198 



THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY 



merely hardened by exposure to the sun and air, for by 

 minutely examining these shells mixed with the clay, they 

 were not in the smallest degree calcined ; in most cases the 

 nacre of the shell is quite pearly and glittering. They are 

 capable of supporting, however, a high temperature, for 

 Dr. Clemens boiled water in one of them. 



There is a delicacy, perfection, and symmetry in most of 

 the earthen vessels, found in the ancient tumuli of the west, 

 which cannot be observed in any of the other articles which 

 are usually disinterred along with them. The stone axes, 

 arrow heads, and other implements are often of the rudest 

 construction. From this circumstance I think it probable, 

 that the females, or the priests, or those whose ordinary 

 occupations confined them at home, were the ancient Ame- 

 rican potters, and that the other articles were fabricated by 

 men engaged in the bustle and business of war, or in the 

 pursuits of the chase. In the Philadelphia Museum, how- 

 ever, there are some very curiously wrought instruments of 

 stone, and among the rest a kind of tomahawk, made from a 

 beautiful mass of translucent quartz. Perhaps this instrument 

 was made and used by the priests, to immolate their victims. 



Dr. Clemens informed me, that two of the above vases, 

 wlien first discovered, were filled with the bones of some 

 small quadruped, and as far as he could identify the crumb- 

 ling fragments, they were those of the rabbit or squirrel. 

 They were deposited by the side of the deceased, that he 

 might have, according to a traditionary superstitious notion, 

 something to eat at the resurrection or rcanimation of his 

 body. This story, I have no doubt, is the invention of the 

 present race of Indians, who now inhabit our western wilds. 

 It has been the usage of many ancient nations, an usage which 

 is, even now, scarcely obsolete, to bury in the same grave 

 some symbol of the favourite amusement or occupation of 

 the deceased. Thus, with the bones of the warrior, a battle 

 axe will often be found, or perhaps his arrows and bow. 

 Mr. Atwater, the indefatigable antiquary of Ohio, remarks, 

 "that with the hunter is often interred, that kind of wild 

 game of which he had been the fondest, or the most success- 

 ful in taking. Hence, the teeth of the otter are found in the 

 grave of one, and those of the beaver in that of another." 

 One who had been successful in fishing, is distinguished by 

 a number of fish bones and muscle shells. If these opinions 

 be correct, the ancient American, whose skeleton was found 

 at Wheeling, must have been a famous hunter of the squir- 

 rel, or the rabbit. 



In the transactions of the American Antiquarian Society, 

 vol. i. page 227, thei'e is the sketch of a vase very much 

 resembling the one we have given at figure 1, but it is more 

 globose, better proportioned, and more highly finished ; it 

 was obtained in a mound, a few miles from Chilicothe. 

 Dr. Hildreth, of Marietta, has also described a vessel, 



"nearly in the form of a cocoa nut shell," with four neat 

 handles near the brim, opposite to each other; it was found 

 in the bank of an island, not far from Belpre. These ves- 

 sels seemed to have contained calcined human bones, and 

 from their dark appearance, oil seems to have been poured 

 into them along with the bones. In Pennant's Tour in Scot- 

 land, vol. i. plate 21, there is the representation of a fine 

 urn, discovered in a cairn or mound, near the town of BanflF. 

 This vase is thought by Mr. Atwater, to resemble the one 

 found near Chilicothe, and which is so much like our 

 figure 1; but the likeness, in my estimation, is exceedingly 

 remote. Yet though there is little similarity in the .shape of 

 these vessels, a variety of circumstances connected with 

 them, intimate a great resemblance between the manners 

 and customs of the people, by whom they were manufac- 

 tured and used. That the sepulchral rites of the early inha- 

 bitants of Scotland, were very analagous to those of the 

 ancient tribes of Americans, who lived near Wheeling, 

 must strike every one who reads Pennant's account of the 

 urn of Banfl". " It was discovered in a cairn or tumulus, in 

 a coffin of flat stones; it was ornamented, but round it were 

 placed three others, smaller and quite plain, the contents of 

 each were the same, ashes, burnt bones, and flint arrow 

 heads. There was also in the larger urn and one of the 

 lesser, a small slender bone, four inches long, apparently 

 not human, but the animal to which it belonged, and the 

 use were unknown. The materials of the urn, consist of 

 a course clay, mixed with small stones and sand, which have 

 evidently been only dried and not burnt; the inside of the 

 larger urn was blackened, probably with tjie oil from the 

 bones." This is the substance of Pennant's account. It 

 will be recollected, that at the cairn at Wheeling, one orna- 

 mented urn and several plain ones were found, and that in 

 several other particulars, that burial place resembles the one 

 above described. 



Figure 2 of our drawing, represents an earthen ware bot- 

 tle, found in Scott county, state of Mississippi, twenty feet . 

 below the surface. The clay is much purer, and the work- 

 manship far superior to the Wheeling urns. It is of a dark 

 umber colour, and was brought from the tumulus by my 

 friend, Mr. S. of Pittsburg, and given to the Museum. In 

 examining the smooth and polished surface of this beautiful 

 vessel, it is scarcely possible to resist the inference that it 

 was moddled in a potter's lathe. The drawing made of it, 

 by the kindness of Mr. Lambdin, a promising artist and 

 the liberal proprietor of the Museum, will give a correct 

 idea of its general appearance. It will contain about a quart. 

 The clay and the shells of which it is composed, must have 

 been tlioroughly beaten and worked togetlier before it was 

 moulded. 



It is diflicult to conjecture to what use this antique bottle 



