184 ABORIGINAL POTTKRY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [eth.ann.2o 



Professor Putnam's reference to these objects is as follows: 



On another altar, in another mound of tlie group, were several terra-cotta figurines 

 of a charaeter heretofore unknown from the mounds. Unfortunately these objects, 

 as well as others found on the altars, had !)een more or less burned, and many of them 

 appear to liave been purposely Ijroken before they were placed on the altars. Many 

 pieces of these images have been united, anrl it is my hope tliat we shall succeed in 

 nearly restoring some of tlieui. Knough has already been made out to show their 

 importance in the study of early Aiuerican art. The peculiar method of wearing the 

 hair, the singular headdresses and large button-like ear ornaments shown by these 

 human figures are of particular interest. The ear ornaments leave no doul)t of the 

 character of the spool-shaped objects referred to on a previous page." 



Occasionul speciinen.s of Middle ^Mississippi Valle_v type are found in 

 Ohio, but I am not able to reach anj' conclusion as to the relation of 

 the people concerned in their manufacture to the tribes referred to in 

 the precediuo- parag-raphs. Two excellent examples of this class are 

 shown in plate CLXi. They come from a mound in Ross county, and 

 are now preserved in the Ohio State Museum. 



Miami Valley Ware 



The potteiy to be considered luulcr this head does not include all 

 the wai-e of the Miami district, l)ut only that possessing character- 

 istics peculiar to certain pi-ominent sites located mainly on the Little 

 Miami. This ware is not confined to the i\Iiami region, for, as I have 

 already indi<'ated, it extends out with decreasing numbers of specimens 

 and in less and less typical f(irms, even beyond the confines of the 

 Ohio valley, especially into Kentucky and eastern Tennessee. The 

 richest collections of the ]\Iiami wares are preserved in the Peabody 

 Museum, and include a large series of well-preserved vases obtained 

 from village sites in the vicinity of Madisonville. The Literaiy and 

 Scientific Society of Madisonville made important finds in this region, 

 and publi.shed descriptions and a number of illustrations.'-' 



Some fine pieces obtained l)y Mr McBride, in Butler county, are 

 preserved in the Museum of the Academy of Sciences in Philadelphia. 

 Squire and Davis, in Ancient Monuments, figure 72, illustrate two 

 vases of this class from near the surface of the ground in Butler county. 

 From a village site at Fort Ancient, \\'arren county, Ohio, Mr W. K. 

 Moorehead obtained numerous fragments of this pottery, illustrated 

 in plate clxil' 



The prevailing type of vessel is a round-bodied pot with wide mouth 

 and flaring rim. Deep bowls are occasionally seen. The pots are 

 sti'onglj- characterized l)y their handles, which connect the lip with 

 the shoulder. As a rule these handles aie thin bands, and lie close to 



"Putnam, F. W., Si.xteenth and .Seventeenth Annual Report ol the Trustees of the Peabody Museum 

 of American Archreology and Ethnology, vol. hi, numbers 3 and 4, p. 173. 



'•Low, Charles F., ArchEtologieal Explorations near Madisonville, Ohio. Archceological Explora- 

 tions by the Literary and Scientific Society of Madisonville, Ohio, 1878-80, parts 1, 2, 3. and 4. 



cMoorehead. Warren K., Fort ,\ncient. Cincinnati. I.hdo. plate -xxvn. 



