ANNALS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM, No. 6 
35 
larger, better-made, and better-preserved of the two, the surface 
of the flat lip was ornamented throughout with scalloped bars, 
separated by intermediate furrows set obliquely in opposite direc- 
tions on each side of tiie expansion, and on it developed into 
a rhomboidai pattern of similar bars concentrically arranged; 
the edges of the expansion are embellished with oblique notches, 
and the side of the neck below it with impressed unduiatory lines. 
Tnough the inner surface shews horizontal grooves, such as might 
have resulted from the revolution of the clay under the finger 
of the potter, it leaves the use of the wheel questionable. In the 
lesser shard, the material is a sandy yellowish clay. It was im- 
perfectly baked in an open fire, which acted less on the inner 
than on the outer surface. In a series of over one hundred 
pots collected at various points on both coasts of British New 
Guniea, there is not one whose edge is strengthened by a thick 
flat lip, nor is there one whose neck is relieved of tension when 
the vessel is in use by an arch connecting the edge with the body, 
and so forming a handle. There is but one— apart from the imitation 
of a cocoa nut or gourd dipper figured beside it in Edge Partington 
and Heapes Album, ser. 3, p. 76, rf. 8, 9— which has a handle of any 
kind, and this rising loop-like upwards from the brim has an appear- 
ance of fragility and, beyond its immediate office of suspension, 
of uselessness in strong contrast with the idea of purposeful massive- 
ness conveyed by the shard. This charm also may very possibly 
be to the Papuan a proof that something to which he is unaccus- 
tomed has been wrought in the past, and consequently has acquired 
a potent influence over the present. So it has been with the 
flint arrowheads and stone celts of Europe. But again we have 
to remember eventualities. To conclude from the apparent absence 
of a higher type of pottery from British New Guinea that it is also 
foreign to the rest of the Island would be unwise. All that can 
be said with confidence is that provided that the south-eastern 
pots are not inferior to any made elsewhere in the Island, these 
shards tell us of a stage of industrial culture distinctly higher 
than at present obtains. Time may indeed shew that they are not 
indigenous products, but due to contact with some exotic culture. 
