HOLMES] SOURCES OF INFORMATION" 87 



the bottk; shape us the most satisfactory. There is no group of primi- 

 tive ware in America, save possibly in Peru, in which the slender- 

 neclied carafe or decanter-lil^e bottle is so marlved a feature. In most 

 of the native groups it is unknown. This, however, is not the only 

 marked characteristic of the ware. The range of shape is xery wide, 

 and several features are strikingl}- unique. There are many effigy \ases 

 of remarkal)le character; of these may be mentioned those representing 

 hunchback human beings, cups or vases imitating heads of men and 

 beasts and grotesque, nondescript creatures or conceptions. Again, 

 the use of color in surface finish and decoration is a strong character- 

 istic of the ware. Colored ware is found in manj^ sections, especially 

 in the South, but in no other part of the region considered in this 

 paper was color so generally or so fully applied to the execution of 

 ornamental designs and realistic delineations, as in depicting wings and 

 feathers of bii'ds, spots of animals, costume on human figures, and in 

 'effigy vases even the color of hair, skin and face-paint — features of 

 decoration practically unknown elsewhere in the area considered. 

 Head-shaped vases are rather rare in Nortli America, although common 

 in Peru. Excellent examples ai'e found in the center of the Middle 

 Mississippi province, and in cases are .so well modeled as to have lead 

 to the suggestion that they may be actual casts from the human face. 



Sources of Information 



Owing to the wide range of form and character exhibited by the 

 vessels of this group it will be impossible fully to illustrate them within 

 the limits of this paper. The student may, in a great mea.sure, supply 

 the need for fuller illustration by referring to the following works: 

 Explorations of the Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee, by Joseph 

 Jones, Washington, 1876; Reports of the Peabody Museum, b}' F. W. 

 Putnam; and Antiquities of Tennessee, by General Gates P. Thruston. 

 These works for the most part illustrate the ware of Tennessee. 

 Edward Evers, in Contributions to the Archeology of Missouri, pre- 

 sents a large number of vases of the southeast Missouri district; and 

 an extended series of illustrations of the wares of Arkansas was 

 published in the Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. 



Examples 



The illustrations brought together in the accompanying plates com- 

 prise examples of almost every tj^pe of the earthenware of this prov- 

 ince, but they still fail to give a satisfactory idea of the very Mide 

 range of form and ornament. 



platters, cups, and bowls 



Platters and liowl-shaped vessels exhibit great diversitj' of size, 

 shape, and ornament. In size they range from less than 1 im-h in 



