EXCHANGE
TAVENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
1898-99
BY
J. W. POWELL
DIRECTOR
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT ]> K I X T I X G OFFICE
1 . u :;
\
LETTER OF TRAXSMITTAL
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
BURKAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY,
Washington, I). C., July 1, 18911.
SIR: I have the honor to submit my Twentieth Annual
Report as Director of the Bureau of American Ethnology.
The preliminary portion comprises an account of the opera
tions of the Bureau during the fiscal year, and the further
development of a classification of ethnic science that has
grown out of the Bureau s work in the last two decades; the
remainder consists of a memoir on the native pottery of the
eastern United States, which embodies briefly the results of
many years archeologic exploration by the Bureau, supple
mented by study of all the important collections of aboriginal
American pottery in the United States.
Allow me to express my appreciation of your constant aid
and your support in the work under my charge.
I am, with respect, your obedient servant,
Director.
HonoraHe S. P. LANGLEY,
Sec, *ary of the Smithsonian Institution.
\ \
CONTENTS
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR
Page
Introduction
Fiekl research and exploration ,
Office research
Work in esthetology XI1
Work in technology - xm
Work in sociology
Work in philology
Work in eophiology
Work in descriptive ethnology xxm
Miscellaneous work xxm
Collections xxlv
Property XXIV
Financial statement
Characterization of accompanying paper . . xxvi
Technology, or the science of industries xxix
Introduction xxix
Substantiation xxxi
Construction xxxvi
Mechanics XL
Commerce XLIII
Medicine XLtx
Sociology, or the science of institutions i-ix
Introduction LIX
Statistics LXI
Economics LXIV
Civics LXXVIII
Histories *ci
Savagery xc
Barbarism v
Monarchy t xi
Republickism
Ethics -----
Philology, or the science of activities designed for expression < xxxix
Introduction rxxxix
Emotional language CXL
Oral language CXLIV
Introduction CXLIV
Phonics CXLVI
Lexicology CXLVIII
Grammar CXLIX
Etymology CT.III
Sematology CLVII
The Aryan problem n.xm
v
VI
CONTENTS
Philology, or the science of activities designed for expression continued. Page
Gesture language CLXIV
Written language CLXV
Logistic language CLXIX
Pophiology, or the science of activities designed to give instruction CLXXI
Opinions, the subject-matter of instruction CLXXI
Mythology CLXXIII
Metaphysic CLXXXIV
Science CXCH
Instruction cxcv
Nurture cxcv
Oratory cxcv
Education cxcvi
Publication cxcvi
Research cxcvn
ACCOMPANYING PAPER
Aboriginal pottery of the eastern United States, by W. H. Holmes (plates
I-CLXXVII, figures 1-79) 1
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT
UK THK
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
Bv -I. W. POWELL, Director
INTRODUCTION
Ethnologic researches have been conducted throughout
the fiscal vear ending June 30, 1899, in accordance with the
act of Congress making provision "for continuing researches
relating to the American Indians, under the direction of the
Smithsonian Institution," approved July 1, 1898.
The work was earned forward in accordance with a plan of
operations submitted on June 18, 1898, and duly approved by
the Secretary.
Field operations were conducted in Arizona, California,
Indian Territory, Maine, Nebraska, New Brunswick, Xew
Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, and Ontario, while researches
were made by special agents in Alaska and Patagonia. The
office work included the collection and preparation of mate
rial from Indian tribes in Arizona, California, Colorado, Flor
ida, Idaho, Indian Territory, Iowa, Nebraska, New Bruns
wick, New York, Oklahoma, ( mtario, and in less quantity
from other States and Territories, as well as from neighboring
American countries.
As heretofore, the work lias been conducted in accordance
with a classification of ethnic science based largely on the
special researches of the last two decades and developed
largely in this Bureau. This classification has been set forth
at length in previous reports and need not be repeated.
X BUKEAU OF AMEKICAN ETHNOLOGY
FIELD RESEARCH AND KXI U ) II ATI OX
Early in the fiscal year the Director resumed the study of
shell mounds, and earthworks iu Maine, and continued the
comparison of aboriginal relics contained in these accumula
tions with the handicraft of the partially accultured aborigines
still living- in the adjacent forests and among the less-frequented
inlets and islands of the coast. Some of the results were put
in the form of a preliminary paper on "Technology, or the
Science of Industries," designed for incorporation in this report.
Under a special authorization from the Secretary, the
ethnologist in charge, Mr W J McGee, with Mr W. H.
Holmes, of the U. S. National Museum, made an extended
ethnologic and archeologic reconnaissance in California during
October, November, and December. The districts examined
comprised the western slopes and foothills of the Sierra Nevada,
including the Table mountain region from Yuba river south
ward to Tule river; a portion of the northern Coast range
region, centering about Ukiali; typical portions of the Sacra
mento valley, centering about Stockton, and the coastwise areas
and offshore islands of the southwestern region of the state.
The primary purpose wa*s the collection of typical artifacts
representing the aboriginal culture of the peculiarly interesting
Pacific coast province ; a secondary purpose was the collection
of prehistoric relics, the comparison of these with the early
historical period, and the general study of the culture history
of the region ; and a satisfactory degree of progress was made
in the attainment of both purposes. The operations resulted
in substantial enrichment of the Museum through the acquisi
tion of new and representative material, and indirectly the
opportunities for local work led to the acquisition of a highly
useful collection of basketry the Hudson collection which
throws much light on the aboriginal handicraft and motives of
the California Indians.
In November Dr J. Walter Fewkes repaired to Arizona for
the purpose of continuing researches concerning the winter
ceremonies of the Hopi Indians, but soon after his arrival an
epidemic of smallpox manifested itself in such severity as com-
ADMINISTRATIVE KEl OKT XI
pletely to demoralize the Indians and to prevent rhem from
carrying out their ceremonial plans, and rf the same time to
place Dr Fewkes in grave personal danger. It accordingly
became necessary to abandon the work for the season.
Early in the fiscal year an arrangement was effected with
the managers of the Trans-Mississippi and International Expo
sition, at Omaha, by which Mr James Mooney cooperated with
them in the installation and conduct of an Indian congress.
In carrying out the plan .Mr Mooney visited Indian Territory
and Oklahoma, and successfully enlisted the sympathy and aid
of representatives of various tribes, including the Kiowa, with
whom he was intimately acquainted. Portions of the aborigi
nal material obtained in the field for the use of the congress
were subsequently acquired for the National Museum.
In August Dr Albert S. Gatschet revisited New Brunswick
for the purpose of continuing the collection and analysis of
Algoiiquian linguistic material. lie sought new aboriginal
informants, and was able to make satisfactory additions to the
recorded dialects of the measurably distinct portion of the
great Algonquian stock occupying the northern Atlantic coast.
In September Mr J. N. B. Hewitt proceeded to various
localities in New York and Ontario for the purpose of obtain
ing additional material pertaining to both the languages and
the myths of the Iroquoian Indians, and the work, coupled
with efforts to obtain certain unique objects for the National
Museum, occupied him in the field until January.
During the autumn Mr J. B. Hatcher, who had previously
brought from Patagonia certain valuable ethnologic material
for the Museum, returned to the field and resumed collecting
and the making of photographs illustrating the habits and
habitations of the Tehuelche tribe and the natives of Tierra
del Fuego. His work was not completed at the end of the
year.
Dr Willis E. Everett, acting as a special agent of the Bureau,
visited various remote districts in Alaska and contiguous British
territory during the year, and obtained a quantity of linguistic
data of considerable use in classifying the aborigines of a little-
known district.
XII BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
OFFICE RESEARCH
WORK IN ESTHETOLOGY
Throughout much of the year the Director continued giving
attention to the synthesis of data in the Bureau archives and
in published form, with the view of organizing anthropic
science, including ethnology in its several aspects. Among
the subjects considered in detail was that of the more spon
taneous human activities, normally pleasurable in character,
which form the object-matter of esthetology. The researches
among the aborigines have thrown much light on this subject,
since the symbolic devices, sports, games, and ceremonies of
the tribesmen are relatively simple and little differentiated, and
hence are readily perceived and synthesized indeed the syn
thesis of the esthetic and other activities rests primarily on the
observations among the American natives, corroborated by
critical observations on other primitive peoples, and finally
attested by the facts manifested among advanced peoples. It
is convenient to denote the primary activities comprised in the
domain of esthetology as pleasures, since they are largely
physiologic in character, though, like other activities, chiefly
demotic (or collective) in their manifestations; and the activi
ties may be classed as ambrosial pleasures, decoration, athletic
pleasures or sports, games, and fine arts. The definitions and
the classification of esthetology were formulated and printed
in such manner as to facilitate examination and further discus
sion on the part of the collaborators of the Bureau and other
students, and were finally incorporated in the last report.
In continuing his researches concerning the collections
made in the Florida imuvkbeds, Mr Frank Hamilton Gushing
was led to comparative study of a wide range of those products
of primitive handicraft expressing symbolic ideas in form, func
tion, and decoration; and certain of his generalizations are of
much importance in that they afford a satisfactory basis for
the classification and interpretation of many of the protean
artifacts of primitive origin. His researches indicate that the
primitive implement-maker is actuated by a few dominant
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT XIII
ideas, influenced largely by habit, and measurably controlled
by simple associations; so that the products of his handiwork,
when arranged by function and motive, may readily be
grouped in a limited number of catagories, which are, at the
same time, convenient and significant. The type of ideative
association is exemplified by the tomahawk-calumet, which is
at once a war weapon and an appurtenance of peace, and hence
serves as a symbolic expression of willingness for war and
readiness for peace at the option of the other party; the war
concept is emphasized by decorative motives, usually derived
from strong and swift animals, while the peace concept is
strengthened by emblems in the form of feathers of small birds
or other decorative symbols derived from gentle animals; and
the antithetic symbolism serves to keep alive the opposing
sentiments of amity and enmity in the primitive mind. In
this and other cases, the recognition of motive on the part of
the maker enables the student to reduce the chaos of protean
forms of primitive artifacts to detinite order. Although his
work was somewhat retarded by ill health, Mr Cushing s prog
ress in researches was satisfactory.
When compelled to abandon field work, for reasons already
noted, l)r J. "Walter Fewkes turned attention to the collections
made during earlier seasons, and began the preparation of a
memoir treating of the decorative symbolism of Pueblo pot
tery. This memoir was nearly ready for publication at the
close of the fiscal year: it embraces various new interpreta
tions of importance, the account of which is reserved for a
future report.
WORK IN TECHNOLOGY
As has been noted, the Director made observations on the
aboriginal technology revealed in the contents of shell mounds
and tumuli in Maine during the earlier part of the fiscal year;
and these observations, with other data, were subsequently
utilized in defining the science. The technical activities are
intimately interrelated, and combine to form a complex group,
which is commonly assumed to be irresolvable with scientific,
precision; but the relations of the activities are so well dis
played in primitive culture like that of the American aborig-
XIV BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
hies as to suggest a convenient arrangement for the use of
investigators, and such an arrangement has been formulated
and placed within reach of the collaborators and others for
subjection to the test of actual use. In this arrangement,
industries are classified as (1) simple production or substantia
tion, (2) construction, (3) mechanics, (4) commerce, and (5)
the preservation, reconstruction, and improvement of the
human body by a series of processes conveniently connoted
by the term medicine. Provision has been made for complet
ing and adding details to the outline already prepared, in a
form suitable for publication in another part of this report.
Mr Oushing s researches have served to illumine those early
stages in the growth of industries in which utility was but
vaguely perceived, and in which processes were largely cere
monial or symbolic, as when the hunter sought success by
imitating the attitude and actions or by arming himself with
the beak or claws of a raptorial tutelary. The researches
conducted in the Bureau have already rendered it clear that
decoration, as indeed the greater portion of the fine arts,
arises in symbolism and develops through conveiitionism; and
the researches of the year suggest a related genesis for indus
tries. The results of the work are in preparation for full
publication.
While among the surviving aborigines of California, Mr
W J McGee was enabled to make observations corroborating
and extending generalizations already framed with respect to
those of the primitive industries involving the use of stone as
material for implements. The several tribes studied may
conveniently be classed as Acorn Indians, since acorns form
their principal source of food, and since their characteristic
industries are conditioned by this food supply. Some of the
processes and implements vary from tribe to tribe; for example,
in some tribes the acorns are cracked in the teeth in order that
the meats may be extracted, in others they are cracked with
spheroidal hammer-stones, and in still others an elongated
pestle-like stone, grasped by one hand and used in the fashion
of a club or civilized hammer, is employed for the same pur
pose. Other devices, such ns those used for grinding the acorn
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT XV
meats, are substantially alike from tribe to tribe; though it
is noteworthy that in each tribe there is a diversity growing
out of the age of the apparatus, or the degree of development
by use. Thus it is found that the nether millstone, which may
be either a ledge or other mass in place of a portable bowlder,
is, in the earlier stages of vise, a flat or slightly concave metate,
which after more extended use becomes a deeply concave
metate, still later a shallow mortar, and at length a deep
mortar, which may eventually be worn through if the original
mass is not more than 9 to 15 inches in thickness; while the
grinding-stone concordantly changes from a simple roller or
crusher to a mano (or muller), and finally to a pestle, at first
broad and short, but "afterward long and slender. It follows
that in this region the northern device of the mortar and the
southern device of the metate overlap; yet it is much more
significant that the overlapping is essentially genetic and only
incidentally geographic. Not infrequently the genesis of an
individual mill corresponds with the rise and passing of a
family; the young woman may begin life with a bowlder
having one flat side and a few river-woi n cobbles as a mill;
the bowlder is then used as a metate and the cobbles as mul-
lers; gradually the mill develops into a mortar with a well-
rounded and polished pestle, both shaped chiefly by wear,
perhaps supplemented by slight dressing. On this the matron
grinds vigorously in her old age for the support of her
daughters and their husbands and the growing grandchildren;
and on her death apparently the pestle is broken and the
bottom is knocked out of the mortar. Neglecting the final
act, the individual growth of the primitive mill well epitomizes
the phylogeny of its species, and demonstrates that in genei al
the mortar must be regarded as the differentiated and even
tually degraded offspring of a metate-like prototype, whence
sprang also the metate along one line and the quern and its
derivatives along another. It is particularly significant, too,
that the milling apparatus still used by the California!! natives
consists initially of naturally-formed ledges or bowlders, with
stream-worn cobbles for grinders, and that both bowlder and
cobble are, for the most part, shaped gradually by wear, with-
XVI BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
out definite recognition of tlie shaping- on the part of the
operator i. e., that the mills represent protolithic culture,
rather than the technolithic art characterized by designs and
models.
The plan for the Indian congress at Omaha (mentioned in
a preceding paragraph) was formulated chiefl} by Mr James
Mooney, in connection with Honorable Edward Rosewater,
president of the board of publicity and promotion of the expo
sition, though conditions connected with administrative control
and policing of the Indians assembled on the grounds led to the
assignment of a representative of the Indian Bureau, Captain
W. A. Mercer, as officer in charge of the congress; but Mr
Mooney cooperated in the installation and remained on the
ground throughort the exposition. In accordance with the
plans of Mr Mooney and Mr Rosewater, the Indians were domi
ciled, so far as was practicable, in houses or lodges of their own
construction, and of more or less strictly aboriginal type;
accordingly the installation afforded an excellent opportunity
for the study of native house building, and of the ceremonies
connected with the highly interesting house-cult of the native
tribes. Among the lodges were two Blackfoot skin tents,
made and decorated in aboriginal fashion in every respect, save
that cow hides were substituted for buffalo hides. A lodge of
special nature was a Wichita grass house, which faithfully
exemplified the aboriginal construction, since the structure was
an actual example, the oldest in the Wichita village in Indian
Territory; this was repaired, taken down, and reconstructed
by aged men and women conversant with the house-cult of the
tribe. At the close of the exposition this specimen was obtained
for the National Museum. These and other structures erected
at Omaha and carefully studied by Mr Mooney have added
materially to the knowledge of aboriginal houses.
The researches in California bv Mr McGee and Mr Holmes
extended to basketry and added materially to knowledge of
the processes of basket making, especially among the Porno
and Yokai tribes. The Hudson basketry collection comprises
examples of twelve different weaves, which have been carefully
studied bv the collector, Dr J. W. Hudson, and are described
ADMINISTRATIVE KKI OKT XVII
fully in his catalog; and, in addition, several processes were
critically studied in actual use by basket makers. The functions
or purposes of the baskets also received careful attention. In
this region they form the common utensils of the householders,
taking the place sometimes filled by fictile ware, and serving
various other purposes. They are used as cups, canteens, and
other water vessels, as pots for boiling acorn meal and meats
(by means of heated stones), as receptacles for stored foods and
liquids, and especially as ceremonial and sacramental objects.
The researches concerning the aboriginal basketry of California
promise important results along different lines as the work
proceeds.
WORK ix SOCIOLOGY
The synthesis of activities by the director extended into the
domain of institutions during the year, and the science was
characterized and formulated in a preliminary \vay; but, since
the institutional activities are still more complex than the
industrial activities, and since the data available in the archives
of the Bureau are exceedingly voluminous, the formulation
was not completed at the end of the fiscal year, though the
results will be read} for incorporation in another part of this
report.
In the course of his researches among the California Indians,
Mr McGee obtained certain data tending to explain the lin
guistic diversity which so strongly distinguishes the Pacific
coast province from the major portion of the continent a
diversity expressed by the fact that four-fifths of the area of
the continent are represented on linguistic maps by only about
one-fifth of the linguistic stocks, while the remaining four-fifths
of the stocks are concentrated in less than one-fifth of the area,
skirting the Pacific coast. In the first place, various indica
tions were found that the human period in this region has been
relatively short, or at least relatively uniform and uneventful;
for, while most portions of the country reveal some evidences
of culture-succession, the California!! region reveals but a single
culture-type in the relatively rare artifacts scattered over the
surface or still in use among the tribal remnants; so that, on
the whole, the region impresses the student as one of either
20 ETH 03 ii
XVIII BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
short or slow, and, in any event, relatively slight, demotic
development. In the second place, it was ascertained that the
tongues of the several tribes are in exceptional degree held as
esoteric or sacred. It is common among all primitive peoples
to surround personal names and ceremonial terms with more
or less secrecy or mystery, but it is not common to similarly
guard and sanctify ordinary speech ; but the California!! tribes
subjected to study apparently hold as sacred not merely
personal names, but the name of the tribe and many if not all
the common terms of their language; indeed, it would appear
that they regard language as forming the primary basis of their
social organization, or at least as a tangible and definite expres
sion of consanguineal relation. A third factor in the organi
zation of the California!! aborigines grows out of their industrial
status. Since their chief food source is the acorn, and since the
oak trees never grow in continuous forests, but are somewhat
sparsely distributed among other trees or over the openings
of the valleys, the native population was necessarily sparse
and scattered, and each tribe tended to remain permanently
attached to a definite range; and this sparse distribution per
mitted and promoted the retention of tribal dialects corre
sponding to each range. A fourth factor appears in ceremonial
observances, apparently growing out of the industrial condi
tion, notably the affine tabu which prohibits communication
between sons-in-law and mothers-in-law, and among some of the
tribes between daughters-in-law and fathers-in-law and other
connections by marriage. The linguistic, industrial, and cere
monial factors all operate as repulsive forces tending to pre
vent aggregation of population and intercommunication of
tribes, and hence to retard cultural development; and it would
appear that the several factors, interacting with cumulative
effect, have combined to produce the singular concentration of
linguistic stocks in the Pacific coast region. Mr McGee also
noted a hitherto neglected factor tending toward the actual
differentiation of speech, i. e., the custom of dropping from
daily use all terms connoting the names of decedents (which
obtains also among the Kiowa and some other tribes) ; and it
is significant that this custom tends to produce lexic rather
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT XIX
than morphologic changes, and hence to bring about the
precise conditions long known to be characteristic of the
California!! tribes. The researches concerning this subject are
not yet complete.
During the earlier part of the fiscal year Mr Mooney con
tinued researches relating to the Kiowa Indians and noted as
a conspicuous characteristic of the tribe the apparent absence
of a clan or gentile system; for, despite his intimate. acquaint
ance with and adoption into the tribe, he has never been able
to discover unmistakable traces of this commonly prominent
feature of primitive social organization. This peculiar charac
teristic, has received attention from the Director and Ethnolo
gist in Charge, and an apparently satisfactory explanation has
been discovered : On reviewing the tribal customs it became evi
dent that the widely roving Kiowa enjoyed contact with other
tribes, and consequent acculturation in an exceptional if not
unique degree. Sometimes the association was amicable, when
ideas and devices were freely interchanged: not infrequently
the contact was inimical, when the Kiowa were commonly
enriched by the acquisition not only of plunder but of cap
tives who were subsequently adopted into the tribe; and the
general effect of the wide association was to extend the intel
lectual range and differentiate the blood of the Kiowas.
Especially important was the habitual adoption of captives, the
effect of which is always to introduce arbitrary relationships
tending to break down the natural kinship system; yet hardly
less important were the oft-recurring excursions for hunting
and plunder, since they involved more or less arbitrary
extensions of the consanguineal organization, somewhat
analogous to those attending the development of patriarchy
among regularly nomadic peoples. Collectively, the conse
quences of the roving and predatory habits of the Kiowas
must have been to subordinate, in exceptional if not unique
degree, the prevailing kinship organization characteristic of
primitive society and to gloss or even to replace it with the more
strictly artificial or demotic system corresponding to that of
higher culture The results of Mr Mooney s researches con
cerning the distinctive organization of the Kiowas will be
incorporated in a memoir on the heraldic system of the tribe.
XX BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
WORK IN PHILOLOGY
Toward the end of the fiscal year the Director made progress
in systematizing the rich linguistic, collections in the archives
of the Bureau, with a view to formulating- plans for further
research concerning the aboriginal tongues of America; the
results are to be made ready for another part of this report.
Mr J. N. B. Hewitt continued the collection of Iroquoian
material, both linguistic and mythologic, and made satisfac
tory progress in preparing it for publication. His studies
illustrate the importance of combining inquiries concerning
primitive myths with linguistic inquiries. Thus, certain puz
zling inflections introduced in various terms eluded the best
efforts toward analysis throughout the earlier portion of the
year; but, on studying the creation myths with the aid of
native informants in the course of his field operations, he ascer
tained that these obscure inflections connote a characteristically
primitive notion concerning individual activity or power; for
example, the shaman is supposed to work magic by the sound
of his rattle or drum, and the witch to work her evil charms
by the action of singing, both acquiring their mystical powers
only by and through the supposed!} mystical exercise of func
tion in producing the sound, and it is the purpose of some of
the obscure linguistic inflections to denote the mystical states
recognized in the mythology. It is well known that the
aboriginal languages possess inflections for normal states, such
as sitting, standing, reclining, and moving; but the recent
researches show that there are inflections also for mystical
states, and that some of these quite significantly correspond
with the inflections for singing or dancing. A preliminary
announcement of results has been made, and formal publica
tion will follow so soon as the inquiry can be considered
complete
Dr Albert S. Gratschet continued the preparation of the com
parative vocabulary of the Algonquian stock, and at the same
time, according to custom, compiled linguistic mateiialfor use
in reply to numerous inquiries from correspondents for abo
riginal terms to be applied to parks, vessels, villages, etc., and
ADMINISTRATIVE RKPORT XXI
for the meaning or etymology of aboriginal terms already in
use. The field operations of the year materially enriched
the comparative vocabulary, which has already attained such
volume and completeness as to yield standards for classifying
the tribes comprised in the extensive stock to which it pertains.
Working under a small allotment, Dr Franz Boas con
tinued the preparation of linguistic material collected among
the tribes of northwestern United States and contiguous Cana
dian territory. The principal contributions of the year com
prise a complete Tsimshian vocabulary and a considerable
collection of texts. The texts are in form for publication, and
will be published in the series of Bulletins recently authorized
by the Congress.
During the year the Bureau was so fortunate as to obtain,
through the courteous offices of Dr Edward Everett Hale, the
vocabulary of the Massachusetts (Natick) language laboriously
prepared by the late J. Hammond Trumbull, and good prog
ress has been made in arranging the material for publication.
WORK ix SOPHIOLOGY
Throughout the history of the Bureau, it has been the pol
icy to organize the lines of research in such manner as to per
mit comparative study of well-defined categories of activities
and activital products. The maintenance of this policy has
been particularly difficult in connection with the science of
opinions, or sophiology, since the object matter of the science
is more elusive and complex than that of any other branch of
knowledge; yet fair progress has been made in the introduc
tion of the comparative method in even this branch of inquiry.
During the year the Director brought together the data required
for a characterization of the science of sophiology in general
terms, and this outline will be found on other pages of the
present report.
Mr J. N. B. Hewitt made an important comparative study
of the creation myths of several Iroquoian tribes and of two
or three Algonquian tribes. The results, which are of much
interest, are practically ready for publication. The compara
tive method was used with success also by Dr J. Walter Fewkes
XXII BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
in the interpretation of the symbolism depicted on the pottery
of the Hopi and other Pueblo peoples, while the results at
tained by Mr Gushing in his technologic researches were made
tangible only by constant use of the comparative method in
seeking the mystical motives of the primitive artisans. Prog
ress has been made by the Director in formulating the method
for the guidance of future inquiries.
Although retarded by ill health, Mrs M. C. Stevenson made
substantial progress in her analysis and discussion of Zufii
mythology during the year, though the portions of her memoir
already completed have been withheld from publication pend
ing the revision made necessary by further researches concern
ing certain of the ceremonies.
Toward the close of the fiscal year Mr McGee undertook
an inquiry concerning certain mystical symbols, such as that
known as the swastika, so common among the decorative
devices of the American aborigines, and these graphic devices
were compared with the mystical number systems involved in
the primitive Cult of the Quarters. The investigation served
to indicate that neither finger counting nor quinary and deci
mal number systems are primitive, but are products of binary
and quarternary systems, modified through magnification of
the Ego in the manner described in previous reports. The
inquiry also afforded useful results bearing on the develop
ment of right-handedness and on the orientation instinct which
survives even in the highest culture stages. A preliminary
discussion was incorporated as an accompanying paper in the
last report, but the principal results are reserved for incorpo-
tion in a memoir dealing with the time concept of the Papago
tribe.
Toward the close of the year Dr Cyrus Thomas was led to
a comparison of the number systems of the northern tribes
with those revealed in the codices and other aboriginal records
of Mexico, and prepared a memoir on the subject, which was
incorporated in the last report.
Alter his return from Omaha, at the close of the Exposition,
Mr Mooney began preparing for publication his extensive col
lection of Cherokee myths and searching for parallels in the
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT XXIII
records comprised in the archives of the Bureau, as well as
in the published literature; and his voluminous memoir was
completed in time for incorporation in the last report.
WORK ix DESCRIPTIVE ETHNOLOGY
Mr F. W. Hodge continued supervision of the material for
the Cyclopedia of Indian Tribes and made such additions to
the work as his duties in other directions permitted. Dr
Cyrus Thomas spent the greater part of the year in reviewing
and extending that portion of the work relating to the tribes
of the Siouan stock. His progress in examining the extensive
literature involved and in preparing the material for publica
tion was satisfactory. During a portion of the year Colonel
F. F. Hilder, ethnologic translator, was occupied in translating
archaic Spanish records of especial value in connection with
the Cyclopedia. ( hie of these is a manuscript written in 1782,
and describes the tribes of Texas with unequaled fullness.
T e manuscript is anonymous, but Colonel Hilder succeeded
in identifying the author as Padre Morn.
MISCELLANEOUS WORK
Library and publications. Mr F. ~\Y. Hodge has remained
in charge of the library, and has also continued editorial work
on the reports. During the year he outlined a plan of library
arrangement on the basis of the classification of anthropic
science set forth in this and preceding reports, thus preparing
the way for a systematic catalogue for the use of the collab
orators and the many visitors to the Bureau. The editorial
work of the year has been especially arduous by reason of
the considerable volume of matter in the hands of the printer
and the number and elaborateness of the accompanying illus
trations, but his work has been performed with energy and
ability.
Translation. During a considerable part of the year Colonel
F. F. Hilder has been employed as ethnologic translator, and,
in addition, has performed the duties of chief clerk. One of
his translations is noted in an earlier paragraph; others made
from time to time as needs arose have greatly facilitated the
XXIV BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
preparation of the Cyclopedia of Indian Tribes, the researches
concerning the Seri and Papago Indians, and other lines of
work.
Illustrations. Mr DeLancey W. Gill has remained in charge
of the photographic Laboratory and of the preparation of illus
trations by other than photographic means, and the progress
of his work has been highly satisfactory. The additions to the
photographic negatives representing Indian visitors to Wash
ington and the work of field parties have been unprecedented.
COLLECTIONS
Among the special collections made during the year were
those of Mr McGee and Mr Holmes in California, comprising
stone artifacts in considerable number and variety, baskets,
and other objects, the collections being of special value in that
they represent typical prehistoric workmanship and typical
modern workmanship combined, and in that they were made
on the ground by experts in archeologic and ethnologic
research. Another collection of special interest, though of
somewhat limited extent, was made in southern Patagonia
and Tierra del Fuego by Mr J. B. Hatcher; a portion of the
material was received during the year. A number of typical
collections made by correspondents of the Bureau and others
were also acquired during the year. One of these includes
the Wichita house and house furniture obtained by Mr
Mooney, mentioned elsewhere; another is the suit and regalia
of Kahkewaquonaby (afterward called Dr Peter Edward
Jones), a member of the Messissauga tribe of the Ojibwa; a
third is a small but rare and significant lot, including a beau
tiful example of the stone yoke, or ceremonial collar, obtained
from Mexico through the agency of Mr Holmes.
PROPERTY
The property of the Bureau was classified and described in
some detail in a previous report. During the past year a
number of manuscripts have been added to the archives, chiefly
by contribution from correspondents, and others have been
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT XXV
produced. Tlie collection of photographs of Indian subjects
has been materially enlarged, partly through photographing
the individuals and groups of Indian delegations to Washing
ton; while the library has increased at a normal rate, chiefly
through exchanges.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
Appropriation by Congress for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1899, "for
continuing ethnological researches among the American Indians, under
the direction of the Smithsonian Institution, including salaries or com
pensation of all necessary employees and the purchase of all necessary
books and periodicals, $50,000, of which sum not exceeding $1, 000 may
be used for rent of building" (sundry civil act, July 1, 1898) $50, 000. 00
Salaries or compensation of employees $34, 306. 34
Special services $414. 23
Translating 75. 00
Traveling and field expenses 2, 1 14. IK
Ethnologic specimens 4, 499. 00
Publications 453. 33
Drawings and illustrations 574. 25
Hooks and periodicals for library 1 , 164. 70
Office rental 916. 63
Office furniture 63. 81
Stationery, supplies, etc, 1 , 692. 92
Freight 377. 35
Postage, telegrams, etc 41. 51
Miscellaneous 271. 74
12,658.66
Total disbursements 46, 965. 00
Balance, July 1, 1899, to meet liabilities 3, 035. 00
CHARACTERIZATION OF ACCOMPANYING PAPER
Primarily Professor Holmes s monograph on aboriginal pot
tery of eastern United States is a description of the fictile
ware classified by districts, so far as practicable by tribes, and
also by technologic types. The art of the potter is old, far
older than written history, so that its beginnings can never be
traced directly. The antique and prehistoric wares them
selves yield a partial record of the development of the art, and
the archeologists of the Old World have been able to supple
ment and extend the written history of pottery making
through study of such material, and their researches have lent
interest to the ancient vessels and sherds with which the
museums of the world are enriched. Yet the fictile ware of
Egypt and Babylonia, Etruria and India, and other Old
World provinces falls far short of telling the whole story of
the art, since it fails to reveal the actual motives and senti
ments of the early artisans- the relics are husks of the history
of pottery making without the vital kernel. Accordingly the
archaeologic studies in America supplement the European re
searches in a highly useful way. In the first place, the period
of pottery making by the American aborigines was compara
tively short, so that the prehistoric and the historic are closely
related; and, in the second place, the several living tribes
within reach of current observation represent various stages
in the development of the art, so that opportunities exist in
America for studying the motives and sentiments of the arti
sans engaged in all of the earlier developmental stages of the
art. In general, the craft of the potter may be said to arise in
the social stage of savagery or the psychic stage of imitation,
with its tedious growth through accidental improvement; in
general, too, the art may be said to expand and differentiate
in the succeeding barbaric stage with the attendant divinatory
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT XXVII
concepts as motives; and it is this stage, with its protean
forms, textures, decorative devices, and modes of manufacture,
which has been found peculiarly inscrutable by students of
the products alone. Now it is precisely this stage which is
represented by most of the American aboriginal ware, both
prehistoric and historic, and by the surviving tribes. Accord
ingly, Professor Holmes s description of the American ware,
with its critical analysis of types and interpretation of motives,
would seem to afford not merely a supplement to, but a sound
foundation tor, the history of the potters art.
TECHNOLOGY, OR THE SCIENCE OF INDUSTRIES
INTRODUCTION
In former reports I have classified human activities as
pleasures, industries, institutions, expressions, and opinions.
In my last report 1 discussed pleasures as the science of
esthetology. I now propose to set forth the nature of indus
tries as the science of technology, of institutions as the science
of sociology, of expressions as the science of philology, and
of opinions as the science of sophiology.
An industry is an activity whose immediate motive is the
production of welfare for self and others. The term welfare
has various meanings, but here we use it as signifying welfare
of life not esthetic, moral, expressional, or mental welfare.
An industry by this definition means an activity exercised to
promote life. We must remember that in this discussion,
which is meant to be scientific, whether it succeeds or not, the
term industry is used in this sense and in no other.
We use activities as a generic term including five species:
esthetics, industries, institutions, expressions, and instructions.
In this paper we are to consider industries.
Technology is the science of industries. An industry is an
activity whose purpose is welfare or livelihood. We must
here make clear the distinction between esthetic activity and
industrial activity. The maid dances for the pleasure of her
self or of others. If she dances for others it is a pleasure for
them, though she may dance for gain that is, welfare; still, it
is an esthetic activity. A company of musicians make music
for an audience ; the audience pays for the entertainment. To
the musicians the making of the music is an industrial activity,
but to the audience it is an esthetic entertainment. Thus,
whether an activity be designed for pleasure or for welfare
will often depend on the point of view of the person interested
therein.
XXX ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
The housewife prepares the meal for her own welfare and
for the welfare of others. She may flavor the food to make it
more palatable; the purpose of the condiment is thus pleasure;
but the preparation of the food is still an industry, the second
ary motive a pleasure. A feast is given for pleasure, but the
food still sustains life; so pleasure and welfare are concomitant.
In high civilization many activities are pursued for the pleas
ure of the people by persons who have welfare as their purpose.
Again, what is conducive to welfare may be productive of
pleasure. The housewife in preparing the meal for welfare
may have, and usually does have, these double motives. If
we neglect the motive of welfare and act only from the consid
eration of pleasure, pleasure itself may be curtailed or pain
may be produced. If the housewife, in catering to pleasure,
uses condiments that are unwholesome, pain may be produced,
and whether her act in compounding the cake be good or evil
in effect will depend on whether she has considered both wel
fare and pleasure; only then do her acts become wise.
Motives are many and usually compound, and it requires
no small degree of abstraction to discover the elements of
motive even in self, while in others, whose minds are expressed
in their acts, the task is still more difficult; for though the
motive is best read in symbols of deeds, still, whether it be
good or evil is often difficult to say. But every activity is
performed for a purpose, and all demotic activities are per
formed for demotic purposes. We are now classifying activi
ties as demotic activities; but in classifying them in this man
ner we must ever remember that altruism is founded on egoism
and that a demotic activity has an individual effect on the doer.
A man may play the violin for others in order to gain money
witli which to make a journey of pleasure; thus his motive
may be immediate pleasure for others and remote pleasure for
himself.
This is a concrete world, and abstractions do not exist in
themselves, but only in human consideration as abstracts.
Every abstract has its concomitants from which it can not be
dissevered, except in consideration. We may classify motives
as motives for pleasure, welfare, peace, expression, and wis
dom; and by abstraction we may consider anyone of these
POWELL] TECHNOLOGY XXXI
motives, although they can not exist apart. Every activity,
when performed, involves all the concomitant effects. The
world is concrete, bnt the method of consideration is often
abstract.
Industries are classified as substantiation, construction,
mechanics, commerce, and medicine.
SUBSTANTIATION
Certain activities of welfare are fundamental thereto, because
they are necessary to life. We must breathe air, we must
drink water, we must eat food, we must seek shelter from the
elements, and we must wear clothing In the pursuit of these
necessities of life human activities are employed, even in the
primordial stage of savagery. Four of these necessary activi
ties are pursued by the lower animals they seek water, food,
and shelter for their young and sometimes for their compan
ions but artificial clothing is not worn by them. Activities
pursued for the welfare of self and others are industries.
The natural kinds fundamentally necessary to man are
found by experience to be air, water, rocks, plants and
animals.
Air is necessary at every minute of life, and it is so abun
dant that man is not required to produce artificial air, though
as civilization advances he finds it necessary to provide for its
purity.
Water also is abundant. Man does not find it necessary to
produce water from its elements, but he does find it necessary
to produce it at the place where it is needed and to provide
for its purity.
Minerals are found to be useful to man primarily, perhaps,
for shelter; soon they are found useful as tools, and he engages
in their production by quarrying and mining.
Plants are found to be useful to man as food in all its varie
ties, as sap, leaves, bark, roots, seeds, and fruits. Plants are
also useful to man in providing shelter, and various parts of
the plant are used in the construction of houses by human
devices. Plants are also found useful to man as fillers in
clothing.
XXXII ADMINISTRATIVE KEPOKT [ETH. ANN. 20
Finally, animals are useful to man for food, shelter, clothing,
and other purposes.
Thus, tribal man utilizes all of these kinds or natural sub
stances, for which he especially develops the industries of
quarrying (the simpler stage of mining) and agriculture for
the production of natural plant products and natural animal
products. Tribal man uses natural substances developed by
natural chemistry; civilized man not only uses the natural
substances, but he produces innumerable artificial substances
by artificial chemistry.
The production of kinds or substances, whether natural or
artificial, leads to the distinction which we are trying to make
of the class of industries which we call fundamental industries.
They are those in which men engage for the purpose of pro
ducing substances, whether they be natural or artificial. Fun
damental industries may well be called substantial industries
because they produce substances.
All industries are productive industries, and the product is
consumed. Production is thus the correlative of consumption,
and correlation must be distinguished from reciprocality and
from antithesis. Reciprocality is a relation as of a whole to
the parts of which it is composed; antithesis is a distinction
as between good and evil; correlation is a relation between
terms neither one of which can be expunged alone.
We must make a distinction between producing kinds and
producing forms. A man may produce apples by cultivation ;
he then produces a kind; when he produces cider from the
apple he produces another kind or substance. A man may
produce a flint by quarrying it, or he may produce it even by
picking it up; he then produces a kind of rock; but when he
makes the flint into a knife, he produces a form.
In tracing a series of transmutations from material to
product, we may always reach a stage where the material is
finally consumed or used. To use an unfamiliar but very
useful term, borrowed from metaphysic, we may say that an
entelechy is ultimately reached. The entelechy is the final
end had in view by the exercise of an activity.
In tracing material through its transmutations from its
POWELL] TECHNOLOGY XXXIII
original state to its final purpose, there arise a succession of
correlations, the terms of which are known as production and
consumption. How these terms are used will be made clear
by a few illustrations: Primitive man produces flint from the
quarry and consumes it in making- the arrowheads which he
produces. With his arrowheads he produces rabbits; thus his
arrowheads are said to be consumed when they are lost or
destroyed, but there is still the production of rabbits from the
wold, and this production is consumed as food.
The farmer purchases a tract of land covered with forest.
The forest land he converts into a field; the forest lie con
sumes perhaps for fuel, and the fuel is the product which he
consumes for welfare, and the entelechy is reached. The field
remains, from which he grows corn, and at the harvest the
year s production of the field is consumed; but the corn remains
as a product, which is material for the miller, which he con
sumes as miller s material by grinding it, thus producing meal;
the meal is baked by the housewife, who consumes it as meal
in producing bread, and the bread is eaten by the farmer s
household and consumed, thus producing welfare, which is the
entelechy.
The lumberman cuts logs in the forest; he consumes forest
trees and produces logs; the raftsman consumes them at the
place where they were produced and delivers them at the mill
as the product of his labor; the product is the log delivered
at the mill. The log is material for the miller, out of which lie
produces lumber; logs are consumed and lumber is produced.
To the builder the product of the miller is material which the
builder consumes in the product of his labor, which is a house;
the domiciliary user consumes the house in welfare, and this
welfare is the entelechy. Maybe the lumber is used for
making furniture, then lumber is consumed and furniture is
produced, and the furniture is consumed in the production of
welfare, which is the entelechy.
The planter purchases a field on which he raises cotton;
the time of the field, that is, its power of producing for a year,
or, in other terms, the interest of the purchase money for the
field for a year, is consumed in the production of a crop.
20 ETH 03 in
XXXIV ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ran. ANN. 20
The labor on the field is also consumed, and the field of cot
ton is produced. Then the cotton from the plant is picked,
and the field of cotton is consumed by the picking of the cotton
bolls ; the cotton now becomes the material for another process.
Overlooking minor operations, it becomes material for the
spinner, who makes a product of yarn; the cotton and the
labor employed are consumed by the man who makes a prod
uct of cloth. Then the tailor consumes it as cloth, together
with an amount of labor necessary to make it into clothing;
then the clothing is consumed by the wearer, when it reaches
its entelechy. Thus land, by a series of human processes
through intelligent labor, produces welfare through a series of
changes in which labor is consumed.
In the course of production from one kind to another and
from one form to another, the domain of nature and art is ran
sacked for the purpose air, water, land, plants, and animals
are utilized and a multitude of persons are employed.
In the consideration of production we must contemplate the
natural material found in air, in sea, in land, in plants, and in
animals. The air is ambient over all the surface of the earth
as a hollow sphere of gas. The sea has its gulfs, bays, and
straits, with its auxiliaries in springs, lakes, and rivers, while
the lower portion of the air is laden with moisture which is
partially gathered into clouds and precipitated on the earth in
rain when favorable conditions prevail. Thus the water is a
sphere of liquid which intervenes between air and land. The
sea with its auxiliaries yields its materials and the air yields
its materials. Plants are scattered over all the surface of the
land not covered with liquid water, and over a part of the sur
face of the land which is covered with liquid water, and over
a part of the surface of the water, while animals inhabit the
atmosphere and the watery envelope or hydrosphere. What
is usually called the land is but the upper surface of a third
sphere of solid rock which is denominated by geologists the
lithosphere; this lithosphere contains another and important
portion of the substances which are produced for the welfare
of mankind. The lithosphere, the hydrosphere, and the atmos
phere, together with the plants and animals of the earth, con-
POWELL] TECHNOLOGY XXXV
stitute the environment of mankind. All human industries are
therefore included in the consideration of the sources of the
substances which men produce.
Hence, when we classify the substances of the environment
in these five groups, we classify them in coordinate groups
from the consideration of the environment of man, though we
may afterward subclassify every one of these groups. We
are not classifying substances into fundamental classes, but we
are classifying the substances used by man into fundamental
classes, and the subclassification will still include only the
substances used by man.
Man is a denizen of the air; he lives on that portion of the
surface of the lithosphere which i.s called dry land, where the
watery envelope is vapor. Thus lie is directly connected in
his environment with the three spheres and utilizes them for
his purposes. Man is not content with the natural products
of the lithosphere, but he seeks to improve them. He is not
content with the natural products of the hydrosphere, but he
seeks to improve the water by purifying it or by charging it
with other substances. He is not content to drink like the
beast from the pool or the stream, but he seeks to bring the
water to himself in the most convenient and best manner in
which to enjoy it. Man is not even content with breathing
the atmosphere, but he seeks to procure it in its puritv, so he
ventilates his habitation and otherwise secures the greatest
purity. Man is not content with the plants as they are fur
nished by nature, so he improves them by cultivation and
multiplies those which are useful to him and destroys those
which are useless or injurious. Man is not content with the
animals, so he improves them by zooculture and he destroys
the useless and the injurious.
To designate those industries in which men engage for the
purpose of producing kinds or substances, we need a technical
term which will distinguish them from all other industries; for
this purpose I use the word substantiation, which must here
mean the artificial production of substances for human welfare.
I have sought long and far for the best term. I may not have
chosen wisely, but I have chosen with all the wisdom of which
XXXVT ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [K. ANN. 20
I am possessed. It does not lie in the prerogative of another
to reject my term when lie attempts to understand my meaning-,
though it may be his prerogative to use another term when he
desires to express the same meaning. If the distinction pointed
out is a valid one, and useful for scientific purposes, a dis
tinctive term is necessary; if the distinction is invalid or
unfruitful to science, it may be neglected. Do not quarrel
with me about my terms, but quarrel with me about my dis
tinctions. If you decide that the distinctions are g ood, then
accept my terms as they are used, still reserving the right to
use better terms when you wish to set forth the same concepts.
In the transmutation of materials into products, the processes
must be invented: but the product which is sought in manu
facture may be but a small part of the material used. Metals
arc extracted from the ores, while the residuum is often value
less. Quinine is extracted from the bark of cinchona trees,
and the product is very small compared with the trees. Some
times secondary products are found still of value to mankind.
From asphalt and other hydrocarbons illuminating products
are manufactured, and from the substances which do not
subserve this purpose aniline dyes are extracted. So by
invention a multitude of substances are derived which serve
human purposes.
Forever by art, substances are multiplied and their manu
facture is specialized. (1) In modern culture man produces
pure air by purifying it; (2) lie produces pure water by
purifying it; (3) he produces various substances bv mining
and metallurgy and other chemic processes: (4) he produces
plants by plant culture, and (5) he produces animals by
zooculture. Thus, the fundamental industries, which we here
call industries of substantiation, are industries for the produc
tion of kinds.
( ONSTRUCTION
The next class of industries in which men engage are those
which are designed to modify the forms of things for use.
Here we must call attention to the distinction which we make
between kind and form. In popular usage these terms are
interchangeable, but in science we must use terms with single
POWELL] TECHNOLOGY
meanings; this is a fundamental requirement. The failure to
observe this law opens the door to idle and vain speculation.
We may rind an illustration of what is meant by kind in ordi
nary enumeration and in the devices which men have invented
to represent numbers. We have ten units as a sum; the ten
units constitute but one ten, twenty units constituting 1 two
tens, and a hundred units constituting ten tens. The ninety-
ninth is but one of the units of a hundred; it is but one in the
last unit of the second order which constitutes the hundred.
Counting is fundamentally determination of kind; and count
ing, like classification, is first determining a kind and then
seriating the kind to obtain the class. 1 wish to count the
horses in the field, and I must first distinguish the horses from
all other kinds in the field and then enumerate them. This is
counting. But if I distinguish the kind of horse and include
them all as horses, I thus include all of this kind in nature.
The difference between counting and classifying exists solely
in the nature of the series which we consider. I invariably
use kind in this sense and in no other.
Form signifies figure and structure, and implies the relative
position of the parts which make up the whole. This distinc
tion which J make between kind and form must be held per
manently. You must not fall into the habit of confusing the
terms as is done in common speech. In science we must use
form to mean one thing and kind to mean another, and unless
we adhere to this it is impossible to make scientific- advance.
Every man loves to use words as his neighbors use them, for
speech is but a convention, and unless the convention is under
stood by others it is an unknown tongue; but no man has a
right to demand of another that he use his words with the
same meanings as himself if the other defines his meanings,
and still less has he the right to demand that another should
use a word with many meanings and thus obscure his
language.
Man produces the clay when he digs up the kind of clay,
or he may produce the kind of clay by mixing ingredients;
but when he molds the clay into a brick he determines the
fonn. lie may mold the clay into a vessel: then also he
determines the form in which it is useful.
XXXVIII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
Man produces forms of tilings that he may utilize air, water,
rocks, plants, and animals. He utilizes air when he produces
thing s that insure proper ventilation. A chimney is a form for
this purpose; an opening in a room and a shaft in a building-
are forms of this character; a fan is a form designed to secure
a better movement of the air.
For the utilization of water primitive man constructs a gourd
into a drinking cup, or he moulds clay for the purpose of
holding water, or he constructs wickerwork jugs for this pur
pose; so man digs wells and constructs reservoirs, and lays
pipes for the transportation of water, and in higher civilization
he constructs filters for the purification of water. Thus
innumerable forms are constructed by man for the utilization
of water.
In the same manner many forms are produced for the utili
zation of rock material. The rocks are built into houses as
rock structures proper; the clays are molded into bricks or
adobes to be built into houses. Iron is extracted from the
rock and molded into innumerable forms for men s use. Cop
per, gold, and silver are in like manner produced as sub
stances and wrought into forms which serve men s purposes
for welfare.
Plants are used for fuel and wrought into forms that they
may be utilized in stoves and furnaces. Plants are also
wrought into forms of lumber and used in constructing forms:
houses, furniture, vehicles, and ten thousand other shapes,
that they may be useful to man; and many substances are
extracted from plants to be wrought into forms. Many resins
are used in this manner; indeed the forms produced from the
product of the rubber tree that are useful to man are too great
for enumeration.
Time fails me to tell of the innumerable forms into which
animal substances are wrought for the use of man. But animal
substances and vegetal substances have their grand use as
food. The forms into which they are converted before they
reach the entelic use are innumerable, but the subject is so
often illustrated in daily life that to call attention to the fact is
all that is necessary to our purpose.
POWELL] TECHNOLOGY XXXIX
In the production of entelic forms many ancillary forms are
produced. These, perhaps, are so apparent that they need 110
further illustration; but the forms which are produced 1)} man
through industrial processes that serve the entelic purpose of
welfare are innumerable, and when we distinguish them it
becomes necessary for us to group these industries under one
term in order that they may properly be distinguished from the
industries of substantiation and from others which we have yet
to consider. I shall therefore call them the industries of con
struction, as that term seems best to convey the concept. In
late years there has grown up in science the use of a term
which clearly sets forth the nature of the products of construc
tion as the term is here used. This is artifact; the products
of construction are artifacts. Construction, therefore, is the
industry of producing artifacts, just as substantiation is the
industry of producing substances. As substantiation is the art
of producing substances from air, water, rock, plant, and
animal, so construction is the art of producing useful artifacts
from air, water, rock, plant, and animal.
Form and kind are concomitant. There can be no kind
without form, and there can be no form without kind, and the
distinction which we here make is but a distinction in consid
eration which classifies the industry. The world is concrete;
but man s method of looking upon it is often abstract, and so
his knowledge is ultimately built up into concepts of concrete
things, which are first considered as abstract things when con
cepts of abstract things are utilized. All properties and quali
ties are abstract, but they inhere in concrete things. Con
crete bodies and their abstracts as properties and qualities
require abstract concepts for their cognition. Again must
we recall the demonstrations of the pentalogic essentials of
every particle of matter incorporated into the bodies of the
universe. That there are five and only five of these essen
tials is the ultimate purpose of this discussion, and the ultimate
demonstration must remain in view if we are to understand
the nature of the argument.
XL ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ASS. 20
MECHANICS
In classifiying industries as those of substantiation or those
of construction, we were compelled to use terms with specific
meanings, and we selected the terms used because they seemed
to be the most available for that purpose and because there
seemed to be no terms in use for the industries which we
wished to discriminate. Manufacture etymologically means
"making by hand." In all industries the hands are used to a
greater or less extent, and the term is used with this wider
significance, so that its etymology and wider use alike forbid
its employment to signify what we desire when we adopt the
term construction. In the case of mechanics we have a term
which is already used in science for the pui pose we wish, sig
nifying the industries which have for their purpose the iitiliza-
tion of powers.
The mechanical devices, as forms which are employed in
the utilization of powers, are the hammer, the lever, the wedge,
the wheel, and the pulley.
A hammer is a device for condensing the motion of a pon
derable body through a space in a time and expending it in
an instant; or it may be defined as the method of expending
gathered momentum in the instant of impact.
A lever is an instrument which is used with a fulcrum to
move a weight by taking advantage of the motion in an arc
of a larger circle in the correlative arc of a smaller circle, so
that the force of the long arm is expended in the short arm.
A smaller mass is thus made to move a larger mass, but the
smaller must move a greater distance. A hammer which is
used for percussion is often supplied with a handle, which is a
lever with a fulcrum in the edge of the hand. Thus the long
arm of the lever is next to the hammer, and the momentum
of the hammer is increased thereby.
A wedge is an inclined plane used to subdivide the distance
of the weight moved into minute parts. The wedge itself is
usually employed in conjunction with the hammer, the wedge
being a device for subdividing the distance moved, and the
hammer being used to take advantage of the force of per
cussion.
POWELL] TECHNOLOGY XLI
A wheel is a device for reducing friction, and the friction is
reduced inversely as the perimeter of the wheel is enlarged
over the perimeter of the axle. The wheel is variously modi
fied for the reduction of friction.
A pulley is a wheel or succession of wheels so geared that
the force applied must move over a greater space than the
weight to which it is applied; hence a larger mass may be
moved by a smaller, as in the case of the lever.
These forces the hammer, the lever, the wedge, the wheel,
and the pulley are often combined in the same mechanism.
Thus, in the screw, the lever and the wedge are combined, but
the wedge is a spiral wedge. These fundamental mechanical
devices are combined in a great variety of ways in the machin
ery of the industries.
These devices for applying power are sometimes called the
mechanical powers, and the powers themselves are called
forces.
Again I must remind the reader that there is no such tiling
as abstract power; it is always concrete, and its concomitants
must always be considered when we consider real power as
such. Power exists as an abstraction only in consideration.
Having considered the devices for applying power, we have
now to consider them as they are utilized in tools and machines.
A tool may be defined as an implement employed to utilize
human power. A machine may be defined as an implement
employed for using any other power than that of human
muscle. The tool is dependent on the hand and is adapted to
the use of the hand, while the machine is adapted to the use
of other powers than that of the hand, though these powers
may be directly or indirectly controlled by the hand. A flint
may be fashioned into a knife on a grindstone supported by a
wooden horse; the grindstone is a tool, but it may be run by
water power, when it becomes a machine, for it must be pro
vided with the apparatus necessary to utilize the fall of water.
A hand hammer is a tool; but a trip hammer is a machine, for
some other power than that of human, muscle is used in its
operation. The hand dasher in a churn is a tool; a power
dasher in our modern dairies is a machine. The flail is a
XLII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [KTH. ANN. 20
tool used only by human power; the thrasher is a machine in
which horse power or steam power is employed.
In the multiplication of processes, which we have already
illustrated somewhat, many machines are employed in the
manufacture of a single class of products. Often these machines
are housed for their protection and for the protection of the
laborers who are operating them. Such a group of machines
with their houses is called a mill or a factory. In the mill many
machines may be used, and many tools, all designed for the
common purpose of producing a class of objects.
It now remains for us to set forth the classes of powers
which are used by men to promote their welfare. These are
muscular power, wind power, water power, heat power, and
electric power.
Muscular power. This power is the primordial force used
by mankind. It was used first as human power, but in the
second stage of human culture animals were domesticated and
used as beasts of burden. Especially is one animal used for
this purpose, namely, the horse, and the power of a horse for
a definite period of time, established conventionally, has come
to be used as the standard of measurement for powers. Ani
mals are used not only for carrying and hauling burdens, but
they are used also for impelling machinery.
Wind power. Wind power is used to propel machinery and
especially in the navigation of water to propel vessels, and the
machinery devised for the latter purpose consists of masts and
sails. In the early history of civilization the propulsion of
vessels and the running of mills were relatively much more
common than at present, and yet this power is widely used.
Since air has been liquified it seems likely that this substance
is to play a still more important role in mechanics, and that
air is to become a commodity.
Water power. Water power is used chiefly for the running
ot mills. The tides as they rise and fall are utilized in their
onward rush to impel mills by the construction of the neces
sary machinery, and the fall of water in running streams is
utilized for the same purpose. Water is used also as steam to
connect heat power with machinery.
POWELL] TECHNOLOGY XLIII
Heat power. This power is obtained from the combustion
of plants and animals and the hydrocarbon products derived
from them. Steam is but a medium through which heat
power is applied.
Electric power. Electric power is also a medium for trans
mitting- wind power, water power, and heat power; but it also
seems to be an independent power itself. Not, being a phys
icist 1 am not competent to properly discuss this subject.
The whole discussion of mechanics ma}- be considered as
exceedingly elementary and to be but a simple exposition of
common knowledge. It serves the purpose of this discussion
all the better for this fact, for we are trying to exhibit the
nature of the activities in which men engage for the purpose
of classifying them and discovering how rive properties of
matter, and only rive, are recognized in these activities, and
for the further purpose of showing how they lead to five classes
of emotions.
COMMERCE
The fourth great class of industries in which men engage
for the purpose of obtaining welfare is commerce. Men do not
produce substances everyone for himself, but everyone for
others. They do not produce constructions everyone for
himself, but everyone for others. They do not produce
powers everyone for himself, but they produce powers every
one for others. The substances, artifacts, and powers pro
duced are designed for the consumption of others; they thus
become the materials for exchange, which are then goods.
Goods are produced, as we have already seen, by substan
tiation, construction, and mechanics, and there are other
agencies which we have not yet, considered. These products
pass from one person to another in exchange before they are
consumed as an entelechy. Kvery exchange implies a pro
duction and a consumption until the entelic consumption is
reached.
The five properties of matter give rise to five elements of
commerce, which we must now set forth. The first element
of commerce consists of the goods or kinds of things which
are exchanged. The second element is transportation, which
XLIV ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETII. AX.N. 20
means the transfer of commodities from one person or place
to another. The third element is the labor involved in making
the exchanges. The fourth element involved is the money
employed as the medium of exchange and measure of value.
The fifth element employed is advertising, which is the
method of informing those who desire goods for consump
tion that others have them and offer them in exchange for
o
money. The five elements of commerce, therefore, are goods,
transportation, merchandizing, money, and advertising. Every
one of these elements of commerce involves activities the
activities of producing goods, the activities of transportation,
the activities of exchange, the activities of finance, and the
activities of advertising. They follow in this order from the
nature of qualities which are derived from properties. Nature
has established the order in which properties must be con
sidered, for Nature herself considers them in this order. Now
we have to consider the five elements of commerce severally
for the purpose of considering the elements of which they are
composed.
(roods. Goods are classified as esthetic, industrial, social,
linguistic, and instructional.
Esthetic goods are ambrosial, decorative, athletic, gaming,
and fine-art goods. These may all be reclassified in five
groups. We have already seen" how the fine arts may be
classified, giving rise to goods which are musical, graphic,
dramatic, romantic, and poetical. In the same manner indus
trial, social, linguistic, and instructional goods ma} be classi
fied and reclassified. Every value which man produces
becomes goods, for in its production he expends activity,
which is labor, and he receives in return for his labor the goods
which he desires. In modern society the goods are obtained
through an intermediate commodity money which is the
measure of value and instrument of exchange.
Transportation. As men produce not for themselves, but for
others, and receive money in exchange which they expend for
themselves, the things which they produce must be transported
" Esthetology. or the science of activities designed to give pleasure, in Nineteenth Annual Report
of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1897-98, p. Iv.
POWKI.I.] TKCHNOLOOY XLV
to the others. A man may produce an article which liis next-
door neighbor uses, and the transportation from one to the
other is but an inconsiderable item. Hut the production may
be a hundred or a thousand miles away; then the transporta
tion becomes an important element in commerce: hence ships
and railroads are constructed, and large bodies of men are
employed in their construction and utilization. At first thought
these industries along- the great highways seem to absorb our
whole attention, but on more minute consideration we find that
the transportation of commodities for short distances is no
inconsiderable item. Thus, the transportation of the bread,
milk, and other items of trade through the streets of the city
and the highways of the country, from the marts of trade to
the individuals who are the entelic consumers, is of much
relative importance. The transportation of commodities
altogether will be found almost 1o vie in importance with
the production of commodities by substantiation or construc
tion or mechanism. We find that all of these operations are
concomitant.
To the carrier, goods transported become freight. (ioods
and freight, therefore, are the same thing from different stand
points of consideration. In transportation we have to consider
not only the freight but the substances, the constructions, and
the powers employed in freighting, as well as the persons who
direct the operations.
We must notice the correlation involved in transportation.
In every transaction which involves transportation there is a
producer and a consumer, and each party is both. The man
who produces wheat is the consumer of the goods for which
he exchanges wheat, so that there is correlative transportation.
But the correlation is to some extent masked through the
employment of money as a medium of exchange, for as goods
are not exchanged directly, the correlation of transportation is
in the first step the transporting of money in one direction
and the transporting of goods in the other When credits are
used as symbols of money, the correlation is still further
masked. Wherever a man may be he has demands which
must be supplied. Goods to satisfy these demands must be
XLVI ADMINISTRATIVE EEPORT [KTM. ANN. 20
transported to him, because he lives on the goods produced
by other men which must be transported to him. The ulti
mate correlation is dependent on the equity of transactions.
There is still another phase of transportation that must be
mentioned without stopping to fully set forth its nature. A
man s wants may be supplied by transporting supplies to him,
or they may be supplied by transporting him to them. No
inconsiderable part of transportation is employed in trans
ferring individuals themselves.
The substances that are employed in transportation are air,
water, rocks, plants, and animals. The constructions that are
employed in transportation are (1) those which are designed
to utilize the air, such as ships that are impelled by sails and
pneumatic tubes in which air pressure is utilized; (2) those
constructions which are employed to utilize water for trans
portation, such as the steam engine and that machinery by
which material is transported from one part of the mill to
another by water power; (3) those which are employed to
utilize wood, or coal (which is fossilized wood), for transpor
tation; (4) those appliances which are necessary to utilize
animal muscles for transportation, such as saddles, common
road vehicles, and all of those articles which have become
necessary when human beings transport freight; (5) all of the
tools and machinery which are employed in the utilization of
electricity for transportation.
Exchange or merchandizing. The man whose industry is
buying and selling goods is the exchanger, and he regards
goods or freight as commodities. Goods or freight thus
become commodities to him, but the merchant has to buy his
commodities instead of to manufacture them. The industry
of merchandizing is therefore distinct from the industry of
transportation, as the merchant is distinct from the mech
anician who produces useful powers, or from the constructor
who produces useful forms, or from the man who produces
useful substances. The elements of merchandizing are buying,
storing, exchanging, delivering, and gaining. In buying, the
merchant must consider the wants of the people; in storing, he
must consider preservation of the goods; in exchanging, he
POWELL] TECHNOLOGY XLVII
must consider the value of the goods; in delivering, he must
consider the distribution of the goods to his customers; and in
considering gains he must consider the total cost to himself
and compare it with the amount received, which may show
profit or loss.
Money. This leads us to the fourth element of commerce,
money, which, as one of the commodities, has to be considered
as a value in relation to the other commodities, which are goods.
Money consists of gold, silver, subsidiary coins, bank notes,
and credits. In different stages of culture different articles
have been used as money, such as shells, wampum, peltries,
tobacco, and cattle; but. in modern civilization the five kinds
of monev are almost universal.
It has always been considered important that the value of
money should be permanent, so far as this can be secured by
human agencies. If we consider long periods of time, this has
never been accomplished. The device which the more ad
vanced nations have adopted is to make either gold or silver,
or both, at a fixed ratio, the measure of value, and then by
statute to provide that subsidiary coins shall be issued by
the government. It is provided further that bank notes should
be made exchangeable with coin at the option of the holder
who presents them for payment; but in modern times credits
are very largely used in transactions, so that much of the
money used in commerce is of this nature.
The business of the banker is the handling of money for a
profit. He must therefore be a capitalist must have money
of his own and the amount of money or credit of others
which he handles, other tilings being equal, will depend on
the amount of capital which lie has invested either directly in
banking or as security which it affords to the public in his
transactions. In modern business much is transacted by cred
its, which are a kind of money, and the capital of the banker
is held by his customers as either moral or legal security to
them. The business man deposits money with the banker
and draws it out on check from time to time as he uses it.
A banker, having the deposits of many men, finds that he
has in his custody a surplus of money which is more or less
XLVIII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
constant. This surplus he lends at interest; he also lends
his own money; his profits therefore come from the lending
of money either his own or the money deposited. The
banker lends money to the public, but lie is especially a
lender of money to his depositors; thus, a merchant mav
J
deposit money by giving his note bearing interest, against
which he draws by check.
Advertising, This leads us to the fifth element of commerce,
which is advertising. In advertising, that which was first con
sidered as goods, then as freight, then as commodity, then as
value, is now considered as want. The merchant s business is
to supply want, and it becomes necessary for him to inform
the public of the goods which he offers for their supply. The
method of giving this information to the people is advertising.
The primal method of advertising is by the display of the
goods themselves by the merchant or his assistants; no small
proportion of the time of salesmen is occupied in displaying
goods to purchasers. The second method of advertising is
by the display of goods in conspicuous places, especially in
show windows; this method of advertising has now become well-
nigh universal. Show cases and window cases are arranged
with deft hands in order to make goods attractive. The third
method of advertising is with post bills, which are placed in
conspicuous positions, on the walls of buildings, on fences, and
by the wayside, or are worn on the backs of men. The fourth
method of advertising is by the distribution, through carriers or
by the mails, of handbills which are designed to inform the
public of the character and prices of the goods offered for sale.
The fifth method of advertising is the insertion of such business
announcements in books and periodicals. Much of the adver
tising is now absorbed by the periodicals; the daily, weekly,
monthly, and quarterly journals are to a large extent supported
by advertisers who display in type the goods offered for sale,
but the journals themselves are introduced to the public. l>y
the publication of news and the discussion of current topics, all
of which are desired by the people.
POWELL] TECHNOLOGY XLIX
MEDICINE
We have now to consider an industry which is designed to
secure welfare for mankind in preventing , alleviating, and
curing the diseases or other injuries to which men are subject.
This industry is founded on the importance of securing the
best opinions of men especially trained in the learning which
pertains to sanitation and the remedies which are discovered
to alleviate and cure diseases; it is especially an industry of
opinions. Formerly this feature of the industry was some
what masked by the more or less constant habit of medical
men to furnish the medicines and appliances which they use,
and to charge for the same rather than for their opinions. Pmt
this industry has been differentiated from medicine proper and
is relegated to the apothecary, who supplies, as merchandise,
the medicines and appliances, and the merchant obtains them
from manufacturers who produce constructions and substances.
Here we have to note a peculiar habit of language by which
the industry of medicine is called a profession. It will be
observed that those persons who engage in the highest form
of esthetic art, which we have called the fine arts, and who
make a business of producing kinds of pleasure for others, are
called professionals. In general, a professional is one who
claims to be such an expert in his industry that he can com
mand welfare for himself by the production of an esthetic
commodity. We might stop here to show how the lawyer or
the judge is also called a professional, but it will be sufficient
for us to notice that the term is applied in common usage to
denote a high degree of excellence in an industry, and that it
usually pertains to those persons who engage in the fifth grade
of arts, as we have designated them, namely, esthetics, indus
tries, institutions, linguistics, and opinions. In medicine the
professional medical man is remunerated, not for the medicine
which he furnishes, but for the opinion which he gives.
Thus, in the order of arts which depend upon the properties,
the fifth property of consciousness gives rise to a fifth industry
of welfare, which we call medicine.
The subject of medicine is fundamentally controlled by the
20 ETH 03 iv
L ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
five properties of human bodies and the organs which are
developed several!} for these properties. These are (1) the
organs of metabolism or animal chemistry; (2) the organs of
circulation or animal construction; (3) the organs of activity
or animal locomotion; (4) the organs of hereditary genesis or
reproduction, and (5) the organs of the mind or the nervous
system. In order that the opinions of the medical man shall
be of value, he must acquire a knowledge of the metabolic,
constructive, muscular, reproductive, and nervous systems of
the human body. This is fundamental.
Here it may be well to call attention to the organs of circu
lation, in order to show that they are organs of construction,
though motion is involved therein, for the properties are always
concomitant. When we consider circulation we are consider
ing it as the placement of the erythrocytes which are brought
to the parts where they enter into construction. We are not
considering the power by which circulation is accomplished,
nor are we considering the motion of the particles as trajecto
ries, but we are considering the constructive result which arises
therefrom, together with the result which is produced in remov
ing waste material. We are not considering how the removal
is accomplished, but the results of the accomplishment.
For the sanitary knowledge which he must obtain, the med
ical man must acquire a knowledge of the substances which
men use in continuing life on this planet air, water, rocks,
plants, and animals and how they are kept pure from dele
terious substances or conditions. This function of the med
ical man is of modern origin, and belongs solely to the scientific
period of medicine. We have to thank the medical profession
for a vast body of scientific knowledge relating to this subject.
It is the glory of the profession that its most arduous labors,
its greatest scientific discoveries, and its most enthusiastic pur
suits are devoted to sanitation.
Remedial medicine has a long and interesting history. We
have already seen, in the account given of esthetology, how
the fine arts are involved in the superstitions of mankind when
the} also play an important role in the religions of the world.
Now we have to see how these superstitions control the practice
TECHNOLOGY LI
of remedial medicine. In every early society there is used a
word which has the significance of "priest" as well as "doctor."
The word "shaman" has come to be used as the reprehentative
of such words. We have already seen how esthetology was
emancipated from religion. We must now set forth how medi
cine was emancipated from religion, for in the earlier stages of
culture, when the opinions of mankind were mostly supersti
tions, religion essayed to control all human activities, and the
priest was the dictator in every field of life; especially was
it true of all those tribal and national organizations in which
the head of the ecclesiastical body was also the head of the
political body, and thus church and state were one. How this
state of affairs originated we can not here set forth in any ade
quate manner, but we are compelled to refer to it in treating
of the subject of medicine, and to make a brief characterization
of the nature of early remedies.
Here we must set forth the doctrine of what 1 shall call
imputation. Imputation is the practice of erroneous attribution,
as of effects to wrong causes ; for example, when I impute the
pain which I feel in my head to a spell which has been wrought
upon me by a witch. A superstition is an opinion which a
man may hold by reason of imputation.
Now, we are briefly to consider how this practice originated.
Savage men always impute mind, or organized consciousness,
to inanimate things, such as plants, rocks, the phenomena of
water, and phenomena of the atmosphere. They also impute
mind to the heavenly bodies, which they suppose to be bodies
in the tent of the sky, which to them is the great wigwam of
this world. If the savage strikes his foot against a rock and
seriously wounds himself, he does not attribute the accident to
his own carelessness, but he imputes it to the rock itself, as
being designed by the rock in order to injure him. Thus
motives are assigned to all inanimate things, and events are
believed by him to be brought about by others (animate or
inanimate) which in fact are due to his own activity. This is
the fundamental phase of imputation.
Then tribal men believe that mind, which is a property of
animal bodies, is a property of all bodies, and that this prop-
LII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETII. A.NX. 20
erty is not a concomitant of the body and inherent in the body
itself, but that mind is independent of body and can live apart
from it, and when the mind leaves one body another mind
may take up its residence there. This is the doctrine of ghosts
as free, independent, and wandering minds.
There are many phenomena which to the savage mind lead
to this opinion. I may briefly mention them: The phenomena
of dreams, where men seem to go out of their own bodies and
wander about the earth; the phenomena of ecstasy, produced
by excessive mental or physical activity, where men seem to
have visions of other times and places or to hear voices which
do not speak in their ears; the phenomena of hypnotism,
where men seem to see scenes which are not naturally pre
sented to the hypnotized person; the phenomena of intoxica
tion, where men believe they observe that which bystanders
know to be not true; the phenomena of insanity, where the
diseased person has thoughts which are erroneous, in which
case the savage believes that the ghost of another lias taken
possession of the invalid. The doctrines derived from these
sources seem to be confirmed to the savage mind by the phe
nomena of shadows and especially of echoes. Hence, in
tribal society a ghost life is held in universal belief. Thus to
imputation is added the ghost theory, or spiritism.
The savage man imputes the diseases which afflict mankind
not to the bodies with which he peoples the world, but to the
ghosts of these bodies. Hence we often find in a savage tribe
that diseases are classified in a more or less vague way as the
diseases of the stars, the diseases of the waters, the diseases of
the rocks, the diseases of plants, and the diseases of animals.
He does not consciously classify them in this manner, but he
imputes them to the ghosts of these objects. When a patient
is examined by the medicine-man, he may affirm that he has
the elk disease, the bear disease, the wolf disease, the rattle
snake disease, or the green-snake disease, or he may say that
he has the spider disease, or the fly disease. Especially are
animals selected as the authors of ailments. I once witnessed
the treatment of a child by an Indian shaman who claimed
that its ailment was due to a little fossil abundantly found in
POWEU.] TKCHNOLOGY LIII
the carboniferous rocks of Colorado, and known as AfJii/ris
subtttita. I have many times known colds to be attributed to
insects, toothache to be attributed to worms, rheumatism to
be attributed to snakes, fevers to be attributed to birds; but
on careful examination I have often found that the bodies of
these things were not held to be the authors of the mischief,
but that their ghosts were the active agencies. Not always
can this explanation be obtained, and sometimes the thing
itself will be exhibited as having been extracted from the
patient: but, in the case of the Athyris, the medicine-man
asserted to me that, when he extracted the disease from the
child, he put the fossil in his mouth before he performed the
act of suction by which the ghost was extracted, and that his
office consisted in extracting the ghost from the child and
returning it again to the body of the fossil.
It may be worth while for me to state how widely prevalent
is this doctrine of disease among the North American Indians.
I have found it myself among many of the Shoshonean tribes,
which occupy a large area in the western portion of the United
States; I have found it among the Wintun of California and
many other tribes of the Pacific slope; I have found it also
among the tribes of the Gulf states, and have never failed to
find instances in any tribe in which I have made diligent
inquiry. Such causes for disease, however abundant they
may be, must not be considered to be universal as they appear
to the savage mind. The tribes of America seem rather to
prefer to ascribe their evils to their enemies within the tribe, or
still more often to their enemies in other ti ibes, for of course
they believe in witchcraft. Especially are epidemics imputed
to hostile tribes. The theory of the action of their enemies
seems to be somewhat of this nature: That the shamans of the
enemies have control over disease ghosts. But enough of this
phase of the matter here.
In barbarism, which is the upper stage of tribal society, the
theory of disease undergoes marked development; not that
imputation is abandoned, not that ghosts play a less important
role, but that a new group of mythologic beings is developed.
These mystic personages are personified phenomena of nature
LIV AUM1NJSTKATIVK KEPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
which exist as divine personages, partaking in the affairs of
mankind. While the hosts of savage mythology still exist in
the popular mind, the leaders lay more stress on the doings
of these nature gods. The nature gods are supposed not to be
pure spirits, but have a celestial home where they habitually
dwell and where they are organized into a tribe of their own.
Now, the same characteristics of imputation are found, the
same ghost theory prevails; but in addition there appear a
host of nature ghosts which also take part in the affairs of
mankind by assuming the shapes of men and representing them
on earth. These new deities play a special role in producing
diseases among mankind, and their assistance is invoked to
prevent and cure disease.
In a higher stage of culture, when tribes are organized as
feudal dependencies about city governments which are ruled
by tyrants which I have called the monarchical stage of
society there occurs a marked development of the agency of
the stars in the affairs of mankind, especially in determining-
good and evil, and still more especially in determining the state
of health and the condition of disease observed on earth.
Thus astrology is held to be the ranking science of the world.
In this stage diseases are imputed to the stars and to their
position, especially at nativity and in other important epochs in
the lives of individuals.
Perhaps we have already said enough about the theory of
diseases antecedent to scientific medicine. We now must
consider briefly the theory of remedies which prevails in the
savage, barbaric, and monarchical stages of culture.
In savagery, men find their remedies as they are revealed to
them in dreams, ecstasy, hypnotism, intoxication, and even in
insanity. In every savage tribe there are particular ceremo
nies and other means instituted by shamans for the purpose of
invoking these aids to diagnosis, and especially of appealing
to them for the discovery of remedies. The ceremonies which
the medicine-men perform by themselves for the discovery of
remedies can usually be distinguished from those which they
perform over their patients to secure the proper action of their
POWELL] TECHNOLOGY LV
remedies. In the one case ghosts are summoned to reveal the
difficulties; in the other case the ghosts are commanded,
abjured, begged, threatened, and in various ways induced to
leave the body by ceremonial processes. But the shaman, to
become such, must first drink his black medicine ; he must
summon his tutelar ghost by fasting and feasting and by danc
ing or by long and intense contemplation, by one or another
or all of the agencies for opening the portals of ghost-land ;
and when the gates are ajar he communes with the spirits.
Thus medical lore is acquired in these stages of society by
dreams, ecstasy, hypnotism, intoxication, and even by insanity.
There are other methods of learning the potency of reme
dies. There springs up in savagery a body of occult learning
which is a doctrine of signatures, which comes down to the
present time. Plants that have red juices act on the blood;
plants that have heart-shape leaves act on the heart. In like
manner all forms or fancied resemblances of plants and ani
mals have a significance to the shaman as indicative of their
medical potency. The world is ransacked to discover these
wonderful things which can not help but reveal their use to
the shaman eye.
In early civilization the chemical transmutation of things
seems to excite the greatest wonder, which leads to the devel
opment of a rude chemistry of transmutation. This new
chemistry is alchemy, and the discoveries of astrology are
met by the discoveries of alchemy. In this stage of culture,
astrology and alchemy prevail as the lore of medical science,
which is characterized by the emblems or signatures as they
appear in astrology and alchemy. Could we enter into the
subject we could show how the potency of words or of formu
las is now held to be of supreme moment. As poetry is now
the fine art of allegory, so medicine is now the healing art
whose lore is taught in allegory. When science comes, the
art of medical remedies is emancipated from the art of alchemy,
astrology is divorced from diagnosis, and the shaman becomes
either a priest on the one hand or a physician on the other.
Thus religion and medicine are divorced. But neither religion
nor medicine is at once freed from superstition. The progress
LVI ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
is slow, and forever there is a war in both departments between
science and superstition. How long, oh, how long will it last!
We return now to the consideration of scientific medicine,
merely for the purpose of classifying the science, for we are in
quest of the evidence by which we desire to exhibit the facts
relating to the five properties of matter, and to show that the
sciences are legitimately classified by considering the leading
properties in a science as the characteristics of that science, and
then to see if such classification warrants the conclusion that
there are but five properties of matter, and that in every body
these five properties appear.
In medicine we are attempting to show that the fundamental
property on which the science is founded is consciousness, from
which are derived the opinions by which physicians serve their
fellow men to secure their welfare. We have tried to show
that these opinions require a special study of the metabolism,
anatomy, physiology, reproduction, and nervous organization
of the human being. In addition to this, there is required a
special study of the environment of mankind the environment
of air, water, rocks, plants, and animals, including human
beings, by which the individual is surrounded. We might
have resolved the immediate environment to more remote con
ditions in the universe, but have contented ourselves with the
immediate or proximate environment rather for the purpose
of showino- that it is not necessarv to make a final resolution
o /
of bodies and relations in order to discover pentalogic elements,
although such elements appear whether proximate or ultimate
conditions are viewed.
The physician must be informed not only about the condi
tions of health in these realms of environment, but also the
conditions of disease in the same realms, in order that lie may
properly advise his patient for the benefit of his sanitation, or
that he may prescribe those remedies which are best adapted
to allay the evil effects of his environment. For this purpose
he studies the etiology or cause of disease. He must first
study the disease itself in its symptoms, and then discover the
origin of the disease in unfavorable conditions. We may pass
over the study of symptoms, and the classification of diseases
POWELL] TECHNOLOGY LVII
themselves, for here we might antagonize contending pathies.
Perchance, if I were quite honest, 1 would confess my inabil
ity to treat the subject as a medical expert. Then the physi
cian must be versed in the causes of disease, and he discovers
these causes in air, water, rocks, plants, and animals. Now,
we might reclassify these agencies of disease, but the discus
sion would lead us too far from our theme, for \ve are not
writing a medical treatise, and it might lead us too far from
our knowledge. Then we are immediately led to the discov
ery of remedies, and here again we strike upon the pentalogic
substances which are employed as remedies, and show how
substances, forms, forces, causes, and concepts are employed
as remedial agencies. Here again we must stop, lest we enter
into disputation and show our ignorance.
SOCIOLOGY, OR THK SCIENCE OF INSTITUTIONS
INTRODUCTION
An institution is a rule of conduct which men make by
agreement or which is made for them by some authority which
they recognize as such. Many, perhaps most, of these rules
are of great antiquity and are observed as customs, but new
rules or modifications of rules are instituted from time to time
as the exigencies of society demand. Thus, an institution is a
recognized law of conduct devised by men. Law and institu
tion are often synonymous terms. We use the term law from
/ J
the standpoint of considering the rule ; we use the term insti
tution from the standpoint of considering the origin of the rule.
I prefer to define sociology as the science of institutions rather
than as the science of law, because in sociology I wish to
include a study of the law itself and also a consideration of
the manner in which it originates and the agency by which it is
enforced, whether by sanctions of interest, sanctions of punish
ment, or sanctions of conscience. The term law itself has a
wider significance than that in which I wisli to use a term here.
Law is a general term signifying not only the law of man, but
the law of nature, and 1 wish to use it in this broad sense. I
choose the term institution to designate the law made by man;
but this tennis often used \vitli a broader signification than
that which I desire thus, an institution may be an organized
body of men, or it may even be the name of a building. We
sometimes call a well-known organization of men the Smith
sonian Institution, and we sometimes call the building where
they carry on their operations the Smithsonian Institution;
but I here use the term institution to mean the rules of conduct
instituted by men for the regulation of society, and do not
include the material things which they produce by their
industry.
LIX
LX ADMINISTRATIVE KEJ OKT [KTII. AXX. 20
When we examine the subject-matter of any treatise on
sociology we usually find it dealing with the laws or institu
tions l>y which conduct is governed, and with the attempt to
enforce these laws by governmental, moral, customary, cere
monial, and fashionable sanction. I use the term sociology to
distinguish one of five coordinate sciences, esthetology, tech
nology, sociology, philology, and sophiology; and I call all
of these sciences demonomy.
1 classify the sciences of sociology as statistics, economics,
civics, histories, and ethics, and shall attempt to characterize
them for the purpose only of setting forth their nature. 1 shall
not extend the discussion into a treatise on the sciences of
sociology severally, my purpose being classification only; for
the end in view is to exhibit the logical necessity of making a
pentalogic classification of all the sciences of demonomy in
order that I may set forth the nature of qualities and how these
qualities are founded on the universal properties of substances,
having in view still another purpose, which is to classify and
characterize the emotions. Pleasure, welfare, justice, expres
sion, and opinion are concomitant; one can not exist without
the other, hence there can be no sociology without esthetology,
technology, philology, and sophiology.
We must now explain why we put sociology third in the
order of demotic sciences. In industries we discuss natural
forces under the rubric of mechanics, but we discuss only the
forces not human we consider only those of the environment
of mankind, or those which exist in the air, water, rocks,
plants, and the lower animals, and consider how they are
developed from natural conditions by devices of control. In
sociology we consider human forces exhibited in activities
which ultimately arise through metabolism, so that men con
trol their own actions or conduct in obedience to their judg
ments of good and evil. Thus sociology is the science of the
control of human activities, not by mechanical devices as in
mechanics, but by institutional devices. As the order of prop
erties and qualities has already been established, and motion
or force found to be third, sociology is consequently third in
the demotic sciences.
KWEU-] SOCIOLOGY LXI
STATISTICS
Statistics is the science of the enumeration of human beings
and the material things which they produce. .11 ere we have
to consider what is meant by enumeration or counting. First,
counting is determination of kind, then it is the determination
of the number of the kind. Classification consists in deter
mining the kind and in considering all of that kind in giv
ing it a name; but enumeration consists in considering that
series of a kind which is determined by some human purpose.
The conventional scries is always considered in conventional
numbers, while the natural series or class is all of the kind.
Kind and form are concomitant, and thus forms may be
counted, but usually such counting would lead to unwieldy,
impracticable, or even inconceivable numbers; hence repre
sentative numbers are devised. The device used in reducing
vast numbers to practical numbers is measurement. We do
not count the grains of wheat, but we measure them in bushels.
We do not count the blades of hay, but we measure hay in
tons. We do not count the drops of molecules of wine, but
we measure wine in gallons or by some other unit. Thus,
measurements are adapted to the state in which the article
exists, as gaseous, fluid, or solid, and the units of the different
states are made commensurate.
Animals may be counted without measurement, but they
also may be measured: the method of measuring them is by
weight. Other methods adopted in statistics for measuring
forms is the measurement of spaces ; but in weighing, a force
is measured the force of gravity. This method of measur
ing does not give units in terms of motion, but units in terms
of one mode of motion, which is gravity; therefore the units
are in terms of force. There are other units of measurements
devised in the arts, as for example those for light, heat, steam,
electricity, etc., but we will not consider them here.
The common units of measure are units of space or of grav
ity. Governments prescribe the units of measurement in the
interest of justice, and the instruments of measurement are
regulated by law and kept under government surveillance.
LXII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
The unit for the measurement of values is of gold or silver,
one or both; in the case of both, the ratio is established.
These units of value are coined in pieces as forms, and the
government stamp gives warrant to the correctness of the
amount of metal which they contain. If the Government
guarantee also their relative value, questions of great impor
tance arise, and these create political policies. If the Govern
ment coins only for itself, and purchases the metal which it
coins, it matters not what the ratio may be. If it coins at a
ratio which is not the market value of the metals, the more
valuable metal at the ratio adopted will give value to the coins
of the less valuable metal, and both classes of coins will cir
culate at the value established by law. If the mints of the
Government are free to coin both metals for the public, and
the legal ratio differs from the market ratio, the metal of lesser
ratio value only will be offered for coinage, and the coins of
the metal of greater ratio value will be driven out of circula
tion. Thus, in considering measurement of values many ques
tions arise which are supposed to bear on the prosperity of
mankind and especially on the people of a nation.
But why are statistics collected? The statistics of popula
tion in the United States are collected as a government func
tion either by the nation or by the state for the purpose of
fixing the basis of representation. Membership in the national
and state councils is apportioned on the basis of population.
The statistics of population, therefore, under our form of
government, are necessary, for they are used as a basis for
national and state legislation. School districts must have an
enumeration of the children of school age who are to be pro
vided with schooling facilities. The county must have an
enumeration of the persons who require charity that it may
provide for their assistance. If the state builds an asylum for
the blind, it must have the number of the persons to be enter
tained therein. Statistics are required by all sorts of busi
ness enterprises in order that men may act with intelligence.
Thus a life-insurance company bases its rates of insurance
on tables of statistics which show the probable average dura
tion of life from the age at which the insured persons sev-
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY LXIII
erally applied. All intelligent action in business enterprise is
dependent largely on accurate statistical information. This
function of statistics we will designate as the function of
information.
Statistics are compared for different conditions to exhibit
important relations of social life as causes of good or evil
effects. The comparison is made of numbers taken at different
periods in the history of a people for the purpose of exhibiting
the evolution of social conditions. This leads us to the con
sideration of statistics in verification.
So common is this use that it would not be a bad definition
to say that statistics is the science of the verification of soci-
ologic inferences. The statesman, whose vocation is the study
of practical government, deals largely with statistics, and the
sociologist, whose theme is the social structure and its func
tions, resorts to statistics for the verification of his doctrine.
In this use of statistics the greatest care is necessary in order
that unsound doctrines may not receive apparent confirmation.
We may assume that kinds are properly discriminated, that
measures are reasonably accurate, that enumerations are well
taken, and that comparisons are wisely made. There yet
remains a large field in the use of figures in verification in
which they mar be perverted to the sustaining of fallacies.
This is the field in which they are habitually used to verify
theories of social evolution. Perhaps the most potent sources
of such fallacies are the use of figures for comparatively short
periods of time which do not admit of the elimination of
transient causes, and the proneness of men to look at causes
in the interest of parties, sects, and social classes, and to
impute false causes to such social conditions as they may
lament or admire.
This brief discussion will perhaps suffice to set forth the
elements of statistics, which must be considered as integral
parts of the science. To understand statistics it is necessary
to understand the science of kind, the science of measure
ment, the science of enumeration, the science of comparison,
and the science of verification, as they are represented in the
science of statistics.
LXIV ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [KTII. AN.X. 20
Causes are multitudinous. Much of demotic invention is
exercised for the purpose of discovering the particular cause
most easily modifiable in the interest of human purposes. In
the multitude of such devices the causes are examined in a
multitude of ways by a multitude of people who naturally
seek verification for their inferences as to the best methods of
modifying causes. In sociology this verification is by statis-
J O O/ i/
tics, and any arrangement of figures which appears to verify
an hypothesis may easily be believed to indicate the true or
modifiable cause of the effects considered.
In all the field of human thought there is no region in which
verification is more important than in sociology, nor is there
any field in which pseudo-verification entails more misery on
mankind. Men may claim to verify their speculations about
motors, and arrive at conclusions in which perpetual motions
are supposed to be involved in mechanical constructions; but
only the deluded persons themselves who are engaged in such
enterprises as inventors, promoters, or capitalists, are deceived.
But when social inventions which are supposed to accomplish
"perpetual justice" are adopted 1)} men as bodies politic,
calamity for the multitude is the result.
Statistics are collected by governments in all their units as
nations, states, counties, cities, townships or wards, and families.
Within the governmental organization there are many other
bodies corporate, such as educational institutions, ecclesiastical
institutions, and industrial institutions. Every body of people
is interested in the statistics which pertain to its functions.
These secondary institutions are hereafter to be classified.
We have thus found that the elements of statistics are classi
fication, mensuration, enumeration, information, and verification.
ECONOMICS
When, on the frontier, a log house is to be built, the man
who proposes its erection invites his neighbors to a house
raising. The logs cut from the surrounding forest are brought
to accessible places around the cabin site, and a yoke of oxen
is made to drag them one by one into position for use. Four
logs are placed on rocks as a foundation: upon these logs
POWBLl] SOCIOLOGY LXV
others are placed by rolling- them up on skids, and so log after
log goes up and the house grows apace. That these opera
tions maybe conducted successfully, a man is needed to drive
the oxen; then a man is needed at each corner of the structure
to fit the logs together where they cross each other near the
ends. On each side of the house skids are used upon which
the logs are rolled. As a log goes up a man at each skid
stands ready with a chock to hold it in place as it is moved up
by intermittent advances, and the two men at the corners
receive the log, manage the adjustment of its position, and
with their axes fit the ends of one log into notches in another
in such manner that the house is well tied together. The logs
are usually too heavy to be handled by a few men, hence a
number are necessary to put them up, especially after the
house grows, when the logs must be lifted to a comparatively
great height. Thus the pioneer who is building a house
enlists the services of many men to enable him to accomplish
that which he can not do alone. When many men assist in
the work, every one doing a like part, their mutual action is
sometimes called "solidarity" in political economy. When
they assist one another by doing unlike tasks, as do the men
who are managing the skids, and the men who are fitting the
logs at the corners, and the men who are driving the oxen,
their method of cooperation is sometimes called "division of
labor." Hence cooperation is accomplished as solidarity and
as division of labor.
For the purpose of cooperation men unite in associations,
sometimes only for temporary purpose, but often for a more
permanent purpose. When such persons unite for an indefi
nite length of time, which may be for years or even for gen
erations, the association is known by a fiction of legal
expression as a "perpetual person," and hence it is often said
of some corporations that they never die.
In sociology a corporation consists of a number of persons
who associate themselves for a common purpose to secure
solidarity and division of labor.
Incorporation has its reciprocal in organization. When we
affirm that a body of men constitute a corporation, we imply
20 ETH 03 v
LXVI ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
that they are organized; if we affirm that they constitute an
organization, we imply that they are incorporated. The
same body of men constitute an incorporation if we consider
the purpose of solidarity, or they constitute an organization if
we consider the purpose of division of labor.
The body of a man is incorporated as a body ; but the body
itself is differentiated or specialized into organs, as the term is
used in physical science ; or its parts exhibit division of labor,
as the term is used in social science. Thus three terms are
used in the sciences to express the same concept differentia
tion, specialization, and division of labor. In treating of
sociology it would be better to use the term specialization of
labor rather than division of labor, and the term integration of
labor rather than solidarity of labor.
We must now show the distinction which must be made
between social incorporation and organization and physical
incorporation and organization. In man the many organs are
incorporated into one body by mechanical or physical bonds.
The man is composed of actually coherent parts, but a society
is composed of individuals who do not physically cohere. They
may be together at one moment but apart at another, and mem
bers of the social corporation may wander about at will, inde
pendent of one another; they cohere only in purpose; that is,
they have a common purpose, which is that for which the body
politic is incorporated. There is thus coherence in purpose,
but not coherence in mechanical structure. Purpose is some
thing which exists only in the mind. We may therefore say
that social bodies are ideally incorporated, while natural bodies
are physically incorporated.
Having noted that incorporation is integration, and that dif
ferentiation is specialization of parts, we have to note further
that this organization and specialization is accomplished to con
trol the conduct of the members of the incorporation in relation
to the purposes for which the society is organized. This con
trol of the conduct is control of the activities of the members;
the control of the activities is the control of the motility
of the members in coming together and in speaking at their
deliberations, but the control of their motility is effected by
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY LXVII
controlling their judgments. The individual members, every
one for himself, control their motility, or, which is the same
thing, their activity, by controlling the metabolism or affinity
of their several members, so that pairs of muscles which are set
in operation one against the other are made the one to con
tract and the other to relax. Thus, a physical control of the
several persons who constitute a body corporate is ultimately
resolved into the control of metabolism, which is the control
of affinity. There is a physical control of the conduct of the
members through appeal to their purposes, which may be
resolved into the control of affinity of particles. With this
introduction we are prepared to consider the science of
economics.
Economics is sometimes called the science of wealth and its
distribution. More fully denned, it is the science which treats
of the nature of property, the accumulation of property as
wealth, the use of wealth as capital, the use of wealth as
investment, and the use of wealth as endowment, together with
the relations of property, wealth, capital, investment, and
endowment to corporations.
There are thus five elements for consideration in economics.
First, property; second, wealth; third, capital; fourth, invest
ment; fifth, endowment. Every one gives rise to a group of
corporations. The elements will be considered first.
Property. We have seen that labor is human activity exer
cised for the purpose of producing welfare. In producing
welfare industry produces property.
We have already shown that the wants of men are wants
for pleasure, welfare, justice, expression, and wisdom. Then,
we have shown that the wants of men for pleasure are supplied
by esthetic arts;" we have also shown that the wants of men
for welfare are supplied by industrial arts; we are now
attempting to show that the wants of men for justice are sup
plied by institutional arts; we shall hereafter show that the
wants of men for expression are supplied by linguistic arts;
and after that we shall show that the wants of men for wisdom
are supplied by instructional arts.
a Esthetology, or the science of aciivities designed to give pleasure, in Nineteenth Annual Report ol
the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1900. p. LV.
&See the previous paper, p. \ x i \
LXVIII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
In all these classes of arts something is produced for con
sumption, and we have already learned that the something
produced does not immediately reach its entelic purpose, but
may remain in a state of disuse until an event of production
changes it in some manner so that it may reach its entelic
consumption.
During all these stages it remains as property. This is true
of all property of whatever nature. Then there is much prop
erty which requires a long time for its consumption; for
example, houses ma}" remain to be consumed by a generation
or even a succession of generations, but the houses are origi
nally produced from substances which men produce, and a
house may not be wholly consumed by the domiciliary user
without the production of intermittent repairs. Land is not
produced by man from original substances; it is only improved
by man that it ma}" be rendered more useful through the pro
duction of improvements.
We are thus led to understand the nature of property itself.
It is something which serves men s purposes and which remains
for a time more or less ephemeral in the possession of individ
uals, or of corporations, or even of governments, and mav be
exchanged from one possessor to another at any time while it
yet remains; and its continuance in time is ended by the
entelic consumption, except in the case of land itself, which
does not cease with the production of one crop, but continues
ior the production of others indefinitely as long as proper cul
tivation is continued.
Men create property by producing it through labor: when
produced to the entelic state it is consumed, yet it may remain
in stages of production and also in stages of consumption. In
any of these stages it may be accumulated.
The foundation of property is primordial appropriation from
nature through labor. The tribal man who appropriates fish
from the sea constitutes it property, though it may be of an
ephemeral nature. Still, while the food may be ephemeral,
there may be appropriated other substances of longer value;
thus, he may take whalebone, which remains a longer time as
property; if he appropriates animals from the forest, their
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY LXIX
skins may be property much longer than their flesh. This
appropriation from nature has been universal among- mankind,
and in its simplest form is always recognized as just.
But there come complications in the appropriation from
nature which give rise to differences of opinion about the
extent to which and conditions under which this appropriation
may be earned on. By civilized man land is thus appropri
ated; this is absolute! v necessary that he may make it use-
. J
ful. As he appropriates it by labor, the labor on the soil first
produces a single crop. The labor of appropriating the land
perhaps does not obtain its full reward by the first crop, but
the labor for the first crop enhances the value of the land for
subsequent crops.
All the land of the United States has been thus appropriated
from nature at first by individuals under grants from Euro
pean governments, but since the organization of the present
government it has appropriated the land and has either sold it
again to individuals or allowed them to appropriate it for
themselves by homestead settlement. But in assuming the
ownership of the land the general government has invariably
recognized the prior titles to the land inhering in the aborig
inal tribes, and has purchased it from them by treaties, paying
for the land by grants of money. The total sum thus granted
is more than three hundred millions of dollars. The title of
the Indians to the land was a title which arose out of a quasi
appropriation of the same not by improving the lands them
selves, but by gathering from the land their food, clothing, and
shelter; still, in some cases the natives cultivated patches of
soil. But the ownership of the land by these seemingly
imperfect processes was fully recognized by the government
of the United States.
The title to the land obtained by appropriating it through
the labor of improvement has always been recognized among
modern civilized peoples. But there are other agencies which
give the land value, not included in that produced by improve
ments. Land may have an ever-increasing value given it
by extraneous conditions sometimes equal to or even greater
than the interest on the investment as purchase money. The
LXX ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
interest on the purchase money may partly or wholly be paid
by the sale of farm products. In whom should the increased
value to the land inhere? Men are divided in their opinion
about the just method of distributing these increments of value.
Our purpose is not to discuss such questions, but to point out
the nature of the pi-oblems which are involved in the study of
economics.
Wealth. Here we have to note that the fundamental pro
duction of property is appropriation from nature by labor.
The substance appropriated from nature becomes new prop
erty at every stage of production, as artifacts, powers, and
goods. Forever the value of the property is increased.
Thus, property remains only as property which is consumed
as it is obtained, but property becomes wealth as it is saved.
Frugality is thus the foundation of wealth, though industry
and enterprise may contribute. Frugality, industry, and
enterprise may add to wealth, for wealth already accumulated
may be used as capital to increase itself.
Capital. Property, which has become wealth, may now be
considered as capital. Wealth may be used as capital in the
purchase of machinery and the appliances necessary to the
use of machinery, in the purchase of material for further stages
of production, and, finally, in the employment of labor to aid
in the industry of production. We have thus considered capi
tal in its use in manufacturing. In the same manner we may
consider it in its use in commerce. These cases are sufficient,
perhaps, to illustrate the principle.
Investment. Capital may be invested in such manner as to
produce more without the owner of the capital engaging in
commerce or manufacturing or in any of the industries of sub
stantiation which we have heretofore considered. But as capi
tal is of value in all of these industries, and as it may be
invested with others who wish to conduct them, the interest on
the capital may go to the owner of the capital. Thus capital
becomes investment. That which in one stage we call prop
erty, in another stage wealth, and in another stage capital, we
here call investment, meaning by that pure investment for
interest.
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY LXXI
Endowment. And yet we are to see property and wealth
and capital and investment assume a fifth form; this is endow
ment. Men are not all chief!} interested in the pursuit of
physical welfare, and those most deeply interested have other
purposes which they hold dear. The farmer may still be
interested in his church and may be glad to endow his church ;
the manufacturer may still be interested in a library and be
glad to endow a library; the merchant may still be interested
in a college and may be glad to endow a college. So some
wealth at last becomes endowment.
We have different stages of the same thing, and call these
stages, severally, (1) property; (2) wealth; (3) capital; (4) in
vestment, and (f)) endowment. It would be convenient if we
had a generic term to express these things. Let us call them
all possessions.
In the terminology of jurisprudence the word possession is
somewhat ambiguous when it is used to denote a holding as
something distinct from ownership. Thus, a horse may be
said to be in the possession of a man who has the right to use
it because he has hired it, and its more permanent ownership
may be in another man. The man who lias hired the horse has
a right to its use during the time for which it is hired, but the
ownership of the property is said to still remain in the man
from whom it is hired. Still further, a thief is said to be found
in possession of property when it is discovered in his custody,
but the possession is fraudulent or criminal. Taking the term
in all its uses, possession seems to be the best generic term to
signify property, wealth, capital, investment, and endowment.
Here we need terms for a genus and its species, and select the
terms as shown.
It is the nature of property to be consumed, and it becomes
property only because it can be consumed; but ultimate con
sumption may be postponed, and often consumption requires
time. In the same manner it requires time for production, and
in modern industry it often becomes necessary that the materials
of nature should undergo successive stages of production in dif
ferent hands; so property exists in stages of production and in
stages of consumption. Entelic consumption is forever in prog-
LXXII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
ress, and what it produced is finally consumed. Wealth is that
which remains over and aboA 7 e relatively immediate consump
tion. Capital is that part of wealth which is used by its owners
in gaining other wealth. Investment is that part of capital
which is used by its owners in gaining other wealth as interest,
while the capital itself is in other hands in order that it may
produce property for these others. Endowment is that part of
investment which is dedicated to perpetual purposes, which the
endowers believe to be important to mankind and from which
they do not expect gain for themselves. We call all of these
things possessions.
Corporations
The several forms of possession which we have described
lead severally to forms of corporations. We have already
denned corporations and shown how a body of men may be
incorporated by organizing for a purpose.
Assisting corporations. That form of possession which we
have called property, in which the possession is held by the
owner for consumption, gives rise to a class of corporations
which we will call assisting corporations. They are necessarily
temporary in their nature, but they are often organized. A
group of forest men unite to make a circle hunt of deer, or a
driving hunt of mountain sheep. Such a corporation would
belong to this class. The instance to which we have already
alluded of the men united to build a log house would be another
example. In frontier countries the men of a community often
unite to build a bridge across a stream, or they unite to work
the roads, or they unite to burn the grass-lands that they may
be more valuable for the production of natural hay. These
instances will suffice to set forth the nature of what we call
assisting corporations.
Partnership corporations. Two or more men unite by form
ing a partnership to carry on a business together. They com
bine their limited wealth with their common labor. Perhaps
.they employ assistance, but such assistance is ancillary to the
object of the corporation. No further description is needed
to set forth the nature of partnership corporations.
