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 
werenot 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, 
when 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 reanimation 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, there 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 Banff. 
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, w 7 ho lived near Wheeling, 
must strike every one who reads Pennant’s account of the 
urn of Banff. “ 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 the 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 thoroughly beaten and worked together before it was 
moulded. 
It is difficult to conjecture to what use this antique bottle 
