354 INDIAN POTTEEY, 



and surpassing that which prevailed on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains. 

 Descriptions of these relics, however, would exceed the intended limits of this 

 essay, and, moreover, they have been given elsewhere, together with specula- 

 tions concerning the character of the manufacturers.* 



Some years ago, while visiting northern Europe, I had occasion to see many 

 specimens of ancient pottery deposited in the archaeological collections of that 

 district, and having previously become acquainted with the character of North 

 American aboriginal pottery, it afforded me great pleasure to trace the similarity 

 in the fictile manufactures of .both continents. Where the external conditions 

 of life were similar amono; men, their inventive powers were necessarily exerted 

 in a similar manner. We have the testimony of Tacitus, that the inhabitants 

 of Germany lived, about two thousand years ago, much in the manner of the 

 North American Indians, before the original habits of the latter had undergone 

 the changes resulting from their intercourse with Europeans or their descend- 

 ants ; and it is, therefore, quite natural that both races should have resorted to 

 the same, or, at least, similar means to satisfy their wants. The ancient flint 

 implements of northern Europe bear a close resemblance to those formerly made 

 by the natives of this country, and a like conformity is exhibited in the character 

 of their manufactures of clay. 



The aborigines of North America, to recapitulate the general characteristics 

 of their pottery, formed their vessels by hand, modelling them sometimes in 

 baskets, and were, as far as we know, unacquainted with the art of glazing. 

 They mixed the clay used in their pottery either with pounded shells or sand, 

 or with pulverized silicious rocks ; mica also formed sometimes a part of the 

 composition. Their vessels were often painted with ochre, producing various 

 shades, from a light yellow to a dark brown, or with a black color. They deco- 

 rated their pottery with lines or combinations of lines and dots, and embellished 

 it also by notching the rims, or surrounding them on the outside with studs, or 

 in various other ways. Their vessels exhibited a great variety of forms and 

 sizes, and many of them had rounded or convex bottoms. They hardened their 

 earthenware in open fires or in kilns, and notwithstanding the favorable state- 

 ments of some authors, it was much inferior in compactness to the common 

 crockery manufactured at present in Europe or America, and has even, in some 

 instances, an appearance as though it had merely been dried in the sun. 



The same details, somewhat modified, are applicable to the specimens of an- 

 cient pottery preserved in the museums of northern Germany, and frequently 

 obtained from ancient burial places, where they had been placed by the side of 

 the dead, or as receptacles of their ashes. Many of these vessels were evidently 

 fashioned by hand ; but others, especially the larger ones, bear the unmistakable 

 traces of the lathe, the use of which was, perhaps, known to the German tribes 

 before they had intercourse with the Romans. The clay composing these ves- 

 sels is strongly mixed with quartz sand, to which very frequently mica is added, 

 probably with a view to impart more solidity to the mass. Ancient German clay 

 vessels, after being exhumed, are soft and so fragile that a somewhat rough 

 handling destroys them at once. The roots of trees and shrubs have often 

 grown through those that are dug up in woods, which obviously shows that they 

 were not sufficiently burned ; for well-burned clay, like that composing the pipes 

 of Roman aqueducts and the bricks of the middle age, resists humidity even 

 better than many kinds of stone. When exposed to the air, these vessels be- 

 come tolerably hard within a few hours ; but in rare instances only they have 

 that peculiar ring which characterizes well-burned earthenware. It seems, there- 

 fore, that they were not burned in kilns, but merely in strong open fires. t Many 



* The reader is referred to an excellent chapter by Mr. T/iomas Eicbank, entitled "Illus- 

 trations of Indian Antiquities and Arts," in the third volume of Pacific Eailroad Reports, 

 Washington, 1856. 



t Klemm, Germanische Alterthumskunde, Dresden, 1 836, p. 167. 