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY LXXIII
Creative corporations. The third class of corporations we
shall call creative corporations. Here capital in larger quan
tities is organized, a company to operate the enterprise is
organized, and the employees or laborers are organized, every
one to accomplish some particular part of the work. It may
be that a factory is built for the purpose of manufacturing
shoes; in it there are many machines, each operated by a
special expert, and all the operations are supervised by a
foreman, or there may be a foreman and his assistant foreman.
Modern industries present many illustrations of these creative
corporations. First, there is an organization of capital; sec
ond, there is an organization of machinery; and, third, there
is an organization of labor. This complicated organization I
call a creative corporation.
Creative organizations have the effect of instigating the
laborers to organize societies which are known as trade unions,
of which something more hereafter. When employers organ
ize, employees organize. Thus power offsets power.
Investing corporations. We have seen how capital becomes
investment. Investment is for interest. But there comes at
last a stage in which the investors themselves organize as stock
companies, not for the purpose of operating industries, but
solely for the purpose of investing, while other corporations
cany on the operations. These I call investing corporations.
They might, perhaps, just as well be called stock corporations.
Societies. We next come to that class of corporations to
which endowments pertain; these are usually called societies.
It is manifest that each group of corporations which we have
hitherto denned may be classified by the pentalogic qualities as
those designed for pleasure, those designed for welfare, those
designed for justice, those designed for expression, and those
designed for instruction. Yet, if we were writing a treatise on
political economy it would be necessary to deal severally with
assisting corporations, partnership corporations, creative corpo
rations, investing corporations, and society corporations, for
there are principles of justice which specially pertain to every
one of these classes. Thus, assisting corporations often assem
ble on the invitation of the person to be assisted, and whether
LXXIV ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
the invitation be heeded is wholly voluntary with the individual
invited, and yet custom is almost as imperative as statutory
law. Then there are special principles of jurisprudence which
pertain to partnership corporations, which affect the responsi
bility of the parties to others, and the mutual ownership of the
incorporators. In creative corporations the employees are
more thoroughly differentiated from the proprietors, and the
employees themselves are apt to organize trade unions, and the
employers as corporations negotiate with the trade unions in
important particulars. Again, in investing corporations the
stockholders constitute a special body themselves, the mem
bers of which may not take a personal part in the creative cor
porations, although the members of the creative corporation
may sometimes hold stock in the investing corporation. In
these corporations the employees all receive salaries, but some
are known as officers and others as laborers. In society cor
porations the purpose is usually to promote some desired end,
the interest in which will continue for time indefinitely, as
when schools are endowed or churches built. For present
purposes we need not take up the classes of corporations seri
atim, but need only indicate their classification by qualities.
Corporations for pleasure. A number of schoolboys wish to
play ball. Two leaders are chosen, and each one selects his
helpers and assigns to each a particular part in the game. He
thus organizes a baseball nine, which is a corporation for pleas
ure. Nine men, with an additional number as alternates, are
organized under a manager and play a game, not for the
pleasure of themselves but for the pleasure of others, and
receive from the others payment as a reward. The players
may also take pleasure in the game, but their ultimate pur
pose is gain or welfare, so that it is welfare to the players and
pleasure to the lookers-on. Whether the game is considered
as a pleasure or welfare, provision must be made for render
ing justice when disputes arise, and hence there is an umpire.
Now, the persons assembled to witness the game take great
delight in the skill manifested by the players. Their delight
is not in the activity of play, but in the skill of those engaged
in the play. At every moment as the play proceeds the
SOCIOLOGY LXXV
players must use judgment, and their success depends as much
on their judgment as on the skill with which they express it.
The observers also exercise their judgment, and have their
opinions about the players and about the judgments of the
umpire, and express these opinions in approbation or disap
proval, and the crowd is boisterous with such expression. In
this example we see that the five qualities are concomitant in
the same game; but the controlling quality is pleasure, for
pleasure is the purpose of the multitude who come to look on,
and it is the purpose of the players to give them pleasure that
they themselves may have gain.
This illustration is used to set forth the nature of demotic
qualities and how some quality becomes a leading motive in
demotic activities, while all the other motives remain ancillary.
Purposes can not be dissevered from one another in concrete
activities, but they may be considered separately; that is,
qualities are concomitant.
It will be noticed that the players must be organized into a
corporation, but the oidookers constitute but an aggregate of
people, although they may be assembled in a dense crowd.
They are not organized for a purpose, although they have the
common purpose of pleasure.
Corporations for welfare. There are corporations to promote
the industries of substantiation, such as farmers clubs, organ
izations for agricultural fairs, stock-growers associations, and
mining associations. There are corporations for the industries
of construction, such as corporations for manufacturing, or
societies for the promotion of a special class of manufacturers,
such as bicycle manufacturers, men engaged in manufactur
ing leather goods, men engaged in manufacturing iron and
steel goods. Not only do the capitalists themselves organize
into societies, but the laborers organize into societies ; these
are usually trade unions; thus the carpenters are organized,
and the locomotive engineers are organized, and all varieties
of labor may be organized in like manner.
There are many corporations to promote the interest of
merchants, which are partnerships to promote solidarity and
societies to promote division of labor. There are corporations
LXXVI ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
of publishers to promote common interest, especially in the
gathering of news, the publication of which gives circulation
to advertisements. I need not consider such corporations
further; they are apparent on the suggestion.
Corporations for justice. All political party organizations are
designed to promote and secure justice. Individuals may have
other purposes, as advancement in political life, but the body
of people who are thus organized have justice for their purpose.
All ecclesiastical bodies are organized for the establishment
and promotion of the principles of justice, but it is rather the
higher principles which are considered as ethical principles.
There is another motive for ecclesiastical bodies, which is the
wish to promote sound ethical principles supposed to depend
on the acceptance of sound theological doctrines. But what
ever the theory of ethics may be the ecclesiastical organization
has for its purpose the control of human conduct in the interest
of the principles of justice. We need but to mention these
principles to see the verity of this statement. The principles
or elements of justice are peace, equity, equality, liberty, and
charity, for which all courts as well as all ecclesiastical bodies
are organized.
Corporations for the promotion of expression. At first sight
these incorporations may seem to be hopelessly involved with
corporations which have knowledge for their purpose, but on
more careful consideration it will be seen that schools, which
perform the double function of organizations for knowledge
and expression, are in practice clearly differentiated. Of
course schools for expression can not succeed without con
sidering the knowledge to be expressed, nor can schools
designed for the increase of knowledge succeed in their pur
pose without considering how knowledge may be expressed.
In America the differentiation is well recognized by the com
mon practice of calling the elementary schools "grammar
schools." In these grammar schools the primary object is
expression; the ancillary object is thought to be expressed.
The purposes can not be divorced, because expression and
knowledge are concomitant; but we consider the primary
object of the grammar schools to be expression. The teacher
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY LXXVII
wlio supposes that he can teach language without teaching the
nature of the knowledge to be expressed will fail utterly. So
that the teaching of language or expression resolves itself into
teaching the best method of expressing judgments and con
cepts, and before expression can be taught the nature of these
judgments and concepts must be understood, that knowledge
and habit of correct expression may be inculcated. The
organizations which are designed to secure expression are
therefore the common schools of the country, or, as they are
often designated, the grammar schools of the country, includ
ing the modern organization of kindergartens.
High schools, colleges, and universities consider the knowl
edge obtained to be their purpose, yet they do not neglect
expression; in fact, it is only of late years that knowledge has
become their primary purpose, and expression but an ancillary
purpose. Originally such schools were organized for the study
of the languages in which knowledge was buried, and their
purpose seemed to be expression rather than knowledge.
Common schools are not the only corporations for expres
sion; there are schools or clubs of oratory and many literary
clubs whose function is to train in expression rather than to
derive pleasure from literature.
Corporations for tJ/e purpose, of obtaining knotvledge. There
are many corporations of this character, and to properly set
them forth we must touch them with the wand of pentalogy.
Classified in this manner, they become corporations for instruc
tion in the knowledge relating to pleasure, welfare, justice,
expression, and opinion. Thus fine-art schools are organized
to promote a knowledge of the arts of pleasure, industrial
schools to promote the arts of industry. We may pause here
to note how the schools of industry are classified. (1) There
are schools of substantiation, such as schools of agriculture
and schools of mining; (2) there are schools of construction,
such as schools of manual training; (3) there are schools of
technology, which are schools of mechanics; (4) there are
business schools, under various names, which are schools of
training in commerce; finally, (5) there are medical schools.
Returning to the principal series, we find schools of justice;
LXXVIII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [KTH. ANN. 20
these are known as law schools. Then there are schools of
expression, as we have already shown; finally, there are schools
whose purpose is knowledge; these are the high schools, col
leges, and universities. In addition to these there are many
corporations designed to promote knowledge.
After this consideration of the subject we are prepared to
give a new definition to the science. Economics is the science
of the relation of production to consumption through the media
tion of corporations.
Civics
In characterizing the science of economics we have set forth
the nature of possessions as exhibited in property, wealth,
capital, investment, and endowment; then we have set forth
the nature of the corporations to which possessions give rise.
Corporations are groups of men organized for a purpose.
We have further set forth that these groups of men may be
classified to correspond with the fundamental classification of
the qualities. From the demonstration of this subject (he
reader obtains a more or less clear concept of the way in
which human interests are involved, and the relations which
men sustain to one another. Forever we learn that the
individual is compelled to consider the interest of others.
Cultured man inherits from the brute condition extreme
egoism which the development of the arts is forever correcting.
It is thus that the many individuals are incorporated into
societies and finally into nations where every man is com
pelled to consider other men as partakers of his interest
because he can not serve his own without first serving the
purpose of his neighbor. This is the fundamental lesson
taught by economics. Only a few men can obtain food for
themselves the vast majority must eat from other men s cribs.
Only a few can wear clothing produced by themselves the vast
majority must wear the clothing produced by others. Only a
few men can take shelter in domiciles built by themselves
the vast majority must live in homes produced by others.
Every man is dependent upon others for his existence, and in
infancy is dependent upon others for his preservation, and he
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY LXXIX
remains still dependent in old age. Passing beyond the
primordial principles of welfare, we still find the individual
dependent upon others for his pleasure; we still find him
dependent upon others for his language, for no man has ever
invented a language, and the language used by one man would
be the language of a fool. For his opinions every man is
indebted to others. None of the opinions of mankind could
exist to-day without culture, and culture implies that human
knowledge is derived chiefly from others and that language
is necessary thereto.
The act of a man to seek his own interests regardless of the
interests of others is a crime. In specialized society men must
seek their own interests by promoting the interests of others.
This is the law of political economy by which wealth is pro
duced. Self-interest may blind men s eyes to their true rela
tions to others in relation to property. The brutal self-seeking
which is inherited must by some agency be thwarted, else
others suffer and hence self suffers. Then, the passions of
men blind their eyes, and their passions must be controlled.
By common agreement rules or laws for the government
of conduct are established, and these established rules are
enforced ultimately by punitive sanctions. As punitive sanc
tions become more and more certain, the resort to such sanc
tions becomes less and less necessary if some method is devised
by which the contending parties may have their cases adjudged.
This leads to the organization of government. Government
is a scheme for providing an organization of the body politic
which will lead to the settlement of disputes, with power to
enforce judgment by punitive measures.
Civics is the science of government. Government is organ
ized to promote and establish justice. There are five elements
of justice, no one of which can be neglected if any other is
secured, and at the same time justice is maintained. These
elements are peace, equity, equality, liberty, and charity.
Peace. The fundamental principle of justice is peace, and
primeval governments are organized to secure peace. There
can be no pleasure without peace, and infractions of peace
produce the most intense pain.
LXXX ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANS. 20
Kquity. On further consideration primeval man learns that
he can not secure peace without exterminating- the causes of
infractions of peace. Ever} example of a disturbance of the
peace is found to be the effect of some cause, and tribal man
speedily reaches the conclusion that the causes which disturb
the peace are the inequities which spring up in society. Per
haps men quarrel over the distribution of the spoils of the chase,
perhaps they quarrel over their wives, but every infraction of
the peace is seen to be caused by some inequity, and the ques
tion is asked, "How can these inequities be removed? 1 So
tribal men attempt their removal by instituting courts of justice
that peace may be maintained between the members of the
tribe. They further find themselves involved in disputes and
wars with neighboring tribes, and they make it a rule, even iu
the most primitive society, that the tribe, not the individual,
has the right to declare war, and this declaration must be made
by the council of the people. After the council has decided
upon war, individuals on their own initiative may make the
war, but the} can not engage in such war without the tribal
consent.
We have seen that the incorporation and organization of
social bodies is not fixed by juxtaposition of parts, but by
purposes. Here we have to note that the equity which is
necessary to the continual existence of social bodies is not
equivalence of parts, as that term is used in physical science,
but it is the equity of conduct. Equity, then, is the demotic
term for equivalence. One man paddles the boat and another
kills the game, but the gain is shared; this is equity, or equiva
lence of rights. While one party is hunting another party
may be fishing; each party shares in the gains of the other;
this is equity, or equivalence of rights. Still another party
may be engaged in defending the whole group; all share in
the protection, and all share in the food obtained; this is
equity, or equivalence of rights.
Equality. Peace can be secured only if justice is maintained.
That justice may be maintained, the entire tribal council must
be consulted when it is assembled as a court of justice. The
fundamental requisite for a decision of the matter in such a
I-OWKI.I] SOCIOLOGY LXXX1
council is the equality of the members who compose the
organization. One man s opinion may weigh more than that
of another; equality of opinion is absurd, but equality of
voice or vote in the council is necessary. So primeval man
discovers the principle of equality, and from the first organi
zation of tribal society to the present time, human equality
has been a principle of justice. That which masks the princi
ple of equality in the councils of early nations is the idea
which grows up in barbarism and becomes thoroughly estab
lished in early national society, that guilt or innocence can be
established by supernatural methods, and that the judgments
of the council or tribal court should be controlled by super
natural agencies, as by ordeal; and when at last a stage of
society is reached in which the ruler of the people is also
the high priest of its religion, then the principle of equality
necessary to the establishment of justice is temporarily over
thrown, for the man who can render supernatural judgment
has supreme authority. The law of equality in demotic bodies
is the law of equality in asserting judgments.
Here we note that the equality is not that physical equality
which is fundamentally expressed in science as the law that
action and reaction are equal, but it is the equality of opinions
of justice in the tribal court, which may be resolved into
equality of purpose one man s purpose in rendering judgment
must be equal to another s purpose in rendering judgment.
They must be equal because the men have a common purpose
in rendering a judgment.
We have noted how equality is masked or even overthrown
when the ruler becomes a high priest. In modern society, as
in the United States, when the authority of the priest is over
thrown, equality is more or less masked, although it may exist.
Here the body politic is a very large group of people occupy
ing extended regions. The court is no longer the council and
the court combined, but special individuals are selected to
constitute courts, and individuals are selected to constitute
councils. In these councils the members are chosen by
equality of votes, and they become representatives of all the
people. Hut the council itself may be composed of two
20 KTH (>:} vi
LXXXII ADMINISTRATIVE KKPORT [KTH. ANN. 20
bodies a senate and a house of representatives. The house
of representatives is directly representative of the people by
their votes; but the senate is representative of the people in
the second degree it is representative of state legislatures
which are representative of the people of the state.
Representative government requires a comparatively high
degree of intelligence. Experience proves that uncivilized
people can not properly understand the nature ot representative
government and can not successfully take part in such govern
ment with equality of vote, for they desire to vote upon all
measures themselves rather than for representatives to devise
measures; they would return to the savage; council rather than
submit to the judgments of the representative assembly. In the
history of the United States we have been confronted with this
difficulty in the management of the savage and barbaric tribes
who were found as indigenes. It has been found impossible to
induce them to abandon tribal government and to take part in
national government by representation. As they claimed the
land by hereditary possession, and as civilized man claimed
the right to use the lands for purposes and by methods which
civilization demands, a conflict speedily arose between the
aboriginal inhabitants and the arriving thousands from oriental
lands. This conflict has continued to the present time.
Other nations having representative governments rule over
subordinate peoples, who are not yet competent to take part in
representative government, by the method of imperialism, as it
has come to be called. In such cases the subordinate peoples
are governed bv rulers appointed by the central government,
and the people are permitted to rule themselves by tribal gov
ernment, subject only to the central authority. The ways in
which this is worked out in practical affairs are very diverse;.
Liberty. Tribal men having discovered something of the
principles of peace, equity, and equality, soon lear an addi
tional principle necessary to their establishment; tins is the
principle of liberty. Every man in the council who becomes
the judge of the conduct of his neighbor must have liberty
to express his judgment, whatever may be the judgment of
others. When the council considers questions ot common
rmvKu.] SOCIOLOGY LXXXIII
action, such as the removal of the village, or a hunting <>r a
fishing enterprise, everyone must have a vote in determining
action, tor all must take part in the enterprise. The hum
blest man in the tribe must have liberty to express his judg
ment and must not be subject to the dictation of other men;
hence, liberty is recognized even in primeval society as essen
tial to justice.
The liberty which men claim in tribal society is liberty of
/ m. m.
personal activity and the denial that such activity can justly
be coerced by others. This remains in all stages of society;
but in tribal government it pertains only to the members of
the tribe. Alien persons may become slaves, and their liber
ties are not held sacred a subject which we will hereafter
consider.
When the offices of priest and ruler are consolidated, the
ruler becomes not only the judge, but he also becomes the arbi
trary ruler not as one having authority to execute the judg
ments of a council, but as one having authority to execute
his own judgments, for he who can act by divine right and as
the vicar of the deity must be obeyed.
CJiariti/. Still in primeval society men learn the nature of
charity and incorporate that principle into the concept of
judgment. Perhaps the principle of charity has a more lowly
origin than in human societv. It is fundamental in all animal
life where the parent provides for its offspring. < )n the
bisexual organization of animals it receives an additional
impulse in the cooperation of male and female and in the
sympathy and assistance which they render each other. The
third principle of charity seems to spring up in human society
when children render assistance to parents in their old age.
In tribal society these three principles of charity are well
recognized, and provision is always made in the law of custom
which is enforced by the tribal council.
It remained for civilization to add two principles to the con
cept of charity. The rirst is individually acted on by tribal
men, but seems not to be enforced by legal tribunal. It is the
assistance which men render to one another in misfortune. In
early civilization this took concrete form l>v the establishment
LXXXIV ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [KTH. ANN. 20
of charitable agencies, by the institution of laws tor their
maintenance and support, either by social bodies corporate or
by governmental bodies corporate. In that stage of society
in which church and state were still under one head, while the
fusion resulted in the temporary overwhelming of liberty, it
performed a royal deed for mankind by enlarging 4 the concepts
of charity.
The fifth principle of charity is the recognition that justice
does not require punishment, but only remedy for the past and
prevention for the future, and that man may not mete out
vengeance. This is the crowning element of charity. The
elements of charity may be stated as (1) care for the young,
(2) assistance to companions, (3) provision for the aged, (4)
help to the unfortunate, and (o) mercy to the criminals. We
have now developed the concepts <>f justice and have desig
nated them as peace, equity, equality, liberty, and charity.
The Departments of Government
The departments of government may be classified as con
stitutive, legislative, operative, executive, and judicative.
Constitutive department. A modern government may have a
written constitution which sets forth the plan of government.
Other nations have a system of habitual practice, modified
from time to time as circumstances seem to demand, which is
observed as the common law of the government. I wish to
use the term constitutive government for one of its depart
ments coordinate with the others which I will set forth. I
desire a term which will signify the manner in which the
officers of the government in all its departments are selected,
chosen, or appointed.
In many governments the officers are such by hereditary
succession. In other governments, as in the United States,
the officers are largeh elected, though provision is made for
appointment even of certain important officers, while a large
number of minor offices are filled in this manner. The per
sons who have the appointing power are persons who are
elected to their offices and thus represent the people in their
acts of appointment. Here different degrees of representation
may be observed.
row"- -] SOCIOLOGY LXXXV
We \visli to have a term which will signify the method by
which the officers of the government are selected and the rules
by which such selection is accomplished, and for that purpose
I adopt the term constitutive government. 1 hold that this
department of government is coordinate with the others to be
explicated.
A representative government is one in which the officers of
government represent the people. The manner by which they
become representative must be in harmony with the third prin
cipal of justice, which is equality. All persons who constitute
the body politic, and who acknowledge the government as
authoritative and seek its protection from unjust encroachment,
should have an equal voice, expressed by a vote, in the choice
of the representatives of the people who perform the functions
of the government.
In tribal government every person lias a voice in the coun
cil, and the council is also the court. The chief of the council
has but one vote like the other members, but he is also the
leader of the people when thev proceed to carry out the deci
sions of the council. Such a method of government is impos
sible in modern civilization, where the people are many and
are scattered over a large region. So representative govern
ment is devised, in which few persons, compared with the
whole number of the people, become the officers of the govern
ment, or, as they are sometimes called, the government itself.
This is in harmony with that principle of evolution which is
called specialization, in which the functions of society are par
celed among the people, so that one class of people may do
one class of things for all. The experience of mankind in
the evolution of society has resulted in an ever-increasing
specialization of these functions.
In other departments of human activity the specialization is
largely voluntary with the individual, and men become farmers,
manufacturers, or tradesmen by their own will; but whether
they become officers of the government or not depends not
upon their own will, but upon the will of others whom they
are to represent. In a high stage of culture the right to choose
rulers is held of paramount importance. The wish to exercise
LXXXVI ADMINISTRATIVE RKl OKT [KTIC. ANN. 20
this right has led to the organization of representative govern
ment.
The impossibility of continuing to realize primitive justice
and primitive equality by primitive methods has been more
and more clearly demonstrated with the ages of advancing
civilization. The savage is willing to be controlled by the
voice of the people of the tribe, with every one of whom he is
acquainted, and to every one of whom he is related by bonds
of consanguinity and affinity; but under the new conditions of
society, where the individual man may be unacquainted with
the man who produces his bread as a farmer, or produces his
shoes as ;< manufacturer, but upon whom he depends for the
supply of his wants, he finds it necessary to organize represent
ative government. All men in the nation are neighbors of
every man, and to maintain justice with these neighbors
representative government is devised.
Here we are interested in the consideration of how govern
ments shall be made representative. This is accomplished
by some method of constituting a part of the members of the
body politic the agents of justice, and those who select repre
sentatives for this purpose are called their constituents. That
department which I call constitutive government is the one
that deals with the selection of the representatives of govern
ment in all departments.
Legislative department. This department of government is
organized for the purpose of considering principles and deter
mining methods by which society should be governed. It
therefore enacts statutes of law. The modern legislature or
parliament is the differentiated organ for performing one of the
functions which was performed by the primeval council in
primitive tribal society, while the other function that of the
court is performed by another department of government.
The relation between the constitutive department and the legis
lative department is pretty well recognized in the United
States. We need not set forth the nature of the legislative
department, as that is a subject upon which men in this country
are well informed.
Operative department. The third department is pretty well
POWEU.] SOCIOLOGY LXXXVII
recognized iu all highly civilized countries, although it is but
imperfectly differentiated from executive government. I mean
by operative government that department which is undergoing
rapid development and which is the subject of much contro
versy at the present time in this juul other countries. It is
affirmed by some and denied by others that the government
should operate the railroads. Already the government, in
one or another of its units, constructs the common highways,
but beyond construction and maintenance further operation is
unnecessary. City governments construct and maintain
streets and sidewalks, and some of these subordinate units
provide and maintain the agencies for lighting the city. Most
city governments provide water for domestic use. The nation,
the state, the city, the county, the township, or the precinct
provides for the establishment and maintenance of schools.
On every hand there is a development of the operative func
tions of government. The distinction which \ve here draw is
well understood bv the people, and parties are divided on the
question of the wisdom of the assumption of operative functions
by the government. On one hand extremists affirm that only
executive functions should be exercised, and that all operative
functions are encroachments upon the rights of individuals.
On the other hand extremists affirm that all the operative
functions of modern society should be assumed by the gov
ernment in the interest of justice. This characterization of
operative government seems to be all that is necessary for
present purposes.
Executive department. The executive department is primarily
organized for the purpose of causing the statutes to be enforced.
It is charged with the maintenance of peace and order in
society, both in its internal affairs and in its external relations.
It therefore consists, in its personnel, of the executive officers
of the government, as presidents, governors, mayors, marshals,
constables, and policemen, and in external affairs of the army
and navy with all their multifarious personnel. Nowhere
among civilized governments is the differentiation between
the executive and the operative departments fully accomplished,
though the distinction is well recognized.
LXXXVIII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
Judicative department. This department of government is
pretty well segregated or differentiated from the other depart
ments which we have indicated. Two distinct branches of the
Judicative department are well recognized, the one branch
composed of justices of the courts, the other composed of the
advocates or attorneys of the courts, who practice before the
justices in guiding the procedure, in marshaling the evidence,
and in calling attention to the law and the principles of law
which they deem of importance in deciding cases. This side
of the court is employed in the support of the interest of the
disputants, both parties being represented in this manner,
while the justices of the court preside over the hearing and,
sometimes with the aid of ancillary juries, render a decision.
While the legislature is engaged in the consideration of the
principles of justice as applied to the people at large, the
courts are engaged in the application of these principles to
cases which arise in dispute.
Having set forth the nature of the five departments of gov
ernment and explained how they may be perfectly recognized
and yet imperfectly differentiated in practice, we find it desirable
to make some further comment in relation to the importance of
complete differentiation in these functions. The founders of
the Government of the United States were deeply imbued with
the doctrine that the legislative, executive, and Judicative depart
ments should be thus differentiated, and it is often held as one
of the crowning marks of their wisdom. When we consider
the stage of differentiation of function which they found exhib
ited in the governments of the world, and consider their own
accomplishment in this respect, it appears that a great advance
was made in the interest of justice and the purification of polit
ical life. The fathers of the Republic were confronted by the
very general, though not universal, opinion of mankind, that
a republican government would fall by inherent weakness; so
they adopted measures in the interest of stability of govern
ment which were inconsistent with the principles which they
avowed. Again, they had to meet and harmonize the interests
of diverse colonies, and were compelled to adopt what have
since been called the compromises of the Constitution. For
SOCIOLOGY LXXXIX
these two reasons some things were embodied in the Constitu
tion by its founders which their successors have deemed it wise
to change. Among these may perhaps be placed their failure to
differentiate the departments of government to such an extent
as fully to cany out their principle, and the dream of repre
sentative government which we find depicted in the writings
and speeches of the fathers of the republic has in part failed.
But more: At that time the whole scheme of differentiation,
was but imperfectly understood. It may be that some radical
work is needed, but the progress exhibited in the last decade
of history gives warrant to the opinion that these changes may
be made by evolution without revolution. It is now abun
dantly manifest that the government of the republic requires
important changes in its constitutive methods. These methods
should be revised and the constitutive functions fully differ
entiated. On the other hand, the division between operative
and executive government requires immediate consideration;
their union leads to corruption on the one hand and to injus
tice on the other. It is the opinion of the author that the
great question in American politics to-day is to complete the
differentiation of the departments of government.
A remark is here necessary. It is needful to discriminate
between what I have here called the departments of gov
ernment and the departments as the} are known as offices of
administration in the national union, as we speak of the Treas
ury department, the War department, the Navy department,
the Interior department, and the Department of Agriculture.
These departments do not correspond to the departments of
government as herein considered.
Regimentation
Governments are organized into a hierarchy of bodies.
These bodies are units of different orders. The people of the
United States, with trivial exceptions which need not here be
considered, are naturally constituted of families in which are
involved duties and rights one to another. The families of a
township or precinct or ward are organized into another body
politic. Here we must note that town, precinct, and ward are
XC ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
names of units of the same order, although the different terms
are used in different sections of the country and under differ
ent conditions. The families which constitute the townships
are also organized into counties. Sometimes a city embraces
more than one county, but usually the people of the city and
the people of the county are identical. The families of town
ships and of counties are organized into states. Here we adopt
American usage in the names of the subordinate units of the
nation. The people of the states are organized into the nation
which we call the United States of America. Wherever the
English language is spoken this nation is known as the Ameri
can nation. In considering this organization we must clearly
conceive of its units as a hierarchy of subordinate units in the
national unit, and recognize that the nation is not something
different in its personnel from the states, the state not some
thing different in its personnel from the counties of which it is
composed, the county not something different in its personnel
from the townships of which it is composed, and the township
not something different, from the families of which it is com
posed, but that the people are organized in this manner by
the territorial grouping of their domiciles for the purpose of
promoting and securing justice, and that part of the social
relations of the people are regulated by the agencies of the
nation, another part by the agencies of the state, another by
the count} , another by the township, and another by the
family. Thus rights and duties are parceled out among the
units of governmental organization.
Over those relations which the nation controls, its organs
f C7
are of supreme authority, but it does not control those rela
tions which are relegated to the state governments, nor do the
states assume to control the relations relegated to the counties,
nor do the counties assume to control the relations relegated
O
to the townships, nor do the townships assume to control those
relations relegated to the families. At one period the differ
entiation between national and state o-overnment may differ
J
from the differentiation which prevails in another period; but
when this differentiation is changed, it must be done by a
change in the written constitution submitted to the states sev-
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY XCI
erally tor their ratification, in which case the constitutional
majority, which is more than a plurality, must affirm.
We have spoken of the organization of this nation as an
example, but all other civilized nations have a corresponding
organization which varies in differentiation of functions, but
the same hierarchy of units is usually to be observed. In the
same manner it is necessary to consider that the differentia
tion of the departments of government varies from nation to
nation throughout the civilized world, and that the principles
of government which we have set forth as peace, equity,
equality, liberty, and justice arc differently expounded and
applied to governmental affairs.
HlSTORlCS
Histories is the science which records events of social life
and shows the relation existing between social causes and
social effects. A mere record of events is usually called annals,
and furnishes the data for history. Only the history of peo
ples is usually called history, the historv of individuals is
usually called biography: but as we wish to include history
and biography in the science which we are to characterize
we shall call it histories, meaning that history and biography
are included therein. We shall divide the periods or stages
of social history into savagery, barbarism, monarchy, and
democracy.
SAVAGERY
To the ethnologist a savage is a forest dweller. In com
mon conception the savage is a brutal person whose chief
dehVht is in taking scalps. Sometimes the svlvan man is
O O 1 *
cruel but even civilized men are sometimes cruel. Savagery
is a status of culture to the ethnologist, who recognizes four
such stages, of which savagery is the lowest. Some of the
Amerindian tribes belong to this lowest stage, while others
belong to a higher stage which is called barbarism. Wishing
to show my readers how a savage tribe is governed, I must at
the outset ask them to consider the savage not as a man of
cruelty, but as a man who takes part in a regularly organized
government, with laws that are obeyed and enforced. What,
XCII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
then, is a savage tribe, and how does tribal society differ from
national society?
The nation, like the tribe, is a compound group of people,
the distinction between them being in the method by which
the grouping is accomplished. All the people of the United
States belong to the national group. They are citizens of the
nation, and, at the same time, are divided into 45 groups as
citizens of states. In every state there are counties, and the
people of the state are citizens of one or other of these coun
ties. Then, again, the counties are divided into precincts,
towns, or townships. Sometimes towns are divided into school
districts, and cities into wards. And there are numerous vil
lages. Thus the people of the United States are organized in
a hierarchy of groups, from the school district to the entire
nation. The territory of the United States is divided into
subordinate districts throughout the hierarchy, and there are
at least four groups in the hierarchy the town, the county, the
state, and the nation; or, the ward, the city, the state, and the
nation. Everv citizen of the United States, therefore, belongs
to four different organizations in a hierarchy. He has a vote
in each organization, assists in the selection of its officers,
obeys its laws, and holds allegiance to its authority. This is
all very simple, but the plan of grouping or regimenting peo
ple by territorial boundaries is of late origin. Our Anglo-
Saxon ancestors were grouped by a very different method.
History teaches that the ancient Greeks and Romans were
grouped by a different plan. In fact, it has been discovered
that, in the two stages of culture which I have called savagery
and barbarism, a very different plan of regimentation every
where prevails. This plan is known as tribal organization.
Tribal organization characterizes the two lower stages of
culture, though savage regimentation differs from barbaric
regimentation in some very important particulars.
In tribal society people are grouped or regimented in bodies
of kindred. Let us first examine this grouping in the savage
tribe. A savage tribe is composed of clans. Let us obtain a
clear idea of what is meant by a clan.
A tribe is a group of people belonging to clans; a clan is a
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY XCIII
group of people having- a common name. Suppose that a tribe
springs from four persons, viz, a brother and a sister belonging
to one clan and a brother and a sister belonging to another
clan, and that each of the men marries the other s sister. Let
us call one of our clans "Wolf" and the other "Eagle." The
Wolf man marries the Eagle woman and the Eagle man marries
the Wolf woman. This is the first generation of a tribe com
posed of two clans, the man and his wife belonging to different
clans. The four persons belong to two clans, and constitute
two families. Let us suppose that each couple has four chil
dren two boys and two girls. They will belong to two clans.
The children of the Wolf mother will belong to the Wolf clan
and the children of the Eagle mother to the Eagle clan, for
the children take the name of the mother. This is the second
generation. Then four people of the second generation and
two of the first generation belong to the Wolf clan; and four
of the second generation and two of the first generation belong
to the Eagle clan. Thus we see that clans do not correspond
to what we call families. The husband and wife belong to
different clans; and the children belong to the clan of the
mother, and take the name of the mother. The mother, not
the father, owns the children; and the husband is but the guest
of his wife, not the head of the household.
Suppose that each man of the second generation marries
a woman of that generation who belongs to a different clan,
and that each pair has four children two boys and two girls.
These children constitute the third generation. The children
belong to the clan of the mother. There are now three genera
tions of people in each clan; and every mother claims her own
children as members of her clan. The head of the family is the
mother; but the head of the clan is the grandmother s brother.
Always the elder-man of the clan is the ruler of the clan; and
the woman is the family ruler of her children. We may go
on from the hypothetical beginning of a tribe through succes
sive generations; and still the ruler of the clan will be the
elder-man of the clan and will govern not his own children and
their descendants, but his sister s children and their descendants.
We may therefore define a clan as a group of kindred people
whose kinship is reckoned only through females.
XCIV ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [KTH. ANN. 20
A clan always has a name, which is called its totem; and
the object from which it is named is in like manner called its
totem. Thus, in the two clans which we have considered, the
wolf and the eagle are respectively called the totems of the
clan. The totem receives great consideration in savage society.
It is usually some beast, bird, or insect, or some important
plant, such as the corn or the tobacco; or it may be the wind,
the rain, a star, or the sun. The totem of the clan is consid
ered to be the progenitor or prototype of the clan. The
people of the Wolf clan claim to have descended from the
wolf; the people of the Eagle clan, from the eagle; the
people of the Wind clan, from the wind; and the people of
the Sun clan, from the sun. The totem is also the tutelar
deity of the clan.
There grows up about the clan a singular set of rules and
observances which are rites on the one hand and prohibitions
on the other. The prohibitions are usually called tabus.
Thus, the members of the Wolf clan must not kill a wolf, as
the killing of the wolf is tabued to the clan; but if they see
one they must perform some ceremony. The rites and tabus
of the totem are universal in this stage of society, and are
held as sacred obligations. ( )ne of these tabus is especially
to be noted: A person must not marry into his own clan. The
tabu is sacred; and its violation is a horrible crime, which, in
some tribes, is punishable with death.
An individual is likely to have as many kindred through his
father as through his mother; and he is also likely to have as
many kindred through his wife by affinity as through his father
and mother by consanguinity. All those persons to whom the
clansman is related through his father and through his wife,
together with all the members of his own clan, constitute the
tribe. Thus in savage society we have families, clans, and
tribes We have still a fourth unit. Two or more tribes may
unite to form a confederacy for offensive or defensive purposes,
or for both. When a confederacy is formed, artificial kinship
is introduced; and the tribes which unite agree to consider
themselves related. If two tribes unite, the men of the tribes
may consider each other as elder and younger brothers, or as
POWKLI.] SOCIOLOGY XCV
fathers and sons, or even as uncles and nephews. Where
many tribes unite to form a confederacy, relationships tire dis
tributed to the members of the confederacy, but only after
long- conferences, where such questions are considered in
detail. Thus we see that in tribal society men are not regi
mented or grouped territorially, as in national society, but are
regimented by kinship, real or conventional as the case may
be; the same end, however, is accomplished in full, that is, the
people are grouped in a hierarchy of units. Thus in tribal
society men are grouped or regimented by kindred, and each
person belongs to at least four groups of different grades in
the hierarchy. Certain things are regulated by the confed
eracy, certain things by the tribe, certain things by the clan,
certain tilings bv the mother of the family. In national society
/ * J
there is local government. In a democratic nation this is local
self-government; and in a monarchical nation it is local gov
ernment through officers appointed by the monarch. In tribal
society there is group government, the questions of govern
ment being relegated to the several groups, and the elder man
of the group having authority.
In the course of generations some clans may die out, and
the children be left without parents or grandparents: they
must then be adopted into some other family. If they are
adopted by a mother s sister they are still in the same clan;
but if the} are adopted by a father s sister they are consid
ered as belonging to his clan, which is the same as that of his
sister. It is thus that it sometimes happens that children
change clans and, consequently, their totemic names.
When the men of a clan go out to hunt or fish, to make a
boat or build a house, or to do any other work together, the
oldest man of the clan is the director of the enterprise, the
chief. All Indians hold that superior age gives authority; and
every person is taught from childhood to obey his superiors
and to rule over his inferiors. The superiors are those of
greater age; the inferiors, those who are younger. It is the
law of tribal society that superior age gives authority, and
that inferior age imposes a duty. But the people of a tribe do
not know their age, for they do not keep a record of time.
XCVI ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. ->0
How, then, can they carry out this law? Well, they have a
very simple device, by which every person in the clan may
know that he is older or younger than other persons in the
clan. Besides the totem name they have kinship names.
Thus, there is a name for "father" and another for "son";
and the son always knows that he is younger than the father,
and must obey him. Similarly the father always knows that
he is older than the son, and that he has the right to command
him. The same is true of mother and daughter. But there
may be two or more brothers; so they have two names for
"brother," one meaning "elder brother," and the other
"younger brother." In the same manner they have two
words for "cousin," one signifying "elder cousin," and the
other "younger cousin." They have also two words corre
sponding to "uncle" and "nephew"; but the word meaning
"uncle" is always applied to the elder, and the word which
means "nephew" is always applied to the one who is younger.
Thus in the Ute language there are two words: ain and aitsen.
Am applies to the one who is the elder, whether he be uncle
or nephew; and aitsen applies to the younger, whether he be
uncle or nephew.
So long as the tribesmen live together in clans they have a
simple method of keeping in memory their relative ages: for
the names by which they address one another always express
the difference in age; and it is a law in tribal society that one
person must address another by a kinship term. He may
speak of another by his totem name, or by any other name;
but he must address another by his kinship name. It is
always considered an insult to call another person of the same
body of kindred by any name other than his kinship name.
A Caucasian boy on the street may call his brother "John,"
but an Amerind boy in the woods must call his brother by
one of the terms which show that he is older or younger than
himself.
The oldest man of the clan, having natural authority, accord
ing to Amerindian ideas, over all members of the clan, is their
chief; and this is the basis of the patriarchy. A clan is said
to have a patriarchal government.
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY XCVII
Sometimes the elder-man or patriarch or chief becomes old
and imbecile; or there may be another man in the clan whom
they suppose to have greater ability, and they decide to
make him the chief. In such a case the law is obeyed by a
plan which lawyers term a legal fiction. The new chief is
promoted; and then he becomes the grandfather of the clan.
If his father is still living, lie is compelled to call his chieftain
son "grandfather"; if his elder brother is still living, lie is
compelled to call the chief elder brother"; if his uncle is still
living, he is compelled to call the chief "uncle." So, by this
legal fiction, the chief is still the patriarch of the clan. Not
only can a chief be promoted to the head of the clan, but
from time to time different individuals in the clan are promoted
over their fellows. A young man who proves himself to be
skillful in fishing and hunting, or a brave warrior, may be
promoted over his fellows, who thus become persons younger
than himself and must address him as if lie were older. Every
year adds a new spike to the antlers of the stag. Some
Amerinds call such a promotion the adding of a spike to a
man s horns: other tribes speak of it as adding another stripe
to his paint; and still others, as adding another feather to his
bonnet. Sometimes a chief mav prove to be a coward; then
he will be deposed. Or an individual may disgrace himself,
when lie will be reduced in rank. When a man is deposed
the Amerinds will say that his horns have been knocked off,
or that his paint has been wiped off, or that his feathers have
been plucked.
In a similar manner tribes and confederacies are governed
bv reckoning kinship in different ways and making kinship
by legal fiction. All such governments are patriarchal. It
will readily be seen that such government is not possible in
civilized societv. What man can know the names of all the
J
persons living in a county or a state, or who can learn all the
names of the people who live in a city, and how can one trace
out the kinship of the people of a city into clans! Tribal
society, or kinship government, is therefore impossible in
civilization, and is possible only where the group of people
thus united in government is very small and the members
know one another as kindred.
20 ETH 03 vn
XCVIII ADMINISTRATIVE KEPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
I have already explained the adoption into other clans of
infant children whose clan kindred have become extinct.
Snch cases seem to be infrequent, but there are other cases of
adoption which are more common. Children, and even adults,
captiired in war are usually adopted into some clan. Our
European ancestors observed a curious custom among- the
tribes of this country, that of running the gantlet. A pris
oner was compelled to run between two lines of his captors
armed with sticks and other missiles. This was formerly sup
posed to be a method of torture. On investigation it is proved
to have had quite another purpose The prisoner was given
an opportunity to show his mettle, his courage, and his ability
to fight his way through a line of clubs. If he acquitted
himself manfully, any woman among the captors might claim
him for her child. Children ran the gantlet of children only,
but adults ran the gantlet of men, women, and children.
Female children were rarely submitted to this ordeal. The
adoption of a captive was his new birth into the clan, and his
official age dated from his new birth. If he proved himself
skillful, useful, and especially wise, he might be promoted from
time to time, until at last the captive might become a chief.
Captives taken from tribes that are hereditary enemies and
with which there have grown historic feuds, and who are held
to practice monster sins, such as cannibalism, are given a fixed
status from their birth into the clan, which they can not pass
without promotion ; for all persons naturally born into the clan
may call them younger and have authority over them. This
is the primal form of slavery, but by good behavior the rules
of such slavery may be greatly relaxed, and captives from
hated enemies may ultimately become promoted kindred.
A person may not marry another of the same clan, but
usually he must marry some one of the tribe not in his own
clan. Before the marriage customs of the tribes of America
were properly understood, a theory of endogamy and exog
amy was developed by McLennan and others, which has
played quite a role in theories of ethnology. There are a
great number of languages spoken by the tribes of America;
so that the terms used to signify the clan and the tribe are
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY XOIX
multitudinous. The earlier writers on marriage customs in
tribal society culled from the literature of travel a vast body
* / J
of stories about tabus in marriage; and it was finally con
cluded that certain tribes required their tribesmen to marry
women who were foreigners and aliens. This was called
exogamy. Then it was held that other tribes required or
permitted their tribesmen to take wives within the tribe, and
this was called endogamy. So an attempt was made to
classify the tribes of mankind, not only in America, but else
where, into two groups, the exogamous and the endogamous.
Now, we understand that in all tribal society there 5 is an
endogamous or incest group, which we call the chin in sav
agery, and the gens in barbarism; while at the same time the
clansmen usually marry within the tribe by regulations which
vary greatly from people to people. It seems that the ties of
marriage are used to bind different peoples together in one
larger group which we call the tribe, and that the clans of a
tribe may at one time have been distinct tribes; that when
tribes become weak, or desire to form permanent alliances with
other tribes for offensive and defensive purposes, such tribes
agree to become clans of a united body, and by treaty confirm
the bargain by pledging not to marry women within their own
groups, but to exchange women with one another. "Give ns
your daughters for wives and we will give you our daughters
for wives." Such a bargain or treaty, enforced for many gen
erations as customary law, ultimately becomes sacred, and mar
riage within the group is incest. Perhaps there is no people,
tribal or national, which has not an incest group; so all peoples
are endogamous, as all peoples are necessarily exogamous.
The distinction set forth by McLennan proves to be invalid
everywhere and among all peoples.
Among the tribes of America there are many customs estao-
lishing the group within which a person may marry. It may
be that a man may marry within any clan but his own, or it
may be that a man must marry within some particular clan.
Sometimes there is a series of clans, which we will call A, P>,
C, I), and A". A man of A must marry a woman of 1> ; a man
of B must marry a woman of C ; a man of C must marry a
C ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
woman of D, and so cm; and, finally, a man of N must marry
a woman of A. Tribes themselves composed of clans unite
with other tribes also composed of clans; and as a result of
this consolidation into larger tribes there is found, in actual
study of the Amerinds, a great variety of systems, all having
the common feature of an incest group or clan, and provision
for bonds of friendship, which are perennially sealed by inter
marriages. It thus happens that universally among the tribes
of America marriages are regulated by customary law; and
the parties married have no legal right to personal choice.
Yet there are often ways established by which the clan confirms
the personal choice. Though marriage is always regulated by
the elders of the clan, yet they often consult the wishes of the
candidates. There are three marriage customs, springing up
from time to time among the tribes, which require special
mention.
A young man and a young woman may form a clandestine
marriage and live apart in the forest, regardless of the consent
of the elders of the two clans involved, until a child is born,
provided the tabu is not violated; that is, that the two parties
do not belong to the same clan.
There is another custom which the exigencies of life fre
quently produce. A clan may have many male candidates
for marriage, while the clan in which their brides are found
may have few eligible women. Then the young man may
wish to marry a woman in some clan other than that in which
his rights inhere. In such a case the wife may be captured;
but the capture is always a friendly one. If the girl has other
contestants for her hand, she must be won by wager of battle.
The battle is fought as a hand-to-hand conflict, without weap
ons other than those furnished by nature.
A third custom is found, especially on the western coast of
North America, where men buy their wives. This seems to
occur in the case of polygamy, where the man who takes a
second or third wife not only remunerates the woman s clan,
but makes presents to certain persons throughout the tribe who
might have an interest in disposing of the girl in some other
way. This seems to be the case in many tribes where "pot-
latch" weddings are observed, and it may be true in all.
i-mvEi.L] SOCIOLOGY CI
The possession of property which is exclusively used bv the
individual, such as clothing , ornaments, and various utensils
and implements, is inherent in the individual. Individual
property can not be inherited, but at death is consigned to the
grave. Property which belongs to the clan, such as the
house, the boat, the garden, is common property. No article
of food belongs to the individual, but is the common prop
erty of the clan, and must be divided by the authorities of the
clan, often according to some rule by which a special portion
is given to the person who provides the food. Thus, when a
hunter kills a deer, a particular portion is given to him: other
portions may be given to those who assisted in its capture:
and all the rest is divided according to the needs of the indi
viduals of the clan. The women gather fruits, seeds, or voots;
that which is consumed at the time is divided by like methods,
but that which is preserved for future use sometimes becomes
the property of the clan.
The elder-man of the clan is responsible for the training of
children, and it is no small part of his duty daily to exercise
them in their games and to instruct them in their duties. Thus
he who enforces clan custom is the same person who instructs
in clan custom; and when councils of tribe or confederacy
are held, he is the representative of the clan in such councils.
The chief of the confederacy is usually the chief of one of the
tribes, and the chief of the tribe is usually an elder-man in
one of the clans. There are clan councils, tribal councils,
and confederate councils.
The council is the tribal court and legislative body in one.
All Indian life is cooperative; and all cooperative life is regu
lated by the clan, the tribe, or the confederacy. The clan
hunt and the clan fishing expedition are regulated by the
council; and when the clan or the tribe would move the site
of its village, the council must so decree and regulate the
matter. The council of the clan settles disputes between
individuals of the clan; the council of the tribe settles disputes
between clans: and the council of the confederacy settles
disputes between tribes. Sometimes the members of the clan
live separately by households: but often the clan will build a
Oil AUMIKISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
house for all its members, when the households will T>e rele
gated to distinct sections. It is curious to see the people dis
solved into households at one time, and at another aggregated
in clans. If the clan moves temporarily to a favorite locality,
where roots or fruits are abundant in their season, it may dis
solve into households which provide for themselves rude
shelters of bark, brush, and leaves; but if the clan wishes to
change its habitation permanently, it is likely to construct a
new communal dwelling for the joint use of its members.
Thus, the clan seems to be the most permanent and most
fundamental unit in the organization.
In the study of North American tribes it is always found
that the purpose assigned and recognized for the organization
of that unit is the establishment of peace. Two or more bodies
go to war, and finally agree to live in peace, and make a treaty;
and the terms of the treaty are invariably of one character, if
the bodies unite as a tribe. The fundamental condition for the
organization of a tribe is, that the one party agrees that its
women shall be the wives of the other, with a reciprocal obli
gation. This is the characteristic which distinguishes tribes
from confederacies. A body of people organized for the pur
pose of regulating marriages is a tribe. A body of people
organized for war is a confederacy. Thus the organization of
a tribe itself is the first recognition of the principle of peace in
the origin of constitutions. The confederacy is always the
unit of war organization. It is doubtful in the present stage
of investigation, at least whether a tribe, as such, ever
engages in offensive war. Confederacies become tribes by
customary intermarriages, especially when the tribe becomes
the tabu unit of intermarriage. It is thus that the three units
the clan, the tribe, and the confederacy are variable from
time to time, although at any particular time these three units
can be distinguished as well as the family or household unit.
There are peculiar circumstances under which the household
unit is variable. This variability depends upon customs which
sometimes spring up among tribes, and are known as polyandry
and polygamy. Sometimes the man who marries a woman is
entitled to marry her sisters as they become of age. There are
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY CIII
other conditions under which men become polygamists, but
they are not very common in savage society. In the same
manner, there are cases in which the women of the clan are few
as compared witli the men to whom they are due; and, hence,
one woman becomes the common wife of several men. This
is polyandry. It is not certain that polyandry has ever pre
vailed in an Amerind tribe ; but certain forms of polyandry are
found elsewhere, especially in Australia, where the clan system
has an aberrant development, doubtless due to the development
of many tribes of the same linguistic stock, and to the spread
of the same totemic clan largely over the Australian continent.
Another organization, which involves all civic relations, must
now be explained. There is a body of men (and sometimes of
women also) who are known as medicine-men or shamans, and
sometimes as priests, who control all religious ceremonies and
who are diviners. As disease is supposed to be the work of
human or animal sorcery, it is their function to prevent or
to thwart it. They have the management of all ceremonies
relating to war, hunting, fishing, and the gathering of the
fruits of field and forest. It is their office to provide ceremo
nies for abundant harvests, to regulate the climate, and gen-
erallv to divine and control good and evil. The principal
shamans are men; but all the people are united into shaman-
istic societies. Usually there is some determined number of
these societies, over each of which some particular shaman
presides, and he has subordinates, each one of whom has some
particular office or function to perform in the societies. Some
times a person may belong to two or more of these societies;
usuallv he has the privilege to join any one, and a revered or
successful shaman will gather a great society, while a shaman
of less influence will preside over a feebler society.
Let us call these societies ecclesiastical corporations, and
the shamans priests. The way in which the} are regimented
and controlled differs from tribe to tribe, and there is a great
variety of ceremonial observances. In all civic; councils the
ecclesiastical authorities take part and have specified functions
to perform; and they introduce into civic life the ceremonies
which thev believe will produce good fortune. Perhaps the
CIV ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [KTH. ANN-. 20
ecclesiastical authorities may be more powerful than the civic
authorities, and the hereditary line of special ecclesiastical
governors may gradually overpower the civic constitution and
absorb it as a secondary element in the ecclesiastic constitu
tion. It must be remembered that the chief priests are men,
and that the women play a very small part in ecclesiastical
affairs. Now, as the men manage ecclesiastical affairs as chief
priests, so civil affairs are managed mainly by men as elder
men. The conflict which sometimes arises between the two
forms of government is mainly between men and men, or
between able elder-men and able shamans; but sometimes
both officers are combined in one person, and the great elder-
man may also be the great shaman.
BARBARISM
111 barbarism the tribe is composed of groups which we call
gentes, and is said to have a gentile organization. Among the
Romans such persons were known as agnates. A group of
agnates is composed of persons who reckon kinship through
males. Gentile organization is best known through the early
history of the Romans and Greeks; it was well developed
among the peoples of early history who spoke the Sanskrit
language; it appears among the early Anglo-Saxons; a few
tribes in North America have gentile organization, and it has
been at one time or another widely spread throughout the
earth. As a clan is a group of people who reckon kinship
through females to some ancestral female, real or conventional,
so a gens is a group of people who reckon kinship through
males to some ancestral male, real or conventional. It seems
that the primordial constitution of the tribe is by clanship and
that the clanship tribe is developed into the gentile tribe.
Most of the tribes of North America have clanship organiza
tion, yet there is a goodly number with gentile organization,
while perhaps it may be said that a majority of the clanship
tribes have some elements of the gentile organization, and
there is scarce!}" a gentile tribe which has not some feature of
clanship organization as a survival; so that it may be justly
affirmed that a great many of the tribes on this continent are
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY CV
in the stage of transition, lint more than this all of the
tribes of North America have come into association to a
greater or less degree with the European invaders, and have
thus taken on some of the elements of civilized culture, so
that the Columbian period has been one of very rapid devel
opment in tribal organization. Now, again and again we find
abundant evidence that the savage tribe yields its peculiarities
by exchanging them for barbaric characteristics. A review of
the evidence which has been accumulating through a series
of vears on this subject demonstrates that clanship organiza
tion develops into gentile organization. To set forth in a
summary manner how this development is accomplished will
perhaps be the best method of explaining the nature of a
barbaric government.
In savagery there are societies which are organized for the
purpose of securing the cooperation of ghosts in the affairs of
mankind. These societies are often called phratries or brother
hoods, and are the custodians of the lore of unseen beings.
They occupy themselves with ceremonies and various practices
intended to secure advantages and to avert evils which are
attributed to multitudinous ghostly beings which are supposed
to have tenuous bodies and to live an occult and magical life
as theA take part in human affairs. Everything unexplained
is attributed to ghosts. The leader in these thaumaturgic
societies is called by white men a medicine-man, or sometimes
priest, or even a thaumaturgist: a better term is shaman. The
phratry over which the shaman presides has a special care of
health and the occult agencies of welfare, so he presides
over elaborate ceremonies which have a religious significance.
These phratries, called by some of our writers societies, take
a very active part in savage society, for much of the time of
the people is occupied in the performance of the rites of thau-
maturgy antecedent to any enterprise of importance in which
the clan may engage.
These phratries which arc organized to obtain the assistance
of ghosts develop periodical ceremonies which are designed to
secure the annual productions of nature upon which human
welfare depends. Tims the fishing tribes of the Pacific coast
CVI ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [KTII. ANN. 20
that depend largely for their food on the coming of the salmon
from the sea at particular times have ceremonies designed to
secure their coming; those that depend upon cereals, like wild
rice, also have their ceremonies to invoke the aid of ghosts to
bring abundant seeds. In arid lands, where vegetation is so
dependent upon rain, these ceremonies take the form of invo
cations for rain. Thus in every region of the United States
periodical ceremonies are performed to secure harvests and
supplies of game.
Again, human beings are subject to many diseases which
are universally attributed to ghosts. Ceremonies to ghosts are
common for the purpose of propitiating them or of preventing
their malign influences or even of obtaining the aid of some
ghosts to defend the people from other ghosts. Societies, or
incorporations, as we have called them, but which are often
called phratries, or brotherhoods, are first incorporated among
men as religious societies on the theory that the good and evil
of life are largely dependent upon ghosts.
In tribal life the head of such a society, if it be a man, is
known as father; in some few cases the head may be a
woman, when she is known as mother. The children of such
a head of a society are known as brothers and sisters, hence
among classical peoples the societies were known as phratries.
These brotherhoods constitute an important element in
savage society, and their chiefs have on some occasions quite
as much influence as the governmental chiefs. Often the
father of the brotherhood and the elder-man of the clan is
the same person. When this is the case, authority is doubly
established. Ultimately this union effects a reorganization of
the tribe itself, and clans become gentes. How this is accom
plished we must now explain.
Clans are the bodies corporate for all industrial purposes.
Much of the hunting is clan hunting without firearms; the
wild animals have to be entrapped or captured by many devi
ces in which all the members of the clan take part. These
clan hunts are important occasions when distant woods, distant
valleys, or distant mountains become the theater of operations.
Under these circumstances it sometimes happens that the male
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY CVII
members of the elan desire to have their wives with them, but
their wives belong to other clans and have their households
with other clans, hence on such hunting excursions the clan
organization is to a greater or less extent interrupted, and the
women fall under the control of their husbands instead of their
brothers and mothers brothers. This is but a temporary
arrangement; but it often occurs when the clans visit some
favorite stream or seaside resort to gather and dry fish. By
and by agriculture is developed. The cultivation of the
soil seems usually to have been first developed in the arid
lands. Everywhere in America where a primitive tribe Iras
engaged in irrigation for agricultural purposes we find a tribal
village as a central winter homestead, with a number of out
lying villages or rancherias, which are occupied by the several
clans during the season of irrigation.
To understand the nature of primitive agricultural industry
in America it becomes necessary to take these facts into con
sideration. In every great ruin group in America situated in
the arid lands where agriculture was practiced, and also in
such humid lands as were cultivated, a central ruin of the
habitations of the tribe is found with outlying ruins or ran
cherias. When people have thus reached the state of agricul
ture where irrigation is practiced there is still stronger reason
why the clansmen should control their wives and children.
Irrigation requires the management of the stream which is
used to fructify the soil, and irrigation works must be con
structed. The stream must be dammed and the water carried
over the land by canals; this means the construction of works
that have a perennial value, and attention to the crops during
the season of irrigation as well as that of planting and harvest
ing. One clan on one little stiv.u.. is separated from the
other clans, who also have their sireams during the entire
season of growing crops, and the clan is thus segregated in a
little summer village of its own, and in a distinct village from
that occupied by the tribe during the remainder of the JTar.
Again, as animals are domesticated and flocks and herds are
acquired, wives and children become still more essential to the
prosperity of the men, for the women and children must take
OVIII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
part in the care of the Hocks. By all of these agencies the con
trol of women and children is taken from elder brothers and
given to the husbands, and the practical accomplishment of this
change results in a new theory of the family the children are
no longer considered the children of the bearing mother, but of
the generating father; that is, the children belong to the father,
not to the mother, for in tribal society there seems to be an
inability to conceive of mutual parenthood and authority. In
the clan the mother is the parent and owns the children, and
the father is but temporarily the guest of the wife and children.
When the elder-man has the authority of the shaman, he
easily usurps the authority of the elder-man of his wife s clan,
especial!} when such authority is conducive to his industrial
interests; for the same reason that impels the elder-man to this
acquisition of authority impels the elder-man of his wife s clan
to a corresponding assumption of authority, so the interest of
the one is the interest of the other. There may be many clans
in the tribe, and all the elder-men are interested in the like
acquisition of authority and are alike willing to give and take.
When this transfer is made into what we now call the gens, and
the elder-man or chief of the gens has authority over his wife
J
and children, this authority waxes very great, for he lias a
double power that of the elder-man and that of the shaman,
and we have the same state of affairs among the barbaric tribes
of America that is exhibited to us in the historic account of the
tribes of the Greek and Roman peoples, and in fact of all of
the Indo-European peoples. Under these conditions kinship
is reckoned in the male line and the clan is transformed into
the gens. The ruler of the gens is the patriarch who has a
right to control by reason of superior age, for the law that the
elder rules is still supreme; but the elder rules with a rigor
unknown in savage society.
The phratry does not, become the gens, though it is efficient
in transforming the clan into the gens, and the phratry or
brotherhood becomes a fifth unit in the hierarchy of incorpora
tions which constitute a barbaric society. The family remains
as a more or less distinct unit of organization composed of the
father, mother, and children, or it may hold together as a group
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY CIX
ruled by the grandfather. The gens still remains as a group
controlled by the patriarch or chief who is in tact or by legal
fiction the elder-man; but there is a tendency in the gens to
break up into a number of households, each one ruled by a
real or conventional elder-man. Then comes the phratry, to
which are relegated many functions.
We must now understand something more about the religion
of gentile tribes. In this stage private and public religion are
pretty clearly differentiated. The elder-man of the gens offici
ates as the priest in the domestic worship, but the public wor
ship is conducted in the council chamber, or, as it is usually
called in America, the kiva, which is the place of meeting of a
brotherhood or phratry, and the ceremonial worship of the
people is conducted in this place. Among the Greeks the kiva
was called the prytaneum. Various names are used among
the barbaric tribes of America, and various names were used
among the barbaric tribes of the Orient. In the upper stages of
savagery there is developed a calendar system by which the
kiva ceremonies are regulated. The various codices which
have been discovered in Central, North, and South America
are all of them calendars designed to regulate the ceremonies
of the kiva.
The kiva worship is controlled by the phratral unit; that is,
by the brotherhood. The place of worship is also the place
where the council of the brotherhood is held. Sometimes the
council of the tribe is held now at one, now at another, of the
kivas. The kiva is the general place for divination where the
signs are consulted for the purpose of determining whether
enterprises will be successful or not. All of the operations of
the people and all of the things in which they are most deeply
interested are controlled by these ceremonies held in the kiva.
Especially is the weather controlled, for it is here that they
pray for rain or for the abatement of storm. It is here that
the ceremonies are performed which determine the nature of the
crops. It is here that health or sickness is found. When the
individual is once under the power of a disease the shaman
may go to his relief and gather about his sick bed the members
of the phratry, who sing, dance, and perform other ceremonies
OX ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
for his recovery. It is in the kiva that trials for witchcraft are
held.
In all barbaric societies and in many savage societies there
is a place for the tribe to assemble. When architecture is
developed this is called the temple, but very often it is a mere
plaza under the shelter of trees, where special seats are fur
nished for the brotherhoods. Here men art, promoted or
invested with horns, feathers, or stripes the investiture is
always a time of merrymaking, with a feast and with danc
ing and here men are deposed.
Tribal life is chiefly public life. There is little domestic
seclusion; often the house is a communal house for the entire
clan or gens. Nearly all hunting is public hunting; nearly all
fishing is public fishing; nearly all gathering of seeds is public
gathering of seeds; nearly all gathering of roots is public
gathering of roots; all agriculture is public agriculture, and
all herds are public herds. The kiva is the gathering place of
the brotherhoods, and here they meet not only for religious
ceremony, but to pass the time in conversation or in jest.
Here the shamanistic orator entertains the people, and here
the men do their weaving and the women their basket work.
The kiva is the general place of rendezvous.
In barbarism, where all the units of regimentation are fully
developed, there are families, gentes, tribes, and confederacies,
and for everv unit there is a system of worship, and the high
priest of the unit is the elder-man or chief of the unit; worship
is thus specialized. The hearth of the family is the altar of the
faniilv. The place of worship of the gens is the kiva or pry-
taneum. The kiva of the chief of the tribe is usually the kiva
of the tribe. But sometimes the tribe has a special kiva inde
pendent of those of the gentes and we call it the temple.
The chief of the confederacy is also the chief of the leading
tribe, and the kiva of the tribe may thus become the kiva of the
/
confederacy; usually confederacies only have temples. Thus
three places of worship may always be recognized in barbaric
society. On the hearth-stone worship is performed by obla
tions and other ceremonies, and sometimes with paraphernalia;
in the kiva worship is performed with much ceremony and with
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY CXI
very elaborate paraphernalia, while in the temple worship is
performed especially for militant purposes and is elaborate and
ceremonious. I know not why four or rive places of worship
should not be developed in tribal society; but I have never
discovered more than three, though 1 always discover the five
kinds of worship.
When the fathers of the phratries become the elder-men or
chiefs of the other units in the hierarchy of govermeiital units,
barbaric society is fully organized and savage societv is fully
overthrown.
When we come to apply the criteria which we have set
forth to particular tribal bodies, a difficulty arises in segre
gating savage bodies from barbaric bodies, for in many
instances in America we rind some of the characteristics of
savagery and others of barbarism. Gradually a custom has
grown up among the students of these societies to relegate a
tribe to savagery which has the characteristics of savagery
predominant, and to relegate a tribe to barbarism which has
the characteristics of barbarism predominant; in so doing we
make clan organization by kinship in the female line the
deciding mark of savagery, and gentile organization by kin
ship in the male line the deciding mark of barbarism.
MONARCHY
The cradle of civilization was rocked by the waves of the
Mediterranean. Of the origin of one of the monarchies here
established we have much history. In the Greek and Latin
languages there is found a literature in which is recorded the
development of the Hellenic and Latin tribes into a monarchy
extending far beyond the shores of the Mediterranean, through
Europe on the north and large portions of Asia and Africa on
the west and south. Of the nature of the monarchies absorbed
by Rome and of the nature of the tribes absorbed in northern
Europe we have comparatively little data, but of the Hellenic
and Latin tribes we have much history. By adding to this
history the comparatively little-known history of the tribes
that were amalgamated in the monarchies on the south, and
the still less known history of the tribes on the north that came
CXII ADMINISTRATIVE REVORT [KTH. ANN. 20
under the dominion of Rome, and by interpreting this tribal
history from the standpoint which modern civilization has
gained by the study of savage and barbaric, peoples, we are
able to reconstruct an outline of the history of the origin of the
Roman empire.
As the Roman empire was founded on the inchoate mon
archies into which the Hellenic and Latin tribes were devel
oped, the literature of this transmutation is recorded in these
languages. The modern European nations are in some sense
the offspring of the Roman empire, and a family of these
nations was developed.
After the fall of the Roman empire a period of centuries
elapsed which are often called the Dark Ages. History which
we may not stop to recount led to what is usually denom
inated the Revival of Learning. Then the younger nations
sought in the literature of Greece and Rome for the history of
their origin, and they found in these languages the records of
a high state of culture, especially in architecture, sculpture,
poetry, and metaphysics. Thus the Greek and Latin lan
guages were the repository of "the wisdom of the ancients"
on these subjects. To trace the evolution of European relig
ion it is necessary for us to go to its source in the Hebrew;
but to discover the origin of the governmental institutions we
must o-o first to the Greek to discover the nature of the bar-
o
baric tribe, and then to the Roman to discover the nature of
the monarchy, and from the two sources we ma}- learn the
development of tribal society into monarchical society. We
must now characterize in a few sentences the agencies by
which barbaric society is transformed into monarchical
society.
We first note that the more highly cultured tribes are domi
ciled in walled cities. Every such city is a center of culture
superior to that exhibited by tribes not yet domiciled in walled
cities.
In savagery the custom of causing the captive to " run the
gantlet " was early pbserved by civilized men, but the signifi
cance of the custom was not understood, for it was supposed
to be only a method of torture. Prisoners who have long
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY CXIII
remained in the custody of their captors tell us of the signifi
cance of the custom. Modern scientific investigation clearly
reveals its nature. There seems to be a desire among savage
people to increase their numbers by incorporating captives
into the body politic. Such captives are often selected to take
the place of persons killed or captured by the enemy. Some
times the captive is required to exhibit his courage and skill
by causing him to " run the gantlet," and if he emerges from
the ordeal with honor some woman adopts him as her son.
When he is thus taken into the clan, his birth dates from his
adoption. He is therefore younger to all the members of the
clan who at that time are living, but he is elder to those sub
sequently born. The captive may be promoted from time to
time as other members of the clan if he wins such promotions
by good conduct. He may*tlius become the elder-man of the
clan or even the chief of the tribe or confederacy. There are
circumstances under which the captive is refused promotion,
as, for example, when captives are taken from hereditary ene
mies who are believed to be sorcerers, or who are popularly
believed to be cannibals that is, to eat human bodies for food
instead of in a ceremony of magic, which is the universal prac
tice. The captive is thus doomed to perpetual younfjership, if
the term may be permitted that is, to perpetual servitude
because all other members of the tribe may consider him as
last born and never to be advanced in age. In savagery there
seems to be but little evidence of this state ; but when in bar
barism agricultural and zoocultural industries are organized,
and other industries are carried on for exchange, then the labor
of captives becomes an important factor in the industrial life
of the people, so that captives are taken, not simply to reduce
the numerical power of enemies and to increase the numerical
power of the captors, but they are also taken as laborers; then
labor slavery is first developed. Before this stage family slav
ery only exists. In the brief account which we are giving,
what seems to be a radical change must always be considered
not as instantaneous but as requiring centuries of history with
its vicissitudes. Many different examples, occurring at differ
ent times, furnish instances of evolution representing only a
20 ETH 03 vin
CXIV ADMINISTRATIVE RKPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
part of the final change one of changes on changes in the
treatment of captives which result at last in changing family
slavery into labor slavery. We will hereafter see how labor
slavery is changed into chattel slavery.
Walled cities become cities of wealth, because they are cen
ters of esthetic and industrial art. The aggregation of wealth
in these cities makes them rich prizes and stimulates war, so
that wars are instigated not only by current disagreements,
as in savagery and barbarism, but by greed for wealth, which
consists in the stores accumulated in cities and in the labor of
the inhabitants when captured. Vengeance is a powerful
motive for war, but greed has greater might.
When men are gathered into cities, the land which they
cultivate extends far outside their walls, and the animals which
they domesticate are pastured on, distant hills. In the stage
which we are now discussing, slaves are employed as artisans
in the city, and they are also employed as agricultural laborers
and herdsmen in the country. Their employment in this man
ner requires surveillance lest they escape. To prevent their
escape and to relieve the constant watchfulness of their mas
ters, it becomes necessary to give them many inducements to
remain and labor; this is accomplished by giving them an
interest in the soil and an interest in the flocks and herds, and
by promoting their domestic life. Thus slaves become clients.
Sometimes whole tribes are conquered and employed as clients
to cultivate their own lands. Thus captives become serfs
attached to the soil, and the title to the serfs passes with the
title to the soil.
Still the conquering city may reduce other tribes to vassal
age and require of them annual tribute, but permit them to
continue in the pursuit of happiness and welfare by their
ancient methods subject only to the collection of tribute.
Sometimes the tribute may be in men, and is furnished to the
armies of the conqueror.
It is thus in monarchy that various forms of servitude are
found, as family servants, as clients, as serfs, as vassals, and
chattel slavery itself is common.
In tribal society the integration of bodies politic is mainly
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY CXV
by treaty agreement for offensive and defensive purposes;
but in monarchical society much integration is accomplished
through conquest, impelled by ambition, by which foreign
peoples are reduced to subordinate positions. They may be
made slaves by the greed tor gold, but they may be made
subjects by the ambition to rule. Such subject provinces
must pay tribute, and usually the tribute-bearing people must
be subject to rulers who are themselves subject to the central
government, as members of the central aristocratic class.
Thus monarchies are integrated through slavery and provin
cial government.
There is yet another element of the transmutation which we
must set forth. This is the consolidation of religious power
in the chief of the central city, who is not only a king but is
high priest of all the units of the monarchy. In the central
city resides the central authority. The central tribe, in which
are not included domestic servants, constitutes a distinct body
politic with all its hierarchy of units, with its chief ruler who
is also high priest, and subordinate rulers who are also subor
dinate priests. The subject provinces are governed by rulers
who emanate from the central city. The people of the central
city thus constitute an aristocracy to govern the subject prov
inces. When things are brought to this pass the pure mon
archy is developed. It will be seen that the fully fledged
monarchy is a stage of society of long growth, but the steps
in its growth are very irregular and often turn back before
monarchical society is instituted.
We have said that the emperor is the high priest of the peo
ple. Finally the high priest is fired with the ambition to
become the high priest of all religions. Then comes the time
of persecution for non-conformists, and then comes that cause
for war which is most potent the doctrine that false religions
may be eradicated by force. Then comes the profound belief
in the thaumaturgic doings of the god of aristocracy as mira
cles, and its concomitant belief that the doings of false gods
are sorcery.
Such are the agencies by which tribal society with kinship
regimentation is developed into national society with district.
CXVI ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. AXX. 20
regimentation, wliere the land of the aristocracy is the home
of central government, and the provinces subordinate units of
the nation. In savage society the most important unit of
organization is its body of kindred who reckon membership
in the female line. In barbarism the most important unit of
regimentation is the body of kindred who reckon membership
in the male line, and the patriarch becomes the high priest.
In the monarchy the people are regimented by lands. The
capital of the country of the aristocracy is the seat of govern
ment, the provinces are minor units of government, and the
monarch is the vice-regent of the god.
In monarchy a method of government and a consequent
arrangement of society in hereditary ranks obtain. As the
units of government constitute a hierarchy of control in both
civil and religious conduct, so also there is a hierarchical
aristocracy. Position in this aristocracy is determined by
hereditary descent. Every person is born into a rank in
society.
The kingship is inherent in a family and descends from
father to son. In the failure of lineal descent the kingship
passes into a collateral line. Thus a dynasty is produced
which continues from father to son, or to nephew, or occasion
ally to daughter or niece, until such dynasty i$ overthrown.
Other members of the aristocracy are nobles of various
ranks; nobility passes from father to son, the eldest living
son taking precedence, and the title may pass beyond lineal
descendants into collateral lines. The monarch may create
new orders of nobility at will ; and he may create nobles from
the common ranks, and may also promote from rank to rank.
It is thus that position among the nobles is in the gift of the
crown as a reward for service. A shrewd monarch uses his
power not only to reward men for service but also to keep up
a body of persons of superior capacity to cooperate with him
in sustaining the royal authority and dignity.
In this manner a governing body is constituted in a hier
archy of ranks, social, governmental, and religious, with the
power which inheres in wealth, the power which inheres in
government, the power which inheres in the command of the
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY CXVI1
arniic s, and the power which inheres in ecclesiastical domination
and dignity.
This comparatively small group of persons rule over the
people, who arc also arranged in a more or less clearly denned
hierarchy of ranks, as freemen, serfs, and slaves. The freemen
constitute a middle class, as merchants, artisans, farmers, and
soldiers. In this class also there is a tendency to differentiate
the people by their occupation into hereditary groups as guilds,
so that the man inherits the occupation of his father. An
extreme development of guilds results in the development of
caste. In caste intermarriage between groups is forbidden;
the higher castes become sacred, while the lower castes are
held by the higher castes as unclean, and not only is inter
marriage prohibited but many other social functions can not be
carried on in common.
The failure of lineal descendants in the monarchy leads to
disputes over the succession, and dynasties are often changed.
The same thing occurs in the successions which occur in the
ranks of the nobles. Sometimes these successions become a
matter of interest to the crown, so that the monarch often takes
part in determining successions, thus rewarding his friends and
punishing his enemies. Throughout the stage of monarchy
great armies are organized, and sometimes successful com
manders arise, and such commanders are rapidly promoted into
the ranks of the aristocracy. Sometimes successful warriors
become ambitious even for supreme rule, and they overthrow
the reigning dynasty to usurp its wealth, honor, and power.
Thus hostile dynasties are produced.
We have now presented a meager and perhaps inadequate
account of that stage of society which we call monarchy; but
the hope is entertained that the characterization has been suffi
cient to make plain how kinship society is transmuted into
territorial society, while the principle of kinship with authority
and privileges with the elder remains in the governing groups
as an aristocratic body.
CXVIII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. ai
REPUBLICKISM
Tribal governments are almost pure democracies, if we
understand by that term that leadership and measures of gov
ernment are submitted to the voice of all the people for decision.
The ideal of tribal government which is forever held in view,
though it may be obscured, is that of a pure democracy founded
on the will of all the people directly expressed by them as
individuals.
When national government is established on a territorial
basis, democracy is overthrown and kingship with aristoc
racy takes its place, and monarchial society is organized.
Monarchical society, in turn, gives place to a fourth stage,
which we here call republickism, We use the term in no
partisan sense and select a new form of the word in order to
avoid partisan implications. The term republicanism, as used
by statesmen, of whatever party they may be, usually signi
fies a method of representative government. It is in this sense
that we use the term republickism, and we leave the term
democracy and also the term republicanism to be used with
partisan meanings.
As the fifteenth century drew to a close, Columbus, the
great navigator and discoverer, became the promoter of an
enterprise to sail westward from Europe in quest of a better
route to the Indies, a land of fabulous wealth. For cen
turies scientific men had believed in the spherical form of the
earth, but the great body of the people did not accept the
doctrine. After manv unsuccessful attempts Columbus at last
sailed westward with a fleet bought at the price of the good
Queen s jewels. Instead of discovering a route to the Indies,
he discovered a new world. Perchance others had previously
discovered land at the north, but they knew it not as a new
world, nor did they know it as a gateway to the land of fabu
lous wealth, nor were they impelled to the discovery by the
acceptance of a doctrine of science. The merit of Columbus
was his faith in science, and as a reward for his faith history
crowns him as the Great Discoverer. The New World was
the trophy of science.
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY CXTX
The New World became the theater of new enterprise. The
discovery gave to science the hope that it might prevail against
superstition. Perhaps the thought that science may be useful
to mankind was inore potent with boon to man than the
enlargement of the theater of industrial enterprise.
Be this as it may, the New World became the home of repub
lics. The example of these republics has spread the egis of
free institutions over much of western Europe, and the leaven,
of freedom works unrest for all monarchial governments of
the world. The principles of representative government may
seem to flourish best when republics are founded in due form,
but they have an almost equal potency in reforming monarchi
cal governments. Such governments may not formally adopt
republickism in terms of free institutions, but by a legal fiction
they may engraft on the monarchy the substantial principles
of republickism, though nominally they are governed by an
aristocracy with a kingly chief. Formal republickism and
virtual republickism seem thus to be competing for universal
dominion, though competition may in fact be cooperation.
The agencies at work to transmute monarchy into repub
lickism may be summarily, though imperfectly, stated in the
following manner:
First, the industries of the world are undergoing transmuta
tion. Inventions multiply with the scientific thought that was
born with the discovery of Columbus. Brawn is governed by
brain, and brain through brawn governs the forces of the
world, and thus men are emancipated from toil. Through
invention toil is raised to the dignity of industry sweetened
with pleasure and rewarded with welfare.
The invention of machinery and the development of scien
tific processes of production have had potent effect on the
reconstitution of society. Handicrafts have been revolution
ized by the introduction of a high degree of intellectual skill,
as manual skill is relegated to the operation of machinery to
which great precision is given. When manual skill was
obtained only by long practice in a restricted number of man
ual operations, it was held to be necessary to serve a long
apprenticeship to a trade; but as the machine performs all the
CXX ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. AN.N. 20
nice mechanical work, the artisan turns his attention to the
control of the machinery, and to be successful in its manipu
lation he must understand the principle of mechanism and the
application of powers to the accomplishment of human pur
poses. The skill now required in handicraft is the skill of
intelligence supplemented with universal skill in handiwork.
It is thus that industry is emancipated from the system of
slavery involved in apprenticeship, and a new system is rap
idly developing in which childhood and youth are taught the
fundamental elements of all handicrafts in the common schools.
Political economists have deplored the inability of laborers to
change their occupation, seeing that the introduction of ma
chinery destroys many a special handicraft, and the laborers
employed therein are compelled to seek employments without
the benefits of apprenticeship. The introduction into industry
of scientific methods practically makes them all accessible to
all men.
Another change to be noticed is the enlargement of the
sphere of commerce. Production may now be carried on in
the most economic manner wherever special conditions exist
favorable to production; climates may be more thoroughly
utilized for the development of special products, and powers
may be utilized wherever they are found under the most
favorable conditions in nature. The enormous cheapening of
products by their narrow specialization and by their multipli
cation through the efforts of the few who are the most favor
ably conditioned for the special production requires that the
producers of large quantities of special goods have their prod
ucts distributed to great numbers of consumers, and thus com
merce is multiplied. For the development of commerce to
meet these new conditions inventions are employed, and the
highways of commerce are made to ramify throughout the
country and throughout the world. All of these processes
cooperate in the reconstitution of society by specializing
industries and integrating them through commerce, and the
lesson is taught in everyday life that human success is best
promoted by serving others.
Second, from the primeval state of society up to that state
POWKLI.] SOCIOLOGY CXXI
of society which we call republickism, tribes and nations were
kept asunder by walls of language. An unknown tongue was
a herald of enmity and a mark of folly, and aroused all the
hate of superstition. When culture was buried in the classical
languages, and when the accomplishment of the student was
measured by his knowledge of these tongues, a great impetus
was given to the acquisition of languages. Since science is
promoted by all civilized nations, science itself demands a
knowledge of many modern tongues. By all of these agencies
it is discovered that a foreign tongue is not an unmeaning
jargon, and language itself is no longer a barrier between
civilized people. The wheels of commerce speed civilized men
from land to land and they find themselves integrated by com
mon interests.
There is a third agency by which the transmutation of
society is accomplished. The literature of all lands is read in
every land. The current history of all lands is recounted in
/
every land. The agencies of intellectual culture are not
restricted by national boundaries. Higher than all, and more
potent than all, is the universal brotherhood of science by
which the discovery made by one man is revealed to every
other man and by which the generalization made by one man
enriches the thought of all,
A fourth agency for the transmutation of society is found in
the fine arts. The musical artist sings for the world. The
limner paints for all lands. The actor impersonates for the
universal stage. The novelist portrays for every fireside. The
poet chants a lay to every dreamy heart, Thus the esthetic
arts make a universal appeal to the finer feelings of mankind
and forever teach the lesson of fraternity, and with the balm
of joy heal the wounds of conflict.
Fifth, all of these indirect agencies for the transmutation of
society cooperate with the development of governmental prin
ciples due to the increasing intelligence of civilized men. With
knowledge conies a love of justice that recognizes that rights
may best be secured by the performance of duties. Forever
and forever is this lesson taught by advancing culture. In the
strife to establish justice through the agency of government
CXXII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
men learn to delegate their power to representative men chosen
for their wisdom.
The first presentation of the true nature of representative
government is recorded in the literature of Greece. In Plato s
Republic we find romance dealing with ideal government.
The old philosopher dreamed of a state of society in which the
conduct of government should be relegated to the wisest and
best of mankind. Further, he attempted to set forth the con
ditions under which the wise men should rule by delineating
their marriage relations and their property rights in terms that
seem strange and even bizarre to modern thought. Alas, he
did not properly comprehend the method by which the wise
men could be selected. His theory of government by the wise
and good became the ecclesiastical polity of the two great
churches of early civilization the Roman church and the
Greek church, which were organized to secure the rule of the
wise and good, and by both civil affairs were made subordinate
to ecclesiastical affairs.
While Plato thus became potent in founding the policies of
these churches, Aristotle was more influential in founding their
philosophies. The role which these two great thinkers played
in the history of early civilization was profound, for they cast
the thought of centuries into molds of learning, and these
molds gave figure and structure to philosophy and to church
polity which has lasted until modern times, when the molds
were broken only by the blows of science.
We have stated that to Plato we owe the earliest compre
hension of the principles of representative government. These
principles we must now set forth.
It is an inherent principle in society that the many follow
where the few lead. Knowledge is always born of one and
diffuses to the many. The annals of science are the record of
the discoveries of individuals. Advances are made by discov
erers and the world of science is dependent upon intellectual
leaders. A new thought may lie dormant until it finds clear
expression. It often happens that new thoughts gain accept
ance only when they are presented by some person who has
the genins of expression, but when they come to be deftly
expressed they are speedily diffused among mankind.
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY CXXIII
We discover in nature that all knowledge has its purpose,
and that this purpose is its utilization in affairs of life. All
knowledge must be utilized in this manner before it has its
final expression which all men may understand. Universal
diffusion of knowledge can come only by its utilization in the
affairs of life which interest all mankind. This utilization
depends first upon the inventor and second upon the under
taker the entrepreneur. It is thus that knowledge must have
a triune leadership in the discoverer, the inventor, and the
undertaker, and they must cooperate for the increase and dif
fusion of knowledge among men; then only does knowledge
receive its final expression which all men may understand. It
is within the province of every government to promote eco
nomic policies, and this it must do, either for weal or for woe.
The leaders of the people must be protected and encouraged
protected from injustice and encouraged by due reward. As
their operations have a profound effect upon the progress and
welfare of mankind, this effect must be promoted by the estab
lishment of justice to all. The four fundamental laws of eco
nomics for which governments are responsible are these:
(1) Reward must be secured to the leaders; (2) protection
must be given to leaders; (o) justice must be secured to their
followers, and (4) welfare must be secured for all.
The four maxims of good government require for their
operation some method of securing wise and good men to
carry on the government in all its departments. We have
already seen that ancient society selected its leader by the
methods of the pure democracy. There came a time when
these methods broke down because of the great numbers of
persons embraced in the body politic. Then the world tried
a new plan of government by creating an hereditary aristoc
racy with hereditary kingship. This system also has fa,iled.
Now the effort to secure good government as representative
government is undergoing trial. The theory of this method
of government is fundamentally that of representation by
election, but perhaps the principles of representation are
inadequately understood.
Let us try to formulate these principles. Fundamental or
CXXIV ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
primary representation should not extend beyond the bound
aries of the primary units of government. These are town
ships, or wards, and the governing- officers of these units
should be elected by the citizens of the several units. In the
secondary units, or counties, electors should be chosen by
every township or ward composing the county, and they
should select county rulers or city rulers where counties and
cities are coterminous. In the third unit, which is represented
by the state in this country, the county electors should choose
the state ruler. In the fourth or grand unit, which is the
nation, the county electors should choose national electors,
and the national electors should choose the officers of the gen
eral government. This, it is believed, would perfect repre
sentative government.
The rights and duties, or the theater of operations of the
several units of government, should be defined; that is, town
ship rights, county rights, state rights, and national rights
should be jealously guarded and strictly observed.
History has already demonstrated that the government
can not safely be intrusted to an ecclesiastical body. History
has already demonstrated that the government can not be
intrusted to an hereditary body. History has already demon
strated that the government can not be intrusted to a purely
democratic body. The advanced nations of the earth are now
making the experiment, of intrusting government to a repre
sentative body, and it would be wisdom to consider how a
representative body may be best chosen.
The history of mankind has been the constant theme of the
ages, because it has been the subject in which men are most
deeply interested. Especially has the rise and fall of nations,
the rise and fall of dynasties, and the part which individuals
have played in such affairs been the theme most attractive.
Notwithstanding this fact, the outlines of history as they have
heretofore been presented have consisted largely of a more or
less bare statement of events in chronological order. Univer
sal history has therefore been treated as annals. Special
writers have attempted to treat of the different parts of history
as the succession of causations, but universal history has rather
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY CXXV
been a compendium of names and dates. Since the establish
ment of some of the laws of evolution and the overthrow of the
ancient doctrine of degeneracy, a new impetus has been given
to history, and now a multitude of men are engaged in scien
tific research, having in view the discovery of the progress of
mankind by revealing the causations involved. For this pur
pose the world is ransacked for the vestiges of human culture
in all of the pentalogic departments of the humanities. His
tories as a science is thus disclosing a vast body of facts relating
to the evolution of pleasures, industries, institutions, languages,
and opinions.
Hitherto we have considered only the nature of institutions,
J
in attempting to set forth the four fundamental stages to be
observed in their consideration. The course of history in the
evolution of institutions is the best nucleus about which to
gather the data of progress in the other departments of history.
The sketch we are attempting will not permit of any exhaustive
treatment. We must content ourselves witli only a brief refer
ence to the evolution of pleasures, industries, languages, and
opinions.
The four stages of esthetic culture are well represented in
the fine arts, which are music, graphics, drama, romance, and
poetry. The course of this evolution we have already set
forth to the extent necessary to this argument. We have
shown that the stages of development in music are rhythm,
melody, harmony, and symphony. In graphic art they are
outlining, relief, perspective, and chiaroscuro. In drama they
are dance, sacrifice, ceremony, and histrionic art. In romance
they are beast fable, power myth, necromancy, and novels.
In poetry they are personification, similitude, allegory, and
trope.
The four stages of industrial culture we have shown to be
O
the hunter stage, the agricultural stage, the artisan stage, and
the machinery stage, by setting forth the transmutations which
these agencies have produced in society.
In like manner we shall briefly revert to four stages of cul
ture in languages, and also in opinions, and shall attempt to
correlate them with savagery, barbarism, monarchy, and
CXXVI ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
republickism. It hardly seems necessary to call attention to
the concomitancy of the five fundamental elements of culture,
but simply to affirm that they are connate and that there can
be no pleasure without welfare, and no welfare without justice,
and no justice without expression, and no expression without
opinion.
ETHICS
There is a fallacy in the reasoning of primeval man which
has produced what has come to be known as the ghost theory.
The notion of consciousness as a reined property independent
of the body is the first-born of those fallacies which constitute
the foundation of metaphysic. But primeval man did not dis
criminate consciousness from cognition; so that the fallacy
was rather the notion that organized consciousness or mind has
existence independent of the body. So mind is reined and
given a subtle tenuous body that can enter or depart from the
material body.
To understand the origin of this notion we must first dis
criminate between inference and cognition, and then realize
that cognition is verified inference and that there is no cogni
tion without verification. Then we must understand that
inference is the selection of a concept from memory with
which to compare a sense impression. The consciousness of
the sense impression and the consciousness of the concept are
both attributes of self. Hence inference is the comparing of a
psychic effect on self with a psychic memory of an effect on
self, to discover whether this cause is like that cause. It thus
happens that the self is taken as the standard of comparison in
every inference. The objective world is thus gauged by the
subjective world. This doctrine in which man is taken as
the measure of the universe is known in science as anthropo
morphism. In the individual it is the interpreting of the
objective world by concepts of self, and as men communicate
concepts to one another in the race it is the interpreting of the
nonhuman universe in terms of the consciousness of man.
If we understand the nature of inference and its dependence
on verification to become valid cognition, we are prepared to
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY CXXVII
understand the origin of the ghost theory by unverified anthro
pomorphic inferences which produce fallacies.
The fallacies at the foundation of the ghost theory are the
fallacies of dreams. The notions of dreams are thus responsi
ble for the primitive doctrine of a ghost as a reified property.
In dreams we traverse the regions of space and witness strange
scenes and take part in wonderful deeds and have astounding
emotions.
That the notions of dream history are reinforced by the
psychic phenomena of ecstasy, hypnotism, intoxication, and
insanity, we have set forth elsewhere. That such dream
notions seem to be verified by certain phenomena of nature we
have also shown, and need only to allude to shadows, reflected
images, and echoes. Altogether this fallacy is deeply im
planted in the savage mind: it continues as a notion even in
the minds of some of the most intellectual men of modern
culture. In savagery the notion is that nil bodies animate and
inanimate alike have ghosts; the theory is then called animism.
The relic of this theory in modern culture is the belief that all
animals have ghosts, or, still further specialized, that only
human beings have ghosts.
The ghost theory has played an important role in the devel
opment of ethics, which we will try to unfold.
Jn savagery, life and mind are attributes of ghosts. Material
bodies are supposed to be inert, while to the ghostly bodies is
attributed all action. Rocks, waters, plants, and stars, as well
as animals, have ghosts. It is to ghosts that all purposes are
attributed, and all powers to accomplish purposes inhere in
the ghosts of material bodies. All of the good and evil which
befall savage men are thus attributed to ghostly beings.
Dancing, music, and feasting are the superlative joys of
savagery, and the joy is an attribute of ghosts. Pain also is
the attribute of ghosts. Ghosts seek pleasure and avoid pain.
It is universal in the primitive stage of society to seek for
good and to avoid evil through the agency of ghosts. This
motive leads to the organization of shamanistic customs which
constitute the religion of the people to secure superlative good
and to avoid superlative evil. The motive of primitive religion
CXXVIII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
is the longing for superlative happiness, and it remains as the
motive of religion in all stages of culture. Religion is thus a
theory or doctrine of securing happiness. The happiness
desired may be in the immediate future or the remote future;
it may be for time or it may be for eternity, or it may be for
both time and eternity. If we are to understand the nature of
religion we must always conceive it to be a system of securing
superlative happiness. The motive of religion is the gain of
happness, and the methods of religion are the methods of
obtaining happiness.
We are now to explain what methods of securing superlative
happiness are devised in savagery.
Esthetic joys are the primary pleasures. Such joys are
founded on the pleasures of physical activity; not the activity
of labor itself, but on social activity. The dance is the prime
val ceremony of religion; connate with it is the joy of feasting,
so that both feasting and dancing constitute connate religious
ceremonies that are universal in savage society. The festival
is a religious ceremony of savagery. Preparation for the
highest enjoyment of the festival is often found in the practice
of fasting, so fasting becomes antecedent to festival. The
pleasures of love naturally arise through the social pleasures
of the festival and are often added. Therefore superlative
happiness consists in the revelry of the festival.
Days come and wants are renewed. Plenty brings joy, but
hunger brings pain. The memory of want is the mother of
fear. The experience of hunger is the primitive motive to
industry, but industry has precarious rewards in savagery.
The hunt may be in vain. The tree may not yield its fruits.
The savage seems forever to be the victim of chance. The
seasons come with heat and cold, with sunshine and with
storm, and these vicissitudes press upon the savage a load of
care and thought, for good and evil are dependent on the
changes of nature. Over this nature he seeks to gain control.
Primitive man knows of control only as control of motive.
The ghosts of the world must be controlled in the interest of
the people of the tribe. Ere he has learned to plant he attempts
to allure, and before he attempts to control he attempts to
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY CXXIX
propitiate. He would secure happiness from the ghosts of the
world by tempting them with the superlative joys of which he
is himself conscious. So he attempts to influence ghosts with
festivals, and to hold audience with the ghosts by charming
them with the highest pleasures of which he has knowledge.
Not only is the festival an assemblage of people, bat it is also
an assemblage of disembodied ghosts who take pleasure with
them.
The steps of the dance are controlled with the rhythm of
music. Thus music and dancing become associated. Ghosts
also love music. Music and dancing attract the ghosts to the
festival and inspire in their tenuous hearts the highest grati
tude. But how can ghosts best exhibit this gratitude to men I
To accomplish this the forest dwellers devise methods of talk
ing to ghosts, expressing their wants, revealing their inten
tions, and alluring to beneficent deeds. So ways are devised
for communication with ghosts by gesture speech and illustra
tion. In savagery a religious ceremony is a text of prayer
with illustrations prayer in gesture speech and illustration
in altar symbols.
In every savage tribe a place of worship is provided, .which
is also a place for the assemblage of the people in council, in
social converse, and in amusement. Then an altar is pro
vided. An altar is a space on the floor or a table on which
the paraphernalia of worship are exhibited. They consist of
various things designed to symbolize the objects of prayer.
Perchance the people pray for food; then corn, acorns, por
tions of animal food or parts of animals that are held to rep
resent them are placed on the altar. With tribes that collect
grasshoppers for food, grasshoppers are used and grasshopper
cakes are displayed. With tribes that cultivate maize, ears of
corn become the emblems of desire, and ears of many differ
ent colors are selected to typify abundance. Then jewels of
quartz and garnet and turkis and other precious stones are
displayed to signify that the prayer is for well-matured grain,
hard like the altar jewels. In arid lands they pray for show
ers and paint symbols of clouds upon altar tablets and provide
flagons or ewers of water which they sprinkle in mimic show-
20 ETH 03 ix
CXXX ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. AXN.-JO
ers with wands made of the feathers of birds. Birds are also
associated in their minds with the planting time and with the
harvest time, and they make images of birds, carving them of
wood and painting them with brilliant colors, or they make
their bodies of fragments of cloth and decorate them with
feathers. The birds are then placed upon perches and the
perches are placed upon the altar. Many are the devices to
represent animal food.
The similitudes and associations which are suggested to the
savage mind are utilized in this manner in many a quaint way.
The "correspondences" which the sylvan mind discovers and
invents to utilize in prayer speech would delight the heart of
the mystic.
Having provided an altar with its holy objects, the devout
shaman pours forth his praises to the ghostly divinities and
invokes their aid in controlling tho sunshine and the storm,
chanting in established forms of speech and prescribed reit
erations. As the prayer proceeds, at definite moments the
appropriate symbols are displayed and symbolic actions are
performed, all designed to illustrate the prayer.
Such are the prayers of the sylvan man, designed to secure
superlative happiness. The ceremonies are performed period
ically at appropriate seasons, and that they may not be neg
lected calendric systems are devised. These are painted on
tablets of wood, on the tanned skins of animals, or on the walls
of the house of worship, the calendars designating in some
symbolic manner the time of the year when certain ceremonies
are to be performed, the appropriate ceremonies for the time,
the deities to whom the ceremonies are performed, and the
characteristics of the ceremonies themselves.
As primitive music has a religious motive, so primordial
carving and painting have a religious motive. In like manner
the first dramatic performances are religious, all designed to
propitiate ghost deities and to secure their favors. When this
stage of esthetic art as religion is fully developed, men have
passed from savagery to barbarism. To rhythm melody is
added in music, to outline drawing relief is added in graphics,
and to dancing acting is added in the drama. Then terpoicho-
SOCIOLOGY CXXXI
rean religion is developed into sacrificial religion, for in bar
barism the altar symbolism is further developed, so that food
and drink are sacrificed to the gods. In this stage the ghost
deities are believed to enjoy for themselves not only the danc
ing but the feasting which is offered them.
All of the fine arts have their origin in religion, for in the
worship of ghost deities tribal men seek to propitiate them and
win their favors. In this effort they exhaust all their ingenu
ity in the production of music, graphic, drama, romance, and
poetry. Tribal music is thus the worship of the gods; tribal
graphic, in the same manner, is illustration to the gods; tribal
drama is gesture speech to the gods; tribal romance is story
about the gods, and tribal poetry is song of the gods; finally,
tribal religion is first dancing to the gods, to which is added
the feasting of the gods, and at the close of this state of society
religion is terpsichorean and sacrificial in its essential charac
teristics. The practice of religion is no inconsiderable portion
of tribal life, and it occupies a large share of tribal thought
Here we must pause to emphasize the thought that religion
has for its purpose the regulation of conduct in such manner as
to secure, through the agency of the gods, superlative or per
fect happiness. Thus is the conduct of men regulated by
motives thai although artificial are yet profoundly potential,
for the conduct which is thus instigated is held to be the
wisest and best for mankind. It is the ethics of tribal men.
Ethics is, therefore, a theory of superlative or perfect conduct.
If we consider it as conduct, it is ethics; if we consider it as
reward, it is religion. Ethics and religion are identical, the
one is the reciprocal of the other.
Through the stage of monarchy the king usurps the function
of high priest. Ills courtiers Hatter him as the vice-regent of
deity, and he strives to be considered in this light. Often self-
deceived by adulation lie has a profound faith in the sacred
character of his person and authority, notwithstanding which
religion undergoes further development. The pageantry of
kingly courts is the pageantry of religious ceremony. The
festivals which are promoted by rulers all have a religious
character, and the priesthood constitute a body of men who
CXXXII ADMINISTRATIVE KKPORT [KTH. ANN. 20
are often learned, often devout, often zealous, and often pro-
foundlv interested in the good of mankind. Ecclesiastics thus
constitute a specialized body of men whose function it is -to
receive the new born and consecrate them to the higher life of
religion. It is their duty to train the youth in the nurture and
admonition of religion. It is their duty to admonish and
reprove for evil conduct It is their duty to guide men in all
the ways of life. When the most important event of social
life occurs, they solemnize the marriage and they seek and
often exercise the power of controlling marriage relations in the
interest of religion; in sickness and in pain they shower com
fort and fortitude, and they bear in their hands as offerings for
religious conduct the bounties of paradise. When the portal
of deatli is open, kindred and friends are consoled, and the
occasion serves to enforce the doctrines of religion. Thus
religion, which is a theory of superlative conduct, employs
sanctions of superlative potency.
The association of the fine arts continues through the stage
of monarchy. Largely their evolution is accomplished through
the agency of the priesthood, and men of genius who are devout
worshipers contribute their share to the advancement of esthet
ics, often impelled by religious ecstasy. In music; melody and
harmony are added by ecclesiastics as an adjunct to temple
worship. In graphic, to sculpture and relief perspective is
added, impelling the motive of decoration to the walls of the
temple. In drama the mysteries of religion still constitute the
theme, while to dancing and sacrifice ceremony is added The
drama is no longer the leading element in religious worship,
but it becomes an accessory element designed to instruct the
people in the mysteries of religion. In romance, to beast fables
and power myths tales of necromancy are added. In poetry,
to personification and similitude allegory is added, and the
themes of poetry are mainly the themes of religion.
Religion itself undergoes marked development There still
remains an element of terpsichorian worship and an element of
sacrificial worship, but ceremonial worship is more highly
developed, while terpsichorian and sacrificial worship is per
formed with an allegorical meaning.
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY rxxxill
Here we oust note, as of profound significance, that the fine
arts or arts of pleasure are all pursued in the interest of reli
gion. Music, like all the other fine arts, may be made by indi
viduals for personal pleasure, but in tribal and monarchical
society the motive which secures excellence is demotic. This
demotic excellence inheres in religious ceremonies. In these
stages of society the evolution of the fine arts is therefore
wholly dependent upon religion. It is thus that religion is
practiced in intimate association with the pleasures of mankind,
from which it receives the glamor of superlative joy.
Ethics and religion are still identical, for religion as a theory
of conduct is still the highest ethics of mankind.
We have yet to portray flu- evolution of ethics during the
social state of republickism. ( hi the threshold of this phase of
the subject we must consider the role which is played by great
leaders in society. This we have already set forth in other
departments of sociology, but in the department of ethics, moral
leaders are most conspicuous, and by their disciples they are
often esteemed divine, and especially do they rank as prophets.
About their birth and about their personal history wonderful
stories are told, and to their personal agency miracles are at
tributed. Among the most conspicuous of these great moral
leaders, Laotse of the Chinese, Buddha of the Hindus, and
Jesus of the Christians arc perhaps most revered by the multi
tudes of mankind. Mohammed has a great body of disciples,
though lie departed from the course pursued by the others in
attempting to propagate his doctrines by the agency of the
sword. These personages were all moral leaders who revolted
against the ceremonial religion of their times, and as a substi
tute propounded doctrines of a higher ethical nature. He who
would understand the principles of divine ethics must seek
them in the teachings of Laotse, Buddha, and Jesus. Our
civilization is familiar witli the teachings of him who taught
moral perfection in the Sermon on the Mount, which has been
reiterated, amplified, and illustrated by the greatest thinkers,,
the wisest men, and the purest characters that have lived in all
the history of the Christian nations.
The disciples of these prophets have invoked the aid of the.
CXXXIV ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [KTH. ANN. i!0
fine arts, and thus the most exalted of the esthetic pleasures
have become associated with their teaching. The sweetest
music has still a religious theme. The most beautiful graphic
has still a religious motive that is, an ethical motive. The
most thrilling play has still an ethical purpose. The most
absorbing story has still a high moral. The most entrancing
poem is still informed with the spirit of truth. Music has added
symphony to its methods; painting has added chiaroscuro;
drama has added histrionic representations; romance has added
the delineation of consequences for moral conduct, and poetry
has added trope.
