HOLMES] THK FLORIDA AliOKKJINES 115 



bo relied upon to as.si.st, lir.st, in assio-nint;- tlu'S(> relics to particular 

 tribes and stoekfj of pet>ple, seeond, in coi-relatini;- them with culture 

 features of niMghboring regions, and. tliird, in deterniiiiino- ((uestions 

 of chronoloo-y. Thi^ exteni^ive and careful researches of ]Mr Clarent'C 

 B. Moore seem destined to fairly initiate this important work, and 

 Mr F. H. Cashing has conducted \erv imi)ortant excavations along" 

 the western coast, the rcsidts of which, although only lialf published, 

 give us the first clear and detiiute insight into the life and lial)its of 

 the prehistoric inhal)itants of the (lulf coast. 



Historic Aborkunes 



The group of tribes occup3-ing Florida during the period of Spanish 

 discover}' and conquest Ixdongs to what is now known as the Timu- 

 (juanan linguistic fauuly. These peoj)le Jiave now entirely disap- 

 j)eared. and little is dctinitely known of their arts or history. Other 

 tribes have since occupied the territory, but none have Ixhmi ))er- 

 niitted to remain except a few Seminoles, some two hundred strong, 

 who now occupy portions of the Everglades. There appears to be 

 only the most meager record of the making of pottery by any of the 

 historic tribes of the peninsula, yet pottery making was the rule 

 with the southern Indians, and we may fairly assume that all of the 

 tribes found in the peninsula l)y the Spanish were potters, and that 

 much of the earthenware obtained fi'om tiie moimds and shell heaps 

 belonged to tribes of the historic linguistic stocks of the general 

 region. The Timuquanan peoples are prol)ably fully represented, but 

 Muskogean inliuence nuist have l)een felt, and at least one of the prin- 

 cipal varieties of pottery found in the northern half of the peninsula 

 was typically developed in the region occupied by that stock. 'I'race.s 

 of intrusive ideas are present, p(>rhaps even traces of peoples from the 

 West, and evidences of Antillean (Arawak) contact on the east have 

 recently come to light. As the case stands, however, we have such 

 slight historic knowledge of the native ceramic art of Florida that no 

 part of its products can, with entire safety, l)e attributed to any partic- 

 ular tribe or stock of people. 



The colored plate presented as the frontispiece of tiiis paper is 

 reproduced from a drawing l)y John White, of the Roanoke Colony, 

 15S5-15SS. It represents a native woman holding in her hand what 

 appears to be an earthen bowl. This is one of the few authentic 

 illustrations extant of a native of "Florida" in Colonial times. 



The ware of Florida is extremely varied and presents numerous 

 pronounced types of form and docoration, but it is found very diffi- 

 cult to separate it into groups other than regional. The various forms 

 are intimately associated, the diversified characters grading one into 

 another in the most confusing manner. It is veiy much as though 

 the peninsula had been occupied by peoples of distinct origins, who 

 had come together on conunon ground in such intimate relations that 



