198 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [f.th.anx.20 



induistries longer than the equally sedentary trilies of the same family 

 farther south. 



Catlin's account of the pottery making- of the Mandans is quoted in 

 full in the introduction, and I need do no more here than present the 

 illustrations, plate clxxv. The vessel shown in a is 6 inches in 

 diameter and 6 inches in height, about the average size, and strong 

 and neatly made, of grayish-yellow clay tempered with sand or pul- 

 verized crystalline rock. Its characteristics of form are the wide 

 mouth with rim developed into a wide collar, to which two handles 

 are attached, alternating with two angular projections. The body 

 swells but little, and terminates in a rounded cone below. The gen- 

 eral surface was finished, first, with the usual cord-wrapped imple- 

 ment, traces of the imprintings l)eing still seen about the neck. 

 After this, the surface was finished by application of a tool producing 

 impressions such as would be made by a paddle wrapped with straw 

 or rushes; they are plainly to be seen in the illustration. Next, the 

 neck and rim were rubbed down, obliterating the imprintings, and 

 the collar and handles were embellished by impressing strong cords in 

 simple, angular patterns. Triangular spaces at the top of the handles 

 and over the alternating projections have received each three imprint- 

 ings from a round-pointed stamp, probably the end of a stick, about 

 one-fourth inch in diameter. Possibly these indentations may stand 

 for the eyes and mouth of some animal, while the cord imprintings 

 of the rim stand for the markings of the body. The specimen was 

 received from Dr Washington Matthews, U. S. A., stationed at Fort 

 Stevenson, North Dakota, in 1S6S. A very similar specimen is credited 

 to the Grosventre tribe. 



.Specimen i, collected by General William B. Hazen. Chief Signal 

 Officer, is recorded without assignment to an}- tribe. It was associ- 

 ated, however, with Sioux relics, and doubtless came from the Man- 

 dans, as it duplicates in nearly every particular the specimen described 

 above. The body shows no traces of textile markings, but the entire 

 surface is covered with impressions made by a paddling tool, and cer- 

 tain impressions about the neck suggest that this was possibly a ))it of 

 wood, carved with alternating low ridges and shallow grooves. The 

 collar is without the three indentations seen in the other specimen. 

 The color is terra-cotta, mottled with ])lack cloudings, produced by 

 the firing. Dried mush adheres to the inside and extends in lines — 

 as if from boiling over — down the sides of the vessel. This latter 

 feature and the presence of a luickskin carrying-band indicat(^ recent 

 origin and use. 



The two specimens given in plate clxxm l)elong also to the Hazen 

 collection, but, not being assigned to any locality or people, they should 

 be referred to with caution. They possess, however, numerous fea- 

 tures in common with Mandan work. Possibly they were obtained 