Religion also has developed another stage which demands
our consideration :
Moral concepts propagated by teaching and assimilated by
acception are affiliated to the notions already entertained; hence
great prophetic teachers are not able to diffuse their doctrines
in their purity, they can only propagate them in a modified
form.
Concepts are propagated by cross fertilization, from which
new varieties spring. To propagate fruits with their essential
characteristics we must resort to cuttings; bxit concepts can
not be propagated as cuttings, but only by fertilization. Thus
moral concepts in the process of diffusion are modified. It is
impossible in society to start a new stock of concepts. Moral
opinions can not abruptly be revolutionized ; they can only
be developed. The past can not be ignored by the present;
the present is ever modifying the past. Healthy change must
be evolution, not revolution, though there is an element of
revolution in all evolution. Something must be overthrown
that evolution may be accomplished. The individuals of a
species must die that new species may be developed, but the
new species must be the offspring of the old.
The great moral teachers and prophets have never succeeded
in establishing a principle of ethics in all its purity as conceived
by themselves. The notions of ceremony developed during
the stage of monarchy were modified by the teachings of the
prophets, so that a ceremonial religion was developed into a
fiducial religion in which the ceremonies are considered as effi-
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY CXXXV
cient agencies of teaching; but the essential nature of ethical
conduct is held to inhere in the opinions which men entertain.
Ethics is a faith, and hence we call this stage of ethics fiducial.
Men must entertain the opinions believed to be wise that they
may gain that superlative happiness which is the reward of
conduct.
But how shall men know the good from the evil conduct?
By what criterion shall men lie guided in the affairs of life?
Here a threefold standard is erected. The first is the teaching
of the ancients, the second is the teaching of the priesthood, the
third is the voice of conscience. These three authorities are
supposed to coincide in producing valid concepts of good and
evil.
Conscience is the instinctive impulse to moral conduct. To
understand this statement we must explain the origin of instincts.
Instinct is to the emotions what intuition is to the intellections.
Intuitions are habitual judgments of intellect, as instincts are
habitual judgments of emotion. As intuitions become heredi
tary, so instincts become hereditary. The substrate of instinct
is the choice exhibited in affinity. In the human mind the
affinity of the several particles is organized as an apparatus of
choice with a nervous system of ganglia, nervous fibers, and
muscular apparatus which consists of a hierarchy of instruments
of activity, otherwise called self-activity.
The habitual exercise of this apparatus in any particular
method results in the production of habits which, on becom
ing hereditary, are called instincts. An instinct is inherited
not as a developed habit, but as a tendency and facility to do
or act in a definite manner. In common life these instincts
are observed on every hand. The instinct to partake of food
is inherited as an aptness and developed as a practice; so the
instinct to walk is inherited as aptness and developed by prac
tice. The instinctive fear of serpents is inherited as an apt
ness and developed by practice, so that children as well as
adults easily acquire the fear of serpents and express this fear
and repulsion by acts of fright and avoidance. The fear of
fire is easily and speedily developed.
There thus exists a tendency in the human mind to moral
CXXXVI ADMINISTRATIVE RKPOKT [KTH. ANN. -.20
conduct and to inhibition of immoral conduct. This tendency
is called conscience. Every human being is thus endowed
with conscience as an instinct or hereditary aptness to act in a
moral way. There are many other habits that are instinctive,
and other instincts may control the individual while the moral
instinct is held in abeyance. The moral instinct, like all the
other instincts, is inherited only as an aptness and must be
developed by exercise. Conscience can be cultivated only
by the moral sentiments which the individual entertains. The
sentiments of good and evil are governed by the knowledge of
truth and error; that is, the emotions are fundamentally gov
erned by the intellect, although the emotions may in like
manner govern the intellect, for intellect and emotion are
cooperative in every act of life.
The knowledge of good and evil follows hard upon the
knowledge of truth and error. In the economy of nature the
intellect is first the servant of the emotional life until by its
high development it becomes the master. In the ethics or
religion of man in the scientific, stage of culture the knowledge
of good and evil will depend upon the knowledge of truth and
error. Then conscience will be an infallible guide; thus con
science becomes the ultimate criterion. Ethical conduct is
conduct sanctioned by conscience. The ideal of religion lias
ever been the control of conduct by that agency, although
other sanctions have been employed. Conscience is the child
of religion and evolves as religion evolves, and religion evolves
as the intellect evolves.
Such are the characteristics of the religion or principles of
ethics inherited by the moral teachers of modern times teach
ers who flourish in the atmosphere of science. Among these
there is a goodly number of moral reformers; in fact, as a class
they are all moral reformers, some preaching against this evil,
some against that; some exalting this virtue, others exalting
that.
1 he moral teachers of the times are more and more eschew
ing the ancient doctrines of theoretical ethics and devoting
their energy to practical ethics. Theories of faith are held in
abeyance to theories of practice. It needs but a few genera-
POWELL] SOCIOLOGY CXXXVII
tions to come and go before- the nc\v teaching of theory will
be founded wholly on principles derived from practice. This
will be the establishment of scientific ethics.
The agencies of religion are multifarious; the teachers of
religion are potent. The organization of institutions of religion
are all progressive. They have not to be overthrown, but
only to be perfected.
We have identified ethics with religion. The teachers of
religion may have erred in theories of ethics, and they may
i/ \J */
have been instrumental in the enforcement of ethical doctrines
by unwise agencies. Some of these agencies have been of a
character utterly revolting to modern concepts of good and
evil conduct. Usually the religion taught has been the reli
gion believed, though hypocrites have often nestled in the fold.
The claim for superior conduct and for the sanctity of its
teachings has enticed bad men into the ecclesiastical ranks.
Above all, and more than all, the establishment of an official
priesthood as one of the functions of government and one of
the aristocratic estates has been the cause of abuses and
horrors in the name of religion for which the student of
ecclesiastical history must forever blush.
As astronomy was developed from astrology, as chemistry
was developed from alchemy, as medicine was developed from
necromancy, so ethics is the lineal descendant of animism.
Purified from animism, religion will remain forever to bless
mankind.
Having set forth the nature of ethics, it now remains to
classify its subject-matter in compliance with the pentalogic
qualities.
It is believed that the classification will occur to every atten
tive reader and that its fundamental nature is evident. It is
necessary, therefore, to state the classification without further
elaboration. The subject is grouped into (1) the ethics of
pleasure and pain; (2) the ethics of welfare and want; (3) the
ethics of justice and injustice; (4) the ethics of truth and false
hood; (5) the ethics of wisdom and folly.
It is the province of ethics to teach perfect character by pro
moting conduct governed by principles instinctively enter-
CXXXVIII ADMINISTRATIVE KEPOET [ETH. ANN. 20
tained as conscience, so that all acts are spontaneously good.
Such conduct is purely ethical.
In the science of economics we find that self-interest is sub
served by promoting the interest of others. In the science of
institutions it is discovered that justice for self can be obtained
only by doing justice to others. Rights may be obtained
by performing duties. In the science of ethics we learn that
all conduct, egoistic and altruistic alike, must become sponta
neous and habitual. Habitual conduct thus spontaneously con
trolled has its sanctions in conscience. Ethics, therefore, is
the science of conduct controlled by conscience.
PHILOLOGY, OR THE SCIENCE OF ACTIVITIES
DESIGNED FOR EXPRESSION
INTRODUCTION
The fourth group of arts in the scheme hitherto presented in
this journal consists of the languages which men devise to
express their thoughts. Every art, has its foundation in nature,
for art arises through the attempt to improve on nature.
Activity, as we have defined it, or self-activity as it is often
called in psychology, is the primeval expression of animals by
which their thoughts are interpreted by other animals. This
primeval activital expression assumes a new phase under
development, when it is known as the language of the emo
tions. In fact, primitive activital expression is the germ from
which all other kinds of language are developed.
All nature is expressive, but activital nature is especially
expressive of mind. Thus activities constitute a natural lan
guage expressing the minds of activital bodies, but such expres
sion is not designed to be understood by others; it is therefore
not conventional, and therefore not artificial. Natural expres
sion must be distinguished from artificial expression or lan
guage, for natural expression is not designed to convey con
cepts, while expressions which are designed to convey concepts
constitute language. Hence language may be defined as the
artificial expression of concepts in judgments by words in
propositions.
Natural methods of activity are themselves indicative of
thought which others may interpret, but when activities are
conventionally produced for the purpose of expression and
are interpreted as such by others, language is produced. The
producer of the speech implies the interpreter of the speech,
and the two by custom come into a tacit agreement or under
standing by which the language becomes artificial as conven
tional. So language may again be defined as an activital
movement designed to convey thought to others.
CXL ADMINISTRATIVE: REPORT [ETH. ANN-. 20
It may be well to reexamine briefly the nature of activital
movement, although the subject has more elaborate treatment
in my former work entitled Truth and Error. Movements in
the animal body are performed by muscles. The muscles are
found in opposing- pairs, or more or less in opposing- groups,
which have the function of contracting and relaxing, and one
may contract while the other relaxes, and thus originate a
movement in the animal bod}-. The contraction and relaxa
tion are produced through the agency of metabolism. When
metabolism is constructive it is called anabolism, when it is
destructive it is called catabolism. 1 suppose that catabolism
produces contraction and that anabolism produces relaxation,
but of this I am not sure Certain it is that when muscles are
contracted and relaxed, metabolism in both its methods is
involved, so that all muscular action is founded on metabolic
action, and metabolic, action involves affinity, which is choice,
as we have heretofore deductively demonstrated. The move
ments in animals which depend on muscular action due to the
function of opposing muscles, one of which relaxes and the
other contracts, we call activity. Activity is under the control
of the will, for the individual animal controls activity indi-
J
rectly by controlling the metabolism of molecules. It is thus
that activity is innate in every living animal body.
EMOTIONAL LANGUAGE
The natural expression of strong emotion is cultivated by
man in the earlier stages of society and likewise in childhood,
so thai an artificial language of the emotions is produced.
Thus we have in laughter the language of joy, and in weeping
the language of grief, each highly expressive of emotion.
To man who already uses language in its highly developed
state, it may seem at first blush that laughter is a purely nat
ural ebullition of joy, but on further examination lie will see
that it is no less artificial and conventional than the term joy
itselt; yet it is probably universal with mankind and is an
expression inherited from his anthropoid ancestor. Those
species nearest allied to this anthropopithecus indulge in
laughter, and even squirrels chatter in a manner exceedingly
suggestive of laughter.
POWELL] PHILOLOGY CXLI
Ot what emotion laughter is the expression in its purely
natural state we are left to conjecture. Let us assume, as
seems probable from the little evidence we have, that it was
the expression of joy, for it has this meaning- with the species
allied to anthropopithecus. Then came a time when laughing
was conventional, as being designed for such expression that
others who heard might understand it in this manner; then
laughter became true language as we have defined it. Used
at first with difficulty, it speedily became easy, and becoming
easy it gradually became habitual, and finally instinctive by
inheritance. The nature of tin s process can well be illustrated
b} citing the case of screaming, of which we will treat a little
later. Even laughter is consciously used with designed
expression, as when we laugh at things which are not amusing
to us out of courtesy to others, when its original nature
becomes apparent.
In treating of emotional expressions it will serve present pur
poses to speak only of one meaning for each expression; thus
we speak of laughing as an expression or word of joy, but
laughter, like all words in spoken or written language, has
many meanings; in fact, emotional signs are especially char
acterized by multifarious meanings; for this reason emotional
language is highly ambiguous and a ready tool for deception.
Smiling as an expression of pleasure. In smiling we have an
expression of an emotion, less intense than that of joy, which
may best be called pleasure. In laughter the muscles about
the mouth, especially the risorius, are contracted, as also are
the orbicular muscles about the eyelids. The group of muscles
involved may be called the smiling muscles. The smile needs
no further description. It expresses pleasure in a great variety
of meanings, and it is clearly seen to be artificial, whether the
approval be genuine or assumed.
I set it down
That one may .smile, and smile, and be a villain.
Weeping as an expression of f/rief. In weeping tears flow
and various muscles about the eyelids, especially the orbicu-
lars, are involved, for through their agency tears are produced.
CXLII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
The expression of sorrow is also found about the corners of
the mouth, which droop. All the muscles that take part in the
expression, and there are many, may be called the muscles of
grief. Those naturalists who are also psychologists explain
the origin of weeping in the irritation to which the eyes are
subject from smoke, dust, or other foreign particles and from
scratches and blows. Primitive man seized upon this natural
effect of discomfort to artificially produce weeping in order
that he might express grief to others. Thus weeping became
a linguistic sign, and a linguistic sign is a word in the gener
alized meaning of the term. Weeping is expressive of many
emotions; hence the word has many meanings. Like all other
signs of emotion it may be used in the practice of deception.
Sobbing as the expression of despair. Sobbing is caused by
sudden or spasmodic inspiration and is accompanied by the
facial signs of grief through the action of the muscles of grief.
Habit lias made it instinctive, but its true nature as an arti
ficial sign is plainly exhibited when sobbing is simulated.
Screaming as a sign of command. Screaming is common to
many of the lower animals, both mammals and brutes; it
seems to be universally used by the young as a cry for help
and is thus subject to the will. In the human infant the
instinct of screaming is exhibited before that of weeping. It
is probable that all generations of human beings and genera
tions of remote prehuman ancestry practiced the art. In the
human being it is a cry or command for relief, and is so inter
preted by every mother. Thus a cry has evolved into a word.
Bodily attitude as a sign of anger. The emotion of anger,
which is naturally expressed by striking, has many concomi
tants. In the infant it is accompanied by kicking and the
general activity of the body which may be called squirming.
This general activity causes a determination of blood to the
head, so that the angry person becomes red. Another accom
paniment of anger is the assumption of an attitude of belliger
ence, when the form is held erect, the hands are clenched as
fists, and the arms held akimbo. With the adult, striking
and kicking are often inhibited, while there yet remain the
attitude and the flushed face. This attitude is a true linguistic
POWELL] PHILOLOGY CXLIII
sign and hence a word. Sometimes the anger is expressed by
simulated kicks, but usually this expression is one of contempt.
Among some of the lower races the expression of striking is
with the hands, for they are more accustomed to slapping than
to fisticuffs.
Showing the teeth as a siyn of rayc. Rage is a more intense
anger, and to the sign of anger is added an additional element
which is earlier than that sign. Brutes fight mainly with their
teeth, and express their anger by showing their teeth, espe
cially their canines; they also express anger by bodily atti
tude, and finally they express it as an artificial sign by erecting
the hairs of the body, especially around the head and neck,
thus causing a show of great size and strength. There remains
with the more evolved man the sign-word of exposed teeth, in
which the canines especially are displayed, as a habit inherited
from the brute. It is thus that the more intense anger which
we call rage is artificially expressed by man in an exhibition
of the teeth, and perhaps in grinding them together.
Compressing the Up* as a siyn of determination. The com
pression of the lips as a word expressing determination or fixed
purpose is universal among mankind. In origin it probably
expressed the meaning, "there is no further word to be said."
If so, its meaning has gradually changed. With this meaning
it has become habitual and hereditary, so that the expression
is made when the determination is made, without conscious
intent to express this meaning to others; yet it is still used
with this intent when we wish to simulate determination.
Froivning as a word of disapproval. I Hsapproval is expressed
by frowning, which as a sign has become an artificial word.
No word of emotional language is more common or more
readily understood, and yet it is not devoid of ambiguity. It
is expressed by the eyebrows through the corrugator muscles.
But as these muscles are used in many other signs there is an
element of uncertainty in its interpretation.
Many other activities are used for expression. \Ve may
mention a few more without discussing their origin. They are,
averting the head as a word of disdain: shrugging the shoul
ders as a word of doubt, hesitancy, or helplessness; raising the
CXLIV ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [E. ANN. 20
eyebrows as a word of surprise; turning the eye without
averting the head as a word of warning; beckoning to
approach; beckoning to depart; beckoning to keep silence;
beckoning not to move: nodding assent; shaking the head in
negation.
The principle of antithesis lias been potent as an agency in
the development of emotional language, as from its nature it is
the expression of judgments about qualities. Qualities are
always antithetic. This is one of the characteristics by which
they are distinguished from properties and quantities. Dar
win, in his Emotions in Man and Animals, abundantly dem
onstrates this principle.
In a subsequent article we shall attempt to demonstrate that
the emotions are fundamentally and properly classified as feel
ings, enjoyments, affections, understandings, and sentiments.
ORAL LANGUAGE
INTRODUCTION
One method of expressing emotional language has been
developed as oral speech. The characteristics of this method
peculiarly fit it for development in the first stages of human
culture. The organs of speech can be used when the organs
of locomotion and manipulation are otherwise employed.
This characteristic serves a double purpose: it is advantageous
to the maker of speech, and it is also advantageous to the
interpreter. In visual language the interpreter must have his
attention preadjusted thereto, while in order that it may serve
his purpose the maker must also see that attention is paid.
The conditions for conveying speech are superior in these
respects to those for conveying visual language. Doubtless
this advantage led to the development of speech in advance
of the development of gesture language.
With the development of speech the organs with which it is
produced were evolved until an apparatus was constructed
capable of making with precision the differentiated sounds of
speech and music, and of combining them into syllabic suc
cessions and the syllables into polysyllabic words. Doubtless
^ i.
POWELL] PHILOLOGY CXLV
the experience of very many generations was necessary to the
production of the apparatus, and without doubt it can be
affirmed that oral speech itself was developed in many of its
essential characteristics during- the process.
From study of the speech of birds we are led to conclude
that the primitive speech of man was probably exclamatory,
and that the first words were designed as warnings, calls, invi
tations to mates, and other simple expressions. To .these were
then added pronouns which served both demonstrative and
personal functions. The /, the you, and the Jie probably sub
served the purpose of the here, the there of you, and the there
of him, for which specialized cries were developed even as they
are among the lower animals. Such cries may best be called
exclamations; thus the exclamation is the first part of speech.
It is a verb or word of the imperative mode in being an excla
mation, and it is a noun in being a pronoun. In this stage
parts of speech are undifferentiated, for every word serves the
purpose of all parts of speech. Refined distinctions of thought
and refined distinctions of expression were not as yet.
From observations of child-language and from observations
of bird-speech it seems probable that inflections or glides of
the voice from higher to lower keys constitute the primitive
method of differentiating the meanings of such words. Then,
perhaps, adjectives of good and bad were developed, not as
adjectives, but as asserters of good and evil. They were thus
verbs as adjectives and as asserters. Thus pronominal verbs
aiid adjectival verbs may have been made ere the organs of
speech were fully developed for the expression of well-differ
entiated sounds. Words of a simple character were made with
undifferentiated meanings, of undifferentiated sounds, by
undifferentiated organs. Thus far we may legitimately go,
guided by the phenomena of bird-speech and child-language.
To trace the evolution of oral language beyond this stage we
must depend on vestigial phenomena.
To set forth the characteristics of oral speech it will be found
advantageous to explain the evolution of its characteristics as
found in the higher languages. For this purpose it becomes
necessary to explicate the elements of oral speech. These ele-
20 ETH 03 x
CXLVI ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [KTII. ANN. 20
ments are (1) sounds, which give rise to the science of phonics;
(2) vocables or words, which give rise to the science of lexi
cology; (3) the use of words in sentences, which gives rise to
the science of grammar; (4) the derivation of words one from
another, which gives rise to the science of etymology; (5) the
significance of words, which gives rise to the science of oral
sematology.
PHONICS
The advantage which sound possessed over other elements of
emotional language caused it to he much used and thus to be
highly developed. In the process of this evolution special
organs of speech were produced. Vocal speech thus became
universal with mankind. In the passage of air through the
throat by inhalation or expulsion, sounds are emitted by means
of the vibration of the vocal chords, which sounds are made in
great variety by lengthening or shortening the chords and by
passing the air with greater or less force. Another class of
sounds are produced by the modification of breathing with the
lips, teeth, tongue, palate, and nostrils. The consonants may
be classified in this manner.
With such a complex apparatus, subject to the will of the
speaker, a great variety of consonantal and vowel sounds may
be produced. In the practice of ages the undifferentiated
sounds made by primeval man are gradually specialized. This
specialization pertains more to the consonants than to the
vowels. A peculiarity is found in these consonantal sounds,
for in the different languages particular differentiations occur
more or less characteristic of them severally, so that a language
may often be distinguished by its consonants. One language
may be remarkable for its development of labial sounds,
another for its development of dental sounds, another for its
development of lingual sounds, another for its development of
nasal sounds, another for its development of palatal sounds.
Again, languages may vary in being more or less vocalic
that is, the speakers may resort more or less to the vocalic
sounds as compared with the consonantal sounds. Again, there
are certain sounds that are intermediate between vowels and
POWELL] PHILOLOGY CXLVII
consonants, and these may prevail to a greater or less degree
in different languages. It is thus that the vocal apparatus of
sound used to express speech in voice is capable of producing
a great number of different sounds when we consider all the
languages of mankind. On the other hand, when we consider
the sounds of any particular language we find that only a
limited number of well-differentiated sounds are used. Per
haps two or three score of such well-differentiated sounds
will be discovered. If for any language we wish to represent
every sound by a distinct character, the problem is more easily
solved because the number of sounds to be represented is thus
restricted. Should we wish to represent all the sounds of all
the languages by distinct characters, so that one character will
stand for its special sound and no other, the problem is not so
easily solved. The characters, then, are far more numerous.
Very much practice and great painstaking are required to
discover the sounds of an unknown tongue. The speech of
one man differs from another in the emission of sounds, even
though they may have a common language. There are thus
innumerable slight differences in the sounds produced in the
same language by different persons, but habit interprets them
according to a common standard which is established by vocal
and written spelling. The habit thus formed of interpreting
the sounds of the language to a conventional norm renders it
very difficult to interpret the sounds of an unknown tongue.
It is thus that students of the lower and unwritten languages
use very different characters, because they interpret the sounds
of such languages by assimilating them to the sounds with
which they are more or less familiar; and there are instances
in which the same person will interpret a sound as one thing and
then another by its associations, and even in the same word the
sound will have a double interpretation on different occasions
or when used by different persons. There are certain characters
used to represent sounds in which this liability to misinterpre
tation is common. Such an; the sounds represented by /and
, the sounds represented by p and b, and even by p, />, and ic.
In one language related sounds may not be differentiated, and
the synthetic sound produced will then be interpreted in vary-
* i/
CXLVIII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT IETH. ANN. 20
ing ways. It is thus that the student of the phonics of many
languages will always have a perplexing problem to solve.
Primitive languages are widely separated from one another.
As they are now found they are already evolved into a high
state of complexity and special sounds are developed in every
one, for the centuries during which they have been spoken
can not be enumerated. Some languages are more highly
evolved than others, but there is no reason to believe that one
tongue has its roots more deeply embedded in antiquity than
another. Surely no philologist would dare to affirm that the
roots of one language are more ancient than those of another.
The philologist may compare a language as it is spoken
now with the same language as it was spoken in some ancient
time, and he may also compare a less developed language
with the ancient stages of a more highly developed language.
In doing this he may speak of a current language as if it were
antique ; but we must understand by this not that he affirms
greater antiquity for the language, but that he affirms for the
methods of the lower language a state of evolution revealed in
the ancient forms of a highly developed tongue.
LEXICOLOGY
I use the term lexicology to denote the science of vocables
or words. The dictionary and the thesaurus illustrate two
methods of assembling words for use. By one they are
arranged alphabetically; by the other they are arranged clas-
sifically with an alphabetic key. The science of words is pur
sued in both of these methods, and I call the study of words
the science of lexicology. It will be seen that this science
is well differentiated from the other sciences of language,
although it can not dispense with phonology, grammar, ety
mology, and sematology, for the elements of language are
concomitant.
For dictionaries the alphabetic arrangement of words is not
only convenient but necessary to their utilization. A classifi
cation of words by their meanings is a very difficult task which
has never been accomplished in any perfect manner, and yet
such a classification, to which an alphabetic key is appended,
POWELL] PHILOLOGY CXLIX
is very useful to the scholar who is careful in the selection of
his terms.
A vocable is a succession of sounds that are emitted in a
prescribed order. This constant order by much repetition
establishes a habit of emission which integrates the word and
distinguishes it from other words. Thus an habitual succes
sion of sounds constitutes a word. In sentences words are
used also in succession, but the successions are variable and
hence they do not integrate by habitual expression. In sen
tences the variability in the order of expression is an agency
by which the sounds are prevented from coalescing; in words
the invariability produces coalescence, so that we may define
a word as a succession of coalescing sounds. The degree of
coalescence is variable, and the degree of the separation of
words in the emission is variable. Thus words may be of
more than one syllable and yet the syllables may be distinct
in a minor degree, while the words of a sentence flow into
each other so that one sentence may be distinguished from
another, but the separation of words is more distinctly marked
than the separation of syllables.
In the production of words from sounds idiosyncrasies pre
vail which are peculiar to the different languages severally.
In one language certain sounds will not coalesce with certain
other sounds to the extent necessary to the formation of a
word, but one or the other of them will be modified. Facility
in the combination of sounds into words is thus variable from
language to language.
GRAMMAR
Grammar is the science of arranging words in the sentence.
Sometimes it is called syntax. Grammar is held to include
other of the elements of language, but we have already seen
that the elements of language are concomitant, and one can
not be considered without implicating the other, and often
overt affirmation is necessary. The word and the sentence
may be identical units; that is, a word may be a whole sen
tence. In some languages most sentences are but single
words. In the examination of the many languages spoken by
CL ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ASS. 20
mankind they are found to differ from one another in the
degree in which they construct monovocable sentences. It
may be affirmed that the greater the prevalence of mono-
vocable sentences the lower is the language in the scale of
culture.
The characteristic which we have here described has been
called by various terms, as synthesis, polysynthesis, or encap
sulation using as a figure of speech the inclosing of boxes,
one within another, in the order of their size. Perhaps it will
be better to use the term coined for the purpose by Kieber.
He calls such languages "holophrastic," and a word-sentence
may be called a "holophrasm." Bird sentences seem to be
holophrasms, while some bird songs may be sentences com
posed of more than one word. In child speech we discover
that the first words spoken are sentences. We may thus con
clude that the primal speecli was holophrastic.
We must now set forth the manner in which speech is devel
oped from the primitive holophrastic condition to that which
has sometimes been called analytic, but which we will here call
organic. The terms synthetic and analytic are misleading in
that they implicate fallacies, hence we have selected the terms
holophrastic and organic as they will better convey our
meaning.
The organs of a sentence are the parts of speech of which
it is composed. We must therefore deal with the parts of
speecli.
In words the office of assertion is fundamental. This office
is often called predication. Attempts have been made from
time to time to group the things which can be asserted or
predicated, and they have been called predicaments. In that
stage which we have reason to believe to be universal in the
lowest culture all the offices of words are performed by one
holophrasm. J say to an offender, "Go!" I mean by the
expression, You, the offender, and I further mean to assert a
command that he leave my presence. All of these things are
implied in the word go. The word come may thus be used.
So we may iise a great variety of imperative verbs. In like
manner all adjectives may be used. In savage languages
POWELL] PHILOLOGY fLI
adjectives may be conjugated as verbs in the different voices,
modes, tenses, numbers, and persons. We have in English
many so-called verbs which are in fact adjectives used as verbs
in this manner. Participles and adjectives are one in office;
only difference in office constitutes different parts of speech.
In all verbs the office of assertion still remains in the words.
Words which still retain this office are called verbs, whether
they express action or not; that which is essential to the part of
speech which we call a verb is the office which it performs as
an asserter. When the verb to be is used as an asserter it is a
more fully differentiated verb. All other verbs are less differ
entiated, for they perform other offices in a greater degree.
In the expression "I hear," liear is both an asserter and an
adjective. The two offices nun- lie differentiated by using two
words, "I am hearing," am being the asserter and hear-iny the
adjective. Even yet am is not a fully differentiated asserter,
for am also conveys the idea of first person, singular number,
and present tense.
The degree to which the offices of words are specialized is
variable in different languages, and it is also variable in differ
ent ways of expression found in the same language. The verb
often contains in itself the elements of the holophrasm, which
may or may not be repeated in the sentence, when the verb is
said to agree in such characteristic with its subject or even with
its object, using these terms in their grammatical sense. This
is a characteristic of the classical languages. Such tongues
give duplicate expression to ideas, and hence require duplicate
efforts of thought and expression.
The evolution of modern languages out of languages, in
which holophrastic methods prevail has as its essential motive
economy of thought and speech. This is obtained by the
atrophy of methods of agreement. When number is expressed
in the noun, in the adjective, and also in the verb or asserter,
the number must be considered three times and expressed three
times. The greatest economy is yet not all told. When such
methods of expression are replaced by organic methods, and
only one word is used to express tin, number, it is found that
in the vast majority of cases the purpose of the speaker is
CLII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [KTM. ASS. 20
better accomplished by omitting to express the number. It is
thus that in a perfectly developed organic language it is pos
sible for the speaker to give his attention exclusively to the
expression of the thought desired, and he need not detain
the locution to consider and express multifarious inconsequent
details. Why should a person in speaking of a ship be com
pelled to think of its number, its gender, and its case every
time he uses the word, or the verb with it, or the adjective
with it, when such particulars are of no consequence in the
narrative ?
The varying of forms of words to express particulars about
the thing of which the word is a name is called inflection.
The classical languages are thus highly inflected. The mod
ern languages which have developed from the classical stage
are more thoroughly organic. Yet men with linguistic super
stitions mourn the degeneracy of English, German, and French
without being aware of the great improvement which has been
made in them as instruments for the expression of thought.
All words are names, and names are used in sentences for
the purpose of making assertions. A sentence consists of a
subject, an asserter, and an object, The subject is that of
which something is asserted. The object is that which is
asserted of the subject, and the asserter is that which predi
cates the object of the subject. In the science of language
subject and object are terms used in a different sense from
that in which they are used in psychology. Sometimes the
sentence is said to be composed of subject and predicate, in
which case the asserter and the object are considered as one;
but this habit involves an error in the discrimination of the
offices of words. It is fundamental to the sentence that the
three offices should be performed.
The offices of words in sentences, as distinguished from their
meanings, are as subject, asserter, and object; but as we call
the asserter a verb we may say that the primary parts of
speech are subject, verb, and object. Then there are subor
dinate parts of speech. The subject may be qualified, limited,
or defined; we shall call the words which perform this office
adjectives. The verb may also be qualified, limited, or de-
POWELL] PHILOLOGY CLIII
fined; that is, the assertion may be affirmative, negative, or
conditional; we shall call the words which perform this office
modals. Again the object may be qualified, limited, or de
fined; we shall call the words which perform this office
adverbs. Thus the six parts of speech are the subject, verb,
object, adjective, modal, and adverb.
The grammars of the higher languages have hitherto been
constructed on the theory that the classical languages were the
proper standard of comparison, but in English certainly there
is a tendency to construct grammar on the theory that the
standard of comparison must recognize the subject, the asserter,
and the object, which are then treated as defined or modified
by subordinate elements. Already this change has made
much progress, for practical teachers find that the elements of
grammar when considered in this manner are far more simple
and lend themselves better to intelligent instruction.
ETYMOLOGY
Etymology is the science of the derivation of vocables or
spoken words. Human cries are probably the elements from
which words are derived, and words have been evolved there
from by the gradual differentiation of specialized sounds as
the apparatus of speech has been developed.
That words may serve the purpose for which they are
designed in expressing concepts they must be enunciated by
the speaker and heard by the person addressed. In making
and receiving the sounds of speech the persons who are in
daily association cooperate, so that the development of speech
is a demotic process, for words must not only be spoken but
heard, and they must be informed with thought if they
convey thought. In tribal life, which is the earliest society,
the tribe constitutes the body of persons by whom a language
is developed.
We shall hereafter see that in this state an intertribal lan
guage is evolved which involves other methods of speech not
produced by the vocal organs. This intertribal language is
gesture speech. Gesture speech thus seems to be the normal
language for intertribal communication so long as tribes
remain distinct.
CLIV ADMINISTRATIVE BEPOKT [ETH. ANN. 20
In the evolution of social groups one tribe coalesces with
another. Some tribes develop their numbers to such an extent
that they fall apart and 110 longer actively cooperate in
the development of oral speech. The coalescing of distinct
tribes or of fragments of distinct tribes is one of the great
agencies in the evolution of language. Distinct tongues render
mutual aid in the process. The language originating in this
manner is compounded, and a wealth of synonyms is produced
which readily take on specialized meanings highly advanta
geous, particularly to people who extend over a wide area of
country in search of food or impelled by a desire for barter,
and especially is it advantageous for tribes or portions of tribes
that migrate to new habitats. In early society migration is a
potent agency in the evolution of language. New scenes origi
nate new thought, and new thought promotes new expression,
and the new expressions are most readily learned from new
tongues. It is thus that the vocables of a language are
multiplied as synonyms by the coalescing of distinct languages,
which words ultimately have specialized meanings.
This process has been continuous among mankind. Small
tribes have become great tribes, and tribes have become
nations, and nations have been absorbed by nations until the
multitudinous tongues spoken in savagery have been greatly
reduced in number and the tongues spoken by the developed
nations of civilization have become few in number. This is
the grand factor in the evolution of language, thoroughly
attested by the history of civilization, for the tribes of savage
and barbaric people are found with a much greater diversity
of tongues than the peoples of civilization.
New thoughts come with advancing culture. The words
by which the new concepts are expressed may be new words
from new languages, but often, and perhaps usually, the new
thoughts are expressed by the old words. It is a slow process
by which the new thoughts are expressed by differentiated
words derived from distinct tongues. When new meanings
are desired, some modification of the old words is made. In
this manner one word is derived from another. Languages
integrate by coalescing and differentiate words as parts of
speech by derivation.
POWKI.L] PHILOLOGY C LV
With advancing- thought new concepts arise. For these new
concepts new words may be coined, or the synonyms of coales
cing languages may he used; but the usual method is to use
an old word with a new meaning: this leads to duplicate mean
ings ot words. In every language words have many meanings.
If the words of the English language were multiplied so that
one word should have but one meaning, and if synonymous
words were reduced so that one meaning should be expressed
only by one word, still the number of words in the language
would be multiplied several fold. Duplicate meanings give
rise to ambiguities, for the speaker may use a word with one
meaning and the hearer may interpret it with another. There
is a mechanical habit of using words by which many fallacies
are produced in logic. That pseudo-science which is known
as formal logic is provocative of these fallacies, for formal logic
is a system of reasoning with words rather than with things.
When we remember the number of distinct meaning with
o
which words are conventionally endowed, it is not surprising
that such fallacies should spring up; but it is surprising that
they should be used from generation to generation and from
century to century, so that fallacies of antiquity should still
survive.
The rules for deriving one word from another differ in the
different languages, but the method of deriving one word
from another is universal. There is a mnemonic, advantage in
O
knowing the derivation of a word. Wishing to express ideas,
the words are more easily recalled for deft expression through
the laws of association, and words which are unfamiliar may
be recognized by recognizing the elements of which they are
compounded.
In the early history of the European nations the literature
of Hellas and of Rome played an important part in human
culture, for the Latin and Greek languages were the reposito
ries of the thought to which scholarly men most resorted, and
learning itself was dependent on these languages; so that
learning was often considered as the acquisition of the lan
guage rather than as the knowledge of the thought contained
in the literature of the language.
CLVI ADMINISTRATIVE BEPORT [KTII. ANN. 20
Iii the derivation of new terms with the progress of culture,
resort was had to these classical languages for the new terms
which were needed, and scholars developed a system of rules
which were expressed or implied as regulations for the deriva
tion of new words. One of these rules was a prohibition upon
the compounding of words from the elements of two languages;
thus Greek and Latin elements should not be compounded
in one word. As many of our words are not immediately
derived from Greek or from Latin, the same rule was sought
to be enforced with them all, and the words not compounded
with the authority of these conventions were considered to be
barbarous or unscholarly. Most new words are not produced
by scholars, but by the common people in everyday speech,
and thus a commonplace dialect is produced which scholars
are ultimately forced to adopt in order that they may be
popularly understood. Yet there is a sentiment, whether
well-founded or not, against the coining of new terms from
other tongues than the Latin and the Greek, and against
the mixture of different linguistic roots. Sometimes these
conditions are carried so far that the new term must be made
according to the methods practiced in the Greek or the Latin
at some particular time in the history of those languages.
Comparing those languages which exhibit the most highly
differentiated parts of speech with the languages of savagery,
we are able to discover the course of evolution in the past,
and we may with some confidence predict their further evolu
tion and even surmise the outcome that is, the nature of the
ideal language to which all languages are tending. The vast
integration of tongues which has already been accomplished
tells of a time when there will be but one human language as
oral speech, and the state which will be reached in the special
ization of parts of speech may be stated as a surmise in the
following way:
There will be primary and secondary parts of speech. The
primary parts of speech will be the subject, the verb, and the
object, which will be distinguished as words. The secondary
elements will be definers. The definers of the subject will be
adjectives, which will be words, phrases, or subordinate sen-
POWELL] PHILOLOGY CLVI1
tences. There will be modals to define the asserters for the
purpose of distinguishing affirmation and negation and all
conditional modes of assertion; these modals will be words,
phrases or sentences. There will be adverbs to define the
objects; these also will be words, phrases, and sentences. We
may conjecture that to such a stage the parts of speech will be
differentiated, guided by the motive for economy in thought
and expression.
SKMATOLOGY
Sernatology is the science of the signification of oral words
and sentences. In considering this subject it becomes neces
sary not only to consider the significance of words, but also
the development of the significance. "Words are signs of
ideas," or, as we say, words are signs of concepts. It is funda
mental that we recognize bodies as such by their properties,
and cognize properties as good or evil for our purposes as
qualities. The nascent mind speedily learns by experience
that different properties inhere in the same body. The mind
thus posits or implicates the existence of one property when it
cognizes another. The bodies of the world are cognized by the
use of the five senses, every one of which primarily deals with
a special property. The senses in highly developed man,
though fundamentally devoted to a distinct property, have
become highly vicarious, so that one sense seems to cognize
all of the properties. The origin of this vicarious action of the
senses is founded on the concomitancy of properties, for in
cognizing a property we recognize other properties. In the
developed mind every act of cognition is also an act of recog
nition ; it is an act of cognizing one property and of recognizing
others. This maybe stated in another way: When we cognize a
property we implicate the existence of other properties. All this
has been set forth in another volume, but it requires restating
here that we may properly understand how the meanings of
words are produced.
The first words were calls, then came demonstratives, then
adjectives of quality followed. Things were called by such
names as "the sweet," "the bitter," "the high," "the low," "the
fierce," "the gentle" so the qualities were parceled out to
CLVIII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
things as their names. Researches in the etymology of the
lower languages to discover the roots of words seem to lead to
this conclusion. Not only were bodies named by their quali
ties, but properties also were named bv their qualities. As
gradually the qualities of things were discovered, quality
names were differentiated; then property names were differen
tiated, and then the names of 1 todies themselves were differ
entiated. In savagery every property is known as a quality
and is called by a quality name. Even the sunset is read as
a beautiful color, a hue of rejoicing, instead of as the result
of the rates of vibration revealed to the scientific student of
light. Properties are known as qualities in savagery. Various
properties are found in the same body, and the names by which
they are called ma}- stand for the body itself. Thus every
body may have a variety of names depending on its properties
conceived as qualities. The discovery of this characteristic is
the first contribution made to the science of language through
the study of ethnic or tribal languages. Max Miiller, with
characteristic deftness and scholarship, was, so far as 1 know,
the first to clearly propound this doctrine. He seems to have
derived it from a study of the appellations of the deities.
Surely it was Max Miiller who caused it to be accepted as a
law of philological science. The same deity can be invoked
by many names, and can be praised in varied speech; and
when another god is addressed, many of the same terms can
be employed. The substrate of this custom is found in the
concomitancy of qualities and properties. Every god in sav
agery is the wisest and the best betimes, and every god has
superlative attributes. The evolution of the meanings of
words must first be considered as a development in knowledge
by the discovery of new qualities, and new properties must be
considered as qualities, because of their concomitancy.
In primitive society the discovery of new bodies is ever in
progress by a law of mind. As they are discovered they are
affiliated to those already known and described in terms of
the known. When experience finds it desirable to discrimi
nate, the terms of expression are gradually differentiated, and
thus new methods of speech arise. In savage society the tend-
POWKI.I.] I HILOLOCJY CLIX
ency is to produce a holophrasm by modifying the old. As a
linguistic phenomenon, classification is thus an agency for the
development of speech. By classification the same body may
have different names. Thus, while the same bod} may have
different names by reason of its different properties, it may
also have different, names bv reason of the different classes to
which it belongs in the hierarchy of classes. In this manner
names are greatly multiplied. Again, by evolving culture,
things previously unused come to be utilized and are given
names which also signify their uses, so that names are multiplied
by utilization. Meanings undergo corresponding evolution; the
impulse for different meanings becomes the impulse for differ
ent names. This is general; the purpose gives rise to the
expression.
The confusion which arises from the failure to distinguish
consciousness from cognition, or the workings of the mind due
to the organizati >n of the nervous system from the substrate of
mind as exhibited in all bodies even without organization, led
to the theory of ghosts. This theory, which has also been
called animism, induced savage men to personify all bodies.
The personification in savagery was developed into similitude
which is fully evolved in barbarism. In this stage of society
a multitude of similitudes are found which in a later stage give
rise to allegory, a variety of which is parable, and finally
allegory is developed into trope. The meanings of words
are multiplied by this agency, for the same word may have
different tropic meanings, or, as it is often expressed, words
may have iigurate meanings. The giving of words figurate
meanings is founded on the concomitancy of properties, and
is developed in a multitude of ways all through the course
of culture until it appears in the highly developed language
as trope.
Here we may pause to note the fallacies of reasoning which
are developed by the figurate meaning of words fallacies so
subtle that, although discovered by the ancient philosophers,
who failed not to give their warning, they have vet been the
bane of logic exemplified in all metaphysical literature. Form
is the Anglo-Saxon term by which internal structure is desig-
CLX ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [KTH. A.N.N. !W
nated, but as the internal structure gives rise to the external
shape, both structure and shape are expressed by the term form.
A spoken word is a succession of sounds. By a figure of speech
we speak of the spoken word as a form, meaning thereby a
succession which is an element of time, not of space. This
usage is convenient, but it must be carefully distinguished
when we reason, for the confusion which arises when a time
succession is confounded with a spacial series is such a fallacy
in science as to be disastrous. In psychology contiguity in
time and contiguity in space are often confounded, especially
in the discussion of the laws of memory.
The term form is sometimes used witli a figurative meaning
in other ways, as when we say "the form of an argument,"
meaning thereby the constitution of an argument, or the order
in which the averments occur. In this sense ever}- argument
has a form; but it is not the form of space it is the form of
succession or time. When the argument is committed to writ
ing, the letters may have forms as the sounds have succession;
but the letters not only have forms, they also have succes
sions. In the same manner written sentences have forms as
well as successions. In this fact there is another source of
obscuration in the use of the term form. Rightly understood
it is proper, but if neglected it is a source of fallacy. In phi
losophy it is better to use the term, form only to express struc
ture and shape as they are found in space.
The story of the confusion of meanings in the use of the
term form is yet but imperfectly told, for there are many
derivatives of the word, as formation and formative. We may
use the verb to form in any of the senses of "to make," "to
produce," or "to generate." Sometimes we may be consider
ing only the spacial form, but when we are considering some
other topic the word is used in a sense which may give rise to
confusion. I may combine oxygen and hydrogen and pro
duce water, and I may say that oxygen and hydrogen form
water, when I mean that they produce water, or that the com
bination of the two substances results in water. The use of
the term in this manner is convenient and rarely leads to mis
apprehension; but when in science we use the term form out of
POWELL] 1 HILOLOGY CLXI
its spacial significance, philosophy is apt to degenerate into
metaphvsic.
We might go on to set forth the use of form and its deriva
tives in other senses than that of spacial form, and still the
subject would not be exhausted not even in a great tome.
Words in English derived from languages other than the Anglo-
Saxon are subject to the same confusion of meaning. Mor
phology is the science of form, and yet the term is used as the
name of a journal which deals mainly with the genesis and
evolution of plants and animals, and which treats of the
forms of plants and animals in but comparatively insignificant
degree, for it is devoted mainly to the genesis of function.
Metamorphosis is used not only to signify change of form, but
also the change of all other properties.
This habit of using w r ords with figurative meanings leads to
bad reasoning. Spencer, in the first volume of The Principles
of Ethics, presents a masterly chapter on the relativity of pains
and pleasures. Here, in the use of the term absolute, he dis
tinguishes it from the relative by properly implying that what
is relative must also be absolute. The same act is absolute as
an act, though relative in its consequences.
Subsequently in his work Spencer sometimes uses absolute
in another sense. Thus he speaks of "absolute ethics," mean
ing thereby conduct perfectly or superlatively ethical, and he
uses the term "relatively ethical" to mean imperfectly ethical.
No harm would be done by the use of the words in this manner
did he not use a doctrine which he had previously developed
about the absolute and the relative in ethics, as if he had
demonstrated the same doctrine about the perfect and the
imperfect in ethics; hence his consideration of perfect and
imperfect ethics is vitiated.
Please permit the expression of an opinion about the origin
of a fundamental fallacy in Spencer s Principles of Ethics: He
fails to discover the true nature of ethics and its origin in
religion, primarily by the failure to discriminate between
perfect and imperfect on the one hand, and absolute and rela
tive OH the other; hence he confounds ethics with justice.
The principles of justice are evolved under the sanctions of
2<> ETH 03 xi
CLXII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [KTII. Axx.20
legal punishment, while the principles of ethics are evolved
under the sanctions of conscience. Of course a discrimination
of words must follow upon the discrimination of meanings, but
the habit of using words with different meanings is apt to
prevent the proper evolution of concepts.
Knowledge increases by the discovery of new bodies, new-
properties, and qualities. As new concepts are added in this
manner, new methods of expression must be coined. The first
method is by asserting the existence of the new thing; after
a time the new thing is given a name. It is the habit of
modern science to give this new name at the time of the dis
covery, but in work-a-day life this is not common, and a name
must be developed by experience.
We have next to describe a method of developing the mean
ings of words which has not only been universal but has also
been very efficient. This method has been called a "disease
of language." When a fog settles over the coast, it may some
times be seen as a cloud of moving vapor; at other times it may
be seen to descend as fine drops of rain, when it is described as
a "long-stemmed" mist by seafaring folk. In the same man
ner I have heard the shower which is composed of very large
drops of rain to be described as a "long-stemmed" storm. Let
this method of expression become habitual to a people and
the term long-stemmed will become an adjective descriptive of
storms. Then the different words will coalesce and drop some
of their sounds, and there will be an adjective descriptive of
storms as "long-stemmed." Again, a storm of rain ma}- be
called a "long-stem," and the connotive meaning may be lost
and the denotive meaning remain in common comprehension.
I have known sailors to speak of a storm as a "long-stem."
It is reasonable to suppose that the term long-stem might be
used in this manner: As we may say of a man who is char
acterized by his fits of anger that he is a "storm." so we might
say of such a man that he is a "long-stem," until an angry man
might habitually be called a "long-stem." The "disease of
language," as it has been called, is thus the specialization of
sentences into words, and the use of connotive terms as denotive
terms.
Literary men are forever giving new meanings to old words.
POWELL] PHILOLOGY CLXIII
Lang, in the first volume of Myth, Ritual, and Religion, says,
"It is a far cry from Australia to the west coast of Africa."
We have only to suppose that the term cry becomes a measure
of distance as the term foot was developed, and that the term
be used only in this sense, while other synonyms are used in
what is now the ordinary sense, and we have a tine illustra
tion of this phenomenon.
What has been called a "disease of language" is the substi
tution of a word to express a new meaning and the atrophy
of the old meaning.
THE ARYAN PROBLEM
In the study of the languages of the earth we find in a
general way that the more primitive the culture of the people
the fewer are the people who speak a common tongue and the
greater are the number of distinct tongues. By a world-wide
review of this subject we reach the conclusion that ever}- tribe
in the beginnings of human speech spoke a distinct language.
We can not pause to completely assemble the data on which
this conclusion is founded, but it seems that a language as an
art of expression was originally developed by every distinct
body politic. The persons who habitually associated as a
body of kindred developed a language for themselves. Thus
in thought we have to view an ancient condition of languages
when every tribe had a tongue of its own and hence that the
number of languages was approximately equal to the number
of tribes. Languages thus commenced as a babel of tongues.
It we investigate the modern development of any one of the
languages of higher civilization we find its elements to be
compounded of many diverse tongues. What we know by
historical evidence we are compelled to infer as true of all
existing languages, and in fact no language not even that of
the most savage tribe can be intelligently studied without
discovering evidence of its compound character.
We must now call attention to the process of evolution of
languages in which they are integrated that is, they are for
ever becoming fewer in number. They do not multiply by
evolution; they integrate. With this process of evolution,
languages forever differentiate more thoroughly specialized
CLXIV ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [F.TH. ANN. 20
tongues; they also differentiate more thorough!} specialized
parts of speech, and they also integrate and differentiate mean
ings. The process of evolution in language, therefore, is the
integration of distinct languages and the differentiation of more
specialized elements.
Many of the nations of Europe and America speak lan
guages which are held to be cognate, and thus most of the
more highly developed languages of the earth are said to
belong to one family. These tongues are called Aryan. Lin
guists have devoted great labor and profound scholarship to
the task of discovering a primitive Aryan speech on the theory
that this supposed ancient common speech has been differen
tiated into the tongues of the Aryan nation, the theory being
that of a single people inhabiting some limited locality in
Europe or Asia, Opinions that were held of the degeneration
of. mankind gave rise to the theory, and scholars began the
research by assuming degeneracy of speech, and by assuming
the multiplication of tongues with the lapse of time. Research
which has been pursued with so much labor and learning has
failed to discover either the land or the people, but has for
ever resulted in the discovery of more and more diverse ele
ments in the speech of the Aryan nation until few scientific
linguists remain to speak of the separation of the Aryan
tongues.
The course of history has been continuous in the integration
tf
of languages, and no language can lie found at the present time
that is not a compound. Through this compounding of lan
guages many tongues of to-day have common elements, and
the higher the language the more diverse are the elements that
have been incorporated. Yet men will still seek to solve the
Aryan problem!
GrKSTURE LANGUAGE
Gesture language, like oral language, has it foundation in
natural expression and emotional language. In the earlier his
tory of speech it was ancillary thereto, and yet as language it
remained more rudimentary and hence it retained more of the
characteristics of natural expression. As tribes developed
speech independently, even- one for itself, gesture language,
LOWELL] PHILOLOGY CLXV
which still retained many of the characteristics of natural
language, became a means of communication between tribes
having diverse tongues. The gestures themselves, though
remaining large!} natural, gradually became somewhat
developed conventionally. Notwithstanding these artificial
elements, gesture language in all history has been character
ized by great crudity, and it largely resembles emotional lan
guage because both of them are akin to natural language. The
gesture language which is found in tribal society was replaced
by written language, as we shall hereafter show; but new
gesture languages have from time to time been devised for use
by those unfortunate people who have been born deaf or who
have by disease been rendered deaf. Therefore the nature of
gesture speech is learned from the stud}- of two distinct exam
ples the languages of intertribal society on one hand, and the
modern languages of deaf-mutes.
While intertribal languages are founded on natural expres
sion, and while some of the deaf-mute languages also are
founded on natural expression, others of the latter have a more
highly artificial or conventional structure. When the sounds
of spoken words are represented by manual signs, or the let
ters of the alphabet are represented by finger-wrought signs,
then gesture language itself consists of signs for signs, the
vocal signs themselves standing for concepts. This form of
gesture speech is therefore very highly conventional.
It is not consonant with our present purpose to further
enlarge on this topic; it is necessary only for us to mention
gesture language as one of the pentalogic series that the com
plete series may be exhibited.
WRITTEN LANGUAGE
Modern written languages differ from speech in that sounds
are represented by letters. Letters, therefore, are signs for
signs. When we study the history of the origin and growth
of written language we find that it does not always use the
method of representing sounds by written characters. In the
Chinese, for example, the written characters have no reference
to sounds as sounds are analyzed in phonics. Thus the Chi
nese have no alphabet. When we come to investigate the
OLXVI ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [KTII. ANN. 20
origin of alphabets we are led into a vast field of research in
which we find that alphabets have a long history as picture
writings anterior to their development into alphabets. In
tribal society all written language is picture writing, used
mainly for religious purposes. The pristine picture writing
was a means of communication with the gods and a method of
record necessary for the proper observance of religious cere
monies, and especially of the time when such ceremonies
should be performed. Thus the chief picture writings of tribal
society are calendric,
In the lower stages of society, when spiritual properties are
held to live a distinct existence from the other properties of
bodies, so that animism universally prevails, then ghosts are
invoked for the purpose of gaining their assistance in the affairs
of human life. The oldest differentiated calling in society is
that of the shaman a man who is supposed to have skill in
communicating with ghosts. He who makes a profession of
ability to communicate with ghosts is called in various lan
guages by various terms that we now translate as shaman a
term derived from the early study of the Africans along the
Guinea coast. The shaman is thus a man who claims to hold
linguistic intercourse with ghosts. The shamanistic profession
is practiced in every tribe, and it is through invention by sha
mans that picture writing was devised, and it is further through
their invention that picture writing was developed into alpha
betic writing.
It will be equally interesting and instructive to contemplate
the origin of picture writing. It is common in savage society
to hold periodical festivals with fasting, feasting, music, danc
ing, dramatic performances, and athletic sports on the occasion
of making invocation for abundant harvests. There are many
.other occasions for like festivities with all their accompani
ments. One example will suffice to set forth the nature of
the picture writing displayed on these occasions, and we
will select for this purpose a calendric festival of rejoicing
after the harvest-home which is also a prayer for future good
harvests.
The festival to which 1 am now to refer was continued
through several days. At one time the shaman and the mem-
POWEI.I.] PHILOLOGY CLXVII
bers of the shamanistic society over which lie presided were
gathered in a kiva or underground assemby hall where mid
night prayers were made for abundant crops. On this occasion
the customary altar was arranged with the paraphernalia of
worship. Among other things were wooden tablets on which
were painted the conventional picture writings for clouds and
lightning, below which were the conventional signs for rain
drops, and below the raindrops the conventional signs for
growing corn.
In order more fully to understand these picture writings we
will mention some of the other objects placed on the altar.
There were wooden birds painted and placed on perches;
there was a ewer of water about which ears of corn were
placed; there was a case of jewels crystals of quartz, frag
ments of turkis, fragments of carnelian, and small garnets;
then there was a bowl of honey upon the holy altar. When
the shaman prayed he asked that the next harvest might be
abundant like the last; he prayed that they might have corn
of many colors like the corn upon the altar; he prayed that
the corn might be ripened so as to be hard like the jewels
upon the altar; he prayed that the corn might be sweet like
the honey upon the altar; he prayed that the corn might be
abundant for men and birds, and that the birds might be glad,
for the gods love the birds represented upon the altar as he
loved men. Then he prayed that clouds would form like the
clouds represented upon the altar, and that the clouds would
flash lightning like the lightning on the altar, and that the
clouds would rain showers like the showers represented on
the altar, and that the showers would fall upon the growing
corn like the corn upon the altar so that men and birds and
all living things would rejoice.
In savagery and in all barbarism such festivals are very
common, and much of the time is occupied in worship. In
savagery worship is terpsichorean, and in barbarism it is
terpsichorean and sacrificial, and in both stages of society
all amusements are religious. So in tribal society all time
devoted to amusement is religious. The ceremonial festivals
are held in regular order through the seasons from year to
year. For this purpose a calendar is devised in weeks and
CLXVIII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
months, when the days of the year are numbered in a hier
archy of weeks and months. The number of weeks in a
month and the number of months in a year vary greatly.
The months and years are counted off and the seasons are
indicated by the appearance of stars as signs of the zodiac.
Now, these numbers, together with the signs of the zodiac, are
arranged in calendars, and the principal events of each festival
are recorded under the calendric signs or picture-writings.
Great ingenuity is needed to symbolize the principal events of
the festival. The season of the festival and the events of the
festival are all recorded in picture-writings until the shaman
becomes deft in picture language. The records which have
been discovered among tribal men are usually called codices.
They are recorded on various things, such as papyrus, fiber of
the maguey plant, birch-bark, and the skins of animals; espe
cially are calendars painted on the walls of temples.
These records made from time to time through century after
century become very highly developed. When a concept is
given a sign it becomes more and more conventionalized until
its character as a picture is lost. In this stage a curious
phenomenon is observed. An ideoglyph is read as a word
instead of as a pictorial event. This is the stage in which
Chinese writing is to be seen at present. Now, when a glyph
is read as a word, the interesting phenomenon of which we
have spoken is this: Words have different meanings, the same
word may express different concepts, and the glyph may
be read by speaking the word and attaching to it any meaning
which the spoken word represents. In this early society words
are mysterious things supposed to be properties or qualities of
things, rather than signs of things. When such glyphs
become signs of spoken words they are signs of sounds.
They become signs of word-sounds, then signs of syllabic
sounds, and ultimately signs of alphabetic sounds; and thus
picture-writing is developed into alphabetic writing.
In the higher civilization written language is founded on
alphabets as spoken language is founded on sounds; but prim
itive written languages do not consist of graphic signs designed
to represent sounds. The written languages produced in primi
tive time have distinct words as ideographs; they also have a
POWELL] PHILOLOGY CLXIX
distinct grammar for tlie arrangement of these glyphic words
unlike that of highly developed written language. Etymolo
gies also take a different course; thus, in the Chinese, the
etymology of glyph words is highly complex and is upon a
distinct and peculiar plan. The sematology of the language
represents the culture of the people who employ such a writ
ten language. On the other hand, in fully developed written
language alphabets represent sounds, while letters are arranged
in words and the words in sentences. The etymologies of the
written words correspond to the etymologies of the spoken
words, while the sematologies of the written words also corre
spond to the sematologies of the spoken words.
LOGISTIC LANGUAGE
The fifth language of the series now requires characteriza
tion. In the earliest and best developed condition it is found
as the language of enumeration. Here numbers are repre
sented by graphic characters which have been called digits,
because originally the fingers of the two hands were used as
an abacus for counting, and the written numbers represented
the fingers the nine vertical strokes for nine fingers and a
cross stroke for the tenth. Ultimately the ten strokes were
developed into ten figures which are still called digits; the
tenth digit is called a cipher, and in order that it may be sig
nificant it must be read as ten times some other digit; thus
one with the zero is read as ten, two with the zero is read as
twenty, etc. A hundred is represented with a one and two
ciphers, two hundred by a two and two ciphers. Hence units
of different orders are recognized. A constant ratio exists
between one order and its next higher, which is ten, because
the original abacus for counting was the ten fingers. As this
linguistic system had its neginning in a number system, we
call it logistic speech. There have been developed many
tables of measures for quantities of various kinds; thus there
are the long-measure table, the square-measure table, the cubic-
measure table, the dry-measure table, the liquid-measure table,
various weight-measure tables, various time-measure tables,
etc. These are all examples of logistic speech, which were
CLXX ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
developed out of ideographic writing- into a language of more
universal application.
The highest development of this language which yet exists
is found in the science of mathematics, which lias a plus sign,
a minus sign, a multiplication sign, a division sign, an equality
sign, a root sign, and many others we will not go on to
enumerate them because they are many and so well known
that the few will suggest them all. The science of astronomy
has also developed an elaborate logistic language, the science
of chemistry another, and the science of geography, the science
of geology, the science of botany, and the science of zoology
have all developed something- of a logistic language. A logistic
language is also developed in many of the arts; especially is
music thus written.
The essential characteristic of logistic language is that its
sematology is universal, so that the meaning of any character
depends on the meaning assigned to it by the user it is the
special language of reasoning and avoids all ambiguities of
other languages due to the multifarious meanings of single
words. There is no source of error in reasoning which com
pares with the fallacies of diverse meanings, but science con
structs for itself a special language which obviates this evil.
The grammar of this language is yet unwritten, for the lan
guage has scarcely been developed to a sufficient extent for
the purpose. It may be that when logic is wholly emancipated
from metaphysic, logicians will devise a grammar of logistic
language. Perhaps they will then call it the grammar of logic,
and what I have called logistic language will be called logic.
All that is valuable in the so-called logic will remain as com
ponent elements of a grammar a grammar of the science of
reasoning with language. Logic is the science of reasoning
with language, and logistic language is the language of
reasoning.
We have thus seen the nature of emotional language, oral
language, gesture language, written language, and logistic lan
guage. The five fundamental sciences of philology are thus
briefly characterized, and the nature of philology itself is set
forth in its pentalogic elements, which I deem to be inclusive
of all and severally exclusive of each other.
SOPHIOLOGY, OK THE SCIENCE OF ACTIVITIES
DESIGNED TO GIVE INSTRUCTION
Sophiology is the science of instruction. I shall treat the
subject under two rubrics: First, the nature and origin of the
opinions which are inculcated by instruction, and, second,
the agencies of instruction
OPINIONS, THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF INSTRUCTION
Opinions are about particles severally or about them con
jointly as they are organized into bodies. Particles thus con
sidered are found to have essentials, relations, quantities, prop
erties, and qualities. There are no essentials without relations,
no relations without quantities, no quantities without prop
erties, and no properties without qualities, for the world is
concrete and there is nothing abstract but in consideration.
Essentials, relations, quantities, properties, and qualities we
call categories.
When the world is looked upon as concrete, and bodies are
discovered, it is found that every one is composed of a group
of bodies; but to express the fact without confusion it is better
to say that a body is a group of particles, for when one body
is considered as a constituent of another it promotes clear
statement to say that the compound body is composed of
particles. Ultimate particles have never been reached by
analysis unless it be in the ether.
Concepts grow as the products of thought. The stream of
thought is composed of instantaneous and successive judments,
some of which are duplicated and endlessly reduplicated.
While mentations arise from sense impressions, like sense
impressions are oftentimes repeated and by association past
mentations are revived, so that there is a vast repetition of the
instantaneous judgments as they follow on through the stream
of mental life.
CLXXII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [KTH. ANN. !
It is thus by repeated and revived mentations as judgments
that concepts or notions arise. These notions constitute opin
ions. We can not make a complete consideration of opinions
without considering their origin in the compounding of judg
ments into concepts.
While opinions often change, they are not necessarily born
to die. Correct opinions developed in the individual and
propagated from man to man become immortal, while only
incorrect opinions ultimately die; but the vast body of opin
ions as they arise from moment to moment are born only for
an ephemeral life. Of those that have appeared upon the
stage of history because they have been accepted by the
great thinkers, it remains to be said that still the many die
and the few live. While they live they are esteemed as
science, when they die they are esteemed as errors; hence
sophiology can be denned as the science of opinions and their
classification as errors or truths when accepted as such by
the leaders of human thought, together with the methods of
discovering and propagating such opinions.
We are now to consider how opinions originate and change.
For this purpose we will consider them in groups in the order
in which they were developed by mankind. These groups fall
into five rubrics: animism, cosmology, mythology, metaphysic,
and science. Animism, which is the belief in ghosts, first pre
vailed. We will, therefore, consider this subject first. For the
original formulation of this doctrine we arc indebted to the
great ethnologist Edward 11 Tylor.
The science of ethnology teaches the nature and origin of
the ghost theory; that is, it discovers the nature of ghosts and
explains how men come to believe in them. There are many
people who believe in ghosts, the opinion being a survival from
primitive society, but with tribal men the belief is universal.
Ethnology also teaches the nature and origin of primitive cos
mology, which has now become discredited, though vestiges of
it exist in the opinions of simple folk, when it is called folklore.
1 have previously set forth the nature and origin of animism
and cosmology.
POWELL] SOPHIOLOGY CLXXIII
MYTHOLOGY
Heretofore in treating of the fundamental processes of psy
chology the nature of consciousness, inference, and verification
have been set forth. Inference alone may and often does
result in error, while truth is assured only by verification.
Every judgment involves a consciousness and an inference ;
and if the judgment is valid, its validity can be established and
known only by verification. The repetition of an erroneous
judgment is often confounded with verification, and thus men
come to believe in fallacies. Of the multitude of errors in judg
ment those most often repeated by mankind, and especially
those which have been coined by the leaders of thought, are
those which are woven into mythology. Though we have a
criterion by which to distinguish true from erroneous iud -
J O ,1 o
ments, still judgments are compounded into notions that
ultimately are exceedingly complex, and it is often found diffi
cult to resolve notions into their constituent judgments; so that
while there is an infallible criterion, it is not easily applied.
We are not here dealing with the whole subject of psychology,
but only with the leading concepts which distinguish science
from mythology. That history of opinions which is often
called the history of philosophy (but which is mainly the
history of metaphysic), together with the history of science,
gives us the data of what is here called sopliioloyy. Science
has already cost a vast amount of research, and we may safely
prophesy that only a beginning has been made. It would be
an inane proceeding to attempt to forecast what research will
ultimately unfold, but perhaps it would not be unprofitable to
review in outline the characteristics of the fundamental errors
of mankind in so far as they have already been detected.
False inferences primarily arise through referring sense
impressions to wrong causes. A term is needed for this error,
and it will be called imputation. Imputation, then, is the ref
erence of a sense impression of which the mind is conscious
as an effect, to a mistaken cause. This wrong cause may be
n wrong body or it may be a wrong property.
CLXXIV ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT LETH. ANN. 20
Let xis now see if these two propositions can be made plain.
The savage hears the thunder and infers that it is the voice of
a bird. This is imputing- a sound to a wrong- body. Birds
have voices, and not knowing- the cause of the thunder, the
savage imputes it to a bird; but as he knows of no bird with
such a voice, he imagines a new and unknown bird. Thus an
imaginary bird is created as the explanation of thunder. The
creation of imaginary things to explain unknown phenomena
is mythology. Thunder may be interpreted as the voice of a
bird in such manner by many people until it falls into common
speech. Thus an imaginary thunder-bird may become the
theme of much thought and much talk, and at last a number
of stories may grow up about it. The barbarian who drives
a span of horses to a war chariot becomes accustomed to its
rattle and compares it to thunder. Then the thunder itself is
symbolized as the rattle of the chariot of the storm. In this
case a new imaginative being is created a storm god with his
chariot in the clouds So the reference of an effect to an
erroneous cause results in a myth.
There may be many analogies called up by the noise of
thunder, and there may be many myths established in such
manner; but it is manifest that none of them can be verified.
In the course of the history of verification, which is the history
of science, an hypothesis as to the cause of thunder may be veri
fied; when such verification is reached, all myths relating to
thunder die as notions, and the scientific concept is established.
All false philosophy that is, all erroneous explanation must
necessarily lack verification. It may be believed and become
current in the philosophy of a people or of a time, and this
current belief may be held as science ; but sooner or later an
erroneous notion, however widely believed, will present some
incongruity to the developing concepts of mankind and will
challenge such attention that new hypotheses will be made to
be examined until one is verified. When the verification comes,
science is born, and the old notion is relegated to mythology.
Philosophy is the explanation of causes; whatever else may
be involved in the term, this must be involved. It is the cen
tral point in philosophy, though not the whole of philosophy.
POWELL] SOPHIOLOGY CLXXV
We may now make a definition of the growth of science and
the discovery of error. Research, by which science grows, is
the verification of hypotheses and the elimination of incon
gruous notions, and such discarded notions as have been pre
viously and generally received as science are relegated to
mythology. Let us illustrate with another example.
Conceive a people in such a primitive stage of culture as not
to know of the ambient air. Such people have existed and
some even yet exist. In all that culture known as savagery
this fact is unknown. The air is unseen; but it often has
corporeal motion, and is then called wind, and this wind pro
duces effects. Blow upon your hand, or invigorate the fire
with your breath, and then contemplate the wind among the
trees: How like the breath is the wind! Now impute the
north wind to some great monster beast, and you do only that
which millions of people have done before. Many savage
peoples explain the winds in this manner, imputing them to
monster beasts. In this instance, and in ten thousand others
that can readily be supplied, the error of imputing an effect
to the wrong cause as a wrong body results in the creation of
imaginary bodies, which is the essence of mythology.
When air is unknown there are other things besides breath
which the wind suggests. You can blow the fire with a basket
tray, and you can fan your brow with an eagle s wing. So
the wind suggests a fanning, and may be explained in this
manner. But what is it that fans? A bird with wings. If
the wind fans it must be accomplished by some great sky-bird.
The myths of such sky-birds are common. After this manner
a host of imaginary animals are created.
To the wildwood man, who roams the prairie and haunts the
forest, the world is the grand domicile of beasts. Beasts are
men, and men are but beasts. To his mind the beasts are
rather superior to men. The beasts have more magical power,
and hence are often immeasurably superior to human beings.
The savage admires the superiority of the beast and longs for
his activities; he is forever contemplating the accomplishment
of beasts the wonders which they can perform and is envi
ous of their skill in what he supposes to be magic. He sees
CLXXVI ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
the trout dart from bank to bank in the brook and is amazed at
its magical powers, and from admiration he often proceeds to
adoration. He sees the serpent glide over the rock, swift with
out feet and having the sting of death in its mouth; in this
respect it seems superior to man. He sees the chameleon
gliding along the boughs of trees in sport with rainbow hues,
and is delighted with its magical skill. He sees the eagle sail
from the cliff to the cloud region, at home in wonderland. He
sees the lion walk forth to conquer with occult majesty. Yes,
all the animal world is magical, and men are but degenerate
animals. Inspired with wonder, he is filled with adoration, and
the beasts are gods. The world is thus the home of men and
gods, and the gods are the beasts.
A mythology has sprang up with every primordial language.
These languages are found to be many how many we do not
know, but certainly there have been many thousands, and with
every tongue a mythology has been developed. The tribes of
mankind scattered over the whole habitable earth between the
polar walls of ice, living in small clusters, every one having a
distinct language and pouring out the generations that have
peopled the earth, have created a host of imaginary or mythic
bodies.
One of the methods of reasoning by means of which mon
sters are produced is imputing to one property that which is
due to another. Water is transparent and water reflects the
light. These two facts are universally observed in savagery.
It is something with which men are familiar as an experience
growing from day to day and from hour to hour. There is
another fact with which they are almost as well acquainted,
namely, that the eye is transparent, and also that it reflects
images. The eye is the organ of sight, and it is not strange
that the power of vision should be referred to transparency.
The reflection of light is an unknown and undreamed prop
erty, but transparency is well known, and images are well
known, and images appear in vision. Thus, with the Zuili
Indians, as with many of the tribes in North America, the
property of transparency is esteemed as vision: all water sees,
and the dewdrop is the eye of the plant. It is long before it
IWVKU.] 8OPHIOLOGY OLXXVII
is learned that transparency i.s ability to transfer certain kinds
of motion, while vision is a mentation. Tims force as reflec
tion and vision as mentation are explained as transparency.
The mythology of the Amerinds is replete with myths con
cerning the powers of thong-lit. There is no error more
common than that of confounding thought with force. When
the savage theurgist tells us that his hero can think arrows to
the hearts of his enemies he makes this mistake. So it is
believed that there are mythic, men who can think their boats
over the river: they can think themselves to the topmost
branches of high trees; they can think rocks onto the heads
of their enemies. There is no myth more common than this
one of confounding thought with force, and there is no myth
that lias a more venerable historv. No Ksrvntian kin<>- has
*i " J I &
received higher honors, for it is embalmed in the cerements of
learning.
We now know that heat is a mode of motion and that cold
is a low degree of heat; in the same manner we know that
color is a mode of motion, and we measure the number of
vibrations in the ether that are required in a unit of time to
produce a variety of color.
The love of knowledge is the most delightful plant in the
garden of the soul. In the individual the failure to make
correct judgments entails innumerable evils, while correct judg
ments lead to good. Judgments directly or indirectly lead to
action, and that action is wise as judgments are wise. Every
hour, almost every moment of the day, brings the lesson that
knowledge is advantageous, and these lessons are repeated
by every individual in every generation. Thus there is an
acquired and hereditary love of knowledge. Mental life pre
sents a vast succession of judgments, some correct, others
incorrect, and as they come they are enwrought in notions
that inspire activities, and by these activities the notions them
selves are adjudged. Those notions that stand the test are
held fast, those that fail are cast away, for men love the true
and hate the false. All this is so evident that it seems com
monplace, and yet we are compelled to account for the inten
sity with which men cling to mythology.
20 ETH 03 xii
CI,XXVIII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
Tim repetition of a judgment is sometimes a valid confirma
tion, but it is often the bulwark of fallacy. Judgments many
times repeated becomes habitual, and habitual errors are hard
to eradicate, for they are venerable. Errors associate in com
munities; as they dwell in the mind they constitute a fraternity
t/ J J
for mutual protection. Assail one notion with the club of
incongruity and a host of notions arise in its defense. Perhaps
this will fully explain the fact, which we are to consider, that
men invent arguments to sustain myths. He who contemplates
this state of aft airs may readily fall into despondency, for there
seems to be as much mental activity occupied in the invention
of false reasons as in the discovery of truth; but on further
contemplation it is seen that science has an advantage in that
its gains are constant and imperishable, while the gains of error
overstep themselves and sooner or later exhibit new incongrui
ties and hence are self-destructive;.
The appeal to antiquity is the appeal to habit, and the
appeal to habit is the appeal to repetition, which must always
be distinguished from the appeal to verification. The argu
ment from antiquity is a two-edged sword, and may be an
instrument of suicide; but it is the first argument used to sup
port a myth. "It was taught by our forefathers" is inscribed
on the banner of mythology. But can we not tise the argu
ment from experience? Yes, if we distinguish the method of
verification from the method of repetition. This is our only
criterion.
Myths are defended by another argument which must now
be set forth. It may be called the argument from intuition.
Plants grow from seeds; animals from eggs. The develop
ment of the individual from the germ is called ontogeny. The
process of ontogeny lias been well recognized from primordial
human time. Germs also develop from generation to genera
tion. The acorn is a very different seed from that of the
plant from which oaks were developed. The egg of the bird
is a very different germ from the egg from which it was
developed through successive generations. This development
of germs is also called the development of species. The
process is now well known to science, but it was long nnrec-
SOPHIOLOGY CLXXIX
ognized except in a vague way. The process is called pliy-
logeny. Ontogeny ami phytogeny together are termed
evolution. While ontogeny was more or less fully recognized
in antiquity, phytogeny was very dimly discerned and it was
supposed to be exceedingly restricted; so that while there
might be varieties of plants and animals, it was held that all liv
ing creatures are encompassed by barriers beyond which ihey
can not pass. It could be observed that plants and animals
grow from germs, but that races grow by minute modifications
of germs accumulating through many successive generations
was not so easily observed. That the offspring is like the
parent is a more conspicuous fact than that the offspring is a
modification of the parent. Therefore it was believed that
every existing species is the descendant of a primal species,
and the number of primal species has remained constant.
Finally it was discovered that species become extinct and that
species begin at different periods in the world s history; this
was revealed by the science of geology. Thus the notion of
constancy of species was finally shown to be erroneous, and it
has been replaced by the scientific concept of the evolution of
species.
So much of what is now commonplace science must be given
that we may understand the doctrine of primordial intuition,
which was invented as a defense of mythology. As plants grow
from seeds by minute increments through the process of on
togeny, and seeds grow from other seeds by minute increments
by the process of phytogeny; as animals grow from eggs by mi
nute increments, and as eggs themselves grow from other eggs
by minute increments, so ideas grow ontogenetically by minute
increments of judgments and also phylogenetically by minute
increments of judgments. Thus the notion grows in the mind of
the child by ontogeny, and the idea grows in the mind of the
race from generation to generation by a process analogous to
phytogeny. As man once believed that plants are inexorably
limited to specific forms that are constant, as lie once believed
that animals are limited to specific forms that are constant from
generation to generation, so men have believed that ideas are
limited to specific forms that are constant. That which in plants
OLXXX ADMINI8TEATIVE RKI ORT [ETH. ANN. 20
and animals was called the limitation of species in ideas was
called intuition, and by that term was meant the limitation of
certain specific, ideas. It was recognized that ideas grow or de
velop in the individual, but it, was denied that they develop in
the race. Sometimes it was conceded that ideas or concepts
grow phylogeuetically, that is, they are developed in the race;
but it was held that there are certain fixed limits to ideas or
notions which can not change, these limits being fixed primordi-
ally in the mind. Now, there have been many modifications and
many phases of this doctrine which we can not here elaborate,
but that which is essential to all forms of the doctrine of specific
innate ideas has been set forth.
We must now see how this doctrine is used to shore up
mythology.
Venerable errors are supposed or affirmed to be universal
and also to be innate that the notions which they involve
have been preserved from primordial time, and that they were
given to man at his creation when all species were created.
This doctrine of primordial specific innate ideas is one of the
most important themes of scholastic learning. Born in sav
agery, nourishing in barbarism, it is believed in civilization,
and its exposition ultimately becomes one of the tests of schol
arship. When the doctrine had reached this stage, so-called
philosophers or mythologists attempted to defend these pri
mordial concepts. This attempt culminated in the Critique of
Pure Reason. This defense of mythology- by Kant led to the
usual result; he, or at least his followers, supposed the argu
ment to be exhausted and the question of innate ideas set at
rest when it was stated anew as innate forms of ideas. A
calmer generation discovered the incongruity of this doctrine
with the concepts of evolution born of science. While the
doctrine remained vague, these incongruities were not so
apparent; but when it came to be carefully formulated, it was
doomed It may be claimed that the doctrine of the evolution
of concepts by experience in the race as in the individual is
established.
Primarily judgments are formed as guides to action. In
this first stage erroneous judgments are detected by the test
POWELL] SOPHIOLOGY CLXXXI
of action. If the action proves unwise, the judgment is wrong;
but as judgments multiply and are compounded in notions, a
new test of error is developed, which is the incongruity of
notions. But the discovery of incongruity is not the discovery
of the specific error. The incongruity is a relation between
two or more notions; some one of these notions must be erro
neous, but which one is not revealed by the incongruity. The
error is discovered only by submitting the judgments to trial
by verification. The incongruity does not reveal a particular
error, but only the fact that some error exists; on the other
hand congruity does not prove validity.
Mythologic notions may well be congruous with one another.
There is no incongruity between the notion of the thunder-
bird and the notion of the wind- bird. If there is a bird which
roars in the heavens, there may be a bird which breathes in
the hurricane; the one notion serves to confirm the other. It
is strange how congruous mythic notions are with one another.
Study the mythology of any people as a system, and you will
be surprised at the congruity of the notions which it reveals.
Compare one mythology with another, and often they will be
found strangely antagonistic. This congruitv of mythic con
cepts in one system is a fact so conspicuous as to challenge
the attention of thinking men, and it is early discovered and
widely used alike in savagery, barbarism, and civilization.
This method of reasoning from the congruity of notions
was finally developed in early civilization into a bodA r of doc
trine called dialectic. By this doctrine any mythic notion
could be expounded as a starting point and other mythic no
tions brought into judgment before the one selected and found
to be congruous, and by this logic proved correct. Proceed
ing in this manner from notion to notion, many are verified,
and the assumed original notion is in this same manner found
valid. It is thus that a special system of reasoning in the
interest of mythology is gradually developed.
If this system of logic were not already named, I should be
tempted to call it Kanosh logic. Kanosh was the chief of a
Shoshonean tribe in the central part of Utah, where cinder-
cones and lava-beds are found. In years of my voutli 1 was
CLXXXII ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [KTH. ANN. 20
wont to sit at the feet of the venerable Kanosh and listen to
mythic tales. ( hice on a time he explained to me the origin of
the cinder-cone and the scarcely cooled lava which in times past
had poured from it. Tie attributed its origin to Shinauav
the Wolf god of the Shoshonean. When I remonstrated
with him that a wolf could not perform such a feat, "Ah," he
said, "in ancient times the Wolf was a great chief." And to
prove it he told me of other feats which Shinauav had per
formed, and of the feats of Tavoats, the Rabbit god, and of
Kwiats, the Bear god, and of Togoav, the Rattlesnake god.
How like Aristotle he reasoned !
There is a phase of the- defense of mythology which must
not be neglected, although its contemplation is a source of sad
ness because it is an exhibition of the worst traits of mankind.
It has already been seen that in the defense of mythology
subtile arguments are produced, systems of psychology are
born, and methods of logic are invented. The notions of
mythology are not only woven into theories of institutions,
but institutions are devised for their propagation and defense.
Institutions are founded in the natural conditions of family
organization. The love of man for woman and the love of
woman for man, together with the love of parents for children
and children for parents, are all involved; thus institutions have
their origin in domestic love. The social life which develops
from this germ, having its roots in domestic love and sending
its branches into all the ways of life, constitutes the sheltering
tree to protect mankind from the storms of foreign war and
internal conflict. Peace, equity, equality, liberty, and charity
are concepts at the foundation of institutions. An attack upon
institutions is thus an attack upon all these sacred principles, so
man defends them to the last extremity. On the other hand,
men are constantly seeking to improve them, and that which
is beneficent to one may be malign to another. When the
tendrils of mythology are entwined in the branches of institu
tions, the attempt to substitute science for myth often appears
to be an attack upon the institutions in which it is entwined,
and thus the reformer and the defender come to blows. When
the defender of venerable mythology is also the defender of
i-owKi.i.] SOPHIOLOGY CLXXXIII
ancient institutions, lie is easily convinced that his warfare is
holv. When he is the constituted and official defender on
whom the armor is buckled and by whom the sword is "rasped,
he is watchful and ready for the fight. Then his honor is at
stake and his emoluments threatened.
One element of this controversy the saddest of all is the
passion for thaumaturgy which mythology produces. Then
unknown beings with occult attributes people the world, and
the air reeks with mystery. Men who deceive themselves are
deft iu the deception of others. The love of thaumaturgy
becomes) one of the monster passions of mankind that stifles
the pure love of truth. When thaumaturgy becomes a source
of gain, and greed is wed to wondercraft, there springs from
the union a progeny of devils that wreak on the teachers of
truth the tortures of rack and fagot.
In savagery names are believed to be natural attributes of
the objects which they signify. The many significations which
the same word may have are usually related to one another,
but even when they are not related the} are so habitually
associated that affinities are constantly suggested. The
development of science to an important degree depends on
the distinct recognition of different meanings, and in order
that scientific reasoning may proceed it is always found
necessary to define words with exactness and to adhere to
constant meanings; but mythological reasoning does not
observe these precautions, and often succeeds in making its
arguments plausible by the uncertain use of words. It must
not be supposed that this is a device on purpose to deceive,
for it is often a potent agency of self-deception.
Trope is not an unmixed evil, although it is a dangerous
device. When knowingly used and legitimately derived it
adds power and vigor to language, and we have already seen
that it is a necessity in nascent knowledge. Ultimately it
becomes the foundation of the highest fine art known to man,
for it is an essential element in poetry; but that which is legiti
mate and useful in poetry is the bane of scientific reasoning,
especially when it is used without comprehension. Mythology
is thus eminently tropic. While it is held as science, its tropes
CLXXXIV ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. -JO
are believed; when its incongruities are discovered and its
tropes are recognized, mythology is often supposed to be a crude
poetry. When dialectic methods of reasoning prevail, equivo
cal or duplicate meanings of words are common. At last rnyth-
ologic reasoning discovers the advantage to be derived from the
use of words with many meanings, and it becomes an essential
and recognized element in such reasoning. Hegel, who is a
master of dialectic, not only lapses into many equivocal mean
ings, but purposely uses them, and boasts of the advantage to
be derived from his native tongue by reason of the many mean-
o fj ,/
ings which its words present. His first great work, The Phe
nomenology of Mind, is esteemed by him and by his followers
as the effort by which the foundation of his philosophy was laid.
When this work is read paragraph by paragraph and the mean
ings of words are compared throughout the entire book, it will
be found that the argument depends on the equivocal use of
words. One can imagine the delight with which he hailed
the discovery that he could make an attractive argument and
a chain of seemingly invincible reasoning in this manner.
His followers have claimed for him some profound secret, but
with this key to the Hegelian riddle it is easily read.
METAPHYSIC
Metaphysic is a system of explaining how the essentials of
bodies are generated one from another.
Pythagoras taught that unity as number is the primordial
essential from which others are derived, the conception being
in the spirit of tribal cosmology in which all things are gener
ated or begotten by parents.
Plato considered extension as form to be the primordial
property. He exalted mind perhaps more than any philoso
pher before his time, and with transcendent literary skill
sounded its praises. But as he considered form to be the
property from which it was derived, he translated mind into
terms of form and thus succeeded in imposing upon all coming
time the word form as the term signifying notion or concept.
Thus idea, which primarily signified form, is now a term of
mind.
" WEIT J SOPHIOLOGY CLXXXV
Aristotle seems to have considered force as the primal prop
erty from which all other properties are derived, for thus [
interpret his doctrine of energy. Certain it is that since his
time there have been metaphysicians who have held this doc
trine. Perhaps this error has more widely prevailed than any
doctrine of the genesis of the essentials. Aristotle s theory of
mind is vague, and his reader may easily defend the proposi
tion that he derives energy from mind, rather than mind from
energy.
Spencer resolves extension into force, and impliedly, though
not overtly, resolves duration into force in his discussion of the
doctrine of evolution; and finally he resolves mind into force;
so that Spencer is the modern champion of this theory. Of
course Spencer does not consider the derivation to be parental
genesis, but genesis by evolution. The American philosopher
of this school Mr Lester F. Ward, also derives mind from
force by evolution.
Still other philosophers have taught that persistence. is the
primal property from which all others are derived. This phi
losophy has been taught as a reification of being, and is known
.as ontology. The term "being" signifies existence, but it is also
used in Aryan languages as the common asserter. This double
use has always been found in ontology. The prevalent phi
losophy of medieval time was ontology. Heiug is not held to
be the father of properties, but rather the substrate.
Idealism is the doctrine that the other properties are pro
duced by mind, the foundation of which is consciousness. It
began with Berkeley and has been elaborately formulated in
the German of Kant, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel. Mind is
reified, and the physical world has its genesis in the human
mind, or, as some think, in the mind of God who endowed the
human mind with faculties to think his thoughts as he thought
them in creation. The physical world is thus an illusion called
phenomenon, the reality being noumenon or thought. Two
schools of idealists are found; one speaks of noumenon as
mind, the other as will. In one school mind is the only sub
stance, in the other will is the only substance.
The essentials with their relations, quantities, properties,
CLXXXVI ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
and qualities have severally given rise to a system of rneta-
physic. As we have called them they are the system of
Pythagoras, the system of Plato, the system of Aristotle, the
medieval system, and the system of Berkeley. The last sys
tem, when will is substituted for mind, ma} be called the
system of Schopenhauer, as a variety of the Berkeleyan
system, which also has many other varieties.
We are now prepared for a definition of metaphysic: Meta-
physic is the doctrine that one of the essentials of a particle
or body is primordial, or the one from which the others are
derived. They may be derived by parental genesis, as in
ancient metaphysic; by evolution, as in modern materialism;
or by creation, as in idealism.
The Pythagorean and the Platonic systems have perished
from the earth. The idealists claim that Plato was the founder
of their system, and that Aristotle was also a believer in it.
Thus they interpret these two Grecian metaphysicians, as I
think, m erroneously. The medieval system is waning, though
it may have some disciples; but apparently they have become
idealists. There yet remain to us the Aristotelian and the
Berkeleyan. The Aristotelian has been revived by Spencer,
greatly expanded and placed upon a clearer foundation;
Spencer has many illustrious disciples. Idealism in some one
of its many forms prevails widely among metaphysicians.
Enlisted among its disciples are many scholarly men who take
a leading part in the metaphysic of the schools. They have
usually not occupied themselves with the physical sciences,
but there are some illustrious exceptions. The Aristotelian
system, especially as revived by Spencer, is usually called
materialism. Materialism and idealism are now rivals in the
metaphysical world.
Materialism is a theory of the existence of the world as con
stituted of forces. This theory is perhaps best expounded by
Boscovich as points of motion, not points in motion ; centers of
motion, not centers in motion. There are no atoms or molecules
in motion, but there are atoms and molecules of motion; there
are no stars in motion, but stars of motion; there are no waters
or gases in motion, but there are gases of motion; there are
1-mvF.i.i.] SOPHIOLOUY CLXXXVII
no rocks in motion, but there are rocks of motion; there are no
plants in motion, but there are plants of motion; there are no
animals in motion, but there are animals of motion; there are
no thoughts that are the motions of brain particles, as there
are no brain particles, for thoughts are motions themselves.
Oftentimes idealism is a theory that all the material objects
of the universe, other than human beings, are created or gen
erated by mind, and that human beings are the real things and
all other things are but the concepts of human beings. There
are no stars, but only human concepts of stars; there are no
waters, but only human concepts of waters; there are 110 rocks,
but only human concepts of rocks; there are no plants, but
only human concepts of plants: there are no lower animals,
but only human concepts of lower animals. God and human
beings are realities which manifest themselves to one another
in perception and conception as ideas in the objective world
Sometimes it teaches that science is a method of expressing
ideas; it is but a system of language and has no other signifi
cance than that of a system of language. There is no objec
tive concrete world with which science deals; but there are
ideas with which science deals, and the whole function of
science is to reduce these ideas to their simplest expression.
There is no objective standard of truth; there is only a sub
jective standard of opinion, and all scientific research is the
attempt to formulate these opinions or ideas or concepts or
perceptions in universal terms. Science is only a device of
language; mathematics is only a device of equations: chem
istry is only a device of atoms; astronomy is only a device of
worlds; geology is only a device of formations; botany is
only a device of cells; biology is only a device of organs. All
of these devices are useful for linguistic purposes; they do not
express objective reality, but only subjective ideas. The
world is a realm of ideas and words; it is not a realm of
objective real things!
Idealism accuses all scientific men of being materialists, and
it divides mankind into two groups the good and the evil.
The good are idealists and the evil are materialists. The
idealists are from heaven and the materialists are from hell.
CLXXXV1II ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [ETH. ANN. 20
Idealism accuses materialism of ignoring all values in the
world: it forever seeks to belittle scientific research. Chem
istry is only a controversy about words; astronomy is only a
disputation about words; physics is only a disputation about
words; geology is only a disputation about words: botany is
only a disputation about words; and zoology is only a dispu
tation about words!
Materialism accuses idealism as being the enemy of science,
of rejecting every scientific discovery until it can be translated
into terms of idealism, being the great bulwark of ignorance
and the fortress of superstition. As idealism is interpreted by
materialism, the accusations are true, and as materialism is
interpreted by idealism, the accusations are true. Materialism
is arrayed against religion, and idealism is arrayed against
science.
Idealism is a theory that there is no objective reality, or, to
use the language of modern idealism, there is no trans-subjec
tive reality. Symbols are signs of ideas, but not signs of
objects. The objective world thus becomes the creation of
thought. The apparent or phenomenal objective world is cre
ated magically by thought. There are no stars as objective
realities; there are only stars by the magic of thought. Astron
omy is not a science of orbs which depends on the existence of
objective realities; but it is a science of words which depends
on our concepts, and contributions to astronomy are only con
tributions to language and consist only in a better method of
using symbols as words to describe our concepts. There are
no atoms or molecules or substances as science teaches; but
there are concepts of atoms, molecules, and substances, and all
contributions to chemistry are but contributions to language
by which symbols that do not represent reality, but only con
cepts, are made more useful as linguistic devices. There is no
such thing as motion: motion is but the product of thought.
We think there is motion, but it has no objective reality, and
contributions to dynamics are only contributions to language!
During the last decade Ladd has published a volume, titled
What is Reality?, in which he sets forth in a masterly manner
the concomitancy of the categories. In this great work he
POWELL] SOPHIOLOGY CLXXXIX
treats of the fundamental elements in the fallacies of material
ism and idealism, and the metaphysicians of both schools must
reckon with him before again stating their systems.
The stream of thought is a succession of judgments, and
judgments are made of essentials; hence we cognize by essen
tials. Judgments are made instantaneously; hence our judg
ments are infinite, as that term is used in mathematics; they
are so multitudinous that we can not. enumerate them in statable
quantities. Judgments are repeated again and again and thus
become habitual, when the objects of judgment are again
presented or represented. These abstract judgments are con
creted or integrated: for when a judgment is made of one
essential, the others are implicated, posited, or presupposed;
thus judgments become vicarious. If I judge that a body is
one I implicate that it has extension, speed, persistence, and
consciousness.
No particle or body can exist without all of its essentials,
for they are concomitant. This fact is a refutation not only
of materialism and idealism, but of all metaphysical systems."
In metaphysic qualities are not discriminated from other
categories. The same number is few or many from an ideal
or an adopted standpoint of consideration. The sands of the
lake are many compared with the sands of the pond, but the
sands of the lake are few when compared with the sands of the
sea. The stars of the Milky Way are many compared with
the stars of Orion, but the stars of the Milky Way are few
compared with all the stars of the firmament. So forms are
large or small from artificial standpoints. Structures are sim
ple or complex in the same manner. Forces are strong or
weak with different purposes in view, times are long for the
same reason, and causes are trivial or potent. Judgments are
wise or unwise when the view comes, and the wisdom of yes
terday is the folly of to-day. Men have distinguished but
slowly between qualities and other categories, and there has
always been a tendency to explain unknown categories as
qualities, for often they have been dwelt upon before their
corresponding categories were known. In the ordinary course
For the demonstration of the com-oiuitaney of essentials, see ruy volume Truth and Krror.
CXC ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT [KTH. ANN. 20
of human reason the first incentive to an investigation of the
other categories is derived from a knowledge of their qualities,
and so long as thev are unknown they are believed to be only
qualities.
It is this characteristic of qualities that seems to give war
rant to idealism. Qualities always change with the change
in view, and they are ideal when we consider things with
relation to purposes. You can always discover that idealists
consider only qualities among the categories and confuse
all others with them. Even while J am writing this state
ment there comes to hand a new work on idealism, titled The
World and the Individual, by Royce. On every page of this
book he considers qualities and only qualities. On page 209
he says:
Those other objects of common human interest are viewed, by com
mon sense, namely, not as Independent Beings, which would retain
their reality unaltered even if nobody ever were able to think of
them, but rather as objects, such that, while people can and often do
think of them, their own sole Being consists in their character as ren
dering such thoughts about themselves objectively valid for every
body concerned. Their whole exxe then consists in their value as giving
warrant and validity to the thoughts that refer to them. They are
external to any particular ideas, yet they can not be defined independ
ently of all ideas.
Do you ask me to name such objects of ordinary conversation ? I
answer at once by asking whether the credit of a commercial house,
the debts that a man owes, the present price of a given stock in the
stock market, yes, the market price current of any given commodity;
or. again, whether the rank of a given official, the social status of any
member of the community, the marks received by a student at any
examination; or. to pass to another field, whether this or that commer
cial partnership, or international treaty, or still once more, whether
the British constitution whether, I say. any or all of the objects thus
named, will not be regarded, in ordinary conversation, as in some sense
real beings, facts possessed of a genuinely ontological character? One
surely says: The debt exists; the credit is a fact; the constitution has
objective Being. Yet none of these facts, prices, credits, debts, ranks,
standings, marks, partnerships, constitutions, are viewed as real inde
pendently of any and of all possible ideas that shall refer to them.
The objects now under our notice have, moreover, like physical things.
very various grades of supposed endurance and of recognized signifi
cance!. Some vanish hourly. Others may outlast centuries. The
POWEM.I SOPHIOLOGY CXCI
prices vary from day to day; the credits may not survive the next
panic; the constitution may very slowly evolve for ages. None of
these objects, moreover, can be called mere ideas inside of any man s
head. None of them are arbitrary creations of definition. The indi
vidual may find them as stubborn facts as are material objects. The
prices in the stock market may behave like irresistible physical forces.
And yet none of these objects would continue to exist, as they are now
supposed to exist, unless somebody frequently thought of them, recog
nized them, and agreed with his fellows about them. Their fashion
of supposed being is thus ordinarily conceived as at once ideal and
extraideal. They are not "things in themselves," and they are not
mere facts of private consciousness. You have to count upon them
as objective. Hut if ideas vanished from the world, they would vanish
also. They, then, are the objects of the relatively external meanings
of ideas. Yet they are not wholly separable from internal meanings.
Well, all of these facts are examples of beings of which it seems
easiest to say that they are real mainly in so far as they serve to give
truth or validity to a certain group of assertions about each one of
them.
Yes, if ideas were to vanish from the world, qualities would
vanish also.
What, then, are qualities; and can we define them? Quali
ties are attributes to good and evil. This definition is per
fect, for it is inclusive of all and exclusive of others. All that
has been written in this series of articles is designed to set
forth their nature. Qualities naturally fall into five groups:
There are esthetic qualities, or qualities of pleasure and pain;
there are industrial qualities, or qualities of welfare and illfare;
there are institutional qualities, or qualities of morality and
immorality; there are linguistic qualities, or qualities of truth
and falsehood; there are sophiological qualities, or qualities of
wisdom and folly.
Those attributes which we call qualities arc always found
in antithetic pairs. All human activities are performed for
purposes, and these purposes are either good or evil; no pur
poses can be neutral. Hence we see that purposes play a role
of transcendent importance in human affairs. Notwithstanding
this, there are other categories of reality in the universe, but
personal interest in qualities masks them from the considera
tion of the metaphysician.
If there has been one cause for the longevity of mvths more
CXCII ADMINISTRATIVE RKPORT [ETH.AXX.:>O
potent than another, it has been the doctrine of phenomenon
and nouinenon as it is held in metaphysic. How often have
men erred in judgment when brought to the test of action!
What multitudes of judgments have been proved to be erro
neous by the test of experience through verification! When
men contemplate the mistakes made in every hour of waking
life; when men contemplate the hosts of erroneous notions that
they have entertained, when they realize that the result of
thought is mainly the reconstruction of notions, it is not strange
that men should despair of all certitude and cry, "We know
not reality, but only appearance!"
Aristotle formulated the laws of disputation as laws of
thought itself, and so the logic of scholasticism is but the logic
of controversy. When men compared theories of the universe,
they found that any theory could be maintained with plausi
bility because they yet remained ignorant of the laws of veri
fication; it was not strange that a sense of illusion seemed to
pervade the universe. Thus the metaphysical doctrine of
phenomenon and nouinenon is seemingly confirmed.
SCIENCE
It would be a pleasing task to outline the history of science.
Science is as old as error. Although human fallacies began
with primordial man, knowledge also began with primordial
man, and the two have grown together. Science has more
and more prevailed, and error has more and more succumbed
to its power. As the errors of animism, mythology, cos
mology, and metaphysic have been overthrown, there are
many who still entertain them, and scientific men have come
to call all of these errors folklore, and folklore itself has
come to be the subject-matter of science.
The study of folklore is a study of superstitions. Supersti
tions are opinions which stand over from a lower into a higher
state of culture.
There are people who can move their ears at will. The
lower animals can do this, but only a few human beings can
wink their ears. Organs that are useful in lower species may
remain in an imperfect and practically useless state in a more
SOPHIOLOGY CXC1II
highly developed species. They are then called vestigial
organs. As there are vestigial organs, so there are vestigial
opinions. These vestigial opinions are commonly called super
stitions. When we come to investigate vestigial opinions
and treat them as objects of science, we no longer call them
superstitions, Imt we call them folklore.
The science of folklore may be defined as the science of
/
superstitions, or the science of vestigial opinions no longer held
as valid. Yet such erroneous opinions that hold over from the
days of greater ignorance to the era of modern scientific
research are found to be of profound interest in the revelations
which the}- make of the nature of superstitions themselves.
\Ve might neglect them, or seek to substitute for them valid
opinions. However, science does not hesitate to investigate
any question, and even the natural history of superstitions has
come to be a profoundly interesting and instructive science.
Some years ago a movement was made in Europe and
America to investigate superstitions themselves on the theory
that the}- are valid. Societies were organized in London,
Paris. Berlin, and Boston for the purpose of determining
whether or not there is substantial truth in error itself. This
is the function of the Societies for Psychical Research, the pur
pose of which is to discover the truth of dreams, the validity
of necromancy, and the reality of ghosts. I have a suspicion
that the Societies for Psychical Research are rather instrumen
tal in increasing superstitions than in dispelling them, and that
we reap the natural fruit of these researches in the increased
prevalence of such abnormal cults and arts as christian science,
mind-healing, spirit-rapping, and slate-juggling. Be this as it
may, there is one result growing out of the modern Societies
for Psychical Research which I hail with pleasure: In the
transactions of these societies there is put on record a great
body of superstitions, all of which are valuable material as
folklore.
Remember it is the science of superstitions, and the science
must deal with the fundamental errors of mankind (how the
phenomena of nature have been interpreted by savage and
barbaric peoples), and how these errors as vestigial phenomena
20 KTII 03 XIII
CXCIV ADMINISTRATIVE KEPOKT [ETH. ANN. 20
have remained over in civilization and are still entertained.
Of course the ignorant entertain them by wholesale ; but it is
not the ignorant alone who entertain superstitions. Supersti
tions are domiciled in many parlors, they are paraded on many
platforms, they are worshipped in many temples, and they
lurk even in scientific halls and appear in scientific publications
and are taught by scientific men. There is much folklore in
this world, and sometimes it may be found in strange company.
It is thus that the study of folklore reveals the origin and
nature of superstitions and makes the grand scientific distinc
tion between valid concepts and uncanny visions.
The habit of believing in the impossible, of expecting the
absurd, and of attributing phenomena to the occult, gives rise
to two classes of magical agencies which, from savagery to
the highest stages of culture, have played important roles in
the explanation of magic. These are the beliefs in mascots
and tabus.
Those who dwell on the mysteries of life, especially as they
are revealed in ecstacy, hypnotism, intoxication, and insanity,
are forever looking for mascots or mysterious causes. Such
occult agencies are sweet morsels to superstitious people, just
as scientific men delight in the discovery of scientific facts.
What a wonder it was to scientific men to discover that bones
could be photographed through their covering of flesh! The
discovery of the Rontgen rays was held to be so important
that the discoverer was awarded a great meed of praise. But
the potency of the left hindfoot of a graveyard rabbit plucked
in the dark of the moon is held by superstitious people to
be of more importance than the Rontgen rays. More peo
ple believe in mascots than believe in telephones, and those
who believe in mascots believe that telephones are magical.
In the same manner tabus perform wonderful magic feats in
the notions of many persons. In savagery there are many
tabus, and men must not do this thing nor that thing lest their
enterprise should fail. Survival of tabus still exists; for exam
ple, thirteen persons must not sit at the table lest one should
die. So mascots and tabus still have their influence in civil
ized society.
POWELL] SOPHIOLOGY OXCV
INSTRUCTION
Having set forth the nature of the opinions held by mankind
in different stages of culture, and the way iu which science sup
plants superstition through the agency of verification, it yet
remains for us to characterize the agencies by which opinions
are propagated. This gives rise to the fifth great system of
arts, the last in the pentalogic series, the arts of sophiology. A
brief characterization will be sufficient for our purposes.
Sophiology is the art of instruction.
