THOMAS] SIMILARITY OF HABITS AND CUSTOMS. 681 



^^e would be forced to the conclusion, as held by some writers, that the 

 former inhabitants of that ijortion of the United States east of the 

 Mississippi pertained to one nation, unless the prevalence of certain of 

 the forms or more elaborate types in particular sections should afibrd 

 some ground (or districting. 



The full force of this evidence, which is considered valuable in this 

 connection, can only be clearly understood and appreciated by an 

 examination of the work alluded to. If every form and type of stone 

 imjilemeut and ornament found in connection with the works of the 

 mound-builders were also in use among the Indians, it is, of course, 

 unnecessary to look further for their origin. 



The bone and shell articles found in the mounds do not present any 

 type or finish, except such as can be traced to the Indians. Some of 

 the figures on the engraved shells are difficult to account for and appear 

 to be derived from some other source, but in every case these ha^'e been 

 found in mounds or graves, whicli there are strong and satisfactory 

 reasons for believing are the work of Indians; this will be shown here- 

 after. 



Mound and Indian pottery compared. — The pottery of the mound- 

 builders has often been referred to as proof of a higher culture-status 

 than, and an advance in art beyond that attained by the Indians. It 

 appears probable that some writers have been led to this conclusion 

 by an examination of the figures, drawings, and photographs, without 

 a personal inspection of the articles. 



That all mound pottery is comparatively rude and primitive in type, 

 manufacture, and material nuist be admitted. It is true that specimens 

 are frequently found which give evidence of considerable skill and 

 advance in art as compared with the pottery of other barbarous people, 

 but there is nothing to remind us of the better ware of Peru, Mexico, 

 or Central America, and, so far as my examination extends, I have not 

 seen a single piece that is equal in the character of the ware to some 

 of the old Pueblo ])ottery. The finest quality of mound Mare I have 

 seen is a broken specimen which was found with an intrusive burial in 

 a Wisconsin mound, and, strange to say, the figures on it, which are 

 rather unusual, are almost exactly like those on i)ottery found in mounds 

 of Early county, Georgia. 



The vase with a bird figure, found by Squier and Davis in an Ohio 

 mound, is presented in most works on American archeology as an evi- 

 dence of the advanced stage of ceramic art among the mound-builders, 

 but Dr. Eau, who examined the collection of these authors, says : 



Having seen the best spet^iraeus of moimd pottery obtained during the survey of 

 Messrs. Squier and Davis, I do not liesitate to assert that the clay vessels fabricated 

 at the Cahokia creek vrere in every respect eciual to those exhumed from the mounds 

 of the Mississippi valley, and Dr. Davis himself, who examined my specimens from 

 the first named locality, expressed the same opinion.' 



' Smithsonian Rep., 1866. p. 349. 



