchy," and were apparently exe- 

 cuted in the hardened clay before the slip was applied. The left side 

 of the face is plain, with the exception of a figure somewhat resein- 



Fig. 422.— nead covering. 



bling a grappling hook in outline which partially surrounds the eye. 

 The light side is covered with a comb-like pattern, placed vertically, 

 with the teeth upwards. The middle of the forehead has a series of 



