138 ABURKIINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [eth. an.n. 20 



have already beeu given (pl:it(> cxv). and along with them and intimately 

 associated in the original interments were typical western forms. One 

 piece, a long-necked bottle, with decoration in black paint, would, so 

 far as its general appearance goes, be more at home in western Ten- 

 nessee, or even beyond the Mississippi. This piece is shown in plate 

 cxviiKr. It is neither as well made nor as neatly finished as its 

 western prototypes, and the walls are unvisually thick. The clay is 

 tempered with quartz and mica-bearing sand, a sti'ong indication that 

 the vase is actually of Appalachian manufacture. Other bottles of 

 westei'ii form, but undeeorated, were recovered. One remarkable 

 piece is shown in h; it resembles closely the famous "triune vase," 

 6', from Cany branch of the Cumberland river, Tennessee, described 

 by Caleb Atwater." 



Hardly less remarkable was the occurrence in this riciily stocked 

 mound of two cyliudric cup-shaped vases, embellished with figures of 

 rattlesnakes, combining in execution, materials, finish, and decoration 

 most of the l)est features of the wares of the lower Mississi]>pi and 

 the Gulf coast. Unlike the ordinary vessels of the region, tliese ves- 

 sels are of the linest clay, which in the interior of the mass is of a 

 light gray color. The sui'face is blackened and well polished, and the 

 designs, engraved with a tine sharp point, penetrate to the light paste, 

 giving a striking effect. One of these vases appears in plate cxviiia'. 

 Encircling its slightly incurved walls are figures of two horned or 

 antlered rattlesnakes and a third serpent only partially worked out. 

 Occupying one of the interspaces l)etween the sinuous bodies of the 

 serpents is a human face reseml)ling a mask, connecting with lines 

 apparently intended to suggest a serpent's body. The smaller cup 

 contains the drawing of a single serpent extending twice around the 

 circumference. 



These rattlesnakes are drawn in highly conventional style, but with 

 a directness and ease that could result only from long practice in the 

 engraver's art. They are doubtless of symbolic origin, and the vases 

 were probal^ly consecrated to use in ceremonials in which the rattle- 

 snake was a potent factor. The delineation of the serpent is not spe- 

 cifically difi'erent from other examples engraved on stone, clay, and 

 shell found in several parts of the Soutli and West. This remarkable 

 design is illustrated one-third actual size in plate cxixrt. The part 

 at the extreme right repeats the corresponding part at the left. The 

 human head or mask is unique among pottery decorations, but it is 

 not distinct in type from the heads stamped in sheet copper found in 

 the mounds of Georgia and those engraved on shell in many parts of 

 the Appalachian and ^Middle ^Mississippi regions. 



That such a diverse array of ceramic products, inadequately repre- 

 sented by the illustrations given, should have been assembled in an 



" AtwuftT, Ciileb. Western ftntiqiiities. Columbus, 1S33. p. 140. 