NURTURE
It is found that in organized society man has developed five
distinct agencies for instruction. In infancy parents instruct
their children. As children advance in age, other members of
the family take part in the work ; and still as the child advances
in years his associations are enlarged and all of those persons
who constitute his social environment take part Instruction
of this character is well recognized under the term nurture.
ORATORY
In tribal society an important agency of instruction is found
in oratory. Every patriarch of a clan, ever}- chief of a tribe,
every shaman of a brotherhood, every chief of a confederacy,
must be an instructor of his people. This instruction is neces
sarily conveyed by oratory; hence in tribal society a com
paratively large number of persons are spokesmen or official
orators. In the frequent assemblages of the people by clans,
tribes, phratries, and confederacies abundant opportunity
occurs for the exercise of this office, and when important mat
ters are up for consideration in the council every man has a
right to a voice, and his influence in the tribe depends largely
on his powers of persuasion as an orator. Oratory is there
fore very highly developed in tribal society. At the dawn
of ancient civilization the Greek philosophers employed this
method of conveying instruction. In national society there is
still opportunity for oratory in the more highly developed
council of state.
CAVYI ADMINISTRATIVE RKI OKT [F.TH. ANN. 20
There are other occasions for oratory. There still remains
a field for the employment of oratory in religion, for the reli
gious teacher must be an orator, and one day in the week is
set apart for religious instruction. The method of instruction
by this means has a, long history, and through it mankind
have received a large share of their instruction, although in
modern times it has been employed chiefly in teaching morals.
EDUCATION
In modern society a distinct agency is organized for the
instruction of youth in addition to those included under the
terms nurture and oratory. This new instruction is education.
In the highest civilization the years of adolescence, and
sometimes of early manhood, are consecrated to education, so
that much of the time of individual life is occupied in this
manner. A multiplicity of schools are organized, a host of
teachers are employed, buildings and apparatus are used, so
that the cost of education is rapidly advancing pari passu with
the growing appreciation of its importance. The theory and
art of education are undergoing rapid development. We may
contemplate with surprise the development of manufacturing
interests; we may gaze with wonder at the development of
the agencies of transportation; we may consider with pro
found interest the development of commerce and the modern
agencies upon which its highest stages depend, but the wonder
of wonders is the development of modern agencies of edu
cation. As human muscle is supplanted by electricity, the
tallow dips by the incandescent light, the coin by credit, so
the text-book is supplanted by the library, the teacher s rod
by the instructor s illumination, and the memorized word by
the informing idea.
PUBLICATION
In early times many manuscripts were written^and important
ones were often copied, but altogether this method of multipli
cation was infrequent. A new civilization began with the
events and discoveries that came upon the world about the
time of the discovery of America; in this epoch the art of
row "- 1 -] SOPHIOLOOY CXCVI1
printing was invented, through which was developed a new
system of instruction which has already become universal in
civilized society and whose potency for progress can hardly lie
underestimated. This new system is publication. Books and
periodicals constitute the fourth great agency of instruction.
RESKARC1I
Research is the potent agency for the development of new
opinions. Aristotle is credited with organizing research.
Intermittent and feeble research extended from his time on
until the epoch of modern civilization. The discovery of
America signalizes the beginning of this epoch. Prior to this
time research was dangerous; the propogation of new truth
was held to be impiety to the gods, old opinions were held
to be sacred, and terrible punisment was the reward of him
who taught new truths to the world. Prior to this time
even the discoveries in astronomy were held by men only in
seoret, and the flat earth with a revolving sun was the sacred
opinion. When the New World was discovered it was so
brilliant an example of the results of the belief in a scientific
doctrine that science itself was exalted and the scientific man
could hold up his head and walk the earth the peer of all men.
Since that time research has been organized in main- fields
and hosts of men have become votaries to research, and now
the fifth great sociologic agent is firmly established among the
institutions of civilization.
We thus have Nurture, Oratory, Kducation, Publication,
and Research as the five grand arts of Instruction.
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF
AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
ANNUAL REPORTS
First annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the secretary of
the Smithsonian Institution 187!>- 8l> by J. W. Powell director
[Vignette] Washington Government Printing Office 1881
Roy. 8. xxxv, 603 p., 347 tig. (incl. 54 pi.), map. Out of
print.
Report of the Director. P. xi-xxxm.
On the evolution of language, as exhibited in the specialization of the grammatic
processes, the differentiation of the parts of speech, and the integration of the
sentence; from a study of Indian languages, by J. W. Powell. P. 1-16.
Sketch of the mythology of the North American Indians, by J. \V. Powell.
P. 17-56.
Wyandot government: a short study of tribal society, by .1. W. Powell. P.
57-69.
On limitations to the use of some anthropologic data, by J. W. Powell. P. 71-86.
A further contribution to the study of the mortuary customs of the North Ameri
can Indians, by Dr. H. C. Yarrow, act. asst. surg., U. S. A. P. 87-203, fig. l-*7.
Studies in Central American picture-writing, by Kdward S. Holden, professor of
mathematics, U. S. Naval Observatory. P. 205-245, fig. 48-60.
Cessions of land by Indian tribes to the United States: illustrated by those in
the state of Indiana, by C. C. Royce. P. 247-262, map.
Sign language among North American Indians, compared with that among other
peoples and deaf-mutes, by Garrick Mallery. P. 263-552, fig. 61-342r<,
Catalogue of linguistic manuscripts in the library of the Bureau of Ethnology,
by James C. Pilling. P. 553-577.
Illustration of the method of recording Indian languages. From the manuscripts
of Messrs. J. O. Dorsey, A. S. Gatechet, and S. R. Riggs. P. 579-589.
Index. P. 591-303.
Second annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution 1880- 81 by J. W. Powell director
[Vignette] Washington Government Printing Office 1883 [1884]
Roy. 8. xxxvn, 477 p., 77 pi., fig. 1-35. 347-714 (38-2 of these
forming 98 pi.), 2 maps. Out of jmiit.
Report of the Director. P. xv-xxxvn.
Zufii fetiches, by Frank Hamilton Gushing. P. 3-45, pi. i-xi, fig. 1-3.
Myths of the Iroquois, by Erminnie A. Smith. P. 47-116, pi. xn-xv.
Animal carvings from mounds of the Mississippi valley, by Henry \V. Henshaw.
P. 117-166, fig. 4-35.
CXCIX
C C BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
Xavajn silversmiths, by ])r. Washington Matthews, IT. S. A. i". 167-178, pi.
\vi-.\x.
Art in shell of the ancient Americans, by William II. Holmes. ) . 179-305, pi.
XXI-I.XXVII.
Illustrated catalogue of the collections obtained from the Indians of New Mex
ico and Arizona in 1879, by James Stevenson. P. 307-422, fig. 347-697, map.
Illustrated catalogue of the collections obtained from the Indians of New Mex
ico in 1880, by James Stevenson. P. 423-165, fig. 698-714, map.
Index. P. 467-477.
Third annual report of the Bureau of Kthnology to the .secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution l881- 82 by ,1. W. Powell director
[Vignette] Washington Government Printing Office 1884 [1885]
Roy. 8. LXXIV. tiOG p., 44 pi., 200 (+ 2 unnumbered) fig. Out
of print.
Report of the Director. P. XIII-LXXIV.
On activital similarities. P. LXV-LXXIV.
Notes on certain Maya and Mexican manuscripts, by Prof. Cyrus Thomas. P.
3-65, pi. i-iv, fig. 1-10.
On masks, labrets, and certain aboriginal customs, with an inquiry into the bear
ing of their geographical distribution, by William Healey Dall, assistant r. S.
Coast Survey; honorary curator U. S. National Museum. P. 67-202, pi. v-xxix.
Omaha sociology, by Rev. J. Owen Dorsey. P. 205-370, pi. xxx-xxxm, fig.
12-12.
Navajo weavers, by Dr. Washington Matthews, U. S. A. P. 371-391, pi. xxxiv-
xxxvin, fig. 42-59.
Prehistoric textile fabrics of the United States, derived from impressions on pot
tery, by William H. Holmes. P. 393-425, pi. xxxix, fig. 60-115.
Illustrated catalogue of a portion of the collections made by the Bureau of Eth
nology during the field season of 1881, by William H. Holmes. P. 427-510,
fig. 116-200.
Illustrated catalogue of the collections obtained from the pueblos of Zuni, New
Mexico, and Wolpi, Arizona, in 1881, by James Stevenson. P. 511-594, pi.
XI.-XI.IV.
Index. P. 595-606.
Fourth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution 1882- 83 by J. W. Powell director
[Vignette] Washington Government Printing Office 1886 [1887]
Roy. 8. LXIII, 532 p., 83 pi.. 565 fig. Ont of print.
Report of the Director. P. XXVII-LXIII.
Pictographs of the North American Indians. A preliminary paper, by (-farriok
Mallery. P. 3-256, pi. I-LXXXIII, fig. 1-111, lll<i-209.
Pottery of the ancient pueblos, by William H. Holmes. P. 257-360, tig. 210-
360.
Ancient pottery of the Mississippi valley, by William H. Holmes. P. 361436,
lig. 361-41)3.
Origin and development of form and ornament in ceramic art, by William II.
Holmes. P. 437-465, fig. 464-489.
A study of Pueblo pottery as illustrative of Zuiii culture growth, by Frank
Hamilton Gushing. P. 467-521, fig. 490-564.
Index to accompanying papers. P. 523A-532.
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS CCI
Fifth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution 1883- 84 by J. W. Powell director
[Vignette] Washington Government Printing Office 1887 [1888]
Roy. 8 C . LIU, 564 p., 33 pi. (incl. -2 pocket maps). 77%. Out
of print.
Report of the Director. P. xvii-un.
Burial mounds of the northern sections of the United States, by Prof. Cyrus
Thomas. P. 3-119, pi. i-vi, tig. 1-49.
The Cherokee Nation of Indians: a narrative of their official relations with the
colonial and federal governments, by Charles C. Royce. P. 121-378, pi. vn-
ix (pi. viii and ix are pocket maps).
The mountain chant: a Navajo ceremony, by Dr. Washington Matthews, V. S. A.
P. 379-167, pi. x-xvm, fig. 50-59.
The Seminole Indians of Florida, by Clay MacCauley. P. 469-531, pi. xi.v,
fig. 60-77.
The religious life of the Zuiii child, by .Mrs. Tilly K. Stevenson. P. 533-555,
pi. xx-xxin.
Index. P. 557-564.
Sixth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution 1884- 85 by J. W. Powell director
[Vignette] Washington Government Printing Office 1888 [1889]
Roy 8. LVIII, 675 p. (incl. 6 p. of music), 10 pi. (incl. 2 pocket
maps). 546 fig., -14 small unnumbered cuts. Out < if print.
Report of the Director. P. XXIII-LVIII.
Ancient art of the province of Chiriqui, Colombia, by William H. Holmes
P. 3-187, pi. i, fig. 1-285.
A study of the textile art in its relation to the development of form ami orna
ment, by William H. Holmes. P. 189-252, fig. 286-358.
Aids to the study of the Maya codices, by Prof. Cyrus Thomas. P. 253-371
fig. 359-388.
Osage traditions, by Rev. J. Owen Dorsey. P. 373-397, fig. 389.
The central Eskimo, by Dr. Franz Boas. P. 399-669, pi. n-x, fig. 390-546 [pi.
n and in are pocket maps) .
Index. P. 671-675.
Seventh annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution L885- 86 by J. W. Powell director
[Vignette] Washington Government Printing Office 1891 [18921
Roy. 8. XLIII, 409 p.. -21 pi. (incl. pocket map), H!> fig. Out of
print.
Report of the Director. P. XV-XLI.
Indian linguistic families of America north of Mexico, by J. W. Powell. P.
1-142, pi. i (pocket map).
The Mide wiwin or "grand medicine society of theOjibwa, by W. J. Hoffman
P. 143-300, pi. ii-xxiii, fig. 1-39.
The sacred formulas of the Cherokees, by James Moouey. 1 . 301-397, pi. xxiv-
XXVII.
Index. P. 399-409.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
Eighth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution 1886- 8T by J. W. Powell director
[Vignette] Washington Government Printing Office 1891 [1893]
Roy. 8. xxxvi, 298 p., 123 pi., 118 fig. Out of print.
Report of the Director. T. xin-xxxvi.
A study of Pueblo architecture: Tusayan and Cibola, by Victor Mindeleff.
P. 3-228, pi. i-cxi, fig. 1-114.
Ceremonial of Hasjelti Dailjis and mythical sand painting of the Navajo Indians,
by James Stevenson. P. 229-285, pi. CXII-CXXIH, fig. 115-118.
Index. P. 287-298.
Ninth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the secretary of
the Smithsonian Institution 1887- 88 by J. W. Powell director
[Vignette] Washington Government Printing Office 1892 [1893]
Roy. 8. XLVI, 617 p., 8 pi., 448 fig. Out of print.
Report of the Director. P. XIX-XLVI.
Kthnological results of the Point Barrow expedition, by John Murdock, natural
ist and observer, International polar expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska,
1881-1883. P. 3-441, pi. i-n, fig. 1-428.
The medicine-men of the Apache, by John G. Bourke, captain, third cavalry,
U. S. army. P. 443-603, pi. iii-vm, fig. 429-448.
Index. P. 605-617.
Tenth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the secretary of
the Smithsonian Institution 1888- 89 by J. W . Powell director
[Vignette] Washington Government Printing Office 1893 [1894]
Roy. 8-. xxx, 822 p., 54 pi., 1291 fig.. 116 small unnumbered
cuts. Out of pi int.
Report of the Director. P. m-xxx.
Picture-writing of the American Indians, by Garrick Mallery. P. 3-807, pi.
I-LIV, fig. 1-145, 145a-1290.
Index. P. 809-822.
Eleventh annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution 1889- 90 by J. W. Powell director
[Vignette] Washington Government Printing Office 1894
Roy. 8. XLVII, 553 p., 50 pi., 200 tig. Out of print.
Report of the Director. P. XXI-XLVII.
The Sia, by Matilda Coxe Stevenson. P. 3-157, pi. i-xxxv, fig. 1-20.
Ethnology of the Ungava district, Hudson Bay territory, by Lucien M. Turner.
[Edited by John Murdoch.] P. 159-350, pi. XXXVI-XLIII, fig. 21-155.
A study of Siouan cults, by James Owen Dorsey. P. 351-544, pi. XLIV-I., fig.
156-200.
Index. P. 545-553.
Twelfth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution 1890- 91 by J. W. Powell director
[Vignette] Washington Government Printing Office 1894
Roy. 8. XLVIII, 742 p., 42 pi., 344 fig. Out of print.
Report of the Director. P. XIX-XLVIII.
Report on the mound explorations of the Bureau of Ethnology, by Cyrus Thomas.
P. 3-730, pi. 1-xi.ii, fig. 1-344.
Index. P. 731-742.
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS CCIII
Thirteenth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the secre
tary of the Smithsonian Institution 1891- 92 by J. W. Powell
director [Vignette] Washington Government Printing Office
1896
Roy. 8. LIX. 462 p.. 60 pi., 330%. Out of print.
Report of the Director. P. XIX-LIX.
Prehistoric textile art of eastern United States, by William Henry Holmes.
P. 3-46, pi. i-ix, fig. 1-28.
Stone art, by Gerard Fowke. P. 47-178, fig. 29-278.
Aboriginal remains in Verde valley, Arizona, by Cosmos Mindeleff. P. 179-261,
pi. X-L, fig. 279-305.
Omaha dwellings, furniture, and implements, by James Owen Dorsey. P.
263-288, fig. 306-327.
Casa Grande ruin, by Cosmos Mindeleff. P. 289-319, pi. I,I-LX, fig. 328-330.
Outlines of Zufii creation myths, by Frank Hamilton Gushing. P. 321447.
Index. P. 449-462.
Fourteenth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the secre
tary of the Smithsonian Institution 1892-93 by J. W. Powell
director In two parts part 1 [-2] [Vignette] Washington Gov
ernment Printing Office 1896 [1897]
Roy. 8 C . Two parts. LXI, 1-637; 639-1136 p., 122 pi., loi tig.
Out of print.
Report of the Director. P. XXV-LXI.
The Menomini Indians, by Walter James Hoffman, M. D. P. 3-328, pi.
i-xxxvn, fig. 1-55.
The Coronado expedition, 1540-1542, by George Parker Winship. P. 329-613,
pi. XXXVIII-LXXXIV.
Index to part 1. P. 615-637.
The Ghost-dance religion and the Sioux outbreak of 1890, by James Mooney.
P. 641-1110, pi. LXXXV-CXXII, fig. 56-104.
Index to part 2. P. 1111-1136.
Fifteenth annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the secretarv
of the Smithsonian Institution 1893- 94 by J. W. Powell director
[Vignette] Washington Government Printing Office 1897
Roy. 8 C . cxxi, 366 p., frontispiece, 125 pi., 49 tig. Out of
print.
Report of the Director. P. xv-cxxi.
On regimentation. P. civ-cxxi.
Stone implements of the Potomac-Chesapeake tidewater province, by William
Henry Holmes. I . 3-152, pi. i-cm and frontispiece, fig. l-29a.
The Siouan Indians: a preliminary sketch, by W J McGee. P. 153-204.
Siouan sociology: a posthumous paper, by James Owen Dorsey. P. 205-244,
fig. 30-38.
Tusayan katcinas, by Jesse Walter Fewkes. P. 245-313, pi. civ-cxi, fig. 39-48.
The repair of Casa Grande ruin, Arizona, in 1891, by Cosmos Mindeleff. P.
315-349, pi. cxn-cxxv.
Index. P. 351-366.
CCIV Kl REAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
Sixteenth annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the
secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1894- 95 by J. W. Powell
director [Vignette] Washington Government Printing Office 1897
Roy. S ; . oxix, 326 p., 81 pi., 83 tig. Outofj>rit.
Report of the Director. P. xin-cxix.
List of publications of the Bureau of American Ethnology. P. ci-cxix.
Pr.mitive trephining in Peru, by Manuel Antonio Muni/ and W J McGee. P.
3-72, i>l. i-xi..
The cliff ruins of Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, by Cosmos Mindeleff. P. 73-198,
jil. \LI-I.XIII, fig. 1-83.
Day symbols of the Maya year, by Cyrus Thomas. P. 199-265, pi. I.XIV-LXIX.
Tusayan snake ceremonies, by Jesse Walter Fewkes. P. 267-312, pi. i.xx-
LXXXI.
Index. I . 313-326.
Seventeeth annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to
the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1895-96 by J. W. Powell
director In two parts part 1 [-2] [Vignette] Washington Gov
ernment Printing Office 1898 [part 1. 1900, part 2, 1901]
Roy. 8 C . Two parts, xcv. 1-128, 129*-344*, 129-468; 465-7;") 2 p.,
182 pi.. 357 rig. Out of print.
Report of the Director. P. xxv-xcm.
List of publications of the Bureau of American Kthnology. P. i.xxv-xrm.
The Seri Indians, by W J McGee. P. 1-128, 129*-344*. pi. i-nm, ml, mi, ivfc,
\n, \ f>, VKI, vi/i, VIKI, vn/-ix</, IX/J-LVI, fig. 1-42.
Comparative lexicology, by ,T. N. B. Hewitt. P. 299*-344*.
Calendar history of the Kiowa Indians, by James Mooney. P. 129-445, pi.
LVII-LXXXI, fig. 43-229.
Index to part I. P. 447-468.
Xavaho houses, by Cosmos Mindeleff. P. 469-517, pi. LXXXII-XC, fig. 230-244.
Archeological ex]>edition to Arizona in 1895, by Jesse Walter Fewkes. P.
519-744, pi. xci, xcifc-c-Lxxv, fig. 245-357.
Index to part 2. P. 745-752.
Eighteenth annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to
the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1896-97 by J. W. Powell
director In two parts part 1 [-2] [Vignette] Washington Gov
ernment Printing Office 1899 [part 1, 1901, part 2, 19(12]
Roy. 8-. Two parts, i/vii. 1-518: 519-997 p., 174 pi., 165 tig.
Out of print.
Report of the Director. P. xxm-i,vii.
The Eskimo about Bering strait, by Edward William Nelson. P. 3-51S, pi. i-
cvn, fig. 1-165.
Indian land cessions in the United States, compiled by Charles C. Royce, with
an introduction by Cyrus Thomas. P. 521-964, pi. CVIII-CLXXIV.
Index. P. 965-997.
Nineteenth annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to
the secretory of the Smithsonian Institution 1897-98 bv J.W.Powell
LIST OV PUBLICATIONS OCV
director In two parts part 1 [-2J [Vignette] Washington Gov
ernment Printing Office 19(> [1902]
Roy. 8 ; . Two parts, son, 1-568, 569*-576*; 569-1160 p., fron
tispiece, 80 pi., 49 fig.
Report of the Director. P. ix-xcn, frontispiece.
Esthetology, or the science of activities designed to give pleasure. I , i.v-
xcn.
Myths of the Cherokee, by James Mooney. P. 3-548, pi. j-xx, fig. 1-2.
Index to part 1. P. 549-568, 569*-576*.
Tusayan migration traditions, by Jesse Walter Fewkes. P. 573-633.
Localization of Tusayan clans, by Cosmos Mindeleff. P. 635-653, pi. xxi-xxviu,
fig. 3.
Mounds in northern Honduras, by Thomas (iann. P. 655-692, pi. xxix-xxxix,
fig. 4-7.
Mayan calendar systems, by Cyrus Thomas. P. 693-819, pi. XI/-XLIIW, XLIII/;-
XLIV, fig. 8-17, 176-22.
Primitive numbers, by W J McGee. P. 821-851.
Xumeral systems of Mexico and Central America, by Cyrus Thomas. P. 853-
955, fig. 23-41.
Tusayan Flute and Snake ceremonies, by Jesse Walter Fewkes. P. 957-1011,
pi. XLV-LXV, fig. 42-46.
The wild-rice gatherers of the upper lakes, a study in American primitive eco
nomics, by Albert Ernest Jenks. P. 1013-1137, pi. i.xvi-i.xxix, fig. 47-4S.
Index to part 2. P. 1139-1160.
Twentieth annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to
the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1898-99 by J. W.
Powell director [Vignette] Washington Government Printing
Office 1903
Roy. 8 : . 180 pi., 79 fig.
Report of the Director. P. vii-ccxxm.
Technology, or the science of industries. P. XXIX-LVII.
Sociology, or the science of institutions. P. LIX-CXXXVIII.
Philology, or the science of activities designed for expression. P. cxxxix-
CLXX.
Sophiology, or the science of activities designed -to give instruction. I .
OLXXI-CXCVII.
List of publications 6f the Bureau of American Ethnology. P. rxcix-ccxxm.
Aboriginal pottery of the eastern United States, by W. H. Holmes. P. 1-201,
pi. I-I,X.\VIII, I.XXVIIIA, LXXIX-I.XXIXB, I,X XX-l LXX Vlt, fig. 1-79.
Index.
Twenty -first annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to
the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1899-1900 by J. W.
Powell director [Vignette] Washington Government Printing
Office 1903
Koy. 8. 69 pi. In j>res.
Report of the Director. PI. i.
Hopi katcinas, drawn by native artists, by Jesse Walter Fewkes. 1 . 3-126,
pi. n-j.xin.
Iroquois cosmogony, by J. X. l >. Hewitt. P. 127 , pi. i.xiv-i.xi.v.
Index.
CCVI BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
Twenty-second, annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology
to the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1900-01 by W .1 Mc-
Gee acting director In two parts part 1 [-2] [Vignette] Wash
ington Government Printing Office 1903
Roy. s c . Two parts. 91 pi., 178 fig. In -pre**.
Report of the Acting Director.
Two summers work in pueblo ruins, by Jesse Walter Fewkes. PI. I-LXX, fig.
1-120.
.Mayan calendar systems. II, by Cyrus Thomas. PI. I.XXI-LXXXII, fig. 121-168.
Index to part 1.
The Hako, a Pawnee ceremony, by Alice C. Fletcher, holder of Thaw fellowship,
Peabody Museum, Harvard University. PI. LXXXIII-XCI, fig. 169-178.
Index to part 2.
Twenty-third annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology
to the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1901-02 by W J
McGee acting director In two parts part 1 [-2] [Vignette] Wash
ington Government Printing Office 1904
Roy. 8 C . Two parts. In preparation.
Report of the Acting Director.
The Pima Indians of Arizona, by Frank Russell.
Index to part 1.
Esoteric and exoteric life of the Zufii Indians, by Matilda Uoxe Stevenson.
Index to part 2.
BULLETINS
(1). Bibliography of the Eskimo language by .lames Constant! ne
Pilling 1887
8. v. 116 1 p. (incl. 8 p. of facsimiles).
(2). Perforated stones from California by Henry \V. Hensliaw
1887
8. 34p..lb iig.
(3). The use of gold and other metals among the ancient inhabitants
of Chiriqui, Isthmus of Darien by William H. Holmes 1887
8. 27 p.. 22 fig.
(1). Work in mound exploration of the Bureau of Ethnology by-
Cyrus Thomas 1887
S. 15 p.. 1 tig.
(5). Bibliography of the Siouan languages by James Constantino
Pilling 1887
8. v, 87 p.
(6). Bibliography of the Iroquoian languages by James C. Pilling
1888 [1889]
8. vi, 208 p. (incl. 4 p. facsimiles), 5 unnumbered facsimiles.
Out ofjrrint.
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS ccvn
(7). Textile fabrics of undent Peru by William II. Holmes 1S89
8. 17 p.. 11 %.
(8). The problem of the Ohio mounds by Cyrus Thomas 18*9
8. 54 p., 8 tig.
(9). Bibliography of the Muskhogean languages by .lames Con
stantino Pilling 1889
8. v, 114 p. Out f print.
(10). The circular, square, and octagonal earthworks of Ohio by
Cyrus Thomas 1889
8". 35 p.. 11 pi., 5 tig. Out i if jiriiit.
(11). Omaha and Ponka letters by James Owen Dorsey 1891
8. 127 p.
(12). Catalogue of prehistoric works east of the Rocky mountains
by Cyrus Thomas 1891
8-. 246 p., 17 pi. and maps.
(13). Bibliography of the Algonquian languages by .lames Con-
stantine Pilling 1891 [1892]
8. x, 614 p., 82 facsimiles. Out uf print.
(14). Bibliography of the Athapascan languages by .lames Con-
stantine Pilling 1892
8. xin, 125 p. (incl. 4 p. facsimiles).
(15). Bibliography of the Chinookan languages (including the Chi
nook jargon) by James Constantine Pilling 1893
8. xin, 81 p. (incl. 3 p. facsimiles).
(10). Bibliography of the Salishan languages by James Constan
tine Pilling 1893
8 C . xm, 86 p. (incl. 4 p. facsimiles).
(17). The Pamunkey Indians of Virginia by Jno. Garland Pollard
1894
8 C . 19 p.
(18). The Maya year by Cyrus Thomas 1894
8 C . >4 p., 1 pi.
(19). Bibliography of the Wakashan languages by James Constan
tine Pilling 1894
8 C . xi, 70 p. (incl. 2 p. facsimiles).
(20). Chinook texts by Franz Boas 1894 [1895]
8. 278 p., 1 pi.
(21). An ancient quarry in Indian Territory by William Henry
Holmes 1894
8 C . 19 p., 12 pi., 7 tig.
CC VIIJ BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
( 2-2). The Siouan tribes of the East by James Mooney 1894 [1895]
8 . lil p., map.
(23). Archeologic investigations in James and Potomac valleys
by Gerard Fowke 1894 [1895]
8. 80 p., 17 tig.
(24). List of the publications of the Bureau of Ethnology with index
to authors and subjects by Frederick Webb Hodge 1894
S-. 25 p.
25. Natick dictionary by James Hammond Trumbull 1903
Roy. 8 . xxviii, 349 p.
20. Kathlamet texts by Fran/ Boas 1901
Roy. 8. 261 p.. L pi.
27. Tsimshian texts by Fran/ Boas 1902
Roy. 8-. 244 p.
28. Haida texts by John R. Swanton In preparation.
29. Mexican and Central American antiquities and calendar sys
tems Nine papers by Eduard Seler translated from the German
under the supervision of Charles P. Bowditch In preparation.
30. Mayan antiquities, calendar systems, and history Twenty
papers by E. Forstomann, Paul Schellhas. Carl Sapper, Eduard Beler,
and E. P. Dieseldorff translated from the German under the super
vision of Charles P. Bowditch In preparation.
31. Kwakiutl texts by Franz Boas In preparation.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO NORTH AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
(All af the volume* of this series are out of print)
Department of the Interior U. S. Geographical and Geological
Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region J. W. Powell in charge
Contributions to North American ethnology Volume I [-VII. IX]
[Seal of the department] Washington Government Printing Office
1877 [-18931
4 3 . 9 vols.
Contents
VOLUME I, 1877:
Part i. Tribes of the extreme Northwest, by W. H. Pall. 1 . 1-106, 10 unnum
bered pi., 9 unnumbered fig., pocket map.
On the distribution and nomenclature of the native tribe? of Alaska and
the adjacent territory. P. 7-40, pocket map.
On succession in the shell-heaps of the Aleutian islands. P. 41-91, 10 pi.,
9 fig.
On the origin of the Innuit. P. 93-106.
Appendix to part i. Linguistics. P. 107-156.
Notes on the natives of Alaska (communicated to the late George (iibbs,
M. D., in 1862), by His Excellency J. Furuhelm, late governor of the
Russian-American colonies. P. 111-116.
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS CCIX
VOLUME I Continued.
Part i Continued.
Terms .of relationship used by the Innuit: a series obtained from natives
of Cumberland inlet, by \V. II. Dal I. P. 117-1111.
Vocabularies [by George (iibbs and \V. II. Dall]. P. 121-153.
Note on the use of numerals among the T sim si-an , by George Gibbs,
M. D. P. 155-156.
Part ii. Tribes of western Washington and northwestern Oregon, by George
Gibbs, M. D. P. 157-241, pocket map.
Appendix to part n. Linguistics. P. 243-361.
Vocabularies [by George Gibbs, Win. F. Tolmie, and G. Mengarini].
P. 247-283.
Dictionary of the Niskwalli [Nisqualli-English and Knglish-Nisqualli], by
George Gibbs. P. 285-361.
VOLUME II, 1890 [1891]:
The Klamath Indians of southwestern Oregon, by Albert Samuel Gatschet.
Two parts, cvii, 711 p., map; iii, 711 p.
VOLUME III, 1877:
Tribes of California, by Stephen Powers. 635 p., frontispiece, 44 fig. (incl. 42
pi. ), 3 p. music, pocket map.
Appendix. Linguistics, edited by .1. \V. Powell. P. 439-613.
VOLUME IV, 1881 :
Houses and house-life of the American aborigines, by Lewis H. Morgan, xiv,
281 p., frontispiece, 57 fig. (incl. 28 pi.).
VOLUME V, 1882:
Observations on cup-shaped and other lapidarian sculptures in the Old World
and in America, by Charles Ran. 1881. 112 p., 61 fig. (forming 35 pis. ).
On prehistoric trephining and cranial amulets, by Robert Fletcher, M. R. C. S.
Eng., act. asst. surgeon U. S. Army. 1882. 32 p., 9 pi., 2 fig.
A study of the manuscript Troano, by Cyrus Thomas Ph. D., with an introduc
tion by D. G. Brinton, M. D. 1882. xxxvii, 237 p., 9 pi., 101 fig., 25 small
unnumbered cuts.
VOLUME VI, 1890 [1892]:
The Cegiha language, by James Owen Dorsey. xviii, 794 p.
VOLUME VII, 1890 [1892]:
A Dakota-English dictionary, by Stephen Return Riggs, edited by James Owen
Dorsey. x, 665 p.
VOLUME VIII:
[XoTK. As was announced in the list of publications issued as Bulletin 24, it was
the intention to publish Professor Holmes memoir on the pottery of the
eastern United States as Volume VIII of the Contributions, but as the act
of January 12, 1895, failed to provide for the completion of this series, the
eighth volume will not be published.]
VOLUME IX, 1893 [1894]:
Dakota grammar, texts, and ethnography, by Stephen Return Riggs, edited by
James Owen Dorsey. x.xxii, 239 p.
20 ETH 03 XIV
BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
INTRODUCTIONS
(All of the volumes of this series are out of print)
(1). Introduction to the study of Indian languages, with words,
phrases, and sentences to be collected. By J. W. Powell. [Seal of
the Department of the Interior.] Washington: Government Printing
Office. 1877.
4. 104 p., 10 blank leaves.
Second edition as follows:
(2). Smithsonian Institution Bureau of Ethnology J. W. Powell
director Introduction to the study of Indian languages with words,
phrases and sentences to be collected by J. W. Powell Second
edition with charts Washington Government Printing Office 1880
\ xi, 228 p., 10 blank leaves, 4 kinship charts in pocket. A 16
"Alphabet" of 2 leaves accompanies the work.
(3). Smithsonian Institution Bureau of Ethnology Introduction
to the study of sign language among the North American Indians as
illustrating the gesture speech of mankind by Garrick Mallery bre
vet lieut. col., U. S. army Washington Government Printing Office
1880
4. iv, 72 p., 33 unnumbered rigs.
(4). Smithsonian Institution Bureau of Ethnology J. W. Powell,
director Introduction to the study of mortuary customs among the
North American Indians by Dr. H. C. Yarrow act. asst. surg.
U. S. A. Washington Government Printing Office 1880
4. ix, 114 p.
MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS
(All of the. irorkx in this series are out of print)
(1). Smithsonian Institution Bureau of Ethnology .1. W.Powell,
director A collection of gesture-signs and signals of the North
American I ndians with some comparisons by Garrick Mallery brevet
lieut. col. and formerly acting chief signal officer, U. S. army Dis
tributed only to collaborators Washington Government Printing
Office 1880
4. 32!) p.
NOTE. 250 copies printed for use of collaborators only.
(2). Smithsonian Institution Bureau of Ethnology J. W. Powell
director Proof -sheets of a bibliography of the languages of the North
American Indians by James Constantino Pilling (Distributed only to
collaborators) Washington Government Printing Office 1885
4. XL, 1135 p., 2!) pi. (facsimiles).
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS OCXI
NOTE. Only 110 copies printed for the use of collaborators, 10 of them on one side
of the sheet.
It was the intention to have this Bibliography form Volume X of the Contribu
tions to North American Ethnology, but tin- work assumed such proportions that it
was subsequently deemed advisable to publish it as a part of the series of Bulletins,
devoting a Bulletin to each linguistic stock.
(3). Linguistic families of the Indian tribes north of Mexico, with
provisional list of the principal tribal names and synonyms. [1885J
1(5. 55 p.
NOTE. A few copies" printed for the use of the compilers of a Dictionary of Ameri
can Indians now in preparation. It is without title-page, name, or date, but was
compiled from a manuscript list of Indian tribes by James Mooney.
(i). [Map of] Linguistic stocks of American Indians north of Mexico
by J. W. Powell. [1891.]
NOTE. A limited edition of this map, which forms plate i of the Seventh Annual
Report, was issued 011 heavy paper, 19 by 22 inches, for the use of students. This
map was revised and published in the Report on Indians Taxed and Not Taxed in the
United States at the Eleventh Census, 1890.
(5). Tribes of North America, with synonymy. Skittagetan family.
[1890] i\ 13 p.
NOTE. A few copies printed for the use of the compilers of the Dictionary of
American Indians. It was prepared by H. W. Henshaw, and contains two samples
of style for the Dictionary, the second beginning on page 7 with the head, " Diction
ary of Indian tribal names."
(6). Advance pages Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American
Ethnology Dictionary of American Indians north of Mexico . . .
[Vignette] Washington 1903 8. 33 p.
NOTE. Prepared by F. W. Hodge. Two hundred and fifty copies printed by the
Smithsonian Institution for the use of the compilers of the Dictionary.
INDEX TO AUTHORS AND TITLES
A = Annual Report. B = Bulletin. C=( ontributions to North American Ethnology.
1 Introduction. M = Miseellaneous publications.
Acti vital similarities (Powell) A in, Ixv.
Activities. See Esthetology; Technology: Philology; Sociology;
Sophiology.
Alaska, Notes on the natives of (Furuhelm) C i, 111.
Algoiiquian languages, Bibliography of the (Pilling) 15 13.
Amulets, cranial, Prehistoric trephining and (R. Fletcher) C v.
Animal carvings from mounds of the Mississippi valley (Hen-
shaw ) A ii, 1 17.
Anthropologic data, Limitations to the use of some (Powell) A i, 71.
Antiquities; Mayan calendar systems, history, and ( Furetemann,
Schellhas, Sapper, Seler, Dieseldorff ) ]? 30.
Mexican and Central American calendar systems and (Seler) . .B 29.
Apache, The medicine-men of the (Bourke) A ix. 443.
Archeologic investigations in James and Potomac valleys
( Fowke) B L 3.
Archeological expedition to Arizona in 1895 ( Fewkes) A xvn, 519.
Architecture of Tusayan and Oibola ( V. Mindeleff) A vm, 3.
Arizona, Aboriginal remains in Verde valley in (C. Mindeleff). ..A xm, 179.
Archeological expedition to, in 1895 (Fewkes) A x vn, 510.
The cliff ruins of Canyon de Chelly in (C. Mindeleff) A xvi, 73.
Illustrated catalogue of collections from, in 1879 (J. Stevenson). A n, 307.
in 1881 (J. Stevenson) A in, 511.
The Pima Indians of (Russell) A xxm.
See Casa Grande; Tusayan.
Art, Ancient, of the province of Chiriqui, Colombia (Holmes) ..A vi, 3.
ceramic, Form and ornament in (Holmes) A iv, 437.
in shell of the ancient Americans (Holmes) A n, 179.
Prehistoric textile, of eastern United States (Holmes) A xm, 3.
Stone (Fowke) A xm, 47.
textile, A study of the (Holmes) A vi, 189.
Artists, native, Hopi katcinas drawn by ( Fewkes) A xxi, 3.
Athapascan languages, Bibliography of the (Pilling) B 14.
Bering Strait, Eskimo about (Nelson) A xvm, 3.
Bibliography of the Algonquian languages (Pilling) B 13.
of the Athapascan languages ( Pilling) B 14.
of the Chinookan languages, including the Chinook jargon
(Pilling) B 15.
ot the Eskimo language (Pilling) B 1.
of the Iroquoian languages (Pilling) B 6.
of the languages of the North American Indians, Proof sheets of
(Pilling) M 2.
of the Muskhogean languages ( Pilling) B 9.
of the Sahshan languages (Pilling) B Hi.
CCXIV
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
graphy of the Siouan languages (Pilling) B 5.
of the Wakashan languages ( Pilling) P> 19.
Boas, Fran/. The Central Kskimo A vi, 399.
Chinook texts B 20.
Kathlamet texts B 2<>.
K wakiutl texts B 81.
Tsiinahian texts 1! 27.
Bourke, John (1. The medicine-men of the Apache A ix, 443.
Bowditch, C. P. [Papers translated under the supervision of ] . . B 29 and 30.
Briuton, .Daniel (J. The graphic system and ancient methods of
the Mayas C v (pt. 3), xvii.
Calendar history of the Kio\va Indians (Mooney) A xvn, 129.
Calendar systems, Mayan (Thomas) _ A xi.x, 693, and
xxn.
Mayan antiquities, history, and ( Fdrstemann, Schellhas, Sapper,
Seler, Dieseldorff ) B
Mexican and Central American antiquities and (Seler) B
California, Perforated stones from (Henshaw) B 2.
Trihes of (Powers) C in.
Carvings, Animal, from mounds of the Mississippi valley (Hen
shaw) A n, 117.
Casa Grande ruin (C. Mindeleff ) A xin, 289.
The repair of, in 1891 (C. Mindeleff) A xv, 315.
Catalogue of collections from New Mexico and Arizona in 1879
(J. Stevenson) A n, 307.
of collections from New Mexico in 18HO (J. Stevenson) A n, 423.
of collections from puehlos in 1881 (J. Stevenson) A in, 511.
of collections made in 1881 (Holmes) A in, 427.
of linguistic manuscripts in the library of the Bureau of Kth-
nology (Pilling) A i, 553.
of prehistoric works east of the Rocky mountains (Thomas) B 12.
ffegiha language, The (Dorsey) C vi.
Central America, numeral systems of Mexico and (Thomas) A xix, 853.
Central American picture-writing, Studies in (Holden) A i, 205.
Central American and Mexican antiquities and calendar systems
(Seler) B 29.
Ceremonial of Hasjelti Dailjis and mythical sand painting of the
Navajo (J. Stevenson) A vin, 229.
Ceremonies, Tusayan Snake (Fewkes) A xvi, 267.
Ceremony ; The Hako, A Pawnee (A . Fletcher) A xxn.
Cessions, Indian land, in the United States (Royce-Thomas) A xviii, 521.
of land by Indian tribes to the United States (Royce) A i, 247.
Cherokee, Myths of the (Mooney) A xix, 3.
nation of Indians, The (Royce) A v, 121.
The sacred formulas of the (Mooney) A vn, 301.
Chinook texts ( Boas) B 20.
Chinookan languages, Bibliography of the (Pilling) B 15.
Chiriqui, Columbia, Ancient art of the province of (Holmes) A vi, 3.
Isthmus of Darien, The use of gold and other metals among the
ancient inhabitants of (Holmes) B 3.
Cibola, Architecture of Tusayan and (V. Mindeleff) A vni, 3.
See Zufii.
Clans, Tusayan, Localization of (C. Mindeleff) A xix, 635.
Cliff ruins of Canyon de Chelly, Arizona (C. Mindeleff) A xvi, 73.
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS CCXV
Codices, Aids to the study of the Maya (Thomas) A vi, 253.
Collections, Illustrated catalogue of, from New Mexico and Arizona
in 1879 (J. Stevenson) A n, 307.
from New Mexico in 1880 (J. Stevenson) A n, 423.
from pueblos in 1881 (J.Stevenson) A in, 511.
made in 1881 (Holmes) A in, 427.
Coronado expedition, 1540-1542, The ( Winship) A xiv, 329.
Cosmogony, Iroquois (Hewitt) A xxi, 127.
Cults, Simian, A study of (Dorsey) - -A xi, 351.
Cup-shaped and other lapidarian sculptures (Ran) C v.
dishing, F. 1 1. Zufii fetiches, . - A n, 3.
Pueblo pottery as illustrative of 7uni culture growth A iv, 467.
Outlines of Zuiii creation myths A xin, 321.
Dakota-English dictionary, A (Riggs) . -C vn.
Dakota grammar, texts, and ethnography (Riggs) C ix.
Dall, William H. Tribes of the extreme Northwest C i, 1 .
Terms of relationship used by the Innuit C i, 117.
On masks, labrets, and certain aboriginal customs A in, 67.
and (iibbs, George. Vocabularies of tribes of the extreme
Northwest C i, 121 .
Day symbols of the Maya year (Thomas) A xvi, 199.
Dictionary, A Dakota-English (Riggs) . . C vn.
Natick." B 25.
of American Indians north of Mexico. Advance pages (Hodge). M 6.
Dieseldorff, E. P., and others. Mayan antiquities, calendar sys
tems, and history B 30.
Dorsey, J. Owen. The (fegiha language C vi.
Illustration of the method of recording Indian languages A i, 579.
Omaha and Ponka letters B 11.
Omaha dwellings, furniture, and implements A xin, 263.
Omaha sociology -A in, 205.
Osage traditions ...A vi, 373.
Siouan sociology A x v, 205.
A study of Siouan cults A xi, 351.
editor. A Dakota- English dictionary, by Stephen Return Riggs. C vn.
Dakota grammar, texts, and ethnography, by S. R. Riggs ...C ix.
Dwellings, furniture, and implements, Omaha (Dorsey) A xin, 263.
Earthworks, The circular, square, and octagonal, of Ohio
(Thomas) --B 10.
Economics, primitive, A study in American (Jenks).. ..A xix, 1013.
Eskimo about Bering strait, The (Nelson) . . . . A xvni, 3.
language, Bibliography of the (Pilling) ... --B 1.
The central (Boas) --A vi, 399.
See Point Barrow; TJngava district.
Esoteric and exoteric life of the Zufiis (M. C. Stevenson).. ..A xxin.
Esthetology, or the science of activities designed to give pleasure
(Powell) -- A Jix.lv.
Ethnography, grammar, and texts, Dakota (Riggs).. --C ix.
Ethnology of the Ungava district (Turner) - A xi, 159.
Evolution of language (Powell) .. -A i, 1.
Expression; Philology, or the science of activities designed for
(Powell) A xx >
CCXVI BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
Fetiches, Zuni ( Crushing) A n, :i.
Fewkes, J. W. Archeological expedition to Arizona in 1895 A xvn, 519.
Hopi kateinas, drawn by native artists A xxi, 3.
Tusayan Flute and Snake ceremonies A xix, 957.
Tusayan katcinas A x v, 245.
Tusayan migration traditions A xix, 573.
Tusayan Snake ceremonies A xvi, 267.
Two summers work in pueblo ruins A xxn.
Fletcber, Alice 0. The Hako: a Pawnee ceremony A xxn.
Fletcher, Robert. On prehistoric trephining and cranial amulets. C v.
Florida, The Seminole Indians of ( MacCanley ) A v, 469.
Flute and Snake ceremonies, Tusayan (Fewkes) A xix, 957.
Form and ornaments in ceramic art (Holmes) A iv, 437.
Formulas, Sacred, of the Cherokees (Mooney) A vn, 301.
Forstemann, E. , and others. Mayan antiquities, calendar sys
tems, and history B 30.
Fowke, Gerard. Stone art A xin, 47.
Archeologic investigations in James and Potomac valleys I! 2:i.
Furniture, dwellings, and implements, Omaha (Dorsey) A xin, 263.
Furuhelm, J. Notes on the natives of Alaska C i, 111.
Gann, Thomas. Mounds in northern Honduras A xix, 655.
Gatschet, Albert S. Illustration of the method of recording In
dian languages A i, 579.
The Klamath Indians of southwestern Oregon C n.
Gesture signsand signals of the North American I ndians ( Mallery ) . M 1 .
Gesture speech, Introduction to the study of sign language as
illustrating (Mallery) _ I 3.
Ghost-dance religion (Mooney) A xiv, 641.
Gibbs, George. Notes on the use of numerals among the T sim
si-an C i,
Tribes of western Washington and northwestern Oregon C i,
and Dall, W. II. Vocabularies of tribes of the extreme north
west _ C i, 1 21.
Gold and other metals, ( T se of, among the ancient inhabitants of
Chiri(]iii (Holmes) B 3.
Grammar, texts, and ethnography, Dakota (Riggs) C ix.
Graphic system and ancient methods of the Mayas (Brinton) C v (pt. 3), xvii.
llaida texts (Swanton) B 28.
Hako (The): a Pawnee ceremony (A. C. Fletcher) A xxn.
Hasjelti Dailjis ceremonial of the Navajo (J. Stevenson) A vm, 229.
Henshaw, H. \V. Animal carvings from mounds of the Missis
sippi valley A n, 117.
Perforated stones from California B 2.
Tribes of North America, with synonymy. Skittagetan family .M 5.
Hewitt, J. N. H. Comparative lexicology (of the Serian and
Yuman languages ) A xvn, 299*.
Iroquois cosmogony A xxi, 127.
History; Mayan antiquities, calendar systems, and (Forstemann,
Schellhas, Sapper, Seler, Dieseldorff) B 30.
Hodge, F. W. Advance pages. Dictionary of American Indians
north of Mexico M 6.
List of publications of the Bureau of Ethnology with index to
authors and subjects ..B 24.
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS CCXVII
Hoffman. W. ,1. The Mide niwin or "grand medicine society"
of the Ojibwa A vn, 143.
The Menomini Indians A xiv, X.
Holden, E. P. Studies in Central American picture writing A i, 205.
Holmes, W. H. Aboriginal pottery of the eastern United States. A x.v, 1.
An ancient quarry in Indian Territory B 21 .
Ancient art of the province! of Chiriqui, Colombia A vi, , i.
Ancient pottery of the Mississippi valley A iv, 361.
Art in shell of the ancient Americans . . . A n, 179.
Illustrated catalogue of a portion of the collections made by the
Bureau of Ethnology during the field season of 1881 A in. 427.
Introduction toarcheologic investigations in James and Potomac
valleys (Fowke) B 2:i.
Origin and development of form and ornament in ceramic art. .A iv, 437.
Pottery of the ancient pueblos A iv, 257.
Prehistoric textile art of eastern United States A xm, 3.
Prehistoric textile fabrics of the United States, derived from
impressions on pottery A in, 393.
Stone implements of the Potomac-Chesapeake tidewater prov
ince A xv, 3.
A study of the textile art in its relation to the development of
form and ornament A vi, 189.
Textile, fabrics of ancient Peru B 7.
The use of gold and other metals among the ancient inhabitants
of Chiriqui, Isthmus of Darien B 3.
Honduras, northern, Mounds in (Gann ) A xix, 655.
Hopi katcinas, drawn by native artists (Fewkes) A xxi, 3.
See also Tusayan.
1 louses and house-life of the American aborigines (Morgan) C iv.
Houses, Navaho (C. Mindeleff) A xvn, 469.
Hudson Bay territory, Ethnology of the Ungava district (Turner) . A xi, 159.
Illustrated catalogue of collections made in 1881 (Holmes) A in, 427.
of collections from New Mexico and Arizona in 1879 (J. Ste
venson) A n, 307.
of collections from Xew Mexico in 1880 (.1. Stevenson) A n, 423.
of collections from pueblos in 1881 (J. Stevenson) A in, 511.
Illustration of the method of recording Indian languages (Dorsey,
< Jatschet, Riggs) A i, 579.
Implements, Omaha dwellings, furniture, and (Dorsey) A xin, 263.
Stone, of the Potomac-Chesapeake tidewater province
( Holmes) \ xv, 3.
Indian Territory, Ancient quarry in (Holmes) B 21.
Industries; Technology, or the science of (Powell) A xx, xxix.
Innuit, Terms of relationship used by the (Dall) C i, 117.
Institutions; Sociology, or the science of ( Powell ) A xx, lix.
Instruction; Sophiology, or the science of activities designed to
give (Powell) A xx, clxxi.
Introduction to the study of Indian languages ( Powell) I 1 and 2.
to the study of mortuary customs (Yarrow) I 4.
to the study of sign language (Mallery ) I 3.
Iroquoian languages, Bibliography of the (Pilling) B 6.
Iroquois cosmogony (Hewitt) A xxi, 127.
Iroquois, Myths of the (Smith ) A n, 47.
CCXVIII BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
James and Potomac valleys, Archeologic investigations in
(Fowke) "- --B 23.
.Tenks, Albert Ernest. Wild-rice gatherers of the upper lakes. ..A xix, 1013.
Justice; Sociology, or the science of activities designed for
(Powell) --.--- --A xx, lix.
Katcinas, Hopi, drawn by native artists (Fewkes).. ..A xxi, :!.
Tusayan (Fewkes) - A xv, 245.
Kat blamet texts ( Boas) - - B 26.
Kiowa Indians, Calendar history of the (Mooney).. .-A xvn, 129.
Klamath Indians of southwestern Oregon, The (Gatschet) C n.
Kwakiutl texts (Boas) --B 31.
Labrets, masks, and certain aboriginal customs (Ball) A in, 67.
Land cessions, Indian, in the United States (Royce-Thomas) A xvm, 521.
Language, The ffegiha ( Dorsey ) . . . VI.
Evolution of (Powell) ---A i, 1.
Philology, or the science of (Powell) A xx, cxxxix.
Languages, Indian, Illustration of the method of recording (Dor
sey, Gatschet, Riggs) A i, r "9.
Introduction to the study of (Powell) I 1 and 2.
of the North American Indians, Proof sheets of a bibliography
of the (Pilling) ----M 2.
See Bibliography.
Letters, Omaha and Ponka (Dorsey) B 11.
Lexicology, Comparative, of the Senan and Yuman languages
(Hewitt) A xvm, 299*.
Limitations to the use of some anthropologic data (Powell) . ...A i, 71.
Linguistic families of America north of Mexico, Indian (Powell). A vn, 1.
of the Indian tribes north of Mexico (Mooney) M 3.
Linguistic manuscripts in the library of the Bureau of Ethnology,
Catalogue of (Pilling) A i, 553.
Linguistic stocks north of Mexico, map of (Powell) M. 4.
List of publications of the Bureau of Ethnology ( Hodge ) B 24.
MacCauley, Clay. The Seminole Indians of Florida A v, 469.
McGee, W J. Preface to the Pamunkey Indians of Virginia
(Pollard )
Prefatory note to the Maya year (Thomas)..
Primitive numbers A xix, 821.
The Seri Indians --A xvn, 1.
The Siouan Indians A xv, 153.
and Mufiiz, M. A. Primitive trephining in Peru.. .-A xvi, 3.
Mallery , Garrick. A collection of gesture signs and signals of the
North American Indians, with some comparisons.. . -M 1.
Introduction to the study of sign language among the North
American Indians as illustrating the gesture speech of man
kind --- 1 3 -
Pictograpbs of the North American Indians. A preliminary
paper A iv, 3.
Picture-writing of the American Indians A x, 3.
Sign language among North American Indians compared with
that among other peoples and deaf-mutes A i, 2t>3.
Manuscripts, linguistic, in the library of the Bureau of Ethnology,
Catalogue of (Pilling) A i, 553.
Notes on certain Maya and Mexican. (Thomas) A
Manuscript Troano, A study of the (Thomas) C
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS CCXIX
Map of linguistic stocks north of Mexico (Powell) M 4.
Masks, labrets, and certain aboriginal customs (I)all) A in, 67.
Massachusetts. See Natick.
Matthews, Washington. Navajo silversmiths \ n, 167.
Navajo weavers A 1 1 1 , 371 .
The mountain chant: a Navajo ceremony A v, 379.
Maya codices, Aids to the study of the (Thomas) \ vi, 253.
Maya and Mexican manuscripts, Notes on certain (Thomas) A in, 3.
Maya year (Thomas) B 18.
Day symbols of the (Thomas) V xvi, 199.
Mayan antiquities, calendar systems, and history (Fdrsteniann,
Schellhas, SapjH-r, Seler, Dieseldorff) B 80.
Mayan calendar systems (Thomas) \ xix, 693, and
XXII.
Mayas, Graphic system and ancient methods of the ( Brinton) . . .0 v (pt. 3) , xvii.
Medicine-men of the Apache, The (Bourke) A ix, 443.
Menumini Indians, The (Hoffman) \ xiv, 3.
Metals, Use of gold and other, among the ancient inhabitants of
Chiriqui (Holmes) B 3.
Mexican and Central American antiquities and calendar systems
( Seler) B 29.
Mexican and Maya manuscripts, Notes on certain (Thomas) A in, 3.
Mexico and Central America, Numeral systems of (Thomas) A xix, 853.
Mide wiwin or "grand medicine society" of the Ojibwa, The
(Hoffman) A vn, 143.
Migration traditions, Tusayan (Fewkes) A xix, 573.
Mindeleff, C. Aboriginal remains in Verde valley, Arizona \ xm, 179.
Casa Grande ruin A xm, 289.
Cliff ruins of Canyon de Chelly, Arizona A xvi, 73.
Localization of Tusayan clans A xix, 635.
Navaho houses A x vn, 469.
Repair of Casa Grande ruin in 1891 A xv, 315.
Mindeleff, V. A study of pueblo architecture: Tusayan and
Cibola A vm, 3.
Mississippi valley, Animal carvings from the mounds of the
(Henshaw) A n, 117.
Ancient pottery of the ( Holmes) A iv, 361.
Mooney, James. Calendar history of the Kiowa Indians A xvn, 129.
The Ghost-dance religion, with a sketch of the Sioux outbreak
of 1890 A xiv, 041.
Linguistic families of Indian tribes north of Mexico M 3.
Myths of the Cherokee A xix, 3.
Sacred formulas of the Cherokees A vn, 301.
Siouan tribes of the East B 22.
Morgan, Lewis H. Houses and house-life of the American abo
rigines C iv.
Mortuary customs, Introduction to the study of (Yarrow) I 4.
of the North American Indians ( Yarrow ) A i, 87.
Mound explorations of the Bureau of Ethnology (Thomas) A xn, 3; B 4.
Mounds, Burial, of the northern sections of the United States
(Thomas) A v, 3.
in northern Honduras (CJann ) A xix, 655.
of the Mississippi valley, Animal carvings from the ( Henshaw ) . A n, 1 17.
Ohio, The proIMem of the (.Thomas) B 8.
prehistoric, east of the Rocky mountains, Catalogue of (Thomas) . B 12.
CCXX 15URKAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
Mountain cluuit: u Navajo ceremony (Matthews) A v, .37!).
Mnfiiz, M. A., and McGee, W .1. Primitive trephining in Peru.. A xvi, :i.
Murdoch, John. Ethnological results of the 1 oint Harrow expe
dition A ix, . i.
I lJitur. Kthnology of the Ungava district, Hudson Bay terri
tory, by Lucien M. Turner A xi, 1 59.
Mnskhogean languages, Bibliography of the (Pilling) K 9.
Mythology of the North American Indians (Powell) A i, 17.
Myths, Zufii creation, Outlines of (Gushing) A xm, 1521.
of the Cherokee (Mooney) A xix, 3.
of the Iroquois (Smith) A n, 47.
Natick dictionary (Trumbull) B 25.
Navaho houses (C. Mindeleff ) A xvn, 469.
Navajo ceremony, The mountain chant, a (Matthews ) A v, 379.
Navajo Indians, Ceremonial of Hasjelti Dailjis and mythical sand
pointing of the (J. Stevenson) A vm, 229.
Navajo silversmiths (Matthews) A n, 167.
Navajo weavers (Matthews) \ in, 371.
Nelson. K. W. The Eskimo about Bering strait A xvni, 3.
New Mexico, Illustrated catalogue of collections from, in 1879
(J. Stevenson) A n, 307.
in 1880 (J. Stevenson) A n, 423.
in 1881 (J. Stevenson) A in, 511.
Northwest, extreme, Tribes of the (Ball) i, 1.
Notes on the natives of Alaska (Furuhelm) C i, 111.
Numbers, primitive (Mc(iee) \ xix, 821.
Numerals, Note on the use of, among the T sim si-an (Gibbs) . . .( i, 155.
Numeral systems of Mexico and Central America (Thomas) A xix, 853.
Ohio, The circular, square, and octagonal earth works of (Thomas) .1! 10.
Ohio mounds, The problem of the (Thomas) B 8.
Ojibwa, The Mide wiwin or "grand medicine society" of the
(Hoffman) ." A vn, 143.
Omaha and Ponka letters (Dorsey) B 11.
Omaha dwellings, furniture, and implements (Dorsey) A xni, 263.
Omaha sociology (Dorsey) A in, 205.
Opinions; Sophiology, or the science of (Powell) A xx, clxxi.
Oregon, northwestern, Tribes of (Gibbs) C i, 157.
southwestern, The Klamath Indians of (Gatschet) C n.
Osage traditions (Dorsey) - A vi, 373.
Pamunkey Indians of Virginia (Pollard) I! 17.
Pawnee ceremony, The Hako, a ( A. C. Fletcher) A xxn.
Perforated stones from California (Henshaw) K 2.
Peru, ancient, Textile fabrics of ( Holmes) B 7.
Primitive trephining in (Mufliz-McGee) A xvi, 3.
Philology, or the science of activities designed for expression
(Powell) A xx, cxxxix.
Pictographa of the North American Indians Mallery) A iv, 3.
Picture-writing of the American Indians (Mallery) A x, 3.
Picture-writing, Studies in Central American (Holden) A i, 205.
Pilling, J. C. Bibliography of the Algonquian languages B 13.
Bibliography of the Athapascan languages B 14.
Bibliography of the Chinookan languages B 15.
Bibliography of the Eskimo language B 1.
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS CCXXI
Pilling, J. C. continued.
Bibliography of the Iroquoian languages 1!
Bibliography of the Muskhogean languages B
Bibliography of the Salishan languages B
Bibliography of the Siouan languages 15
Bibliography of the \Vakashan languages B
Catalogue of linguistic manuscripts in the library of the Bureau
of Ethnology A
Proof-sheets of a bibliography of the languages of the North
American Indians M 2.
Pima Indians of Arizona, The (Russell) A xxni.
Pleasure; Ksthetology, or the science of activities designed to give
(Powell) ....A xix, Iv.
Point Barrow expedition, Ethnological results of the (Murdoch). A ix, 3.
Pollard, J. (j. The Pamunkey Indians of Virginia B 17.
Ponka and Omaha letters (Dorsey) B 11.
Potomac and James valleys, Archeologic investigations in (Fowke)B 2.S.
Potomac-Chesapeake tidewater province, Stone implements of
(Holmes) A xv, 3.
Pottery, Aboriginal, of the eastern United States (Holmes) A xx, 3.
Ancient, of the Mississippi valley (Holmes) A iv, 361.
of the ancient pueblos ( Holmes ) A i v, 257.
Prehistoric textile fabrics of the United States, derived from
impressions on ( Holmes) A in, 393.
Pueblo, A study of, as illustrative of Xuiii culture growth
( Gushing ) A i v, 467.
Powell, J. W. Esthetology, or the science of activities designed
to give pleasure A xix, Iv.
Indian linguistic families of America north of Mexico A vn, 1.
Introduction to the study of Indian languages, with words,
phrases, and sentences to be collected I 1 and 2.
Map of linguistic stocks of American Indians north of Mexico. M 4.
On activital similarities A in, Ixv.
On limitations to the use of some anthropologic data A i, 71.
On regimentation A x v, civ.
On the evolution of language A i, 1.
Philology, or the science of activities designed for expression. A xx, cxxxix.
Sketch of the mythology of the North American Indians A i, 17.
Sociology, or the science of institutions A xx, lix.
Sophiology, or the science of activities designed to give instruc
tion A xx, clxxi.
Technology, or the science of industries A xx, xxix.
Wyandot government : a short study of tribal society A i, 57.
editor. Linguistics (of the tribes of California) C in, 439.
Powers, Stephen. Tribes of California C in.
Prehistoric trephining and cranial amulets (R. Fletcher) C v.
Primitive numbers (McGee) A xix, 821.
Problem of the Ohio mounds, The (Thomas) B 8.
Proof-sheets of a bibliography of the languages of the North
American Indians (Pilling) M 2.
Publications of the Bureau of Ethnology, List of (Hodge) B 24.
Pueblo architecture: Tusayan and Cibola (V. Mindeleff) A vin, 3.
Pueblo pottery as illustrative of Zufli culture growth (Gushing) . .A iv, 467.
Pueblo ruins, Two summers work in (Fewkes) A xxii.
Pueblos, ancient, Pottery of the ( Holmes) A iv, 257.
CCXXII BUREAU OK AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
Quarry, Ancient, in Indian Territory (Holmes) B 21.
Ran, ( harles. Observations on cup-shaped and other lapklarian
sculptures in the Old World and in America C v.
Regimentation (Powell ) . . A xv, ci v.
Relationship, Terms of, used by the Innuit (Ball) C i, 117.
Religion, Ghost-dance (Mooney) A xiv, 641.
Religious life of the Zuni child (M. C. Stevenson) A v, 533.
Rice gatherers of the upper lakes ( Jenks) A xix, 1013.
Kiggs, Stephen R. Dakota-English dictionary C vn.
Dakota grammar, texts, and ethnography C ix.
Illustration of the method of recording Indian languages A i, 579.
Royce, C. C. Cessions of land by Indian tribes to the United
States: illustrated by those in the state of Indiana A i, 247.
The Cherokee nation of Indians A v, 121.
Indian land cessions in the United States A xvm, 521.
Ruin, Casa Grande (C. Mindeleff ) A xm, 289.
Repair of, in 1891 (C. Mindeleff) A xv, 315.
Ruins, Cliff, of Canyon de Chelly (C. Mindeleff) A xvi, 73.
pueblo, Two summers work in ( Fewkes ) A xxn.
Russell, Frank. The Pima Indians of Arizona A xxm.
Sacred formulas of the Cherokees (Mooney) A vn, 301.
Salishan languages, Bibliography of the (Pilling) B 16.
.Sand painting of the Navajo Indians, Mythical (J. Stevenson) . . . A vm, 229.
Sapper, Carl, and others. Mayan antiquities, calendar systems,
and history B 30.
Schellhas, Paul, and others. Mayan antiquities, calendar systems,
and history B 30.
Sculptures, cup-shaped and other lapidarian, Observations on
(Ran).... C v, 1.
Seler, Eduard. Mexican and Central American antiquities and
calendar systems B 29.
and others. Mayan antiquities, calendar systems, and history. B 30.
Seminole Indians of Florida, The (MacCauley ) A v, 469.
Seri Indians, The (McGee) A XVH, 1.
Sedan and Yuman languages, Comparative lexicology of (Hewitt). A xvn, 299*.
Shell, Art in, of the ancient Americans (Holmes) A n, 179.
Sia, The (M. ( . Stevenson) A xi, 3.
Sign language among North American Indians (Mallery) A i, 263.
Introduction to the study of (Mallery) I 3.
Signals, Gesture-signs and, of the North American Indians
(Mallery) M 1.
Silversmiths, Navajo (Matthews) A n, 167.
Similarities, activital (Powell) A in, Ixv.
Siouan cults, A study of (Dorsey ) A xi, 351.
Siouan Indians, The (McGee) - A xv, 153.
Siouan languages, Bibliography of the (Pilling) B 5.
Siouan sociology (Dorsey ) A xv, 205.
Siouan tribes of the Kast ( Mooney ) B 22.
Sioux outbreak of 1890 (Mooney) A xiv, 641.
Smith, Erminnie A. Myths of the Iroquois A n, 47.
Snake ceremonies, Tusayan ( Fewkes) A x vi, 267.
Snake and Flute ceremonies, Tusayan ( Fewkes ) A xix, 957.
Sociology, or the science of institutions (Powell) A xx, lix.
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS CCXXIII
Sociology, Omaha ( Dorsey) A in, 250.
Siouan (Dorsey) A xv, 205.
Sophiology, or the science of activities designed to give instruc
tion (Powell) A xx, clxxi.
Stevenson, James. Ceremonial of Hasjelti Dailjis and mythical
sand painting of the Xavajo Indians A vm, 229.
Illustrated catalogue of collections obtained from the Indians of
Ne\v Mexico and Arizona in 1879 A n, 307.
Illustrated catalogue of collections obtained from the Indians of
New Mexico in 1880 A n, 423.
Illustrated catalogue of collections obtained from the pueblos
of Zuni, Ne\v Mexico, and Wolpi, Arizona, in 1881 A in, 511.
Stevenson, Matilda C. Esoteric and exoteric life of the Zuni
Indians A xxni.
The religious life of the Zuni child A v, 533.
The Sia \ x i, 3.
Stevenson, Tilly E. See Stevenson, Matilda C.
Stone art (Fowke) A xni, 47.
Stone implements of the Potomac-Chesapeake tidewater province
( Holmes) A xv, 3.
Stones, Perforated, from California (llenshaw) B 2.
Studies in Central American picture-writing ( Holden ) A i, 205.
Study of Pueblo architecture, A ( V. Mindeleff ) A vin, 3.
Study of Siouan cults, A (Dorsey) A xi, 351.
Study of the manuscript Troano, A (Thomas) C v.
Svvanton, J. R. Haida texts B 28.
Symbols, Day, of the Maya year (Thomas) A xvi, 199.
Synonymy, Skittagetan ( Henshavv ) M 5.
Technology, or the science of industries (Powell) V xx, xxix.
Textile art, Form and ornament in ( Holmes) A vi, 189.
Prehistoric, of eastern United States (Holmes) A xin, 3.
Textile fabrics of ancient Peru ( Holmes) I! 7.
Prehistoric, of the United States (Holmes) A in, 393.
Texts, Chinook (Boas) B 20.
grammar, and ethnography, Dakota (Riggs) C ix.
Haida (Swanton) B 28.
Kvvakiutl (Boas) B 31.
Kathlamet (Boas) B 26.
Tsimshian (Boas) B 27.
Thomas, Cyrus. Aids to the study of the Maya codices A vi, 253.
Burial mounds of the northern sections of the United States... A v, 3.
Catalogue of prehistoric works east of the Rocky mountains B 12.
The circular, square, and octagonal earthworks of Ohio B 10.
Day symbols of the Maya year A x vj, 199.
Introduction to Indian land cessions (Royce) A xviii, 521.
Mayan calendar systems A xix, 693, and
XXII.
The Maya year B 18.
Notes on certain Maya and Mexican manuscripts A in, 3.
Numeral systems of Mexico and Central America A xix, 853.
The problem of the Ohio mounds B 8.
Report on the mound explorations of the Bureau of Ethnology .A xii, 3.
A study of the manuscript Troano C v.
Work in mound exploration of the Bureau of Ethnology B 4.
CCXXIV BUKKAI OK AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
Traditions, Osage ( Dorsey ) A vi, 373.
Tusayan migration ( Fewkes) A xi.\, 573.
Trephining, Prehistoric, and cranial amulets (R. Fletcher) C v.
Primitive, in Peru (Mufiiz-McGee) A xvi, 3.
Tribal society; Wyandot government: a short study of (Powell) ..A i, 57.
Tribes of California ( Powers) C in, 1.
of the extreme north west (Pall) ( i, 1.
of North America, with synonymy. Skittagetan family (Hen-
shaw ) M 5 -
of western Washington and northwestern Oregon ((Jibbs) C
Troano manuscript, A study of the (Thomas) C
Truinbull, J. H. Natick dictionary B
Tsimshian texts (Boas) B 27.
T sim si-an , Note on the use of numerals among the ((iibbs). .. .C i, 155.
Turner, Lucien M. Ethnology of the Ungava district. Hudson
Bay territory \ xi, 15*. .
Tusayan and Cibola, architecture of ( V. Mindeleff ) \ vin, 3.
Tusayan clans, Localization of (C. Mindeleff) \ xix, 635.
Tusayan Flute and Snake ceremonies (Fewkes) A \ix, 957.
Tusayan katcinas (Fewkes) A xv, 245.
Tusayan migration traditions (Fewkes) \ xix, 573.
Tusayan Snake ceremonies ( Fewkes) A x vi, 267.
Ungava district, Ethnology of the (Turner) A xi, 159.
Upper lakes, Wild-rice gatherers of the (Jenks) V xix, 1013.
Verde valley, Aboriginal remains in (C. Mindeleff) A xin, 179.
Virginia, The Panumkey Indians of (Pollard) B 17.
Vocabularies of tribes of the extreme northwest (Gibbs-Pall) . . .C i, 121.
See Bibliography; Language; Linguistic.
Wakashan languages, Bibliography of the (Pilling) B 19.
Washington, western, Tribes of ((iibbs) C i, 157.
Weavers, Navajo (Matthews) A in, 371.
Welfare; Technology, or the science of activities designed for
( Powell ) A xx, xxix.
Wild-rice gatherers of the upper lakes (Jenks) A xix, 1013.
\Vinship, ( i. P. The Coronado expedition, 1540-1542 A xiv, 329.
Wolpi, Arizona, Illustrated catalogue of collections from, in 1881
(J. Stevenson) A in, 511.
Wyandot government: A short study of tribal society (Powell) . . A i, 57.
Yarrow, II. C. Introduction to the study of mortuary customs
among the North American Indians 1 4.
A further contribution to the study of the mortuary customs of
the North American Indians A i, 87.
Yuman and Serian languages, Comparative lexicology of (Hewitt ) . A x vn, 299*.
Zufii, New Mexico, Illustrated catalogue of collections from, in
1881 (J. Stevenson) -.-A in, 511.
Zufii child, The religious life of the (T. E. Stevenson) -A v, 533.
Zuni creation myths, Outlines of (Gushing) \ xin, 321.
Zufii culture growth, Pueblo pottery as illustrative of (Gushing) .A iv, 467.
Zuni fetiches (Gushing) A n, 3.
Zufii Indians, Esoteric and exoteric life of the (M. C. Stevenson). A xxm.
See Cibola; Coronado.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. I
INDIAN \V()MAN ()K KI.OIUDA, WITH EARTHEN BOWL AND EARS OF CORN! ?l
HiOM AlWAWINc; BY. JOHN \V1UTK NOW IN THK liUITlSII MUSEUM.
ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF THE EASTERN
UNITED STATES
W. II. HOLMES
l t> KTH 03 1
CONTENTS
Preface
Introduction
--------- .............. ..... 1 o
Ceramic art in human history ................. ]s
Aboriginal American pottery ................... 1 ,,
Pottery of the eastern United States .................. 20
Geographic grouping ............................ ,,Q
Quantative distribution ................. .>..
Manner of occurrence ..................... .^
Chronology ............................. 24
Functional grouping ......................... 24
Classification of use ......................... 24
Differentiation of use ...................... 2 r i
Vessels for culinary and other domestic uses ................ 25
Salt-making vessels ........................ ,,-
Sugar-making vessels .......................
Spindle whorls of clay ........................
Musical instruments of earthenware ........
Various implements of earthenware ............
Baked -clay offering receptacles ...................... ;;
Cement and plaster .....................
Earthenware used in burial .......................
Personal ornaments of earthenware ................... 40
Karthenware disks and spools .................... 43
Earthenware tobacco pipes .................. 4_j
Materials .................................
, Cla - v .......................................... ""."".".". . 45
Tempering materials .......................... 4 (i
Manufacture ........................... 4S
The records ............................ u
First use of clay ............................. . 4 ,j
Shaping processes and appliances ................... 49
Decorating processes .......................... ^j
Baking processes ........................... g.>
Processes of manufacture in present use .............
Manufacture by Catawha women ......... .
Manufacture by Cherokee women ..............
Early accounts of manufacture .................. 57
Size... ;. Q
Forms .................... ......... 61
4 CONTENTS
Introduction Continued. Pago
Pottery of the eastern United States Continued.
Color 63
( olor of paste 03
Application of color 03
Decoration 64
Evolution of decoration 04
Methods of decorating 65
Relieved ornament 60
Intaglio ornament 66
Painted ornament 66
Use of textiles in modeling and embellishing 67
Relation of the textile and ceramic arts 67
Classes of textile markings 68
Use of baskets in molding and modeling 60
Use of pliable fabrics in modeling 71
Use of textiles in malleating surfaces 73
Use of flat cord-wrapped malleating tools 73
Use of cord-wrapped rocking tools 73
Use of cords in imprinting ornamental patterns 77
Various means of imitating textile characters 79
Pottery of the middle Mississippi valley 80
Geographic distribution 80
Ethnic considerations 81
{ hronology 82
Preservation 82
State of culture of makers 82
Uses 83
Materials and manufacture 83
Surface finish 84
Color - 84
Form 85
Range 85
Esthetic modifications 85
Animal forms 85
( (rnament 86
Distinguishing characters of the group 86
Sources of information 87
Examples 87
Platters, cups, and bowls 87
Pots 89
Bottles 90
Eccentric and compound forms 03
Life forms 04
Tobacco pipes
Miscellaneous articles 09
Decorative designs 100
Painted vases 101
Pottery of Tennessee 101
Pottery of the lower Mississippi valley
Pottery of the Gulf coast 104
Occurrence
Mobile-Pensacola ware 105
Pottery of the Alabama river 107
CONTENTS 5
Pottery of the Gulf ooa-st Continued. Page
Pottery of Choctawhatchee bay 1 08
Apalachicola ware 110
Miscellaneous specimens 112
Life elements in decoration 113
Pottery of the Florida peninsula 114
1 listoric aborigines 115
Chronology 116
Range of the ware 116
Materials 117
Manufacture 117
Forms 118
Decoration 118
Uses 118
Examples 1 20
Midden ware of the St Johns 1 20
Stamped ware of the St Johns 122
Engraved ware of the St Johns 1 28
Improvised mortuary ware of the St Johns 1 24
Painted ware of the St Johns 125
Pottery of the west coast 125
Animal figures 128
Tobacco pipes 129
Spanish olive jars 1 29
Pottery of South Appalachian province 130
Extent of the province 130
Prevailing types of ware 1 30
Materials and color 1 32
Form and size _ 132
Uses 132
Decoration 133
Examples 1 36
Vases 136
Tobacco pipes 140
Pottery disks 141
( )rigin of the varieties of ware 142
Pottery of the Middle Atlantic province 145
Review of the Algonquian areas 145
Pamlico-Albemarle ware 147
Piedmont Virginia ware 149
Potomac-Chesapeake ware 150
General features 150
Modern Pamunkey ware 152
Shell-heap ware of Popes creek 153
Potomac creek ware 155
District of Columbia ware 156
Ware of the Chesapeake and Eastern Shore 157
Tobacco pipes 158
Pottery of the Iroquoian province 159
The Iroquoian tribes 1 59
General characters of the ware 159
Materials, and manufacture 161
Color, form, and size 162
Ornament plastic, incised, and relieved 162
(5 CONTENTS
Pottery of the Iroquoian province Continued. Page
Distribution and characters of specimens 164
Southernmost occurrence 164
Lower Susquehanna pottery 165
Pottery of northern Pennsylvania and Mew York 165
Examples from New England 167
Canadian ware 1 69
Decorative designs 1 71
Tobacco pipes 172
The pipe a native product 172
Distribution 17o
Material, color, and form 17M
Pottery of the New Jersey-New England province 175
General characters 175
Delaware valley ware 17li
New England ware 178
Pottery of the Apalachee-Ohio province 180
Ohio valley pottery - - - 182
Culture groups 182
Miami valley ware 184
Salt vessels 186
Pottery of the Northwest 186
Family distinction 186
Rouletted and stamped ware 188
Cord- and textile-marked ware 194
Mandan pottery 197
Pawnee pottery 199
( )ther Northwestern pottery 200
I L I, U S T R A T I O N S
Pae
PLATE I. Indian woman of Florida, with earthen howl and ears of corn (?).
From a drawing hy John White, now in the British Museum 1
II. Use of the earthen pot in boiling. Drawn by John White, of the
Roanoke colony, 1585-1588 2t>
III. Earthen vessels used in salt making, Middle Mississippi Valley
group 28
IV. Map showing distribution of al (original pottery groups in eastern
United States 80
V. Series of outlines indicating range of form of vases, Middle Missis
sippi Valley group 84
VI. Series of outlines showing various features of vase elaboration, Mid
dle Mississippi Valley group 84
VII. Vases of compound form, Middle Mississippi Valley group 84
VIII. Cups and bowls, Middle Mississippi Valley group 88
IX. Cups and bowls, Middle Mississippi Valley group 88
X. Large bowl, burial casket, and caldron, Middle Mississippi Valley
group 88
XI. Cooking pots, etc., Middle Mississippi Valley group 88
XII. Large cooking pots, Middle Mississippi Valley group 88
XIII. Bottles, Middle Mississippi Valley group 90
XIV. Bottles, Middle Mississippi Valley group 90
XV. Bottles, Middle Mississippi Valley group 92
XVI. Bottles, Middle Mississippi Valley group 92
XVII. Various forms of bottles, Middle Mississippi Valley group 92
XVIII. Bottles of eccentric shape, Middle Mississippi Valley group 94
XIX. Vessels imitating shell and gourd forms, Middle Mississippi Valley
group 94
XX. Bowls imitating bird forms, Middle Mississippi Valley group 94
XXI. Vessels imitating bird forms, Middle Mississippi Valley group 94
XXII. Vessels imitating bird forms, Middle Mississippi Valley group 94
XXIII. Vessels imitating fish and batracbian forms, Middle Mississippi
Valley group 94
XXIV. Vessels imitating animal forms, Middle Mississippi Valley group . . 94
XXV. Vessels imitating animal forms, Middle Mississippi Valley group . . 94
XXVI. Vessels imitating the human form, Middle Mississippi Valley group. 9(i
XXVII. Vessels imitating the human form, Middle Mississippi Valley group. !)($
XXVIII. Vessel representing the potter at work, Middle Mississippi Valley
group 9<>
XXIX. Vessels imitating the human head, Middle Mississippi Valley group. 98
XXX. Vessel imitating the human head, Middle Mississippi Valley group. 98
XXXI. Vessel imitating the human head, Middle Mississippi Valley group. 98
XXXII. Vessels imitating the human head, Middle Mississippi Valley group. 98
8
ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
PLATE XXXIII. Tobacco pipes, Middle Mississippi Valley group 98
XXXIV. Trowels or modeling implements, Middle Mississippi Valley
group 98
XXXV. Modeling implements, Middle Mississippi Valley group 98
XXXVI. Convex surfaces of trowels and modeling implements, Middle
Mississippi Valley group 98
XXXVII. Decorative designs, Middle Mississippi Valley group 100
XXXVIII. Decorative designs, Middle Mississippi Valley group 100
XXXIX. Karthen vessels finished in color, Middle Mississippi Valley
group 100
XL. Karthen vessels finished in color, Middle Mississippi Valley
group 100
XL1. Karthen vessels finished in color, Middle Mississippi Valley
group 100
XLII. Karthen vessels finished in color, Middle Mississippi Valley
group 100
XLIII. Karthen vessels finished in color, Middle Mississippi Valley
group 100
XLIV. Earthenware of Tennessee, Middle Mississippi Valley group. 100
XLV. Earthenware of Tennessee, Middle Mississippi Valley group. 100
XLV1. Earthenware of Tennessee, Middle Mississippi Valley group. 100
XLVII. Earthenware of Tennessee, Middle Mississippi Valley group. 100
XLVIII. Earthenware of Tennessee, Middle Mississippi Valley group. 100
XLIX. Earthenware of Tennessee, Middle Mississippi Valley group. 100
L. Earthenware of Tennessee, Middle Mississippi Valley .group. 100
LI. Vases with incised designs, Lower Mississippi Valley group . 102
LI I. Vases with incised designs, Lower Mississippi Valley group. 102
LIU. Incised designs from vases shown in plates LI and LII, Lower
Mississippi Valley group 102
LI V. Vases from a mound on Perdido bay, ( iulf Coast group 106
LV. Large bowls with incised designs, (iulf Coast group 106
LVI. Vases variously decorated, Gulf Coast group 1 OH
LVII. Vases with engraved figures of birds and serpents, (iulf
Coast group 106
LVII I. Heads of birds and animals used as vase ornaments, (iulf
Coast group 106
LIX. Heads of men and bird used as vase ornaments, (iulf Coast
group 106
l.X. Vases with incised designs, Gulf Coast group 106
LXI. Vases with incised designs, Gulf Coast group 10(i
LXII. Burial vases with covers, Gulf Coast group 108
LXIII. Vessels of large size with incised and relieved ornaments,
Gulf Coast group 108
LXIV. Bottle with scroll design and tobacco pipes, (iulf Coast
group 108
LXV. Bowls with incised designs, Gulf Coast group 108
LX V I . Platters with incised designs, Gulf Coast group 108
LX VII. Vessels with incised designs, Gulf Coast group 108
LXVIII. Fragment of vase with duck s head in relief, and vase repre
senting a hunchback human figure, (iulf Coast group 108
LXIX. Vase with engravings of an eagle and an eagle-man mask,
(iulf Coast group 110
LXX. Platter and bowls with engraved designs, Gulf Coast group . 110
ILLUSTRATIONS
PilKC
PLATE LXXI. Outlines of vases with engraved designs, Gulf Coast group. . . 110
LXXII. Bowls and bottles with engraved designs, (iulf Coast group.. 110
LXXIII. Bowls with relieved and incised decorations representing the
frog concept, Gulf Coast group 110
LXXIV. Bowls with relieved and incised decorations representing
the bird concept, Gulf Coast group 110
LXXV. Bowl inverted over a skull in burial, Gulf Coast group 110
I A XVI. Vases with engraved and stamped designs, Gulf Coast
gr< >up 110
LXXVII. Vases with engraved designs, Gulf Coast group 110
LXXVIII. Group of vases from a Florida mound, Gulf. Coast group 112
I. XXVIII A. Cinque bottle with engraved designs, Gulf Coast group 112
LXXIX. Bird-form vases with incised decorations, suggesting the origin
of many conventional ornaments, northwest Florida coast. 112
1.XX1X A. Vases with incised and relieved decoration, northwest Florida
coast 112
LXXIX B. Vases of exceptional forms, northwest Florida coast 112
LXXX. Engraved designs representing the bird concept, Gulf Coast
group 114
I. XXXI. Kngraved designs representing the frog concept, Gulf Coast
group 114
LXXXII. Kngraved designs, Gulf Coast group 114
LXXXIII. Kngraved designs, ( iulf Coast group 114
LXXXIV. Fragments of pottery from shell heaps, Florida peninsula ... 120
LXXXV. Pottery with stamp decoration, Florida peninsula 122
LXXXVI. Pottery with stamp decoration, Florida peninsula 122
LXXXVII. Pottery with stamp decoration, Florida peninsula 122
LXXXVIII. Pottery with stamp decoration, Florida peninsula 122
LXXXIX. Vases with relieved and engraved designs, Florida peninsula. 122
XC. Fragments of vases with engraved designs, Florida peninsula. 122
XCI. Rude earthenware from graves, Florida peninsula 124
XCII. Rude earthenware from graves, Florida peninsula 124
XCIII. Rude earthenware from graves, Florida peninsula 1 24
XCIV. Rude earthenware from graves, Florida peninsula 124
XCV. Rude earthenware from graves, Florida peninsula 1 24
XCVI. Rude earthenware from graves, Florida peninsula 1 24
XCVII. Rude earthenware from graves, Florida peninsula 1 24
XCVIII. Rude earthenware from graves, Florida peninsula 124
XCIX. Large painted vessel with open base, Florida peninsula 124
C. Fragments of painted vessel with o[>en base, Florida penin
sula 1 24
CI. Decorated vases, Tarpon Springs, Florida peninsula 12(>
CII. Vases with engraved designs, Tarpon Springs, Florida penin
sula 1 2t>
CIII. Vases with engraved designs, Tarpon Springs, Florida penin
sula 1 2(>
CIV. Engraved designs, Tarpon Springs, Florida peninsula 126
CV. Fragments of decorated ware and compound cup, Florida
peninsula 12(i
CVI. Kngraved and painted vases, Tarpon Springs, Florida penin
sula 12<;
CVII. Cluster of vases in sand mound burial, Florida peninsula .... 126
CVIII. Potsherds with ornate stamp designs, Florida peninsula 128
10 ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
PLATE CIX. Potsherds with griddle-like sjamp designs, Florida peninsula 128
CX. Handled cups and various sherds from the west coast, Florida
peninsula 128
CXI. Tobacco pipes, Florida peninsula 1 28
CXII. Burial vases with covers, South Appalachian group 132
( XIII. Cherokee stamp-decorated pot and paddle stamps, South Appa
lachian group l:>4
CX.IV. Stamp designs restored from impressions on vases, South Appa
lachian group 134
CXV. Typical specimens of stamp-decorated ware, South Appalachian
group 136
( XVI. Large vase decorated with tilfot stamp design, South Appalachian
group 1 36
CXVII. Vases decorated with paddle-stamp impressions, South Appala-
ch ian group 136
CXVIII. Vases of varied design and embellishment, South Appalachian
group 1 38
( XIX. Engraved designs from vases shown in plates cxvm and oxx,
South Appalachian group 1 38
CXX. Howl with elaborate engraved decorations, South Appalachian
group 138
CXXI. Large vessels from eastern Georgia, South Appalachian group .. 138
CXXII. Figurines from northwestern Georgia, South Appalachian group. 140
CXXIII. Figurines from north western Georgia, South Appalachian group. 140
CXXIV. Tobacco pipes from burial mounds, South Appalachian group .. 140
CXXV. Tobacco pipes from burial mounds, South Appalachian group .. 140
CXXVI. Tobacco pipes from burial mounds, South Appalachian group .. 140
CXX VI I. Modern pottery of the Catawba and Cherokee Indians, South
Appalachian group 144
CXX VIII. Modern tobacco pipes of the Catawba Indians, South Appalachian
group 144
CXXIX. Tottery from burial mounds in North Carolina, South Appala
chian group 144
CXXX. Kitchen midden [lottery with varied markings, Chesapeake-
Potomac group . 148
CXX XI. Kitchen midden pottery of the Yadkin valley, Chesapeake- Poto
mac group 1 4S
.OXX XI I. Kitchen midden pottery of the Yadkin valley, Chesapeake-Poto
mac group 1 48
CXXXIII. Potsherds with textile markings, New River valley, Virginia,
Chesapeake- Potomac group 150
CXXXIV. Potsherds with textile markings from Luray, Virginia, Chesa
peake-Potomac group 150
CXXXV. Incised designs from pottery and tattoo marks, Chesapeake-
Potomac group 150
CXXXVI. Pottery of the Pamunkey Indians, Virginia, Chesapeake-Potomac
group 152
CXXXVII. Pottery from shell heaps at Popes creek, Maryland, Chesapeake-
Potomac group 154
CXXXVI11. Pottery from shell heaps at Popes creek, Maryland, Chesapeake-
Potomac group 154
CXXXIX. Pottery from shell heaps at Popes creek, Maryland, Chesapeake-
Potomac group 154
ILLUSTRATIONS 11
Page
PLATE CXL. Pottery from Potomac creek, Virginia, and Anac.ostia, District
of Columbia, Chesapeake-Potomac group 150
CXLI. Pottery from the vicinity of Washington, District of Columbia,
Chesapeake-Potomac group 156
CXLII. Tobacco pipes of the Potomac valley, Chesapeake-Potomac
group 158
CXLIII. Pottery from a burial place near Romney, West Virginia, Iro-
quoian group 1 64
CXLIY. Pottery from a village site at Bainbridge, Pennsylvania. Iro-
quoian group 1(54
CXLV. Vases from graves, northern Pennsylvania, Iroquoian group. .. 1W>
CXLVI. Vases from graves, northern Pennsylvania, Iroquoian group... !(><>
CXLVII. Vases from graves in Pennsylvania and New York, Iroquoiau
group Kill
CXLVIII. Vases from the province of Ontario, Canada, Iroquoian group.. 170
CXLIX. Incised designs from vases, Iroquoian group 1 72
CL. Incised designs from vases, Iroquoian group 172
I LL Incised designs from vases, Iroquoian group 1 72
CLII. Incised designs from vases, Iroquoian group 1 72
CLIII. Faces and figures from vases, Iroquoian group 172
CLIV. Earthenware pipes, Iroquoian group 174
CLV. Earthenware pipes, Iroquoian group 174
CLVI. Earthenware pipes, Iroquoian group 1 74
CLVII. Earthenware pipes, Iroquoian group 174
CLVIII. Pottery from a village site near Trenton, New Jersey, New
England group 1 76
CLIX. Pottery from the Atlantic Coast states, New England group 178
CLX. Pottery from New England, New England group 178
CLXI. Vases of Middle Mississippi type, Ohio Valley group 184
CLXII. Sherds with incised decorations from a village site at Fort
Ancient, Ohio Valley group 184
CLXII1. Vases from mounds at Madisonville, Ohio Valley group LS4
CLX IV. Vases illustrating textile imprinting*, Ohio Valley group 184
C LXV. Incised decorations from earthenware, Ohio Valley group 184
CLXVI. Sherds of stamped and rouletted pottery, Naples, Illinois,
Northwestern group 188
CLXVII. Sherds of stamped and rouletted pottery, Naples, Illinois,
Northwestern group 188
CLXVIII. Vases decorated with the roulette, Illinois, Northwestern group. 188
CLXIX. Examples of roulette-decorated ware, Northwestern group 192
CLXX. Examples of roulette-decorated ware, Northwestern group 192
CLXXI. Examples of roulette-decorated ware, Northwestern group 192
CLXXII. Examples of roulette-decorated ware from Hopewell mounds,
Ohio, Northwestern group ; 194
CLXXIII. Large vase from a village site, Two Rivers, Wisconsin, North
western group 196
CLXXIV. Potsherds from a village site, Two Rivers, Wisconsin, North
western group 1 06
CLXXV. Pottery of the Mandan Indians, Dakota, Northwestern group. 198
CLXX VI. Pottery from the Missouri valley (?), Northwestern group 198
CLXX VI I. Pottery from a Pawnee village site, Nebraska, Northwestern
group 200
1 2 ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
FIGCHE 1. Indian women using earthen vessels in making cassine (Lafitau). . 26
2. Suspension of the vessel from a, tripo<l (Schoolcraft) 27
3. Native maple sugar making (Lafitau) 32
4. Use of earthen vessel as a drum (Potherie) 34
5. Earthenware rattle, with clay pellets (Thruston ) 35
(i. Earthenware trowels and modeling tools 35
7. Probable manner of using earthenware modeling tools 36
8. Vse of clay in plastering house wall of interlaced canes, Arkansas
(Thomas ) 37
9. Rectangular burial casket of earthenware, Tennessee 37
10. Karthen vessel containing bones of children, Alabama (Moore) 37
11. Earthen vessel inverted over a skull for protection, Georgia (Moore). 38
1 2. Karthenware burial urn and bowl cover, ( ieorgia 38
13. Earthenware burial urn with cover, (ieorgia (Moore) 38
14. Earthenware burial urn with bowl cover and other vessels, Ala
bama ( Moore) 38
15. Earthenware burial urn with bowl cover, Alabama (Moore) 39
16. Mortuary vases imitating the dead face, middle Mississippi valley. . 39
17. Toy-like vessels used as funeral offerings, Florida (Moore) 39
18. Toy-like funeral offerings imitating vegetal forms, Florida (Moore) . 40
19. Toy-like funeral offerings imitating animal forms, Florida (Moore) . 40
20. Toy-like figurine representing babe in cradle, Tennessee ( Thruston) . 40
21 . Small image of a turtle, Tennessee 41
22. Small earthenware figures suggesting ancient Mexican work,
(ieorgia 41
23. Karthenware heads of Mexican type, ( ieorgia 41
24. Earthenware beads and pendants 42
25. Kar plugs of earthenware, Mississippi valley 42
26. Labrets of earthenware, Mississippi valley 43
27. Pottery disks, probably used in playing some game 43
28. Spool-shaped articles of clay 44
29. Range in form of tobacco pipes 45
30. Tse of the coil in vessel building 51
31. I se of a basket in modeling an earthen vessel (Gushing) 69
32. I T se of a basket as a mold for the base of an earthen vessel (dishing) . 69
33. Vase showing impressions resulting from the use of pliable fabrics
in wrapping and sustaining the vessel while plastic 70
34. Fragment of salt vessel, with cast in clay, showing kind of fabric
used in modeling vessels 70
35. Fragment of cooking pot showing impressions of a net-covered
paddle, North Carolina 71
36. Bowl from a North Carolina mound, showing impressions of a cord-
wrapped malleating tool 72
37. Howl made by the author. The surface finished with the cord-
wrapped paddle shown in figure 38 72
38. Cherokee potter s paddle wrapped with cord and used in malleating
the bowl shown in figure 37 . 73
39. Potsherd showing effect produced by rocking a cord-wrapped imple
ment back and forth 74
40. a, A cylindric modeling tool wrapped with cord (restored); 1>, a
notched wheel or roulette (restored); r, a vessel made by the
author; surface finished with a cord-wrapped implement and
decorated with the roulette . . 74
ILU STKATIONS 13
Page
FHH HK 41. Potsherds showing simple method of applying cords in decorating
vases 75
42. Small pot with finder-nail markings giving the effect of basket
impressions _
43. The roulette (restored) inked and rocked on a sheet of paper
44. Potsherds illustrating markings produced by the notched wheel..
45. Potsherds with stamped markings giving textile-like effects 77
4(3. Modeling paddles with faces carved to imitate textile patterns 78
47. Potsherd showing textile-like effect of finishing with engraved
paddles 78
48. Incised designs of textile character 79
49. Bottle decorated with serpent designs, Arkansas !)1
50. Winged serpents and sun symbols from the vase illustrated in
figure 49 91
51. Bottle ornamented with four engraved human figures, Arkansas.. 92
52. Bowl made by Choctaw Indians about 1860 102
53. Fragment of vessel with stumped design, Choctawhatchee bay,
Florida 109
54. Bowl with thick collar, Tampa bay 112
55. Sections of thick-rimmed bowls, Early county, Georgia 112
56. Bowl from Mobile district, with patterns in color 1 l:i
57. Restoration of forms of fiber-tempered midden ware, St Johns
river, Florida 121
58. Fragments of midden-ware bowls with incised scroll decoration,
St Johns river, Florida 1 22
59. Spanish olive jars, Florida 129
60. Small disks cut from sherds 141
61 . Rude earthenware figurine, Potomac valley 150
62. Bark vessel showing characters sometimes copied in clay 160
63. Fragments of decorated vase-rims from the Mohawk valley 167
64. Vase from a grave (?) in Colchester, Vermont 169
65. Fragment of vase-rim with rudely modeled human figure, New
York 172
66. Vessel with animal-shaped handles, Tennessee 180
67. Vessel with arched handle, Tennessee 181
68. Shoe-shaped vessel, Tennessee 1 ,S]
69. Shoe-shaped vessel, Tennessee 1S2
70. Two-handled cup with rows of encircling nodes, Tennessee 182
71. Stamps used in decorating vessels ( restored ) 189
72. I se of the roulette or rocking notched wheel 190
73. Vase made for trial of roulette, and cord-wrapped modeling tool. 191
74. Vases from a mound near Laportc, Indiana ( Foster) 191
75. Vase with conventionalized bird design 194
76. Sections of rims of vases from a village site at Two Rivers, Wis
consin 196
77. Fragments of a large vase from Lake Nipigon, Ontario 197
78. Outlines of vases from a Pawnee village site, Nebraska 199
79. Fraginentof a clay pipe from a Pawnee(?) village site, Nebraska. . 199
ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF THE EASTERN UNITED
STATES
Bv \V. II. HOI.MES
PREPACK
During the decade beginning \\ith 1SSO the writer published a
number of detailed studies of the aboriginal pottery of the United
States. These were based largely on the Government collections, and
appeared mainly in the annual reports of the Bureau of Ethnology.
The ware of several localities was described and illustrated in a cata
log of Bureau collections for ISSl. published in the Third Annual
Report, and the same volume contained a paper on " Prehistoric Textile
Fabrics Derived from Impressions on Pottery." The Fourth Annual
Report contained illustrated papers on " A ncient Pottery of the Missis
sippi Valley" and " Form and Ornament in the Ceramic Art." In 1885
a paper on the collections of the Davenport Academy of Sciences
appeared in the fourth volume of the Academy s proceedings, and sev
eral short articles have since appeared in the American Anthropologist.
It was expected by the Director of the Bureau that the studies thus
made, being preliminary in character, would lead up to a monographic
treatise on native tictile art to form one of a series of works coverinu-
o
the whole range of native arts and industries.
The present paper was commenced in IS .K). and in its inception was
intended to accompany and form part of the final report of Dr Cvrus
Thomas on mound explorations conducted for the Bureau during the
period beginning with ISSl and ending in ls;tl. A change in the
original plan of publication dissociated the writer s work from that of
Dr Thomas, whose report was assigned to the Twelfth Animal, which
it occupies in full. Delay in publishing the present paper afforded an
opportunity for additional exploration and study, and the; work was
revised and amplified. Its scope was extended from the consideration
of the pottery of the mound builder* to that of the entire region east of
the Rocky mountains, the volume of matter being more than doubled
and the value of the work greatly enhanced.
15
1(> ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [HTIL. ANN.-JO
The collections made u.se of in the preparation of this paper are very
extensive, and represent a multitude of village sites, mounds, graves,
cemeteries, shell heaps, and refuse deposits in nearly all sections of
the great region under consideration. At the same time it should be
noted that the material available is far from complete or satisfactory.
Much of it was carelessly collected and insufficiently labeled, and some
districts are represented by mere random sherds which can not be
depended on as a basis for important deductions. The collections
made by the Bureau of American Ethnology are the most important,
and some recent explorations have added material of a high order
scientifically. Of the latter the work of Mr Frank II. Cashing in
Florida and of Clarence B. Moore in Florida and other southern states
may be specially mentioned.
Details not considered essential to the story of the art have been
omitted. Tedious recitals of form, color, si/e. and use of individual
specimens have been avoided, the illustrations being relied on as the
most satisfactory means of conveying a full and correct impression of
the art. It was intended by the Director of the Bureau, when the
preparation of preliminary papers on the various aboriginal arts began,
that the illustrations prepared as the work developed should be
brought together in final form in the monographic volumes of Contri
butions to North American Ethnology. It was found, however, that
to utili/c all of the material thus made available would in this case
make the volume excessive, so a careful selection has been made from
the earlier illustrations, and typical examples have been brought
together in plates. In the main, however, the illustrations here pre
sented are new, as the old work did not extend much beyond the one
ceramic group represented in the Middle Mississippi Valley province.
The writer is much indebted to officers and custodians of the follow
ing institutions and societies for privileges accorded and assistance
given in the preparation of this work: The National Museum, Wash
ington; the Davenport Academy of Sciences, Iowa; the Peabody Mu
seum, Cambridge; the American Museum of Natural History, New
York; the Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia; the Free Museum of
Science, and Art, Philadelphia; the Museum of Art, Cincinnati; and
the Canadian Institute. Toronto.
To many individual collectors grateful acknowledgments are due.
Chief among them are the following: Mr W. H. Phillips, of Wash
ington, whose cooperation and assistance have been of the greatest
service and whose collection of archeologic materials from the Potomac
valley is unequaled; Mr Thomas Howling, jr., whose collections from
the same region have always been at the writer s disposal; Colonel
C. C. Jones, of Augusta, Georgia, to whom the country and especially
the southern states are indebted for so much of value in the depart
ments of history and archeology; General (rates P. Thruston, of
HOI.MKSI
PREFACE 17
Nashville, whose explorations in Tennessee have yielded an unrivaled
collection of valuable relics and whose writings have been freely
drawn on in the preparation of this work; Mr W. K. Moorehead, of
Xenia, Ohio, whose various collections have been made available for
study; Mr Clarence B. Moore, of Philadelphia, whose great collections
from the mounds and shell heaps of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama
the writer has been called on to describe; Mr Frank Hamilton Cushing,
whose technologic skill has been of frequent assistance and whose col
lections from the central New York region and from Florida have been
of much service; Reverend W. M. Beauchamp, of Baldwinsville, New
York, who has furnished data respecting the ceramic work of the
Iroquois; Mr H. P. Hamilton, of Three Rivers, Wisconsin, a careful
collector of the fragile relics of the west shore of Lake Michigan, and
Mr E. A. Barber, who kindly supplied a large body of data relating
to the tobacco pipes of the region studied.
Mention may also be made of the writer s great indebtedness to those
who have assisted him in various ways as collaborators; to Mr W J
McGee, whose scientific knowledge and literary skill have been drawn
on freely on many occasions; to Mr William Dinwiddie, whose excel
lent photographs make it possible to present a number of unrivaled
illustrations; to Mr John L. Ridgway, Miss Mary M. Mitchell, and
Mr H. C. Hunter for many excellent drawings; to Mr DeLancey
Gill for his very efficient management of the work of drawing,
engraving, and printing illustrations, and to many other members of
the Smithsonian Institution, the Bureau of American Ethnology, the
Geological Survey, and the National Museum for valued assistance.
