HOLMES] 



SHELL-HEAP WARE, FLORIDA 



121 



earlier period beini;' without pottery, und tlie later haviug several vari- 

 eties of ware, which appeal' on the surface in great plenty. This 

 pottery has been recovered only in the shape of sherds, and can not 

 be studied to the best advantage. Among the fragments are found evi- 

 dences of considerable A^ariation in texture, ti-eatment, and ornamen- 

 tation. One variety exhibits a rather fine-grained paste preserving 

 the warm gray colors of the baked clay. The surfaces were finished 

 with a rubbing tool, and are plain or have been rather carelessly 

 embellished with patterns in 



traight and curved incised 

 lines. Another, and the most 

 noteworthy variety, is char- 

 acterized by the unusual ap- 

 pearance of the paste, which 

 has been tempered with a 

 large percentage of fibrous 

 matter, probabl}- shredded 

 palmetto fiber. This tem- 

 pering substance has been 

 destroyed b\' fire or decaj^, 

 leaving the paste highly vesi- 

 cular and porous and of low 

 specific gravity. Generally 

 these sherds show clearlv the 





1»- 



c d ■---,.. ---' 



Fife. 57— Restoration of forms of Hhpr-tempered midden ware, St Johns river, 



effects of use over tire. The walls are thick and uneven and the surfaces 

 are rudely i-ubbed down. The forms appear to have consisted mainly 

 of bowls with rims variously recurved, incurved, and otherwise modi- 

 fied, and with rounded or flattish bases. The diameter varies from a 

 few inches to a foot or more. Examples restored from fragments sufli- 

 ciently large to indicate the shape and suggest the true character of the 

 ornament are shown in figure .57. They ai-e from the Tick Island 

 mound, and appear typical of what is assumed to be the earliest pottery - 



