78 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



baskets, which disappeared in the burning. This was mistaking 

 the theor)^ Prof. Wyman, in speaking of the cord-marked pottery 

 of Tennessee, said, ' It seems incredible that even an Indian would 

 be so prodigal of time and labor as to make the necessary quantity 

 of well-twisted thready and weave it into shape for the mere purpose 

 of serving as a mold, which must be destroyed in making a single 

 copy.' To this Mr Holmes replied that the nets were removed 

 before burning or drying; adding that in the case of the great salt 

 vessels of the Saline river, Ill._, the fabrics were applied after the ves- 

 sels were formed. That these were salt kettles is assumed by many, 

 but it remains true that the early historic nations of the northern 

 United States and of Canada used no salt at all. Cords were em- 

 ployed in decorating early earthenware in Great Britain, and the 

 process has been clearly proved in the United States^ though less 

 general than has been claimed. 



Some stamps were certainly used in adorning much northern 

 pottery^ as the impression is very uniform. Corn on the cob has 

 been suggested as one means, and probably other seeds were em- 

 ployed in a few cases. Patterns may have been stitched on birch 

 bark and applied to the surface. Sharp and round pointed tools 

 had their use, either simply cutting or else excavating the soft clay. 

 Besides the grooves or cuts there are usually slightly raised lines 

 caused by pressure, but these do not always appear. Hollow bone 

 was useful, and many a bold rim was pinched between the thumb 

 and finger, or incised by the long and sharp nails of the Iroquois^ 

 which they kept in this condition with a double purpose, that 

 of mangling their captives when tortured, and to show that they did 

 not labor themselves. Rarely did they have an industrial use. 



One primitive process in forming earthen vessels was building 

 up, often with a long coil of clay, afterwards smoothed, polished 

 and decorated when desired. Large crucibles are still made in this 

 way in some modern manufactories. The coiled and simply decor- 

 ated ware of the Zunis is well known, and there are rare suggestions 

 of this here. In decoration animal forms are mostly confined to 

 pipes in New York, but the human face and form often appear on 

 earthen Iroquois vessels, early in the 17th Century and late in the 