20 ETH 03 -2
INTRODUCTION
CERAMIC ART IN HUMAN HISTORY
Objects of art may be studied with immediate reference to two main
lines of investigation. First, they may be. made to assist in telling the
story of the origin and evolution of art and thus of many branches of
culture, and, finally, of man; and second, they may be made to bear
on the history of particular groups of people, of communities, tribes,
and nations, and through these again on the origin and history of the
race, the ultimate object of the whole group of investigations being a
fuller comprehension of what man is, what he has been, and what he
may hope to be.
The ceramic art takes an important place among the arts of man,
and its products, and especially its prehistoric remains, are invaluable
to the student of history. Of the lower stages of progress through
which all advanced nations have passed stages represented still by
some of the more primitive living peoples this art can tell us little,
since it was late taking its place in the circle of human attainments,
but it records much of the history of man s struggles upward through
the upper savage and barbarian stages of progress. It preserves,
especially, the story of its own growth from the first crude effort of
the primitive potter to the highest achievement of modern culture.
It also throws many side lights on the various branches of art and
industry with which it has been associated.
Of all the movable products of barbarian art it appears that pottery
is the most generally useful in locating vanished peoples and in defining
their geographic limitations and migrations. The reasons for this
may be briefly stated as follows: first, the need of vessels is common
to all mankind, and the use of clay in vessel making is almost universal
among peoples sufficiently advanced to utilfze it; second, since the clay
used readily receives the impress of individual thought, and, through
this, of national thought, the stamp of each people is distinctly
impressed upon its ceramic products; third, the baked clay is almost
indestructible, while, at the same time, it is so fragile that fragments
remain in plenty on every site occupied by the pottery makers; fourth,
vessels are less than all other articles fitted for and subject to transpor
tation, being the most sedentary, so to speak, of all minor artifacts.
It follows that, so far as objects of art are capable of so doing, they
serve, as has been said, to mark their maker s habitat and indicate his
movements.
18
HOLMKS] ABORIGINAL AMERICAN POTTKRY 19
Still more fully pottery records the history of the decorative arts -
the beginnings and progress of esthetic evolution. To large extent,
also, religious conceptions are embodied in it. Mythical beings are
modeled and painted, and their strange symbols are introduced into
the decorations. Every touch of the potters hand, of the modeling
tool, the stylus, and the brush becomes, through changes wrought
in the plastic clay by the application of heat, an ineffaceable record
of man s thought and of woman s toil. These fictile products, broken
and scattered broadcast over all habitable lands, are gathered and
hoarded by the archeologist. and their adventitious records are
deciphered with a fullness and clearness second only to that attained
in the reading of written records.
Notwithstanding the above-mentioned very decided advantages of
the ceramic art over other arts as a record of prehistoric peoples, its
shortcomings in this direction are apparent at a glance 1 . The student
is embarrassed by the parallelisms that necessarily exist between the
arts of widely separated peoples of like grade of culture and like
environment. Even the discriminating investigator may be misled in
his efforts to use these relics in the tracing of peoples. Other classes
of confusing agencies are interchanges by trade, multiple occupation
of sites, adoption of pottery-making captives, and the amalgamation
of communities; by all of these means works of distinct families of
people may in cases be thrown into such close, association as to make
ethnic determinations difficult and uncertain.
The danger of making erroneous use of prehistoric works of art in
the identification of peoples is especially great where the number of
available relics is limited, as is very often the case in archeologic col
lections. Conclusions of importance respecting a given people may in
this way be based on evidence afforded by intrusive products or on
exceptional conditions or phenomena conclusions difficult to contro
vert and increasingly difficult to correct as the years pass by.
ABORIGINAL AMERICAN POTTERY
It is hardly possible to find within the whole range of products of
human handicraft a more attractive field of investigation than that
offered by aboriginal American ceramics, and probably no one that
affords such excellent opportunities for the study of early stages in
the evolution of art and especially of the esthetic in art. The early
ware of Mediterranean countries has a wider interest in manv ways,
but it does not cover the same ground. It represents mainly the
stages of culture rising above the level of the wheel, of pictorial art,
and of writing, while American pottery is entirely below this level,
and thus illustrates the substratum out of which the higher phases
spring. But it should be noted that not merely the beginnings of the
story are represented in the native work. The culture range covered
20 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.AXN.SO
is quite wide, and opportunities of tracing progress upward to the
very verge of civilization are afforded. Between the groups of
products belonging to the inferior tribes scattered over the continent
from Point Barrow to Terra del Fuego, and those representing the
advanced cultures of Central America and Peru, there is a long vista
of progress. Near the upper limit of achievement is the pottery of
Mexico, comprising a wonderful cluster of well-marked groups. Some
of the highest examples of the ceramic art are found in or near the
valley of Mexico, and a number of striking vases of this region, pre
served in the Mexican National Museum, may be regarded as master
pieces of American fictile art. Central and South America furnish a
series of superb groups of earthenware, among which are those of
Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Chiriqui, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru,
Brazil, and Argentina, each disputing with Mexico the palm of merit.
Following these in order are various groups of ware whose remains
are assembled about the margins of the greater culture centers or dis
tributed widely over remoter districts. The work of the Pueblo tribes
in Arizona and New Mexico, all things considered, stands first within
the area of the United States; closely approaching this, however, is
the attractive ware of the Mississippi valley and the Gulf coast.
Below this and at the base of the series is the simple pottery of the
hunter tribes of the North.
Numerous tribes have continued to practice the art down to the
present time, some employing their original methods and producing
results but little modified by the lapse of centuries, while others, coming
more directly under the influence of the whites, have modified their
work so that it no longer has any particular value to the ethnologist
devoted to aboriginal studies. The Pueblo country furnishes the best
example of survival of old methods and old ideals. Here numerous
tribes are found practicing the art successfully, producing vases and
other articles quite equal in many respects to the ancient product.
The study of the present practices is highly instructive, and the arche-
ologist may begin his study of the ancient pottery of America with a
pretty definite knowledge of the technical and functional status of the
art, as well as a clear conception of the manner in which it embodies
the symbolic and esthetic notions of a people.
POTTERY OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES
GEOGRAPHIC GROUPING
In the eastern United States the study of the potter s art is essen
tially an archeologic study, although something may be learned by a
visit to the Catawba and Cherokee tribes of North and South Carolina,
and accounts published by those who have witnessed the practice of
HOLMES] GROUPS OF I OTTKRY _ 1
the art in past generations, although meager enough, arc not appealed
to in vain, as will be amply shown in subsequent sections of this paper.
The first requisite on biking up the study of a field so extensive and
varied is a means of classifying the phenomena. We, soon observe
that the, pottery of one section differs from that of another in material,
form, color, and decoration, and that groups mav l>e defined each
probably representing a limited group of peoples, but more conven
iently treated as the, product of a more or less well-marked specializa
tion area. By the aid of this grouping it is easy to proceed with
the examination of the ware, and a reasonably clear idea of the art of
the regions and of the whole field may readily be gained.
First in importance among the groups of ware is that called in
former papers the Middle Mississippi Valley group. Geographically
this group presents some interesting features, which will be considered
in detail later. The, margins of the area it occupies are not well defined,
and occasionally pieces of the ware are found far outside its ordinary
habitat and associated with strangers. This area has a central posi
tion in the Mississippi valley, and other varieties of pottery lie to
the north, east, and south, with overlapping and often indefinite out
lines. On the north is the area characterized by ware to which I
have for convenience given the name Upper Mississippi or North
western group. In the Ohio valley we have varieties of ware to which
local names may be attached. The New York or Iroquoian pottery
occupies the states of New York and Pennsylvania, extending in places
into other states and into Canada. We have Atlantic Algonqtiian
ware, South Appalachian ware, and several groups of Gulf Coast
ware. Many of these groups are so clearly differentiated as to make
their separate study easy. Within the limits, however, of their areas
are numerous subgroups which do not possess such strong individu
ality and such clear geographic definition as the larger ones, but which
may well.be studied separately and may in time be found to have an
ethnic importance quite equal to that of the better-defined groups of
ware. Although they are confined to such definite geographic areas
we are not at all sure, as has been pointed out. that these groups of
ware will be found to have any intelligible correspondence with the
stocks of people that have at. one time, or another occupied the
region, for varieties of art phenomena are often regional rather
than ethnic. Besides, many important groups of people have not left
great accumulations of art products, and great groups of products
may have been left by comparatively insignificant communities. Sep
arate groups of people may have practiced nearly identical arts, and por
tions of a single people may have practiced very different arts. In
view of these and other uncertainties hampering the correlation of
archeologic data with peoples, we can not do better than at first
22 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.20
.study the ancient ware Ivy itself, and afterward proceed in such special
case as may offer encouragement in that direction to connect the art
with the peoples, adding such evidence as may be thus secured to our
knowledge of the history of families and tribes.
l T p to the present time there has been a very imperfect understand
ing of the character and scope of the fictile products of the whole
region east of the Rocky mountains. Some writers have regarded
everything indiscriminately as simple, rude, and of little importance;
others, going to the opposite extreme, have found marked variations
with impassible gulfs between the higher and lower forms gulfs cor
responding to the wide distinctions supposed by some early writers to
exist between the cultures of the so-called mound-builder and the com
mon Indian.
Notwithstanding the fact that the ware of eastern North America is
easily separable into groups, some of which differ widely from others,
when we assume a broader point of view all varieties are seen to be
members of one great family, the points of correspondence being so
marked and numerous that the differences by means of which we dis
tinguish the groups sink into comparative insignificance. A wide
range of accomplishment is apparent, and strong evidences of indi
viduality are discovered in the different groups, but these differences
are probably far in excess of the differences existing in the culture
status of the peoples concerned in their production. This fact is
apparent when we observe the relative condition of progress among
the tribes of to-day. It is seen that the arts are not sjnnmetrically and
equally developed; the inferior ware of one locality does not indicate
that the people of that locality were inferior in culture, for the reverse
may be the case, but it may signify that the conditions of life were
such that the potter s art was uncalled for, or imperfectly practiced,
while other arts took the lead and were highly perfected. The cul
ture status of a given people must be deteniiined by a consideration
of the sum of the planes of all the arts and not by the plane of any
one art.
It has often been remarked that the pottery of the North is rude as
compared with that of the South, but in Florida and on the Gulf coast
pottery is now and then found which is quite as low in the scale as any
thing about the borders of the Great lakes, and occasional specimens
from New York, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin fairly rival in all
essential features the best products of the southern states. Condi
tions governing the practice of the art were, however, on the whole,
decidedly more favorable in the South, and here it has been practiced
more fully and more constantly than in the North.
Climatic conditions, degree of sedentation, nature of food supply,
and availability of material have each a marked influence on the con
dition of the arts. The art that flourishes on the Gulf coast with a
HOLMES] DISTRIBUTION OF POTTEKY 23
prosperous sedentary people may be undeveloped or entirely neg
lected by a people wandering- from place to place in the barren, icy
regions of the North; yet, could we for a generation exchange the
environments of these peoples, the potter s art would still be found
practiced and flourishing in the more salubrious climate and neglected
and disused in the rigorous one.
QUANTATIVE DISTRIBUTION
Earthenware relics are very generally distributed over the country,
but the distribution is far from uniform. Wherever pottery-making
tribes dwelt, wherever they wandered, camped, sought water, collected
food, conducted ceremonies, or buried their dead, there we find the
relics of this art. Usually, no doubt, localities and regions occupied
by prosperous sedentary peoples are marked by greater accumula
tions of such remains. The native tribes, no matter whence they
came, distributed themselves along the great waterways, and the more
favorable spots along such rivers as the Ohio, the Tennessee, the
Mississippi, and the Red river possess almost inexhaustible supplies
of ancient ware. A broad region, including the confluences of the
great streams of the Mississippi system, the Missouri, the Ohio, the
Tennessee, the Cumberland, and the Arkansas, seems to be the richest
of all, yet there are less-extended areas in other sections almost equally
rich. The observation has been made that an arid environment encour
ages the vessel-making arts, but here we have a region abounding in
moisture which is richer than any other section in its supply of clay
vessels.
MANNER OF OCCURRENCE
Since pottery was made very largely for use in the domestic arts,
its remains are everywhere associated with household refuse, and are
found on all village, house, camp, and food-producing sites occupied
by pottery-making peoples. It is plentiful in the great shell heaps
and shell mounds along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and abounds in
and around saline springs where salt was procured. Found under
such conditions it is usually fragmentary, and to the superficial
observer gives a very imperfect idea of the nature and scope of the
art, but to the experienced student it affords a very satisfactory
record.
Nearly all peoples have at some period of their history adopted the
practice of bun-ing articles of use or value with their dead, and the
aborigines of this country were no exception. It is to this mortuary
usage that we owe the preservation of so many entire examples of
fragile utensils of clay. The^y are exhumed from burial mounds in
great numbers, and to an equal extent, in some regions, from common
cemeteries and simple, unmarked graves. The relation of various
24 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.AXX.AI
articles of pottery to the human remains with which they were asso
ciated in l>urial seems to have been quite varied. It is probable that
the position of the vessel was to a certain extent determined by its
office; it may have contained food or drink for the dead, personal
articles of value, or offerings to deities to be propitiated, and custom
or fancy dictated the position it should occupy; but it appears that in
many cases the articles were cast in without regard to relative position
or order.
CHRONOLOGY
Anthropologists are well agreed that pottery making is not one of
the earliest arts practiced by primitive man. Its beginnings probably
mark in a general way the step from savagery to the lower stages of
barbarism, as defined by Morgan. If the average aborigines of the
eastern half of the United States be regarded as occupying, at the
time of European colonization, the middle status of barbarism, it
would seem that the practice of the art was not new, having probably
extended through all of the first stage of barbarism. It is not possible,
however, to arrive at any idea of the equivalent of this range of prog
ress in years. From the depth of certain accumulations, from the
succession of strata, and from the great mass of the structures in
which fictile remains are found in some sections, we are led to believe
that many centuries have passed since the discovery or introduction
of the art; but that it was still comparatively young in some of the
eastern and northern sections of the United States is sti ongly sug
gested, first, by the scarcity of sherds, and second, by a comparison of
its functional scope with that of the ceramic art of the more advanced
nations of Mexico and Central America, among whom it filled a mul
titude of important offices. With many of our nomadic and semi-
sedentary tribes it had not passed beyond the simplest stage of mere
vessel making, the only form employed being a wide-mouthed pot.
It may be questioned, however, whether degree of simplicity is a
valuable index of age. It is possible that in a region where condi
tions are unfavorable the art could be practiced a thousand years
without material change, while in a more favored environment it
might, in the same period and with a people of no greater native abil
ity, rise through a succession of stages to a high degree of perfection.
FUNCTIONAL GROUPING
CLASSIFICATION OK USB
The uses to which the earthenware of the aborigines was applied
were numerous and important; they may be classed roughly as domes
tic, industrial, sacerdotal, ornamental, and trivial or diversional. To
the first class belong vessels for containing, cooking, boiling (as in
sugar and salt making), eating, drinking, etc. ; to the second class
HOLMES] USES OB" POTTERY 25
belong various implements used in the arts, as trowels and modeling
tools; to the third class belong vessels and other articles used in
funeral rites, as burial urns and offerings; as personal ornaments
there are beads, pendants, and ear and lip plugs; and for trivial and
diversional uses there are toy vessels, rigurines, and gaming articles.
Most of the objects may serve a number of uses, as, for example, a
single vessel may, with a simple people, answer for culinary, for
religious, and for mortuary purposes, and tobacco pipes may have
ceremonial as well as medical and diversional uses.
Although the esthetic idea was considerably developed among all
classes of our aborigines, and much attention was paid to embellish
ment, it is not probable that any vessel was manufactured for purely
ornamental purposes. Neither can it be shown that in the area cov
ered by the present study earthenware served, as do our terra cottas,
for portraiture or for records of any description.
Pottery was probably first used in connection with the employment of
fire in culinary work in heating water and in cooking food and there
is no doubt that the cooking, the storing, and the transporting of
food and drink remained everywhere the most important of its func
tions.
DIFFERENTIATION OF USE
The differentiation of use, which must have taken place gradually,
probably began by the setting aside or the manufacture of certain
vessels for special departments of domestic work. Afterward, when
vessels came to be used in ceremonies religious, medical, or mortu
ary certain forms were made for or assigned to special rites. The
vessel that served in one office was not considered appropriate for
another,, and one that was sacred to one deity and had decorations
symbolizing his attributes was not considered acceptable to another.
We do not know to what extent special shapes were made for different
sacerdotal uses by our eastern aborigines, but it is safe, to say that this
class of specialization had made decided headway in the west and south.
Differentiation in the functions of vessels was probably to some
extent of preceramic development, since art in clay sprang into exist
ence long after other arts had been well perfected, and pottery
naturally fell heir to duties previously performed by vessels of bark,
wicker, shell, fruit shells, horn, stone, or other more archaic recep
tacles for boiling, serving, containing, and transporting.
VESSELS FOR CI LINARY AND OTHER DOMESTIC USES
Primitive earthen vessels have usually a round or somewhat conical
base, which suggests the manner of their use. Among savage races
hard, level floors were the exception, while floors of sand or soft earth
were the rule, and under such conditions a round or conical base would
be most convenient. The pot in cooking was generally set directly on
26
ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.20
the lire, and was kept in position by the fuel or other supports placed
about its sides. This is illustrated in plate ir, a copy of the origi
nal of plate xv of Harlot s New Found Land of Virginia, now pre-
FlG. 1 Indian women using earthen vessels in making eassine. From Lantau. J. F,, Mceurs des
sauvages ameriqnains, vol. II. plate v, figure 1.
served in the British Museum, London. A curious specimen of early
colonial illustration, depicting a number of women preparing a cere
monial drink called cassine in earthen vessels, is reproduced from
Latitau in figure 1. Boiling by means of heated stones cast into the
V
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CO O
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O z
Q- <
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*U A
HOLMES]
USES OF POTTERY
27
vessel may have been practiced for some time after the introduction
of pottery as a survival of the preceramic usage, and was probably
resorted to on occasion by many primitive peoples.
In eases, probably, the earthen vessel was suspended over the tire by
means of poles, vines, and cords, as shown in figure 2. from School-
craft s Indian Tribes. This method of suspension is made possible by
the attachment of strong ears or handles, by eccentric modeling of
the rim such as accentuated incurving or outcurving or by perfora
tion of the upper margin. As a rule, however, the vessels show no
indications of this kind of use, and the form is seldom such as to war
rant the conclusion that suspension was intended. But a small pcrcent-
FIG. 2 Suspension of the vessel from a tripod. From Sohooleraft, H. R., Historical mid statistical
information respecting thu . . . Indian tribes of the United States, part 1, plate xxii.
age of prehistoric, vessels recovered in the complete state show indica
tions of use over fire. This is accounted for by the fact that entire
vessels are mostly obtained from graves and were mortuary rather
than culinary utensils. The broken ware obtained from refuse heaps
and habitation sites is the debris of cooking, eating, and drinking
utensils, and of vessels for carrying and storing, and this very often
shows indications of use over fire.
SALT-MAKING VESSELS
The evaporation of saline waters for the purpose of obtaining salt
was carried on by the natives in several favorable localities in the
Mississippi valley. It is probable that the waters were evaporated by
28 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.AXx.20
means of heat applied to the vessel in the usual manner, but it is also
held by good authorities that the work was sometimes conducted \>y
means of exposure simply to the rays of the sun.
A somewhat remarkable class of earthenware vessels, the remnants
of which are found at several points in the Mississippi valley, is
believed to have been employed in the manufacture of salt. The
localities are scattered over a large area extending as far east as Knox-
ville, Tennessee, and as far west as White river in north-central
Arkansas and southern Missouri. The distinguishing characteristics
of the vessels are their large size, their vat-like shape (see plate ni),
the great thickness of their walls, and their peculiar surface finish (b,
c), which consists largely of impressions of coarse, open-mesh textile
fabrics. They are found in most cases in or near the vicinity of saline
springs. Perhaps the best known locality is on Saline river, near Shaw-
neetown, Illinois. It is not improbable that similar springs formerly
existed at points now marked by the occurrence of this remarkable
ware, where no salines now exist. It is definitely stated by the
Knight of Elvas that the Indians of the Mississippi valley manufac
tured salt. He informs us that
The salt is made along by a river, which when the water goes down leaves it
upon the sand. As they can not gather the salt without a large mixture of sand, it
is thrown together into certain baskets they have for the purpose, made large at the
mouth and small at the bottom. These are set in the air on a ridgepole and, water
being thrown on, vessels are placed under them wherein it may fall; then, being
strained and placed on the fire, it is boiled away, leaving salt at the bottom."
In another place it is stated that
They passed through a small town where was a lake and the Indians made salt;
the Christians made some on the day they rested there from water that rose nearby
from springs in pools.
The above locations must both have been in Arkansas and not far
from Hot Springs.
Typical specimens of this ware are found in the suburbs of Nashville,
Tennessee; at Shawneetown, Illinois; near Vincennes, Knox county,
Indiana; in Knox county, Tennessee; in Alexander and Union coun
ties, Illinois; at Kimmswick, near St Louis, Missouri; at Ste Genevieve,
Missouri; at one or more points in Ohio: and probably, as is indicated
by Schoolcraft, on White river above Batesville, Arkansas. School-
craft says that
It is ( 0111111011, in digging at these salt mines, to find fragments of antique pottery,
and even entire potH of a coarse earthenware, at great depths below the surface.
One of these pots which was, until a very recent period, preserved by a gentleman
at Shawneetowii; was disinterred at the depth of 80 feet, and was of a capacity to
contain 8 or 10 gallons. Others have been found at even greater depths, and of
greater dimensions. We will not venture to state the surprising capacities of several
"Smith, Thomas Buckingham, Narratives of the career of Henwndo de Soto, tis told by a knight
of Elvns, and in a relation by I,. Hernandez de Biedma, New York, 18(!f>, p 12-1.
Same work, p. 153.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. Ill
II, USUAL FORM OF LARGE SALT VESSELS OR VATS
b, FRAGMENT OF LARGE SALT VESSEL, SHOWING CORD IMPRESSIONS
C, FRAGMENTS OF SALT VESSEL FROM "SULPHUR SPRING," NASHVILLE. TENNESSEE
(THRUSTON COLLECTION. DIAMETER ABOUT 3) INCHES, HEIGHT 12 INCHES)
EARTHEN VESSELS USED IN SALT MAKING
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
HOLMES] SALT-MAKING VESSELS 29
of these antique vessels that were described to us, lest, not having seen them, there
may be some error in the statements, which were, however, made in the fullest con
fidence. The composition and general appearance of this fossil pottery can not be
distinguished from those fragments of earthenware which are disclosed by the
mounds of the oldest period, so common in this quarter, and evince the game rude
state of the arts. In all this species of pottery which we have examined there is a
considerable admixture of silex in the form of pounded quartz, or sand, in compar
atively coarse grains; which, as is very well known, has a tendency to lessen the
shrinkage of the clay, to prevent cracks and flaws in drying, and to enable the mass
to sustain the sudden application of heat without liability to burst. The whole art
of making chemical crucibles, as well as those employed in a large way in several
manufactures where great heats are necessary, is founded on this principle."
Brackenridge states that
The saline below Ste Genevieve, cleared out some time ago and deepened, was found
to contain wagonloads of earthenware, some fragments bespeaking vessels as large as
a barrel, and proving that the salines had l>een worked before they were known to the
whites. *
In 1901 I visited ;i village site near Kimmswick, Missouri, where
salt had been made by the aborigines from local saline springs. The
vicinity of the springs was plentifully supplied with the coarse, net-
marked sherds, and many pieces were scattered over the neighboring
village site. Specimens restored from the fragments, and now pre
served in museums in Kimmswick and St Louis, are shallow Ixwls,
from 20 to 30 inches in diameter. Some specimens are quite plain.
A good example of this class is illustrated in plate x.
The great depth at which the ware is sometimes found is recorded
by Mr George Escoll Sellers, who has had ample opportunity for per
sonal observation of the Illinois salines. The bed rock in one of the
saline river springs worked by the whites is 42 feet below the surface,
and pottery was found at this depth by the workmen who sunk the
well.
Mr Sellers s views are expressed in the following paragraph:
This, to me, is conclusive evidence that, whoever the people were who left the
masses of broken pottery as proof of their having used the salt waters, they resorted
to precisely the same means as did their more civilized successors of our time that
is, sinking wells or reservoirs to collect the brine; and the dipper-jug which had
been dropped had sunk to the bottom, showing that their reservoirs were down to
the rock.
That the aboriginal peoples should have excavated to so great a
depth seems almost incredible. Even if there were good reason for
such a work native appliances would hardly have been equal to the
task of constructing the necessary walls of stone or casing of wood.
It is more probable that the spring channels were naturally of dimen
sions permitting the vessels to sink gradually to these great depths.
iSchoolcraft, H. R., Travels in the central portions of the Mississippi valley. New York, 1825, p. 202
Brackenridge, H. M., Views of Louisiana, Pittslnirg, 1814, p. 186.
(Sellers, George Escoll, Aboriginal pottery of the salt springs. Illinois, in Pupnlar Science Monthly
jl. xi, New York, 1877, p. 576,
vol
30 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OK EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.20
Mr Sellers discovered a village or camp site in proximity to one of
these springs, and his observations with respect to it are as follows:
I found the most abundant remains of pottery, not only represented by fragments
of the large, coarse salt pans, but by many pieces of small vessels of much finer tex
ture and of superior workmanship, such as would be used for domestic purposes.
From these and large quantities of ehippings and offal I inferred that this was the
site of the old settlement. The broken pottery, the black soil, the waste from long
occupancy extending a considerable distance both east and west of the springs, and
to the foot of the bluffs on the south, covering an area of about 30 acres, were con
firmatory of this view."
A burial place was found on a terrace at no great distance. Some
of the stone cists were paved with fragments of the "great salt pans,"
but these were much decayed. This, Mr Sellers believes, conclusively
couples the tenants of these ancient graves with the makers and the
users of the salt pans.
In regard to the manufacture of these remarkable vessels it appears
that Mr Sellers s observations and theories are in the main correct.
That baskets were not used is apparent on the most casual examina
tion. The manner of using the fabrics with which the ware is marked
is discussed in the present paper under the head Manufacture.
Mr Sellers s identification of the factory is also well supported, and
there is nothing improbable in the theory of the use of clay molds or
cores to model on, though there is little corroboi ative evidence on
this point.
A remarkable example of this pottery recently found in the suburbs
of Nashville, Tennessee, is now in the collection of General Gates P.
Thruston. of Nashville. It is a flat-bottomed basin about 31 inches in
diameter and 12 inches deep; the walls are nearly an inch in thickness
and the surface has the characteristic fabric impressions (see plate in c).
A large fragment of this vase is illustrated in his work on the Antiqui
ties of Tennessee, plate x, and the following paragraph relating to it is
quoted therefrom:
The large vessel was found within a few yards of the "Sulphur .Spring," or the old
"French Lick," at Nashville, in excavating for the foundations of the new spring-
house. This sulphur and salt spring was doubtless the central feature of a populous
aboriginal settlement for centuries. Extensive burial grounds were found on both
sides of the " Lick Branch," and many fine implements and specimens of earthen
ware have been obtained there. 1
In the discussion of stone graves in the vicinity of Nashville. Tennes
see, Mr R. S. Robertson makes the following remarks in regard to
fragments of salt vessels:
These graves are found everywhere about Nashville and within the city limits. On
the ridges close to the Sulphur Spring the stones inclosing such graves may be seen
protruding from the ground, where the earth above has weathered off. Fragments
of pottery abound, some of the common sort, and others very thick about one-half
" Sellers, Aboriginal pottery of the salt springs, pp. 576-577.
Thruston, Gates P., The antiquities of Tennessee. Cineinnati, 1S90, pp. 157-158.
HOLMES] 8TJGAK-MAI\IN VKSSKLS 31
to three-fourths inch composed of a grayish clay, with large fragments of shells.
The vessels of which they were part must have l>een very large. Trailitionally, they
are believeil to have been used in evaporating salt from the spring. A brief search
resulted in finding numerous specimens on the surface, and protruding from the sides
of the ridges near the surface. It is said that the saline properties of the spring were
more noticeable before the deep lnv was made which produced the sulphur water,
which is so much patronized."
\\ i have from Kast Tennessee, in Knox county, specimens of this
ware identical with that from Nashville and other more western locali
ties. Although this pottery is not correlated with any particular salt
lick or spring, we may fairly assume that it was employed in making
salt, since there are salt springs in the vicinity.
Referring to explorations of Mr William McAdams. of Alton, the
Alton, Illinois. Telegraph speaks of salt springs on Saline creek,
Cooper county, Missouri, in the following words:
These springs were also a great resort of the aborigines and mound-builders, and
the ground about the oozing brine, to the depth of H or 4 feet, is filled with the
remains of the peculiar earthen vessels used by the mound-builders in salt making.
In the woods about, for the. whole vicinity is covered with a forest, arc many mounds.
and earthworks. From one small mound two of the earthen salt kettles were
obtained. They were shaped like shallow pans, an inch and a half in thickness and
near 4 feet across the rim.
Another site noted for the occurrence of this peculiar earthenware
is located in St Louis county, Missouri, near the village of Fenton.
Here there are springs, both sulphur and salt. This site has been
visited by Mr O. W. Collett, of St Louis, who gives an account of
it in the Kansas City Review, vol. iv, p. 104.
The following statement made by Du Prat/ is sufficiently definite
on the question of native salt making:
About 30 leagues up the Black river on the left side, there is a stream of salt water
flowing from the west; atout 2 leagues up this stream is a lake of salt water which
.s nearly 2 leagues in length by 1 in width; 1 league farther up toward the north
another lake of salt water is discovered, almost as long and broad as the first.
This water passes without doubt through some salt mines; it has the taste of salt
without the bitterness of sea water. The natives come from a long distance to this
place to hunt in winter and to make salt. Before the French had trailed them kettles
they made earthen pots at the place, for this purpose; when they had enough to
load themselves, they returned to their country loaded with salt and dried meats. r
SUGAB-MAKING VESSELS
In comparatively recent aboriginal times, if not in very ancient times,
earthen pots were used for collecting and boiling the sweet sap of the
sugar maple. So far as my observations have gone the earliest mention
of sugar making by the, aborigines is found in JoutePs Journal, writ-
<i Robertson, K. S.. Antiquities of Nashville, Tennessee, Smithsonian Report for 1x77, Washington
1H7S, pp. 277-278.
!>8ee also MrAdums. Win., ITehMorie remains from southeast Missouri. Kansas city Review,
vol. VH, Kansas City. 1884, p. 279.
< Do Pratz, Antoine Simon Le I age, Histoire ile la Louisiane, Paris, 17;>x. vol. I, jip. :>7-:i8.
32
ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.20
ten nearly two hundred years ago. Lafitau, whose, observations began
about the year 1700, gives an illustration in which the whole process
is indicated the tapping of the trees, the collecting of sap, the boil
ing of the water, and the shaping of the soft .sugar into cakes, the
latter work being conducted by an Indian woman who in the engrav
ing is represented as a handsome Caucasian girl. It will be seen from
the following extract that this author makes the definite statement that
the French learned the art from the Indians no particular nation
being mentioned, however. He writes as follows:
In the month of March, when the sun has acquired a little force and the treea
commence to contain sap, they make transverse incisions with the hatchet on the
Fin. 3 Native umple-siigur making. Keproduced from Lalitau.
trunks of these trees, from which there flows in abundance a liquid which they re
ceive in large vessels of bark; they then boil this liquid over the fire, which consumes
all the phlegm and causes the remainder to thicken to the consistency of sirup or
even of a loaf of sugar, according to the degree and amount of heat which they
choose to give it. There is no other mystery. This sugar is very pectoral, excellent
for medicine; hut although it may he more healthy than that of the canes, it has not
a pleasing taste nor delicacy and almost always has a little burnt flavor. The French
prepare it better than the Indian women from whom they learned to make it; but
they have not yet reached the point of bleaching and refining it."
The description of Laritau s plate may be translated as follows:
The women occupied in watching the vessels, which are already full of the liquid
that flows from the trees, carry this liquid and pour it into the kettles seen on
"Lafitau, Joseph Francois, Moeurn des sauvages americinains, Paris, 1724, vol. II, p. 151
HOLMES] SPINDLK WHORLS OF CLAY 33
the fire, which are watched by an old woman, while another, seated, knead* with
the hands this thickened liquid, now in a condition to acquire the consistency of
sugar loaf."
This plate was reproduced in 1111 article on maple-sugar making by
H. W. Ilenshaw. published in the American Anthropologist for Octo
ber 1890 and is given in figure 3.
The following extract from Hunter indicates that the making of
maple sugar by the Indians was very generally practiced. He is
speaking of the Osage Indians and their neighbors.
In districts of country where the sugar maple abounds the Indians prepare con
siderable quantities of sugar by simply concentrating the juices of the tree by boiling
till it acquires a sufficient consistency to crystallize on cooling. But as they are
extravagantly fond of it, very little is preserved beyond the sugar-making season.
The men tap the trees, attach spigots to them, make the sap troughs; and sometimes,
at this frolicking season, assist the squaws in collecting sap.
Dr Lyman C. Draper makes the following statement, which suffi
ciently indicates the nature of the sugar-making industry in recent
times:
From twenty-five to thirty years ago, when I resided at Lockport, in western New
York, I well remember that large quantities of stirred maple sugar were brought into
the country, made by the Indians in the Mackinaw region, and put up in small bark
boxes, containing from one to several pounds each. r
Sugar is still made by a number of tribes, but earthen vessels have
probably not been used in its manufacture for many years.
SPINDLE WHORLS ,OF CLAY
The state of culture of the eastern tribes had not yet led to the gen
eral employment of many earthenware articles beyond the mere vessel
for cooking and containing. The clay effigies so common in some
sections were generally vessels shaped exteriorly to resemble animal
forms, exceptions being noted especially in Florida, where various
mortuary figures having no practical function were manufactured.
Spindle whorls appear to have been used to a limited extent in the
South, and in Adair s time clay was used for weighting the spindle.
Speaking of the use of wild hemp, that author remarks that
The old women spin it off the distaffs with wooden machines having some clay on
the middle of them to hasten the motion. 1
As found on ancient sites, however, there is difficulty in distinguish
ing such articles from beads, gaming disks, or other perforated bits of
clay, and I have discovered few examples of fully authenticated spindle
whorls within the area here considered.
Lafitau, Mceurs <les sauvages ameriquains, vol. n; Explication des planches et des figures,
plain-he vn.
b Hunter, John IX, Memoirs of a captivity among the Indians, London, 1H23, p. 290.
c Draper, Lyman C., in Grignon, Augustin, Recollections; Third Annual Report and Collections of
the Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, 1857, p. 255.
rfAdair, James. History of the American Indians, London, 1775, p. 422.
20 ETH 03 3
34 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.M
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF EARTHENWARE
Many early writers mention the use of earthcrn vessels for drums.
Parchment or buckskin was stretched over the mouths of large pots,
and this, beaten with sticks, furnished the music for dances and cere
monies and noise for the gratification of savage taste. Tn Central
America and apparently, also, in Florida special forms were modeled
for this purpose, the rim being shaped for the convenient attachment
of the skin head.
Joutel, speaking of the southern Indians, states that on burial occa
sions the
dancers take care to tie calabashes or gourds about their bodies, with some Indian
wheat in them, to rattle and make a noise, and some of them have a drum, made of
a great earthen pot, on which they extend a wild goat s skin, and beat thereon with
one stick, like our tabors."
FIG. 4 Use of earthen vessel us a drum (Potherie).
Potheric has bequeathed us an illustration of an Indian beating a
pottery drum (see figure 4) drawn from description, no doubt, but
interesting as a record of facts or statements not embodied, so far as
has been noted, in the text of his work.*
Lafitau mentions the use of earthenware drums by the Iroquois; and
Butel-Dumont makes the following statement, reference being had
to the Louisiana Indians:
The next day at dawn all this troop sets out on the march, having at its head the
cleverest among them, who carries the calumet, and as they approach the village all
begin to sing and dance. One of them carries in the left hand an earthen pot covered
with a dressed deerskin stretched tightly over it and fastened to it by a cord, and
with a single drumstick in his right hand he beats the time on this pot, which serves
nJoutel s Journal of La Salle s last voyage, in French, B. F., Historical collections of Louisiana,
pt. 1, New York, 1846, pp. 187-188.
t> Potherie, Bacqueville de la, Histoire dc 1 Amerique septentrionale, Paris, 1753, vol. I, plate
opp. p. 17.
HOLMES]
IMPLEMENTS OF EARTHENWARE
85
as a drum; all respond by cries, which they utter in time; pome carry ( h!chin>nns or
empty gourds, in which are placed glass beads or little pebbles to make a noise, and
they shake them in time with the rest."
Lawson mentions the use of an earthen porridge pot with deerskin
head sis a drum l>y Indians of Carolina. Were it considered necessary,
many other references could l>e made to the use of earthenware drums.
Whistles and rattles of baked
clav are very common in Mexico,
and in Central and South America;
but few examples, so far as the
writer has learned, have been dis
covered in the mound region.
General Thruston, in his valuable
work on the "Antiquities of Ten
nessee, illustrates an earthenware
rattle and the pellets of clay used in it (see figure ). A few vases
have been found having hollow legs or attached animal features, in
which pellets were placed so that when used on festive or ceremonial
occasions they would serve as rattles as well as receptacles.
VARIOUS IMPLEMENTS OK KAKTHENWARE
Trowel-like objects of baked clay are occasionally found in the cen
tral districts of the Mississippi valley, and illustrations are given in
figure 6 a, and also in a subsequent section. The body is discoidal in
shape, and an arched loop or a ridge springing from one side serves
as a handle. The other side, which is the working surface, is slightly
convex, never flat, and generally shows considerable polish. These
objects resemble in a general wav our ordinary smoothing or "flat"
Earthenware rattle, with cluy pellet*
(Thruston).
Fin. ti Earthenware trowels and modeling tools.
iron for laundry work. General Thruston found excellent examples
of these implements in graves near Nashville, Tennessee, and he is
convinced they were trowels used in plastering and smoothing walls
and floors of houses. A similar implement having, instead of a loop
handle, an upright stem from 1 to 6 inches in length and 1 inch or
more in diameter occurs very generally over the middle Mississippi
region (see figure 6J, c). The upper end of the handle is sometimes
enlarged a little or simply rounded off, arid again it is divided into two
"Bntel-Dnmont, George Marie, Mcmoires sur la Louisiane, Paris, 1753, vol. i, pp. 192-3.
3fi
ABOKIOINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.ZO
FIG. 7 Probable manner of using earthenware model
ing tools: /) us an interior support, c as a modeling
or decorating paddle, d as a polishing implement.
or thrco lobes or prongs. When placed stem downward these imple
ments verv closely resemble an ordinary form of toadstool. They
have been regarded bv some as stoppers for bottles, but this was
certainly not their normal use. and General Thruston is probably
right in classing them as modeling tools for pottery making. The
convex surface is smooth, often retaining the peculiar polish that
comes from long use. The form is exactly suited to use in .supporting
the wall of the semiplastic vase
C/ from within while the manipu-
lation of the outer surface is
going on with paddles or other
modeling or decorating tools
(see tigure 7). It is true that
all forms of these objects may
have been used in rubbing sur
faces under manipulation or in
pulverizing substances in mor
tars, taking the place of mullers
or pestles of wood and stone,
and this was the view of Dr Jo
seph Jones with respect to the
loop-handled variety. When a
number of these objects of both forms are placed together, with the
polished convex surface to the front, all are seen to be identical in
appearance, save that a few of the loop-handled variety are oval in
outline (see plate xxxvi).
B A K ED-CLAY OFFERING RECEPTACLES
Another not uncommon use of baked clay was in the construction of
sacrificial basins or altars. Dr Joseph Jones in the following para
graph describes the use of a large shallow receptacle not differing
materially from the salt pans already described:
In tlu- center of the mound, about 3 feet from its surface, I uncovered a large
sacrificial vase or altar, 43 inches in diameter, composed of a mixture of clay and
river shells. The rim of the vase was 3 inches in height. The entire vessel had
been molded in a large wicker basket formed of split canes and the leaves of the
cane, the impressions of which were plainly visible upon the outer surface. The cir
cle of the vase appeared to be almost mathematically correct. The surface of the
altar was covered with a layer of ashes about 1 inch in thickness, and these ashes
had the appearance and composition of having been derived from the burning of
animal matter. The antlers and jawbone of a deer were found resting upon the sur
face of the altar. The edges of the vase, which had been broken off apparently by
an accident during the performance of the religious ceremonies, were carefully laid
over the layer of ashes, and the whole covered with earth near 3 feet in thickness, and
thus the ashes had been preserved to a remarkable extent from the action of the rains.
"Jones, Joseph, The aboriginal mound-builders of Tennessee, in American Naturalist. Salem, 1869,
vol. m, p. 68.
HOLMh-s]
EARTHENWARE USED IN BURIAL
The altars found in the mounds of the Ohio valley are usually largo
.shallow basins built in place by applying clay to a basin-like depres
sion in the ground and smoothing the surface roughly with the hands
or trowels. The altar tires baked the clay, giving it the consistency
of earthenware.
CEMKXT AND PLANTER
Native clays and earths were extensively used in the construction of
numerous classes of fixed works, and it is found that various mix-
FIG. 8 Use of clay in plastering house wall of interlaced canes, Arkansas. From Thomas, 12th
Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, figure Us.
tures cement-like combinations of clay, sand, gravel, etc. were em
ployed to add to the firmness of these constructions. Li the middle and
lower Mississippi valley provinces plastic clay was employed exten
sively in plastering the walls and roofs of houses of cane and other
interlaced vegetal parts, and floors were laid in the same material (see
figure 8).
EARTHEXWARK T. T SEI IN BURIAL
To what extent earthen vessels were used as receptacles for the
remains of the dead can not be satisfactorily determined. The whites,
FIG. 9 Reetanfi-nlar burial casket
of earthenware, Tennessee.
FIG. 10 Earthen vessel containinKhonesof
children, Alabama (Moore).
accustomed to the practice of burial of ashes in cinerary urns among
eastern nations, were prone to discover traces of similar customs here,
38 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.AKX.ZO
and perhaps made statements on insufficient evidence. It is true, how-
evr. that the dead were burned in many sections of the country, and
that the ashes or rather, perhaps, the charred remnants of bones were
placed in such receptacles as were at hand for burial. The burial of
the disarticulated bones of the dead, especially of children, in earthen
FIG. 11 Earthen vessel inverted over a skull for
protection, Georgia (Moore).
FIG. 12 Earthenware burial urn
and bowl cover, Georgia.
vessels, was quite common in the South Appalachian province and
occurred occasionally, at least, in other regions. To what extent vessels
were manufactured exclusively for mortuary purposes can not be
determined, since no particular form seems to have been considered
necessary. The larger boiling or containing pots, taken from the
household supply, seem to have been satisfactory. Occasionally, how-
KKI. 13 Earthenware burial urii with
cover, Georgia.
FIG. 14 Earthernware burial urn with bowl cover
and other vessels, Alabama (Moore).
ever, receptacles appear to have been shaped for the purpose; the
casket shown in figure 9 was of this class. It was obtained from a
burial mound at Male s point, Tennessee, and contained the bones of
an infant. Figure 10 shows the top view of a burial vase from a
mound in Wilcox county. Alabama, containing bones of infants.
HOLMES]
EARTHENWARE USED IN BURIAL
Iii very many cases earthen vessels, especially bowls, are found
inverted over the skull of the deceased, as shown in figure 11, and not
infrequently large fragments of earthenware
were placed over and around the head, prob
ably us a protection.
The commonest form of pot burial is
illustrated in figures 1:2, 13. 14. and 15. The
remains were crowded into the vessel and the
bowl was fitted over or into the mouth of
this receptacle.
Perhaps the most general use of vases in
burial was that of containing food, drink, and
other offerings intended by friends of the dc- Fl( , ]N _ Elirthermv , m , 1>urial
parted to serve some mythical post-mortem um with bowl cover, Alabama
purpose. That the deposition of these arti
cles with the dead had, however, become a mere form or symbol in
manv cases is shown by the fact that the vessels were often broken and
FIG. 16 Mortuary vases imitating the dead face, middle Mississippi valley.
that fragments merely were sometimes used. In one section of the
Mississippi valley we find small mortuary receptacles made to repre-
Fio. 17 Toy-like vessels used as funeral offerings, Florida (Moore).
40
ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH.ASN.M
sent the human face as it appears after death. So unusual is the shape
that wo :iro justified in assuming that the vessels were made exclu-
Fro. 18 Toy-like funeral offerings imitating vegetal forms. Florida (Moore).
sively for mortuary use and consignment to the tomb. Thev are too
small to have contained bones, and we can only surmise that they were
intended to contain food, drink, or other kinds of offerings. An
Fir,. 1!> Toy-like funeral offerings imitating nninml forms, Florida (Moore).
example is shown in figure IK, and two excellent specimens appear
in plate XLIIT. In some other regions, notably in Florida, rude imita
tions of vessels, hardly capable of
bearing up their own weight, were
made and cast into the grave (see
figure 17). With these were also
figurines made in the rudest way,
representing many forms of animal
and vegetal life, shown in figures 18
and 19/ It is possible that these
were offerings made after the man
ner of the ancient Egyptians, who
placed images of slaves and various
implements and utensils in the tomb,
with the idea that the}- would in some
way be of service to the dead in the
future existence.
The modeling of various life forms was extensively practiced by
FIG. 20 Toy-like figurine representing
babe in eradle. Tennessee (Thruston).
"Moore, Clarence B., Certain sand mounds on the St Johns river, Florida, part i, in Journal of
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, ser. 2, vol. x, )>t. 1. Phila., 1K94.
IMAGES IN EARTHENWARE
41
Flu. Jl Small image of a turtle, Tennessee.
the potters of some sections, but almost universally as elaborations
and embellishments of vessels, pipes, and other useful articles. Serious
attempts at the modeling in clay of human or animal figures for the
figure s sake were apparently quite
exceptional, although images in
stone are common. Nearly all
solid figures in clay so far report
ed have the character of toys or
rude votive or mortuary offerings.
The collections of Clarence 15.
Moore contain many specimens of
such burial figurines from the
mounds of Florida (see figure 19). General Thrustoii illustrates a small
clay figure representing a babe in its cradle from a mound in Tennessee
(figure 20); also the image of a turtle from the Noel cemetery near
Nashville (figure 21); and recently
Dr Roland Steiner, of Grovetown,
Georgia, has forwarded to the Mu
seum a number of small figures of
reddish terra cotta in which a variety
of physiognomy and facial expres
sion appear (see figures 22 and 23).
These figures have a more marked
resemblance to Mexican work of the
same class than any yet found within
the territory of the United States.
The flattening out of the head, as
seen in profile, is especially note
worthy. They are from the Etowah
group of mounds in liartow county, Georgia.
Strangely enough, the most striking examples of this class of work
yet found in the eastern United States are from a region where, the
ordinary wares are inferior and not very plentiful. I refer to some
FIG. 2 Small earthenware figures suggest
ing aneient Mexican work, Georgia.
Flo. 2:* Karthenware heads of Mexican type, Georgia.
specimens of small figurines in clay obtained by Professor F. W.
Putnam from a mound in southwestern Ohio. They appear to excel
any similar work north of Mexico in the appreciation of form and
42 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES FETII.AXN.M
proportion shown by the makers, but illustrations have not as yet been
published.
The occurrence of such unusual features of art as this and the flat-
headed figurines mentioned above, adds force to the suggestion afforded
by certain unique works in stone, copper, and shell found in the gen
eral region, that some of the early people had contact, more or less
direct, with the advanced nations of Mexico.
PKHHONAL ORNAMENTS OK EARTHENWARE
Clay, colored by a variety of oxides and other substances, was exten
sively used for painting the person as well as various objects of art, but
Fit;. 24 Earthenware beads and pendants, various localities.
Fi<;. 2~i Ear plugs of earthenware, middle and lower Mississippi valley.
articles of baked clay were rarely utilized for ornament. Occasion
ally baked clay was employed for beads and pendants (see figure 24),
HOLMES]
KARTHENWARE DISKS AND SPOOLS
and for ear plugs and liibrets (figures 25 and 2(5), in the same manner
as were similar forms in stone and shell, but this use was not common,
as the material was not sufficiently attractive in appearance to gratify
the savage taste.
FIG. 26 Labrets of earthenware, middle and lower Mississippi valley.
KAKTHE.VWAKK DISKS AND SPOOLS
From many sections of the country we have small earthenware
disks, generally shaped from potsherds, and in some cases perforated.
They average between 1 and 2 inches in diameter, and are in many
cases verv carefully rounded and finished. They are obtained from
dwelling sites, and occasionally from graves. One theory as to their
function is that they were used in playing games of skill or chance.
The perforate variety may in cases have been used as spindle whorls,
but recently Mr Clarence B. Moore has found specimens so related
to human remains in burial as to lead to the conclusion that they had
served as cores for copper ear disks. Examples are presented in
figure 27.
Fin. 27 Pottery disks, probably used iu playing some game.
Among the imperfectly understood varieties of earthenware objects
are some spool-like forms found in the Ohio valley. Illustrations of
two specimens found near Maysville, Kentucky, appear in figure 2S.
The following notes regarding them are furnished me by Mr Gerard
Fowke, of Chillicothe, Ohio:
I have seen a few, probably 15 or 20, of these "spools," though I am at a loss to
classify them. A few are drilled [longitudinally] through the center. The figures
engraved represent, perhaps, the extremes of slenderness and thickness in propor-
44
AHORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [RTH.ANX.20
tion to length. So far as my knowledge of them goes they are found only in Lewis,
Fleming, Mason (of which Maysville is the county seat), Nicholas, and Bracken
counties, Kentucky, and Brown and Adams counties, Ohio all these counties being
contiguous. ]t is reported that one was found in Ross county and one in Scioto
county, Ohio.
While there is considerable variation in the incised lines, they all seem to be mod
ifications of the two systems in the specimens illustrated.
Fio. 2N Spool-shnpcd iirtick sol clay, containing unusual designs in incised lines. From n photograph
furnished tiy Thomas \V. Kiuney, Portsmouth, Ohio.
EARTHKXWAKK TOBACCO PIPES
Pipes for smoking tobacco and other dried plants were generally
made of vegetal substances or of stone, but in some sections clay was
much used. Smoking as a matter of gustatory gratification was a
widespread custom, and many accounts agree in making it an impor
tant feature in magic, religious ceremonials, councils, and treaties.
HOLMES] EARTHENWARE TOBACCO PIPES 45
There is probably no good reason to question the general belief that
the pipe was in use in America on the arrival of Europeans. Speci
mens are found in such varied situations and, besides, the shapes
arc so highly differentiated that any other conclusion must needs he
supported by strong evidence. The simplest form of the pipe is a
straight tube, found only now and then in the Kast, but the prevailing
form on the Pacific coast. In the northeastern states the fundamental
shape is a nearly plain bent tube slightly enlarged at the bowl end,
represented in the most elementary form by the pipes of the Chesa
peake province, and appearing in more elaborate shapes in the
Iroquoian region in Pennsylvania and New York. The short, wide-
bowled, bent trumpet of the South Appalachian province is a local
development of the same general type, and the clumsy, massive, bent
tube of the Gulf and Middle Mississippi states is a still more marked
variant. The monitor and platform shapes of the Central states depart
widely from the simple tube, and no end of curious modifications of
form come from changes in the relative proportions and positions of
Fig. 29 Rang* in form of tobaroo pipes.
stem and bowl, and especially from the addition of plastic life forms
in almost infinite variety. A synopsis of the range of form from the
straight tube to the platform with discoid bowl is given in figure
29. It is remarkable that the great Ohio Valley province and the
Middle South, furnishing stone pipes of the highest grade, yield few
and rude pipes of clay. Pipes were smoked with or without stems of
other material. Illustrations and descriptions of type specimens will
be given as the various groups of ware to which they belong are pre
sented. A comprehensive work on American tobacco pipes has been
published recently by the National Museum."
MATERIALS
CLAY
Clay suited to the manufacture of the plain earthenware of the
aborigines is widely distributed over the country, and it is not likely
that any extended region is without a plentiful supply. The clay
used was often impure, and in many cases was probably obtained from
McGuire, J. P., I"ipes and smoking customs, Report of the Tinted States National Museum, 1S97.
46 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTII. ANN. 20
recently deposited alluvial sediments. Clean clays were, however,
diligently sought and generally procured,- and in many cases they seem
to have been carefully prepared by pulverizing, washing, and knead
ing, as was observed by Dumont and others. Finely prepared washes
of clay were made for surface finish. Clay unmixed with any kind of
tempering was sometimes used for modeling vessels, pipes, and some
of the less important articles. The more advanced potters used paste
having degrees of refinement suited to the nature of the object modeled.
Utensils to be used over fire were tempered with coarser ingredients.
TEMPERING MATERIAL*
Great diversity of tempering materials is observed. This diversity
is due to the multiplicity of mineral products brought within the
range of experiment. It is apparent that many materials were suited to
the purpose. The choice of a single material, where many abounded,
must have been due to accident in the incipient stages of the art. It is
not uncommon, however, to find several substances used in the work
of a single community or what appears to be such. The ingredients
varied to some extent also with the uses to which the vessels were to
be devoted. They include pulverized rocks and mineral substances of
many kinds, powdered shells of mollusks, powdered potsherds, and per
haps cinders, besides ashes of bark, sponge, and the like. Raw vegetal
substances were also used, the fibrous parts being broken or pulverized.
The advantages to be secured by the introduction of foreign par
ticles into the clay may be somewhat diverse. It is fair to assume
that tempering was intended to impart some quality or property to
the paste that the pure clay did not possess to the desired degree. In
building vessels the clay may have been handled with greater facility
through the introduction of sand, but this could not be true of the
addition of coarse, sharp particles of shell or crystalline rock; their
presence must really have added to the difficulty of shaping and finish
ing the vessel.
Tempering may have served a useful purpose during the drying and
baking of the clay. It is well known that pure clay has a strong ten
dency to shrink and crack in drying, and it is readily seen that the
particles of tempering material would in a measure counteract this
tendency. The coarse particles would interfere with the progress of
the parting movements; the undulations that separate finer particles
with ease would produce no effect. The progress of a crack would be
impeded, just as a fracture in a glass plate is stopped by boring a hole
at the extremity of the flaw. It would thus appear that even cavities
in the paste serve a useful purpose, and that sawdust and cut straw,
even if reduced to ashes by firing, would have performed in a way the
functions of tempering. In a fine-grained paste the flaw would, when
HOLMES] TEMPERING MATERIALS 47
once started, continue through the wall of the vessel in a direct line
.without interference. In the tempered paste it would, in avoiding the
solid particles, or through interference of cavities take a sinuous
course or be led off in diverging directions.
Again, any condition or ingredient that reduces the amount of con
traction resulting from drying out during the baking process must be
advantageous. It may be possible for a body of clay to contract so
evenly as to suffer no injury, yet. as a rule, there must be considerable
unevenness of contraction, with consequent danger, and it would seem
that the greater the contraction the greater the danger of disaster.
Clay contracts through the evaporation of water held between the minute
particles. The coarse particles of tempering may contain water, but,
being rigid, they do not contract on drying out. The amount of con
traction would thus be reduced in direct ratio with the increase of tem
pering material, and this would seem a most important consideration to
the potter.
It may be further surmised that the presence of foreign particles in
the clay may serve some purpose in connection with the distribution of
the heat in tiring or in subsequent use over tire. The points reached
by a given degree of heat in pure clay may be on or close to a particular
line or plane and may thus give rise to distinctly localized strain,
whereas the foreign particles may tend to conduct the heat unevenly
and distribute the strain.
In reference to the function of the tempering material during the
subsequent use of the vessel, it might seem that the presence of large
fragments of hard substances would weaken the wall of the vessel so
that when in use it would readily be fractured by a strain or blow;
but the particles arrange themselves so that strong points alternate
with the weak ones in such a way as to increase strength rather than
to reduce it. It appears further that the particles of tempering, espe
cially if coarse, must add greatly to the toughness of the paste during
the use of the vessel, much as they do during the drying-out process,
and it is not impossible for a flaw to extend entirely through and across
a vessel, and still not seriously impair its strength, as the particles of
tempering are so interlocked or dovetailed that separation can not
readily take place. It would appear, therefore, that the offices of the
tempering ingredient are almost purely physical, and not chemical.
In America the heat employed in tiring earthenware was not sufficient
to seriously alter any of the mineral constituents. It rarely happened
that the heat was sufficient to calcine the shell material with which the
clay in many sections was tilled.
The favorite tempering materials were powdered shell and pulverized
crystalline rock. Sand, the grains of which were rounded, and various
other materials, so finely powdered as to be almost impalpable, were
often employed. In the piedmont regions of North Carolina and
48 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH. AN.x.20
Virginia vessels are found made of paste consisting of coarsely pulver
ized steatite mid barely enough clay to hold the particles together. Mica,
iron pvrites. and other crystalline substances were much used in some
sections. It is not uncommon to see examples in which the paste con
tains 75 or 80 per cent of the tempering ingredients.
The use of powdered shell was very general. It is not known that
any particular variety of shell was preferred. The shells were pulver
ized in mortars or by means of such devices as were at hand. Du
Prate observed their use in early times. He remarks that
Near the Nactchitoches are found hanks of shells ["Coquilles de Palourdes"] such
as those which form the shell island. This neighboring nation says that ancient tra
dition teaches them that the sea was formerly extended to this spot; the women of
this nation come here to gather them [the shells]; they make a powder of them and
mix it with the earth of which they make their pottery, which is considered the
best. However, I would not advise the indiscriminate use of those shells for this
purpose, because by nature they crack when exposed to fire; I think, therefore, that
those which are found among the Xactchitoches have acquired this good quality only
by losing their salt during a period of several centuries that they have been out of
the sea."
It is rather remarkable that in many, if not in a majority of cases,
the bits of shell have not been affected by the heat of baking or use,
as their original luster is fully preserved. The Pamunkey Indians of
Virginia, who were found practicing the art of pot making only a few
years ago, calcined their .shells, and, as a consequence, where a large
percentage of the material was used in tempering the clay, the vessels
are inclined to fall to pieces from the slacking that follows use in water.
MANUFACTURE
THE RECORDS
A careful study of the methods and processes or manufacture
employed in the ceramic art of America must furnish much that is of
interest to the student of technic evolution. Besides this, the intimate
knowledge of the art gained in the study of the technique of manufac
ture may also be of value when applied to questions of a more purely
ethnic nature, for peculiar methods and devices of art characterize the
peoples employing them, and in connection with other classes of evi
dence may be of use in tracing and identifying peoples. Much remains
to be done in this branch of the study, for, considering the fact that
the ceramic art has been so generally practiced by the natives since
the advent of Europeans, our knowledge of the methods of manu
facture seems very meager. Those whites who came in contact with
the aborigines most intimately took very little interest in the native
arts, and, as a rule, made no record of them whatever, and now, when
interest is finally awakened, we tind these arts in the main superseded
and lost.
<"Du Pratz, Antoine Simon I.e Page, Histoire de la Louisiane, Paris, 1758, vol. i. lip. 103-164.
HOI.MKS] METHODS OF MANUFACTURE 49
Our knowledge of the teehnic of the art is fortunately not limited
to that furnished by literature or by observation of modern practices.
An examination of the many relics preserved to our time throws much
light on the methods of fictile manipulation. The potter s fingers have
left an indelible and easily read record upon every .sherd. Slips, enam
els, and glazes which tend to obscure evidences of manipulation had
not come into use, or were sparingly employed, and the firing was so
slight as to leave all the ingredients, save in color and hardness, practi
cally unchanged.
FIRST I sK OK CLAY
Clay was probably first employed in the unbaked state as an auxil
iary in various arts, but in such a simple manner that traces of the
work are not preserved to us. The beginnings of the use of utensils
of baked clay by our northern tribes must have been of comparatively
recent date, but these incipient stages are necessarily obscure. If the
art was of local origin a long series of almost imperceptible steps must
have led up to successful methods of shaping and baking. Suitable
clays would have to be discovered and brought into use, and it would
be long before the intelligent use of tempering materials and advanced
methods of manipulation were known.
SHAPING PROCESSES AND APPLIANCES
The shaping processes employed in vessel making were chiefly
modeling and molding. These operations are equally elementary and
probably of nearly equal antiquity, or, what amounts to the same
thing, they came into use at corresponding stages of culture. If, as
has been suggested, the clay vessel originated with the employment of
clay as a lining for cooking pits, or in protecting baskets, fruit shells,
or other articles from destruction by tire in culinary operations, the
clay would be applied to. and would take the form of, the pit or
vessel, and the art of molding would be suggested. Modeling began
with the first touch of the fingers to a plastic material, but modeling
directed to a definite end the art of modeling did not begin until
some desired form was designedly reproduced. The assumption that
the vessel was the first art form in baked clay may or mav not be
well founded, but that it soon became and always remained the. most
important product of the potter s art must pass unchallenged.
Although the molding process was much used in archaic times, it
alone was never competent to complete :i utensil; the plastic clav had
to be squeezed into the mold and was therefore shaped, on one side at
least, by modeling with the fingers or an implement. On the other
hand, modeling alone was capable of accomplishing every necessary
part of the shaping and finishing of vessels.
20 KTH 03 i
50 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.20
There has been much discussion regarding the probable nature of
the mechanical appliances in use by pre-Columbian potters. It is now
well established that the wheel or lathe was unknown in America, and
no substitute for it capable of assisting materially in throwing the
form or giving symmetry to the outline by purely mechanical means
had been devised. The hand is the true prototype of the wheel as
well as of other shaping tools, but the earliest artificial revolving device
probably consisted of a shallow basket or bit of gourd in which the
clay vessel was commenced and by means of which it was turned back
and forth with one hand as the building went on with the other. This
device is illustrated farther on in connection with studies of textile
appliances employed in the art.
Within the United States molds were generally, though not always,
improvised affairs and seldom did more than serve as a support for
the lower part of the clay vessel during shaping and finishing by the
modeling processes. These molds were employed either as exterior
01- interior supports, to be removed before the baking began or even
before the vessel was finished. They consisted of shallow baskets,
sections of gourd shell, and vessels of clay or wood shaped for the
purpose. The textile markings so often seen on the exterior surfaces
of vases are not, however, impressions of baskets employed in model
ing and molding, but of pliable fabrics and cords used, possibry, in
supporting the vessel while in the process of construction, but in most
cases as a means of shaping, texturing, and ornamenting the surface,
and applied by successive imprintings or malleations. This topic is
presented in detail toward the close of this section.
It is apparent that the actual process of building and shaping an
ordinary vessel was in a general way much the same, no matter whether
it was supported by a shallow vessel serving as a rudimentary mold
or wheel, or whether it was the work of the hands unaided by such
mechanical device. The work was commenced at the center of the
rounded bottom, either with a small mass of clay, which was flattened
out and modeled into the proper curve by pressure of the fingers, or
with the end of a strip of clay coiled on itself and welded together
and worked into the desired form. In cither case the walls were, as a
rule, carried upward from the nucleus thus secured by the addition of
strips of clay which were often so long as to extend more than once
around the growing rim, thus assuming the character of a coil. Coil
building was practiced in a very skillful manner by the ancient
Pueblos. With these people the strips of clay were cut and laid on
with the utmost regularity, and the edges were made to overlap on the
exterior of the vessel, forming spiral imbrications. In the eastern
United States the strips of clay were wide, irregular, and rude, and
were worked down and obliterated, the finished vessel rarely showing
HOLMES]
MANUFACTURE AND DECORATION
51
truces of their employment. The strips were not systematically over
lapped as they were with the Pueblos, but one turn was set somewhat
directly on the edge of the preceding turn and was attached to it by
pressure and by drawing down the edges, both exterior and interior.
Specimens from many sections fracture along the strip junctions, thus
revealing the width of the fillets and the manner of their manipulation.
The beginning of a coil is shown in figure 30/t. Attachment was accom
plished by drawing both edges of the fillet down over the convex edge
of the preceding turn, as is seen in I and e. Commonly the walls were
evened up and the form corrected and developed by the aid of modeling
tools. A convex-surfaced implement, a piece of gourd, for example,
was held on the inner surface to support the wall, while paddles, rock
ing tools, and scrapers were used to manipulate the exterior surface.
When the body of the vessel had been brought into approximately
final shape, the margins or in constricted forms the neck and rim-
Eta. 30 Use of the coil in vessel Imilrtinf;: a, beginning of roil: 6, ordinary superposition of coils
or strips: c, section.
received attention. Handles, legs, and other relieved features, includ
ing ornaments, were shaped and added, and the points of junction were
carefully finished off. In the case of compound or even of complex
forms the parts were separately shaped and afterward joined by pres
sure and rubbing. Surface finish was accomplished in a number of
ways, varying with the people, the period, and the locality, and with
the use to which the vessels were to be applied. The most elementary
treatment consisted of rubbing the surface with the hand and finger
tips. But various tools were used, each leaving its own characteristic
markings, and these in the more ordinary ware served as an ornamental
finish. In the better ware the surface was rubbed down and polished
with smooth stones or bits of shell.
I >Efl >HATIX( ; PROCESSES
When the vessel was built and practically complete, attention was
turned toward decoration. During the. shaping operations features of
form and texture very often arose that proved pleasing to the potter,
52 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES IKTH.ANN.M
and these wore preserved and elaborated. Thus the potters of -each
community, each nation, developed their own set of devices for deco
rating, besides acquiring from associated arts and from neighboring
peoples additional ideas and facilities by means of which their art was
gradually enriched.
The fingers and fingernails were employed to produce many rude
effects in relief and in intaglio; tools of many shapes, improvised or
manufactured for the purpose, were used; sharp pointed ones to incise,
gouge-like forms to excavate, dull and rounded points to trail, and all
the varieties for indented designs. Of kindred nature is a species of
rude inlaying, which consists of setting into the clay, in patterns, bits
of colored mineral, such as mica and quartz.
In some sections of the country engraved stamps, which generally
took the form of paddles, were used to cover the plastic surface with
diaper-like patterns; in others thin disks with indented or otherwise
finished peripheries were rolled back and forth on the plastic surface,
producing similar figures. Again, in many places woven fabrics were
applied to the clay, leaving artistic patterns, and cords were impressed
to produce ornamental figures of textile character. Then again proc
esses of preparing and applying color were known in some sections
and extensively employed. Clays of varying hues were ground and
prepared in a liquid state to be applied with brushes. The surface
was in cases prepared for the color by the addition of a layer or wash
of fine paste. No description of the processes of -applying the colors
has been recorded, but the\" are probably not unlike those practiced
in the Pueblo country today, and may have been borrowed by the peo
ple of the lower Arkansas from their Pueblo neighbors or from
nations inhabiting the western or southern shores of the Gulf of
Mexico.
BAKING PROCESSES
When completed the utensil was dried in the shade, in the sun, or
before the fire, according to the needs of the case or to custom; after
ward it was baked with greater or less thoroughness. The Catawbas,
it would seem, having excellent ( lay, found baking before the fire
quite sufficient. The Cherokees embedded the vessel in bark, which
was fired, and the vessel came out red-hot. In no section was a very
high degree of heat intentionally applied and the paste remained com
paratively soft. The; shell material used in tempering was often not
calcined, and vitrification rarely took place. Such traces of vitri
fication as have been observed may have been produced long .subsequent
to the original baking. It has often been stated that furnaces pre
pared for the purpose of firing earthenware have been identified, but
it is difficult to substantiate this belief, as the phenomena observed
may be due to the use of earthenware in connection with fireplaces or
with kilns built for other purposes.
HOLMES] CHEROKEE AND CATAWBA TOTTERY 53
Methods of tiring observed in use were extremely simple and eon-
sisted usually of devices for surrounding the vessels somewhat evenly
with burning fuel. By such means the paste was hardened, and, in
most cases discolored, taking a variety of hues depending on its min
eral ingredients and on the manner of applying the tire and the degree
of heat attained. Some of the effects of color observed are undoubt
edly due to causes operating at a period subsequent to the original
tiring . In cases where pigments were used in surface finish or in
ornamental designs it can not be determined whether or not changes in
hue produced by chemical reactions in baking were anticipated and
relied on to produce desired results.
PROCESSES OF MANUFACTURE IN PRESENT USE
Authors from whom information derived from personal observa
tions can be obtained are very few in number, and up to the present
time no detailed account of the manufacture of earthenware in the
great province covered by this paper has been published. The best
accounts are casual notes by writers who sought only to entertain, or
who had little conception of the subject with which they were dealing.
Perceiving this I sought means of securing detailed and accurate infor
mation, in 1888, learning that Mr James Moonev, the indefatigable
student of aboriginal history, was about to pay a visit to the Cherokee
villages of western North Carolina, I secured his aid. Armed with a
list of topics furnished by me he made a careful study of the art as
practised among these peoples, and from his notes have been compiled
the two valuable accounts which follow:
MANUFACTURE BY CATAWBA WOMEN
Living with the Cherokees were (in 1890) two Catawba women, Sally
Wahuhu, an old woman of 80 years, who had come from the Catawba
reservation in South Carolina about fifty years before, and Susanna
Owl. about 40 years of age, who had been with the Cherokees four
years. These women, being skilled potters, were induced to make
some vessels, that Mr Moonev might witness the operations. Their
methods were probably in the main Catawban. but the manner of
baking, by means of which a rich black color was given to the ware,
was said by the elder woman to have been acquired from the Chero
kees. She also maintained that the Catawbas did not burn their wares
in the tire, but baked them before it.
On the Cherokee reservation two kinds of clay are used. They are
found mainly on the north bank of the Soco creek, in Jackson county,
North Carolina, and are usually closely associated in their deposition.
One variety is fine-grained and of dark brown color; this is used for
pipes, because it readily takes a high polish. The other variety is
light gray or whitish in color and contains sand so coarse as to give it
a gritty texture. For the manufacture of ordinary earthenware these
54 ABOKIOINAL POTTERY OF EASTEKN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.ZO
clays are mixed in about equal proportions; they are placed together
and pounded with a .stick or with such tools as happen to be conven
ient. By adding water a paste of about the consistency of putty is
soon produced, which in this state is ready for use; it may, however,
be preserved an indefinite period provided it does not freeze.
In making a vessel a sufficient quantity of the paste was placed by
the Catawba women on a board and rolled into cylinders about an inch
thick, which were cut up into sections eight or ten inches long. A
small mass of clay was then taken, from which a disk about five inches
in diameter was formed; this, turned up at the edges, served as the
bottom of the vessel. It was placed on a board and one of the strips
of clay, properly flattened out, was carried around its circumference
and broken off on completing the circuit. The margin was bent
slightly upward and the junction was rubbed over with the thumb nail
to unite it. The process was repeated until the bowl was complete,
the last strip being turned slightly outward with the fingers to form
the rim. The joints were then rubbed over with the nails, and the
whole surface, inside and out, was rubbed with a piece of gourd shell
until it became quite even. During the smoothing process the vessel
was beaten with the hands and dexterously turned by tossing in the
air. The work up to this point had occupied about fifteen minutes.
In the case of vessels requiring ears or handles, small cylinders of stiff
clay were shaped, set in holes bored through the vessel, and clinched
inside, and the joints were carefully smoothed over. The vessel was
then allowed to dry until the next day. Having remained in the sun
for a number of hours it was again placed on a board which was held
in the lap and the surface was scraped with a bit of gourd shell until
the walls were sufficiently thin and even. Some parts, including the
edges, were pared off with a knife. When the scraping or paring
dislodged grains of sand, the holes were tilled with bits of clay from
the bottom of the vessel and the surface was smoothed over with the
fingers. The surface was now rubbed over with the gourd shell and
polished with a smooth pebble which, in this case, had been brought
from South Carolina by the elder woman. This part of the process,
occupying about fifteen minutes, finished the second day s work.
A fter the vessel had dried until the afternoon of the third day,
in the sun, as far as possible, the surface was again rubbed inside and
out with the polishing stone. This work occupied half an hour.
After this the vase was placed before the fire where not exposed to
drafts and dried or baked for an hour; it was then ready for firing,
which was conducted indoors. Oak bark was used for firing; Sally
Wahuhu stated that poplar bark gave a superior color and finish.
Bark was preferred to wood because it was more easily broken up and
was more convenient. A heap of bark was laid on a bed of living coals;
the vessel was filled with broken bark and inverted over the pile of
ignited bark and then completely covered with the same fuel. The
HOLMES] CATAWBA TOTTERY 55
exterior bark was lired and the supply renewed for an hour, when the
red-hot vessel was taken out. It was kept away from drafts during
the burning and the first part of the cooling to prevent cracking. It
was allowed to cool near the fire until the red heat had disappeared,
when it was removed to the open air. On examination it was found
that the inside had been colored a deep, glistening black by the burn
ing, but the exterior, save in spots where the bark had been dense and
the fire much smothered, was of grayish and reddish tints.
The Catawba potters excel in the manufacture of pipes. Susanna
Owl used only the fine brown clay. In making an ordinary pipe she
first rolled out a cylindric cone about five, inches long, one end of which
was less than half an inch in diameter and the other an inch or more.
This cone was broken in the middle and the narrow piece was joined to
the other near the smaller end and at right angles, the junction being
perfected by the addition of bits of clay and by manipulation with the
fingers. The processes of shaping, polishing, and drying were the same
as with ordinary pottery. Three other varieties of pipes are made,
described severally as cockscomb-shaped, ax-shaped, and boot-shaped.
Incised ornamental figures are executed with a needle or a bent pin.
This work is done on the evening of the second day or on the morning
of the third. The bowl is not bored out until the pipe is nearly ready
for firing. The pipes are baked, often several at a time, by embedding
in burning bark, and a vessel is inverted over them during the process
to impart a uniform glistening black finish.
The work of the Catawba potters was observed by Dr E. Palmer
on their reservation in South Carolina in 1884, and somewhat detailed
notes were furnished by him to the Bureau of Ethnology. They use
a light porous clay containing a large percentage of vegetal matter.
It is moistened, then taken in the hands by bits, and kneaded by the
fingers until all hard particles are removed and the texture becomes
uniform. When enough is thus treated to make a vessel, a small por
tion is taken up ;:nd flattened between the hands and formed into a
disk. This is placed on a board, and other portions are rolled out into
rolls a foot or less in length. One of these is wrapped about the mar
gin of the disk and worked down and welded with the fingers, and
others are added in like manner until the walls rise to the desired height.
When the surface is made sufficiently even and the clay becomes firm,
smooth quartz pebbles are used to give a polish.
The vessels are carefully dried in the shade and then baked In-
covering them with bark which is kept burning until they are suffi
ciently hardened. They are frequently moved about to prevent such
constant contact with the burning bark as would blacken them too
much. The colors produced are shades of brown mottled with grays
and blacks. When the potters desire they produce a black shining
surface bv covering the articles with some inverted receptacle during
the baking process.
5(5 AHORIOINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ASS.20
MANUFACTURE BY CHKKOKEK WOMEN*
Mr Mooney found that although the making of pottery had fallen
into disuse among the, Cherokees, three women were still skilled in
the art. The names of these potters are Uhyunli, then 75 vears of
age. Katalsta. about 85 years of age, and Ewi Katalsta. daughter of
the last named and about 50 years old.
Cherokee processes differ from the Catawba, or more properly, per
haps, did differ, in two principal points, namely, n, the application of
a black glossy color by smother-firing, and, b, the application of orna
mental designs to the exterior of the vessel by means of figured paddles
or stamps. The employment of incised decorations was more common
among the Cherokees than among the Catawbas.
Katalsta used clay of the fine dark variety obtained near Macedonia
Church. She prepared it as did the Catawba women, but in building
she sometimes used one long coil which was carried spirallv from the
bottom to the rim after the manner of the ancient Pueblos and the
potters of Louisiana. The inside of the vessel was shaped with a
spoon and polished with a stone, the latter having been in use in the
potter s family, near Bryson City, North Carolina, for three genera
tions. The outside was stamped all over with a paddle, the body of
which was covered with a checker pattern of engraved lines, giving a
somewhat ornamental effect. The rim was lined verticallv bv incisim>-
. o
with a pointed tool. At this stage of the process the vessel was lifted
by means of a bit of cloth which prevented obliteration of the orna
ments. When the vessel was finished and dried in the sun it was
heated by the fire for three hours, and then put on the fire and covered
with bark and burned for about three-quarters of an hour. When
this step of the process was completed the vessel was taken outside the
house and inverted over a small hole in the ground, which was filled
with burning corn cobs. This fuel was renewed a number of times,
and at the end of half an hour the interior of the vessel had acquired
a black and glistening surface. Sometimes the same result is obtained
by burning small quantities of wheat or cob bran in the, vessel, which
is covered over during the burning to prevent the escape of the smoke.
The implements used by the, potters of this reservation are the tool for
pounding the clay; the bits of gourd or shell, or other convex-surfaced
devices for shaping and polishing; the knife for trimming edges; smooth
pebbles for final polishing; pointed tools of wood, metal, etc., for
incising patterns; and paddle stamps for imparting a rude diapered
effect to the exterior surface of the vessel. The stamp patterns are
usually small diamonds or squares, formed by cutting crossed grooves
on the face of a small paddle of poplar or linn wood.
Plain pipes of rather rude finish are made by the Cherokees after
their ordinary manner of earthenware manufacture.
MANUFACTURE OF POTTERY 57
KAKLY ACCOUNTS OK MANUFACTUHK
For the purpose of showing the close general resemblance of the
processes here recorded to those of Louisiana Indians witnessed, though
inadequately described, by Du Pratz and Butel-Duiuont one hundred
and fifty years ago, I add the following paragraphs from these authors,
quite literally translated.
As soon it" these peoples ha<l settled in a tixe<l dwelling place, it was necessary to
find the safest and most convenient method of cooking maize and meats; they
bethought themselves of making pottery. This was the work of the women. They
sought for greasy earth, reduced it to powder, rejected the gravel which was found
in it, made a sufficiently firm paste, and then established their workshop on a flat
block of wood on which they formed the pottery with the lingers, smoothing it with
a pebble, which was carefully preserved for this purpose. As fast as the clay dried
they added more, supporting it with the hand oil the other side; after all these
operations they baked it by means of a hot fire."
The following is from Hutel-Duniont:
Moreover, the industry of these Indian girls and women is admirable. I have
already reported elsewhere with what skill, with their fingers alone and without a
turning lathe they make all sorts of pottery. This is the method they employ:
After having gathered the earth suitable for this kind of work, and having well
cleansed it, they take shells which they grind and reduce to a very fine powder;
they mix this very fine dust with the earth which has been provided, and, moist
ening the whole with a little water, they knead it with the hands and feet, form
ing a dough of which they make rolls 6 or 7 feet long and of whatever thickness is
desired. Should they wish to fashion a dish or a vessel, they take one of these rolls
and, holding down one end with the thumb of the left hand they turn it around
with admirable swiftness and dexterity, describing a spiral; from time to time they
dip their fingers in water, which they are always careful to have near them, and
with the right hand they smooth the inside and outside of the vessel they intend to
form, which, without this care, would be undulated.
In this manner they make all sorts of utensils of earth, dishes, plates, pans, pots,
and pitchers, some of which contain 40 and 50 pints. The baking of this pottery
does not cause them much trouble. After having dried it in the shade they build
a great fire, and when they think they have enough coals they clear a place in
the middle where they arrange the vessels and cover them with the coals. It is
thus that they give them the baking which is necessary. After this they can be
placed on the fire and have as much firmness as ours. Their strength can only be
attributed to the mixture which the women make of the powdered shells with the
clay. &
A few additional accounts of the making of earthenware by the
tribes of the region under review may lie quoted. The statements of
persons who have not themselves witnessed the processes of manufac
ture may in cases be vitiated by information derived through unre
liable sources and should always be carefully considered with this
possibility in view.
" Du Pratz. Antoinc Simon Le I agf. Histoiiv tit- la Louisiane, 1 ivris, 1758. vol. II, pp. 178-79.
bButel-Dumont, George Marie, MC mniressur la Louisiana. Paris, 17, r >3, vol. n, pp. ^71-73.
58 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES IETH.ANN.M
Hunter, who is one of the best early authorities on the Osages and
other Indians of the Missouri and the upper Mississippi regions, makes
the following statement:
In manufacturing their pottery for cooking and domestic purposes, they collect
tough clay, beat it into powder, temper it with water, and then spread it over blocks
of wood, which have been formed into shapes to suit their convenience or fancy.
When sufficiently dried, they are removed from the molds, placed in proper situa
tions, and burned to a hardness suitable to their intended uses.
Another method practiced by them is to coat the inner surface of baskets made of
rushes or willows with clay, to any required thickness, and, when dry, to burn
them as above described.
In this way they construct large, handsome, and tolerably durable ware; though
latterly, with such tribes as have much intercourse with the whites, it is not much
used, because of the substitution of cast-iron ware in its stead.
When these vessels are large, as is the case for the manufacture of sugar, they are
suspended by grapevines, which, wherever exposed to the fire, are constantly kept
covered with moist clay.
Sometimes, however, the rims are made strong, and project a little inwardly i|uite
around the vessels, so as to admit of their being sustained by flattened pieces of wood,
slid underneath these projections, and extending across their centers."
These paragraphs appear to apply to the Osage Indians and proba
bly to their neighbors.
Mr Catlin s account of the manufacture of pottery by the Mandans
of the upper Missouri is a valuable addition to our knowledge. Al
though often quoted it should not be omitted from this paper.
I spoke also of the earthen dishes or bowls in which these viands were served out;
they are a familiar part of the culinary furniture of every Mandan lodge, and are
manufactured by the women of this tribe in great quantities, and modeled into a
thousand forms and tastes. They are made by the hands of the women, from a tough
black clay, and baked in kilns which are made for the purpose, and are nearly equal
in hardness to our own manufacture of pottery, though they have not yet got the
art of glazing, which would be to them a most valuable secret. They make them so
strong and serviceable, however, that they hang them over the fire as we do our iron
pots, and boil their meat in them with perfect success. I have seen some few speci
mens of such manufacture, which have been dug up in Indian mounds and tombs in
the Southern and Middle states, placed in our Eastern museums, and looked upon as
a great wonder, when here this novelty is at once done away with, and the whole
mystery; where women can be seen handling and using them by hundreds, and they
can be seen every day in the summer also, molding them into many fanciful forms
and passing them through the kiln where they are hardened. *
That the art was very generally practiced even by the less sedentary
tribes of the great Missouri basin is attested by the following extract
from a very interesting book by Mr George Bird Grinnell:
Years ago, on the sites of abandoned Pawnee villages, on the Loup Fork and on
the Platte, fragments of pottery used to be found among the debris of the fallen
lodges. Tlu- manufacture of this pottery was no doubt abandoned long ago, and has
probably not been practiced to any considerable extent since they met the whites.
a Hunter, John D.. Memoirs of a captivity among the Indians, London, 1823, pp. 288-89.
l>Cutlin, George, Letters and notes on the North Ameriean Indians, London, 1814, vol. 1, p. 116.
HOLMES] MANUFACTURE OF POTTERY 59
A man about fifty years of age stated to me that lie had never seen these pots in use,
but that Ilia grandmother had told him that in her days they made and used them.
He said that they were accustomed to smooth off the end of a tree for a mold. A
hot fire was then built, in which stones were roasted, which were afterward pounded
into fine powder or sand. This pounded stone they mixed with fine clay, and when
the material was of the proper consistency they smeared it over the rounded mold,
which was perhaps first well greased with buffalo tallow. After the clay had loeen
made of even thickness throughout, and smooth on the outside, they took a small,
sharp stone, and made marks on the outside to ornament it. When the material
was sufficiently dry, they lifted it from the mold and burned it in the tire, and
while it was baking, "put corn in the pot ami stirred it about, and this made it hard
as iron." This may mean that it gave the pot a glaze on the inside. In these pots
they boiled food of all kinds. Mr Dunbar informs me that these pots were also
made in later times within a frame-work of willow twigs. The clav, made verv stiff,
was smeared on this frame, the inside being repeatedly smoothed with the moist
ened hand, and but little attention being given to the appearance of the outside.
After they had Ix^en sun-dried, such pots were baked without removing the frame,
which burned away in the fire, leaving the marks of the twigs visible on the outside
of the pot."
The following extracts from the writings of Peter Kiilm refer to
the practice of this art in the eastern portions of the country, and
indicate that the art of clay vessel making was entirely abandoned in
those sections familiar to that author more than a century ago. The
specimens exhibited by Mr Bartram probably came from the South.
Mr Kalin wrote:
Mr Bartram shewed me an earthen pot, which had been found in a place where
the Indians formerly lived. He who first dug it out kept grease and fat in it to
smear his shoes, boots, and all sorts of leather with. Mr Bartram bought the pot of
that man; it was yet entire and nut damaged. I could perceive no glaze or color
upon it, but on the outside it was very much ornamented and upon the whole well
made. Mr Bartram shewed me several pieces of broken earthen vessels which the
Indians formerly made use of. It plainly appeared in all these that they were not
made of mere clay, but that different materials had been mixed with it, according to
the nature of the places where they were made. Those Indians, for example, who
lived near the seashore pounded the shells of snails and mussels and mixed them with
the clay. Others, who lived farther up in the country where mountain crystals could
be found, pounded them and mixed them with their clay; but how they proceeded
in making the vessels is entirely unknown. It was plain that they did not burn
them much, for they are so soft they might be cut in pieces with a knife; the work
manship, however, seems to have been very good, for at present they find whole
vessels or pieces in the ground which are not damaged at all, though they have lain
in the ground above a century. Before the Europeans settled in North America
the Indians had no other vessels to boil their meat in than these earthen pots of
their own making, but since their arrival they have always bought pots, kettles, and
other necessary vessels of the Europeans, and take no longer the pains of making
some, by which means this art is entirely lost among them. Such vessels of their
own construction are therefore a great rarity even among the Indians. I have seen
such old pots and pieces of them, consisting of a kind of Serpentine stone, or Lin
naeus s Talcum, Syst. Nat. li, p. 52. l>
iGrinnell. George Bird, Pawnee hero stories and folk-tales, New York, 1893, pp. 255-5C.
l> Kahn, I eter, Travels into North America, vol. i, Wurrington, 1770, pp 227-29.
60 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANX.^O
[n the following extract the author appears to refer to the use of
potter v in New Jersey: and sherds now found in so many localities
no doubt represent the art of the time referred to.
The old boilers or kettles of the Indians, were either made of clay, or of different
kinds of pot stone (Lapis ollaris). The former consisted of a dark clay, mixt
with grains of white sand or quartz, and burnt in the fire. Many of these kettles
have two holes in the upper margin, on each side one, through which the Indians
put a stick and held the kettle over the fire as long as it was to boil. Most of the
kettles have no feet. It is remarkable that no pots of this kind have been found
glazed, either on the outside or the inside. A few of the oldest Swedes could yet
rememl>er seeing the Indians boil their meat in these pots."
Many details of clay manipulation are given in subsequent pages as
the various groups of ware are presented.
SIZK
The production of a vessel of clay required much skill, experience,
and foresight: it was not a single, simple act of construction that was
necessary, but a series of progressive operations of a delicate and diffi
cult nature, extending over a number of days. These difficulties were
much increased with the increase in dimensions of the utensil. A ves
sel so small as to be kept well within the grasp of the ringers could be
built at once, and without great danger of failure at any stage of the
work, but in building a large vessel the walls had to be carried upward
by degrees, time being required to allow the plastic paste to set and
thus to become capable of supporting additional weight. The danger
of failure in subsequent stages of the work also increased with the
size, and a vessel of clay two or more feet in diameter, and three-fourths
that height, carried successfully through all the steps of modeling,
drying, burning, coloring, and ornamentation ma} well be regarded
as a triumph of barbarian manipulative skill.
The average Indian vase, as seen in our museums, is rather small,
having a capacity of a gallon or less, but these surviving vessels do
not fairly represent the dimensions of the original products; large
vessels are rarely preserved for the reason that as a rule, save in
limited districts, they were not buried with the dead, as were the
smaller pieces.
The use for which the vessel was intended had much to do with its
size. The boiling of messes for feasts where many people were to be
served required large pots, as did also storage, and evaporation of
water for salt or sugar. The so-called salt pots found in Tennessee,
Illinois, and Missouri are among the largest vessels known in any sec
tion of the country, and fragments have been found indicating a
a diameter of three feet or more. In such vessels the depth usually
is not great; indeed, few vessels of any class have been collected having
a height greater than twenty-four inches. The thickness of the walls of
"Kalm, K tor. Travels into North America, voj. II. London, 1770, pp. 41-42.
HOLMES] FORMS OF VESSELS (51
these large vessels, in many cases, reaches or exceeds three-fourths of
an inch, and their weight must have been considerable. The potter
undoubtedly found it a difficult task to handle them while the clay was
still in a plastic or semisolid state.
As a rule the walls of ordinary vases are surprisingly thin, and we
are led to admire the skill of the potter who could execute vessels of
large size and tine proportions with walls at no point exceeding three-
eighths of an inch in thickness. Size varies from the extreme propor
tions above mentioned to those of toy vessels not more than an inch in
diameter and height.
FORMS
The aosence of all suggestiveness of form in the natural clay,
together with its plasticity when moist, and its brink-ness when dry,
must have prevented its early independent use in the shaping arts;
but when the means of hardening it by baking, and strengthening it
by tempering, came to be understood, a new and ever-expanding lield
was opened to art.
With primitive peoples the tirst known use of baked clay is in the
construction of vessels. The development of form in vessel making
is governed by numerous influences and conditions; iirst. there are
functional influences or requirements; second, inherited suggestions
and limitations: third, mechanical agencies; fourth, ideographic
requirements; and fifth, esthetic forces.
1. Function is of necessity the leading influence in all that pertains
to the selection of models and the determination of size and general
contour. Primarily the vessel was intended to contain that which unre
strained would be difficult to hold, handle, and transport, and its shape
had to be such as would permit the successful performance of these
functions. As uses differentiated and multiplied, the various primal
forms underwent many changes. The manner of use also led in many
cases to special modifications of shape. A pot to be placed upon the
fire differed in base and rim from one that was to be suspended; a vase
intended to stand upright on a hard floor was different in shape, from
the one that was to be set upright in the sand.
2. The duties to which earthen vessels were assigned were originally
performed by other classes of vessels, and when a new material, wholly
amorphous and offering no suggestions of form, came into use, shapes
were copied from antecedent vessels, as men, in constructing, necessa
rily follow suggestions offered by what already exists. Clay vessels,
therefore, took forms depending much on the vessels with which the
potter was acquainted, and the potters of different nations having
unlike models produced different forms from the very start. These
inceptive characteristics were long retained and exercised a lasting
influence. No race in the world appears to have made as much use of
62 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETII.ANN.ZO
natural forms in the art at a corresponding grade of. culture as the
American Indian, and the striking result is seen at a glance, when any
large number of vessels made by the more advanced tribes is brought
together.
:->. In the use of any material in the shaping arts certain processes
and certain mechanical aids are employed, and these vary with the
materials and with the acquirements of the potter so that great varia
tion of form results. Clay has limitations of strength unburned and
burned, and form is governed by these limitations. If the potter is
unskilled of hand and e3 T e, his work will lack in symmetry and grace;
and if his appliances are imperfect, its form will as a consequence be
unsymmetric and rude. The introduction of each improved device
leads to modifications of form. It is readily seen, for example, that
the discovery of the wheel must have led to the introduction of many
new features of form, consigning many others to oblivion.
4. Ideographic influences are felt but little in early stages of the art,
yet in time they become a powerful force in giving shape to articles
of clay. If, for example, a vessel is intended for use in connection
with rites relating to a particular animal deity, the shape is made to
suggest the form of that deity. The idea in such cases governs not
only the shape but the color and decoration.
f>. Esthetic influence is necessarily weak during the earliest prac
tice of the art, and shape is apparently slow to receive esthetic notice
and modification; but, even at this stage, use. model, and technic give
much that is regarded as pleasing in form. Certain proportions and
something of grace are necessarily embodied in each vessel and it is
quite impossible in a given case to determine at just what point the
esthetic idea begins to produce its effects. In even the most primi
tive groups of earthenware there are apparent traces of the action of
this force in the modification of margins and in the turning of curves.
The forms produced in the primitive stages of the art are. as a rule,
exceedingly simple. We may assume that the most elementary form
is the bowl or cup with rounded bottom, wide mouth, and plain margin.
There are a number of influences tending to give the base a rounded
o o
rather than a flat or concave shape, among which are the available
natural forms or models, the manner of use, and the, ease and natural
ness of construction. Flat and concave bottoms come late, as do also
such features as pedestals, annular bases, feet, and legs. These come
into use no doubt with the introduction of hard, level floors in the
dwelling. As skill increases, the margin of the vessel rises, the outline
varies from the globular form, and many causes lead to specialization
and elaboration, so that we have oblong and flattened bodies, constricted
rims, straight and recurved lips, short and high necks, and many
degrees of constriction of opening. Compound and complex forms
follow, and finally the potter ventures on the production of natural
JH>I.MKS] COLOR IN POTTERY MAKING 63
forms, representing and portraying shells, fruits, birds, beasts, and
men, essaying also many fanciful creations. However, for a long time
the fundamental purpose of vessels was that of containing, and the
various changes rung on their forms do not seriously interfere with
this normal function.
After great skill is acquired in the handling of clay other articles are
manufactured, and the ceramic field is greatly enlarged; thus we have
implements, pipes, figurines, idols, spindle whorls, musical instru
ments, and personal ornaments.
COLOR
COLOR OF PASTE
The colors observed in primitive earthen vessels are. in a great meas
ure, the result of causes not regulated or foreseen by the potter; the
clays employed have different hues, and in the process of baking alter
ations in color take place through chemical changes or through the
deposition of carbonaceous matter on the surfaces. The range of
these colors is quite large and varies with materials and processes, but
the prevailing colors are dark reddish, yellowish, and brownish grays,
often unevenly distributed over the surface of the vessel. Many tribes
were not satisfied with the colors produced in this way, but submitted
the vessel to special processes to effect desired changes. One method,
already referred to and thought to be aboriginal, consisted in covering
the vessel with fuel which was burned in such a way as to confine the
smoke, thus giving a glossy black finish.
When vessels are broken, it is observed that the color of the paste
is not uniform throughout the mass; usually the interior is darker than
the surface, which was exposed directly to the heat in baking and lost
such portions of its original coloring matter as happened to be most
volatile. Possibly this effect may in cases be produced by weathering,
or, rather, by the bleaching action of the soil in which the vessels were
embedded.
APPLICATION OF COLOR
It was a common practice with some tribes to apply a wash of color
to the surface of the vase, generally to the more exposed parts of the
exterior only. Little is known of the manner in which the colors
were mixed and used. They were usually applied before the baking,
and were always polished down with a rubbing stone. Red was the
favorite, color.
Du Pratz mentions the use of color by the Natchez Indians in the
following lines:
On the same hill (White hill) there are veins of ocher, of which the Natchez had
just taken some to stain their pottery, which is very pretty; when it was besmeared
with ocher it became red after burning."
The preference for particular colors may be due to a number of
"Du Pratz, Antoine Simon Le Pago, Histoirede la Louisiane, Paris, 175R, vol. i, ]>. 124.
()4 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [Kxn.ANN.20
causes, two of which are of especial importance: first, with some peo
ples colors had peculiar mythologic significance, and on this account
were appropriate to vessels* employed for certain ceremonial uses;
second, most savage and barbarian peoples have a decided fondness for
colors, and appreciate their esthetic values, taste being exercised in
their selection. There is good evidence that both superstitious and
esthetic motives influenced the potters of the mound region; but it is
impossible to say from a stud}* of the vases exactly what part each of
these motives took in producing the results observed in the wares
studied. Ordinarily domestic pottery did not receive surface coloring,
as subsequent use over fire would entirely obliterate it. Coloring for
ornament is more fully discussed in a subsequent section (page 66).
DECORATION
EVOLUTION OF DECORATION
A volume could be written on this most attractive subject, but a
brief outline is all that can he given in this place. The origin and
early development of the idea of embellishment and the manner in
which decorative features came to be introduced into the ceramic art
can not l>e examined in detail. I have dwelt on these topics to some
extent in two papers already published, Form and Ornament in the
Ceramic Art, Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, and
the Evolution of Ornament, an American Lesson, in the American
Anthropologist, April 1890. It is not essential to the purpose of this
paper that I should here do more than characterize and classify the
native decorative work of the eastern United States in a somewhat
general way, detailed studies being presented in connection with the
separate presentation of ceramic groups.
Decoration may be studied, first, with reference to the subject-
matter of the ornamentation its form, origin, and significance and,
second, with reference to the methods of execution and the devices
and implements employed. It may also be examined with refer
ence to such evidence as it affords regarding racial and tribal history.
The subject-matter of primitive ceramic ornament, the elements or
motives employed, may be assigned to two great classes based on the
character of the conceptions associated with them. These are non-
ideographic, that is to say, those having a purely esthetic office, and
those having in addition to this function associated ideas of a super
stitious, mnemonic, or other significant nature. Nonideographic ele
ments are mainly derived from two sources: first, by copying from
objects having decorative features, natural or artificial, and second,
from suggestions of a decorative nature arising within the art from
constructive and manipulative features. Natural objects, such as sea-
shells and fruit shells, abound in features highly suggestive of embel
lishment, and these objects are constantly and intimately associated
with the plastic art and are copied by the potter. Artificial objects
HOLMKS 1 METHODS OF DECORATING 65
have two classes of features capable of giving rise to ornament; these
are constructional and functional. Those of the former class are
represented by such features as the coil employed in building-, and the
stitch, the plait, and the twist employed in textile fabrics. Those of
the latter are represented by handles, legs, bands, perforations, etc.
Suggestions incidental to manufacture, such as linger markings,
imprints of implements, and markings of molds, are fruitful sources
of nonideographic decorations.
In the primitive stages of the art simple nonideographic elements
seem to predominate, but it is difficult to draw a line separating them
from the ideographic, for an idea may at any time become associated
with even the most elementary design. When, however, we encounter
delineative elements or subjects employed in ornamental offices, we
may reasonably assume that ideas were associated with them, that they
were symbolic. It is pretty generally conceded that life forms were
not employed in early art save when they had a peculiar significance
and applicability in the connection in which they were used, and it is
probable that the associated idea was often retained even though the
representation became so conventionalized and formal that the ordinary
observer would no longer recognize the semblance of nature. This
topic was examined in detail in a recent study of the art of ancient
Chiriqui," and is presented in equally definite form in the section of
this paper devoted to Gulf Coast ware.
The range of imitative subjects employed in surface decoration is
not large. Within the whole area studied, no representation of a plant
has been found; birds and the human figure, were rarely delineated,
and even quadrupeds, so generally employed in modeling, do not
appear with frequency in other forms of expression. Ceramic decora
tion is probably late in taking up the graphic and ideographic art of a
people. This conservatism may be due to the fact that in early stages
the art is purely domestic, and such delineations would have little
appropriateness. It is probably not until the fictile products come to
take a prominent place in superstitious usages that significant designs
are demanded and employed.
METHODS OK DECORATING
The decoration of earthenware was accomplished in a number of
ways which are classified by form characters as relieved, flat, and
depressed. The processes employed are modeling with the fingers and
with tools, molding in baskets or other vessels having ornamented
surfaces, and stamping, paddling, impressing, puncturing, carving,
incising, polishing, and painting with such tools as were most conven
ient. A brief review of the decorating processes has already been
given under the head Manufacture.
"Holmes, W. H., Ancient art of the province of Chirlqui, in sixth Annu.,1 Report of the Bureau rf
ttnnology. Washington, 1888.
20 ETH 03 5
66 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.SO
RELIEVED ORNAMENT
The modeling 1 of animal forms constituted a prominent feature of the
potter s art in the Mississippi valley as well as in some other sections.
Asa rule the figures were modeled, in part at least, in the round, and
were attached to or formed essential parts of the vase. Usually, no
doubt, thej had a symbolic office, but their decorative value was not
lost sight of, and the forms graded imperceptibly into conventional
relieved features that to all appearances were purely decorative.
Decorative designs of a purely conventional character were often
executed in both low and salient relief. This was generally accom
plished bv the addition of nodes and fillets of clay to the plain surfaces
of the vessel. Fillets were applied in various ways over the body,
forming horizontal, oblique, and vertical bands or ribs. When placed
about the rim or neck, these fillets were often indented with the finger or
an implement so as to imitate, rudely, a heavy twisted cord a feature
evidently borrowed from basketry or copied from cords used in mending
or handling earthen vessels. Nodes were also attached in various ways
to the neck and body of the vessel, sometimes covering it as with spines.
In some cases the entire surface of the larger vessels was varied by
pinching up small bits of clay between the nails of the fingers and the
thumb. An implement was sometimes used to produce a similar result.
INTAGLIO ORNAMENT
The esthetic tendencies of the potters are well shown by their
essays in engraving. They worked with points on both the plastic
and the sun-dried clay, and possibly at times on the fire-baked surface.
Figures thus produced exhibit a wide range of artistic achievement.
They illustrate all stages of progress from the most archaic type of
ornament the use of loosely associated dots and straight lines to the
most elegant combinations of curves, and the delineation of life forms
and fanciful conceptions.
In many cases when a blunt implement was employed, the line was
produced by a trailing movement. The result is quite distinct from
that of inciston, in which a sharp point is used, and excision or exca
vation which is more easily accomplished with the end of a hollow reed
or bone. The application of textile fabrics giving impressions of the
mesh was very general, and engraved paddles were used to give simi
lar effects. These topics are treated at length elsewhere in this paper.
Repousse work, which consisted in punching up nodes by applying a
blunt tool to the opposite side of the vessel wall, was common in some
localities.
PAINTED ORNAMENT
The use of color in decorating earthenware marks a very decided
advance beyond the inceptive stage of the art. Vessels to be employed
in ordinary culinary work needed no surface ornament, and could not
retain it during use. When differentiation of use had made some prog-
""*] METHODS OF DECORATING 67
ress, and neat appearance became desirable, coloring was applied, and
when the office became ceremonial or superstitious, elaborate designs
were employed. Ornament in color is common in the middle and
lower Mississippi regions, and is seen to some extent along the Gulf
coast and in Florida; rare examples have been found in the middle
Ohio region and east of the Appalachian high land in Georgia and the
Carolinas. The most decided prevalence of color in finish and decora
tion is discovered in the Arkansas region, from which locality- as a
center this feature is found to fade, out and gradually disappear. The
reason of this is not determined, but it is to be remarked that Arkansas
borders somewhat closely on the Pueblo country where the use of color
was general, and this idea, as ha* already been remarked, mav have
been borrowed from the ancient Pueblo potter.
