HOLMESj 



EARTHENWARE USED IN BURIAL 



37 



The altars found in the mound.s of the Ohio valley are usually large 

 shallow basins liuilt in place by appl3'ing clay to a basin-like depres- 

 sion in the ground and smoothing the surface roughly with tlie hands 

 or trowels. The altar tires baked the cla\% giving it the consistency 



of earthenware. 



Cement and Plaster 



Native clays and earths were extensively used in the construt'tion of 

 numerous classes of fixed works, and it is found that various mix- 



FiG. 8 — Use of clay in plastering house wall of interlaced canes, Arkansas. From Thomas, 12th 

 Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, tigure 11>^. 



tures — cement-like combinations of clay, sand, gravel, etc. — were em- 

 ployed to add to thefirmuess of these constructions. In the middle and 

 lower Mississippi valley provinces plastic clay was emplo3'ed exten- 

 sively in plastering the walls and roofs of houses of cane and other 

 interlaced vegetal parts, and floors were laid in the same material (see 



figure 8). 



Earthenware Used in Burial 



To what extent earthen vessels were used as receptacles for the 

 remains of the dead can not be satisfactorily detei-mined. The whites, 



Fig. 9— Rectangular burial casket 

 of earthenware, Tennessee. 



Fir. 10 — Earthen vessel containingbones of 

 children. Alabama [ Moore i. 



accustomed to the practice of Inirial of ashes in cinerary urns among 

 eastern nations, wei'e prone to discover traces of similar customs here, 



