18(5 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [kth.ann.20 



rule the lines form a .somewhat diseonnected t;uilloche, apparentl_y the 

 result of careless imitation of intertwined fillets. In some cases the 

 figures are angular, and in a few instances thej' have been somewhat 

 carefully ela))orated with a modeling tool, giving a relieved effect. 



This pottery does not take a high place among the various ceramic 

 groups of the mound builders, and, if we should assume to determine 

 the relative culture status of the various peoples concerned in pottery 

 making from this art alone, we should find the Miami tribes near the 

 bottom of the scale. Judging by the poverty of shapes, there had 

 been but little differentiation of use. The introduction of life forms 

 had hardly connnenced. and the esthetic features were treated in a 

 very elementary way, as if but recently introduced. 



Salt \'kssei.s 



One of the most notable varieties of earthenware found in any of the 

 regions is that represented by what are usuallj' referred to as '"salt 

 vessels." Two localities in the Ohio valley are especially noted for 

 this ware; one is near Shawneetown, Illinois, and the other is near 

 Nashville, Tennessee. A rather full account of the ware has been 

 given in the introductory pages, and I do not need to dwell on it here, 

 save to say that it is my impression that these utensils do not repre- 

 sent a peculiar people or culture, but that they were produced by the 

 various tribes of the region for the special purpose of reducing the 

 salt waters of the localities in which they are found. 



POTTERY OF THE NORTHWEST 

 Family Distinctions 



In a paper published in the Fourtii Annual Report of the Bureau of 

 Ethnology the ancient ware of the valley of the ^lississippi was dis- 

 cussed with some care, but the ground was not entirel}' covered. It 

 was shown, however, that the pottery of the upper valley belongs to 

 a family distinct from that of the lower, and that the limitations of its 

 occurrence appear to mark, with some degree of approximation, the 

 distribution of peculiar groups of people and of particular phase.s of 

 culture. The general distinctions between the earthenware of the 

 North and that of the South have been pointed out in the introductory 

 pages and in the section treating of the eastern Algonquian areas, and 

 it may be added here that the \'ery pooi-ly defined zone of transition 

 crosses southern Ohio and extends across the middle portions of Indi- 

 ana, Illinois, and Iowa. The southern ware extends considerably to 

 the north of this zone in numerous cases, and the northern forms are 

 found in decreasing numbers as we pass across it to the south. In 

 some sections the typical wares of both provinces are found together 



