HOLMES] MODERN WARE OF THE CAROLINA?! 148 



Sioimn .stock. But the Siouan j^eoples have uot been pottei-y makers 

 in recent times, and we have no means of making- comparisons, save 

 on the theory that the Middle Mississippi ware is wholly or partlj' of 

 Siouan make. Moreover, the modern Catawban pottery has been so 

 modified ])y post-Columhiiin conditions tiiat few of the original char- 

 acteristics are left, and comparison is fruitless. But an examination of 

 numerous ancient sites and a number of mounds in the region occupied 

 bj' the Catawbas in early historic time, and for an indefinite j)eriod in 

 pre-Columbian times, yields forms of vessels distinctly western in 

 some of their features, and in cases there appear also prettj' well- 

 defined characteristics of the historic Catawlia woi'k. A group of 

 Catawban vessels collected between the j'ears 187*i and 1886 is pre- 

 sented in plate cxxvua. A number of pipes of this people of the 

 same or a later period are shown in plate cxxviii. 



Specimens found on the older dwelling sites of the people resemble 

 the modern pottery in color and tinish, but they are of better work- 

 manship, and the shapes resemble less closely those of the whites. 

 All are Hat- bottomed, have the thick walls and peculiar color and polish 

 of modern Catawba ware, and are well within the Catawba habitat, 

 even if not from sites inhabited by them in historic times. One speci- 

 men labeled "'Seminole'" is identical with Catawba ware. It is prob- 

 a!)le that many other examples of old Catawban work exist, but 

 only these few have fallen into my hands. Points of correspondence 

 between this modern ware and the ware of the mounds in ancient 

 Catawban territory. North Cai'olina. will be pointed out when the 

 latter is presented. 



A remnant of the Cherokee tribe now occupies a small reservation in 

 Swain county, western North Carolina. These people were in posses- 

 sion of an iumiense tract of the South Appalachian region when first 

 encountered by the whites, and there is nothing to indicate that they 

 were not long resident in this region. An examination of their mod- 

 ern art in clay develops the fact that they are skillful potters, and 

 what is of special interest is the fact that their ware has several 

 points of analogy with the ancient stamped pottery of the South Appa- 

 lachian province. Their ware retains more of the archaic elements of 

 form than does that of the Catawbas, and the stamps they use in deco- 

 ration are identical in many respects with those formerl}' used in the 

 entire region extending from southern Florida to Vii'ginia. 



The question may thus be raised as to whether the Cherokees, rather 

 than the Uchees or the Muskhogean tribes, are not the people repre- 

 sented by the ceramic remains of the Southeast. Such speculations 

 are, however, in the present state of our knowledge, quite vain, and 

 they ma}' be misleading. All we can sui'ely know is that these people 

 retain well-defined featui'es of the ancient art of the region, and that 

 much of the ancient stamped ware of northern Georgia, western 