The colors used in painting were white, red, brown, and black; they
consisted for the most part of finely pulverized clay mixed with ochers
and of native ochers alone. Occasionally the colors used seem to have
been mere stains. All were probably laid on with coarse brushes of
hair, feathers, or vegetal fiber. The figures in most cases are sim
ple, but are applied in a broad, bold way, indicative of a well-advanced
stage of decorative art. Skill had not yet reached the point, however,
at which ideographic pictorial subjects could be presented with much
freedom, and the work was for the most part purely conventional.
As would be expected, curvilinear forms prevail as a result of the
free-hand method of execution; they embrace meanders, scrolls, cir
cles, spirals, and combinations and grouping of curved lines. Of
rectilinear forms, lozenges, guilloehes, zigzags, checkers, crosses, and
stellar shapes are best known. Many of these figures were doubtless
symbolic. Life forms were seldom attempted, although modeled fig
ures of animals were sometimes given appropriate markings, as in the
case of a fine owl-shaped vessel from Arkansas, and of a quadruped
vase, with striped and spotted body, from Missouri. Examples of
human figures from Arkansas have the costume delineated in some
detail in red, white, and the ochery color of the paste, and numerous
vases shaped in imitation of the human head have the skin, hair, and
ornaments colored approximately to life.
In some cases the patterns on vases are brought out by polishing
certain areas more highly than others, and an example is cited by
C. C. Jones in which inlaying had been resorted to."
tSE OF TEXTILES IN MODELING AM) EMHELLISHIXd
RELATION- OK THE TEXTILE AND CERAMIC ARTS
Among the tribes of a wide zone in southern British America and
northern United States, and extending from the Atlantic to the Rocky
mountains, the ceramic art was intimately associated with the textile art,
i Jones, C. C., Antiquities of the southern Indians, p. 159.
68 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES lJiiH.A.s.x.20
and the earthenware exhibits traces of this intimacy as one of its most
constant characteristics. These traces consist of impressions of textile
articles made on the plastic clay during manufacture, and of marking s
in imitation of textile characters traced or stamped on the newly made
vessels. The textile art is no doubt the older art in this region as else
where, and the potter, working always with textile appliances and with
textile models before him, has borrowed many elements of form and
ornament from them. Textile forms and markings are thus in this
part of America a characteristic of the initial stages of the ceramic art.
It is true that we can not say in an} case whether the potter s art as
practiced in the northern districts is exclusively of local development,
springing from suggestions offered by the practice of simple culinary
arts, especially basketry, or whether it represents degenerate phases of
southern art radiating from far away culture centers and reduced to
the utmost simplicity by the unfriendly environment. We are cer
tainly safe, however, in assuming that this peculiar phase of the art
represents its initial stage a stage through and from which arose the
higher and more complex phases characterizing succeeding stages of
barbarism and civilization.
Whether with all peoples the art passed through the textile stage
may remain a question, because the traces are obliterated by lapse of
time, but we observe as we pass south through the United States that
the textile-marked ware becomes less and less prevalent. However,
sufficient traces of textile finish are still found in Florida and other
Gulf states to suggest a former practice there of the archaic art.
CLASSES OF TEXTILE MARKINGS
Textile markings found on pottery are of live classes: first, impres
sions from the surface of rigid forms, such as baskets; second, im
pressions of fabrics of a pliable nature, such as cloths and nets; third,
impressions from woven textures used over the hand or over some
suitable modeling implement; fourth, impressions of cords wrapped
about modeling paddles or rocking tools; fifth, impressions of bits of
cords or other textile units, singly or in groups, applied for ornament
only and so arranged as to give textile-like patterns. In addition, we
have a large class of impressions and markings in which textile effects
are mechanically imitated.
The several kinds of textile markings are not equally distributed
over the country, but each, to a certain extent, seems to characterize
the wares of a particular region or to belong to particular groups of
ware, indicating, perhaps, the condition and practices of distinct peo
ples or variations in initial elements affecting the art. There may
also be a certain order in the development of the various classes of
impressions a passing from simple to complex phenomena, from the
purely mechanical or the simply imitative to the conventionally modi
fied and highly elaborated phases of embellishment.
HOLMES]
PROCESSES OF MANUKA CTURK
USE OK BASKETS IN MOLDING ANJ> MODKUM;
The extent to which baskets were used in modeling pottery in this
great province has been greatly overestimated. Instead of being the
rule, as we have been led to believe, their use constitutes the excep
tion, and the rare exception.
The functions of the fab
rics and textile elements
used in connection with the
manufacture of pottery de
serve careful consideration.
There can be little doubt
that these functions arc both
practical and esthetic, but
we shall not be able to make
the distinction in all cases.
Practical uses may be of
several kinds. In modeling
a clay vessel a basket may
bo used as a support and
pivot, thus becoming an in
cipient form of the wheel
(see figure 31). It may
equally well assist in shap
ing the bodies of the ves
sels, thus assuming in a limited way the function* of a mold (sec fig
ure 32). The mat on which a plastic vessel happens to rest leaves
impressions rendered indelible by subsequent firing. The same may
be true of any fabric brought into
contact with the plastic surface, but
the impressions in such cases are ac
cidental and have no practical func
tion.
That baskets were used in the East
as molds is attested by historical evi
dence, as may be seen bv reference
to the citation from Hunter, previ
ously made. I can but regard it as
remarkable, however, that in hand
ling thousands of specimens of this
pottery I have found no vase the im
prints on which fully warrant the
statement that a basket was employed as a. mold, or even as a support
for the incipient clay form. Many assertions to the contrary- have
been made, probably through misapprehension of the nature of the
Fi<;. 31 Use of a basket in modeling an earthen vessel
(Pueblo Indians, Cashing, in the Fourth Annual Re
port of the Bureau of Ethnology).
FII;. 32 Use of a basket as a mold for the
base of an earthen vessel (Pueblo Indians,
Cushinp, work cited).
70 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANX.20
FIG. 3.1 Vase showing impressions resulting from the use of pliable fabrics in wrapping and sustain
ing the vessel while plastic. Height 4 inches.
FIG. SH-Fragmem of salt vessel, with east in clay, showing kind of fabric used in modeling vessels.
About one-half actual size.
HOLMES)
USE OF TEXTILES IN MANUFACTURE
71
markings observed. On fragments of imperfectly preserved vessels
distinctions can not readily be drawn between disconnected impres
sions made by the partial application of pliable fabrics or textile
covered stamps and the systematically connected imprintings made by
the surface of a basket. The unwary are likely even to mistake the
rude patterns made by impressing bits of cords in geometric arrange
ment about the rims of vases for the imprints of baskets.
USE OE PLIABLE FABRICS ix MODELIXG
Pliable fabrics, such as sacks, nets, and cloth, were made use of as
exterior supports in holding or handling the vessel while it was still
in a plastic condition. Mr Mooney says that the Cherokees use a rag
to lift the pot at one stage in its manufacture, and it is easy to see
that cloths or nets wrapped about the exterior surface of the plastic
walls would serve to prevent quick drying and consequent cracking of
FIG. 35 Fragment of a cooking pot showing impressions of u net-covered paddle, North Carolina.
About three-fourths actual size.
the clay along a weak line. Binding up with cloths or nets would inter
fere with the deforming tendency of pressure during the modeling
process and of sinking from weight of the plastic walls. Mr Sellers,
a very acute observer, believed that the modeling of certain large salt
basins was done on core-like molds of clay. In such a case, or where,
as observed by Hunter, blocks of wood were used, the cloth would
serve an important purpose in facilitating the removal of the plastic or
partly dried clay shell and in supporting it during subsequent stages
of the shaping and finishing processes. Such removal would probably
be accomplished by turning the mold, with the vase upon it, upside
down, and allowing the latter to fall off into the fabric by its own
weight or by the means of pressure from the hands. An excellent
example of the impressions made on the surface of vases by fabrics
applied in the course of manufacture is shown in figure 83. The
72 ABORIGINAL PGi TERY OV EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.20
Fio. 3ii Bowl from a North Carolina mound, showing impressions, of a cord-wrapped malleating tool.
Diameter fi inches.
FIG. 37 Bowl made by the author. The surface finished with the cord-wrapped paddle shown in
ligure 3S. Diameter 6 inches.
HOLMES]
USE OF TEXTILES IN MANUFACTURE
73
.specimen is a small vessel obtained from a mound in Lenoir county,
North Carolina. Figure 34 it illustrates an ordinary example of the
fabrics: used by the makers of salt pans in wrapping the plastic form.
The positive restoration, J, was obtained by making an impression in
clay from the potsherd.
USE OF TEXTILES IN MALLEATING SITKFACEH
An extended series of experiments, made for the purpose of deter
mining the functions of fabrics in pottery
making, has led to the observation that the
imprintings were in many cases not made by
textiles used as supports, but were applied
wrapped about the hand or a modeling tool
as a means of knitting or welding together
the clay surface. Experiment shows that the
deeper and more complex the imprintings, if
properly managed, the more tenacious lie-
comes the clay. An example of not-paddled
ware is given in figure 35. Scarifying, comb
ing, pinching with the fingernails, or malleat-
ing with engraved paddles, served the same
purpose.
USE OF FLAT CORD-WRAPPED MAI.LEATIXG TOOLS
It was further observed, as a result of these
investigations, that more than half of the
textile markings on vases are not reallv im
prints of fabrics at all. but are the result of
going over the surface with modeling tools
covered or wrapped witli unwoven twisted
cords. This is well illustrated in figures 36
and 37.
Figure 36 illustrates a small bowl from a
mound in North Carolina. The surface is
completely covered with deep, sharp mark
ings made by paddling with a cord-wrapped
tool applied repeatedly and at various angles.
Figure 37 shows a similar cup made of
potter s clay as an experiment. The mal-
leating implement was a Cherokee potter s paddle which I had wrapped
with native cord (see figure 38).
UKE OK CORD-WBAPPED ROCKIXC; TOOLS
Of the same general class as the cord-wrapped paddle were other
tools, more or less rounded and wrapped with cord. These may have
been applied as paddles, but were usually rocked back and forth, the
rounder forms being revolved as a roulette. The impressions of the
FIG. 38 Cherokee potter s paddle
wrapped with cord and used in
malleating the bowl shown in
figure 37.
74 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTii.AXx.20
FIG. S
Potsherd showing effect produced by rocking a cord-wrapped implement back and forth.
About three-fourths actual size.
F,<;. 40 a, A cylindrie modeling tool wrapped with cord (restored); b, n notched wheel or roulette
(restored); c, a vessel made by the author; surface finished with a cord-wrapped implement and
decorated with the roulette. About one-half actual size.
HOLMES]
USE OF TEXTILES IN MANUFACTURE
flat paddle are distinguished by the patchy and disconnected nature of
the imprints. The rolling or rocking implement was not lifted from
the surface, and gave a zigzag connection to the markings, illustrated
in figure 30.
The rolling or rocking modeling tools had an advantage over the
FIG. 41 Potsherds showing simple method of applying cords in decorating vases.
About three-fourths actual size.
flat paddles in treating round surfaces, and especially about the con
stricted neck of the vessel. I have undertaken to restore this imple
ment, as illustrated in figure -iOa, and have used it successfully in
Fir;. 42 Small pot with finger-nail markings giving the effect of basket impressions.
One-third actual size.
imitating effects common in the simpler wares of a vast region (see
figure 40 c). Implements of this class served the triple purpose: (1) of
modeling the surface, reducing irregularities: (>) of kneading and knit
ting the surface, making the walls stronger: and (3) of imparting a
76 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTII.ANN.-J
Flu. 43 The roulette (restored) inked and rocked on a sheet of paper.
-.
V/Mr.
FIG. 44 Potsherds illustrating markings produced by the notched wheel; a about three-fourths
actual size: b about one-third actual size.
HOLMES]
USE OF TEXTILES IN MANUFACTURE
a
texture to the surface that may have been regarded as pleasing to the
eye. It is seen, however, that whenever it was desired to add orna
mental designs, even of the most simple kind, this cord marking was
generally smoothed down over that part of the surface to be treated,
so that the figures imprinted or incised would have the advantage of
an even ground.
VSK OK Conns ix IMPRINTING ORNAMENTAL PATTERNS
Growing out of the use of cord-wrapped tools in modeling and finish
ing 1 the clay surfaces is a group of phenomena of great importance in
FIG. io I otslicrcls with stumped markings ffivinu textile-like effects. One-lmlf actual si/e.
the history of ceramic ornament. I refer to the imprinting of twisted
cords, singly and in such relations and order as to produce ornamental
effects or patterns. In its simplest use the cord was laid on and
imprinted in a few lines around the shoulder or neck of the vessel.
Elaborations of this use are imprintings which produce a great variety
of simple geometric patterns, differing with the regions and the peoples.
Connected or current fretwork and curved figures were not readilv
executed by this method, and are never seen. A few examples of cord-
imprinted patterns are shown in figure 41. Hard-twisted cords were
78 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN-.ZO
a b
FIG. -1C Modeling paddles with fact s carved to imitate textile patterns. Orie-rmf ami;
Fir:. 47 Potsherds showing textile-like edeet of linishinR with etiRruved paddles. About one-half actual
size.
HOLMES] IMITATION OF TEXTILE EFFECTS 79
in most general use, hut their markings wore imitated in various ways,
as by imprinting- strings of beads and slender sticks or sinews wrapped
with thread or other unwoven strands.
VAKIOI s MEANS OF IMITATING; TEXTILE CHARACTERS
It would neein that the textile idea in decoration went beyond the
imprinting of textiles and cprds, and that textile markings were imitated
in many ways, indicating possibly the association of ideas of a special
traditional nature with the textile work and their perpetuation in cera
mics by the imitation of textile characters. A few of these imitations
FIG. 48 Incised designs of textile character. About one-half actual size.
may be mentioned. In figure 42 is shown a .small pot to which the
appearance of a basket has been given by pinching up the plaster
surface with the linger nails.
The notched wheel or roulette, restored in figure 40 i, was used in
imitating cord-made patterns, and this was probably an outgrowth
of the use of cord-covered malleating tools. This tool was confined
rather closely to one great group of pottery, the so-called roulette-
decorated ware of the- Northwest. Its effective use is shown in figure
40 c, and in illustrations of the ware given in the sections treating of
the pottery of the Northwest. The manner of using the implement is
well illustrated in figure 43, where an improvised wheel has been
inked and rocked back and forth on a sheet of paper. The potsherds
shown in figure 44 illustrate these markings as applied by the ancient
potters.
80 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH.AHN.ZO
Decorative effects closely resembling those produced by the use of
cords ami the rocking tool were made by narrow, notched stamps
applied to the plastic surface, in the manner indicated in figure 45.
Connecting directly with this simple stamp work, in which a succes
sion of separate imprinting* give the textile effects, is the use of the
engraved modeling and decorating paddle, so common in the South
Appalachian region.
Two Cherokee paddles with engraved surfaces are given in figure
46 a and 1>, and the effect of the use of similar implements is shown in
figure 47. The sherds illustrated are from Florida mounds.
1 n figure 48 is presented a bit of ware from a New Jersey village site
in which textile-like combinations of lines have been worked out with
an incised tool.
Owing to the close association of these rouletted, stamped, and
incised effects with the textile-imprinted groups of ware, I feel war
ranted in speaking of them as in general growing directly out of textile
practices, although they are not necessarily always so connected, as
the use of the stamp may in cases have arisen from the use of non-
textile tools in modeling-
It is thus seen from what has been said that the textile art has served
in various ways to shape and modify the ceramic art, and the textile,
technic has bequeathed its geometric characters to the younger art,
giving rise to most varied forms of embellishment, and no doubt pro
foundly affecting the later phases of its development.
POTTERY OF THE MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
In presenting a review of the several groups or varieties of earthen
ware it seems advisable to begin with that group most fully represented
in our collections, as it will exhibit the widest range of those features
and phenomena with which we must in all cases deal. By far the
most complete in every essential is the great group of utensils repre
senting the middle Mississippi valley region. The descriptions and
illustrations of this group will serve as a basis of comparison in pre
senting all other groups, thus greatly facilitating and abbreviating the
work.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION
The geographic distribution of the ware of this group naturally
receives first consideration. Apparently its greatest and most strik
ing development centers about the contiguous portions of Arkansas,
Missouri. Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The area covered is
much greater, however, than would thus be indicated; its borders are
extremely irregular, and are not as yet at all clearly defined. Typical
specimens are found as far north as Chicago, as far northeast as
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DISTTUBUTION OK ABORIGINAT,
POTT.KHV GROUPS
IN KASTKHN UNITED STATES
BV W. H. H01.MKS. 1<>01.
HOLMES] CORRELATION OF POTTERY WITH TRIBES 81
Pittslmrg, and as far southeast as Augusta, Georgia. Closely related
forms are found also along the Gulf of Mexico, from Tampa buy to
the Rio Brazos. As a result of the segregation of the peoples of
this vast province into social divisions each more or less isolated
and independent and all essentially sedentary there are well-marked
distinctions in the pottery found, and several subgroups may be recog
nized. The most pronounced of these are found, one in eastern
Arkansas and western Tennessee, one in southeastern Missouri, one in
the Cumberland valley, Tennessee, and a fourth in the lower Missis
sippi region. Others may be distinguished as collections are enlarged.
The pottery of this great group does not occupy exclusively any
large area. Varieties of ware whose typical development is in other
centers of habitation may be found in man}- places within its range.
As to the occurrence of occasional specimens of this ware in remote
localities, it may be remarked that there are many agencies that tend
to distribute art products beyond their normal limit. These have been
referred to in detail in the introductory pages. The accompanying
map. plate iv, will assist in giving a general impression of the distri
bution and relative prevalence of this ware.
ETHNIC CONSIDERATIONS
It is not clearly apparent that a study of the distribution of this
pottery will serve any important purpose in the settlement of purely
ethnic questions. The matter is worthy of close attention, however,
since facts that taken alone serve no definite purpose may supplement
testimony acquired through other channels, and thus assist in estab
lishing conclusions of importance with respect to tribal or family
history.
It is clear that this ware was not made by one but by many tribes,
and even by several linguistic families, and we may fairly assume
that the group is regional or environmental rather than tribal or
national. It is the product of conditions and limitations prevailing
for a long time throughout a vast area of country. As to the modern
representatives of the pottery-making peoples, wo may very reason
ably look to any or all of the tribes found occupying the general
region when the whites came Algonquian, Siouan, Muskhogean,
Natchesan, and Caddoan.
With respect to the origin of this particular ceramic group we may
surmise that it developed largely from the preceramic art of the
region, although we must allow that exotic ideas probably crept in
now and then to modify and improve it. That exotic features did mi
grate by one agency or another from Mexico is amply attested by
various elements of form and technic found in the, ceramic as well as
in other arts.
I have sought by a study of the plastic representations of the human
20 KTH 03
82 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.AXX.H)
face and figure to learn .something of the physiognomy of the pot
tery-making peoples, but have sought without success. It is evident
that portraiture was rarely, if ever, attempted, and, contrary to what
might be expected, few of the greatly varied representations of faces
suggest strongly the Indian type of countenance.
CHRONOLOGY
The pottery of this great province is wonderfully homogeneous in its
most essential characteristics, and we are not able to say by its appear
ance or character that any specimen is older or more primitive than
another. Exploration has been too unsystematic to enable us to reach
any safe conclusions respecting the comparative age of specimens
based on the manner of occurrence or relations to artificial or natural
deposits. There can be no reasonable doubt, however, that the manu
facture of this ware began many centuries before the advent of the
white race; it is equally certain that the art was extensively practiced
until quite recent times. The early explorers of the valley witnessed
the manufacture, and the processes and the manner of use of the ware
are. as we have seen in a preceding section, described by several writers.
Notwithstanding the early introduction of metal vessels and other
utensils that naturally superseded those of clay, some of the tribes of
the province seem to have practiced the art continuously nearly to the
present day, and some of the pieces recovered from mounds and graves
are thought to suggest European models. It is certain, however, that
the art had reached its highest stage without the aid of civilized hands,
and in the study of its many interesting features we ma}* feel assured
that we are dealing with essentially aboriginal ideas.
PRESERVATION
It is generally admitted that there is no vital ethnic or other dis
tinction between the pottery found in mounds, that found on village
sites, and that obtained from ordinary graves or stone cists. The con
dition of the mortuary ware varies with the quality of the terra cotta,
and with the conditions of its inhumation. Considering the porous
character of the paste and the great degree of moisture in the soil of
the Mississippi valley, the state of preservation of many of the vases
is remarkable. In some other sections of the country the pieces of
pottery were perforated or broken before their inhumation took place,
but such was not the practice in this province. The ware of village
sites and middens naturally is largely in fragments, and the plowing
of cemetery sites has broken up vast numbers of the mortuary vessels.
STATK OF C ULTURK or MAKKRS
The simple, life of these people is indicated by the absence of such
ceramic forms as lamps, whistles, bricks, and tiles, and by the rare
HOLMES ] POTTERY APPLIED TO VARIOUS USES 83
occurrence of other articles in common use with main barbaric
nations. Clay pipes, so neatly shaped oven in neighboring districts,
are of very rude character over a large part of this district, as is
shown in plate xxxm, at the end of this .section. The reason for this
is not plain, since the potters of the middle and lower Mississippi
region were in advance of all others in the eastern half of the. Tinted
States in the manipulation of clay, as a comparative study of form,
color, and decoration will amply show. In variety and refinement of
form this ware excels perhaps even that of the ancient Pueblos, but in
almost every other respect the fictile art of the latter was superior.
There is nothing to indicate that the culture of the earlier occupants
of the valley differed materially from that existing among the historic
tribes of the same area.
USES
It is difficult to determine with precision the functions of the various
forms of vessels in this group, or. for that matter, in any group where
differentiation is well advanced. Certain varieties of rather plain and
often rude vessels show traces of use over fire; these were, doubtless
for boiling and cooking, and for the manufacture of salt. Thev are
usually recovered from midden sites and are in a fragmentary con
dition. Particular forms were probably intended for preparing and
serving food, for storing, carrying, and containing water, oil, honey,
salt, paint, fruit seeds, and all articles pertaining to domestic or cere
monial use. Nearly all the better finished and delicate vases are with
out marks of rough usage, and there can be little doubt that many of
them were devoted to sacerdotal and mortuary uses, and that they
were made expressly for these purposes. Vases of refined and unusual
shape, carefully finished and ornamented, especially those decorated
in color, were certainly not generally intended for ordinary domestic
use.
Rarely an unusual shape is found suggesting manufacture for burial
purposes, and the larger culinary vessels were at times devoted to the
burial of children, and probably, also, to the burial of the bones of
adults. The presence in the graves of unbaked vases, or what are
believed to bo, such, and of figurines, miniature image vessels, and
death s-head vases is suggestive of special making for mortuarv use.
Probably no other people north of the valley of Mexico has extended
its ceramic field as widely as the southern mound-builders. The
manufacture of images, toys, rattles, gaming disks, spool-shaped ear
ornaments, labrets, beads, pipes, trowels, modeling tools, etc., indi
cate the widening range of the art.
MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURE
Materials and manufacture have been discussed in the introduction
in such detail that little further need be said here. A few features
84 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETii.Axx.20
distinctive of the group may bo noted. It is observed that the paste
varies in color from a light yellowish gray to dark grays and browns.
The light colors were used in vases to be decorated in color. The
paste is never vitreous, but is often well baked, firm, and tenacious.
Now and then a specimen is discovered that seems to have been sun-dried
onl v, disintegrating readily in water. It is not unusual to find examples
of vessels whose paste is quite porous and of low specific gravity.
This may be due partly to the use of combustible tempering matter or
to the decay of portions of the pulverized shell tempering. As a rule
the vases are of medium or heav} 1 " weight, and in some cases the walls
are quite thick, especially in the tall bottles.
In the better ware tempering materials were finely pulverized or
were used in comparatively small quantity. Coarse shell was used in
the ruder forms of domestic ware and for the so-called salt vessels.
Fragments of shell fully an inch in greatest dimension have been
observed in the latter ware. In exceptional cases, especially on the
outskirts of the area covered by the group, powdered quartz, mica,
and other minerals in large and sharp grains are observed. The paste
was manipulated after the fashion already indicated in the introductory
pages, and the firing was conducted, no doubt, in the usual primitive
ways. Traces of pottery kilns within the district have been reported,
but sufficient particulars have not been given to enable us to form a
definite notion of their character.
SURFACE FINISH
The finish, as compared with the work of civilized nations, is crude.
The surface was often simply hand-smoothed, while in cases it was
scarified or roughened by the finger nails or by modeling tools. Gen
erally, however, it was more or less carefully polished by rubbing
with an implement of stone, shell, bone, or other suitable material,
the markings of these tools being distinctly visible. There is no rea
son for supposing that glazing was understood, although pieces having
partially vitrified surfaces are occasionally found. The surface was
often washed with a film of fine light-colored clay, which facilitated
the polishing, and in many cases a coat of thick red ocher was applied:
this also was polished down. The comparatively rare occurrence of
textile finish in the better wares may be due in a measure to the pref
erence for polished or painted surfaces, in producing which original
texturings were necessarily obliterated, but it is also probable that
these potters had risen above the decidedly primitive textile stage
of the art.
COLOH
As has been indicated, the paste of this ware presents two marked
varieties of color a dark hue, ranging from a rich black to all shades
of brown and gray, and a lighter series of tints comprising warm
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. V
t7
o
n
o
SERIES OF OUTLINES INDICATING RANGE OF FORM OF VASES
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. VI
IIP
SERIES OF OUTLINES SHOWING VARIOUS FEATURES OF VASE
ELABORATION
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. VII
VASES OF COMPOUND FORM
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
UMi
HOLMES] FORM AND ORNAMENT 85
oehery grays, rarely approaching the reddish or terra-eotta tones. It
is possible that these differences of color were, to some extent, inten
tionally produced by regulation of the materials or methods of tiring .
This theory is confirmed by the fact that certain forms of vases are
quite generally dark, while other forms are as uniformly light, the
latter in nearly all cases having been finished in color or with designs
in color.
FORM
RANGE
This ware exhibits great variety of outline, many forms being
extremely pleasing. In this respect it is far superior to the other
groups of the eastern United States. The vessels are perhaps more
varied in shape than those of the Pueblo country, but are less diversi
fied and elegant than those of Mexico, Central America, and Peru.
They take a higher rank than the prehistoric wares of northern Europe,
but, as a matter of course, lack the symmetry and refinement of out
line that characterizes the wheel-made pottery of Mediterranean coun
tries. As the vessels are grouped by forms later, in presenting the
illustrations, it is unnecessary to make further reference to this topic
here, save to call attention to the accompanying plates of outlines
(plates v, vi, and vn), which give in a connected series the full range
of form of this group.
KSTHKTIC MODIFICATIONS
It can hardly be maintained that the ancient peoples of this region
had a very refined appreciation of elegance of outline, yet there are
many modifications of shape that indicate a taste for higher types of
beauty and a constant attempt to realize them. There is also a very
decided leaning toward the grotesque. To such an extreme have the
dictates of fancy been followed in this respect that utility, the true
and original office of the utensil, has often taken a secondary place,
although it has never or rarely been entirely lost sight of. liowls
have been fashioned into the shape of birds, fishes, reptiles, and shells,
and vases and bottles into a multitude of animal and vegetal forms,
without much apparent regard for convenience. Much of this imita
tive and imaginative art is undoubtedly the direct offspring of myth-
ologic conceptions and superstitious practices and is thus symbolic
rather than esthetic; but it seems to me highly probable that pure
fancv, mere playfulness, had a place, as in more southern countries,
in the creation of unusual forms.
ANIMAf, FORMS
The portrayal of animal forms in one art or another was almost
universal among the American aborigines, but with these middle Mis-
8<> ABORIGINAL POTTERY OB" EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH.iNK.-20
sissippi valley peoples it was more prevalent, perhaps, than elsewhere.
Not only are many animal forms recognizably represented, but a con
siderable number of the grotesque shapes already referred to probably
originated in representation of animals.
ORNAMENT
The ancient potter of the middle Mississippi valley province gave
particular attention to the embellishment of his ware, and the results
are much more varied and mature than those of the northern and
eastern sections. Nearly all methods known in the country were
employed, but the higher types of linear and plastic design prevailed
much more fully here than elsewhere.
The method of execution was usually by incision, a more or less
sharp point being used. Finger-nail marking and indentation with a
point were favorite decorations, and ridges and nodes were set on in
decorative arrangements. Decoration in color was common in this
province, though rare in others. The colors used in painting were
white, red, brown, and black, and generally consisted of clays, white
or tinted with iron oxides. Occasionally the colors used seem to have
been mere stains possibly of vegetal origin. All were probably laid
on with coarse brushes of hair, feathers, or vegetal fiber. The
color designs are in most cases quite simple, and are applied in broad,
bold lines. The figures are, to a great extent, curvilinear, and
embrace meanders, scrolls, circles, and combinations and groupings
of curved lines in great variety. Rectilinear forms, lozenges, guil-
loches, zigzags, checkers, crosses, and stellar forms are usual, and the
stepped figures so characteristic of Pueblo work are sometimes seen.
The decided prevalence of curved forms is worthy of remark.
With all their fertility of invention, the inhabitants of this valley seem
not to have achieved the rectangular linked meander, or anything
more nearly approaching it than the current scroll or the angular
guilloche, while with other peoples, such as the Pueblos of the South
west and the ancient nations of Mexico and Peru, it was a favorite
device. The reasons for this, as well as for other peculiarities of the
decorative art of the province as embodied in pottery, must be sought
in the antecedent and coexistent arts of the province. These peoples
were probably not so highly accomplished in the textile arts as were
the Pueblos, and had not felt the influence of advanced architecture
as had the Mexicans. The practice of highly developed forms of
these arts gives rise to and encourages angular geometric styles of
decoration.
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS OF THK GROUP
If asked to point out the one feature of this ware by which it could
most readily be distinguished from all other groups, I should select
HOLMES] SOURCKS OF INFORMATION 87
the l)ottlo .shape us the most satisfactory. There is no group of primi
tive ware in America, save possibly in Peru, in which the slender-
necked carafe or decanter-like bottle is so marked a feature. In most
of the native groups it is unknown. This, however, is not the only
marked characteristic of the ware. The range of shape is very wide,
and several features are strikingly unique. Then 1 are many efligy vases
of remarkable character; of these may be mentioned those representing
hunchback human beings, cups or vases imitating heads of men and
beasts and grotesque, nondescript creatures or conceptions. Again,
the use of color in surface finish and decoration is a strong character
istic of the ware. Colored ware is found in many sections, especially
in the South, but in no other part of the region considered in this
paper was color so generally or so fully applied to the execution of
ornamental designs and realistic delineations, as in depicting wings and
feathers of birds, spots of animals, costume on human figures, and in
effigy vases even the color of hair, skin and face-paint feature s of
decoration practically unknown elsewhere in the area considered.
Head-shaped vases are rather rare in North America, although common
in Peru. Excellent examples are found in the center of the Middle
Mississippi province, and in cases are so well modeled as to have lead
to the suggestion that they may be actual casts from the human face.
SOURCES or INFORMATION
Owing to the wide range of form and character exhibited by the
vessels of this group it will be impossible fully to illustrate them within
the limits of this paper. The student may, in a great measure, supply
the need for fuller illustration by referring to the following works:
Explorations of the Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee, by Joseph
Jones, Washington, 1876; Reports of the Peabody Museum, by F. W.
Putnam; and Antiquities of Tennessee, by Gener.il dates P. Thruston.
These works for the most part illustrate the ware of Tennessee.
Edward Evers. in Contributions to the Archeology of Missouri, pre
sents a large number of vases of the southeast Missouri district; and
an extended series of illustrations of the wares of Arkansas was
published in the Fourth Annual Report of the. Bureau of Ethnology.
EXAMPLES
The illustrations brought together in the accompanying plates com
prise examples of almost every type of the earthenware of this prov
ince, but they still fail to give a satisfactory idea of the very wide
range of form and ornament.
I LATTKKS, ClJl S, AM) HOWLS
Platters and bowl-shaped vessels exhibit great diversity of size,
shape, and ornament. In size they range from less than 1 inch in
88 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.M
diameter and depth to upward of 20 inches in diameter and a foot or
more in depth. If we include under this head the so-called salt pans,
described in the introduction, the greatest diameter will reach perhaps
40 inches. In material, color, and surface finish they are generally
uniform with vessels of other classes. Their uses were doubtless
chiefly domestic.
Many of these bowls are simply segments of spheres, and vary
from a shallow platter to a hollow, perforated globe. Others have
elongated, compressed, or conic bodies, with round or flattened bases.
The horizontal outline or section may be round, oval, waved, rectan
gular, or irregular. Some have flattish projections at opposite sides
or ends, imitating a common form of wooden tray or basin. Stands
and legs are but rarely attached; handles, except those of grotesque
character, are rarely seen. A dipper or ladle shape is encountered
now and then.
The ornamentation of bowls was accomplished in a variety of ways.
Rim modifications constitute an important feature. In section the
margin or lip is square, oblique, round, or grooved. The scallop was
often employed, and notched and terraced forms, resembling the
sacred meal bowls of Zuni, are not uncommon. Ifelief ornaments
such as fillets and nodes and various horizontal projections were also
employed, and pleasing effects were produced by the use of incised
lines and indentations.
The potter was not satisfied with these varied forms of decoration,
and his fancy led him to add embellishments of elaborate and extra
ordinary character. The nodes and ridges were enlarged and pro
longed and fashioned after a hundred natural and fanciful forms.
Shapes of shells, fish, birds, beasts, human and imaginary creatures
were utilized in a multitude of ways. Especial attention was given to
the heads of animals. These were modeled in the round and attached
to the rim or side, while other parts of the animal were placed upon
different portions of the vessel.
The body of the bowl was somewhat less profusely ornamented than
the rim. The interior as we ll as the exterior received painted,
relieved, and intaglio designs. In the painted bowls the favorite idea
for the interior was a series of volutes, in broad lines, radiating from
the center of the basin. Groups of festooned lines, either painted or
engraved, and arranged to give the effect of imbricated scales, formed
also a favorite motive. The exterior surface of the incurved rims of
globular vessels offered a tempting surface to the artist and was often
tastefully decorated in varied styles.
As a rule the bowls and platters of this region are fairly uniform
in material, surface finish, and decorative treatment with the other ves
sels of the region. A somewhat unique group of bowls was obtained
from a small domiciliary mound near Arkansas Post, Arkansas, two
HOLMES] CORRELATION OF POTTERY WITH TRIBES 81
Pittsburg, and as far southeast as Augusta. Georgia. Closely related
forms are found also along the Gulf of Mexico, from Tampa bay to
the Rio Brazos. As a result of the segregation of the peoples of
this vast province into social divisions each more or less isolated
and independent and all essentially sedentary there are well-marked
distinctions in the pottery found, and several subgroups may be recog
nized. The most pronounced of these are found, one in eastern
Arkansas and western Tennessee, one in southeastern Missouri, one in
the Cumberland valley, Tennessee, and a fourth in the lower Missis
sippi region. Others may be distinguished as collections are enlarged.
The pottery of this great group does not occupy exclusively any
large area. Varieties of ware whose typical development is in other
centers of habitation may be found in many places within its range.
As to the occurrence of occasional specimens of this ware in remote
localities, it may be remarked that there are many agencies that tend
to distribute art products beyond their normal limit. These have been
referred to in detail in the introductory pages. The accompanving
map, plate iv, will assist in giving a general impression of the distri
bution and relative prevalence of this ware.
ETHNIC CONSIDEKATIONS
It is not clearly apparent that a study of the distribution of this
pottery will serve any important purpose in the settlement of purely
ethnic questions. The matter is worthy of close attention, however,
since facts that taken alone serve no definite purpose may supplement
testimony acquired through other channels, and thus assist in estab
lishing conclusions of importance with respect to tribal or family
history.
It is clear that this ware was not made by one but by many tribes,
and even by several linguistic families, and we mav fairly assume
that the group is regional or environmental rather than tribal or
national. It is the product of conditions and limitations prevailing
for a long time throughout a vast area of country. As to the modern
representatives of the pottery-making peoples, we may very reason
ably look to any or all of the tribes found occupying the general
region when the whites came Algonquian, Siouan, Muskhogean,
Natch esan, and Caddoan.
With respect to the origin of this particular ceramic group we may
surmise that it developed largely from the preceramic art of the
region, although we must allow that exotic ideas probably crept in
now and then to modify and improve it. That exotic features did mi
grate by one agency or another from Mexico is amplv attested by
various elements of form and technic found in the ceramic as well as
in other arts.
I have sought by a study of the plastic representations of the human
20 ETH 03
82 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.M
face and figure to learn something of the physiognomy of the pot
tery-making- peoples, but have sought without success. It is evident
that portraiture was rarely, if ever, attempted, and, contrary to what
might be expected, few of the greatly varied representations of faces
suggest strongly the Indian type of countenance.
CHRONOLOGY
, The pottery of this great province is wonderfully homogeneous in its
most essential characteristics, and we are not able to say by its appear
ance or character that anv specimen is older or more primitive than
another. Exploration has been too unsystematic to enable us to reach
any safe conclusions respecting the comparative" age of specimens
based on the manner of occurrence or relations to artificial or natural
deposits. There can be no reasonable doubt, however, that the manu
facture of tliis ware began manv centuries before the advent of the
e
white race; it is equally certain that the art was extensively practiced
until (mite recent times. The early explorers of the valley witnessed
the manufacture, and the processes and the manner of use of the ware
are. as we have seen in a preceding section, described by several writers.
Notwithstanding the early introduction of metal vessels and other
utensils that naturally superseded those of clay, some of the tribes of
the province seem to have practiced the art continuously nearly to the
present day, and some of the pieces recovered from mounds and graves
are thought to suggest European models. It is certain, however, that
the art had reached its highest stage without the aid of civilized hands,
and in the study of its many interesting features we may feel assured
that we are- dealing with essentially aboriginal ideas.
PBESEKVATION
It is generally admitted that there is no vital ethnic or other dis
tinction between the pottery found in mounds, that found on village
sites, and that obtained from ordinary graves or stone cists. The con
dition of the mortuary ware varies with the quality of the terra cotta,
and with the conditions of its inhumation. Considering the porous
character of the paste and the great degree of moisture in the soil of
the Mississippi valley, the state, of preservation of many of the vases
is remarkable. In some other sections of the country the pieces of
pottery were perforated or broken before their inhumation took place,
but such was not the practice in this province. The ware of village
sites and middens naturally is largely in fragments, and the plowing
of cemetery sites has broken up vast numbers of the mortuary vessels.
STATK OF CULTURE OK MAKKKH
The simple life of these people is indicated by the absence of such
ceramic forms as lamps, whistles, bricks, and tiles, and by the rare
HOLMES] POTTKRY APPLIED TO VARIOUS USES 83
occurrence of other articles in common use with many barbaric
nations. Clay pipes, so neatly shaped even in neighboring districts,
are of very rude character over a large part of this district, as i.s
shown in plate xxxm, at the end of thi.s section. The reason for this
is not plain, since, the potters of the middle and lower Mississippi
region were in advance of all others in the eastern half of the United
States in the manipulation of clay, as a comparative study of form,
color, and decoration will amply show. In variety and refinement of
form this ware excels perhaps even that of the ancient Pueblos, but in
almost every other respect the fictile art of the latter was superior.
There is nothing to indicate that the culture of the earlier occupants
of the valley differed materially from that existing among the historic
tribes of the same area.
USES
It is difficult to determine with precision the functions of the various
forms of vessels in this group, or. for that matter, in any group where
differentiation is well advanced. Certain varieties of rather plain and
often rude vessels show traces of use over tire; these were doubtless
for boiling and cooking, and for the manufacture of salt. They are
usually recovered from midden sites and are in a fragmentary con
dition. Particular forms were probably intended for preparing and
serving food, for storing, carrying, and containing water, oil, honey,
salt, paint, fruit seeds, and all articles pertaining to domestic or cere
monial use. Nearly all the better finished and delicate vases are with
out marks of rough usage, and there can be little doubt that many of
them were devoted to sacerdotal and mortuary uses, and that they
were made expressly for these purposes. Vases of refined and unusual
shape, carefully finished and ornamented, especially those decorated
in color, were certainly not generally intended for ordinary domestic
use.
Rarely an unusual shape is found suggesting manufacture for burial
purposes, and the larger culinaiT vessels were at times devoted to the
burial of children, and probably, also, to the burial of the bones of
adults. The presence in the graves of unbaked vases, or what are
believed to be such, and of figurines, miniature image vessels, and
death s-head vases is suggestive of special making" for mortuary use.
Probably no other people north of the valley of Mexico has extended
its ceramic field as widely as the southern mound-builders. The
manufacture of image*, toys, rattles, gaining disks, spool-shaped ear
ornaments, labrets, beads, pipes, trowels, modeling tools, etc., indi
cate the widening range of the art.
MATKKIAI.S AND MANUFACTURE
Materials and manufacture have been discussed in the introduction
in such detail that little further need he, aid here. A few features
84 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH.ASN.20
distinctive of the group may be noted. It is observed tlmt the paste
varies in color from a light yellowish gray to dark gravs and browns.
The light colors were used in vases to be decorated in color. The
paste is never vitreous, but is often well baked, firm, and tenacious.
Now and then a specimen is discovered that seems to have been sun-dried
only, disintegrating readily in water. It is not unusual to tind example s
of vessels whose paste is quite porous and of low specific gravity.
This nwy )>(> clue partly to the use of combustible tempering matter or
to the decay of portions of the pulverized shell tempering. As a rule
the vases are of medium or heavy weight, and in .some cases the walls
are quite thick, especially in the tall bottles.
In the better ware tempering materials were finely pulverized or
were used in comparatively small quantity. Coarse shell was used in
the ruder forms of domestic ware and for the so-called salt vessels.
Fragments of shell fully an inch in greatest dimension have been
observed in the latter ware. In exceptional cases, especially on the
outskirts of the area covered by the group, powdered quartz, mica,
and other minerals in large and sharp grains are observed. The paste,
was manipulated after the fashion already indicated in the introductory
pages, and the firing was conducted, no doubt, in the usual primitive
ways. Traces of pottery kilns within the district have been reported,
but sufficient particulars have not been given to enable us to form a
definite notion of their character.
SURFACE FINISH
The finish, as compared with the work of civilized nations, is crude.
The surface was often simply hand-smoothed, while in cases it was
scarified or roughened by the finger nails or by modeling tools. Gen
erally, however, it was more or less carefully polished by rubbing
with an implement of stone, shell, bone, or other suitable material,
the markings of these tools being distinctly visible. There is no rea
son for supposing that glazing was understood, although pieces having
partially vitrified surfaces are occasionally found. The surface was
often washed with a film of tine light-colored clav, which facilitated
the polishing, and in many cases a coat of thick red ocher was applied;
this also was polished down. The comparatively rare occurrence of
textile finish in the better wares may be due in a measure to the pref
erence for polished or painted surfaces, in producing which original
texturings were necessarily obliterated, but it is also probable that
these potters had risen above the decidedly primitive textile stage
of the art.
COLOR
As has been indicated, the paste of this ware presents two marked
varieties of color- a dark hue, ranging from a rich black to all shades
of brown and gray, and a lighter series of tints comprising warm
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. V
O
O
SERIES OF OUTLINES INDICATING RANGE OF FORM OF VASES
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. VI
T
SERIES OF OUTLINES SHOWING VARIOUS FEATURES OF VASE
ELABORATION
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. VII
VASES OF COMPOUND FORM
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
HOI.MESJ FORM AND ORNAMENT 85
oeheiy grays, rarely approaching the reddish or terra-cotta tones. It
is possible that these differences of color were, to some extent, inten
tionally produced by regulation of the materials or methods of tiring.
This theory is confirmed by the fact that certain forms of vases are
quite generally dark, while other forms are as uniformly light, the
latter in nearly all cases having been finished in color or with designs
in color.
FORM
RANGE
This ware exhibits great variety of outline, many forms being
extremely pleasing. In this respect it is far superior to the other
groups of the eastern United States. The vessels are perhaps more
varied in shape than those of the Pueblo country, but are less diversi
fied and elegant than those of Mexico, Central America, and Peru.
They take a higher rank than the prehistoric wares of northern Europe,
but, as a matter of course, lack the .symmetry and refinement of out
line that characterizes the wheel-made pottery of Mediterranean coun
tries. As the vessels are grouped by forms later, in presenting the
illustrations, it is unnecessary to make further reference to this topic
here, save to call attention to the accompanying plates of outlines
(plates v, vi, and vn), which give in a connected series the full range
of form of this group.
KSTHETIC MODIFICATIONS
It can hardly be maintained that the ancient peoples of this region
had a very refined appreciation of elegance of outline, yet there are
many modifications of shape that indicate a taste for higher types of
beauty and a constant attempt to realize them. There is also a very
decided leaning toward the grotesque. To such an extreme have the
dictates of fancy been followed in this respect that utility, the true
and original office of the utensil, has often taken a secondary place,
although it has never or rarely been entirely lost sight of. Bowls
have been fashioned into the shape of birds, fishes, reptiles, and shells,
and vases and bottles into a multitude, of animal and vegetal forms,
without much apparent regard for convenience. Much of this imita
tive and imaginative art is undoubtedly the direct offspring of myth-
ologic conceptions and superstitious practices and is thus symbolic
rather than esthetic; but it seems to me highly probable that pure
fancy, mere playfulness, had a place, as in more southern countries,
in the creation of unusual forms.
The portrayal of animal forms in one art or another was almost
universal among the American aborigines, but with these middle Mis-
I
8(5 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.-JO
sissippi valley peoples it was more prevalent, perhaps, than elsewhere.
Not only are many animal forms recognizably represented, but a con
siderable number of the grotesque shapes already referred to probably
originated in representation of animals.
ORNAMENT
The ancient potter of the middle Mississippi valley province gave
particular attention to the embellishment of his ware, and the results
are much more varied and mature than those of the northern and
eastern sections. Nearly all methods known in the country were
employed, but the higher types of linear and plastic design prevailed
much more fully here than elsewhere.
The method of execution was usually by incision, :i more or less
sharp point being used. Finger-nail marking and indentation with a
point were favorite decorations, and ridges and nodes wen 1 set on in
decorative arrangements. Decoration in color was common in this
province, though rare in others. The colors used in painting were
white, red, brown, and black, and generally consisted of clays, white
or tinted with iron oxides. Occasionally the colors used seem to have
been mere stains possibly of vegetal origin. All were probably laid
on with coarse brushes of hair, feathers, or vegetal fiber. The
color designs are in most cases quite simple, and are applied in broad,
bold lines. The figures are, to a great extent, curvilinear, and
embrace meanders, scrolls, circles, and combinations and groupings
of curved lines in great variety. Rectilinear forms, lozenges, guil-
loches, zigzags, checkers, crosses, and stellar forms are usual, and the
stepped figures so characteristic of Pueblo work are sometimes seen.
The decided prevalence of curved forms is worthy of remark.
With all their fertility of invention, the inhabitants of this valley seem
not to have achieved the rectangular linked meander, or anything
more nearlv approaching it than the current scroll or the angular
guilloche, while with other peoples, such as the Pueblos of the South
west and the ancient nations of Mexico and Peru, it was a favorite
device. The reasons for this, as well as for other peculiarities of the
decorative art of the province as embodied in pottery, must be sought
in the antecedent and coexistent arts of the province. These peoples
were probably not so highly accomplished in the textile arts as were
the Pueblos, and had not felt the influence of advanced architecture
as had the Mexicans. The practice of highly developed forms of
these arts gives rise to and encourages angular geometric styles of
decoration.
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERS OF THE Gnoui
It asked to point out the one feature of this ware by which it could
most readily be distinguished from all other groups, I should select
HOLMES] SOURCES OF INFORMATION 87
the bottle shape us the most satisfactory. There is no group of primi
tive ware in America, save possibly in Peru, in which the slender-
necked carafe or decanter-like bottle is so marked a feature. In most
of the native groups it is unknown. This, however, is not the only
marked characteristic of the ware. The range, of shape is very wide,
and several features are strikingly unique. There are many effigy vases
of remarkable character; of these may be mentioned those representing
hunchback human beings, cups or vases imitating heads of men and
beasts and grotesque, nondescript creatures or conceptions. Again,
the use of color in surface finish and decoration is a strong character
istic of the ware. Colored ware is found in many sections, especially
in the South, but in no other part of the region considered in this
paper was color so generally or so fully applied to the execution of
ornamental designs and realistic delineations, as in depicting wings and
feathers of birds, spots of animals, costume on human figures, and in
effigv vases even the color of hair, skin and face-paint features of
decoration practically unknown elsewhere in the area considered.
Head-shaped vases are rather rare in North America, although common
in Peru. Excellent examples are found in the center of the Middle
Mississippi province, and in cases are so well modeled as to have lead
to the suggestion that they may be actual casts from the human face.
SOUKCKS OF INFORMATION
Owing to the wide range of form and character exhibited by the
vessels of this group it will be impossible fully to illustrate them within
the limits of this paper. The student may. in a great measure, supply
the need for fuller illustration by referring to the following works:
Explorations of the Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee, by Joseph
Jones, Washington, 1876; Reports of the Peabody Museum, by F. W.
Putnam; and Antiquities of Tennessee, by General Gates P. Thruston.
These works for the most part illustrate the ware of Tennessee.
Edward Evers. in Contributions to the Archeology of Missouri, pre
sents a large number of vases of the southeast Missouri district; and
an extended series of illustrations of the wares of Arkansas was
published in the Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.
EXAMPLES
The illustrations brought together in the accompanying plates com
prise examples of almost every type of the earthenware of this prov
ince, but they still fail to give a satisfactory idea of the very wide
range of form and ornament.
I l.ATTKHS. CITS. AM> HOWI.S
Platters and bowl-shaped vessels exhibit great diversity of size,
shape, and ornament. In size they range from less than 1 inch in
88 ABORIGINAL POTTEKY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ASN.M
diameter and depth to upward of -20 inches in diameter and a foot or
more in depth. If we include under this head the so-called salt pans,
described in the introduction, the greatest diameter will reach perhaps
40 inches. In material, color, and surface finish they are generally
uniform with vessels of other classes. Their uses were doubtless
chiefly domestic.
Many of these bowls are simply segments of spheres, and vary
from a shallow platter to a hollow, perforated globe. Others have
elongated, compressed, or conic bodies, with round or flattened bases.
The horizontal outline or section may be round, oval, waved, rectan
gular, or irregular. Some have flattish projections at opposite sides
or ends, imitating a common form of wooden tray or basin. Stands
and legs are but rarely attached; handles, except those of grotesque
character, are rarely seen. A dipper or ladle shape is encountered
now and then.
The ornamentation of bowls was accomplished in a variety of ways.
Rim modifications constitute an important feature. In section the
margin or lip is square, oblique, round, or grooved. The scallop was
often employed, and notched and terraced forms, resembling the
sacred meal bowls of Zuni, are not uncommon. Relief ornaments
such as fillets and nodes and various horizontal projections were also
employed, and pleasing effects were produced by the use of incised
lines and indentations.
The potter was not satisfied with these varied forms of decoration,
and his fancy led him to add embellishments of elaborate and extra
ordinary character. The nodes and ridges were enlarged and pro
longed and fashioned after a hundred natural and fanciful forms.
Shapes of shells, fish, birds, beasts, human and imaginary creatures
were utilized in a multitude of ways. Especial attention was given to
the heads of animals. These were modeled in the round and attached
to the rim or side, while other parts of the animal were placed upon
different portions of the vessel.
The body of the bowl was somewhat less profusely ornamented than
the rim. The interior as well as the exterior received painted,
relieved, and intaglio designs. In the painted bowls the favorite idea
for the interior was a series of volutes, in broad lines, radiating from
the center of the basin. Groups of festooned lines, either painted or
engraved, and arranged to give the effect of imbricated scales, formed
also a favorite motive. The exterior surface of the incurved rims of
globular vessels offered a tempting surface to the artist and was often
tastefully decorated in varied styles.
As a rule the bowls and platters of this region are fairly uniform
in material, surface finish, and decorative treatment with the other ves
sels of the region. A somewhat unique group of bowls was obtained
from u small domiciliary mound near Arkansas Post, Arkansas, two
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LARGE BOWL, BURIAL CASKET, AND CALDRON
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UN,
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I MISSOURI. Dl,
t; INCHESI
COOKING POTS, ETC.
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LARGE COOKING POTS
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
HOLMES] BOWLS AND POTS 89
illustrations appearing in plate vim/ and //. The most striking char
acteristic- of those vessels is their ornament, which embodies some
unusual combinations of lines deeply and rather boldly incised. Many
of the pieces are new-looking, but a small number have been black
ened by use over fire. The hemispheric shape is most common,
although there are some shallow forms, and a few of the vessels have
flaring rims. The paste is yellowish and the surface is roughly fin
ished. A very large percentage of shell has been used in tempering.
Other bowls of simple though varied form, and having a variety of
incised decorations, are shown in the same plate. All are from graves
or mounds in Arkansas, except e and f, which are from a mound in
southeastern Missouri.
A second group of bowls is given in plate i.\. All these are from
Arkansas except J, which is from a contiguous locality in Missouri.
An exceptionally tine piece of work is illustrated in <\ An example
of the deep cauldron-like boiling vessels found in some sections is
presented in plate x . A curious casket used for burying the bones
of a child is given in plate x 1>. It is preserved in the collection of
the Davenport Academy of Sciences, and was found in a grave at
Hales point, Tennessee. One of the largest examples ever recovered
in a complete state is shown in plate x t: It was obtained from a mound
in Jefferson county, Missouri, and is 2 .*^ inches in diameter. Most
of these specimens have been described in the annual reports of the
Bureau of Ethnology.
POTS
Plate xi serves to illustrate a very large class of wide-mouthed vessels
of pot-like character. They are generally darkened by use over lire,
and more than any other form probably served as ordinary culinary
utensils. The size varies from that of a drinking cup to that of a
cauldron of 15 or !iO gallons capacity. Two large and tine specimens
are given in plate xn. The frequent occurrence of strong handles
confirms the theory of their use for boiling and handling food. The
specimens illustrated are from Tennessee and Arkansas.
The rims of these vessels were modified for decorative purposes very
much as are the rims of the bowls. The bodies are, sometimes elabo
rate!} ornamented, mostly with incised figures, but often with punc
tures, nodes, and ribs. The incised lines, curved and straight, are
arranged to form simple patterns encircling the upper part of the
vessel. The punctures, made with a sharp point, form encircling
lines and various carelessly executed patterns. A rude sort of orna
mentation was produced by pinching up the soft clay of the surface
between the nails of the fingers and thumb. Relief ornament consists
chiefly of applied fillets of clay arranged to form vertical ribs. Hows
of nodes are sometimes seen, and in a few cases the whole body is
covered with rude nodes or spines (see plate xi).
90 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.M
BOTTLES
Of nil the forrhs of vessels found in this province the bottle is the
most varied and interesting, and is more suggestive of the advanced
taste of the potter than is any other class of vessel. In plate xin some
fine examples of bottles are shown. Two neat specimens are illus
trated in n and !>. The surface finish is excellent in both cases. The
lines of the figures are carefully drawn, and seem to have been pro
duced by trailing a smooth, rather blunt point, under even pressure.
It is difficult to get a line so even and nicely finished by simple
incision or by excavating the clay. The design in n consists of
groups of curved lines arranged in pairs, which are separated In-
plain vertical bands. It might he considered an interrupted or
imperfectly connected form of the running scroll. This grouping
of lines is frequently met in the decorative designs of the southern
states. The design on the other vase, I, is still more characteristic
of the South. It consists of an encircling row of round, shallow
indentations, about which are linked series of imperfectly developed
incised scrolls, and of two additional rows of depressions, one above
and the other below, through which parallel lines are drawn. The
handome vase shown in c was obtained, along with many other fine
specimens, from mounds near Little Rock, Arkansas. It is of the
dark polished ware with the usual fire mottlings. The form is sj m-
metric and graceful. The neck is ornamented with a band of incised
chevrons, and the sloping upper surface of the bod}- is encircled by a
series of stepped figures engraved in the plastic clay. The vessel shown
in d has a wide annular base and a bod\ T apparently compounded of a
large fiattish form and a smaller kettle-like form set upon it. The
latter is furnished with handles and decorated with encircling lines
of indentations. The vessel shown in e may be taken as a type of a
very large class. It is most readily described as a short-necked, wide-
mouthed bottle. It is symmetric and nicely finished. The lip is sup
plied with a narrow horizontal rim. The body expands somewhat
abruptly from the base of the upright neck to the squarish shoulder,
and contracts below in an even curve, giving a hemispheric base.
We have in f a good example of a class of bottle-shaped vessels, the
necks of which are wide and short and the bodies much compressed
vertically. It is a handome vase, symmetric, quite dark in color,
and highly polished. The upper surface of the body is ornamented
with a collar formed of a broad fillet of clay, or rather of two fillets,
the pointed ends of which come together on opposite sides of the vase.
As skilled as these people were in modeling life forms and in
engraving geometric devices, they seem rarely to have attempted the
linear representation of life forms. We have, however, a few good
examples of such work. The engraved design covering the body of a
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BOTTLES
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
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ARKANSAS, HEIGHT lOi INCHES)
BOTTLES
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
;*>
HOLMES]
VASE WITH SYMBOLIC DECORATION
91
small viisp, figure 4 .i, is one of the most remarkable over obtained
from the mounds. It consists of two winged and crested rattlesnakes
which encircle the expanded part of the vessel, and of two sunflower-
like figures alternating with them. These designs are carefully
engraved with a needle-like point and are adjusted to the form of
the vase in a way that suggests forethought and experience and an
Fio. J9 Bottle decorated with serpent designs, Arkansas. Three-fourths actual size.
appreciation of the decorative value of the figures. By dint of rub
bings, photographs, and sketches, a complete drawing of the various
figures has been obtained, and they are given in figure 50 on a scale
of about one-third actual si/e. The rosette figures probably represent
the sun. There can be little doubt that the figures of this design are
~ o
derived from the mythologic art of the people.
FK;. 50 Winged serpents and snn symbols from the vase illustrated in figure 49.
The ancient potter of the central districts did not venture, save in
very rare cases, to delineate the human figure graphically, and such
attempts as have come to hand do not do much credit to the artistic
capacity of the people. A specimen is shown in figure 51, the four
figures in simple lines occupying the periphery of the body of a large
plain bottle of the usual dark-colored ware of eastern Arkansas.
92 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED 8TATES [ETH.AXN.20
In plate xiv we luive selections from the very large group of high-
necked bottles. The piece shown in a is a good illustration of a type
of form common to Missouri and Arkansas. The neck is high and
cylindric and the body resembles a slightly flattened globe. Set
about the shoulder are four medallion-like faces, the features of which
arc modeled roughly in low relief. The ware is of the ordinary dark,
slightly polished variety. There are few vases from the mound
region more pleasing in appearance than that shown in 1>. It is a
black, well-polished bottle with neck expanding below and body pecul
iarly flattened beneath. The body is encircled by a band of chaste
and elaborate scroll work.
A handsome bottle-shaped vase with flaring lip is shown in c. The
neck widens toward the base and the body is subglobular, being slightly
conical above and rather abruptly expanded at the periphery. The
surface is only moderately smooth.
The body is ornamented with a hand
some design of incised lines, which con
sists of a scroll pattern, divided into
four sections by perpendicular Hues.
The vase shown in d is compound,
and represents a bottle set within the
mouth of a pot. The neck is high,
wide, and flaring, and rests on the
back of a rudely-modeled frog, which
FIG. si Bottle ornamented with four on- . J
graved human figures, Arkansas. One- lies extended On the upper surface
mth actual size. of the body The notcne d encircling
ridge, beneath the feet of the creature, represents the rim of the lower
vessel, which is a pot with compressed globular body and short, wide
neck. This vase is of the dark, dead-surfaced ware and is quite plain.
Four vertical ridges take the place of handles.
One of the most striking of the bottle-shaped vases is shown in <\ It
is symmetric, well-proportioned, and well-finished. The color is
dark and the surface is roughened by a multitude of pits which have
resulted from the decay of shell particles used for tempering. The
paste crumbles to a brownish dust when struck or pressed forcibly.
The most remarkable feature of the piece is the broad, convex, hood-
like collar that encircles the neck and spreads out over the body like
an inverted saucer. This collar is curiously wrought in incised lines
and low ridges, by means of which grotesque faces, suggesting owls,
are produced. The eyes are readily detected, being indicated by low
knobs with central pits, each surrounded by three concentric circles.
They are arranged in pairs on opposite sides. Between the eyes of
each pair an incipient nose and mouth may be made out. The face is
outlined below by the lower edge of the collar and above by a low
indented ridge crossing the collar tangent to the base of the neck. The
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BOTTLES
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
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ll (MISSOURI, HEIGHT 8i INCHES)
BOTTLES
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
CO a.
UJ D
-I O
f a
H u
O >
CO ^
O 5
en 5
g 5
II
V
;
HOI.MKS] BOTTLES AND COMPOUND FORMS 93
most expanded part of the body is encircled by an incised pattern con
sisting of live sets of partially interlocked scrolls.
A step in differentiation of form is illustrated in the vessels pre
sented in plate xv. A flat bottom would serve to keep u tall bottle
in an upright position on a hard, level floor, but a ring was still better,
and could be added without deformation of the vessel. Annular bands
of varying heights and shapes were used, several forms being illus
trated in this plate.
The tripod afforded even better support than the ring, and had come
into common use with these people; four legs, in imitation of the legs of
quadrupeds, were occasionally employed. The form of these supports
is extremely varied, and some of the more usual types are illustrated in
plate xvi. The first. <i. is a large-necked, rather clumsy vessel of
ordinary workmanship, which rests on three globular legs. These are
hollow, and the cavities connect with that of the body of the vessel. .The
whole surface is well polished and dark in color.
The vessel depicted in 1> has a number of noteworthy features. It
resembles the preceding in shape with the exception of the legs, which
are flat, and have stepped or terraced margins. The whole surface of
the vessel is a warm gray, and is decorated with characteristic designs
in red and white. A stepped figure encircles the neck, and semicircu
lar figures in white appear on opposite sides at the top and base. The
body is covered with scroll work in broad, red lines, the spaces being
filled in with white. Each leg is half red and half white. The bottle
c is from Missouri, and is of the plain dark ware. The specimen
shown in d is finished in plain red.
For the purpose of conveying an idea of the great variety of shape
characterizing the simple bottles of this group and the boldness of
the painted decoration the series presented in plate xvu have been
assembled. The four pieces in the first group are of the plain, dark
ware and have annular bases. Those; of the second group are supported
on tripods; the series beneath shows variations in the form of the body;
and the specimens in the third line illustrate the use of designs in
white, red. and black.
KCCENTRIC AND COMPOUND FORMS
Three vessels are shown in plate xvni n. l>. and < which in form
resemble the common teapot. The specimen shown in 1> is well made
and carefully finished. A spout is placed on one side of the bod} and
a low knob on the other. The latter is not a handle but represents,
rather, the head of an animal. These characters are repeated in
most of the specimens of this type that have come to mv notice. Two
small circular depressions occur on the sides of the vessel alternating
with the spout and the knob, and these four features form centers
about which are traced four volutes connecting around the vessel. In
94 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.M
a fine red piece from Mississippi, now in the National Museum collec
tion (plate XL<5>), the knob is replaced by the head of a turtle or other
reptile and the spout becomes the creature s tail. In connection with
the teapot-like vessels it will be well to describe another novel form
not wholly unlike them in appearance, an example being shown in d,
plate xvin. The shoulder is elongated on opposite sides into two curved,
.horn-like cones, which give to the body a somewhat crescent-shaped
outline. The vessel is of the ordinary plain, dark ware and has had an
annular base which is now broken away.
Vases with arched handles, like those shown in c and f, are quite
common. In some cases the handle is enlarged and the body reduced
until the vessel assumes the appearance of a ring. Similar forms are
common in other parts of the, American continent, especially in Peru.
Vases of compound form are of frequent occurrence in this region.
A number of examples in outline have been assembled for convenience
of comparison in plate vn, and 111:1113- others could be added.
LIFE FORMS
Clay vessels imitating in form marine and fresh-water shells are
occasionally obtained from the mounds and graves of the Mississippi
valley. The conch shell appears to have been a favorite model, espe
cially as modified for a drinking cup by the removal of one side of the
walls and all the interior parts (plate xix, a and 1>). A two-story cup
of the same class is shown in <. The clam shell is also imitated. The
more conventional forms assumed by these vessels are especially inter
esting as illustrating the varied ways in which life forms modify the
normal conventional shapes of vessels, thus widening the range of
the art."
A very good illustration of this class of vessel is given in d. It is evi
dently intended to imitate a trimmed conch shell. The apex and a few
of the surrounding nodes are shown at the right, while the base or spine
forms a projecting lip at the left. A coil of clay forms the apex,
and is carried outward in a sinistral spiral to the noded shoulder.
Excellent examples in clay, imitating clam shells, are illustrated in
General Thruston s work on the Antiquities of Tennessee, plate vi
(plate XLVII of this paper).
In many countries the shape of earthen vessels has been profoundly
influenced by vegetal forms and especially by the hard shells of
fruits. 6 The gourd, the squash, and the cocoanut are reproduced with
great frequency. In many cases the shape of the body of vases not
at once suggesting derivation from such forms may finally be traced
to them. Thus the lobed bottles of Tennessee probably owe their chief
characteristic to a lobed form of the gourd. In plate xixyand g
a For studies of shell vessels and their influence on ceramic forms, see Second Annual Report,
Bureau of Ethnology, p. 191!, and Fourth Annual Report. Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 384 and 454.
This subject is discussed in a paper on form and ornament in the ceramic art. Fourth Annual
Kcpcirt, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 446.
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BOTTLES OF ECCENTRIC SHAPE
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
/^
f U:
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VESSELS IMITATING SHELL AND GOURD FORMS
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
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VESSELS IMITATING ANIMAL FORMS
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
HOL.MKS] VESSELS IMITATING ANIMAL FORMS 95
two examples of gourd-shaped vessels from Arkansas are given. The
Tennessee forms are fully illustrated by General Thrustou (work cited).
Plates xx, xxi. xxn are intended to illustrate the treatment of
animal forms by the undent potter. The animals imitated cover a wide
range, including probably a large percentage of the more important
creatures of the Mississippi valley. The manner of applying the
forms to the vessel is also extremely varied, making 1 a detailed account
quite impossible. The degree of realism is far from uniform. In many
cases birds, fishes, and quadrupeds are modeled with such fidelity
that a particular species is forcibly suggested, but the larger number
of the imitations are rude and unsatisfactory. Many forms are
grotesque, sometimes intentionally so. In plate xx are several illus
trations of the manner of applying bird forms to the elaboration and
embellishment of bowls. Specimens and l> are from southeastern
Missouri. The peculiar form of head seen in <t is found all over the
lower Mississippi and Gulf regions, while the example < has the head
turned inward, and resembles a vulture or buzzard. In il two heads
are attached, both grotesque, but having features suggestive of birds.
A finely modeled and finished bird-shaped bottle is shown in , . It is
finished in red. black, and white, the wings being striped with red and
white. The heads in 1> and /"appear to have human features, but it is
not improbable that the conception was of a bird or at most of a
bird-man compound.
A very striking specimen is shown in plate xxio. the neck of the
bird being unusually prolonged. In 1> the bird is placed on its back,
the head and feet forming the handles of the vessel. The wings are
rudely represented by incised lines on the body of the vessel. Other
bird forms are shown in plate xxn. The delineation of the painted
specimen is unusually realistic, and the general appearance recalls
very forcibly the painted owl vases of the Tusayan tribes and the
more ancient occupants of the valley of the Rio Colorado.
The usual manner of treating forms of fish is shown in plate xxm
, I, and c. The exceptional application of the fish form to a bottle is
illustrated in <l. The frog or toad was a favorite subject for the
aboriginal potter, and two ordinary examples are presented in /? and/!
The originals of </ and //, are not readily made out.
The use of mammalian forms in vase elaboration is illustrated in
plates xxn and xxv. There can be but little doubt that the potter
had a deer in mind when plate xxiva was modeled, while 1> suggests
the opossum. Hut the originals for the specimens presented in plate
xxv are not readily identified, and the head in c is decidedly grotesque,
although it is not impossible that the particular species of animal
intended in this and in other cases may finally be made out.
Plates xxvi. xxvu. and xxvm serve to illustrate some of the varied
methods of employing the human figure in ceramic art. In plate xxvi
five bottles are shown: <i represents the entire figure, and I the entire
96 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETii.AXx.20
figure seated upon the globular body of the vessel, while c and d are
average examples of the hunchback figures so common in the art of this
region. It seems probable that persons suffering from this class of
deformity were regarded as having certain magic powers or attri
butes. A small blackish bottle, capped with a rudely modeled human
head, is illustrated in e. The opening in all of these figurines is at the
top or back of the head.
A number of novel forms are given in plate xxvu. In ti the heavy
figure of a man extended at full length forms the body of the bottle.
The treatment of the figure is much the same in ?>, and other forms are
shown in i\ d. <;, and/! A very interesting specimen is shown in plate
xxviu. The figure represents a woman potter in the act of modeling
a vase.
In plate XLIII we have two examples of the remarkable head vases,
probably mortuary utensils, found in considerable numbers in graves
in eastern Arkansas and contiguous sections of other states. The
faces have been covered with a whitish wash well rubbed down, the
remainder of the surface being red. Fuller descriptive details are
given in preceding pages and in the Fourth Annual Report of the
Bureau of Ethnology. Additional specimens are shown in plates
xxix, xxx, xxxi, and xxxn. Specimen a of plate xxix has two owl-
like faces modeled in low relief on opposite sides of the body, and l> is
embellished with a well-suggested human mask painted white and
having closed eyes. The striking vessel presented in c and in plate
xuii I and plate xxx serves well as a type of the mortuary death s-
head vases, and the various illustrations will serve to convey a very
complete idea of their character. So well is the modeling done and
so well is the expression of death on the face suggested that some
students have reached the conclusion that this and other specimens of
the same class are bona fide death masks, made possibly by coating
the dead face with clay and allowing it to harden, then pressing plastic
clay into this mold. Mr Dellenbaugh" has urged this view, but it is
difficult to discover satisfactory evidence of its correctness. Most of
the heads and faces of this group are so diminutive in size and so
eccentric in shape that ordinary modeling was necessarily employed,
and this implies the skill necessary to model the larger specimens.
This head (plate xxx). which is the largest of the group, is only 6
inches in height, and if cast from the actual face, would thus repre
sent a young person or one of diminutive size. My own feeling is that
to people accustomed to model all kinds of forms in clay, as were these
potters, the free-hand shaping of such heads would be a less difficult
and remarkable undertaking than that of molding and casting the face,
these latter branches of the art being apparently unknown to the
mound-building tribes.
a Dellenbaugh, F. S., Death mask in ancient American pottery, American Anthropologist, Feb
ruary 1X97.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXVI
a (MISSOURI, HEIGHT 5! INCHES*
m.
c (ARKANSAS, DAVENPORT ACADEMY COLLECTION, ONE-THIRD)
(ARKANSAS, DAVENPORT ACADEMY
COLLECTION, ONE-THIRD)
b (MISSOURI, HEIGHT 9J INCHES)
ARKANSAS, DAVENPORT ACADEMY
COLLECTION, ONE-THIRD)
VESSELS IMITATING THE HUMAN FORM
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXVII
a (MISSOURI, EVERS COLLECTION, HEIGHT 6 INCHES
TENNESSEE, HEIGHT 7i INCHES)
c IARKANSAS, DIAMETER Si INCHES 1
d ARKANSAS, LENGTH 11 INCHES)
l> (ARKANSAS, WIDTH 7 INCHES
/IARKANSAS, HEIGHT 8) INCHES)
VESSELS IMITATING THE HUMAN FORM
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXVIII
VESSEL REPRESENTING THE POTTER AT WORK (INDIANA)
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
HEIGHT 7 INCHESJ
HOI.MKS] VESSELS REPRESENTING THE HUMAN HEAD ( ,7
In form this particular vessel is a simple head, (! inches in height
and (i inches wide from ear to ear. The aperture of the vase is in
the crown, and is surrounded by a low. upright rim. slightly recurved.
The cavity is roughly finished, and follows pretty closely the contour
of the exterior surface, except in projecting features such as the ears,
lips, and nose. The walls are from one-eighth to one-fourth of an
inch in thickness, the base being about three -eighths of an inch thick.
The bottom is flat, and on a level with the chin and jaw.
The material does not differ from that of the other vessels of the
same locality. Jt contains a large percentage of shell, some particles
of which are quite large. The paste is yellowish gray in color and
rather coarse in texture. The vase was modeled in the plain clay and
permitted to harden before the devices were engraved. Afterward a
thick film of fine yellowish-gray clay was applied to the face, partially
filling up the engraved lines. The remainder of the surface, includ
ing the lips, received a thick coat of dark red paint. The whole sur
face was then polished.
The illustrations will convey a more vivid conception of this strik
ing head than any description that can be given. The face can not be
said to have a single feature strongly characteristic of Indian physi
ognomy ; instead, we have the round forehead and the projecting chin of
the African. The nose, however, is small and the nostrils are narrow.
The face would seem to be intended for that of a young person,
perhaps a female. The features are well modeled, and the artist must
have had in his mind a pretty definite conception of the face to be
produced, as welf as of the expression appropriate to it, before begin
ning his work. It is possible even that the portrait of a particular
face was intended. The closed eyes, the rather sunken nose, and the
parted lips were certainly intended to give the effect of death. The
ears are large, correctly placed, and well modeled; they are perfo
rated all along the margins, thus revealing a practice of the people
whom they represented. The septum of the nose appears to have
been pierced, and the horizontal depression across the upper lip may
indicate the former presence of a nose ornament.
Perhaps the most unique and striking feature is the pattern of
incised lines that covers the greater part of the face. The lines are
deeply engraved and somewhat "scratchy," and were apparently exe
cuted in the hardened clay before the slip or wash of clay was applied.
The left side of the face is plain, excepting for a figure somewhat
resembling a grappling hook in outline, which partiallv surrounds the
eye. The right side is covered with a comb-like pattern, placed ver
tically with the teeth upward. The middle of the forehead has a
series of vertical lines and a few short horizontal ones just above, the
root of the nose (see plate xxx). In plate xxix < an outline of
the front face is given, and the engraved figure is projected at the
20 KTH 03
98 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH.Axx.20
side. The, .significance of these marmngs, which no doubt represent
tattooed or painted figures, can only be surmised in the most general
wav. It happens that some rather indistinct markings at the corner
of the month have been omitted in the engraving.
It is observed that on the forehead, at the top, there is a small loop
or perforated knob. Similar appendages may be seen on many of the
clay human heads from this valley. A Mexican terra-cotta head, now
in the Museo Naeional, Mexico, has a like feature, and. at the same
time, has closed eyes and an open mouth.
A head covering, possibly the hair conventionally treated, extends
over the forehead and falls in a double fold over the back of the head,
terminating in points behind, as is seen in plate xxixc.
Another vase of a very similar character, now in the Davenport, Iowa,
Museum, is about one-half the size of this. The face is much muti
lated. A third specimen, also in the Davenport collection, is somewhat
larger than the one illustrated in plates xxixe and xxx, but is nearly
the same in finish and color. The face has the same semblance of death,
but the features are different, possessing somewhat decided Indian
characteristics, and there is no tattooing.
The specimen shown in plate XLiiiff, and again in plate xxxi, was
exhumed at Pecan point by agents of the Bureau of Ethnology.
In size, form, color, finish, modeling of features, and expression,
this head closely resembles the one first described. The work is
not quite so carefully executed and the head probably has not such
pronounced individuality. The curious engraved device that, in the
other example, appeared near the left eye here occurs on both sides.
The lower part of the face is elaborately engraved. Three lines cross
the upper lip and cheeks, reaching to the ear; a band of fret-like
device s extends across the mouth to the base of the ears, and another
band, filled in with oblique, reticulated lines, passes around the chin
and along the jaws. The ears are perforated as in the other ease, and
the septum of the nose is partly broken away as if it had once held a
ring. A perforated knob has occupied the top of the forehead as in
the other examples. The face is coated with a light yellowish-gray
wa <h, and the remainder of the surface is red.
Four additional examples of the death s head vases are shown in
plate xxxn. They present varied characteristics in detail, but all cor
respond closely in the more important features of form and expression.
TOBACCO PIPES
In the East and Northeast the clay tobacco pipes of the aborigines
were often superior in execution, design, and decoration to the ordi
nary utensils of clay associated with them. In the central and south
western sections pipes were for the most part remarkably rude and
without grace of outline, and generally without embellishment, while
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXIX
a (ARKANSAS, HEIGHT 5 INCHES)
\Wtn\B ^WdPFW
- >,!- :\ - 1 s j t Ait viX V i >,
(ARKANSAS. HEIGHT 6i INCHES)
C (ARKANSAS. DAVENPORT ACADEMY COLLECTION, HEIGHT 6i INCHES
VESSELS IMITATING THE HUMAN HEAD
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
tjS
4*. $%
*f* i <> r *v ., >* ^T-
VESSEL IM.TATING THE HUMAN HEAD (ARKANSAS)
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
(Hnr;HT fi 1 / INTHFO
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXI
f
^
VESSEL IMITATING THE HUMAN HEAD, ARKANSAS
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 3RCUP
(HEIGHT 6J INCHES)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXI"
<1 (HEIGHT 6^.1 IriCHE -)
(HEIGHT 4*8 INCHES)
C (HEIGHT 4 INCHES)
(HEIGHT 5V INCHES)
VESSELS IMITATING THE HUMAN HEAD, ARKANSAS;
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXIII
a (ARKANSAS, MOOREHEAD COLLECTION,
LENGTH OF BASE 21 INCHES)
6 (ARKANSAS, LENGTH OF BASE 2i INCHES)
c ARKANSAS, LENGTH OF BASE 2i INCHES)
(I (ARKANSAS, LENGTH OF BASE 2i INCHES)
C ARKANSAS, LENGTH OF BASE 4 , INCHES)
f (ARKANSAS, LENGTH OF BASE 2S INCHES)
TOBACCO PIPES
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXIV
a (KENTUCKY, DIAMETER 41 INCHES)
b (TENNESSEE, DIAMETER 4i INCHES)
C TENNESSEE, LENGTH 6 INCHES)
TROWELS OR MODELING IMPLEMENTS
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXV
MODELING IMPLEMENTS
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
(ONE-HALF)
Q O
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HOI.MKS] PIPES AND MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES U9
tne earthenware of the same territory was well made and exhibits pro
nounced indications of esthetic appreciation on the part of the potters.
A number of the pipes of the middle Mississippi province are illus
trated in plate xxxm. Generally they are made of tho same admix
tures of clay and pulverized shell as are the associated vessels. The
colors are the ordinary dark and yellowish-gray shades of the baked
clay. Traces of blackening by use are observed, and the bowls in a
few instances are still partly rilled with the compacted black ash left
presumably by the native smoker. The shapes are simple, being as a
rule slight modifications of a heavy bent tube somewhat constricted at
the elbow and expanding toward the ends. Both openings are large and
conic and are often necrlv equal in capacity and closely alike in shape.
Without modification of the fundamental outlines, many varieties of
shape were produced, the most common being a flattening of the base
as though to permit the bowl to rest steadily on the ground while the
smoking wrs going on, probably through a long tube or stem. This
flattening is in many cases accompanied by an expansion at the mar
gins, as in plate xxxm a. l>, or by a flattish projection beyond the
elbow, as in e. Occasionally the shape is elaborated to suggest rudely
the form of some animal, the projection at the elbow being divided and
rounded oft as though to represent the knees of a kneeling figure, and
in rare cases various features of men or other creatures are more fully
brought out. In one instance the projection at the elbow becomes an
animal head, in another medallion-like heads are set on around the
upper part of the bowl. In <i and c incised figures have been executed
in a rather rude way, the motives corresponding with those found on
the earthen vessels of the same region. The specimen shown in it was
lent by Mr Warren K. Moorehead. Other variations of the type are
illustrated in McGuire s Pipes and Smoking Customs, pp. 530-535.
Typical as well as variously modified forms of this variety of pipe are
found in Tennessee. Alabama. Georgia. Florida, and, more rarely, in
other states."
MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES
The art of the modeler was directed in the main toward the making
and embellishing of vessels, yet solid figurines of men and animals and
heads of men. mostly small and rude as though merely toys or funeral
offerings, are now and then secured by collectors. Specimens are
illustrated in the introduction and in connection with various groups
of ware.
In plates xxxiv and xxxv several articles are brought together to
illustrate the use of clay in the manufacture of implements, personal
ornaments, and articles of unknown or problematic use or significance.
The specimens shown in plate xxxiv represent a rather rare variety of
i For southern pipes sec the various papers of Clarence B. Moore.
100 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.20
implement, already described in the introduction. They seem to be
adapted to use as trowels or finishing tools for plastered walls or
floors. They are found mainly in Tennessee. The discoidal smooth
ing" surface shows generally a decided polishing by use, and the looped
handle is manifestly intended for grasping, in the manner of a com
mon smoothing iron. These implements could have served, however,
in the modeling of large earthenware vessels, or as crushers or pul
verizers of foods or paints. Illustrations of a large class of stopper-
like or mushroom-shaped forms that may have been used as modeling
or smoothing tools in pottery making, as indicated in the introductory
.section, are included in plate xxxv. That the functions of these
objects and those given in the preceding plate are similar or identical
is indicated by the character of the convex polishing surface shown in
plate xxxvi. Illustrations of earthenware earrings, labrets, a small
rattle and the pellets derived from it are given in the introduction.
DECORATIVE DESIGNS
Plate xxxvn is introduced for the purpose of conveying an idea of
the character and range of the decorative designs most usual in this
region. Many of the more elementary forms are omitted. The more
elaborate meanders, twined designs, and scrolls are incised. Another
group of designs, embodying many symbolic devices, is given in plate
xxxvni. These are executed usually in red and white paint.
From the beginning of my rather disconnected studies of the orna
mental art of the native tribes, I have taken the view that, as a rule,
the delineative devices employed were symbolic; that they were not
primarilv esthetic in function, but had a more serious significance to
the people using them. When vases were to be devoted to certain
ceremonial ends, particular forms were made and designs were added
because they had some definite relation to the uses of the vessels and
were believed to add to their efficacy. The studies of Dr J. Owen
Dorsey, Mr Gushing, Mrs Stevenson, Miss Fletcher, Dr Fewkes, and
others have little by little lifted the veil of uncertainty from the whole
group of aboriginal delineative phenomena, and the literal significance
and function of a multitude of the designs are now known. We thus
learn that the devices and delineations on the Mississippi valley pottery
are symbols derived from mythology. Stellar and lobed figures and
circles probably represent the stars, the sun, or the horizon circle. The
cross, the various forms of volutes and scrolls, and the stepped figures
represent the four winds, the clouds, and rain; and the reptiles, quadru
peds, birds, men, and monsters are connected with the same group of phe
nomena. The vessels marked with these figures were no doubt devoted
to particular functions in the ceremonial activities of the peoples Plate
xxxvn presents a series of the purely formal designs. Speculation
as to the significance of particular forms of these figures is probably
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXVII
a
DECORATIVE DESIGNS
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXVIII
O0
E
DECORATIVE DESIGNS
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXIX
(HEIGHT 6 A INCHES)
ll (HEIGHT 1054 INCHES)
EARTHEN VESSELS FINISHED IN COLOR
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XLII
fl (ARKANSAS, HEIGHT 4 INCHES)
^ (> (ARKANSAS, HEIGHT 6 INCHES)
(ARKANSAS, HEIGHT 6 INCHES)
/ (MISSOURI, HEIGHT 8 A INCHES)
EARTHEN VESSELS FINISHED IN COLOR
MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
t
ft (HEIGHT 6 INCHES)
ll (HEIGHT 6?4 INCHES)
iARTHEN VESSELS FINISHED IN COLOR
MIQJLE Mississippi VALLEY
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HOLMES] PAINTED VASES, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 101
quite unnecessary, since the general nature of all is so well understood.
Definite explanations must come from a study of the present people
and usages, and among the Mississippi valley tribes there are no doubt
many direct survivals of the ancient forms. Mr C. C. Willoughby
has discussed this topic at length in a paper published in the Journal
of American Folk Lore. The same region furnishes many similar
symbols engraved on shell, bone, and stone.
PAINTED VASES
Several specimens, selected to illustrate the interesting color treat
ment so characteristic of this group of potteiy, are presented in plates
xxxix, XL, XLI, XLII, and XLIII. The llattish bottle, plate \\xix. <t. is
by no means as handsome or elaborate in its designs as are others in
our collections, but it serves quite well to illustrate the class. The
red color of the spaces and figures is applied over the light yellowish
ground of the paste and is carefully polished down. The specimens
reproduced in plates XL, XLI, and XLII have been referred to and suf
ficient!} described in preceding pages. An exceptionally fine example
of the colored human figure is given in plate xxxix/;. Parts of the
head and body are finished in red, other parts and the necklace are in
white, while certain spaces show the original yellowish grav color of
the paste.
POTTERY OF TENNESSEE
I am so fortunate as to be able to add a number of plates (XLIV,
XLV, XLVI, XLVII, XLVIII, XLIX, and L) illustrating the wares of the
Cumberland valley, Tennessee, and especially of the Nashville district.
These plates appeared first in Thruston s Antiquities of Tennessee,
and I am greatly indebted to this author for the privilege cf :.:^io-
ducing them here.
POTTERY OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
Archeologic investigation has not extended into the central south
ern states save in a few widely separated localities, and enough
material has not been collected to permit a full and connected study
of the primitive art of the province. It would seem from present
information that the region of the lower Mississippi is not so rich in
fictile products as are many other sections; at any rate our museums
and collections are not well supplied with material from this part of
the South, and literature furnishes but brief references to the practice
of the ceramic art (see Introduction). Some fugitive relics have come
into the possession of museums, and on these we must mainly rely
for our present knowledge of the subject. Much of the earthenware
appears to be nearly identical with, or closely allied to, that of the
middle Mississippi region, as well as with that of the Gulf coast far
ther east.
102 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTii.ANx.20
A large series of the vases from Louisiana and Texas would, if they
were brought together, undoubtedly yield many points of interest
with respect to the influence of Mexican and Pueblo art on that of this
province. Such a series would also be of much value in connection
with the history of the various tribes occupying the valley when it
was first visited by the French. Du Prut/ and Butel-Dumont have
left us brief but valuable records of the practice of the art in this
section, but we are not definitely informed which of the various peoples
were referred to in their accounts. In those days no distinction was
made between the linguistic families, although Natchesan, Tonikan,
Caddoan, Muskhogean, and Siouan peoples were encountered. So far
as the evidence furnished bv the collections goes, there is but one
variety of the higher grade of products. Citations regarding the
practice of the art in this province have been made under the head
Manufacture, and need not be repeated here.
FIG. 52 Bowl made by Choetaw Indians about 18tiO (diameter y{ inches).
The only specimen of recent work from this province which is pre
served in the national collections is a blackish bowl, well polished
and ornamented with a zone of incised lines encircling the body. It
is illustrated in figure 52. The record shows that it was made by the
Choctaw Indians at Covington, St Tammany parish, Louisiana, about
the year 1800. It is said that the art is still practiced to a limited
extent by these people.
The highest t\ T pes of vases from Louisiana and Mississippi haye
but slight advantage over the best wares of the St Francis and Cumber
land valleys. The simpler culinary wares are much the same from St
Louis to New Orleans. Some localities near the Gulf furnish sherds
of pottery as primitive as anything in the country, and this is consistent
with the early observations of the condition of the natives. The
Natchez and other tribes were well advanced in many of the arts,
while numerous tribes appear to have been, at times at least, poverty-
stricken wanderers without art or industry worthy of mention. It is
possible that the primitive forms of ware found on some of these
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LI
e (MISSISSIPPI, DAVENPORT ACADEMY
COLLECTION, ONE-THIRD)
c (LOUISIANA, DIAMETER 5 INCHES)
d (LOUISIANA, HEIGHT 6i INCHES)
VASES WITH INCISED DESIGNS
LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. Lll
(LOUISIANA, HEIGHT 4J4 INCHES)
(MISSISSIPPI, HEIGHT 4 INCHES)
C (MISSISSIPPI, DIAMETER 6 INCHES)
(MISSISSIPPI, HEIGHT 6 INCHES)
(MISSISSIPPI, HEIGHT 4 i INCHES)
VASES WITH INCISED DESIGNS
LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. Llll
INCISED DESIGNS FROM VASES SHOWN IN PLATES LI AND Lll
LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY GROUP
HOLMES] LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY POTTERY 103
southern site* may represent the art of the archaic ancestors of the
more advanced peoples of the valley, hut at present we seem to have
no means of settling such :i point. It is well known, however, that
single communities produced at the same time a wide range of ware,
the style, material, shape, and finish depending on the uses of the
vessels or on the haste with which they were prepared. At Troy-
ville, Catahoula county, Louisiana, for example, a mound examined
by agents of the Bureau of Ethnology yielded almost every variety
and grade of ware known in the South and Southwest, including
coarse shell-tempered ware, silicious ware, tine argillaceous ware,
stamped ware, red ware, fabric-marked ware, and incised ware.
Of great interest, on account of the perfection of its finish, is a
variety of pottery found in graves and mounds on the lower Missis
sippi and on Red river. Daniel Wilson published a cut representing
some typical specimens of this ware from Lake Washington. Washing
ton county, Mississippi." Several years ago a number of fine examples
of the same ware, labeled "(ialtneys." were lent to the National
Museum by the Louisiana State Seminary at Baton Rouge. Photo
graphs of some of these vessels were kept, but the Curator made no
definite record of their origin or ownership. A small number of
pieces of the same ware are to be found in the various collections of
the country, notably in the Free Museum of Science and Art, Phila
delphia.
The most striking characteristic s of the better examples of this
ware are the black color and the mechanical perfection of construc
tion, surface finish, and decoration. The forms are varied and sym
metric. The black surface is highly polished and is usually decorated
with incised patterns. The scroll was the favorite decorative design,
and it will be difficult to find in any part of the world a more chaste
and elalwrate treatment of this motive. In plate LI a photograph of
a small globular vase or bottle marked "Galtneys" is reproduced.
The design is engraved with great precision in deep, even lines, and
covers nearby the entire surface of the vase; it consists of a double
row of volutes (plate urn/) linked together in an intricate and
charming arrangement, corresponding closely to fine examples from
Mycene and Egypt. A skilled draftsman would find the task of exe
cuting this design with equal precision on a plane surface extreme!}
trying, and we can but marvel at the skill of the potter who could
produce it, properly spaced and connected in every particular, on
the surface of the globular vase. Farther up the Mississippi there
are examples embodying the same conception of compound volutes,
but the combinations are much less complex and masterly.
In plate LI four other vases, all presumably of this group, have been
brought together. They do not differ widely from the pottery of the
"Wilson, Daniel, Prehistoric man, London, 1862, vol. II, pp. 21-22.
104 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.SO
St Francis river region, and may bo regarded, it seems to me, as excep
tional examples of the, same general group of ware. The little bottle e
contains a rather rudely engraved ligure of an eagle, the head appear
ing on one side, and the tail, pointed upward, on the other. The par
ticular locality from which the bottle came is not known. Ware closely
related to the Middle and Lower Mississippi pottery is found in Texas,
but its limitations on the west are not yet defined. Examples of the
more elaborate incised designs belonging to this group of ware are
brought together in plate un.
The vessels illustrated in plate 1,11 are now preserved in the Museum
of Science and Art in Philadelphia, and were kindly placed at my dis
posal by Dr Stewart Culin, of that museum. They form part of the
Dickerson collection recently acquired and reported on by Dr Culin."
It is noteworthy that the designs engraved on these vases bear a
striking resemblance to the scroll work of the middle Mississippi
vallev on the north and of the Gulf coast farther cast, and it is to
be expected that these designs will bo found to affiliate closely with
Mexican work, as do the forms of many of the vessels.
POTTERY OF THE GULF COAST
OCCURRENCE
Along the Gulf coast east of the delta of the Mississippi pottery is
found in many localities and under varying conditions. The features
most characteristic of the wares of the West recur with decreasing
frequency and under less typical forms until Florida is reached.
Features typical of Appalachian and Floridian wares make their
appearance east of Pensacola bay.
The manner of occurrence of the ceramic remains of the Gulf region
is interesting. In many cases several varieties of ware are inter
mingled on a single site. This is especially true of some of the kitchen-
midden and shell-mound sites, which, it would seem, must have been
the resort of different tribes, and even of distinct linguistic families,
who visited the tide-water shores from time to time in search of
shellfish. In the mounds, however, the conditions are simpler, and
in cases we seem to have the exclusive product of a single people.
This simplicity in the burial pottery may be due to the fact that only
particular forms of ware were used for mortuary purposes. With
some peoples, as has boon already noted, certain kinds of vessels were
devoted exclusively to culinary uses. Remains of the latter utensils
will be found very generally in shell deposits, and it is in these deposits
and not in the mounds that we would expect to find the wares of non
resident communities.
<i Culin, Stewart, Bulletin of the Department of Archeology and Paleontology, University of Penn
sylvania, vol. ii, number:!.
"i.s"*] POTTKKY OK THK GULF COAST 105
Speculation as to the peoples to whom thoso wares should bo attrib
uted will for the present be practically unavailing. It is probable that
the Muskhogean tribes occupied the coast rather fully between the
delta of the Mississippi and Tampa bay, but several linguistic stocks
must have had access to this important source of food supply. Kven
the Siouan family was represented (by the ancestors of the liiloxi of
to-day), and it is not impossible that some of the ware, especially that
embodying animal figures, may be due to the presence or influence of
this people. Strangely enough, in the national collections from south
western Alabama there is a lot of sherds exhibiting typical features of
the peculiar pottery of New York state, which seems to belong to the
Iroquoian tribes. It is possible,, however, that the Museum record
may be defective and that the association is accidental.
MOBILE-PENSACOLA WAKE
The leading group of ware found along the great northern curve of
the Gulf coast is well represented by the contents of mounds situated
on Mobile, Perdido, Pensacola, and Choctawhatchee bays. The
National Museum has a large series of vessels from a mound on Perdido
bay, obtained by Francis H. Parsons and other members of the United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey about the year 188!.). Recent
explorations conducted by Clarence B. Moore at several points along
the tidewater shores of the Gulf have supplied a wonderful series of
vases now preserved in the Museum of the Academy of Natural Sci
ences, Philadelphia. These collections have been very generously
placed at my disposal by Mr Moore, and as they belong in the main to
the same ceramic group with the Parsons finds, all will bo presented
together. The range of form in this group is quite wide, but not
equal to that in the pottery of the Arkansas region. If the collec
tions were equally complete from the two regions, this relation might
be changed, yet it is still apparent that the western ware has the
advantage in a number of essentials. In the Mobile-Ponsacola district
few traces of painted vessels have been found, and there is apparently
less symmetry of outline and less refinement of finish than in the best
products of the West. There are cups, bowls, shallow and deep pots,
and a few bottles, besides a number of compound and eccentric forms,
but the deep pot, the tripod vase, and the slender-nocked bottles are
practically absent. Such pots as occur show, as they do in the West,
indications of use over tire, and it is worthy of remark that some of
them correspond to western cooking vessels in being provided with
handles and in having bands of crude ornamentation incised or
relieved about the rim and neck, while others, occurring always in
fragments, approach the eastern type, which is without handles and
is characterized by an oblong body, somewhat conic below, and by
stamp-finished surfaces.
106 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTii.AXN.20
The paste i.s line and siliciou.s. with hut little distinguishable temper
ing: its colors are yellowish or brownish grays, rarely approaching
black, and the surface is even, though seldom very highly polished.
The walls are thin and of uniform thickness. Animals and animal
features modeled in relief and in the round are attached to the vases
or enter into their form in much the same manner as in the West, but
with less frequency and freedom. They have, however, perhaps a
greater interest on account of the peculiar and very definite correla
tion of the incised designs on the vases with the modeled life forms.
This subject will receive attention separately farther on. The pottery
is nearly all obtained from burial mounds, and it is observed that the
vases in most, if not all, cases have been perforated or broken before
consignment to the graves. This custom extended eastward through
Georgia and Florida to the Atlantic coast, but it was practically
unknown in the North and West.
The Parsons collection of pottery was obtained from a sand mound
on Bear point, Alabama. Nearly all the pieces were broken, but
otherwise they were so well preserved that many have been restored
to much their original appearance under my supervision. Illustrations
of a large number of the simpler forms are given in plate i,iv.
From shallow bowls we pass to deeper forms and to globular vessels.
A few specimens are cylindric, and occasionally a wide-mouthed bottle
is encountered. One specimen has a handle and resembles a ladle in
form. The outlines are generally graceful, the walls thin, and the
rims inconspicuous and neat. The incised designs are lightly and
freely drawn, and include a wide range of formal figures, from simple
groups of straight lines to widely diversified forms of meanders and
scrolls. Life-form elements, often obscure, appear in numerous
cases.
In plate LV three of the large bowls are presented. These exhibit
characteristic varieties of form, and all are embellished with incised
designs embodying life elements which are referred to later on in this
section. Plate Lvia is a neat little jar with incised meander and
step design from the Bear Point mound. It is also shown in outline
in plate LIV. In I is introduced a bottle of northern type from Frank
lin county, Mississippi. It is of special interest, since it contains a
painted design, c, embodying the most prevalent Gulf Coast life-form
device, and is, at the same time, nearly duplicated by a similar bottle
from near Nashville, Tennessee, illustrated by Thruston in his work,
figure 40. Part of plate LVI and plates I.VH, LVIIT, and LIX are
devoted to the presentation of life forms.
A rather remarkable piece, resembling middle Mississippi forms, is
illustrated in plate i.vi <7. The head of a bird, probably intended for
an owl, forms the apex of a full-bodied bottle, the funnel-shaped open-
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LIV
VASES FROM A MOUND ON PERDIDO BAY
GULF COAST GROUP
<;-;
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LV
a GEORGIA, DIAMETER 131 INCHES!
b (ALABAMA, DIAMETER 8 INCHES)
ALABAMA. DIAMETER 19 INCHES
LARGE BOWLS WITH INCISED DESIGNS
GULF COAST GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LVI
a IALABAMA. HEIGHT 4<
INCHES)
b (MISSISSIPPI, HEIGHT 8 INCHES)
V.
\
it ALABAMA, DIAMETER 6 INCHES
IALABAMA, DIAMETER 3 INCHES
VASES VARIOUSLY DECORATED
GULF COAST GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LVII
v
VISES WITH ENGRAVED FIGURES OF BIRDS AND SERPENTS. ALABAMA
GULF COAST GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT I L. LVIII
HEADS OF BIRDS AND ANIMALS USED AS VASE ORNAMENTS, ALABAMA
GULF COAST GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LIX
b HEIGHT 4; INCHES*
a (HEIGHT 31 INCHES!
C (HEIGHT 3 INCHES)
d (HEIGHT 4i INCHES)
HEADS OF MEN AND BIRD USED AS VASE ORNAMENTS, ALABAMA
GULF COAST GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LX
/ DIAMETER 11! INCHES 1
li DIAMETER 5; INCHES
c DIAMETER 11J INCHES)
VASES WITH INCISED DESIGNS. ALABAMA
GULF COAST GROUP
i MOORE COLLECTION i
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXI
tl (ALABAMA, MOORE COLLECTION. DIAMETER 13 INCHES)
m
/> FLORIDA. MOORE COLLECTION. HEIGHT 6 INCHES!
"FLORIDA, MOORE COLLECTION, DIAMETER 14 INCHES).
VASES WITH INCISED DESIGNS
GULF COAST GROUP
HOLMES] LIFE FORMS IN DECORATION 107
ing being placed at the back of the nock. The wings and other features
of the body appear to have been depicted in incised lines. The little
vase .shown in plate LVI, from the Bear Point mound, is cleverly
modeled to represent a frog, and shows close analogies with the Missis
sippi valley work.
The builders of the sand mounds on Perdido bay seem occasionally
to have executed very elaborate engravings of eagles and serpents on
cylindrie cups, which probably served as ceremonial drinking vessels;
illustrations are given in plate i.vn. The first figure, <t, represents
the base of a cup which is encircled by the engraving of an eagle; the
second figure. 1>. represents a fragment of a handsome cup of similar
shape, and serves to indicate the relation of the figure of the bird to
the rim of the cup. Part of the tail, talons, and wing are shown.
In c we have all that remains of the design on the cup a projected at
full length. The strange figure illustrated in <7 was obtained from
much shattered fragments of a well-made and neatly finished cup of
cylindric shape. It seems to represent the tails of three rattlesnakes,
the lines joined at the right as if to represent a single body.
In plate LVIII </< f>, c, d, and e. we have examples of the modeling of
heads of birds and other creatures for bowl embellishments. The
treatment closely resembles that seen in more western work. Here,
as in the Mississippi country, the duck is a favorite subject. In /we
have a grotesque creature common in the art of the West. An eagle
is well shown in e, and what appears to be the head of a serpent or
turtle with a stick in its mouth is given in 1>. This feature appeal s in
the wares of Tennessee and Arkansas, the animal imitated being a
beaver. Additional specimens appear in plate LIX. three representing
the human head and one the head of a bird. These; are not figurines
in the true sense, but are merely heads broken from the rims of bowls.
Mr Moore s collections from the Bear Point mounds furnish several
very well -preserved specimens of bowls and vases with wide mouths
and narrow collars, besides a number of heads of birds and mammals of
usual types, derived, no doubt, from the rims of bowls. All repeat
rather closely the finds of Mr Parsons, shown in plates i,iv to LIX.
Specimens from Mr Moore s collections are presented in plates LX
and i.xi.
POTTKKY OF THK Al.AHAMA RlVKK
Before passing eastward it will be well to notice the collections made
by Mr Clarence B. Moore in the valleys of the Alabama and Tombig-
bee. An examination of the superb series of vases obtained from
mounds at several points between Mobile and Montgomery makes it
clear that the Gulf Coast tribes extended inland well up toward the
middle of the state. Below Montgomery there is hardly a trace of
108 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [F.TH.AXN.SO
the South Appalachian wares and only a trace of the Tennessee influ
ence. The. differences noted in passing northward from the coast are
the larger size of the vessels, the more frequent occurrence of pot
forms and bottle shapes, and the coarser and more silicious character
of the paste. The decorations are almost wholly of Gulf Coast types.
The use of some of the larger vessels in burial is well illustrated in
plate, LXII. Plate LXIII contains a large bowl with animal-derived
incised designs, and below is a splendid specimen of pot or caldron, 18
inches in diameter. It is characterized, as are others of the same
group, by a line of vertical ridges encircling the upright neck. In
plate i.xiv have been brought together a well-shaped bottle, of north
ern or western tvpe, embellished with simple incised scroll work, and
two tobacco pipes. One of the latter, J, is somewhat suggestive of
Appalachian forms, and the other, c, is of the heavy southern type.
