HI.L.MES] DECDRATloN OF APPALACHIAN POTTERY 133 



dead in L-arthcn w^i.sfls so coiiiiik)1! as it was in tlio youth Appalachian. 

 Generally the hones are charred, and in many cases they belong to 

 children. Apj)arently it was not customary to make vessels exclusively 

 for burial purposes, although in some cases the bowl cover was con- 

 structed for the purpose. Generally the mortuary vessel stood 

 upright in the grave, but in some instances a large wide-mouthed vase 

 was tilled with l)ones and invei-ted. and in a few cases bowls have been 

 found inverted over skulls or heaps of bones. 



In 2>late cxii we have illustrations of the manner in which these 

 vessels were em])Ioyed in burial. A bowl with incurved rim of a size 

 to fit the mouth of the pot was set into it in an inverted position as a 

 cover, as is shown by <(. This sjjecimen is from a mound near i\lill- 

 edgeville. Georgia. A vase of different type is shown in h. It was 

 obtained from a mound in Chatham county by Mr E. H. Hill, and is 

 covered with a small bowl exactly fitting the cone-shaped top of the 

 vase. Colonel C. C. Jones" gives a careful description of the discov- 

 ery in a mound on Colonels island. Lilterty county. (Georgia, of a 

 burial vase with a lid of baked clay shaped to fit neatly. A smaller 

 vessel containing the bones of an infant had been placed within the 

 larger one. The larger vessel apparently differed fi'om those tV)und 

 farther inland in having been covered with textile imprints, and in 

 having a slight admixture of shell tempering. In these respects it 

 resembled the typical pottery of the Atlantic seaboard, affiliating- with 

 the Algoiiquian wares of the Middle Atlantic ])rovince. 



Decoration 



As has been mentioned, the remarkable style of decoration, more 

 than any other feature, characterizes this pottery. Elaborately fig- 

 ured stamps were rarely used elsewhere, except in Central and 8outh 

 America. The exai-t form of the stamping tool or die is, of course, 

 not easily determined, as the imprint upon the rounded surface of the 

 vases represents usually only the middle portion of the figured surface 

 of the implement. It is highly probable, however, that the stamp had 

 a handle and therefore assumed the shape of a pr.ddle. as do the 

 stam2:)s used by the Cherokees at the present time. Occasionally par- 

 tial impressions of a small ijortiou of the square or round margin of 

 the stamp are seen. It was the usual practice to apply the stamp at 

 random over the entire exterior surface of the vessel, and thus it hap- 

 pened that the impressions encroached upon one another, rendering an 

 analysis of the d(>sign. M'here it is complex, extremely difiicult. In 

 many localities the design was simple, consisting of two series of shal- 

 low lines or grooves crossing the paddle surface at right angles, leav- 

 ing squarish interspaces in relief, so that the imprint on the clay gave 



".Jones, Charles C.. Anti<(Hities nf the Southeni Imiians. New York. IS";?. ]>, 4iv>. 



