In studying the collections from the Mississippi Valley, I find it
convenient to classify the ceramic products in three great groups,
which belong to as many pretty well-defined districts; these I have
named, for convenience of treatment, the Upper Mississippi, the
Middle Mississippi, and the Lower Mississippi or Gulf provinces. Other
pottery occurs within the limits of these areas, but the examples
found in the museums are so few that very little of importance can be
learned from them.
The three groups enumerated are not equally represented. The great
body of our collections is from the middle province. The ware of
the Lower Mississippi or Gulf district, of which we have but a small
number of pieces, has many features in common with the pottery of the
middle district, and at the same time is identical in most respects
with that of the Gulf coast to the east. No well-defined line can be
drawn between them; but the ware of the north is wholly distinct and
need never be confounded with the other groups.