Illustrated Catalogue of a Portion of the Collections Made During the Field Season of 1881Third Ann | Page 7

the shoulder, the arch lying upon the neck. Still
others have one or more handles which connect the rim with the neck
or shoulder of the vessel, leaving a round or oblong passage for a cord
or vine.
These handles were added after the vessel was completed. They are
never ornamented. In one case an arched handle, like the handle of a
basket, connects the opposite sides of the rim. This is the only entire
vessel recovered from the mound. It was associated with the upper
layer of skeletons. Diameter 4½ inches. Fig. 118.
[Illustration: Fig. 118.]
The body of these vessels is sometimes quite plain, but is more
frequently covered with cord markings. These, with one or two
exceptions, seem to be made by a series of fine cords, approximately
parallel, but without cross-threads of any kind. There is little uniformity

of arrangement. In the upper part, and about the base of the neck, the
indented lines are generally vertical. On the bottom they are quite
irregular, as if the vessel, in making, had been rolled about on a piece
of netting or coarse cloth. The cords have been about the size of the
ordinary cotton cord used by merchants. One exception is seen in a
fragment of a large, rudely-made vase, in which we have the
impression of a fabric, the warp of which, whether wood or cord, has
consisted of fillets more than one-fourth of an inch in width, the woof
being fine cord.
This is what is frequently spoken of as the ear-of-corn impression. No
incised or excavated lines have been noticed in these fragments of
pot-shaped vessels. Some of the most elegant vessels are without
upright necks. The upper or incurved surface of the body is
approximately flat, forming, with the lower part of the body a more or
less sharp peripheral angle. The base is rounded, and, so far as we can
judge from the examples, the bottom is slightly flattened. Vessels
having vertical or flaring rims are generally somewhat more shallow.
The incurved upper surface is often tastefully ornamented with patterns
of incised or excavated lines which are arranged in groups, in vertical
or oblique positions, or encircle the vessel parallel with the border. One
specimen has a row of stamped circles, made by a reed or hollow bone.
Bowls of the ordinary shape are variously decorated. In one case we
have on the outside of the rim, and projecting slightly above it, a
rudely-modeled grotesque face. A notched fillet passes around the rim,
near the lip, connecting with the sides of this head.
In another case a rude node is added to the rim. The only bowl having a
flaring rim is without ornament.
We have only one fragment of a bowl in which the body has been
marked with cords.
Composition.--The clay used in the pottery from this mound is
generally fine in texture, and of a light-gray color. Many of the
fragments have been blackened by burning subsequently to their

original firing, and some may have been originally blackened with
graphite. The prevailing colors seen in the fragments are yellowish and
reddish grays. The percentage of powdered shell used in tempering has
usually been very large, forming at times at least half the mass. The
flakes of shell are very coarse, being often as much as one-fourth of an
inch in diameter. In many cases they have been destroyed by burning,
or have dropped out from decay, leaving a deeply pitted surface.
Pipes.--There are a number of pipes in the collection, most of which
were found near the surface of the mound. In some cases they resemble
modern forms very closely. The most striking example is made of a
fine-grained clay, without visible admixture of tempering material. The
color is a reddish gray. It is neatly and symmetrically formed, the
surface being finished by polishing with a smooth, hard implement, and
shaving with a knife. The bowl is 2 inches high, and the rim is
bell-shaped above, with a smooth, flat lip, one-fourth of an inch wide.
The diameter of the opening is nearly 2 inches. The base is conical. The
stem part is one-half an inch long and one-half an inch in diameter. The
bowl and stem are both conically excavated.
Another specimen is made of clay mixed with powdered shell. The
bowl is cylindrical, being a little larger at the rim, which is ornamented
with rows of punctures. The elbow is ornamented by a rosette of
indented lines. The mouth piece has been broken away.
OBJECTS OF METAL.
62797. One of the most instructive finds in this mound is a pair of brass
pins, of undoubted European manufacture. The collector makes the
statement, with entire confidence in its correctness, that they had been
encased in the earth at the time