/ 



HiH.MEK] ALGONQUIAN POTTERY 1-15 



kitcht'ii midden un tlic Yadkin, in Wilkes county, witliin less than 25 

 miles of the "N'irjjinia line, we have a few specimens of very rude 

 stamped ware and many pieces of large, coarse vessels that duplicate 

 the shell-heap ware of the Chesapeake. This is about the northern 

 limit of southern forms, 1)ut northern forms extend, with yraduallv 

 decreasini;' frefniency. to the western and southern borders of the 

 state. 



POTTKRY OF THE MIDDLP: ATL.\XTI(' PROVINCE 



Hk\ IKW OF THK Al.(;ON(^i:iAN' AkEAS 



As was pointed out in the introductory pages, a broad and impor- 

 tant distinction is to be drawn between the ceramic jn'oducts of the two 

 great regions which may be designated, in a general waj', as the North 

 and the Soutli. The former comprises that part of the great Algon- 

 quian-Irocjuoian territory' of historic times which lies to the north of a 

 somewhat indefinite line extending from below C^ape Hatteras, on the 

 Atlantic coast, through southwestern Virginia, eastern Kentucky, 

 middle Ohio, northern Indiana, northern Illinois, and middle Iowa to 

 Nebraska, and beyond; the latter comprehends the territory' to the 

 south of this line. The ceramic art of the North is archaic and simple, 

 that of the South is well advanced and complex. South of the line 

 there are compound and varied forms; north of it all forms are simple. 

 The pottery of the South lias animal shapes; that of the North has none. 

 The South has vessels with high, narrow necks, and stands and legs; the 

 North has none. The South has painted surfaces and decorations; the 

 North has no color, save the natural hues of the baked clay. The South 

 has the fret, scroll, and other current ornaments, as well as symbolic 

 and delineative designs; the North has little else than simple combina- 

 tions of straight lines. 



There are questions coming up for consideration in this connection, 

 aside from those relating to the grouping and description of the 

 ware, with which this paper is mainly concerned. We seek, for 

 example, the meaning of the somewhat al)rupt change of phenomena 

 in passing from the South to the North. Is it due to ditferences in 

 race? \Yere the southern tribes as a bodv more highly endowed than 

 the northern, or did the currents of migration, representing distinct 

 centers of culture, come from opposite quartei-s to meet along- this 

 line ? Or does the difference result from the luilike environments of 

 the two sections, the one fertile and salubrious, encouraging progress 

 in ai't. and the other rigorous and exacting, checking tendencies in 

 that dicretiou? Or does the weakening art impulse indicate increas- 

 ing distance from the great art centers in the far South, in Mexico and 

 Yucatan? We are constrained also to ask. Is it possible to identify 

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