38 Loomis and Young — Shell Heaps of Maine. 



at k'ast, enough to show size, shape, and ornamentation. Gen- 

 erally the most bits of pottery were found in the lower parts of 

 the heaps, especially in the layer of ashes, which is doubtless 

 due to the fact that it took longer to accumulate that layer. 



The material used in the manufacture of the pots is clay, 

 mixed with two sorts of tempering material, the tempering 

 being introduced to overcome tendencies to shrink unevenly, 

 and to crack in the firing process. In a majority of the vessels 

 the temper was given by adding coarsely powdered rock, for 

 the fragments found show quantities of particles of quartz, 

 feldspar, and especially the scaly flakes of schist. Some of the 

 particles are an eighth of an inch in diameter, while in other 

 bits of pottery they are much finer. The dominant rocks in 

 Maine are schists with veins of quartz, with any amount of 

 granite bowlders on the surface. This would seem to be the 

 material ready at hand. In other cases the temper is entirely 

 powdered shells, and this pottery is the tougher and better 

 preserved. The two sorts of tempering material were not 

 mixed in any of our finds. We surmise that the pots made 

 while the Indians were in the interior were tempered with the 

 powdered rock, while those made at the sea shore were 

 tempered with the powdered shells. 



In the two cases where enough fragments belonging to a 

 single pot were found, so that it could be restored in part, the 

 pots were of the tall round-bottomed type, characteristic of the 

 New England Algonquins, and none of the fragments would 

 indicate a pot of any other form. Inasmuch as the fragments 

 of the bottoms of pots were not more burned than the top 

 pieces, it would appear that they were not used for cooking, 

 but rather as containers of corn, liquids, etc. One of the most 

 complete was found in the heap on White Island, two-thirds of 

 the rim being present, and also one side down to the base. 

 This was six and a half inches across the top and seven and a 

 half inches high. The second good pot was found in the 

 Sawyer's Island heap, had over half of the rim, and measures 

 nine and three-quarters inches across the top, being apparently 

 not quite so deep. Such pots could not stand on their bot- 

 toms and must have been set in baskets or hung up ; but there 

 is not any indication of their having been hung up, unless it is 

 a row of holes was made just under the rim and about an 

 inch apart. Each hole goes about three-quarters of the way 

 through the rim, but none clear through. They were undoubt- 

 edly used in some manner for a grip, and may have been 

 connected with some method of hanging the pot, but seem to 

 us to be rather for handling the pot while being baked. 



The edges of the fragments of these two pots, and in many 

 of the other cases also, show that the pots were made by taking 



