Jordan. ] 106 [March 2, 1888. 
succumbed to hard usage, and in that condition consigned to the refuse 
heap. An unbroken specimen has never been found, and of the sherds, 
the largest that I have seen was the base of a pot unearthed near Felton, 
where I found it serving the purposes of a soap dish. Extreme plainness 
characterized the pottery of this State. In capacity they were scarcely 
more than quart pots, shaped like the gourd, with decorations of the sim- 
plest description, of which the most elaborate were those having incised 
parallel lines encircling the rim. 
It is gratifying to be able to say that it has been reserved for Pennsyl- 
vania to furnish the best examples of this ancient industry. The Wyom- 
ing Historical and Geological Society, of Wilkesbarre, with commendable 
zeal, under the enthusiastic direction of the late Harrison Wright, suc- 
ceeded in locating several Indian graves in Luzerne county, from which 
were exhumcd nine very remarkable perfect specimens. These have been 
carefully described and figured in the Proceedings of that society, and 
hence it is only necessary to note the fact that although they were all 
found within a radius of twenty miles, there are no two identical in shape, 
and each has a different ornamentation. 
Two more from the same State have been deposited in the museum of 
the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, very similar in form and decora- 
tion to those found near Wilkesbarre, which, with another discovered 
in the mountains near Summit Hill, constitute a distinct, and what I shall 
call the Pennsylvania variety, of which the high square decorated mouth 
is a prominent characteristic. These pots were made to contain from a 
half to one gallon, and are very much larger, as they are also the most 
beautiful of the mortuary pottery heretofore described. 
In construction, design and decoration, very marked differences dis- 
tinguish the specimens from the States under discussion, and in consider- 
ing this part of the subject it is necessary to treat first the large undeco- 
rated vessels, evidently intended to withstand rough handling, of which 
the clay is thick—from a half to one inch—and the materials coarse. 
In appearance this class has a strong resemblance to our modern earthen- 
ware, but is heavier and apparently stronger, though actual test may dis- 
prove this latter quality. In the other grade we cannot fail to notice a 
delicacy of construction that pertains alone to the higher class of Indian 
pottery, upon which patient labor has been expended, producing a bighly 
decorated and carefully finished vessel. Fine sand has been substituted 
for coarse clay, and the large particles of pounded shell or quartz, which 
are a conspicuous feature of the rude pots, have been eliminated: the 
whole showing a more careful preparation. 
Of the designs in general it may be said that they occur in an almost 
endless variety, which in itself is a conceded merit, and one that 
the potters of the old world did not possess in a greater degree. The 
difficulties attending the execution of some of the forms is astonishing 
when we consider that they were made solely for purposes of utility. 
The prevailing shape was that of the gourd, and like it terminated in a 
