HOLMES] POTTERY OF MIAMI VALLEY 185 



the neck of the vessel. Their luiuiber is usiuilly four, Init two are 

 sometimes seen, and occasionally- there are more than four. In most 

 cases thej' are wider where they join the rim, which is often drawn out 

 to meet them. The outer surface of the handles is plain and flat in most 

 cases, but examples occur in which it is concave, and in rather rare 

 instances it is round. In no other section do handles form so impor- 

 tant a feature of the ware as in southwestern Ohio. As a rule, in all 

 .sections, handles of this general type belong to vessels intended for 

 culinary use, and it would appear from the signs of use over tire that 

 many of the Miami vases were mere culinary utensils. 



A number of specimens obtained from a mound near Madisonville, 

 and referred to above, are shown in plate clxiii. The first specimen, «, 

 is supplied with two looped handles, alternating with which are two 

 animal figures vertically placed. That the latter represent a quad- 

 ruped is about all that cari be said with safety, for they may have been 

 intended for either a lizard or a mountain lion. In another case, a 

 rudelj' modeled human head or face is attached to the upper margin 

 of the rim. Nodes and low ridges take the jilace of handles in some 

 specimens. 



Examples of the average pot are given in h and <■. Some peculiar 

 modifications of the .simple vessels are ob.served. One specimen. )L is 

 mounted' on a cruddy made foot or stand; it has an awkward, top- 

 heavy appearance. The addition of this feature was probably an 

 experiment on the part of the potter, who was possibh' attempting in 

 a crude way to copy the work of his southern neighbors. A double 

 vase from the .same site is shown in c There is no dou))t that, as our 

 collections are enlarged, additional forms will be added. 



Plate CLXiv is introduced for the purpose of showing the peculiar 

 surface finish observed in this wai'e. The modeling implement was 

 a paddle or a cylinder wrapped with twisted cords, and applied to the 

 pla.stic surface; it was generally held so that the markings are approxi- 

 mately vertical. These markings are obliterated on the neck of the 

 vessels by finishing with the polishing stone. 



Decoration proper is confined to the lip and neck. The lip is plain, 

 rounded, squarish or uneven on the edge, or has a narrow collar or 

 band on the exterior; this latter is often indented in a rude and simple 

 manner, a herring-bone arrangement of short incisions being com- 

 mon. The constricted zone of the neck is generally rather rudely 

 but effectively embellished with an encircling design, based on the 

 meander, scroll or guilloche. A series of these figures is shown in 

 plate CLxv, and the impression given is that the makers of this 

 ware have in some way felt the influence of more southern culture, 

 and have, in a crude way, introduced into their symbolism and decora- 

 tive art a number of borrowed elements. In some cases, the current 

 scroll, composed of neatly interlocked units, is cl'arly drawn, l)utasa 



