""'•"ES] APPALACHIAlSr STAMPED WARE 135 



stamped designs illustrated in ])late cxiv with others of Florida and 

 Guadeloupe island, given in a recent publication." will make the anal- 

 ogies apparent. 



The stamped ware is found plentif ull_v throughoutthe state of Georgia 

 and as far we.st along the Gulf coast as Mobile baj-. Stamp design.s 

 constitute the prevailing decoration in the wares of Early county, 

 southwestern Georgia. In eastern Tennessee, at a few points on the 

 eastern side of the valle;,' of the Tennessee river, examples varying 

 considerably from the Savannah type have been observed. The vessels 

 are generallv intermingled with western forms of pottery. North 

 Carolina furnishes some stamped ware, and in South Carolina stamped 

 ware appears to be the prevailing variety. On the Florida peninsula 

 this ware seems to have lost some of its most typical characters, the 

 vessels having different shapes and the stamp designs consisting mainly 

 of simple reticulations. 



Although some of the peculiar designs with which the paddle stamps 

 were embellished may have come, as has been suggested, from neigh- 

 boring Antillean peoples, it is probable that the implement is of conti- 

 nental origin. It is easy to see how the use of figured modeling tools 

 could arise with any people out of the simple, primitive processes of 

 ves.sel modeling. As the walls were built up by means of flatfish strips 

 of claj', added one upon another, the fingei's and hand were used to 

 weld the parts together and to smooth down the uneven surfaces. In 

 time various improvised implements would come into use — shells for 

 scraping, smooth stones for rubbing, and paddle-like tools for malle- 

 ating. Some of the latter, ha\-ing textured surfaces, would leave 

 figured imprints on the plastic surface, and these, producing a pleas- 

 ing effect on the primitive luind, would lead to extension of use, and, 

 finally, to the invention of special tools and the adding of elaborate 

 designs. But the use of figured surfaces seems to have had other 

 than purely decorative functions, and, indeed, in most cases, the deco- 

 rative idea may have been secondary. It will be observed by one who 

 attempts the manipulation of claj' that striking or paddling with a 

 smooth surface has often a tendency to extend flaws and to start new 

 ones, thus weakening the wall of the vessel, but a ribbed or deeply 

 figured surface properly applied has the effect of welding the clay 

 together, of kneading the plastic surface, producing numberless 

 minute dovetailings of the clav which connect across weak lines and 

 incipient cracks, adding greatly to the strength of the vessel. 



That the figured stamp had a dual function, a technic and an esthetic 

 one, is fully apparent. When it was applied to the surface it removed 

 unevenness and welded the plastic clay into a firm, tenacious mass. 

 Scarifving with a rude comb-like tool was employed in some sections 

 for the same purpose, and was so used more generally on the inner 



" Holmes, W. H., Caribbean influence on the prehistoric ceramic art of the southern states, .American 

 Anthropologist, vol. vii, p. 71. 



