8o NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



tons a fireplace was found. This was a hollow in the ground^ lined 

 with burned clay, and filled with charcoal.' Another observer 

 described the fireplace as circular and like a deep bowl, 3 feet 

 across. The baked clay was 4 inches thick, and the charcoal about 

 the same. This rare instance of one use of clay here hardly forms 

 a part of our subject now, but is worthy of note. In the west it is 

 more frequent. 



Refuse heaps, by village sites, usually contain a great deal of 

 broken earthenware, out of which fine or curious fragments are 

 often taken, and these occur also in the ash beds of the old fire- 

 places. This is so on some quite recent sites, for while the richer 

 Iroquois obtained brass kettles quickly Irom the whites, their poorer 

 friends continued the primitive art till the beginning of the i8th cen- 

 tury at least. In some places rude pottery is found at a consider- 

 able depth, from different causes. In fireplaces this may come from 

 the practice of placing the fire in excavations in the ground. On 

 village sites, also, the same difference will be observed in material, 

 style and finish, as in other articles. Taste, skill and the ability to 

 buy, did not belong to all. The fact that the distinctions of rich 

 and poor are found in savage life is never to be overlooked in the 

 study of aboriginal articles, if we would avoid serious mistakes. 



The difference in the forms of eastern pottery when compared 

 with those of the south, has been mentioned. The long-necked ves- 

 sels of the middle Mississippi valley are never seen in the northern 

 states, nor are depressed vessels often found in eastern earthenware, 

 although frequent in soapstone. Usually the base is rounded, and 

 the swelling sides are constricted below the top, thus giving an 

 expanded rim of various forms. Sometimes the margin is horizon- 

 tal, but is more commonly angular, with two or more elevations. 

 In section the rim may be angular, circular or elliptic, and is 

 often perfectly straight, or very nearly so, in portions of the cir- 

 cumference. The rim may be simple and narrow, or deep and 

 broadly projecting. It is usually much ornamented outside, often 

 on the top as well, but more rarely within. In a few cases, however, 

 the interior ornamentation is elaborate and deep. As a rule there 

 is little detail below the expanded top. 