POTTERY or CHOCTAWHATCIIKI; BAY
The. next point east of Pensticola bay at which Mr Moore obtained
collections is Waltons Camp, situated at the western limit of Choctaw-
hatchee buy, Florida. In the main the ware repeats Perdido bay
forms, as will be seen by reference to plates LXV, LXVI, LXVII. Three
typical howls are given in plate LXV. and two platters, one with plain
circular margin and the other with six scallops, are shown in plate
LXVI. The form is exceptional, and all the pieces have been perfor
ated on burial. The incised designs of the scalloped specimen prob
ably represent the fish. In plate LXVII have been assembled outlines
of a large number of the Waltons Camp specimens. The} 7 serve for
comparison with collections from points east and west. We are here
within the range of the, stamped ware, typical of the Appalachian
province, anil a fragment with a simple angular type, of filfot figure is
shown in figure 53.
Among the animal forms obtained at this point are two strongly
modeled heads of large size, apparently representing geese. Shell
forms are common (see plate LXVII), and the engraved designs, treated
farther on, arc striking and instructive. From four sites along the
northern and eastern shores of Choetawhatchee bay Mr Moore obtained
large and very interesting collections. Perdido bay and western
forms prevail, but there is a strong infusion of elements of Appa
lachian and Floridian art. A fragment of a cylindric bowl with the
head of a duck modeled in relief at the top and conventional incised
figures representing the body below appears in plate LXVIII ft; and two
views of a hunchback-figure vase are given in 1> and <.
Of special interest is a small jar or bottle from a mound on Jolly
a Moore, Clarence B., Certain aboriginal remains of the Alabama river, in Journal of the Academy
of Sciences, vol. -\i, Philadelphia, 1899.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXII
a (DIAMETER BB 17l INCHES)
(DIAMETER 17} INCHES)
BURIAL VASES WITH COVERS, ALABAMA
GULF COAST GROUP
(MOORE COLLECTION)
J/T
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXIII
rt (DIAMETER 14j INCHES
/) (DIAMETER 17l INCHES)
VESSELS OF LARGE SIZE WITH INCISED AND RELIEVED ORNAMENTS, ALABAMA
GULF COAST GROUP
MOORE COLLECTION)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXIV
a (DIAMETER 4l INCHES)
ft (ACTUAL SIZE)
r (ACTUAL SIZE)
BOTTLE WITH SCROLL DESIGN AND TOBACCO PIPES, ALABAMA
QULF COAST GROUP
(MOORE COLLECTION*
"?>
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXV
a .DIAMETER 15i INCHES)
l> ^DIAMETER 12i INCHES)
r DIAMETER 15i INCHES)
BOWLS WITH INCISED DESIGNS, FLORIDA
GULF COAST GROUP
IMOORE COLLECTION)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGV
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXVI
a (DIAMETER 14. INCHES)
>> (DIAMETER 13 INCHES)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXVII
VESSELS WITH INCISED DESIGNS, FLORIDA
GULF COAST GROUP
(MOORE COLLECTION!
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXVIII
S * TV*>
*
\
,
a (HEIGHT 7; INCHES)
IHEIGHT 9 INCHES)
FRAGMENT OF VASE WITH A DUCK S HEAD IN RELIEF AND VASE REPRESENTING A
HUNCHBACK HUMAN FIGURE, FLORIDA
GULF COAST GROUP
MOORE COLLECTION)
HOLMES]
POTTERY OF OHOOTAVv HATOHKE BAY
109
hay. on which an eagle and an eagle-man mask are inscribed. Those
figures arc shown in plate LXIX. Plate LXX^/ illustrates a curious
dish with elaborate incised and indented designs representing conven
tionalized life forms. A rude bowl with highly conventional bird
symbols appears in k. Both specimens were perforated before burial.
In c we have the top view of a bowl with incurved rim. about the lip
of which are engraved devices probably intended to represent the
frog.
The most striking and instructive ware yet brought from the Gulf
coast was obtained by Mr Moore from Point Washington, on the
eastern margin of Choctawbatcbee bay, just south of Jolly bay. Hero
the local group of ware prevails to a large extent, but two or three other
varieties take a prominent
place, not, apparently, as
a result of the intrusion
of outside peoples or of
their ware, but through
the adoption by local pot
ters of the forms and
symbols of neighboring
districts. The exotics are
the stamped ware of the
Appalachian district to
the north, and two or
more varieties of some
what well differentiated
Florida pottery. Plate
LXXI includes a large
number of the bowls,
ladles, etc., in outline,
and specimens of excep
tional interest appear
in plates LXXII-LXXI\ .
Plate LXXII illustrates three pieces which resemble the Mobile-
Pensacola ware, but show rather exceptional forms and decorations.
The deeply incised lines of the elaborate patterns have, in two of
the specimens, been rilled in with some white substance, giving a
striking effect and reminding one of Central American methods of
treatment.
These people had a marked fancy for embellishing their vases with
animal forms, and birds and beasts have been much utilized. In plate
LXXIII we have three fine bowls embodying the frog concept, partly in
low relief and partly in very conventional incised lines. Plate T,XXIV
contains two delineations, probably of the owl. The interesting point
FIG. 53 Fragment of vessel with stamped design, from . Wai-
tons Camp, Choctawhatchec bay, Florida.
110 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH.AXX.UO
is that the conventional incised features representing the body and
wings grade into the generalized ornament.
Plate i,xxv represents a handsome howl with engraved design,
meant apparently for the frog, which was found by Mr Moore inverted
over a skull in a grave at Point Washington, Florida.
APALACHICOLA WARE
It is interesting to note that here and there along the Gulf coast
there are certain pieces of pottery that do not affiliate fully with the
ordinary ware and that at the same time appear to present closer
analogies with the wares of Yucatan and the Caribbean islands than do
any of the other varieties; such peculiarities are more marked in the
Choctawhatchee-Apalachicola section than elsewhere. The specimens
brought together in plates LXXVI and LXXVII, belonging to Mr
Moore s Point Washington tinds, offer, to my mind, these hints of
exotic influence. At the same time, they can not be divorced from
their close affiliations with the ware of the Gulf coast to the west and
with that of the Florida peninsula to the east.
Two vessels of rather rude shape are shown in plate LXXVI a and 5.
The upper part of the body is embellished with a wide zone of stamped
figures, such as are common over a vast area to the north and east of
Choctawhatchee bay. The most interesting feature of these designs
is that, though typical of the South Appalachian stamped ware, they
are seen at a glance to embody the commonest concepts of the Gulf
Coast group the conventional life elements, in which the eye, the
teeth, and the body features of the creature are still traceable. Similar
vessels are found toward the east, along the Florida coast, and appear
in connection with a group of vases -typically developed on Apalachi-
cola drainage in Franklin county. The peculiar little vessel shown in
c has an oblong, flattened body, rudely suggesting an alligator s head.
The incised markings affiliate with the Mobile-Pensacola decoration.
Vase d departs from western models, and approaches closely forms
of ware typically developed on the peninsula of Florida. The remain
ing figure, <, is the top view of a small jar with a remarkable rounded
lip. Although the engraved designs embody the Gulf Coast life
elements, the method of execution departs radically from the normal
treatment. The elaborate figures are traced over nearly the entire
vessel, and are deeply incised, the channels being carefully carved out,
leaving rounded ridges between them. The form and the material
unite with the decoration in indicating a type of ware radically
different from that of the Mobile-Pensacola district, yet represented
by few other pieces in our collections. It affiliates most closely with
the Apalachicola forms.
Equally distinct from the Mobile-Pensacola ware are the five pieces
shown in plate LXXVII^, 5, t , </, and e. In ornamentation their asso-
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXIX
(HEIGHT 4; INCHES)
VASE WITH ENGRAVINGS OF AN EAGLE AND AN EAGLE-MAN MASK, FLORIDA
QULF COAST GROUP
(MOORE COLLECTION)
f I/A ^S
ry
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXX
\ . :
:::" .
a (DIAMETER 7i INCHES)
6 (DIAMETER 4i INCHES)
e (DIAMETER 9 INCHES)
PLATTER AND BOWLS WITH ENGRAVED DESIGNS, FLORIDA
GULF COAST GROUP
V-W
/TV
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXX|
OUTLINES OF VASES WITH ENGRAVED DESIGNS, FLORIDA
GULF COAST GROUP
MOORE COLLECTION
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL KEPORT PL. LXXII
a (HEIGHT 4 INCHES)
6 (DIAMETER 4! INCHES)
e (HEIGHT 4? INCHES)
fi (HEIGHT 7! INCHES)
e (DIAMETER 55 INCHES)
/
/ (DIAMETER 5i INCHES)
BOWLS AND BOTTLES WITH ENGRAVED DESIGNS, FLORIDA
GULF COAST GROUP
(MOORE COLLECTION)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXHl
IDIAMETER 15i INCHES)
w.
Ill
l> (DIAMETER 10 INCHES)
( (DIAMETER 14i INCHES)
BOWLS WITH RELIEVED AND INCISED DECORATIONS REPRESENTING
THE FROG CONCEPT, FLORIDA
GULF COAST GROUP
(MOORE COLLECTION i
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXIV
if I
a. (DIAMETER 11l INCHES
b HEIGHT 5i INCHES)
f DIAMETER 73 INCHES
BOWL WITH RELIEVED AND INCISED DECORATIONS REPRESENTING THE BIRD CONCEPT.
FLORIDA
GULF COAST GROUP
(MOORE COLLECTION)
CC
o
CC
D
CD
CC
LU
Q
LI
I-
cc
Ld
o
CO
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXVI
a \HEICHT 6 INCHES)
d (HEIGHT 3, INCHES)
C LENGTH 6 INCHES)
6 (HEIGHT 6i INCHES)
e (DIAMETER 6 INCHES)
VASES WITH ENGRAVED AND STAMPED DESIGNS. FLORIDA
GULF COAST GROUP
(MOORE COLLECTION i
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXVII
a (HEIGHT 41 INCHES)
b (HEIGHT 3; INCHES)
C IHEIQHT 4 INCHES)
(I HEIGHT 6 INCHES 1
e, (HEIGHT 3! INCHES)
VASES WITH ENGRAVED DESIGNS, FLORIDA
GULF COAST GROUP
I MOORE COLLECTION
O- THE
UNIVERSITY }
HOI.MKS] POTTERY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY. FLORIDA 111
elation is close with the pottery found :it Tarpon Springs and other
central and western peninsular sites. Their paste, color, and some,
details of form connect them with the Apalachicola ware. The frag,
inont shown in < appears to represent, a well-executed vessel corro
sponding in shape to < of the preceding plate.
A characteristic and verv interesting series of vessels was acquired
recently by the National Museum from Mr ( . II. B. Lloyd, who exhumed
them from a mound in Franklin countv. Ten of these are shown in
plate LXXVIII. They represent a wide range of form and finish. The
paste is silicious but generally tine-grained, and in some pieces Hecks
of mica are plentiful. The color is a warm gray, save in one case, where
the firing has given a mottled terra-cotta red. In general they are
South Appalachian rather than Floridian, as is indicated by their
material, form, and decoration. Two pieces resemble, the porous ware
of Florida in appearance and finish. Three are decorated with elabo
rately figured stamps, and one is painted red. Incised lines appear in
a few cases. Unstamped surfaces are finished with a polishing stone.
All are perforated, a hole having been knocked in the bottom of each,
save in one case, in which a circular opening about an inch in diameter
was made while, the, clay was still soft. This vessel has a thickened
rim. flat on the upper surface and nearly an inch wide. A rudely
modeled bird s head is affixed to the upper surface of the rim. The
surface is rather roughly finished and has received a wash of red
ocher. A small fragment of another similar vase, supplied with an
animal head, belongs to the collection, and a closely analogous speci
men, now T in the National Museum, came from a mound near Gaines
ville.
A remarkable vessel a bottle with reddish paste, squarish cruci
form body, as viewed from above, and a high, wide foot- is shown in
plate LXXVIII. and on a larger scale in plate LXXVIII Al. A vertical
view in outline is given in ~1, and the engraved design encircling the
base partly broken away appears in . ,. The four flatfish horn-
shaped wings that extend from the collar out over the body, ending in
rounded projecting points, constitute a wholly unique plastic feature,
although the engraved figures are repeated in sherds from northern
and western Florida. The lines and figures are deeply engraved and
almost certainly represent some graphic original, traces of the life
features appearing through the mask of convention. Something in
the general appearance and decorative treatment suggests Caribbean
work, and in the shape of the base and the band of encircling deco
ration there is a hint of Yucatec treatment: still the piece is. as a
whole, essentially Floridian.
Three vessels shown in plate LXXVIII, the largest pot and two
smaller pieces, have collars of stamped figures, the remainder of the
surface being somewhat rudely polished. In two cases the stamped
112 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.M
figures are sufficiently complete ix> permit :i practical restoration of
the full design. While I was observing the unique and remarkable
nature of these designs and their dissimilarity to the ornamental
designs of the surrounding areas in the United States, the idea of
comparing them with the decorative conceptions of the West Indies
occurred to me. The result of this study has been presented in a
separate paper."
Researches made by Mr Clarence B. Moore in 190-i among the
mounds of the west coast of Florida, between St Andrews bay on the
west and Cedar keys on the east, have brought to light a remarkable
series of vases, a few specimens of which I am
able to add at the last moment in plates LXXIX,
i.xxiXA, and i-xxix H. Several exceptional
features appear, among which are certain com
pound and eccentric forms, bird shapes display
ing most interesting treatment of wings and
Fig. si. BC.WI with thick coi- other features; and pierced walls, the openings
iar, Tampa bay. Diameter representing the interspaces of the designs.
The well-marked local characters grade off into
western, northern, and eastern forms, so that no decided break occurs
at any point. Stamp-decorated ware displaying a great variety of the
highly elaborate, figures occurs everywhere in association with the
prevailing variety."
MISCELLANEOUS SPECIMENS
Associated with the above-described ware along the Gulf shore are
bowl-shaped vessels characterized by a peculiar thickening of the lip
Fig. fvj Sections of thick-rimmed bowls, Early county, Georgia.
or rim, and by the presence, in many cases, of red coloration. The
largest collection of these vessels in our possession comes from a vil
lage site in Early county. Georgia, although specimens are found
about Mobile bay and all along the west coast of Florida to Tampa and
even father south. They are best illustrated by the collections of Mr
A. S. Gainesand Mr K. M. Cunningham, now in the National Museum.
These vessels, mainly in fragments, are not separable from the other
"Holmes, W. H., Caribbean influence on the prehistoric ceramic art of the southern states, in the
American Anthropologist, vol. vn, number ], January, 1894.
Moore. Clarence B., Certain aboriginal remains of the northwest Florida coast, part II, Philadel
phia, 1902.
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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXVIII A
\
I
I
1 HEIGHT Si INCHES!
UNIQUE BOTTLE WITH ENGRAVED DESIGNS
GULF COAST GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXIX
(I (ONE-FIFTH)
7) (ONE-FOURTH)
C (ONE-FIFTH)
e ONE-FOURTH)
f (ONE-FOURTH)
BIRD-FORM VASES WITH INCISED DECORATIONS SUGGESTING THE ORIGIN OF
MANY CONVENTIONAL ORNAMENTS
NORTHWEST FLORIDA COAST
(MOORE COLLECTION)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXIX A
1 IDIAMETER 8 INCHES!
2 IONE-THIRD)
|*-f *- /,""
:-. - rf.V
4 IONE-THIRDI
3 (ONE-FOURTH)
5 (ONE-THIRD)
VASES WITH INCISED AND RELIEVED DECORATION
NORTHWEST FLORIDA COAST
(MOORE COLLECTION)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWEN1IF.1H ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXIXB
1 (ONE-THIRD)
3 iONE-FIFTHJ
I
5 (ONE-FOURTH)
6 (ONE-THIRD)
2 (ONE-FOURTH)
4 (ONE-THIRD)
VASES OF EXCEPTIONAL FORMS
NORTHWEST FLORIDA COAST
(MOORE COLLECTION
HOLMES] LIFE ELEMENTS IX DECORATION 113
forms of pottery associated with them, although they exhibit features
so peculiar as to suggest that the type may have had a .separate origin.
They are associated, at different points, with the remains of nearly
every variety of southern pottery. Although from the richest of shell-
bearing districts, this ware, in common with the Appalachian pottery,
is usually tempered with silicious matter.
The thickening of the margins of vessels in this group is a notable
and peculiar feature belonging to the ware from no other region. A
specimen from Tampa
bay, Florida, is pre
sented in figure 54, and
a series of sections is
given in figure 55. The
surface retains but little
of the red color. These
bowls are symmetric in
shape and were neatly
finished with the polish
ing tool. Usually a thin K g 56 ~ Bowl from Mobile district, with patterns in color.
coat of red ocher has been applied. In a few cases the color forms
simple patterns, a.s is shown in figure 5(1. The pattern in this exam
ple is executed in white paint on :i red ground. This vessel has a
flaring rim, only slightly thickened.
In specimens from Mobile shell heaps there is, as has been already
mentioned, a certain suggestion of Mexican or Central American art,
and it is not impossible that definite correlations with the ware of the
South may in time be made.
LIFE ELEMENTS IN DECORATION
Before more eastern groups are treated, attention may be given to
the interesting decorations of the Central Gulf Coast ware. The for
mal designs the groupings of straight and curved lines, the meanders,
the guilloches. and the scrolls were at first treated independently of
the life forms so variously embodied in the vessels: but as these studies
advanced it came to be realized that the life idea runs through all the
designs, and that the formal figures are connected by an unbroken
series of less and less conventional forms with the semirealistic incised
designs and with the. realistic plastic representations as well. This
is a very important matter to the student of the embellishing arts.
The investigation was begun by assembling each variety of crea
ture embodied in the ware man, quadrupeds, birds, reptiles.bat-
rachians, and fishes placing the most realistic representations in
both relieved and incised forms first, the others following in the
series according to progress in conventional modification. The pur
pose was to ascertain whether there was general consistency, whether
20 ETH 03 8
114 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTii.AXN.20
each variety of creature passed down to the purely conventional
forms through its own peculiar and distinctive series of variants.
The conclusion reached is that there is at least a large degree of con
sistency, and that particular forms of creatures may be recognized
far down the scale toward the geometric. Exceptions were noted,
however. The symbols are occasionally intermingled, as if the sig
nificance of the particular forms had been lost sight of, the potter
using them as symbols of the life idea in general, or as mere decorations.
As a rule, the incised designs are more highly conventional than the
plastic, the eagle and the serpent being the only incised forms, so far as
has been observed, realistically treated; but it was possible to recognize
others through their association with the modeled forms. In vessels
furnished with the head of a bird in relief, for example, the same kind
of incised figures were generally found around the vessel, and these are
recognized as being more or less fully conventionalized representations
of wings. The same is true of the fish and its gills, fins, and tail; of the
serpent and its spots and rattles, and of the frog and its legs. The
relieved figures, realistically treated, become thus a key to the formal
incised designs, enabling us to identify them when separately used.
It will be seen, however, that since all forms shade off into the purely
geometric, there comes a stage when all must be practically alike; and
in independent positions, since we have no key, we fail to distinguish
them, and can only say that whatever they represented to the potter
they can not be to us more than mere suggestions of the life idea. To
the native potter the life concept was probably an essential association
with every vessel.
In plate i>xxx is arranged a series of figures illustrating progressive
variations in the bird concept, and in plate LXXXI the frog concept is sim
ilarly represented. The series are too limited to be entirely satisfactory,
as it is only when a great number of these designs are before us that we
see clearly the meaning of the transformations. Plates LXXXII and
LXXXIII show some purely conventional designs, and many more or less
fully conventionalized life forms copied from vessels of this group.
POTTERY OF THE FLORIDA PENINSULA"
Exploration on the peninsula of Florida has made such decided
headway in recent years that archaeologists may now reasonably hope
to secure a firm grasp on the problems of Florid ian prehistoric art.
The general nature and range of the art remains are already fairly
well understood, but little study has been given those details that must
a Acknowledgments are due to Mr Clarence B. Moore for a large part of the data embodied in this
brief study of Florida pottery. Not "only have his published works been drawn on but correspondence
and frequent consultations with him have furnished valuable assistance. As an indefatigable worker,
an accurate observer, a faithful recorder, and a prompt publisher, Mr Moore stands at the head of the
long list of those who have undertaken personally to explore the ancient monuments of the eastern
United States.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXX
C _
.
FNfiRAVFn
RPPRPCC^
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXXI
"
ENGRAVED DESIGNS REPRESENTING THE FROG CONCEPT, FLORIDA
QULF COAST GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXXII
1
ENGRAVED DESIGNS, ALABAMA AND FLORIDA
GULF COAST GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. L.XXXIN
i
/y/ /
/ x
/vw
2^
ENGRAVED DESIGNS, ALABAMA AND FLORIDA
GULF COAST GROUP
HOLMES] THE FLORIDA ABORIGINES 115
be relied upon to assist, first, in assigning these relics to particular
tribes and stocks of people, second, in correlating them with culture
features of neighboring regions, and, third, in determining questions
of chronology. The extensive and careful researches of Mr Clarence
B. Moore seem destined to fairly initiate this important work, and
Mr F. H. dishing has conducted very important excavations along
the western coast, the results of which, although only half published,
give us the first clear and definite insight into the life and habits of
the prehistoric inhabitants of the Gulf coast.
IIiSTOKic ABORIGINES
The group of tribes occupying Florida during the period of Spanish
discovery and conquest belongs to what is now known as the Tinm-
quanan linguistic family. These people have now entirely disap
peared, and little is definitely known of their arts or history. Other
tribes have since occupied the territory, but none have been per
mitted to remain except a few Seminoles, some two hundred strong,
who now occupy portions of the Everglades. There appears to be
only the most meager record of the making of 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 all of the
tribes found in the peninsula by the Spanish were potters, and that
much of the earthenware obtained from the mounds and shell heaps
belonged to tribes of the historic linguistic stocks of the general
region. The Timuquanan peoples are probably fully represented, but
Muskogean influence must have been felt, and at least one of the prin
cipal varieties of pottery found in the. northern half of the peninsula
was typically developed in the region occupied by that stock. Traces
of intrusive ideas are present, perhaps even truces of peoples from the
West, and evidences of Antillean (Arawak) contact on the east have
recently come to light. As the case stands, however, we have such
slight historic knowledge of the native ceramic art of Florida that no
part of its products can, with entire safety, be attributed to any partic
ular tribe or stock of people.
The colored plate presented as the frontispiece of this paper is
reproduced from a drawing by John White, of the Koanoke Colony,
15861588. It represents a native woman holding in her hand what
appears to be an earthen bowl. This is one of the few authentic
illustrations extant of a native of "Florida in Colonial times.
The ware of Florida is extremely varied and presents numerous
pronounced types of form and decoration, but it is found very difli-
cult to separate it into groups other than regional. The various forms
are intimately associated, the diversified characters grading one into
another in the most confusing manner. It is very much as though
the peninsula had been occupied by peoples of distinct origins, who
had come together on common ground in such intimate relations that
1J(> AliOKIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTKRN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.M
their respective culture s became in a large measure blended. This
apparent intermingling of elements would seem to pertain to a late
rather than to an early period.
CHRONOLOGY
Questions of antiquity naturally present themselves for consideration
in this place, but very definite answers can not be given. We may
reasonably anticipate that in time the ceramic evidence will materially
assist in determining the succession of peoples and also in arriving
at a somewhat definite chronology of events. The ware embedded in
successive layers of midden refuse gives hints of change and progress,
and the absence of sherds in the subordinate strata points apparently
to a time when pottery was not used by the tribes represented. Then
again the higher forms of ware appear well up in the strata and pre
vail over the surface of the country in general. Mr Moore refers to
the topic in the following language:
When after a long and careful search in a shell heap no pottery is brought to light,
it may be considered that the makers of the heap lived at a time when its method
of manufacture was unknown. Pottery filled so great a want in the lives of the
aborigines and was so extensively used by the makers of the shell heaps, where it is
found at all, that it seems impossible to account for its absence upon any hypothesis
other than the one suggested. One fact relating to pottery which Professor Wyman
neglects to state is that in many shell heaps pottery is found to a certain depth only,
after which it disappears. In other shell heaps, pottery plain and ornamented is
found in association for a time, after which unornamented pottery alone is found.
These points in connection with the pottery of the shell heaps have been noticed in
so many scores of cases that the writer is convinced that many shell heaps were in
process of formation contemporaneously with the first knowledge of the art of pot
tery making and its subsequent development. It is well known that later
Indians occupied the shell heaps as places of residence long after their completion,
some doubtless cultivating them, and hence distance from the surface is a most
important factor in determining the origin of shell-heap relics of all sorts."
RANGK OF THE WARK
The pottery in our collections from Florida comprises a wide range
of technic and esthetic characters. There are specimens rivaling the,
best work of the Lower Mississippi region, and others so rudimentary
as hardly to deserve the name of earthenware. There are also numer
ous varieties resulting apparently not so much from differences in
peoples and time as from the diverse uses to which they were applied.
One group is wholly unique, consisting in the main of toy-like forms
of rude workmanship, and exhibiting decidedly abnormal characters.
There is good reason for supposing that it was manufactured exclu
sively for mortuary offerings, as it is associated almost wholly with
burials. Again, the shell heaps furnish an inferior variety of ware
quite, peculiar to them. It is difficult to say just how much of this
inferiority is due to antiquity and how much to the fact that midden
n Moore, Clarence B., Certain shell heaps of the St Johns river, American Naturalist, November,
1892, p. 91(1.
HOI.MKS] MATERIAL AND MANUFACTURE, FLORIDA 117
ware in general is rude on account of its manufacture for the prep
aration of food and its exclusive use in that process. The pottery of
the burial mounds, except the peculiar ware mentioned above, and
of the country in general is of a higher grade, often exhibiting neat
finish, varied and refined forms, and tasteful decorations. Considered
as a whole, the ceramic art of the Florida peninsula indicates a state
of culture much inferior to that of the middle; and lower Mississippi
valley.
MATERIALS
The clay used, considering the whole peninsula, seems to have had
a wide range of composition and to have been subjected to varied
methods of treatment. The inferior pottery shows poorly selected
materials and rude treatment, while the better product is characterized
by finely prepared paste. Much of the ware is of unusually low spe
cific gravity, as if rendered porous by weathering or decay of some of
the denser ingredients. ,
The tempering materials are also varied. Much of the shell-deposit
ware has been tempered wi(\ .ibrous vegetal matter, such as pounded
grass or bark, thought by Wyman to be palmetto fiber, which burned
out in firing or has disappeared through decay. leaving the paste light
and porous. This ware is rude and coarse in texture and is said to
occur only in the older shell deposits. In many places the paste is
exceptionally free from tempering ingredients, being fine-grained and
chalky. These conditions may be due to the nature of the available;
materials rather than to any peculiar local ethnic conditions. The soft
paste prevails in the St Johns river region and extends also to the west
coast. The gritty paste of the Appalachian provinces reaches south
ward into northern Florida and is found, though quite rarelv. down the
east and west coasts. The use of pulverized shell is noted in a few
cases along the west coast.
MANUFACTURE
The vessels were built up often of wide strips of clav. which, in
many cases, were so poorly worked or welded together that the ves
sels fall to pieces along the joints. In the ruder pieces the lines of
junction are still traceable, especially on the inner surfaces, where
neat finish was difficult or unnecessary. The walls of the ruder
ware are thick, clumsy, and uneven; those of the better varieties are
thin, uniform, and evenly dressed. The finish is also varied, ranging
from the roughest hand-modeled surfaces through those variously
textured to well-polished surfaces. In many cases a thin coat of
finer clay has been applied to the exterior to hide the coarse materials
and render the polishing easv.
The baking or firing seems to have been of several grades or varie
ties; usually, however, the surfaces show the mottlings characteristic of
118 ABORIOINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH.ANX.SO
the open-air treatment common with the, tribes of the United States.
The paste in the more porous wares is often somewhat whitened super
ficially by volatilization of vegetal elements, the interior of the mass
remaining dark or black. In some localities decided reddish and yel
lowish tints are seen, a result probably of oxidization of iron con
tained in the clay. The improvised mortuary wares are generally
only slightly baked.
FORMS
The forms of the ordinary ware, as well as those of the "freak"
mortuary pottery, are much diversified. Vessels of the culinary class
are apparently not numerous; but, being especially subject to break
age, they rarely appear in collections except as sherds. Neither the
pot nor the deep caldron are common. Cups and bowls, the latter
often of large size, are very numerous, a subglobular form with con
stricted lip being typically Floridian. Bottles, or forms approaching
the bottle in shape, are rare, while eccentric and compound forms
occur in all sections. Bottoms are rounded, conic, or slightly flat
tened. Handles are not an important feature, while feet or added bases
of any kind are rarely seen in the normal ware. Animal forms were
modeled with considerable freedom in later times, and occasionally
shells of mollusks and the gourd M-ere imitated. The shapes as a
whole are inferior to those in the districts to the north and west,
although, if we include the improvised mortuary pottery, they are far
more diversified.
DECORATION
Decoration is varied and heterogeneous, so much so that it can not
properly be described, except in connection with illustrations. It
rarely includes fabric- and cord-marked surfaces, but the paddle stamp,
with varied designs, was used extensively in most sections. Incising
and indenting were employed in working out designs of many classes,
and especially symbolic subjects. In some varieties of ware the work
was very crude, in others it was extremely skillful. The appli
cation of red ocher was general, and simple designs were executed in
this pigment. Decorative effects were also secured by roughening the
surface in various ways, as by pinching up the soft clay with the fin
ger nails, and by modeling ridges, nodes, and other forms in low or
high relief. The lip or rim is often embellished by notching or scal
loping. The subject-matter of the designs ranges from the simple
geometric elements to somewhat realistic, although crude, delineations
of men and animals. Conventional treatment of life forms is often
exceptionally refined and effective, but symbols of special or highly
developed types have not been identified.
The uses to which the pottery of Florida was devoted were about
the same as among other native tribes. There were vessels to serve
HOLMES] CSES OF POTTERY IN FLORIDA lli>
in the full range of domestic activities cooking, carrying, contain
ing, eating, and drinking and others for ceremonial offices, and for
burial with the dead. There were also miniature vessels, as well as
ligtirines representing animals, probably intended to be used as toys.
There were tobacco pipes, beads, and pendants, and other objects not
assignable to any particular use.
The employment of earthenware in burial is of special interest.
The dead were buried in ordinary graves and in sand and earth
mounds, and, exceptionally, in shell mounds, and here as elsewhere it
was customary to deposit various utensils with the bodies; but there
are some curious and interesting features connected with the practice.
Over much of the territory covered by this paper the vessels were
deposited in the graves entire and are so recovered by our explorers,
but in the Florida peninsula, and to some extent in Georgia and Ala
bama, a practice had arisen of breaking the vessel or perforating the
bottom before consigning it to the ground. The most satisfactory
explanation of this proceeding is that since the vessel was usually
regarded as being alive and endowed with the spirit of some creature
of mythologic signiricance. it was appropriate that it should be
killed" before burial, that the spirit might be free to accompairy
that of the dead.
The facts brought out by recent explorations of Mr Moore add new
features of interest." In cases it is apparent that the vessels were not
only broken for burial, but that fragmentary vessels were used; and
again that, as in the case of the Tick Island and other mounds, sherds
were buried, serving probably as substitutes for the entire vessels.
An exceptional feature of these phenomena is the presence in some
of the burial mounds of sherds broken out to rudely resemble notched
spear and arrow points. It would seem that the sherd was made to
represent the vessel which was formerly buried entire, and that,
possibly, extending its office to another field, it was modified in shape
that it might take the place of such implements of stone and other
materials as were formerly devoted to the service of the dead.
Still more remarkable is the practice, which seems to have become
pretty general in Florida, of manufacturing vessels especially for
burial purposes. Some of these pieces are in such close imitation of
the real vessels that the distinction between them can not be drawn
with certainty, while others are made with open bases, so that they
did not need to be broken or "killed" when inhumed, having never
been made alive. Others are of such rude workmanship and eccentric
form that no ordinary use could be made of them. In seeking to
explain these exceptional products two suggestions mav be made:
First, it is noted that the perforating of the vessels used in burial
and the placing of sherds and toy-like vessels and figurines with
Moore, Clarence B., Certain sand mounds of the St Johns river, Florida, Journal Academy of
Natural Sciences, ser. 2, vol. x, Philadelphia, 1894.
120 AHOBIU1NAL POTTERY Ofc EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH. Axx.a)
the dead is confined, mainly at least, to Florida and the Gulf coast,
and further that these practices pertain to comparatively recent
times. It is also observed that articles of European make Vene
tian beads, Spanish olive jars, articles of metal, etc. are found in
many mounds of this region, indicating the very general practice of
mound-building during a considerable period following the arrival of
the Spanish a period extending over a hundred years or more. It
is suggested, therefore, that possibly this whole group of extraordi
nary mortuary practices may have sprung up in post-Columbian times.
The most prolific sources of gain known to the Spanish were the
cemeteries of the aborigines, and the seekers of El Dorado and the
Fountain of Life were the princes of grave robbers. It would be
but natural that people possessing the ready resources of the southern
Indians, finding the graves of their fathers ruthlessly desecrated by
the invaders in their mad search for gold and pearls, should, while
still preserving the spirit of their mortuary customs, cease to consign
to the ground any articles of real value. It will be conceded that the
inroads of hordes of avaricious and merciless strangers must have
exercised a powerful influence on the habits and customs of the native
tribes, and such phenomena as these mentioned might result natu
rally. The fact, however, that graves containing these objects ai e
very numerous and often contain other articles of real value, as has
been pointed out by Mr Moore, seems to render this theory untenable.
Second, a somewhat more satisfactory explanation may be found in
the idea of substitution for purely economic reasons; perhaps the
demands of mortuary sacrifice grew burdensome to the people, or
possibly the practice of the art in its normal phases fell into disfavor
or gradually gave way to- some other form of vessel-making art,
while the practice of making ceramic offerings kept on in conformity
with the persistent demands of superstitious custom. At any rate,
the practice of hastily making sacrificial offerings of clay came into
great favor and a study of the objects, man} of which are illustrated
in accompanying plates, shows that they embody in their rude way
all varieties of form and decoration known in Florida, and shows,
beside this, that the imagination ran riot imitating objects of many
classes and conjuring up forms entirely new to the art.
The use of earthen vessels as receptacles for human remains has not
been noted by Mr Moore in his extensive explorations on the Florida
peninsula, although the practice was common in Georgia and other
sections to the north and west.
EXAMPLES
MIDDEN WARE OF THE ST JOHNS
The shell mounds of the St Johns furnish varieties of ware said to
be confined almost exclusively to these deposits, and supposed espe
cially to characterize the middle period of their accumulation, the
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXXIV
FRAGMENTS OF POTTERY FROM SHELL HEAPS
FLORIDA PENINSULA
(MOORE COLLECTION, ABOUT THREE-FOURTHS
HOI.MKS]
SHELL-HEAP WARE, FLORIDA
121
earlier period being without pottery, and the later having several vari
eties of ware, which appear on the surface in great plenty. This
pottery has been recovered only in the shape of sherds, and can not
be studied to the best advantage. Among the fragments are found evi
dences of considerable variation in texture, treatment, and ornamen
tation. One variety exhibits a rather tine-grained paste preserving
the warm gray colors of the baked clay. The surfaces were finished
with a rubbing tool, and are plain or have been rather carelessly
embellished with patterns in
straight and curved incised
lines. Another, and the most
noteworthy variety, is char
acterized by the unusual ap
pearance of the paste, which
has been tempered with a
large, percentage of fibrous
matter, probably shredded
palmetto fiber. This tem
pering substance has been
destroyed by tire or decay,
leaving the paste highly vesi
cular and porous and of low
specific gravity. Generally
these sherds show clearly the
Fijr. 57 Restoration of forms of fiber-tempered midden ware, St Johns river.
effects of use over tire. The walls are thick and uneven and the surfaces
are rudely rubbed down. The forms appear to have consisted mainly
of bowls with rims variously recurved, incurved, and otherwise modi-
tied, ^and with rounded or flattish bases. The diameter varies from a
few inches to a foot or more. Examples restored from fragments suffi
ciently large to indicate the shape and suggest the true character of the
ornament are shown in figure 57. They are from the Tick Island
mound, and appear typical of what is assumed to be the earliest pottery-
122 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTii.ANN.20
making period. The execution of the designs is decided!} rude, the
incised lines being deep, wide, and irregular. The designs themselves,
however, seem to comprise not only the archaic forms seen in a and I.
but running scrolls such as occur in the most advanced grades of
southern pottery, as in c. The angular interspaces in the latter designs
are rilled in with indentations, as in the Mobile-Pensacola and other wares
(see figure 58). There is no absolute measure of the value of particu
lar decorative motives in determining degree of culture progress, but
elaborate scroll work can hardly be called archaic, and we must con
clude either that this ware does not represent the earliest use of pot
tery among the shell-mound peoples, or that the more western tribes,
already practicing this art, encroached on the original shell-heap
people at a comparatively early date. It may be remarked further
that the shapes, so far as observed, are nearly identical with the pre
vailing shapes of the best wares of Florida. This fiber-tempered pot
tery was found by Wyman at Old Town, Old Enterprise, Watsons
* *
. .*
Fig. 58 Fragments of micldun-waru bowls with incised senill decoration, St Johns river.
Landing, Silver Spring, and Palatka." but no details of occurrence
are given. Mr Moore obtained specimens from Tick island. Orange
mound, Huntingtons, Mulberry mound, and other localities, and his
determinations of relative position and age have already been quoted.
Two sherds derived from hemispheric bowls decorated with running
scrolls are illustrated, in figure 58. There are pieces, however, that
approach the better wares of later time in texture and finish, and it
may yet be shown that the earlier pottery of Florida developed without
marked interruption into the later and more highly elaborated forms.
Additional sherds are shown in plate LXXXIV.
STA.Ml Kl) WAKK OF THE ST JOHNS
The use of the stamp or figured paddle in decoration was com
mon througout the peninsula, extending west into Alabama and north
to North Carolina and Tennessee. It is not likely that it was charac
teristic of anv particular people or culture group. That it is not of
Wynmii, Dr Jeffries Frcsli-watcr she!! mounds of the St Johns river. Florida. Memoirs of the
I enbody Aeademy of Science, Salem, Mass., 1875.
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TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXXVI
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6 (WIDTH ABOUT 9 INCHES)
POTTERY WITH STAMP DECORATION
FLORIDA PENINSULA
MOORE COLLECTION)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXXVII
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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXXVIII
POTTERY WITH STAMP DECORATION
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(MOORE COLLECTION, ABOUT THREE-FOURTHS)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXXIX
a (DIAMETER 101 INCHES)
b (HEIGHT 4S INCHES)
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VASES WITH RELIEVED AND ENGRAVED DESIGNS
FLORIDA PENINSULA
MOORE COLLECTION)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XC
/< (ABOUT THREE-FOURTHS)
.,.:-.
C (ABOUT ONE-HALF)
a IABOUT THREE-FOURTHSi
FRAGMENTS OF VASES WITH ENGRAVED DESIGNS
FLORIDA PENINSULA
IMOORE COLLECTION)
HOLMES] POTTERY OF THE ST JOHNS, FLORIDA 123
Mexican origin would seem to he proved by the fuct that it does
not occur west of Mobile bay. It is no doubt related to if not
derived from the art of embellishing the vessels by impressing- textile
fabrics upon their plastic surfaces, practiced so extensively in the
North. Mr dishing expresses the idea, originating with his San
Marco work," tnat the use of wooden tools in which the grain of the
wood gave rise to decorative surface markings might have led to the
making of figured stamps or modeling paddles, but this idea requires
confirmation. I have observed that some of the more elaborate
stamped patterns employed are closely akin to designs used by ancient
wood carvers and sculptors of the Antilles, thus suggesting some kind
of connection between Florida and the islands.*
The ware of the St Johns shows the very common use of a modeling
paddle the face of which was carved in checker patterns, consisting
i* I 11
ot shallow grooves crossing generally at right angles and numbering
from five to twelve to the inch. Examples are shown in plate i,xxxv.
Occasionally we encounter more elaborate and artistic designs, such as
prevail in the Appalachian province on the north. Various examples
from the St Johns are brought together in plates LXXXVI, i.xxxvn, and
LXXXYIII. It would appear that the stomp paddle was not in use dur
ing the earlier stages of pottery making in Florida. According to
Mr Moore the stamped ware occurs less frequently as we descend
into the midden deposits, rarely appearing at any considerable depth.
KNGKAYKI) WAKE OF THE ST JOHNS
The St Johns furnishes occasional specimens of ware of excellent
make, seemingly not akin to the common pottery of the region,
although apparently intimately associated with it in burial. An
example is presented in plate i.xxxixw. It is a well-modeled globular
bowl from a mound in Duval county, is lo inches in diameter, and is
tastefully ornamented with representations of a bird, probablv the duck.
The head of the bird is modeled in relief on opposite sides of the vessel.
The bill points upward, and the wings, depicted in simple incised lines,
extend around the upper part of the body of the vessel. A sketch
of one of the heads appears in 1>. The duck is a prominent feature in
the embellishment of Florida wares, but in main- cases the forms are
so highly conventionalized that only those who have traced the duck
motive down from more realistic delineations can do more than guess
at the original. An example of conventional duck design is presented
in plate xc. An equally conventional treatment, possibly of the
vulture, appears in I. Other examples of this class are referred to in
describing the pottery of western Florida. Much of the mortuary and
midden ware is decorated with incised work, always carelessly executed.
("dishing, F. H.. Exploration of ancient key-dweller remains. Proceedings American Philosophic-ill
Society, vol. XXXV, p. 74.
t Holmes. W. H., Caribbean influence on the prehistoric ceramic art oi the southern states, American
Anthropologist, January, 1894. p. 71.
124 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH.AXX.UO
IMPROVISED MORTUARY WARE OK THE ST JOHNS
Explorations on the St Johns have brought to light a form of earth
enware having characters not heretofore observed in any locality, and
liUely to give rise to considerable discussion. The possible functions
of this ware have already received attention. It has been found by
Mr Moore and others at varying depths in the burial mounds, I tut
never in the shell heaps. A few pieces were obtained from Mount
Royal at a depth of 12 feet beneath the surface. It consists of vessels,
vessel-like articles, animal figurines, miniature imitations of fruit, and
various objects of eccentric shape, nearly all of rude construction and
finish. As a rule these objects have the appearance of toys made by
hands unskilled in the manipulation of clay and practically untram-
mcled by the traditions of the normal native art. The clay used was
generally crude and untempered, the construction careless and hasty,
and the baking very slight. Specimens worthy of being called vessels
are mostly so crudely made that they would lie of little service in an}
of the usual offices of a vessel. As a rule the bottoms of such speci
mens were perforated while the clay was yet soft, the opening being
left rough as cut or punched, or dressed down rudely after the manner
of the normal opening at the opposite end. They repeat, in a measure,
the forms of the real pottery, but with many trivial variations.
Decoration is in all styles, the incised, stamped, relieved, and painted,
but in the main it is crude. The animal and vegetal forms are often
so graphically suggested, however, that the idea of the modeler is
intelligible. The panther, the wolf or dog, the squirrel, the turkey,
the turtle, and the tish are more or less forcibly suggested. The
size is usually small, and the clumsy forms, modeled with the unaided
lingers, are solid or nearly so, the more massive portions having been
in cases roughly perforated with a stick to prevent cracking and fall
ing to pieces in the process of baking. Vegetal forms are extremely
rare in the normal native art of the eastern United States, the gourd
appearing in some cases as a model for earthen vessels; but in this
mortuary ware various essays have been made to represent acorns,
flowers, buds, cars of corn, and the like. A large number of unclassi
fied forms, quite as rude as the preceding, resemble cylinders, cones,
beads, spools, hourglasses, druggist s mortars, etc. On examination
of the various ceramic collections in the United States, there are found
occasional examples of small, rudely made, toy-like figures from other
localities that may possibly fall into the same general class as these
Florida mortuary fantasies.
The most satisfactory evidence of the close relationship of this pot
tery with the normal wares of Florida is its occurrence in a number
of mounds at considerable depths and under varying conditions, and
associated intimately with a wide ranges of relics. Besides this, there
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
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a (HEIGHT 3 INCHES)
6 (HEIGHT 4 INCHES)
C (HEIGHT 4; INCHES)
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RUDE EARTHENWARE FROM GRAVES
FLORIDA PENINSULA
(MOORE COLLECTION)
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It (HEIGHT 4 INCHES*
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RUDE EARTHENWARE FROM GRAVES
FLORIDA PENINSULA
(MOORE COLLECTION
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TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL XCV
a, (.LENGTH 5; INCHES)
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C (LENGTH 6i INCHES)
RUDE EARTHENWARE FROM GRAVES
FLORIDA PENINSULA
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TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XCVII
RUDE EARTHENWARE FROM GRAVES
FLORIDA PENINSULA
MOORE COLLECTION, ABOUT THREE-FOURTHS
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ll
LARGE PAINTED VESSEL WITH OPEN BASE
FLORIDA PENINSULA
(MOORE COLLECTION, DIAMETER 19 INCHES)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
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FRAGMENTS OF PAINTED VESSEL WITH OPEN BASE
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HOLMES] POTTERY OF THE ST JOHNS AND THE WEST COAST 125
are many features of the ware that approach in appearance or man
ner of treatment the ordinary pottery, and. in fact, there is such a
complete grading into vessels of normal character that in places no
line can be drawn separating the trivial from the serious. We may
therefore safely infer that all varieties were made by potters of the
same period and linguistic family. In appearance these articles are
rather new-looking, and, being found generally near the surface, may
be regarded as representing a comparatively recent period. Examples
of several varieties are brought together in plates xci-xcvm."
PAINTED WARE OF THE ST JOHNS
The use of colors in decoration prevailed most decidedly in the Mid
dle Mississippi Valley province, but in Florida color was in somewhat
general use. Commonly the red color was spread over the entire sur
face and polished down, as it was in the AVest. When designs were
used, they were always simple, and. in the main, consisted of broad
bands in clumsy geometric arrangements. It is not known that color
was confined to any particular class of vessels. A very large and
remarkable piece of the painted ware is presented in plate xcix. It
was obtained by Mr Clarence B. Moore from a sand mound near
Volusia.Volusia county, and is 1!> inches in diameter and 15 inches in
height. The base or smaller end is neatly perforated, as may be seen
in the lower figure, the opening haying been made when the vessel
was modeled, and finished with the same care as was the mouth.
It is possible that this vessel had some special domestic use in which
the perforation was an essential feature, as in straining liquids, or it
may have been a drum; but the practice of perforating vessels for
burial and of making toy-like vessels with perforated bottoms for
mortuary purposes offers an explanation of the significance of the
whole class of perforate objects. It is surmised that the native
theory was that a vessel which had only a supernatural purpose was
properly perforate. It was never endowed with the powers and quali
ties of a living thing. The red color is applied in broad bands encir
cling the apertures and in four vertical stripes connecting these.
Fragments of a vessel of similar design are given in plate c. It
also is from the mound near Volusia, and has been some 18 or 20
inches in length.
POTTERY OK THE WEST COAST
The several varieties of pottery described as occurring in the San
Juan province, witli the, exception of the midden and mortuary ware,
are found scattered over the state in mounds and on residence .sites,
but few examples have found their way into our museums. In the west,
and especially along the wc,-t coast of the peninsula, other interesting
Recent collections made by Mr Mooro in the Apalachieola region show equally novel and varied
shapes of this general class, the work heing of much higher grade.
126 ABORIC4INAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.Asx.20
varieties of products are encountered. The most striking of these is
characterized by its style of ornamentation, which consists of elaborate
designs worked out largely with indentations or punctures instead of
with plain incised lines, giving tattoo effects. Specimens in the main
fragmental have been found over a wide area, but the best preserved
and most typical examples are those recently obtained from a burial
mound at Tarpon Springs by Mr F. H. Gushing. Some of these are
presented in the accompanying plates, and the ornamental designs are
projected at full length in plate civ. Notwithstanding the large degree
of individuality displayed by these specimens, they by no means stand
alone, being closely allied in paste, shape, and ornamentation to one
or another of the varieties of Florida pottery.
The vase shown in plate ci is perhaps the most interesting and
artistic of the group. The lower figure gives a top view of the shat
tered vessel as it appeared when the various pieces were first hastily
set together, while the upper shows it as restored by Mr Gushing,
save in one respect, namely, that as in his restoration the base is
more delicately pointed than seems warranted by any model found
in Florida, the liberty of changing it has been taken, the bottom
being given a gently rounded or slightly flattened outline, as if
the vessel had been intended to stand alone. The color is a yel
lowish terra cotta, the surface is even and well polished, and the
walls are very thin. The incurved rim is nari ow and rounded on
the margin and is embellished with four conic nodes placed at equal
distances about the lip. The decoration, which is applied and worked
out in a very pleasing and artistic manner, appears in plate civa.
Although it is highly conventional, it is undoubtedly significant and
symbolic, and is based on some life form. It is seen that the leading
feature of the design is repeated four times above a broad meander
band which encircles the body of the vessel, and that below the band a
second and less elaborate feature is also four times repeated. As we
recall the usual association of animal features with vases in the gen
eral region, we examine the design to discover, if possible, some sug
gestion of a life concept. It would seem that the leading elements of the
design must represent the head of some creature, and by studying the
four principal features, it is seen that they show decided analogies
with more realistic delineations of the duck observed on other vessels,
and the conclusion is reached that the device is a conventional treatment
of this favorite concept and that the vessel was invested with appro
priate life symbolism by the people to whom it belonged.
A second specimen from the Tarpon Springs mound is given in plate
cu/i. It is quite equal to the other in delicacy of execution and in
interest, and the exquisite design shown in full in plate CIV 5 may be
looked on as of the same class as the preceding and as intended
to symbolize nothing more esoteric or mysterious than the life idea
DECORATED VASES, TARPON SPRINGS
FLORIDA PENINSULA
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CM
a IDIAMETER 13; INCHES)
VASES WITH ENGRAVED DESIGNS, TARPON SPRINGS
FLORIDA PENINSULA
IFREE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND ART, PHILADELPHIA)
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C (.ABOUT ONE-HALF!
b (ABOUT ONE-HALF)
d (DIAMETER 5! INCHES)
FRAGMENTS OF DECORATED WARE AND COMPOUND CUP
FLORIDA PENINSULA
UN IV
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HEIGHT 9 INCHES
ENGRAVED AND PAINTED VASES, TARPON SPRINGS
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HOLMES] POTTERY OF THE WEST COAST . 127
associated with the vase in accordance with almost universal custom.
It is instructive, however, to observe the graceful ways in which the
esthetic instincts of a primitive people have taken hold of the crude
elements of symbolism, making them things of beauty.
A third vessel of the same group, similar in shape and finish and
embodying analogous elements of decoration, appears in plate cm and
the design is drawn out in plate civc. This specimen is shown also
in the preceding plate, en, in connection with a large plain pot, <>, of
symmetric shape and excellent surface finish. Two fragments deco
rated in this stipple style, one showing a graceful shield-shaped figure
in relief, are shown in plate cvft and c. They came from a mound
at Cedar Keys. The, little cup shown in </ of this plate, is decorated
with incised lines and punctures representing a crab-like animal, and
also in color, certain spaces being finished in red. It is from Frank
lin county, Florida.
The same plate includes a remarkable specimen of compound vessel
from a mound in Franklin county. It is a plain ware of usual make and
has five compartments, four circular basins arranged about a central
basin of squarish shape. One of the encircling basins has been broken
away and is restored in the drawing.
One of the most novel forms is shown in plate c\ia. It is goblet-
like and is open at both ends, reminding one of the Central American
earthenware drums. It appears, however, from a careful examination,
that the base was originally closed or partly closed, and that the end
was broken out and the margin smoothed down so that in appearance
it closely resembles the larger open end. The surface is embellished
with broad bands of red and incised figures, all probablv highlv con
ventionalized animal features. A similar specimen embellished with
unique incised patterns is shown in 1> and c of the same plate.
In plate cvn a bunch of four vessels, as exposed while excavating a
grave in a sand mound at Tarpon Springs, is shown. Still other speci
mens of inferior size and make, also from Tarpon Springs, are similar
in style to the pieces already illustrated, while some are small, rude,
and quite plain or decorated with crude designs, and a few are
modeled in imitation of gourds, seashells. and animals. In some cases
compound and eccentric forms are seen. One medium-sized pot-like
form, suggesting a common western type probably intended to stand
for some life form, has a rudely incised design encircling the, shoulder
and four looped handles placed at equal distance about the neck.
Occasional specimens are tall, and have, the wide mouth am ^onic
base so characteristic of the Appalachian region, and these are orna
mented with the patterned stamp in various styles. Fragments from
Tarpon Springs showing the florid stamp designs are given in plate
cvin, and griddle patterns appear in plate cix.
The pottery secured by Mr dishing at, San Marco on the Pile-
128 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETn.ANN.20
dwelling sites, and associated with remains and relics of the most
remarkable kind," is extremely simple in style, hardly excelling in its
plastic and graphic features the gourd and wooden vessels found in
such profusion in the muck-filled canals and, in many cases, it appears
to be modeled in imitation of these vessels. It does not differ in kind
from the ordinary West Florida ware, however, which indicates the
practical identity of the Pile-dwellers with other occupants of the
region in time and culture.
Somewhat common in the western and northwestern peninsular
region is another variety of decorative treatment related to the deli
cate engraved work described above, but contrasting strongly with it.
The designs in cases duplicate the peculiar scroll work of the Mobile-
Pensacola district, and again are somewhat like the Tarpon Springs
scroll work. The main peculiarity is that the lines are wide and are
deeply incised, as is shown in plate ex. ft, 1>, c. In 1>, which is part of a
large globular bowl, the figures are outlined in deep, clean lines, and
some of the spaces are filled in with stamped patterns consisting of
small checks, giving very pleasing results. In and e some of the
spaces are tilled in with indentations made with a sharp point. Han
dled vessels dippers, cups, and pots are common, and it is not unu
sual to see the rim of a pot set with four or eight handles; e illustrates
this feature and also a treatment of the scroll much like that preva
lent farther up the west coast. There are traces along this coast of
rather pronounced variations in composition, shape, and decoration.
A number of sherds illustrating the varied decorative effects produced
by pinching with the finger nails are illustrated in/", </, and h.
ANIMAL FIGURES
It is not uncommon to find in many parts of Florida, and especially
along the Gulf coast, portions of fairly well modeled animal figures,
mostly only heads, which originally formed parts of bowls and other
vessels. These correspond very closely with similar work in the West,
and are almost duplications of the heads found in the Pcnsacola region.
The detached heads have been found as far south as Goodland point,
San Marco island, where Mr Moore picked up two specimens that had
evidently been made use of as pendants, probably on account of some
totemic or other significance attached to them. Mr Cushing also found
one of these bird-head amulets in the canal deposits at San Marco.
All are of western types, and may have been brought from north of
the Gulf. On the whole, the employment of animal figures in the
art of Florida, as well as of the Atlantic coast farther north, seems
a late innovation, and the practice of embellishing vessels with these
features has probably, in a large measure, crept in from the West.
"Ciishins, F. II., Exploration of ancient key-dweller remains, Proceedings of the American Philo
sophical Society, vol. xxxv.
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POTSHERDS WITH GRIDDLE-LIKE STAMP DESIGNS
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HANDLED CUP AND VARIOUS SHERDS FROM THE WEST COAST
FLORIDA PENINSULA
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TOBACCO PIPES
FLORIDA PENINSULA
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HOI.MKS]
TOBACCO PIPKS AND OLIVE .IAKS
129
TOBACCO PIPES
Tobacco pipes of earthenware arc quite rare in Florida. The speci
mens figured in plate cxi are types.// being embellished with the imper
fect figure of a l>ird resting on the bowl and perforated by the bowl
csivitv. while 1> is nndecorated.
Other specimens appear in r.
(/. and i: In general shape
they correspond closely with
the prevailing heavy-bodied
pipes of the South and West.
Only one entire specimen and ^k
two fragments have been re- f&
ported from shell heaps.
SPANISH OI.IVE .IARS
From time to time collectors ; ^
have reported the finding of *
pottery in Florida and other
southern states hearing evi
dence of having been turned
on a wheel, and also showing
traces of a brownish glaze.
Examination always discloses
the fact that the ware is of
Spanish manufacture. The
Flo. 59 Spanish olive jars. Florida.
paste is that of ordinary terra cotta. and in cases is burned quite hard,
resembling stoneware. The forms are little varied, the short bottle
neck and the long-pointed base being notable characteristics. The
encircling ribs left by careless throwing on the wheel are often quite
JO ETH otf U
130 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.A.NN.H)
pronounced. In numerous cases the inside of the lip has received a
yellowish glaze. Occasionally these vessels are recovered from Indian
mounds. In early times it was a common practice to ship olives to
America in earthen jars of this class. Illustrations are given in figure
59. A very interesting specimen of this ware, figure 59 f, may be
seen in the Natural History Museum at Boston. It is a jar with long,
attenuated, conic base, which, with a glass bottle, was found embedded
in a mass of coral obtained by dredgers from a coral reef off Turks
island at the point where the British frigate Severn is said to have
been wrecked about the year 1793. In a few instances very large and
thick vessels of terra cotta have been reported, which are probably of
European origin, and an antique bath tub of glazed earthenware was
recently unearthed in one of the Gulf states.
POTTERY OF THE SOUTH APPALACHIAN PROVINCE
EXTENT OF THE PROVINCE
A culture province of somewhat marked characteristics comprises
the states of Georgia, South Carolina, and contiguous portions of Ala
bama, Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee. On the arrival of the
whites a large portion of this area was occupied or overrun by the
Creek Indians or their congeners, now included by Major Powell
under the head of the Muskhogean linguistic family. The early
explorers of this region referred to the tribes encountered as "Apa-
lachee. and the name Appalachian has been given by our geographers
to the range of mountains that extends into the area from the north.
The designation of the culture area is therefore historical!}- and geo
graphically appropriate. The general area over which the pottery of
this group is distributed is indicated in the accompanying map. plate
IT.
PREVAILING TYPES OF WARE
The ceramic phenomena of this province include one great group of
products to which has been given the name South Appalachian stamped
ware, and also several less distinctly marked varieties, belonging, in
the main, to groups typically developed in neighboring areas. Of
these overlapping varieties the Florida and Gulf Coast groups on the
south, the middle Mississippi valley group on the west, and other
less striking varieties on the north and east may be mentioned. Tribes
of at least three of the stocks of people inhabiting this general region
continued the practice of the potter s art down to the present time.
The Catawbas and Cherokees are still engaged to a limited extent in
pottery making: and the Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles have, if
the labeling of certain specimens now in the National Museum is cor
rect, but recently abandoned the work. The manufacture of earthen
ware by the two first-mentioned tribes is described in the introductory
pages of this paper, and illustrations are presented in this section.
HOLMES J STAMP-DECORATED 1VTTERY 131
Among 1 the more noteworthy features of the undent ceramic art of
this province tire the novel shapes of some of the vessels, the peculiar
style of their decoration, the intermingling of local and what appear to
he exotic forms, and. lastly, the. very common use of vessels as recep
tacles for remains of the dead. A rare and exceptional feature of
decoration. described by Colonel C. C. Jones and others, is the use
of bits of shell and bright stones in inlaying. These, bits were set in
decorative arrangements into the clay while it was yet plastic an art
practiced to a limited extent at the present day by primitive peoples
on both continents, but never rising to a place of importance.
The principal fictile product of the province was the large caldron
or cook pot. although bowls were used and fancifully shaped vessels
are sometimes encountered. Small figurines and tobacco pipes were
made in considerable numbers, and potsherds were often cut into
discoid shapes, perhaps for playing games of skill or chance.
The remains of what are supposed by some observers and writers
to be primitive pottery kilns have been reported, but the evidence
is not conclusive in any case.
The most striking variety of earthenware found within the limits of
the Atlantic drainage is distributed very generally over Georgia and
contiguous portions of all the adjoining states. For convenience of
designation it has been called the South Appalachian stamped ware.
Many of the more typical specimens in our collections came from the
valley of the Savannah. The most strongly marked characteristics of
this ware arc its material, which is generally hard, heavy, and coarsely
silicious; its shapes, the most notable of which is a deep caldron with
conic base and flaring rim: and its decoration, which consists in
great part of stamped figures of no little technic and artistic, interest.
This stamped pottery is obtained from mounds, graves of several
classes, village sites, and shell heaps. In some localities it is asso
ciated with remains of distinct varieties of ware, but in others it
seems to occur alone. This intermingling of different varieties is not
confined to village sites and shell heaps where accident could have
brought the different sorts together, but is common in mounds whose
contents appear to have belonged to a single community. Whether
the different kinds of pottery originated with a single people, or
whether the association is the result of the amalgamation of distinct
groups of people, can not be determined. The area over which the
sherds are scattered is so wide that we can hardly connect the manu
facture of even the more typical forms with any single tribe or group
of tribes. It is distributed over areas occupied in historic times by
numerous stocks of people, including the Algonquian. Iroquoiaii.
Siouan. Muskhogean, and Timuquanan. Of these groups the Mu.sk-
hogean probably has the best claim to the authorship of this ware. The
modern Catawbas (Siouan) and Cherokees (Iroquoiaii). especially the
132 ABOKKJiNAL 1 OTTEKY OF EASTEKN UNITED STATES [ETH. AN.N.- O
latter, make vessels corresponding somewhat closely to those of Musk-
hogean make in some of their features, but these features may have
been but recently adopted by them. In the region producing type
specimens, the material, shape, and ornament are so distinctive as
unitedly to give the ware great individuality; but in other localities
less typical forms are found to occur. In some sections the material
changes, and we have, only the shapes and decoration as distinguishing
features, while in others we must depend on the decoration alone to
indicate relationship with the type forms.
MATERIALS AND Comi;
I suallv the paste is hard and heavy, consisting of clay tempered
witli a large percentage of quartz sand or pulverized quartz-bearing
rock. Occasional specimens from the Eastern Shore are tempered
with shell. In color this pottery is of the normal gray and brownish
hues of the baked clay.
FOKM AND SI/K
The vessels of this group are well built, and have even, moderately
thick walls and fair symmetry of outline. The shapes are not greatly
varied as compared with other southern and with the western groups.
There are bowls, shallow and deep, mostly of large size, having both
incurved and recurved rims. There are pots or caldrons ranging from
medium to very large size, the largest having a capacity of 15 or 20
gallons. The form varies from that of a deep bowl to that of a much
lengthened stibcylindric vessel. The base is usually somewhat conic,
and in the bowls is often slightly truncated, so that the vessels stand
upright on a flat surface.
USES
As a rule the larger pieces show indications of use over tire, and it
is not improbable that this stamped ware was largely the domestic or
culinary ware of the peoples who made it, and that other forms less
enduring, and hence not so frequently preserved, except in frag
ments, were employed for other purposes. This view would seem to
be continued in some degree by the occurrence of smaller and more
delicate vessels distinct in shape and decorative treatment along with
the stamped ware on village sites and in some of the mounds opened
by the Bureau of American Ethnology. Some of these vessels, how
ever, are so very distinct in every way from the stamped pottery, and
are so manifestly related to groups of ware in which stamped designs,
conic forms and quart/ tempering were unusual, that we may regard
them tentatively as exotic
The preservation of the culinary utensils elsewhere almost univer
sally found in fragments is due to their utilization for mortuary pur
poses. In no other province, perhaps, was the custom of burying the
a DIAMETER 12 INCHES)
ft DIAMETER ni INCHES)
BURIAL VASES WITH COVERS
HOLM "] DECORATION OF APPALACHIAN POTTERY
dead in earthen vessels so common us it was in tlio South Appalachian.
Generally the bones are charred, and in many cases they belong to
children. Apparently it was not customary to make vessels exclusively
for burial purposes, although in some cases the bowl cover was con
structed for the purpose. Generally the mortuary vessel stood
upright in the grave, but in some instances a large wide-mouthed vase
was tilled with bones and inverted, and in a few cases bowls have been
found inverted over skulls or heaps of bones.
In plate cxn we have illustrations of the manner in which these
vessels were employed in burial. A bowl with incurved rim of a si/e
to tit the mouth of the pot was set into it in an inverted position as a
cover, as is shown by <i. This specimen is from a mound near Mill-
edgeville. Georgia. A vase of different type is shown in //. It was
obtained from a mound in Chatham county by Mr K. H. Hill, and is
covered with a small bowl exactly fitting the cone-shaped top of the
vase. Colonel C. C. Jones" gives a careful description of the discov
ery in a mound on Colonels island. Liberty county. Georgia, of a
burial vase with a lid of baked clay .shaped to tit neatly. A smaller
vessel containing the bones of an infant had been placed within the
larger one. The larger vessel apparently differed from those found
farther inland in having been covered with textile imprints, and in
having a slight admixture of shell tempering. In these respects it
resembled the typical pottery of the Atlantic seaboard, affiliating with
the Algonquian wares of the Middle Atlantic province.
DECORATION
As has been mentioned, the remarkable style of decoration, more
than any other feature, characterizes this pottery. Elaborately fig
ured stamps were rarely used elsewhere, except in Central and South
America. The exact form of the stamping tool or die is, of course,
not easily determined, as the imprint upon the rounded surface of the
vases represents usually only the middle portion of the figured surface
of the implement. It is highly probable, however, that the stamp had
a handle and therefore assumed the shape of a paddle, as do the
stamps used by the Cherokees at the present time. Occasionally par
tial impressions of a small portion of the square or round margin of
the stamp are seen. It was the usual practice to apply the stamp at
random over the entire exterior surface of the vessel, and thus it hap
pened that the impressions encroached upon one another, rendering an
analysis of the design, where it is complex, extremely difficult. In
manv localities the design was simple, consisting of two series of shal
low lines or grooves crossing the paddle surface at right angles, leav
ing squarish interspaces in relief, so that the imprint on the clay gave
"Jones, Charles ( .. Antiquities of the Southern Indians New York. 1N7S. p. 45o.
134 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH.ANS.M
the rovers* 1 -that is, low ridges with shallow rectangular depressions
in the interspaces. The lines vary from 3 to 1<> to the inch, and, when
covering the surface of a vessel, give a hatched or checkered effect
closely resembling that made by imprinting a coarse fabric or a cord-
wrapped tool. These iigures have occasionally been regarded as
impressions resulting from modeling the vessel in a basket or net,
but close examination shows that the imprintings are in small, discon
nected areas, not coinciding or joining at the edges where the impres
sions overlap, and that the arrangement of parts is really not that of
woven strands.
The diameter of the work is fully elucidated by the Cherokee
wooden paddles which are shown in plate cxm a, b, c. One side of
the broad part of the implement is covered with deeply engraved
lines, carved no doubt with steel knives, but the work is not so neat
and the grouping is not so artistic as in the ancient, work. The effect
produced by the use of such an implement is illustrated in <l. a modern
Cherokee- pot, collected in 188!) by Mr James Mooney, and referred to
already under the head Manufacture.
Where an intricate design was employed the partial impressions from
the flat surf ace of tin paddle are so confused along the margins that in
no case can the complete pattern be made out. By a careful study of
a number of the more distinct imprints, however, the larger part of
the designs may be restored. For several years rubbings of such
imprintings as came to hand have been taken, and some of the more
interesting are presented in plate rxiv. They consist, for the most
part, of curved lines in graceful but formal, and possibly, as here used,
meaningless combinations. By far the most common figure is a kind
of compound tilfot cross, swastika, or Tlior s hammer that is to say,
a grouping of lines having a cross with bent arms as a base or center,
shown in n and 1>. The four border spaces are filled in with lines
parallel with the curved arms of the central figure. The effect of this
design, as applied to the surface of a fine large vessel from a mound
on the Savannah river 10 miles below Augusta, is well shown in plate
cxv it. Another excellent example is seen in plate cxvi.
An interesting result of my recent studies of the pottery of the
region, referred to in the preceding section, is the observation that
the designs stamped on the clay are in many cases closely analogous
to designs used by the ancient insular Caribbean peoples. Many of
the latter designs are engraved on utensils of wood, and the Appalachian
stamps on which the designs were carved were likewise of wood, which
suggests contact or intimate relationship of the peoples in ancient
times. There can hardly be a doubt that Antillean influence was felt
in the art of the whole southeastern section of the United States, or
that, on the other hand, the culture of the mainland impressed itself
.strongly on that of the contiguous islands. A comparison of the
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXIII
a ILENGTH 9i INCHES)
C, (LENGTH 9i INCHES)
d DIAMETER 10 INCHES)
CHEROKEE STAMP-DECORATED POT, AND PADDLE STAMPS
SOUTH APPALACHIAN GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXIV
f; fr. ; *** r r
r r r r f rr, r
r r r r T r
lt
r -r^i^- F
I ~ > t- tr
I Tjef
STAMP DESIGNS RESTORED FROM IMPRESSIONS ON VASES
SOUTH APPALACHIAN GROUP
HOI.MKS] APPALACHIAN STAMPED \VARK 135
stamped designs illustrated in plate c xiv witli others of Florida and
Guadeloupe island, given in a recent publication," will make the anal
ogies apparent.
The stamped ware is found plentifully throughout the state of Georgia
and as far west along the Gulf coast as Mobile hay. Stamp designs
constitute the prevailing decoration in the wares of Early county,
southwestern Georgia. In eastern Tennessee, at a few points on the
eastern side of the valley of the Tennessee river, examples varying
considerably from the Savannah type have been observed. The vessels
are generally intermingled with western forms of pottery. North
Carolina furnishes some stamped ware, and in South Carolina stamped
ware appears to be the prevailing variety. On the Florida peninsula
this ware seems to have lost some of its most typical characters, the.
vessels having different shapes and the stamp designs consisting mainly
of simple reticulations.
Although some of the peculiar designs with which the paddle stamps
were embellished may have come, as has been suggested, from neigh
boring Antillean peoples, it is probable that the implement is of conti
nental origin. It is easy to see how the use of figured modeling tools
could arise with any people out of the simple, primitive processes of
vessel modeling. As the walls were built up by means of flattish strips
of clay, added one upon another, the lingers and hand were used to
weld the parts together and to smooth down the uneven surfaces. In
time various improvised implements would come into use shells for
scraping, smooth stones for rubbing, and paddle-like tools for malle-
ating. Some of the latter, having textured surfaces, would leave
figured imprints on the plastic surface, and these, producing a pleas
ing effect on the primitive mind, would lead to extension of use, and,
finally, to the invention of special tools and the adding of elaborate
designs. But the use of figured surfaces seems to have had other
than purely decorative functions, and, indeed, in most eases, the deco
rative idea may have been secondary. It will be observed by one who
attempts the manipulation of clay that striking or paddling with a
smooth surface has often a tendency to extend flaws and to start new
ones, thus weakening the wall of the vessel, but a ribbed or deeply
figured surface properly applied has the effect of welding the clay
together, of kneading the plastic surface, producing numberless
minute dovetailings of the clay which connect across weak lines and
incipient cracks, adding greatly to the strength of the vessel.
That the figured stamp had a dual function, a technic and an esthetic
one, is fully apparent. When it was applied to the surface it removed
unevenness and welded the plastic clay into a firm, tenacious mass.
Scarifying with a rude comb-like tool was employed in some sections
for the same purpose, and was so used more generally on the inner
"Holmes, VV. H.,Cnril>l>ctin influence on the prehistoric ceramic art of the southern states. American
Anthropologist, vol. vn, p. 71.
136 ABORIGINAL 1 OTTKKY OK EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH. ANN.-JO
surface, where :i paddle or stamp could not he employed. That this
was recognized as one of the functions of the stamp is shown by the
fact that in many neatly finished vessels, where certain portions
received a smooth finish, the paddle had first been used over the entire
vessel, the pattern being afterward worked down with a polishing
stone. However, the beauty of the designs employed and the care
and taste with which they were applied to the vases bear ample testi-
monv to the fact that the function of the stamp as used in this prov
ince was largely esthetic. It may be safely assumed, in addition, that
in many cases the figures were significant or symbolic. The use of
stamps and stamp-like tools in other regions will be mentioned under
the proper headings.
EXAMPLES
VASES
The specimens shown in plate cxv may well be taken as types of
the larger vessels of the Appalachian variety. The large vessel <i is
blackened by use over fire, and it not unlikely served the humble
purpose of preparing food messes for the family, somewhat after the
manner so graphically described and illustrated in Harlot s history of
the Koanoke colony," and shown in plate n. It is nearly symmetric,
is Iti inches in height and the same in diameter, and has a capacity of
about 15 gallons. The paddle-stamp has been carefully used, giving
a pretty uniform all-over pattern; the design is shown three-fourths
actual size in plate cxiv. The rim is decorated with two encircling
lines of annular indentations and four small nodes indented in the
center, placed at equal intervals about the exterior.
From the same mound with the above several other similar vessels
were obtained, two of them being larger than the one illustrated.
Some tine, large bowls from the same mound have the entire exterior
surface decorated with the usual compound filfot stamp. One of these
is presented in the lower figure, plate cxvi.
The handsome vessel illustrated in plate cxvi was uncovered by the
plow on Ossabaw island. Chatham county. Georgia. The negroes who
discovered it at once reburied it. The manager of the place, learning
of this, dug it up again. Within the vase were the bones of a child,
with a few heads and ornaments. The bones were reinterred by the
negroes, who feared that bad luck would follow wanton disturbance,
of the dead. A bowl, parts only of which were saved, was inverted
over the top of the urn, and had prevented the earth from accumulat
ing within. The specimens were acquired by Mr William Harden, of
Savannah, who presented them to the Bureau of American Kthnology.
This vase corresponds fully in material, shape, and finish with others
from various parts of the Appalachian region. The stamped pattern
" Hariot, Thomas, A brief and true report of the new found hind of Virginia, Frankfort, lf>90, pi. xv.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXV
a IHEIQHT 16 INCHES)
6 DIAMETER 16; INCHES*
TYPICAL SPECIMENS OF STAMP-DECORATED WARE
SOUTH APPALACHIAN GROUP
/
"ry
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXVI
LARGE VASE DECORATED WITH FILFOT STAMP DESIGN
SOUTH APPALACHIAN GROUP
(HEIGHT 15 INCHES)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXVII
ft I HEIGHT ABOUT 9 INCHES)
a (HEIGHT 14 INCHES)
VASES DECORATED WITH PADDLE-STAMP IMPRESSIONS
SOUTH APPALACHIAN GROUP
HOI.MKS] 1 OTTKKV <>K THE SAVANNAH 137
is of tin- most usual type, hut differs from others in having nodes at
the center and in having tlie arms of the cross curved, as shown in
plate c\i\t>. The height is 15 inches, and the diameter at the rim
! _ inches. The bow! cover is of the same kind of ware, and is well
made and symmetric. The surface inside and out is finished with a
polishing tool. The color, as in most of this ware, is a dark brownish
gray, somewhat mottled by tiring or bv use over tire. Four S-shaped
ornaments, with nodes placed within the curves, are set about the most
expanded part of the body. The diameter is li.J inches and the depth
7 or 8 inches.
The specimen presented in plate cxvii" was plowed up near Mil-
ledgevillc, Georgia. It was engraved on wood for Dr. Charles Ran,
and was published in his Collections of the National Museum, but
the defects of drawing are such as to mislead the student with respect
to the character of the surface finish. The stamp design was a verv
simple one. founded on the cross, the four inclosed angles beiny tilled
in by straight lines, as is seen in plate rxiv*-. One arm of the cross
was more strongly relieved than the other, and this gave rise, where
the impressions happened to be continuous, to the heavv lines shown
in. exaggerated form in the Ran engraving. That the stamp was rigid
and flat on the face is apparent from the nature of the impressions on
the convex surface of the vase, and also from numerous deep impre-.-
sions of the edge of the tool at the sharp curve of the vessel where,
the neck joins the body. The somewhat fragmentary vase presented
in l> was obtained from a mound in Georgia. The stamp design, so
far as it could be deciphered, is given in plate cxiv <l. and embodies
as its main feature the guilloche or the imperfect I v connected scroll.
The association of the stamped earthenware with ware tvpical of
surrounding regions may be accounted for in two wavs first, through
occupation of a single site by more than one group of people at the,
same or at different times, and. second, bv the possession or manu
facture of more than one variety by a single commiinitv. Two inter
esting illustrations of the intermingling of types may be presented.
Explorations carried on for the Bureau of American Ethnology under
the direction of Dr Thomas in the mounds and graves of Caldwell
county. North Carolina, yielded many tine examples of pottery, among
which were vases and bowls of southern type, bowls decorated with
modeled animal heads and other relieved ornaments in western stvle.
fabric-marked pieces, and rude, undeco rated vessels, such as character-
i/e the middle Atlantic tidewater region.
A striking example of the intermingling of separate tvpes was
brought to light by the opening of a small mound lo miles below
Augusta, on the Savannah river. Richmond county. Georgia, bv Mi
ll. L. Reynolds, of the Bureau of American Ethnology. No mound
has yielded finer examples of the stamped ware, two pieces of which
138 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH.ASX.L-O
have already been given (plate cxv), and along with them and intimately
associated in the original interments were typical western forms. One
piece, a long-necked bottle, with decoration in black paint, would, so
far as its general appearance goes, be more at home in western Ten
nessee, or even beyond the Mississippi. This piece is shown in plate
cxviiirt. It is neither as well made nor as neatly finished as its
western prototypes, and the walls are unusually thick. The clay is
tempered with quartz and mica-bearing sand, a strong indication that
the vase is actually of Appalachian manufacture. Other bottles of
western form, but undecorated, were recovered. One remarkable
piece is shown in b; it resembles closely the famous "triune vase, 1
e, from Cany branch of the Cumberland river, Tennessee, described
by Caleb Atwater."
Hardly less remarkable was the occurrence in this richly stocked
mound of two cylindric cup-shaped vases, embellished with figures of
rattlesnakes, combining in execution, materials, finish, and decoration
most of the best features of the wares of the lower Mississippi and
the Gulf coast. Unlike the ordinary vessels of the region, these ves
sels are of the finest clay, which in the interior of the mass is of a
light grav color. The sin-face is blackened and well polished, and the
designs, engraved with a tine sharp point, penetrate to the light paste,
giving a striking effect. One of these vases appears in plate cxvinrf.
Encircling its slightly incurved walls are figures of two horned or
antlered rattlesnakes and a third serpent only partially worked out.
Occupying one of the interspaces between the sinuous bodies of the
serpents is a human face resembling a mask, connecting with lines
apparently intended to suggest a serpent s body. The smaller cup
contains the drawing of a single serpent extending twice around the
circumference.
These rattlesnakes are drawn in highly conventional style, but with
a directness and ease that could result only from long practice in the
engravers art. They are doubtless of symbolic origin, and the vases
were probably consecrated to use in ceremonials in which the rattle
snake was a potent factor. The delineation of the serpent is not spe
cifically different from other examples engraved on stone, clay, and
shell found in several parts of the South and West. This remarkable
design is illustrated one-third actual size in plate cxixa. The part
at the extreme right repeats the corresponding part at the left. The
human head or mask is unique among pottery decorations, but it is
not distinct in type from the heads stamped in sheet copper found in
the mounds of Georgia and those engraved on shell in many parts of
the Appalachian and Middle Mississippi regions.
That such a divei-se array of ceramic products, inadequately repre
sented by the illustrations given, should have been assembled in an
(i Atwater. Caleb, Western antiquities. Columbus, 1833. p. 140.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXVIII
b (HEIGHT 7; INCHES)
a (HEIGHT 9 INCHES)
d (HEIGHT 5 INCHES)
VASES OF VARIED DESIGN AND EMBELLISHMENT
SOUTH APPALACHIAN GROUP
,v,
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N.A
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CO
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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXX
BOWL WITH ELABORATE ENGRAVED DECORATIONS (MOORE COLLECTION)
SOUTH APPALACHIAN GROUP
LENG T H 9 if INCHES)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXI
b (DIAMETER Hi INCHES
a DIAMETER 12! INCHES)
LARGE VESSELS FROM EASTERN GEORGIA
SOUTH APPALACHIAN GROUP
(MOORE COLLECTION)
POTTERY OF THE SAVANNAH
obscure mound on the lower Savannah is indeed remarkable. Excel
lent examples of the pottery of the South, the Southwest, and the West
are thus found within KKI miles ,,f the Atlantic seaboard. Not the
least interesting feature of this tind was the occurrence of part of
an old-fashioned English iron drawing knife and some wrought-iron
nails, associated, according to the report of Mr Reynolds, with the
various articles of clay, stone, and copper in the mound, thus apparently
showing that the mound was built and thatall the varieties of ware were
made or assembled by a single community in post-Columbian times.
Mr Reynolds was firm in his belief that these vases and the diverse
articles referred to were associated in the original interments in the
mound, yet many will feel like questioning this conclusion. If a mis
take was made by the explorer with respect to this point, the interest
in the series is hardly lessened. If he is right, the mound was built
by a post-Columbian community composed of distinct groups of people
still practicing to some extent their appropriate arts, or by members
of a single group which, by association, capture, or otherwise, had
brought together artisans from distinct nations, or had from various
available sources secured the heterogeneous group of objects of art
assembled. If he is wrong, we are free to assume that the original
stock which practiced the ordinary arts of the Appalachian province
had built the mound and deposited examples of their work: that, at a
later period, they had acquired and used exotic artifacts in burial in the
same mound, or. that the mound was. after the coming of the whites,
adopted by a distinct people who there buried their dead, together
with articles of their own and of European manufacture. In such a
case it would be reasonable to suppose that the earlier people were of
Muskhogean or I ehean stock, and that the latter were the Savannahs
or Shawnees. The report of Mr Reynolds on the opening of this
remarkable mound is embodied in the work of I)r Thomas in the
Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. A number of
clay pipes obtained from this mound are shown in plate cxxiv. They
are of forms prevalent in the general region.
The extension of typical Appalachian wares eastward toward the
coast of North and South Carolina and Georgia is made manifest by
recent researches of Mr Clarence B. Moore. From a mound in Mclii-
tosh county. Georgia, Mr Moore obtained the remarkable bowl shown
in plate cxx. and a second specimen nearly duplicating it. It is quite
eccentric in shape, as is well shown by contrasting the end view, ,
with the side views, 1> and <-. The; color is quite dark, and the surface
well polished. It is embellished with engraved figures in lines, and
excavated spaces covering nearly the entire surface. The scroll bor
der above is somewhat irregularly placed, and encircles, at opposite
sides, a little node, the only modeled feature of the vase. The design,
drawn at full length, is shown in plate cxix //. and is apparently a
140 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH.ANx.au
rather crude attempt to depict a bird-serpent monster, some of the
elements undoubtedly referring to the eye, wings, and feathers of the
bird, while certain other features .suggest the serpent: as a decoration
it is verv effective. It undoubtedly represents an important mytho-
logic concept. The design from the companion vessel is .shown also on
this plate (r). and is a more simplified presentation of the same .subject,
The large jar illustrated in plate cxxitt is unique in the shape of
the neck, which is depressed, sinking partly within the shoulder. The
form is graceful and effective, however, and the decoration is the
typical button-centered filfot. applied with a paddle-stamp.
It appears also that vessels of the Gulf Coast type at least with
respect to the ornamentation -- occur on the Atlantic coast, and one is
shown in plate cxxi/ . This is a tub-like specimen, 15 or 10 inches in
diameter, with broken incised scroll work encircling the upper half
of the body, which expands toward the base in a way seldom noticed
in ware of its class.
In the collections recently made by Dr Roland Steiner in northwest
ern Georgia, we find another novelty in the shape of some terra-cotta
figures. Some of these appear to have been derived from the mar
gins of bowls or other vessels, while others are figurines pure and
simple. The faces in some eases are modeled with exceptional skill,
but the most notable feature is the flattening of the head, which gives
to the specimens a striking resemblance to the flat-headed terra-cotta
figures of Mexico. These objects are shown in plates cxxn and cxxin.
The associated vessels are all of South Appalachian type.
TOBACCO riPKS
It is difficult to say what forms the tobacco pipes of the southern
Indians had taken in pre-Columbian times, the early writers having
said little with reference to them. Their great number, the high
degree of elaboration, and the wide differentiation of form indicate,
how-over, a long period of tobacco pipe making. Stone was evi
dently .the favorite material, and steatite, especially, being easily
carved, handsome in appearance, and not affected by fire, took a promi
nent place. The historic tribes of the region, and especially of the
Carolinas. have always been great pipe makers and have for at least
a hundred years" practiced the art with much ardor, using the prod
uct in trade with neighboring tribes and with the whites. This
commercial work has led to no end of fanciful elaboration of form, and
to much that is strained and bad. We are led by this circumstance to
question the age of all the more ornate forms of pipes not found in
associations that prove them to be ancient.
The prevailing Algonquian clay pipe was a simple bent tube, and
the Iroquois elaborated the same general form by various modifica-
Law-son, John, History of Carolina, Kali-igh, 1XW. 1>I>. 36, 338.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXH
FIGURINES FROM NORTHWESTERN GEORGIA
SOUTH APPALACHIAN GROUP
(ACTUAL SIZE)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXIII
FIGURINES FROM NORTHWESTERN GEORGIA
SOUTH APPALACHIAN GROUP
(ACTUAL SIZE)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXIV
TOBACCO PIPES FROM BURIAL MOUNDS
SOUTH APPALACHIAN GROUP
fry
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXV
TOBACCO PIPES FROM BURIAL MOUNDS
SOUTH APPALACHIAN GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXVI
</ LENGTH 5; INCHES
TOBACCO PIPES FROM BURIAL MOUNDS
SOUTH APPALACHIAN GROUP
HOLMKS]
TOBACCO PIPKS AND ORNAMENTS
141
tions and additions. The same radical form is discovered in tlio clay
pipes of the Appalachian country. As has been observed elsewhere
in this paper, the groups or varieties of pipes are not so well marked
as are the groups of vessels. Pipes are subject to free transportation,
and no matter how distinctive the work of a given people, the pres
ence of so many stocks moving back and forth must necessarily
have led to much confusion.
Nothing more will here be attempted than the presentation of plates
in which are brought together a number of the more usual clav pipe
forms from the general region. The clay used was probably much
the same as that employed by the same peoples in vessel making, but
was left pure or was tempered with finely comminuted ingredients.
The surfaces were usually well polished or were covered with various
relieved ornaments. The colors were those of the baked clay. Aa a
rule the fundamental shape was the bent trumpet: often, however, it
was much modi tied, and was sometimes loaded with animal and con
ventional features in relief or in the round, as is shown in plates cxxiv
and cxxv. Eftigy pipes in clay are not common, but good examples
are seen in our museums, and several are presented in plate cxxvi.
The heavy pipe with stem and bowl of nearly equal weight is a
western and southern type found all the way from Florida to Arkan
sas. Two specimens of this variety were found in a mound on the St
Johns river. Florida, by Mr (\ H. Moore.
1 OTTKHV DISKS
Pottery disks cut from sherds of ordinary ware are common in the
South Appalachian region as well as along the(iulf coast, audit mav be
FIG. (W Small ilisks cut from slionls.
added that they are found to some extent over nearlv the entire pot
tery-producing region. Some of these objects may have been used in
142 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH..V.NN.M
playing games of .skill or chance, but two pairs, found by Mr Moore
[71 graves, indicate the use of the perforated ones a,s cores for copper
ear-disks. A few examples are illustrated in figure ><>.
Omoix OK TIIK VARIETIES OK WARE
It is not yet possible to make a satisfactory analysis of the pottery
of the Carolinas. The presence here in pre-Columbian times of
numerous stocks of people and the practice of the art by some of the
tribes down even to the present da} have led to great complexity of
phenomena. It happens also that the region has been but little
studied, and no one has undertaken the interesting task of tracing the
art of the modern tribes the Cherokees and Catawbas back through
the many changes of the last three hundred years to its pre-Columbian
phases. The Cherokees and Tuscaroras are of Iroquoian stock. The
former people practice their art to-day in one locality in western North
Carolina; the latter, \\lio removed to New York to join the league of
the Iroquois early in the eighteenth century, dwelt in central and east
ern North Carolina, and probably left ware of somewhat marked pecu
liarities in this region, as well as in Virginia. The l T chees. and the
Yamassees, of Muskhogean stock, dwelt on the Savannah, but probably
ceased pottery making at an early date, as they were among the. first
to come into familiar contact with the colonists. The Shawnees. a
tribe of Algonquian stock known in early times as Savannahs. "occu
pied part of Carolina and Georgia, and must have left numerous traces
of their presence. Two tribes of Siouan stock, the Tutelo and Catawba.
and perhaps others not so well known, inhabited parts of northern
Georgia and western Carolina, and a small area in south-central Vir
ginia, and it is probable that much of the confusion observed in the
ceramics of these sections is due to this occupation. The stock was
a vigorous one, and must have developed decided characteristics of
art, at least in its original habitat, which is thought to be west of
the Alleghenies. Through the presence of the various tribes of these
five linguistic families, and probably others of prehistoric times, the
highly complicated art conditions were brought about. Whether the
work of the various tribes was sufficiently individualized to permit of
the separation of the remains at the present day is a question yet to be
decided, but there is no doubt that the task may be at least partially
accomplished by systematic collection and study.
The first necessary step in this work is a study of the modern and
historic work of the tribes that have kept up the practice of the art to
the present day. In the introductory pages, under the head Manu
facture, the plastic art of the Catawbas and the Cherokees has been
described at some length. We naturally seek in the Siouan work in
the West analogies with the work of the former tribe, as it was of
MODERN WAKE OK THE CAROLINAS 143
Siouan .stock. But the Siouan peoples have not been pottery makers
in recent times, and we have no means of making comparisons, save
on the theory that the Middle Mississippi ware is wholly or partly of
Siouan make. Moreover, the modern Catawban pottery has been so
modified by post-Columbian conditions that few of the original char
acteristics are left, and comparison is fruitless. But an examination of
numerous ancient sites and a number of mounds in the region occupied
by the Catawbas in early historic time, and for an indefinite period in
pre-Columbian times, yields forms of vessels distinctly western in
some of their features, and in cases there appear also pretty well-
defined characteristics of the historic Catawba work. A group of
Catawban vessels collected between the years 187<> and 1886 is pre
sented in plate cxxvn^. A number of pipes of this people of the
same or a later period are shown in plate cxxvm.
Specimens found on the older dwelling sites of the people resemble
the modern pottery in color and finish, but they are of better work
manship, and the shapes resemble less closely those of the whites.
All are fiat-bottomed, have the thick walls and peculiar color and polish
of modern Catawba ware, and are well within the Catawba habitat,
even if not from sites inhabited by them in historic times. One speci
men labeled "Seminole" is identical with Catawba ware. It is prob
able that many other examples of old Catawban work exist, but
only these few have fallen into my hands. Points of correspondence
between this modern ware and the ware of the mounds in ancient
Catawban territory. North Carolina, will be pointed out when the
latter is presented.
A remnant of the Cherokee tribe now occupies a small reservation in
Swain county, western North Carolina. These people were in posses
sion of an immense tract of the South Appalachian region when first
encountered by the whites, and there is nothing to indicate that they
were not long resident in this region. An examination of their mod
ern art in clay develops the fact that they are skillful potters, and
what is of special interest is the fact that their ware has several
points of analogy with the ancient stamped pottery of the South Appa-
lachian province. Their ware retains more of the archaic elements of
form than does that of the Catawbas, and the stamps they use in deco
ration are identical in many respects with those formerly used in the
entire region extending from southern Florida to Virginia.
The question may thus be raised as to whether the Cherokees, rather
than the Uchees or the Muskhogean tribes, are not the people repre
sented by the ceramic remains of the Southeast. Such speculations
are, however, in the present state of our knowledge, quite vain, and
they may be misleading. All we can surely know is that these people
retain well-defined features of the ancient art of the region, and that
much of the ancient stamped ware of northern Georgia, western
144 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EA3TERN UNITED STATES [ETH. ANN. 20
Carolina, and eastern Tennessee is probably theirs, for it is found on
the sites known to have been long occupied by them.
Specimens of modern Cherokee work are shown in plate cxxvnJ.
Processes of manufacture have been sufficiently dwelt on in the intro
ductory pages.
In plate oxxix a number of vases from mounds in Caldwell county,
North Carolina, are brought together. They display great diversity
of characters eastern, southern, and western and, at the same time,
bear evidence of recentness, and. in cases, of relationship to modern
ware. All are tempered with silicious ingredients, and all seem, from
the manner of their occurrence, to have belonged to a single com
munity. Two specimens, the right and left in the lower row, are typic
ally western in appearance. In the upper middle vase we see the
bundles and the side ornament in relief characters rare on the eastern
slope but common in Tennessee; the stamped piece on its right affiliates
with the southern ware, and the upper left-hand vase is a southern
shape having incised designs like those of the Gulf coast. The
remaining cup shown illustrates the use of fabrics in the construction
and embellishment of pottery. The entire surface is deeply marked
with a textile mesh, which at tirst sight suggests that of the. interior
of a rude basket, but close examination shows that it is the impres
sion of a pliable fabric of open mesh woven in the twined style. It
is seen that there is much lack of continuity in the imprinting, and
also that the markings must be the result of wrapping the plastic-
vessel in fabrics to sustain it, or of the separate applications of a bit
of the texture held in the hand or wound about a modeling paddle.
This piece is more at home on the Atlantic coast of North Carolina and
Virginia than it is in the South or West. From the Jones mound, in
the same section, we have a series of vessels of still more modern look.
So far as shape and finish go they are decidedly like the modern
Catawba ware.
Over all this Carolina region there are indications of southern as
well as western and northern influence, and vessels and sherds are
obtained in many places that affiliate with the art of the South. The
stamped varieties are intermingled with the other forms in the shell
heaps of the Atlantic, on river sites back to the mountains, and, in
places, even across to the heads of western-flowing streams.
There are also specimens of the peculiar florid scroll work of the
Gulf province, and we may infer that southern tribes made their influ
ence felt as far north as Virginia, beyond which, however, a scroll
design, or even a curved line, is practically unknown, and the southern
peculiarities of shape are also absent.
As we pass to the east and north i n North Carolina it is found that the
southern and western styles of ware gradually give way to the archaic
forms and textile decorations of the great Algonquian area. From a
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXVII
a (DIAMETER OF LARGE BOWL 10! INCHES)
(DIAMETER OF LARGE POT 10 INCHES)
MODERN POTTERY OF THE CATAWBA AND CHEROKEE INDIANS
SOUTH APPALACHIAN GROUP
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AI.OONQUIAX POTTERY 145
kitchen midden on the Yadkin. in Wilkes county, within less than 25
miles of the Virginia lin,-. we have a few specimens of very rude
stamped ware and many pieces of large, coarse vessels that duplicate
the shell-heap ware of the Chesapeake. This is about the northern
limit of southern forms, hut northern forms extend, with gradually
decreasing frequency, to the western and southern borders of the
state.
POTTKKY OF TIJK MIPPLK ATLANTIC PKOVIXCK
HKVIKW or TIIK Ai.coxyriAN AKKAS
As was pointed out in the, introductory pages, a broad and impor
tant distinction is to be drawn between the ceramic products of the two
great regions which may be designated, in a general way. as the North
and the South. The former comprises that part of the great Algon-
quian-Iroquoian territory of historic times which lies to the north of a
somewhat indefinite line extending from below Cape Hatteras, on the
Atlantic coast, through southwestern Virginia, eastern Kentucky,
middle Ohio, northern Indiana, northern Illinois, and middle Iowa to
Nebraska, and beyond; the latter comprehends the territory to the
south of this line. The ceramic art of the North is archaic and simple,
that of the South is well advanced and complex. South of the line
there are compound and varied forms: north of it all forms are simple.
The pottery of the South has animal shapes: that of the North lias none.
The South has vessels with high, narrow necks, and stands and legs; the
North has none. The South has painted surfaces and decorations; the
North has no color, save the natural hues of the baked clay. The South
has the fret, scroll, and other current ornaments, as well as symbolic
and delineativc designs; the North has little else than simple combina
tions of straight lines.
There are questions coming up for consideration in this connection,
aside from those relating to the grouping and description of the
ware, with which this paper is mainly concerned. We seek, for
example, the meaning of the somewhat abrupt change of phenomena
in passing from the South to the North. Is it due to differences in
race? Were the southern tribes as a body more highly endowed than
the northern, or did the currents of migration, representing distinct
centers of culture, come from opposite quarters to meet along this
line? Or does the difference result from the unlike environments of
the two sections, the one fertile and salubrious, encouraging progress
in art. and the other rigorous and exacting, checking tendencies in
that dicretion? Or does the weakening art impulse indicate increas
ing distance from the; great art centers in the far South, in Mexico and
Yucatan? We are constrained also to ask. Is it possible to identify
20 ETH 03 lo
146 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OK EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.M
the people or any of the peoples concerned on either hand, to follow
their movements from place to place, to follow them back through the
mutations of their history? These questions and others come up for
consideration. Answers, or partial answers, to some of them will
probably be forthcoming as investigation goes on.
Aside from these general questions, which are always uppermost in
the mind of the ethnologist, there are others which pertain to the
ceramic art in particular. What do these archaic northern forms teach
of the beginnings and progress of art, and what can we learn from
them of the inceptive stages of ornament? These queries have been
considered to some extent in the introductory pages, and additional
suggestions are made in presenting the various groups of ware.
To exactly what extent the Algonquian tribes are responsible for
the northern types of pottery, aside from those definitely assignable
to the Iroquois, may never be fully determined, but that these types
an; largely Algonquian may be assumed from the, historic occupation
of many sections by pottery-making communities of that family.
There are complications in the Ohio valley and also, to some extent,
in the northern Illinois-Indiana region, where the ceramic phenomena
are complex, apparently representing successive occupations of the
area by different peoples. It may in time appear that numerous stocks
of people were concerned, for, though the ceramic remains indicate in
general a primitive condition a rather uniform grade of progress for
the peoples represented there is marked divergence in the other
groups of products; art in stone, bone, and metal had reached a com
paratively high degree of advancement in some sections. It may be
remarked, however, that had the whole area 7iow assigned to the
Algonquian stock been occupied by that stock from the first, to the
exclusion of all others, we could not expect uniformity in art remains
over so vast an area. Communities of the same blood and culture
grade, separated for a long period by great distances, and existing
under distinctive environments, would acquire and develop activities
and arts only a little less varied than would nonconsanguineous groups
under like conditions. It is significant, however, that as we glance
over the whole field we observe in the ceramic remains a marked family
resemblance, not an equality of grade only, but close analogies in
many features of treatment, form, finish, and decoration.
Beginning in the coastal districts of the Carolinas, we pass to Vir
ginia, to New Jersey, to Connecticut, to Massachusetts, and to Maine
through a series of groups exhibiting differences in detail, but having
decided general likeness. If we pass from the east across the great
highland to the Ohio valley, we find that the differences are more
marked. There is a general resemblance, with here and there signs
of stronger touches and more advanced ideas and practices, but as we
pass beyond to the upper Mississippi and the Great lakes, the East is
PAMLICO-ALKKMARLK POTTERY 147
seen to he repeated in u marked manner, and the merest detail* must
he relied upon to separate sherds from the two distant regions, if, by
accident, they become intermingled.
The Iroquoian group will be treated in a separate section, while the
northern and eastern Algonquian territory may lie reviewed as care
fully as the meager collections and incomplete observations at hand
will permit.
In the rather imperfect light of present knowledge, we mav to best
advantage consider the ceramic work of this great province under
heads which express something of geographic culture grouping. First,
we have the Middle Atlantic province, which, for comparative study
of details, may be further separated into several subdivisions, the
principal being the Chesapeake-Potomac region, which presents a well-
defined unit, geographically, culturally, and ethnically." Second,
there are the entire New Jersey and New England areas. The first of
these appears to be divided somewhat between the Delaware valley and
the coastal districts, while in the second collected data are so meager
that little can be done in the way of systematic technic or comparative
study. These Atlantic provinces are indicated approximately on the
accompanying map. plate iv. Third is the Ohio Valley province, in
which we shall have two or three subdivisions of fictile remains which
are not distinct geographic groups, one of them, at least, extending far
to the west in a succession of areas. Fourth, we have the Upper Mis
sissippi and Missouri Valley provinces, so far little studied: and lifth.
the region of the Great lakes, of which we have only fragmentary bits
of information.
PAMLICO-ALBEMARLK WAKE "
South Appalachian forms of ware prevail throughout Georgia and
South Carolina, save along the coast, where the simple textile-marked
wares of the North extend far southward, gradually diminishing in fre
quency of occurrence. Southern forms prevail largely in North Caro
lina, giving way farther north and in the region of the great sounds
and their tide-water tributaries to other forms apparently showing
Algonquian handiwork or influence. The change from southern to
northern types is rather gradual, which may have resulted from con
tact of peoples living contemporaneously in neighboring districts. In
some cases all varieties are found together, as in the Lenoir mounds in
Caldwell county. North Carolina, the village sites of the Yadkin, and
elsewhere. The intermingling does not consist exclusively in the
assemblage of specimens of separate groups of ware, as if people from
different sections had successively occupied the sites", but features
typical of these sections are combined in the same group of vessels,
or even in the same vessel.
"In the Illustrations nil the pottery, ,f th<> Middle Atlantic province Ims been classed us <,f the
Chesapeake- Potomac ^roup.
148 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OK EASTERN I NITKI) STATES [KTH.ASN.20
The northernmost advance of strictly South Appalachian features of
the art so far observed is in the, valley of the Yadkin in North Carolina,
near the Virginia line; and the farthest advance of southwestern fea
tures is in the upper valleys of the Shenandoah and James, on the his
toric highway of the tribes between the North and South.
Particular attention may be called to the contents of village sites on
the Yadkin in Wilkes county. North Carolina, just referred to. Here
we have rather rude ware, mostly large, tire-blackened culinary uten
sils, manifestly of comparatively recent date. Among the sherds are
a few pieces bearing stamped designs of southern type. We also have
examples of the large, conic, net-marked vessels so prevalent in the
Potomac-Chesapeake country. A wide scone of sites extending across
the middle section of the state on the line of the Yadkin. and probably
down to the sea in South Carolina, exhibits a remarkable intermingling
of northern and southern elements.
In form the Wilkes county midden ware is limited almost exclu-
sivelv to the wide mouthed caldron, with rather long body and some
what conic base. The vessels are rudely treated, unsymmetric in
shape, and thick- walled. The paste is tempered with a large percentage
of i -ritty sand or coarsely pulverized steatite, the fragments of the latter
standing out in high relief on weathered surfaces. The steatite in
many cases forms one-half or two-thirds of the mass. In plate exxx
a series of outlines is given, restored from the many large fragments,
which will convey a fair idea of the character of the vessels.
