116 " INDIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



5 answered to the studs on No. 3: tliey were substitutes for luandles. Their interior surfaces 

 are ragged in the extreme. No strings by which to suspend them coukl have been used without 

 being quickly cut through. 



But the most interesting feature in these pots is one which sliows they were not exclusively 

 formed by hand. It has long been and still is conceded that notliing like the potter's wheel 

 was employed on aboriginal wai'es ; a proof, strong as that afforded by the native modes of 

 spinning thread and grinding corn, that the elements of American civilization were inde- 

 pendently developed. In every instance the lower portion has been formed on a mould, (and 

 most likely between two moulds,) while the upper halves were gathered in, and the necks 

 modelled by the hands ; the marks and irregularities of which are apparent^ and singidarly 

 contrast with the interior surface below, which is so perfectly uniform that nothing but a mould 

 could produce the like. Nos. 2 and 3 seem to have been formed on one mould. 



Figiires 11 and 12 are from the same tomb, in Chile, out of which the bronze implements 

 figured on Plate 1 were taken. They are of a softer material and of a finer grain than the 

 preceding, and, being glazed, are quite smooth to the touch. They belonged to what may be 

 called the fancy pottery of old, being intended for show as well as for use. Tlie saucer-like 

 vessels, Nos. 10 and 11, have handles formed after bii'ds' heads: one resembles that of a duck 

 or goose. No. 10 is from Cuzco; it is 5f inches in diameter, and three quarters of an inch at 

 the centre. No. 11 is 6|- inches across, and IJ inch deep. Each has a couple of studs on the 

 edge opposite the handle, on which to rest it on the shelf. This is a common feature in all" 

 Peruvian pateras ; I do not remember to have seen one without it. Thus ancient American 

 housewives, like housewives everywhere, took a pride in setting off to advantage their hand- 

 some crockery. 



Plate X. — Wooden-ivare, dec. 



With the five cooking vases, figured in the preceding plate, were found various articles of 

 domestic economy in wood ; of these, figure 1 is the most conspicuous. This neat little pipkin 

 has been cut out of a solid piece of moderately-hard and red-colored wood. The sides and bottom 

 are of proportionate thickness, and the former thinned towards the spreading rim. But the 

 design is better than the execution ; the vessel bears marks of the tedious process by which the 

 interior matter was scooped out, morsel by morsel, and the exterior dressed down. The bust 

 which forms the handle is characteristic of the ancient head-dress, and of the gathering of the 

 hair behind into a thick queue — a custom still pursued among the Pueblo Indians and those of 

 the Gila river. The diameter of the bottom is 4 J inches, across the rim G-^, and the depth 4^. 

 The broad band beneath the rim, and the narrow one near the bottom, are calculated to convey 

 the impression that they were carved in imitation of hooj)s put around vessels made of staves. 

 If such was the fact, the date would have, perhaps, to be brought down below the Conquest : 

 that is, su^jposing vessels constructed of staves were not known to the natives during the Inca 

 dynasties. The probability, however, is, that the projecting parts were carved for ornament, 

 without reference to hooped pails and casks, as analogous bands are found on some of the oldest 

 of their gold and silver cups and vases. 



Figure 2 is a rude wooden spoon, probably used with the vessel figure 1. It forms a perfect 

 contrast to the exuberantly ornamented ones by modern Indians of Peru. The edges of the 

 bowl are worn, the front part thinned away, and the natural red tint of the wood reduced 

 nearly to white, most likely by stirring corn-mush or cassava in the pipkin, and transferring it 

 thence to the family mouths. 



Figure 3. A dipper or drinking bowl made out of a calabash. 



Figure 4. A small and nearly globular gourd, probably used for a similar purpose. 



Another example of minute toil in carving is shown at figure 5, apparently in imitation of a 

 small gourd. 



