holmes.] POTTERY OF THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI. 427 



fragmentary state. A majority are from a mound near the city of 

 Davenport, but a limited number came from Wisconsin. 



At this time it is impossible to define, with any degree of precision, 

 the geographical limits of this class of ware. The tribes by whom it 

 was manufactured have evidently, at one time or another, occupied the 

 greater part of the Mississippi basin north of the mouth of the Missouri 

 River. Similarities of material, shape, methods of manufacture, and 

 ornamentation, tend to show that we must include the greater parts of 

 the States of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, 

 in the area covered by this or closely related ceramic groups, and indi- 

 cations of its presence are discovered far beyond these limits. The 

 mounds of Manitoba have recently furnished examples of this class of 

 ware, and it has decided relationships with the ware of the Eastern and 

 Northeastern States. It is not yet time to draw close distinctions, as 

 sufficiently detailed studies of the products of the various districts 

 have not been made. 



On the shelves of our museums the difference between the two great 

 families of the middle and Upper Mississippi are strikingly manifest. 

 The ware of the former district, as already shown, exhibits variously 

 tinted pastes tempered with coarsely pulverized shells or potsherds ; 

 the vases, as a rule, having full bodies, well rounded bases, and in very 

 many cases, narrow necks. They exhibit great variety of decoration 

 and no little care in finish. The northern family shows a dark paste 

 tempered with sand, often apparently granitic; a rough fracture, and 

 generally a rude finish. The shapes are comparatively simple, often 

 long, tapering below, and flat bottomed. The ornamentation is totally 

 unlike that of the southern variety. It consists of cord impressions, 

 incised lines, and implement indentations arranged in figures peculiar 

 to the district. There are many other features that, like the subtile char- 

 acters of human physiognomy, cannot easily be described, but which 

 are of first importance as indices of relationship or the lack of it. 



The best preserved of the Davenport specimens was described and 

 illustrated in the first volume of the proceedings of the Davenport 

 Academy. This vessel, Fig. 456, was found in a mound near Daven- 

 port along with human remains, and closely associated with other relics, 

 among which were several copper implements covered with coarse woven 

 fabrics. Its height is eleven inches, width of aperture seven and a half 

 inches, and diameter of base four inches. It is estimated to contain a 

 little over one gallon. 



There is a broad, shallow constriction at the neck. The walls are 

 from one-fourth to three-eighths of an inch thick, and the margin of 

 the rim is squared off, showing the full thickness — a strong character- 

 istic of the northern pottery. The form is nearly symmetrical, and 

 the surface is hand-smoothed but not polished. The paste is now 

 dark and crumbling, and shows a rough fracture. A large percentage 

 of sand was used in tempering. The color is a dark gray-brown. The 



