HOLMES] POTOMAC CREEK POTTERY 155 



ordiuaiy varieties of ware on sites extending from the Yadkin to tiie 

 Delaware. 



POTOMAC CREEK WARE 



The Popes creek shell-heap site, referred to aljore, is the best 

 representative of its class in the province. It is located just below the 

 upper limit of the oyster banks on the Potomac, which was possibly 

 farther upstream in the period which witnessed the accumulation of 

 the shells on these sites than it is to-day. It will lie interesting and 

 instructive to compare the ceramic remains of these deposits with 

 those of a neighboring site on Potomac creek just above the oyster- 

 producing limits, a stretch of nearly 20 miles of the lake-like Potomac 

 intervening. The Potomac creek site, the seat of the famous Algon- 

 quian village of Pottowomeck, referred to by Smith, is still well 

 supplied with fragments of the finer varieties of the ware of the 

 region. Few coarse, heavj', carelessly made pieces are found, and 

 net-marked specimens of the Popes creek type are rare, if not absent. 

 It is observed, however, that the coarser wares are fragile, and that 

 they disintegrate readily, as was observed at Popes creek, where the 

 sherds taken from the shell deposits generally crumble on being 

 handled. The two hundred years of cultivation to which the Potomac 

 creek site, unprotected by compact laj'crs of shell, has been subjected, 

 must have gone far toward destrojdng all save the particularly durable 

 pieces. 

 , The clay used in the Potomac creek ware was usually very fine in 

 texture, the sand employed increasing in coarseness with the size of 

 the vessel. Weathered surfaces show the particles of white sand in 

 relief, while shell is rare or absent. The paste is well baked, an«l of 

 the usual warm gray coloi's, rarely approaching terra cotta. 



The modeling was often skilful, and the surfaces of many of the 

 smaller vessels were even and well polished. Most of the vessels were 

 quite small, many being mere cups, holding from a pint to a quart. 

 The walls of these vessels were thin and even, and the outlines approxi- 

 mately symmetric. The forms were well within the lines usual iu the 

 province, varying from that of a deep cup or bowl to that of a wide- 

 mouthed pot with upright rim and slightly swelling body. The few 

 bases preserved are slightly conic, the point being a little flattened, 

 so that the vessel would stand alone on a hard surface. The finish 

 is considerably varied within certain narrow limits. The prevailing- 

 body finish was given by some form of modeling tool covered or 

 wrapped with fine, well-twisted threads, which was rolled back and 

 forth, or was applied as a paddle. In some cases the textile marldngs 

 were rubbed down for the application of incised or indented designs, 

 and rai'ely the entire surface was polished. 



