EARTHENWARE OF FLORIDA: 

 COLLECTIONS OF CLARENCE B. MOORE. 

 By W. H. Holmes. 



Exploration lias not yet gone far enough on the peninsula of Florida to give 

 arch geologists a firm grasp on the problems of its prehistoric art. The general na- 

 ture and range of the remains are pretty well understood, as they form no marked 

 exception to the rule in this latitude, but little has been done in the study of those 

 details that must be relied upon to assist in assigning the art remains to particular 

 tribes and stocks of people, in correlating them with culture features of neigh- 

 boring regions and determining questions of chronology. The extensive and 

 careful researches of Mr. Clarence B. Moore seem destined to fairly initiate this 

 important work, and there is every reason for hoping that results until now appar- 

 ently unattainable may step by step be brought about. 



It is on the ceramic evidence perhaps more than any other that we must depend 

 for the solution of problem of time, people and culture, and to this branch of inves- 

 tigation the most careful and painstaking attention must be given. Unfortunately 

 the present paper had to be prepared rather hastily and under conditions not calcu- 

 lated to yield the most satisfactory results. The collections utilized represent a 

 limited number of localities and their discussion necessarily lacks the peculiar 

 lucidity that characterizes the presentation of actual personal research in the field. 



Historic Aborigines. — The group of tribes occupying Florida during the period 

 of discovery and conquest by the Spanish, belonged to what is known as the Tamu- 

 quanan linguistic stock. These people have now entirely disappeared and little is 

 definitely known of their arts or history. Other tribes have since occupied the terri- 

 tory but none have been permitted to remain save a band of Seminoles some 200 

 strong who now occupy portions of the Everglades. There appears to be but the 

 most meagre record of the making or pottery by any of the historic tribes of the 

 peninsula, yet pottery making was the rule with the southern Indians and we may 

 fairly assume that most of the tribes found in possession were potters, and that 

 much of the earthenware now found in the mounds and shell-heaps belonged to 

 tribes of the historic linguistic stocks of the general region. 



There are traces of several rather imperfectly defined groups or varieties of 

 ware in the State, a fact which may in the end prove to be of very considerable im- 

 portance in ethnic history. The Tamuquanan peoples are doubtless fully repres- 

 ented, but Muskogean influence must have been felt, and at least one of the princi- 

 pal varieties of pottery found on the peninsula was more highly developed than 

 elsewhere with this more northern people. It seems that even the Algonkian fam- 

 ily may possibly be represented in certain fabric marked wares of the northeast. 