This ware exhibits great diversity of surface treatment. Aside
from the few stamped pieces (which may be the work of a separate
people, although akin to the prevailing type in everything save the
surface finish), the vessels are nearly all marked with netting of about
the weight of our finest fish netting (plate cxxx//). A superficial
examination gives the impression that the vessels have been modeled
or handled when plastic in a net. or that a net has been applied to the
entire surface by wrapping, but a study of the markings shows that
generally the texture has been applied with the aid of a net-covered
paddle with which the plastic surface was beaten. In plate cxxxirt is
photographically reproduced a fragment in which five facet-like sur
faces, the result of that number of applications of the net-covered
implement, are imperfectly shown. Certain heavier knottings are
repeated in each impression, demonstrating the fact that the fabric-
was fixed to the tool and not applied to the vessel as a mold or wrap
ping. Had the latter been the case, the mesh impression would have
been somewhat completely connected and continuous. In numerous
cases parts of the surfaces have been scarified with a serrate-edged tool
or com)), obliterating the net marks, as if in preparation for polishing
and decorating. In a few cases very rude incised figures have been
added, as is seen in the examples given in plates cxxxi it and cxxxil".
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXX
IDIAMETER 13; INCHES
/ DIAMETER 12 INCHES)
r DIAMETER 6 INCHES)
(/ DIAMETER 9 INCHES)
e i DIAMETER 10 INCHES)
$&.
<? DIAMETER 11 INCHES
KITCHEN MIDDEN POTTERY WITH VARIED MARKINGS
CHESAPEAKE-POTOMAC GROUP
s
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXXI
>** (
? .., ;. ; - JSLtL
KITCHEN MIDDEN POTTERY OF THE YADKIN VALLEY
CHESAPEAKE-POTOMAC GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
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s
KITCHEN MIDDEN POTTERY OF THE YADKIN VALLEY
CHESAPEAKE-POTOMAC GROUP
PIEDMONT 1 LATKAI I nTTKKY 141)
The rim WHS smoothed down \vith the tinkers, and the interior surface
was finished with the scarifying tool, roughly applied. In a few eases
rude ornamental effects have been produced by using tlie linger nail
as a roulette, giving much the effect of tine net impressions. The nail
was rolled back and forth as the ringer was moved with rather strong
pressure around the neck of the vessel. A specimen of this unique
treatment is shown in plate cxxxi </. and some simpler ringer-nail work
is seen in plate cxxxn <i. The use of a notched indenting tool is indi
cated in plate rxxxi/. Narrow rillets of clay were in cases rude I v
laid on and decorated with the nail in herringbone effects.
The surface treatment of a number of specimens is identical with
that of the net-marked vase from Caldwell county, shown in the pre
ceding section, plate cxxix. It appears evident that in finishing the
rim of the vase a lillet of netting was wrapped about the neck to cause
the desired constriction and hold the vessel together while the margin
was pressed outward and finished.
The sherds shown in plate cxxxn // and c, the former from Wilson.
North Carolina, and the latter from Olarksville. Virginia, illustrate
the use of the cord roulette or cord-wrapped stamp in texturing and
malleating the surface of vessels. The effect of rolling the tool back
and forth is readily seen. The small fragment given in ,/ shows the
use of a wooden stain]) with a neat design in curved lines in South
Appalachian style. The clay retains the impressions of the grain of the
wood. In e the surface lias been textured with a wooden stamp or
paddle the face of which was grooved, the effect being \-erv like that
of stamping with cord-covered tools.
1 lKDMOXT Vll!IXIA WAUK "
In northwestern North Carolina and in southwestern Virginia a
somewhat marked local variety of pottery is developed which partakes
to some extent of the character of the ware of the far Northwest, and
probably represents some of the tribes which occupied the Virginia
highland about the period of Knglish colonization. Indeed, traces of
this variety occur on the .lames in its middle course, and appear on the
Dan, the Yadkin. and possibly on the upper Shenandoah. It occurs
plentifully on New river, and will no doubt be found to extend down
the westward-flowing streams, thus connecting with the little-known
groups of northeastern Tennessee, eastern Kentucky, and western
West Virginia. The pottery is always rude, and consists of simple
pots, nearly always showing the soot-blackened surfaces of culinarv
utensils. Their strongest characteristics are the verv general presence
of rudely modeled looped handles, which connect the outcurved rim
with the shoulder, bridging a short, slightly constricted neck, and the
"See 1 t ootnoti- on pjiffr ] 17.
150 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OK EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTii.ANN.20
frequent occurrence of a thickened collar, sometimes .slightly over
hanging, after the Iroquoian style, but marked with cords and cord
indenting*, characteristic of the rim decoration of the Upper Missis
sippi and Lake Michigan pottery. More extensive collecting may
enable us to separate these wares into two or more groups or varieties.
Pipes of the simple form common in the eastern Algonquian country
are found on some of the sites. A number of sherds illustrating this
potterj- are brought together in plate cxxxui. The people concerned
may have belonged to the Algonquian stock, for Algonquian features
decidedly prevail, but there is a possibility that they were Siouan.
Several sherds from a village-site burying ground 3 miles north
of Luray, Virginia, are presented in plate cxxxiv. The simple but
extremely neat pots to which these fragments belong were buried with
human bodies in individual graves on the bottom land near a mound,
but this mound itself, though containing the remains of many hundred
bodies, did not yield any pottery whatever." About Harpers Ferry
and Point of Rocks we have the same ware, but at Romney, West
Virginia, Iroquoian types prevail.
The pottery of upland Virginia and West Virginia is distinguished
from that of the tidewater provinces by the prevalence of handles,
few examples of which have been found in the latter areas, and the
ware of the general Piedmont /one also differs from that of the lowland
in the prominence given the neckbanda feature appearing frequently
west of the fall line, but rather exceptional east of it,
POTOMAC-CHESAPEAKE WAKE
GENERAL FEATURES
The central ethnic group of the Potomac-Chesapeake province in
historical times was the Powhatan confederacy, seated for the most
part between Chesapeake bay and the James river. The art of this
district was probably, in the main, developed within the general region,
and was practiced in common by the confederacy and other tribes of
the same stock along the Carolina coast and throughout the Virginia-
Maryland tidewater province. It was probably practiced in more or
less modified forms by isolated tribes of other stocks coming within
the Algonquian influence. Possibly the conditions of existence along
the thousands of miles of tidewater shore line, where the life of the
inhabitants was largely maritime and the food was principally marine,
may have had a strong influence on the potter s art, tending to make it
simple, and uniform. The shifting of habitation, duo to varying food
supply, and possibly to the necessity of avoiding the periodic malarial
season, must bave restricted the practice of an art which is essentially
the offspring of sedentary existence; or the exclusive practice of simple
n Fowke, Gerard, Archeologic investigations in James and Potomac valleys, Bulletin of the Bureau
of Ethnology, 1894, p. 49.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOCiV
ANNUAL. REPORT PL. CXXXiil
* ^V*MjM*/#
: : mi
POTSHERDS WITH TEXTILE MARKINGS, NEW RIVER VALLEY, VIRGINIA
CHESAPEAKE-POTOMAC GROUP
SLIGHTLY REDUCED
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGV
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. cxxxiv
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Afijy
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POTSHERDS Wn H TEXTILE MARKINGS, FROM LURAY, VIRGINIA
CHESAPEAKE-POTOMAC GROUP
(THREE-FOURTHS)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXXV
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INCISED DESIGNS FROM POTTERY, AND TATTOO MARKS
CHESAPEAKE-POTOMAC GROUP
HOI.MKS] POTOMAC-CHESAPEAKE 1 OTTKRY 151
culinary phases of the art may have resulted from the absence of cus
toms demanding vessels for mortuary purposes, ossuary burial at the
end of a more or less prolonged period having prevailed to the exclusion
of individual inhumation. At any rate, the elementary character and
narrow range of the art are its most notable features, and it is remark
able that tribes cultivating maize and practicing several arts with
exceptional skill should have been such inferior potters.
Whole vessels are rarely found in the region, and the archeologist
must depend for his material on kitchen middens and village sites
which furnish fragmentary remains exclusively. There is little
trouble, however, in securing enough evidence to reach a correct esti
mate of the nature and range of the ceramic products. Only pots
and kettles and a few simple pipes were produced. The ordinary
forms are deep bowls and wide-mouthed pots of medium or small size.
Save in remote sections where western and southern tribes are known
to have wandered, we do not encounter such features as eccentric or
compound forms, animal shapes, constricted mouths, high necks,
handles, legs, or flat bases of any kind. Ornament is archaic, and
curved lines are almost unknown. These; statements are in the main
true of the whole Atlantic Algonquian belt from Albemarle sound to
the Bay of Fundy.
Though simple in form and archaic in decoration, much of the ware
of the great tidewater province was well made and durable. The
materials are the clays of the section, tempered with a wide range of
ingredients, including pulverized shell, quartz, gneiss, and steatite,
besides all grades of ordinary sand. The vessels were largely, if not
exclusively, culinn .
Decoration is to a larger extent than elsewhere of textile character,
though the Algonquian everywhere employed this class of embellish
ment. As a rule, the entire body of the vase is covered vith imprint-
ings of coarse cloths or nets or cord-wrapped tools, and tue ornament
proper, confined to the upper portions of the surface, consists in the
main of simple geometric arrangements of impressions of hard-twisted
cords. Details will be given as the wares of representative localities
are described. Besides the textile designs, there are similar figures
in incised lines, indentations, and punctures, or of all combined. In
plate cxxxv a are assembled a number of the figures emploved, and
with them are placed some tattoo designs (?>) copied from the work of
Hariot," whose illustrations represent the natives among whom the
Roanoke colony was planted.
Kims are slightly modified for esthetic effect. Occasionally the} are
scalloped, and inconspicuous collars were sometimes added. Various
indentings of the margin were made with the finger nails, hard cords,
or modeling tools.
Hariot, Thomas, A briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia, Frankfort, 1590.
152 AKOKIUINAL POTTEKY OF EASTERN VNITED STATES [ITU. ANN. -20
There is marked uniformity in the. ware of thousands of .sites scat
tered over the entire tidewater country, an area nearly 20,000 square
miles in extent. The only distinction worth noting is that existing
between the commoner variety of village-site ware and a coarser form
found nearly everywhere associated with the ordinary variety, but pre
vailing over it in the great oyster-shell deposits. This latter ware cor
responds to the net-marked pottery found so plentifully on the Yadkin
in North Carolina, illustrated in preceding plates. In the Chesapeake
country this pottery is not exclusively net-marked, other textile mate
rials having been used. Whether or not this ware belonged to a dis
tinct people dwelling at times in the region or whether it is a variety
due to differences in function merely can not yet be fully determined,
although analogies with the prevailing style are so marked that the
theory of separate peoples tinds little support.
MODKKN I AMUXKEY WAHK
Before we pass on to the ware of particular localities it may be
mentioned that while the art practiced by the tribes of this province
when iirst visited by the English colonists was soon practically aban
doned, at least one community, a remnant of the Pamunkey Indians,
residing on their reservation on the Pamunkey river adjoining King
William county, Virginia, was practicing a degenerate form of it as
late as 1878. At about that time Dr Dalyrimple, of Baltimore, visited
these people and made collections of their ware, numerous specimens
of which are now preserved in- the National Museum. A few of the
vases then gathered are shown in plate cxxxvi.
Professor O. T. Mason, referring to the work of Dr Dalyrimple,
remarks that these people are "a miserable half-breed remnant of the
once powerful Virginia tribes. The most interesting feature of their
present condition is the preservation of their ancient modes of making
pottery. It will be news to some that the shells are calcined before
mixing with the clay, and that at least one-third of the compound is
triturated shell.""
The modeling of these vessels is rude, though the surfaces are neatly
polished. They are very slightly baked, and the light-gray surface is
mottled with clouds of black. The paste lacks coherency, and several
of the specimens have crumbled and fallen to pieces on the shelves,
probablv as a result of the slaking of the shell particles. Ornament
is confined to slight crimping and notching of the rim margins. None
of the pieces bear evidence of use, and it seems probable that in recent
years the art has been practiced solely or largely to supply the demands
of curiosity hunters. The very marked defects of manufacture and
the crudeness of shape suggest the idea that possibly the potters were
i Mason, Otis T.. Anthropological news, itl American Naturalist, Boston, 1877, vol. .\i, p. 627.
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HOLMES) 1>OI>KS CKKEK POTTERY 153
really unacquainted with aboriginal methods. It will be seen by refer
ence to the illustrations presented in this and the preceding section
that this pottery corresponds somewhat closely in general appearance
with that of the Cherokees and Catnwbas.
Jn 1SDI these Indians were visited by Mr John (i. Pollard, from
whom the following paragraphs are quoted:
Mr Terrill liradby, one of the best informed members of the tribe, furnished, in
substance, the following account of tin- processes followed and the materials used in
the manufacture of this pottery:
"In former times, the opening <>f a clay mine was a great feast day with the
I amunkey. The whole tribe, men, women, and children, were present, and each
family took home a share of the clay. The first steps in preparing the clay are to
dr\ it, beat it up, pass it through a sieve, and pound it in a mortar. Fresh-water
mussels, flesh as well as shell, having l>een burnt and ground up, are mixed with the
clay prepared as above, and the two are then saturated with water and kneaded
together. This substance is then shaped with a mussel shell to the form of the arti
cle desired, placed in the sun ami dried, then scraped with a mussel shell, and rub
bed with a stone for the purpose of producing a gloss. The dishes, bowls, jars, etc.,
as the case may be, are then placed in a circle and tempered with a slow fire; then
placed in the kiln and covered with dry pine bark, and burnt until the smoke comes
out in a clear volume. This is taken as an indication that the ware has been burnt
sufficiently. It is then taken out and is ready for use."
SHKI.I.-1IKAP \\AKK OK POPES CKKKK
The heavy, rude, net-marked or coarsely cord-rouletted pottery so
common in this province has been found most plentifully at Popes
creek on the Potomac, for the reason, no doubt, that the removal of
the shells at this place for fertilizing purposes has exposed the pottery
more fully than elsewhere. Typically developed, it is a coarse, heavy
ware, having a narrow range of form. size, and finish. The paste is
highly silicious. and is tempered very generally with quartz sand,
some grains or bits of which are very coarse. The color is mostly
somewhat ferruginous, especially on the surface, the, interior of the
mass being grayer and darker. The shapes are simple, and apparently
without variations for esthetic effect. The vessels are deep bowls,
wide-mouthed pots, or caldrons with conic bases, and are identical in
nearly every respect with the midden vessels of \Vilkes county. North
Carolina, of which sherds are shown in plates cxxxi and cxxxn.
The walls rarely show constriction at the ne.ck. and descend with
slight even curves, at angles of from 30 to 50 degrees to the base, as
is indicated in plate cxxxvu. The thickness varies from less than
one-fourth of an inch to 1 inch, the greatest thickness being at the
conic base. The diameter of the largest pieces was 20 inches or more,
the depth averaging considerably less than this. The surfaces are
"Pollard, John Garland. The Pamunkey Indians of Virginia, Bulletin of the Bureau of Ethnology.
Washington. 1S94. p. Is.
154 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH. Axx.20
uneven and roughly finished, but have received a large share of a rude
kind of decorative texturing. The exterior surface has usually received
the imprint of an open-mesh net, applied by repeated paddling (plate 1
cxxxviu), and the interior has been scarified with a comb, or a scrrate-
edgcd tool, the teeth of which, occurring about ten or twelve to the
inch, were blunt and not very even. The original and principal
function of this scarifying tool was no doubt that of modeling, but
in cases it was drawn back and forth in such a manner as to produce
simple, irregular, patterned effects, illustrated in plate cxxxix. These
combs were probably notched bits of wood, shell, or bone, not over
an inch or two in width. The net-marked exterior and scarified
interior are peculiar to this heavy ware, and give it a high degree of
individuality.
Attempts at systematic decoration arc rare. In a few cases, when
the rim was turned rather decidedly outward, a band along the inner
margin received impressions from a bit of net. The outer margin
was rudely rounded or squared off. and, in cases, marked with a net,
the finger nail, or an implement. Rude, archaic patterns were some
times traced with the finger or a blunt tool over the net-marked
exterior of the vessel. The, net was wrapped about the hand or an
improvised paddle and applied to the plastic surface by paddling or
rocking. The object of this application was possibly threefold:
first, to knit the clay together; second, to roughen the surface to
facilitate heating, and, third, to give a pleasing finish. It can not be
determined whether the netting used in finishing the surface of these
rude vessels was the same as that used in fishing nets, but it may fairly
be assumed that it was the same. Rather rarel} here, but frequently
elsewhere, this same style of ware was finished by applying other
varieties of fabric, or by rolling cord-covered tools over the surface,
as is indicated in plate cxxxviu 1>.
By taking clay impressions from the fictile surfaces, numerous
restorations of the netting have been made (plate cxxxvin //). The
cords used were well twisted and varied from the size of a small thread
to that, even, of coarse wrapping thread or twine. The knotting is
generally simple, the meshes ranging from three to seven to the inch.
Illustrations are given in plate cxxxvn <Z, <\ f, g. I. One example,
c, appears to have the threads arranged in pairs, but this effect, though
often recurring, may be the result of duplicate imprinting. Tn cases
certain strands present the appearance of having been plaited.
As we have seen, similar pottery occurs on the Yadkin, in North
Carolina; the materials are the same, the shape, size, degree of rude
ness, treatment of the surface, and decoration are the same, even
the netting and the practice of partially obliterating the net impres
sions on the whole or a part of the vessels are the same. This
pottery is found in more or less typical forms intermingled with the
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXXVII
POTTERY FROM SHELL HEAPS AT POPES CREEK, MARYLAND
CHESAPEAKE-POTOMAC GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXXVIII
POTTERY FROM SHELL HEAPS AT POPES CREEK, MARYLAND
CHESAPEAKE-POTOMAC GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXXIX
a (ABOUT TWO-THIRDS)
POTTERY FROM SHELL HEAPS AT POPES CREEK, MARYLAND
CHESAPEAKE-POTOMAC GROUP
.-
1 TV
-^^^., *rr
HOLMES] POTOMAC CREEK POTTERf^ 155
ordinary varieties of ware on .sites extending from the Yadkin to the
Delaware.
POTOMAC CKKEK WARK
The Popes creek shell-lump site, referred to above, is the best
representative of its class in the province. It is located just below the
upper limit of the oyster hanks on the Potomac, which was possibly
farther upstream in the period which witnessed the accumulation of
the shells on these sites than it is to-day. It will he interesting and
instructive to compare the ceramic remains of these deposits with
those of a neighboring site on Potomac creek just above the oyster-
producing limits, a stretch of nearly 2<> miles of the hike-like Potomac
intervening. The Potomac creek site, the seat of the famous Algon-
quian village of Pottowomeck, referred to by Smith, is still well
supplied with fragments of the finer varieties of the ware of the
region. Few coarse, heavy, carelessly made pieces are found, and
net-marked specimens of the Popes creek typo are rare, if not absent.
It is observed, however, that the, coarser wares are fragile, and that
they disintegrate readily, as was observed at Popes creek, where the
sherds taken from the shell deposits generally crumble on being
handled. The two hundred years of cultivation to which the Potomac
creek site, unprotected by compact layers of shell, has been subjected,
must have gone far toward destroying all save the particularly durable
pieces.
The clay used in the Potomac creek ware was usually very tine in
texture, the sand employed increasing in coarseness with the size of
the vessel. Weathered surfaces show the particles of white sand in
relief, while shell is rare or absent. The paste is well baked, an<4 of
the usual warm gray colors, rarely approaching terra cotta.
The modeling was often skilful, and the surfaces of many of the
smaller vessels were even and well polished. Most of the vessels were
quite small, many being mere cups, holding from a pint to a quart.
The walls of these vessels were thin and even, and the outlines approxi
mately symmetric. The forms were well within the lines usual in the
province, varying from that of a deep cup or bowl to that of a wide-
mouthed pot with upright rim and slightly swelling bodv. The few
bases preserved arc slightly conic, the point being a little flattened,
so that the vessel would stand alone on u hard surface. The finish
is considerably varied within certain narrow limits. The prevailing
body finish was given by some form of modeling tool covered or
wrapped with line, well-twisted threads, which was rolled back and
forth, or was applied as a paddle. In some cases the textile markings
were rubbed down for the application of incised or indented designs,
and rarely the entire surface was polished.
156 ABORIGINAL, 1 OTTERY OK EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH.AXX.L U
Decoration WHS routined mostly to a zone about the rim, and con
sisted in the main of cord impressions arranged in lines encircling the
vessel, or grouped in various ways to form simple patterns. The
effect was varied, in cases, by series of indentations made by impress
ing ii sharply folded cord of larger si/.e. Rim-sherds are shown about
one-half actual size in plate cxr,J. The work was all, or nearly all,
done by the application of cords singly, the cord having been wrapped
about a wheel or some round surface so to be readily rolled back
and forth. The rim-margins are simply treated, and are round or
squarish, and either plain or indented with an angular tool or a cord.
A few small pieces bear marks made apparently by very neat stamps
of chevroned lines, possibly some animal or vege
tal form. There are other markings too obscure
to be made out. It is evident that in cases a
finely ribbed paddle was used, almost duplicating
the textile effects.
Numerous fragments of the simplest form of
tubular clay pipes have been found on this site.
The best specimens are in collections made by Mr
W. H. Phillips, of Washington, and are illustrated
in plate rxL.ii.
DISTRICT OK COM MHIA WAKK
Generally speaking, the important village sites
of the Potomac present a pretty full range of the
two types of ware described above as the Popes
creek and the Potomac creek varieties, although
the latter may be said to predominate and to have
the more general distribution. It will be unneces
sary to examine other localities in detail, but, on
account of local and national interest in the his
tory of the site of the capital city, reference ma}
be made to ceramic remains from the ancient vil
lage sites now occupied by the city of Washington.
"When the Knglish rirst ascended the Potomac they found a small com
munity of the natives occupying the terraces on the south side of the
Anacostia river or Eastern branch, near its junction with the Potomac.
Archeologists now find that the occupation was very general in the
vicinity, and that relics of stone and clay utensils occur on nearlv every
available spot along the shores of both rivers, within as well as above
and below the city limits.
The ceramic remains of these sites, as turned up bv the plow and
exposed by erosion and city improvements, are wholly fragmented,
but restorations are ivadilv made, and a few illustrations will serve to
FIG. 61 Rude earthenware
figurine, Potomac vallry
(Phillips rollrrtion j.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXL
teJH ^
: $&Kt<&t\^
M
POTTERY FROM POTOMAC CREEK, VIRGINIA, AND ANACOSTIA, DISTRICT O^ CJLUMBIA
CHESAPr-AKfi-POTOVAC r,r, f.. jp
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLI
n IDIAMETER ABOUT 10 INCHESI
e IDIAMETER 6 INCHES!
POTTERY FROM THE VICINITY OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
RESTORED FROM FRAGMENTS)
CHESAPEAKE-POTOMAC GROUP
H"LMK*i 1 OTTKRV UF C HKriAPEAKE KEGION 157
convey a correct idea of the art as practiced by the prehistoric Wash-
ingtonians. Outlines of several vases are presented in plate OXLI, and
photographic reproductions of fragments are given in <. <1. <\ plate
CXL. The fragment c is a part of the vessel outlined in </. plate CXLI.
It was found on a village site which was partly destroyed in building
the south abutment of the Pennsylvania avenue bridge across the Ana-
costia river in 1890. The shape was pleasing and symmetric, and the
surface was well smoothed, though not highly polished. The simple
ornament about the scalloped rim consists of cord imprintings arranged
in a series of connecting triangular spaces. The mouth was about it
inches in diameter.
It may be mentioned as a curious fact that as we approach the head of
tide water on the Potomac and enter the district furnishing soapstone
we observe the influence of this material on both the paste and the
form of the earthenware. The sites about West Washington contain
many sherds tempered with pulverized steatite, and the vessels to
which they belonged were, in eases, supplied with rude nodes set a
little beneath the rim, closely resembling the handles characterizing
the steatite pots of the same section. From this circumstance it is
clear that the making of pottery and the working of the soapstone
quarries were contemporaneous events, a fact shown also by the
intermingling of articles of both classes in the debris of mam village
sites.
In figure ill a rudely modeled doll-like figure from the Phillips col
lection is shown. It is from one of the Potomac river sites, and is the
only example of its kind so far found in the whole province.
WAKK OF TIIK CHKSAI KAKK AM) KASTEKX SHOIJK
A description of the sherds of an average Potomac river site could
be repeated without essential change for those of an average site on
the shores of Chesapeake hay. At Kiverton, on the Nanticoke, for
example, the general features of form. size, color, fragilitv. finish,
and decoration are repeated. Minor differences are observed in many
cases. Incised decoration takes the place, in a measure, of the cord-
imprinted figures of Potomac creek. Shell tempering prevails, and
the wrapped- cord paddling and rouletting takes the place largely of
cord texturing. Net impressions an; comparatively rare. The plain
and indented rim. the conic base, and the combed interior surface
observed in the Potomac wares are repeated here.
In advancing to the north we come to realize that gradually a change
is taking place in the character of the ware, and that the change is
toward the characteristics of the work of the Iroquoian province. The
scalloped rim and the peculiar arrangements of incised lines take on
northern characters. We have thus, as in other cases, indications of
158 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETII.ANN.-JO
the close association in some way or other, peaceable or warlike, of the
occupants of neighboring northern and southern provinces.
Collections from the upper Maryland and Delaware districts are
extremely meager, and it is impossible now to trace in detail the tran
sitions that take place between the drainage of the Potomac and that
of the Susquehanna and between the latter stream and the Delaware.
TOBACCO 1 ii Ks
Although it was Virginia, possibly, that gave to Kngland the form
of tobacco pipe largely adopted there and most used by the whites gen
erally throughout the three centuries that have elapsed since the found
ing of Kaleigh s colonies, the clay pipes of the Virginia province are
of the simplest possible type. They are slightly bent tubes from 4 to
6 inches in length, having gently expanding bowls less than -2 inches
long, and steins that taper slightly to a neat mouthpiece. They are
not unlike some forms of cigarette or cigar holders of the present
period. The stem, in cases, is flattened so as to be held easily between
the teeth or lips, as is indicated in the sections in plate cxLii/7 and
i\ The finish is of all grades between rude smoothing with the fingers
and an excellent polish. The paste is usually very fine grained, the
baking is often excellent, and the colors are the ordinary warm grays
of the baked clay.
Ornament is seen only in rare cases; some specimens have a slightly
relieved hand about the bowl, and in a very few instances indented
designs are observed. The bowl of the specimen shown in d has been
decorated with an extremely neat design of the usual style of the
region, applied apparently with a delicately notched roulette. The
inside of the bowl and stem is usually blackened by use. It is a fact
worthy of note that many of the sites yield fragments of pipes of
much the same size and general style, which are made of pure white
clay and bear indications of having been pressed in molds after the
fashion of our ordinary clay pipes. This would seem to indicate that
the whites took to making pipes for trade while yet the shores of the
Potomac and Chesapeake were occupied by the native villagers. I will
not enlarge on this subject here further than to present an illustra
tion of a pipe and tobacco pouch, f. copied from a plate in Harlot s
Virginia. The pipe is identical in shape with the clay pipes of the
region as here illustrated, and we have the good fortune thus to be
able to connect the historic tribes of the Koanoke province with the
sites supplying nearlv all of our archeologic material.
Pipes of this class are confined pretty closely within the South
Algonquian province. The change from the wide rimmed, sharply
bent clay pipe of the South Appalachian province is quite abrupt; but
on the north the change is somewhat gradual into the more elaborate
and elegant pipes of the Troquois.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLII
/ ACTUAL SIZE)
TOBACCO PIPES OF THE POTOMAC VALLEY
CHESAPEAKE-POTOMAC GROUP
POTTERY OF IRoyUOlAN TRIBKS 159
POTTERY OFTHE1ROQ17OIAX I KOVINVK
THE IKOQUOIAN TKIHKS
The group of tribes now classed, <n the basis of language, us Iro-
quoian. constituted one of tl><> most important grand divisions of the,
aborigines of North America. The central culminating event in their
history was the formation of the league, which included at first five,
nations and finally six. The seat of this great group of communities
was in New York, but their strong arm was felt at times from Nova
Scotia on the east to the Mississippi on the west, and from the drain
age of Hudson bay on the north almost to the Gulf on the south. There
were several outstanding tribes of this stock not absorbed by the
league the Conestogas on the lower Susquehanna. the Cherokees in
the Carolinas and Georgia, the Wyandots along the St Lawrence and
the Great lakes, and others of less prominence in other sections. All
save the Cherokees were surrounded by tribes of Algonquian stock.
The cultural remains of this strongly individualized people constitute
a well marked group of art products, fully identified and correlated
with the makers. These remains are central in New York, in which
state the types are found, but they extend out into the neighboring
states, where they gradually lose their typical character. The tracing
of the peculiarly Iroquoian art and art influence from center to cir
cumference of the great province occupied, is a matter of very consid
erable importance to the historian of the aborigines, but little has
been done as yet in a systematic way toward carrying out the work.
Morgan. Schoolcraft. Hale, Boyle. Beauchamp. Harrison Wright.
Perkins. Squier. Thomas, dishing, and many others have contributed
not a little, though most of the work has been fragmentary.
GENERAL CHARACTEBS OK THE WARK
Pottery constitutes the most important feature of the Iroquoian
remains. In general, it falls in with the simple ware of the northeast
ern states, but at the same time it presents numerous striking and
distinctive characteristics of shape and decoration. Within the group
there are many local variations in form, ornament, and composition,
indicating the existence of somewhat marked tribal peculiarities, and
it may be possible in time to segregate the work of some of the stronger
tribes, such as the Onondagas and the Mohawks, who dwelt for a long
time in limited areas. The Cherokees and Tuscaroras had for gener
ations or perhaps centuries been completely isolated from their kin,
and their work was thus highly distinctive.
The Iroqnois did not dwell largely on the Atlantic seaboard, but
occupied the shores of the lakes, especially Lake Ontario. Their
favorite resorts, however, were along the rivers and on the banks of
the hundreds of charming upland lakes in Xe\v York state. The
1(>0 ABORIGINAL POTTKRY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH. A.XN.M
question of the influence of the sea and of the lake environments
upon their art, as distinguished from that of the great interior upland,
has been raised by Mr Frank II. dishing, who gives his observations
and deductions with respect to this obscure but interesting matter in a
paper published in Memoirs of the International Congress of Anthro
pology at Chicago." At present I do not feel qualified to discuss the
question, lacking the necessary knowledge of the peoples and environ
ments concerned. It is possible that the Algonquian Indians may be
responsible for most of the shore work, and the Iroquois responsible
for the art of the inland and upland districts, which would account
for most of the differences. We are not able to determine the precise
effect of environment on an art until
we have made full allowance for
peculiarities of peoples and differ
ence in period.
When the French entered the
great St Lawrence basin the Iro-
quoian tribes were actively engaged
in the practice of the plastic art, but
its total abandonment was quickly
brought about by the introduction of
utensils of European manufacture.
That these peoples had dwelt for a
long period in this general province,
and that their arts, as developed at
the time of Columbus, were largely
of local evolution, seems highly
probable, and the stamp of local
environment is especially marked in the potter s art. The accom
panying map, plate iv, indicates in a general way the distribution
of the Iroquoian pottery.
In the various groups of plastic products previously examined, the
vessel in its numerous forms is the leading feature, and in some cases
it is almost the exclusive feature of the fictile remains. In the Iroquois
region it is different. The art of tobacco pipe making shared the
honors with vase making, and led to an elaboration of plastic forms
and to a refinement of manipulation seldom surpassed within the area
considered in this paper. Life forms, rarely imitated by the sur
rounding Algonquian tribes, were freely employed by the Iroquois.
The strongest characteristics of the earthen vessels, and those which
may best be relied on to distinguish them from all other like wares,
is the pronounced projecting or overhanging collar a frieze-like
development of the rim the outer surface of which was almost always
ornamented with incised patterns. A squarish mouth, with elevated
aChicago, 1894, t>. -Jlei.
Fitf. t>- Bark vessel showing rharaeters some
times copied in clay by Irnquoiim potters.
HOLMES] MANUFACTURE OF IROQUO1AN POTTERY 1(>1
points sit the corners and sagging margins between, is also a marked
feature, and the sharp constriction about the neck and the gracefully
swelling body, conic below, are hardly less pronounced and valuable
group characters. It is possible that some of these features owe their
origin to the hark vessels of the same region. This idea is presented
by Gushing in the Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,"
from which figure 62 is reproduced. In the application of the human
face or form in relief, we have another group index of the highest
value. The angles of the frieze are very often emphasized by enlarg-
ments, projecting ridges, and raised points, and to these the plastic
life features, mostly human, are added.
Besides the large percentage of vases presenting these character
istics, there are many of rather plain appearance that might not, if
placed with vessels of Algonquian type, be easily distinguished save
by the expert. Manv are round-bodied and wide-mouthed, with
inconspicuous lips. Some are bowls and others mere cups, the latter
often quite minute. Leading features of form are brought out to good
advantage in the numerous illustrations accompanying this section.
MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURE
The materials used were usually mixtures of clay and rather coarse
tempering ingredients, in typical localities mostly silicious. The Iro-
quois occasionally used pulverized shell, as did their neighbors, the
Algonquians, but they seem to have preferred pulverized rock of
crystalline varieties. Respecting the securing and selecting of the
ingredients, and the levigating, mixing, and manipulation of the paste,
but little can be said. Evidences of the nature of the building proc
esses are obscure, but there is no reason to suppose that other than
the usual methods were employed. The walls were probably built
up of bits and strips of clay welded together with the ringers and
worked down and polished with scrapers, paddles, and rubbing stones.
The surface of the convex body of the vessel was sometimes finished
by malleating with a textile-covered paddle or by rouletting with a
cord-wrapped tool. The rim was added, and was then squared or
rounded on the margin and polished down in preparation for the, use
of the graver and the tubular or pointed punch. The paste for large
vessels was often quite coarse, but for the smaller pieces and for most
pipes pure clay of the finest quality was employed.
The baking was conducted in shallow pits or on the surface of the
earth, and in usual ways, no doubt, for the ordinary fire mottling is
observed. No great degree of heat was applied.
n P. 520.
l> For a very carefully made experimental study of this subjeet, see F. H. Cushiug s article, The
germ of shoreland pottery, in the Memoirs of the International Congress of Anthropology, Chicago
1894.
20 ETII 03 11
162 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES rETH.ANs.20
COLOR, FORM. AND SIZK
The colors of this ware are the colors of the baked clay; where it
has not changed by use or age, grays of yellowish and reddish tones,
rarely approaching a terra cotta, prevail.
In the matter of size these vessels have not the wide range of the
more southern varieties. There are very few large pieces, and few
very small ones. A height or diameter exceeding 12 inches is unusual.
Small toy-like cups are occasionally found.
To the student of the many and varied ceramic groups of aboriginal
America, a most notable feature of this, and of the Algonquian ware as
well, is the marked simplicity of the forms. As the vessels were based
on simple models and employed for a limited range of uses, there has
been little tendency toward elaboration or differentiation of shape.
The art as practiced here must have been still very near its origin
3 oung as compared with the potter s art in the South. The only form
prototypes that appear, and these are strongly suggested by the shapes
of the vases, are the bark vessels and baskets in common use in the
region. All are forms of use, yet a certain rude grace characterizes
the outlines. The narrow limitations of form are indicated by the
absence or rarity of bottles, bowls, plates, animal figures, compound
shapes, flat bottoms, handles, feet, and pedestal-like additions.
ORNAMENT PLASTIC. INCISED, AND RELIEVED
The decoration of Iroquoian earthenware is simple in execution, and
limited in range of subject matter, indicating a people yet near the
threshold of their esthetic career. This archaic simplicity is not so
pronounced, however, in the treatment of plastic details as it is in the
linear designs.
The forms of vessels are considerably varied within a limited range,
and convey the notion, in many cases, that the makers had conceptions
akin to our own with respect to proportion and grace; yet we are
unable to say how much these qualities are due to suggestions acting
within the art, and how much is the result of conscious appreciation of
the esthetic in contour. Forms of tobacco pipes are often interest
ing and graceful. Nearly all are modifications of the trumpet shape,
and the representations of living creatures so freely employed are
generally added without serious detriment to the fundamental shape.
The plastic additions to vases are also executed in a way to indicate the
existence of restricting forces, traditional, esthetic, or otherwise, tend
ing to hold the potter to simple, consistent models. This is in strong
contrast with the employment of life features by the potters of the mid
dle and southern provinces, where variety is endless and consistency is
often disregarded. The rim-collar or frieze is often divided into two,
three, or four parts bv salients or ridges, and the modeled life-shapes
HOLMES] ORNAMENTATION OK IROQUOIAN 1 OTTKRV
are confined strictly to these features, adding- emphasis to the form
without reducing the simplicity or overburdening the vessel. Plastic
ornaments comprise ridges, nodes, projecting points, medallion-like
heads mostly or exclusively of men, and more or less complete figures
of men. Mr Cushing has observed modifications of the ornamental
ridges at the corners of the frieze which seemed to him to make them
represent ears of corn. The modeling was done with the fingers, aided
by modeling tools: the latter were used mainly in indenting, incising,
and polishing. The fact that the life-forms employed in vase model
ing are confined almost universally to the human subject is worthy of
note, since in modeling pipes many varieties of animal were employed.
The idea is thus emphasized that pipe making and vase making, though
practiced by the same people, must have been carried on under some
what different conditions or at periods not fully coincident. It is not
unlikely that superstition gave rise to the use of these life-forms, and
restricted them to the places on the vases and pipes to which they are
so scrupulously confined. The women probably made the vases, but
the pipes, it is surmised, were made by the men.
The archaic, rectilinear decorations of this pottery are in strong
contrast with the graceful and elaborate designs of the South and
West. So far but few curved lines have been observed, and the cur
rent ornaments, such as the scroll, the fret, and the meander, wen;
wholly unknown. So elemental are the motives that they may safely be
regarded as illustrating the first steps of these people in freehand cera
mic decoration, though they were doubtless familiar with textile
embellishment at a much earlier period. Textile texturing is not
uncommon, and, in cases, nearly the entire body of the vase is covered
with impressions of cords or coarse cloth applied by paddling or by
some other method of malleating or imprinting. I am not certain that
any specimen examined by me has markings made by handling the
plastic vessel in a net or other inclosing fabric, as has been suggested
by Mr Cushing s experiments already referred to.
The formal pseudotextile ornamental designs consist of straight
incised lines and indentations arranged in simple combinations, form
ing encircling zones, generally around the frie/e. but in cases around
the body of the vase. The zones arc. usually bordered by parallel
lines and marginal rows of indentations or notches, interrupted in the
frieze by relieved features placed at intervals, dividing the, space into
two, three, or more sections. The margin or lip is rounded, square.
or sloping, and is embellished with indents, punctures, or short lines^
and the lower margin of the frieze is variously finished with a band of
short lines, indented circlets, notches, indents, or relieved bead-like
points.
The execution is varied. The lines were incised with an acute or
rounded point, sometimes forced rudely through the clay, leaving a
1<)4 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH.AKN.M
ragged lino, and again trailed across the surface, giving a compara
tively smooth channel. This, in the finer work, is gone over again and
again to give it a smooth finish or polish. In cases, the effect seems
to indicate that a curved edge was rolled back and forth, leaving linear
indentations, and again that a notched "or dentate edge, as of a wheel,
was rolled aloii" the line, being reset for each line, and not rolled buck
o o
and forth in a xigzag, as the common roulette was. The skill exhibited
in the use of the various decorating tools in the making of pipes is
exceptional, and, in cases, remarkable. In rare instances the decorat
ing tools took the character of small stamps, the figures being squares
in relief, made by cutting cross grooves on the end of a stick or the
face of a paddle.
The use of colors in ceramic decoration had not, so far as we can
discover, reached the Iroquois country proper, and the very general
use of intaglio and relieved decoration indicates that the plastic methods
were exclusively employed.
In plates CXLIX-CLII a number of examples of the grouping of incised
and indented lines and attendant plastic features in the decorated zones
of the vessel are brought together. The combinations are essentially
the same throughout the Iroquoian province, and the nature of local
variations may be seen by reference to the plates.
DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTERS OF SPECIMENS
SOUTHERNMOST OCCURRENCE
Iii passing up the Chesapeake and Potomac valleys, where Algon-
quian forms of earthenware are encountered on every village site, the
archeologist begins to observe the occurrence of strange features in
the ceramic remains on the Chesapeake about the head of the bay, and
on the Potomac about the mouth of the Shenandoah. In the vicinity
of Romney, West Virginia, the burial places have yielded numerous
specimens of Iroquoian ware, not, however, wholly typical in every
respect. These are intermingled, apparently, more or less intimately,
with pieces that resemble in a general way the Algonquian vases. The
scalloped expanding rim, with its frieze of groupings of straight
incised lines, is present, and leaves no doubt as to the placing of most
of the specimens. In plate CXLIII illustrations are given of finds at
this place; they are from the collection of Mr Warren K. Moorehead,
who visited the locality in about the year 1890, a period at which the
freshets of South fork had exposed the contents of numerous graves.
The general region is one likely to have been occupied, temporarily,
at least, by the tribes inhabiting New York and Pennsylvania, and it
is probable that the Tuscaroras passed this way on their journey north
ward to join their brethren of the League. The execution of the
vases is rude, and the frieze is rather heavy for the weak body, but
the lines are not, as a whole, ungraceful. Identical wares are obtained
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLIII
a HEIGHT 4i INCHES)
POTTERY FROM A BURIAL PLACE NEAR ROMNEY, WEST VIRGINIA
IROQUOIAN GROUP
(MOOREHEAO COLLECTION)
BUREAU Or AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLIV
POTTERY FROM A VILLAGE SITE AT BAINBRIDGE, PENNSYLVANIA
IROQUOIAN GROUP
ABOUT ONE-HALF >
HOLMES] POTTERY OF THK SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY 165
from Cavetown and other localities in northern Maryland. The pipes,
though resem 1)1 ing the south Algonquian forms, arc, like those of north
ern Maryland and .southern Pennsylvania, and are distinctly Iroquoian.
LOWER SUSQUEHANNA POTTERY
The occupation of the lower Susquehanna l>y tribes of Iroquoian
stock might bo readily proved by the ceramic remains of that region,
if history were entirely silent on the subject. The peoples to whom
this earthenware belonged were possibly the Susquehannocks of John
Smith, but very probably were the Conestegas of later times, a people
not connected with the League, and at war with some of the League
tribes. The last remnant of these people were the unfortunate vil
lagers of Conestoga, who were massacred there and at Lancaster by
the Paxton boys only a hundred and fifty years ago (ITu/i).
From a village site near Bainbridge, on the Susquehanna. Mr Gal-
braith obtained a number of broken vases and sherds which came into
the possession of the National Museum. These are of familiar types
of form and decoration, as will be seen by reference to plate CXLIV.
Pulverized mussel shells were used in tempering the clay, and in
cases the percentage of this ingredient is very large. We have here,
as elsewhere, the small body, the scalloped rim, the heavy overhanging
collar, and the archaic arrangements of incised lines. There are also
the rather rudely modeled faces, two or four in number, projecting from
the angles of the frieze (<?. 5, and c)\ and a somewhat unique feature
is the enlargement of the notched lower margin of the frieze into
pendant points, marked with incised lines, as is seen in if and e. The
diameter of this vase is about lo inches. The surfaces are imper-
fectlv smoothed, as if rubbed down with the finger tips rather than
with a polishing tool; and there are traces of textile imprints on the
bod} 1 and neck, as if a cord or fabric-covered tool had been used in
malleating the surface. The incised lines are rather carelessly drawn,
and the modeled faces are extremely elementary.
The extension of this ware into eastern Pennsylvania and New Jer
sey has not been recorded, although Warren county, in northwestern
New Jersey, has furnished examples of vases, preserved in the collec
tions of the Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia, which have the over
hanging upright collar, not, however, typically developed and not
decorated in the Iroquoian style. The tempering is silicious. the
treatment rude, the walls thick, and the bodies long and conic below.
The bodies are finished with textile-like impressions, and they have
Algonquian rather than Iroquoian characters.
POTTERY OF NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW YORK
The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society of Wilkesbarre,
Pennsylvania, located in the midst of the Iroquoian territory, has been
!>( ) ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.M
exceptionally fortunate in securing several specimens of these vases
in an excellent state of preservation, and descriptions and illustrations
have been published in the proceedings of the Society by Dr Harri
son Wright. I have had seven examples reengraved from the Pro
ceedings of the society, where they were published bv Dr Wright,
along with valuable descriptive matter.
The fine and unusually large specimen shown in plate CXLV,/ was
found among the rocks at the Falls of the Wallenpaupack, Hawley,
Wayne county, Pennsylvania, about forty miles northeast of Wilkes-
barrc, by Alouzo II. Blish, in 1847. The specimen shown in b was
found by Weston Goss, July 12, 1ST!), under a rock, about one and a
quarter miles from the Allen settlement, Lake township, Luzerne
county, Pennsylvania. This is about fifteen miles west of Wilkes
barre. The striking little vase shown in < was taken from an Indian
grave on the site of an extensive burying ground in Plymouth town
ship, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, about one mile west of Wilkes-
barre, and presented to the Wyoming Historical and Geological Soci
ety by Mr John Kern. The symmetric pot illustrated in d was found
by Asa L. Dana, in the year 1836, in a cave in Eaton township, oppo
site Tunkhannock. Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, about thirty miles
north of Wilkesbarre.
The neat little vessel shown in plate CXLVIW is described as Tioga
vase 1 by Mr Wright, and was obtained from a grave near Athens.
Bradford county, Pennsylvania,. It had been placed near the head of a
body buried there, and had associated with it a "lapstone, and a rude
arrow point of local type. The mouth of the vessel is elliptical, 4 bv
84 inches in dimensions, the rim is carried up in rounded projections
at opposite ends, and is embellished without by a simply modeled
human face, signalized by a headdress or notched fillet, flowing grace
fully to the right and left.
From another grave at the same place, and similarly placed with
respect to the skeleton, we have the exceptionally interesting piece
presented in f>. It is notable for the abrupt battlement-like elevations
placed at opposite sides of the rim, and also for the double zone of dec
oration. Several other vessels in a more or less fragmentary state,
and less typical in shape, were recovered from graves at this point.
It is interesting to note that these graves are on a tract of land pur
chased by the Susquehanna company from the Iroquois in 175-i."
The vases shown in < and d are from the general region under con
sideration, but the exact locality is not recorded.
In plate CXLVII n is given a handsome vessel with very unusual deco
ration. It is from the vicinity of Wilkesbarre and was found by Mr
Jacob Cist in the early part of the nineteenth century. The decora
tive patterns resemble textile patterns, and have been worked out with
" Wright. Harrison, Keport of the special urelitpolotriuil committee on the Athens locality in
1 roe. Mini Coll. of the Wyoming Historical ami Geological Six-iety, Wilkesbarre, 1886, p. 59.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLV
c IHEIGHT 6 INCHES;
tt (HEIGHT 6 INCHES)
|PJi$- ^ ^i^p^SS
d HEIGHT 7 INCHES
a (HEIGHT 13 INCHES)
VASES FROM GRAVES, NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA
IROQUOIAN GROUP
(WYOMING HISTORICAL AND GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY COLLECTION)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLVI
VASES FROM GRAVES. NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA
IROOUOI4N GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLVII
a (HEIGHT 8 INCHES)
b (HEIGHT 11 INCHES)
VASES FROM GRAVES IN PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW YORK
IROQUOIAN GROUP
U .I.MKS] I OTTKRY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY 167
great care with a pointed <>r notched tool, the form of whicli can not
lit- determined.
The state of New York has furnished many examples of ware of the
general type illustrated above, hut, as a rule, it is in a fragmentary
state. It is hardly necessary to present additional examples, save in
two cases. The remarkable vessel shown in plate CXLVII 1> was obtained
by Dr D. S. Kellogg in 1 lattsburg, New York. It is 11 inches in
height, and is apparently very well made. The shape, whicli is espe
cially notable, and the peculiar ornamentation take it out of the ordinary
Iroquoian group and place it with the wares of the upper Mississippi
valley. It has a long, conic, body, slightly constricted neck, and simple
expanding rim. The entire surface is decorated witli roulette mark
ings. A minutely notched wheel was used on the neck, and apparently
a distinct and more coarsely notched wheel or tool was used on the
bodv. This vessel is decidedlv an exotic in the region.
#&K^f^W/{Sffil^
/
/
Fig. C>3 Fragment* of decorated vase-rims from the Mohawk valley.
Two fragments of the very neat and quite typical ware of the
Mohawk district are represented in figure 63. They belong to a small
series of like sherds presented to the National Museum by Mr S. L.
Frey. Reverend William M. Beauchamp, of Baldwinsville. New York,
has made careful examinations of the earthenware of the state and has
acquired an extensive series of drawings, some of which have been
placed at my disposal. It is expected that Mr. Beauchamp will in the
near future publish detailed studies on this and other branches of Iro-
quoian art.
EXAMPLES FKOM NEW ENGLAND
Historically and traditionally we learn that the Iroquoian tribes
occupied or overran the greater part of the New England province.
They are known to have visited the Atlantic coast at manv points
between New .Jersey and Maine, and. according to Leclercq, the Gas-
peian Indians of St Lawrence gulf were three times defeated or
"destroyed" by this bold and enterprising people. The Abnakis of
168 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.20
Maine, in a treaty with the whites, claimed the land as far westward
as the Connecticut river, which they spoke of as the ancient boundary
between their people and the Iroquois/ It is therefore to be expected
that now and then remains or relics of the latter people will be found
scattered over the New England states.
A number of earthen vessels approaching the Iroquoian type were
recovered by Professor Putnam from a grave in Winthrop, Massa
chusetts (plate CLX). They were accompanied by articles of European
manufacture, leaving no doubt that pottery was in use after the coming
of the 1 whites. During early colonial times this region was occupied by
Algonquian tribes, and, though the Iroquois are known to have -visited
the vicinity of Boston bay, the question ma} be raised as to whether
this variety of ware was not, in this section, common to the two stocks
of people. Its presence here is perhaps more reasonably accounted for
by supposing that the Algonquians were subject to Iroquois influence,
possibly obtaining the art of working clay from them. The larger
piece (c) has the pronounced overhanging collar, embellished with a
frieze of incised lines grouped in usual ways, the shoulder being encir
cled by a line of indentations. The small cup (b) is tj pically Algon
quian, while the fragment (a) presents Iroquoian characters repeated
in vases from Ipswich, part of which were obtained by Professor Baird
from shell banks. Good specimens of the same variety of ware are pre
served in the museums at Salem, and an interesting specimen, belong
ing to the same subgroup, was found by Professor Wyman in a grave
at Hingham, Massachusetts. A rudely incised twined meander is the
most remarkable feature of this vessel; it is the only example of its
class, so far as my observation extends, found in New England. The
treatment of the rim and the lower margin of the frieze, as well as
the pointed base, is Iroquoian rather than Algonquian. In an inter
esting review of the antiquities of Connecticut, Mr James Shepherd
illustrates a fragmentary vase from that state.* The restoration is
possibly somewhat inaccurate as to outline, for, judging by the many
other specimens of its class, the body should be much longer and
the base somewhat more conic. The form as restored is not so much
Iroquoian as Algonquian save in its rolled rim, but the zone of incised
ornament is apparently Iroquoian.
The discovery of typical Iroquoian ware in the region of Lakes
George and Cbamplain is to be expected, for the dominion of the east
ern tribes of that stock certainly extended over much of this country
at one time or other. The collections and writings of Professor
George H. Perkins, of Burlington, bear ample testimony to this/
aVaudreuil, Marquis dc, letter of April 21, 1725, In Doc. Col. Hist, of New York. Albany, 1856, vol.
I.x, p. 943.
*> Shepherd, James, New England Magazine, Deeember, 1893.
Perkins, George H., The calumet in the Champlain valley, in Pop. Sci. Monthly, New York, 1893,
vol. xi.iv, p. 238; some relics of the Indians of Vermont, in Amer. Nat., Salem, 1871, vol. v, p 14; on
some fragments of pottery from Vermont, in Proe. Am. Ass. Adv. Sci., 1877, p. 325.
HOLMES]
VASK FROM COLCHESTER, VKKMONT
A typical exiuuplc of this ware from Vermont was illustrated and
described by Mr Perkins in the American Naturalist, vol. v. p. 14-,
and again very fully described in the Proceedings of the American
Association for 187*!. The specimen was found at considerable depth
below the surface of the ground, in the town of Colchester, Vermont,
in 1825. It is remarkable for strongly emphasized contours, sym
metry, careful finish, and elaborate ornamentation, and is in every
way typical of the group. An excellent cut of it appeared in Harper s
Fig. 04 Vase from a (, ruve (?) in Colchester, Vermont.
Magazine, vol. LXV, p. 254. The illustration here presented, figure
64, is from a photograph of a cast of this vase, now preserved in the
National Museum. The rim has been partially restored.
CANADIAN WAKK
Iii historic times, and for an unknown period of pre-Columbian
time, the Iroquoian tribes occupied a wide belt north of the St Law
rence river, Lakes Erie and Ontario, and their dominion extended at
times over the Lake Huron region, and into the country about Lakes
Superior and Michigan. As a matter of course the region is strewn
with the fragments of their earthenware, which hears throughout the
170 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH. A.N.NVJU
peculiar characteristics of Iroquoian art. There are many variations,
however, of shape and decoration, as a number of tribes, the Hurons,
Eries, etc.. and, later, the Wyandots, occupied the region.
Ontario is especially rich in fragmental ceramic remains, and through
the praiseworthy efforts of the Canadian Institute and other learned
bodies of the Dominion, and especially of Mr David Boyle, of
Toronto, many specimens have been collected and preserved, and
numerous illustrations and descriptions have been published. I shall
be able only to glance at these products, leaving all the details to
those who have the opportunity for working personally in the various
regions.
The earliest publication of illustrations of Iroquoian pottery was
made by Mr W. E. Guest, in the Smithsonian Keport for 1856,
p. 274. Many fragments were found in or near an ancient earthen
inclosure at Spencerville, a few miles north of Prescott, Ontario, and
the cuts published by Mr Guest are restorations, a little defective in
outline, perhaps, as the base is more nearly flat than is usual with this
ware. In every other respect their features duplicate those of the
typical wares of the Iroquois. Mr Guest also gives illustrations of
three small disks made from potsherds, one apparently being per
forated, as if for use as a spindle whorl or an ornament. The others
are nearly identical with similar objects found plentifully in the
southern states, and supposed to have served for playing some game
of chance.
Village and camp sites in the Balsam lake region. Victoria county,
have yielded to the intelligent efforts of the Laidlaw brothers, resi
dents of the locality, numerous interesting sherds, of which a large
series has been illustrated and described by David Boyle in the Fourth
Annual Report of the Canadian Institute. In plate CXLVIII is presented
a series of vases selected from his work. So typical are all of these
in form and decoration that description is unnecessary. There is not
a new element, beyond the simple variations to be expected in the art
of a single people .as practiced at different times or under changing
conditions.
The island of Montreal, the site of the ancient Hochelaga, an Iro
quoian resort of great importance, furnishes much typical ware of this
class. Illustrations are given by Dr J. W. Dawson, in the Canadian
Naturalist, volume v, page 435, and in his Eossil Men, page 91. In
the latter work is shown also a well-preserved pot obtained from the
upper Ottawa. It is not so typical as some others, but has the upright
projecting collar somewhat developed, and is finished with vertical and
horizontal incised lines. The line of indentations about the upper part
of the body is rather exceptional in the central and southern Iroquoian
regions, but is repeated in a similar piece from Bruce county, Ontario,
and in many of the New England specimens. It is possible, since the
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLVIII
(( (DIAMETER 4. INCHES)
f HEIGHT 7 INCHES)
f (HEIGHT ABOUT 9 INCHES <
VASES FROM THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO CANADA
IROQUOIAN GROUP
(FROM BOYLE;
HOLMES] DECORATIVE DESIGNS, IROQUOIAJ* POTTERY 171
Algonquian tribes encroached ut times on the northern margin of
Ontario, that those vessels may have been modified in certain details
by the art of that people.
Mr Boyle, in the Annual Report of the Canadian Institute for 1889,
records the discover} of much fragmentary ware along and near the
north shore of Lake Erie. It is stilted that numerous unusual features
of minor importance occur, but, from the descriptions and illustrations
given, there is no reason for supposing it other than Iroquoian work.
A number of exceptionally large pieces were observed, a diameter
and height of 17 inches being noted.
In the same publication Mr Boyle presents a vessel of unusual shape,
restored from numerous fragments found by Mr John McPherson on
Mindemoya island, northern Lake Huron. This piece is shown in plate
CXLVIII/ . Attention may be called to the fact that it differs essentially
from Iroquoian types, and resembles somewhat the Algonquian pottery
of the Lake Michigan and tapper Mississippi regions. Since Algon
quian tribes occupied this region more fully, perhaps, than the Iro
quoian, the probabilities are that this vessel is of Algonquian make.
It is a remarkable fact that in the National Museum there are a
number of fragments of typical Iroquoian ware entered as having
been found in southern Alabama. Fearing that there may have been
a mistake on the part of the curator or his assistants in placing this
accession on the books. I will not venture to do more than mention
the circumstance. Such an occurrence, if sustained, would be of much
interest to students of stock distribution.
DKCORATIVK DESIGNS
In plates CXLIX. CL, CLI, and cm. a series of tigures is presented to
illustrate the nature and range of the incised and modeled decorations
of this pottery. The example shown in plate CXLIX u is from a Rom-
ney, West Virginia, vase; 1>. r, </. and e are from fragmentary vessels
procured from a village site on the Susquehanna, near Bainbridge.
Pennsylvania, while / and g are from Mohawk valley sherds.
The designs shown in plates CL and CLI are mostly from vases in the
Wyoming Historical and Geological Society collections, and belong in
the Wilkesbarre region. The secoud figure, />. of plate CL, represents
part of a zone of ornament encircling a Cherokee split-cane basket,
and is intended for comparison with the incised design illustrated in a.
There can be little doubt that the latter motive was derived almost
directly from some similar textile ornament, the art of basketry having
been universally practiced by the ancient tribes of the East.
The remaining figures of plates CL, CLI, and CLII serve to indicate
the general uniformity and simplicity of the linear designs of the
whole province. The employment of double zones of figures is illus
trated in the lower figures of plates CLI and CLII. The design in the
172 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH. ANN. 20
latter plate is from the Vermont vase shown in figure 64. The curved
lines seen in these figures are not so by design of the decorator, but
merelj- take the curves of the vessel margins with which they were
associated.
The manner of introducing life forms is also clearly shown in four
instances. The entire human
figure, modeled in rather bold
relief, is seen in plate curie.
The face, with horizontal mark
ings indicating the place of the
body, appears in ft, and a highly
conventionalized treatment of the
face is given in rt. These con
ventionalized forms are present
in great variety. One of the most
realistic examples of figure pre
sentation is shown in figure 65.
Other figures and a number of
rudely modeled faces are brought
together in plate run. These
ornaments are in all cases at
tached to the angles of the frieze
of square-rimmed vessels, or are
placed beneath the elevated points
of the round, scallop- rimmed
variety. It is probable that these features are recent additions to the
decoration, which consisted, originally, of archaic arrangements of
lines and dots.
TOBACCO PIPES
THE PIPE A NATIVE PRODUCT
The American natives were a race of smokers, and the use of tobacco
in political and religious ceremonials elevated the pipe to a place of
unusual importance among the various products of the shaping arts.
Much time, labor, and ingenuity were expended on the manufacture
of pipes of stone, and nearly every section of North America has fur
nished to collectors excellent examples of this class of work.
Pipes were also made of wood, bone, horn, and other substances. It
is highly probable that the antitype of the pipe was a vegetal form,
such as a section of cane or other hollow stem, but, since smoking was
practiced in widely separated localities, the earlier forms must have
been divers. Clay was very generally employed in this art, and in
some sections was in great favor. It is a notable circumstance that
the Iroquois took a high rank as pipe makers, excelling all other
peoples in the number and quality of these productions. With this
Fig. 65 Fragment of vase-rim \vith rudel y modeled
human figure, New York.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLIX
INCISED DESIGNS FROM VASES
IROQUOIAN GROUP
- HE
UNIVERSITY
BUREAU OF AMERICAN RTHNOLOCiY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CL
\m\
impur
yJffrnE^ ir^--i
m
o
ii=inxiirT
^^^
OciQu (joo e/(joo cTTTtj u <7~C
INCISED DESIGNS FROM VASES
IROQUOIAN GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLI
INCISED DESIGNS FROM VASES
IROQUOIAN GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLII
# #0
ui/imiffiniMiiiftrffnMiifllfeW
3OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
ci
INCISED DESIGNS FROM VASES
IROQUOIAN GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLMI
FACES AND FIGURES FROM VASES
IROQUOIAN GROUP
(ACTUAL SIZE)
HOLMES] IROQUOIAN TOBACCO PIPES 173
people the manufacture of clay pipes was, no doubt, practiced pan
passu with that of vase making, but it seems in many ways to have
been a distinct and independent art. Pipes were not made of the same
varieties of clay, or by the same hands, as were the vases. In all
probability clay pipes were the work of men, as were the pipes of
stone, while vessel making was the work of women. That pipe mak
ing was contemporaneous with vase making is shown by the repetition
in pipe bowls of the form and decoration of vases, but it is apparent
that the former art continued long after the cessation of the potter s
art proper, extending down nearly or quite to Revolutionarv times
in the North, and down to the present day in the South among the
Cherokees. In support of the theory of the later use of pipes of
native make may be cited the fact that pipes are especially plentiful
on the more recent town sites of the New York Indians. Metal pots
were supplied plentifully by the. earliest traders and colonists, but as
smoking and pipe making were indigenous to America, it was prob
ably many years before the intruders engaged actively in pipe manu
facture. It is well known, however, that tobacco pipes of European
make formed an important article of trade in colonial times, and we
can not assume in all cases to distinguish the foreign from the native
work.
DISTRIBUTION
Earthen vessels were made and used by women, and were little sub
ject to transportation beyond the permanent settlements, but pipes
belonged to the men, and were carried habitually about the person,
thus reaching the farthest limits of the expeditions and forays of the
people. They were also readily made on short notice at any point
where clay could be secured. Since they were used in councils with
neighboring peoples they were thus subject to still wider distribution
by friendly or ceremonial exchange. It is observed, however, that
the pipes of outlying communities are not wholly typical. The pipes
of Komney, West Virginia, and Bainbridge, on the Lower Susque-
hanna, resemble somewhat the South Algonquian pipes, and those of
the Lake Huron region vary equally from the types. This is the
result, no doubt, of contact with neighboring peoples and the influence
of their art forms.
MATERIAL, COLOR, AND FORM
In the manufacture of pipes by the Iroquois. fine clay, pure or
mixed with very finely comminuted tempering ingredients, was used.
Pulverized shell was used at times on the outskirts of the province.
So far as has been observed, the pipes have not been colored arti
ficially. The varied hues of light and dark yellowish, reddish, and
174 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH. A.ss.20
brownish grays, the liittiT sometimes approaching black, arc the result
of baking, use, accident, or conditions of burial.
The simplest pipe form is a straight tube, with large enough open
ing at one end to receive the necessai y bits of tobacco, and a passage
small enough to permit the drawing of smoke without admitting parti
cles of the ashes or leaf. The original forms must have varied with
the diverse models at hand, and, if we take the whole country into
account, there is considerable diversity in form, size, and material.
Pipes of stone are much more varied in shape than are pipes of clay.
The clay pipe of the East and North is based on the plain tube, the
prevailing modification being the development of the bowl and the
addition of a trumpet-like mouth. The tube is not straight, but is
bent at the base of the bowl at angles varying from a few degrees to
a right angle or even more.
The bowl was subject to varied and often extraordinary modifica
tion of form. The stem, as a rule, remained a plain tube straight
or slightly incurved, often of uniform thickness save at the tip, or
swelling gradually toward the elbow or curve. Very often the bowl
did not begin to expand decidedly at the bend but beyond it, some
times at the very rim, while in cases the expansion was gradual, the
mouth being encircled by an inconspicuous band. In cases the lip
was somewhat constricted. Description must fail to convey a clear
and full notion of the varied modifications of this trumpet-shaped
pipe, and four plates are introduced to serve this purpose?. The bowl
was the subject of much fanciful modification by the application of
life forms, quadrupeds, birds, and men being f reel) employed. Occa
sionally the full figure of a man was represented, the feet forming
the mouthpiece and the bowl opening in the top of the head. In
cases animal forms were similarly treated, and serpents were made to
coil about the full length of the tube. Generally, however, the
upper part of the figure, the head alone, or certain features only
were embodied in the bowl. Sometimes two creatures, or parts of
two creatures, were affixed to one pipe, and a few specimens have
been collected in which a number of heads or faces have been com
bined or knotted together in a grotesque cluster covering the whole
exterior of the pipe. In very many cases a wolf-like head is modeled
so that the mouth forms the bowl, the muzzle of the creature pointing
upward. Generally when the head is placed on one side of the rim it
faces the smoker, but pipes have been observed in which it looks to
one side, or from the smoker. In one case a small face is modeled on
the inner surface of the divided lip of the bowl. I have been able to
recognize with reasonable certainty, besides faces of men, the features
of tlic bear, wolf or dog, owl. eagle or hawk, crow or raven, and
snake. Grotesque figures, combining features of men and animals,
are rare, but fancv was likely to take almost any direction with these
versatile potters.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL. REPORT PL. CLIV
a (ACTUAL SIZE)
C (ACTUAL SIZE)
/ (LENGTH 4 INCHES
LENGTH ABOUT 8 INCHES)
EARTHENWARE PIPES
IROQUOIAN GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLV
d
EARTHENWARE PIPES
IROQUOIAN GROUP
THREE-FOURTHS
3/7-y
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLVI
EARTHENWARE PIPES
IROQUOIAN GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLVM
EARTHENWARE PIPES
1ROQUOIAN GROUP
HOLMES] POTTERY OF EASTERN AUSONQUIANS 175
In order that a fuller notion may be conveyed of the artistic ability
of the pipe makers, and their plastie treatment of men and other crea
tures, a number of pieces are assembled in plates n,i\ . CIA. CLVI. and
CLVII.
POTTERY OF THE NEW JERSEY-NEW ENGLAND
PROVINCE
GENERAL CHARACTERS
The pottery of the coastal districts throughout the middle and north
ern Atlantic states is uniformly archaic in its shapes and elementary
in its decoration. Entire specimens are rarely found, as the custom
of burying vases with the dead was not so generally practiced here as
elsewhere, and the fragile culinary utensils found on the midden sites
are always fragmentary. Sherds have been collected all along the coast
and on the bays and tidewater rivers from the Chesapeake to Nova
Scotia. Tliev abound on countless ancient sites, and are especially
plentiful in the shell deposits which line the shores. These, wares are
to a large extent Algonquian in type, although there is more or less
blending with the Iroquoian wares of the interior districts along the
fall line" and beyond in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and some
what nearer the ocean in New York and the New England states. The
materials are. as in the Chesapeake countrv. clays of no great purity,
intermingled with much coarse silicious tempering and. rather excep
tionally, with pulverized shells and other substances. The paste is
hard and is moderately tenacious where well preserved, but it crum
bles rapidly when decay once sets in. The fracture is rough and
uneven, and the colors are the usual brownish and reddish grays.
Manufacture was confined almost exclusively to vases and pipes; the
former are simple utensils, and the latter are the small, bent trumpet
tubes common to the Algonquian areas. In shape the vessels are
extremely limited in range, extending to no other forms than those
included between a deep cup or bowl and a wide-mouthed pot.
Vessels of the latter variety were rarely more than 10 or \ 2 inches in
diameter or in depth. The rims were usually carelessly rounded or
squared off. and were seldom much thickened. Exceptionally they
were supplied with exterior bands, which in New England expanded
into a rounded frieze, resembling closely that of the Iroquoian ware.
The rims were also occasionally scalloped, as in the Chesapeake coun
trv and in New York. The neck was never greatly constricted,
the body swelled but little, and the base was often, especially in
the New Jersey region, considerably lengthened below, and was
decidedly pointed. Generally the walls were thin and the surfaces
"The term " fall line " is applied to the ruthcr abrupt line of descent that occurs when; the upland
joins the lower tidewater districts. It passes through New York. Trenton, Philadelphia, WHshinK-
ton, and Richmond.
17(5 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [CTH. ANN.20
roughly finished. The polishing tool was used only to give sufficient
finish to enable the decorator effectively to use his stylus or roulette.
Details of decoration and finish may better be given when the varieties
of ware are presented. The presence here and there of peculiar and
apparently exotic types of decoration is quite puzzling; for example,
in Maine and New Jersey are encountered occasional examples of
rouletting exactly duplicating the style so common on the upper Mis
sissippi. The peoples probably belonged to the same stock, however,
and it is not at all improbable that migrations took place between
these widely separated regions. The reticulated stamp, characteristic
of Florida, appears now and then in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
No attempt will be made in this place to cover the coastal districts
in detail, and attention will be confined to a few localities chosen to
represent the cefamic remains of the Northeast. The area considered
in this section is included, in a general way, on the map, plate iv,
accompanying a preceding section.
The Delaware valley is separated from that of the Susquehanna and
Chesapeake by only a few miles of lowland, and it is not surprising
that the forms of ware found on the village sites of the districts dupli
cate one another very closely. There is apparently no decided break
in the characteristics of the art from Norfolk to New York bay.
DELAWARE VALLEY WARE
By far the most prolific of the pottery -producing sites in the Dela
ware valley is that on Pocatquissing creek, 3 miles south of Trenton,
so thoroughly explored by Mr Ernest Volk for the Columbian Expo
sition. Here was found the largest, the best preserved, and the most
highly elaborated pottery yet collected on the coast north of the
Savannah river. Its relationship with the Algonquian wares of the
Chesapeake and Yadkin is, however, very close, and is especially so
in several minute details of form, elaboration, and decoration, thus
enforcing the idea that the peoples were the same, or were very inti
mately related or associated. The forms and ornaments are somewhat
more elaborate and graceful than those in the Chesapeake ware, and
in some features it differs decidedly from that ware. Among these
features of unhkeness may be mentioned the occasional much elonga
tion of the bodies, the decided squaring off of the rim, the use of
the roulette in decoration, and the addition of a line of indentations
encircling the body low down and separated entirely from the main
zone of embellishment about the neck.
Characteristic examples of the better ware of this locality are given
in plate CLVIII. Large fragments appear in a and b, and the general
shape is indicated in c. The diameter is 12 inches, and the height was
probably a little more than this. The finish is excellent. The rim
is flattened above and indented. The general surface is smooth, and
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLVIII
C (DIAMETER 12(?1 INCHES)
I HEIGHT 5 (?) INCHES;
(DIAMETER 8 INCHES)
POTTERY FROM A VILLAGE SITE NEAR TRENTON, NEW JERSEY
NEW ENGLAND GROUP
l/A/.M..-
2/Ty
HOLMES] DELAWARE VALLKY POTTERY 177
the patterns, executed with a sharp point, are elaborate and unusu
ally neat. The figures which cover the upper part, of the body have
little symmetry or continuity, a characteristic of Algonquian work, and
consist of spaces and bands tilled with simple Jincs, reticulated lines,
and herring-bone patterns bordered by plain and zigzag lines. The
prevailing- outline of these vessels is given in c.
A smaller vessel, nearly complete, though broken, is illustrated in
<l. plate CLVIII. It does not differ in any essential from the preceding,
but is smaller and much simpler in treatment, and its profile shows a
decided angle separating the upper and lower slopes of the Inxly.
The stylus has been used from the inside of the margin to punch out
a series of nodes about the exterior of the rim, and an isolated line of
indents appears far down toward the. conic base.
An additional example is presented in plate CLixa, the outline
restored appearing in , of the preceding plate. The diameter ap
proaches 10 inches, and the height must have been a little more than
that. The rim is turned sharply outward and minutely notched on
the outer edge, the neck has been very slightly constricted, and, as
in many better preserved specimens, the base was probably sharply
conic. The paste is silicious. moderately fine grained, and yellowish
gray in color. The surface is smooth, but without polish. The deco
ration consists of 22 lines of roulette markings, imitating coarse cord
imprints, encircling the upper part of the body. A double line of
like markings encircles the body quite low down.
The largest vessel of which anv considerable fragments were recov
ered was originally about 25 inches in diameter and nearly the same
in height. The surface was finished first with a net-covered tool,
the meshes of the fabric being over half an inch in width. The
upper part of the bodv was smoothed sufficiently for the addition
of incised figures, but not so fully as entirely to destroy the deeper
net impressions, and on the lower part and base the imprint is per
fectly preserved. The rim is three-fourths of an inch thick, flat
tened, and sloped inward above, and is decorated, as in many other
cases, with cord or stylus imprints. The use of the net and the man
ner of rubbing down the impressions more or less carefully, accord
ing to the needs of the decorator, are identical with corresponding
features of the Chesapeake and Carolina net-marked wares. So closely
do some of these specimens resemble those of Popes creek, Mary
land, and Yadkin river, North Carolina, that the reader may be referred
to plates cxxx and cxxxvn for details of shape and ornament.
A village site at Point Pleasant, on the Delaware, 25 miles above
Trenton, has furnished numerous specimens of earthenware. It is a
notable fact that some of the fragments gathered by Mr II. C. Mer
cer from the surface or from exposures made by Hoods are of a
stamped ware, resembling very closely the checker-stamp varieties no
20 ETH 03 12
178 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTII. ANN. 20
characteristic of Florida, Georgia, and parts of the Carolinas. It
would seem that, if no mistake has been made in the identity of the
sherds, colonists or visitors from the far south must have dwelt on
the site long enough to engage in the practice of the potter s art.
Aside from these specimens, all the varieties of ware observed cor
respond verv closely with those of the Trenton sites and with the
typical tidewater Algonquian forms of the lower Delaware and Chesa
peake regions. Higher up the Delaware we encounter vessels
approaching the Iroquoian type, and finally, in the upper valleys, the
ordinary Iroquoian wares prevail. It is stated by Mr Ernest Volk, and
confirmed by Mr Mercer, that there were two successive occupations
of .some of the Delaware, valley sites, and it is surmised from various
reasons, one of which is the scarcity of pottery at the lower level,
that a considerable period elapsed between the first and second occu
pations; but us these villages were situated on land subject to inun
dation, the change from the, lower to the higher level may have been
brought about in a single season. The greater number of relics in the
upper deposits may have been due to longer occupation or to more
thorough protection from floods. If there are pronounced differences
in art, methods of burial, materials used, etc.. it is quite as reasonable
to suppose that the peoples changed as it is to assume that a period
of such duration passed between the successive occupations that
decided advances in culture status were made. It is a significant
fact that, though there is less earthenware in the lower than in the
upper deposits, there is no perceptible difference in the make. There
appears, therefore, to be no sufficient reason for supposing that the
earlier occupation of the valley, as shadowed forth in these remains,
extends far back toward glacial times, or that the people in either case
were other than the Algonquian inhabitants found in the Delaware
valley by William IVnn.
NKW KM; LAND WAKK
Tin; ware of the region of New York bay, Long island, Connecti
cut, and Rhode Island indicates a closer affiliation of the makers with
the Iroquoian potters than existed between the latter and the more
southern Algonquians. A good illustration of the ware of the New
York region is given in plate CLIX 7>. A similar specimen, found
at Farmington, Connecticut, is illustrated in an article on Connecti
cut archeology by James Shepherd, published in the New England
Maga/ine, 18!3. If we judge by the examples of this ware known to
me, the restoration given by Mr Shepherd makes the vessel too short
in the body and without the usual conic tendency of the base. The,
indented designs in these specimens resemble a prevailing Iroquoian
treatment.
The same ware is found throughout Massachusetts, and I have had
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLIX
s / // > y / : f s <- A
*
POTTERY FROM THE ATLANTIC COAST STATES
NEW ENGLAND GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLX
(LENGTH 3 INCHES)
e (HEIGHT ABOUT 5 INCHES)
/ (HEIGHT ABOUT 6 INCHES)
(I (HEIGHT 4 INCHES)
POTTERY FROM NEW ENGLAND
NEW ENGLAND GROUP
HOLMES) POTTERY OF NKW ENGLAND 179
the good t ortuiic to tiiul fragments <it a small vase on the island of
Nantucket.
The pottery of eastern Massachusetts is represented by a con
siderable number of pieces, some of which are entire, or nearly so.
That the Algonquian tribes were making and using pottery on the
arrival of the whites is made certain by numerous references to the sub
ject in early writings. Thomas Morton, in Force s Tracts, volume n.
page 150. says that "they have earthen potts of divers sizes from a
quarter to a gallon. -2. or 8. to boyle their vitels in: very stronge,
though they be thin like our iron potts." It seems, therefore, that
notwithstanding the presence of apparently Iroquoian features in these;
vessels, we are warranted in attributing them to the historic Al<n>n-
o e
quians, since all the specimens are much alike in every essential respect.
The figures given in plate ri.x will convey a good idea of the
characteristics of this ware. Specimens <i. f>, and > were obtained bv
1 rofessor F. W. Putnam from graves in Winthrop. Massachusetts.
With them were associated glass beads, so that the date of their manu
facture is probably somewhere between Iti^i and lil.">ii. The height
of the larger vessel is about seven inches, and the others are shown on
the same scale. Specimen <l is from Hingham. Massachusetts, and
the others given in outline are sketch restorations of small vessels
recovered from a grave at Kevere (<). and from a grave at Marble-
head (f). In nearly all cases the surface has been worked down with
textile-surfaced tools, and subsequently portions about the rim and
neck have been rubbed down and rudely decorated with incised lines
and indentations. The pipe // was found in Connecticut, and is deco
rated in a style corresponding closely to that of the Algonquian vases.
The village sites and shell banks of Maine yield considerable potterv
of the simple styles common in the Algonquian areas. It is found in
fragments, and but few specimens even of these have found their \vav
to the museums. The vessels were mere pots, and the pipes, although
sometimes ornamented with incised lines and indentations, are mainlv
the simple bent trumpet of the more southern areas. The clay is tem
pered usually with a large percentage of coarse sand, the finish i>
comparatively rude, and the ornament, though varied, is always ele-
mentarv. The surfaces have, in many cases, been textured with cord-
covered paddles, and over these, or on spaces smoothed down for the
purpose, are various crude patterns made with cords, bits of fabric.
roulettes, and pointed tools of many varieties. The use of the roulette
would seem to link the art of this Abnaki region very closely with that
of the Middle Atlantic states and portions of the upper Mississippi
region. The simple notched roulette was used in the manner shown
in plate CLIX <\ and the compound roulette was quite common.
Prolific sites are found on the Kennebec and Penobscot river.-, and
all along the shellfish-producing shore as far as Nova Scotia.
180 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN" UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.20
POTTERY OF THE APPALACHEE-OI1IO PROVINCE
The potterv of a large area lying 1 between the Appalachian ranges
and the Ohio river is difficult of characterization. The ceramic con
ditions in certain parts are apparently such as might result from an
intermingling of the work of peoples from the North, West, South,
and East, while in other sections the ware of a single style prevails.
Collections have not been made with sufficient care to enable us to say
what is the nature of the association of the different exotic forms
and features with products of more strictly local development. In
many localities in East Tennessee we find together specimens of the
stamped ware of the South Appalachian district, the polished bowls,
pots, and bottles of the Mississippi region, vessels that resemble
quite closely the ware of the valley of the Ohio on the north, and
others almost identical
with those of the Gulf
province on the south.
The stamped ware of
the East Teunessee dis
trict does not always
repeat the forms and
patterns of the South
Appalachian region
with accuracy, but ex
hibits, in cases, decided
individuality. In like
manner pottery of
western appearance is
not typical of the West,
but lias a local flavor. The high-necked bottles, the humpback fig
ures, the grotesque animal forms, and the red and white painted dec
oration are apparently wanting.
From mounds, graves, and dwelling sites over a large part of the
province we have examples of a variety of ware, mostly shell-tempered,
and consisting largely of culinary vessels, the strongest characteristic
of which is the looped handles connecting the rim with the neck or
shoulder. These handles are of many styles and vary in number from
two to eight to a vessel. They are sometimes elaborated into ani
mal figures, as is seen in figure 66, but generally they are less care
fully worked out than in the West. Besides the two animal-shaped
loops, placed on opposite sides of the rim of this vase, there are alter
nating comb-like ornaments, which probably represent some animal
feature, set on the shoulder of the vessel. It is possible they stand for
the hand or for a wing, and may thus be a conventionalized form of
animal symbol common in the Central Southern states. This piece
FIG. r.6 Vessel with animal-shaped handles, from a mound
Fains island, Jefferson eonntv, Tennessee.
HOLMES]
POTTERY OF EASTERN TENNESSEE
181
illustrate* a prevailing form of culinary vessel, and exhibits the pecu
liar finish of the body produced by malleating with textile-covered
modeling tools. A unique form
of handle is shown in figure 67.
This piece is not unusual in any
other respect.
A small vessel of very unu
sual shape for eastern America
is shown in figure (58. It ex
hibits the usual crude manipu
lation of the region, and is tem
pered with coarse shell. It is
in every respect characteristic
of the district, save in the pro
longation of one side of the body
into a rounded point, giving
what may be likened to a shoe
shape, but which also, as seen
in profile, Suggests the form of KIC;. 7 Vessel with arched handle, from a mound
a bird. The two handles are In Sevler county, Tennee.
placed as usual; one is normal, but the other extends out on the pro
jecting lobe and is continued in three spreading notched fillets which
connect with a notched band carried around the shoulder of the vessel.
FIG. 68 Shoe-shaped vessel, with incised designs, Loudon county, Tennessee.
The neck and shoulder are embellished with a pattern of incised lines
rranged in alternating triangular groups. A similar vessel from
n adjoining county is shown in figure 69. Especial attention i.s
182 A150RKJINAL I OTTKRY OK EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTII . .iNv.2i
Fi<;. c>9 Shoe-shaped vessel, Monroe
rountv. Tennessee.
called to these vessels by the fact that they are the only examples so
far added to our collections from the eastern half of the United
States exhibiting the peculiar shoe shape so frequently appearing in
the Pueblo country, and again as a prominent feature in the ware
of Central America. There can be no
doubt that the shape and the plastic
elaborations are significant and sym
bolic, but the exact nature of their
symbolism and the explanation of
their isolated occurrence are not yet
forthcoming 1 .
e
A small cup with three rows of nodes
encircling the body is presented in
figure To.
Ware of the general type to which
the above specimens .belong is found along the eastern slopes of the
Appalachian mountains in North Carolina. Virginia, and West Virginia.
It occurs along numerous streams entering the Ohio from the south,
and probably passes gradually into the well-known ware of the Miami
valley, where, at Madi-
sonville. we have the
most striking types of
handled pots. It is un
fortunate that we must
pass so briefly over a
great area that ought to
furnish much material
for the history of arts
and peoples, but such
meager collections have
been made that we seem
to have warrant for the
theory that the absence
of permanent residents, remarked of this region in early historic times,
may have, in a measure, characterized the eastern portions of the dark
and bloody ground" from the very beginning of native art in clay.
FIG. 70 Two-handled cup with rows of encircling nodes,
Tennessee.
OHIO VALLEY POTTERY
Cui/ruiiE GROUPS
The art remains of the Ohio valley occupy an important place among
the existing vestiges of our native races, and the relics of earthenware
pertaining to the region, although generally simple and inartistic, are,
from their associations, invested with exceptional interest.
iK i.MKS] 1 OTTEKY OF OHIO VALLEY 183
The province is :i vast one. having a width of from i<H> to 400 miles
and a length of nearlv sou miles. It is divided into numer-His phvsio-
1 .
graphic districts, more or less independent of one another, and furnish
ing 1 boundless resources to peoples fortunate enough to occupy them.
As a consequence, the ancient remains represent numerous important
culture groups. The Allegheny river, heading far to the north in
New York and Pennsylvania, was the home of the warlike Iroquois,
and the region is strewn with the remains of their peculiar arts. The
Monongahela drains- part of the region occupied hy the eastern
Algonquians, and transiently by many hunter-tribes of other stocks,
and it contains traces of their simple yet instructive handiwork. The
main southern branches, heading along the Appalachian ranges, were
overrun in their upper courses by the South Appalachian peoples,
whose art has already been described; and in their lower courses they
penetrated the very heart of the great culture province of the middle
Mississippi valley. The northern tributaries drain a fertile region
occupied in historical times by numerous tribes, mostly of Algonquian
stock, but at earlier periods by tribes of mound builders whose aflini-
ties of blood are not yet fully made out.
I have already dealt briefly with the wares of the eastern and south
ern borders of this wonderful province, and have now only to review
the potter}- of the immediate valley of the river and its extensions to
the north and west. The study of the pottery of this latter region is
invested with especial interest, for the reason that it may be* expected
to assist in elucidating the much-discussed problems of the mound
builders and the relations of these peoples to neighboring tribes and
to the Indians of historic times.
Opportunities for study have not been wholly satisfactory, as the
collections made by numerous explorers are much scattered, and, at
best, are not rich. It has been possible to distinguish only two groups
of ware that differ so decidedly from the surrounding groups, and that
possess such individuality, as to warrant the predication of distinct
groups of people or phases of culture. It is worthy of special note
that although they represent regions furnishing evidence, according
to man} 7 authorities, of exceptional progress in art and in general cul
ture, few of the examples of earthenware utensils rise above the level
of the average ware of the eastern United States which is assignable
to historic stocks. Indeed, it may be said that as a rule the ware
belongs to the archaic northern grand division of the art rather than
to the more highly developed product of the South. A number of
small terra-cotta figures found by Professor Putnam in one of the
Turner mounds near Cincinnati", and referred to briefly in his report,
seem to be an exception. The figures are said to he remarkably
well modeled and wholly unique.
Reports of the I eabody Museum, vol. Ml, p. 173.
184 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANN.2U
Professor Putnam s reference to these objects is as follows:
On another altar, in another mound of the group, were several terra-cotta figurines
of a character heretofore unknown from the mounds. Unfortunately these objects,
as well as others found on the altars, had been more or less burned, and many of them
appear to have been purposely broken before they were placed on the altars. Many
pieces of these images have been united, and it is my hope that we shall succeed in
nearly restoring some of them. Enough lias already been made out to show their
importance in the study of early American art. The peculiar method of wearing the
hair, the singular headdresses and large button-like ear ornaments shown by these
human figures are of particular interest. The ear ornaments leave no doubt of the
character of the spool-shaped objects referred to on a previous page."
Occasional specimens of Middle, Mississippi Valley type are found in
Ohio, but I urn not able to reach any conclusion as to the relation of
the, people, concerned in their manufacture to the tribes referred to in
the preceding paragraphs. Two excellent examples of this class are
shown in plate CLXI. They come from a mound in Ross county, and
are now preserved in the Ohio State Museum.
MIAMI VAI.LKY WARE
The pottery to be considered under this head does not include all
the ware of the Miami district, but only that possessing character
istics peculiar to certain prominent sites located mainly on the Little
Miami. This ware is not confined to the Miami region, for, as I have
already indicated, it extends out with decreasing numbers of .specimens
and in less and less typical forms, even beyond the confines of the
Ohio valley, especially into Kentucky and eastern Tennessee. The
richest collections of the Miami wares are preserved in the Peabody
Museum, and include a large series of well-preserved vases obtained
from village sites in the vicinity of Madisonville. The Literary and
Scientific Society of Madisonville made important finds in this region,
and published descriptions and a number of illustrations.*
Some, fine pieces obtained by Mr McBride, in Butler county, are
preserved in the Museum of the Academy of Sciences in Philadelphia.
Squire and Davis, in Ancient Monuments, figure 72, illustrate two
vases of this class from near the surface of the ground in Butler county.
From a village site at Fort Ancient, Warren county, Ohio, Mr W. K.
Moorehead obtained numerous fragments of this pottery, illustrated
in plate CLXII.
The prevailing type of vessel is a round-bodied pot with wide mouth
and flaring rim. Deep bowls are occasionally seen. The pots are
strongly characterized by their handles, which connect the lip with
the shoulder. As a rule these handles are thin bands, and lie close to
a I utnam, F. W., Sixteenth and Seventeenth Annual Report of the Trusteesof the Peabody Museum
of American Archirolof-y und Ethnology, vol. in, numbers 3 and 4, p. 173.
I Low, Charles F., Archaeological Explorations near Madisonville, Ohio, Archaeological Explora
tions by the Literary and Scientific Society of Madisonville, Ohio, 1878-80, parts 1, 2, 3, and 4.
c Moorehead. Warren K., Fort Ancient, Cincinnati, 181)0. plate xxvn.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLXI
a (DIAMETER 3i INCHES!
ii DIAMETER 7i INCHES;
VASES OF MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI TYPE
OHIO VALLEY GROUP
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY COLLECTION i
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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL CLXIII
tt i HEIGHT 6 INCHES)
1 HEIGHT 34 INCHES!
b (HEIGHT 4 INCHES)
C (HEIGHT 64 INCHES)
(I HEIGHT 10 INCHES)
/ HEIGHT 7i INCHES)
VASES FROM MOUNDS AT MADISONVILLE
OHIO VALLEY GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLXIV
!> i HEIGHT 4; INCHES
a WEIGHT 4S INCHES;
VASES ILLUSTRATING TEXTILE IMPRINTINGS
OHIO VALLEY GROUP
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLXV
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\
INCISED DECORATIONS FROM EARTHENWARE
OHIO VALLEY GROUP
HOLMES] POTTERY OF MIAMI VALLEY 185
the nock of the vessel. Their number is usually four, but two are
sometimes seen, and occasionally there are more than four. In most
eases they are, wider where they join the rim, which is often drawn out
to meet them. The outer surface of the handles is plain and flat in most
cases, but examples occur in which it is concave, and in rather rare
instances it is round. In no other section do handles form so impor
tant a feature of the ware as in southwestern Ohio. As a rule, in all
sections, handles of this general type belong to vessels intended for
culinary use, and it would appear from the signs of use over tire that
many of the Miami vases were mere culinary utensils.
A number of specimens obtained from a mound near Madisonville,
and referred to above, are shown in plate CLXIII. The first specimen, //,
is supplied with two looped handles, alternating with which are two
animal figures vertically placed. That the latter represent a quad
ruped is about all that can be said with safety, for they may have been
intended for either a lizard or a mountain lion. In another case, a
rudely modeled human head or face is attached to the upper margin
of the rim. Nodes and low ridges take the place of handles in some,
specimens.
Examples of the average pot are given in /> and o. Some peculiar
modifications of the simple vessels are observed. One specimen. <l. is
mounted on a crudely made foot or stand; it has an awkward, top-
heavy appearance. The addition of this feature was probably an
experiment on the part of the potter, who was possibly attempting in
a crude way to copy the work of his southern neighbors. A double
vase from the same site is shown in e. There is no doubt that, as our
collections are enlarged, additional forms will be added.
Plato CLXIV is introduced for the purpose of showing the peculiar
surface finish observed in this ware. The modeling implement was
a paddle or a cylinder wrapped with twisted cords, and applied to the
plastic surface; it was generally held so that the markings are approxi
mately vertical. These markings are obliterated on the neck of the
vessels by finishing with the polishing stone.
Decoration proper is confined to the lip and neck. The lip is plain,
rounded, squarish or uneven on the edge, or has a narrow collar or
band on the exterior; this latter is often indented in a rude and simple
manner, a herring-bone arrangement of short incisions being com
mon. The constricted xone of the neck is generally rather rudely
but effectively embellished with an encircling design, based on the
meander, scroll or guilloche. A series of these figures is shown in
plate CLXV, and the impression given is that the makers of this
ware have in some way felt the influence of more southern culture,
and have, in a crude way, introduced into their symbolism and decora
tive art a number of borrowed elements. In some cases, the current
scroll, composed of neatly interlocked units, is clearly drawn, but as a
186 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [ETH.ANS.M
rule the lines form a somewhat disconnected guilloche. apparently the
result of careless imitation of intertwined fillets. In some cases the
figures are angular, and in a few instances they have been somewhat
carefully elaborated with a modeling tool, giving a relieved effect.
This pottery does not take a high place among the various ceramic
groups of the mound builders, and, if we should assume to determine
the relative culture status of the various peoples concerned in pottery
making from this art alone, we should find the Miami tribes near the
bottom of the scale. Judging by the poverty of shapes, there had
been but little differentiation of use. The introduction of life forms
had hardly commenced, and the esthetic features were treated in a
very elementary way, as if but recently introduced.
SALT VESSELS
One of the most notable varieties of earthenware found in any of the
regions is that represented by what are usually referred to as "salt
vessels." Two localities in the Ohio valley are especially noted for
this ware; one is near Shawneetown, Illinois, and the other is near
Nashville, Tennessee. A rather full account of the ware has been
given in the introductory pages, and I do not need to dwell on it here,
save to say that it is my impression that these utensils do not repre
sent a peculiar people or culture, but that they were produced by the
various tribes of the region for the special purpose of reducing the
salt waters of the localities in which they are found.
POTTERY OF THE NORTHWEST
FAMILY DISTINCTIONS
In a paper published in the Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology the ancient ware of the valley of the Mississippi was dis
cussed with some care, but the ground was not entirely covered. It
was shown, however, that the pottery of the upper valley belongs to
a family distinct from that of the lower, and that the limitations of its
occurrence appear to mark, with some degree of approximation, the
distribution of peculiar groups of people and of particular phases of
culture. The general distinctions between the earthenware of the
North and that of the South have been pointed out in the introductory
pages and in the section treating of the eastern Algonquian areas, and
it may be added here that the very poorly defined zone of transition
crosses southern Ohio and extends across the middle portions of Indi
ana, Illinois, and Iowa. The southern ware extends considerably to
the north of this zone in numerous cases, and the northern forms are
found in decreasing numbers as we pass across it to the south. In
some sections the typical wares of both provinces are found together
HOI.MKS] POTTERY OK THE NORTHWEST 187
on one site. The correlations of cither variety of ccnmiic products
with groups of other classes of remains found in the same districts arc
not yet well made out.
In the. West the contrasts between the ware of the North and that of
South appear to be quite as pronounced as they are in the East. That
of the South is highly differentiated and specialized; that of the North
is pronouncedly archaic. That of the South exhibits variously tinted
pastes, tempered principally with piilveri/ed shells. The vases, as a
rule, have full bodies, rounded bases, and. in very many cases, nar
row and high necks. Animal forms are imitated with remarkable,
frequency and with much skill. The northern pottery shows a gen
erally dark paste, tempered largely with coarse angular sand derived
from pulveri/ed rocks. The shapes are those of simple pots. The
mouths are wide, the rims plain, and the necks but slightly con
stricted. Animal forms are rarely seen. The ornament of the South
employs flowing as well as angular lines, varied colors, and a wide
range of motives; that of the North is almost exclusively archaic,
consisting of incised and indented geometric patterns. A comparison
between the specimens brought together in the accompanying plates
and those in the numerous plates of the Middle Mississippi section
will prove instructive.
The pottery of the northern province is abundant, but is recovered
for the most part in a fragmentary state. However, a suflicient num
ber of well-preserved pieces have been collected to indicate pretty
clearly the range of form and decoration.
This northwestern province includes the upper Mississippi valley,
the Missouri valley, the region of the western (treat lakes, and the
valley of Red river of the North. The varieties of pottery are not
confined to particular regions as decidedly as they are in the East.
They may be classified for purposes of description under two heads,
the roulettcd and stamped ware and the cord-decorated ware, the latter
including the work of the Mandans, the only tribe of the whole region
known to have practiced the art in recent years.
This pottery occurs over large areas occupied in historic times
mainly by the Algonquian and Siouan stocks. Much of it affiliates
closely with the ware of the more eastern branches of the Algonquian,
and, in some eases, in nearly all features of detail. One variety,
however, shows decided atlinities with the work of the South Appa
lachian potters. The Siouan peoples were probably potters in a limited
way, especially where they were measurably sedentary in habits, and
the same may be surmised of the Caddoan and other stocks. Mr A. J.
Comfort, writing on this subject (Smithsonian Report for 1871. page
401), says that the Dakota* certainly practiced the art during the; child
hood of men still living. Dr J. Owen Dorsey, the well-known student
of the Siouan tribes, informs me that Half-a-dav, historian of the
188 ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [Exn.AXN.20
Omahas, distinctly affirms that the art was practiced by his people
as lute as 1840, and the old lodge rings found on their village sites
are well supplied with the usual cord-decorated and textured ware
characteristic of the Missouri valley.
ROULBTTED AND STAMPED WARE
A largo part of the ware of the Northwest may be brought together
in a single group, which may be called, from its most pronounced
technic peculiarity, the roulctted group, but it is impossible to define
with any degree of precision its geographic limits. The localities rep
resented in the collections examined by me are indicated in a somewhat
general way on the map accompanying a previous section (plate iv).
The tribes by whom it was manufactured have evidently, at one time
or another, occupied a large part of the Mississippi basin north of the
mouth of the Missouri river. Farts of the states of Iowa, Wisconsin,
Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio are covered by this or by closely
related ceramic groups, and traces of some of its peculiar characters
are discovered far beyond these limits as, for example, in Xew Jersey
and Maine. There is some lack of uniformity within the group, and
in time several subgroups may be distinguished, but the persistence
of certain peculiar features in the widely separated localities goes far
toward demonstrating a general unity.
The clay used exhibits no unusual features, but the tempering is
always silicious and often coarse. The vessels have a narrow range
of form and are such as were commonly devoted to culinary uses.
There is, however, considerable diversity of detail, as will be seen by
reference to the illustrations.
The decoration of this ware presents some striking features, the use
of the roulette and the patterned punch stamp being especially char
acteristic. Cord-covered modeling tools were used in finishing the
undecorated portions of the vessels, and pointed tools of various kinds
were used in incising, trailing, and indenting patterns, as they were
in other sections. In one locality a peculiar variety of patterned
stamp was employed. Although the stamps were not quite the same as
those used in the South Appalachian region, and were applied in a dif
ferent way. taking the form of punches rather than of paddles, their
use suggests a relationship between the art of the two sections, and this
is enforced by the facts that features of ornamentation, shape, and
material show unusually close analogies. Specimens of this class were
obtained from mounds near Naples. Illinois, by Mr John G. Henderson
and Mr M. Tandy."
In plates CLXVI and CLXVII arc reproduced a number of sherds
illustrating the manner of applying the, stamps, which must have been
a Henderson. John G.. Aboriginal Remains near Naples. Illinois, in Smithsonion Report lor 1S82,
Washington. 1SH4. p. (>.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLXVI
SHERDS OF STAMPED AND ROULETTED POTTERY, NAPLES, ILLINOIS
NORTHWESTERN GROUP
iTHREE-FOURTHSJ
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT I L. CLXVII
SHERDS OF STAMPED AND ROULETTED POTTERY, NAPLES, ILLINOIS
NORTHWESTERN GROUP
THREE-FOURTHS)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TWENTIETH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLXVIM
(HEIGHT 4, INCHES)
" V, " T" < r.W nt It WTttt(tJllIL^: StOj"?
K) *$> * rr * . M ^^%MOT^
I f II
fei^ -IMSC"^^
%i- fe;-^;
(HEIGHT 6! INCHES)
VASES DECORATED WITH THE ROULETTE, ILLINOIS
NORTHWESTERN GROUP
HOLMES]
STAMP DECORATED POTTERY, ILLINOIS
189
mere bits of wood with the ends dressed in various simple, flattish-
ovul shapes, und divided by tninsverse grooves; they were but a step
in advance of the ordinary punches and puncturing tools used in nearly
all sections in decorative work. These stamps were not used to pro
duce the mixed, all-over patterns characteristic of the South Appa
lachian specimens, but were applied in ;i systematic way, the separate
impressions being preserved, arranged in neat order to embellish mar
gins and rill in spaces. A number of the impressions are given in
figure 71. In plate CLXVIII two of the cruder examples of the Naples
vases which happened to be susceptible of partial restoration are
given. Particular attention may be called to the larger vessel, which,
although belonging to this locality and to this particular group of
vessels, is remarkably like the Georgia type, duplicating specimens
from the Savannah in appearance, material, outline, and some of the
details of decoration.
II
\J>
ii bed i
FIG. 71 Stamps used in decorating vessels (restored).
The pointed body has been textured with a cord-wrapped paddle or
modeling tool, and the impressions have been partially obliterated in
preparing the surface for the decoration. A punch was used to
press out a row of beads encircling the rim; a stamp of the variety
shown in figure ~>ln was applied to the outer margin of the rim;
a roulette with irregular points was carried around the neck in a wide
zone and below was crudely executed a design consisting of six sections,
three of which are festoons of incised and indented lines, while the
other three are carelessly traced coils produced in the same manner.
The smaller piece, a, is also a South Appalachian shape.
Closely related in origin and effect to the stamped decorations
described above is the work of the roulette, which especially char
acterizes this group of products. The implement, instead of being
straight on the edge, like the stamps, took the shape of a wheel, or
part of a wheel, with toothed edge. This was rolled back and forth
over the surface to be decorated in the manner indicated in figure 72,
UK) ABORIGINAL POTTERY OF EASTERN UNITED STATES [KTH.ANN .20
or was made to give broken lines, or to indent margins. A handle
was probably used, as is indicated in the figure, the work being thus
much more readily accomplished. Inexperienced observers would
hardly be able to distinguish the markings made, bv the notched
wheel from those made by the simple forms of notched or reticulated
stamps, and by cords and fabrics, the general effect being much the
same. In figure 73 is presented a small vase made by myself from
ordinary potter s clay, and with it are the two tools, a notched rou
lette and a cord-wrapped roulette, used in finishing and embellishing
its surface. The, cord-wrapped stick served as a modeling tool to
assist in shaping the vessel, in welding the clay together, and in
rendering the surface even; at the same time it imparted the pecul-
Fjii. 72 USD of the roulette or rocking notched wheel. This wheel Is made of pasteboard niul inkid
to show impressions on paper.
iar fabric-like texturing, which is not at all unpleasant to the eye.
The band about the neck of the vessel was then smoothed with the
thumb, and polished with a hit. of smooth, hard wood. The rim or
collar was smoothed also, and the notched wheel was run over it,
reproducing the simple, patterns characteristic of this group of ves
sels. A wheel with coarse, notches was then rolled around the lower
margin of the collar to give diversity and emphasis. The whole
operation of building and decorating such a vessel need not consume
more than half an hour. In many cases the potters of this and other
northern groups, instead of notching the wheel, wrapped a hard
twisted cord around it. applying it to the clay in the ordinary way.
HOL.MKS]
rsK OK THK KOULKTTK IN DKCOHATION
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In Iiu 
