I have already pointed out the fact that most of the pottery of the
Upper Mississippi region belongs to a distinct family. It has never
been as abundant as the pottery of the more southern sections of the
country and is not well represented in our museums. There are only a
few pieces in the Davenport collection and these are all in a more or
less fragmentary state. A majority are from a mound near the city of
Davenport, but a limited number came from Wisconsin.
At this time it is impossible to define, with any degree of precision,
the geographical limits of this class of ware. The tribes by whom it
was manufactured have evidently, at one time or another, occupied
the greater part of the Mississippi basin north of the mouth of
the Missouri River. Similarities of material, shape, methods of
manufacture, and ornamentation, tend to show that we must include the
greater parts of the States of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois,
Indiana, and Ohio, in the area covered by this or closely related
ceramic groups, and indications of its presence are discovered far
beyond these limits. The mounds of Manitoba have recently furnished
examples of this class of ware, and it has decided relationships with
the ware of the Eastern and Northeastern States. It is not yet time
to draw close distinctions, as sufficiently detailed studies of the
products of the various districts have not been made.
On the shelves of our museums the difference between the two great
families of the middle and Upper Mississippi are strikingly manifest.
The ware of the former district, as already shown, exhibits variously
tinted pastes tempered with coarsely pulverized shells or potsherds;
the vases, as a rule, having full bodies, well rounded bases, and
in very many cases, narrow necks. They exhibit great variety of
decoration and no little care in finish. The northern family shows
a dark paste tempered with sand, often apparently granitic; a rough
fracture, and generally a rude finish. The shapes are comparatively
simple, often long, tapering below, and flat bottomed. The
ornamentation is totally unlike that of the southern variety.
It consists of cord impressions, incised lines, and implement
indentations arranged in figures peculiar to the district. There
are many other features that, like the subtile characters of human
physiognomy, cannot easily be described, but which are of first
importance as indices of relationship or the lack of it.
The best preserved of the Davenport specimens was described and
illustrated in the first volume of the proceedings of the Davenport
Academy. This vessel, Fig. 456, was found in a mound near Davenport
along with human remains, and closely associated with other relics,
among which were several copper implements covered with coarse woven
fabrics. Its height is eleven inches, width of aperture seven and
a half inches, and diameter of base four inches. It is estimated to
contain a little over one gallon.
There is a broad, shallow constriction at the neck. The walls are from
one-fourth to three-eighths of an inch thick, and the margin of
the rim is squared off, showing the full thickness--a strong
characteristic of the northern pottery. The form is nearly
symmetrical, and the surface is hand-smoothed but not polished. The
paste is now dark and crumbling, and shows a rough fracture. A
large percentage of sand was used in tempering. The color is a dark
gray-brown. The entire surface, with the exception of a narrow band
about the base, has been covered with ornamentation. This is executed
with considerable care, and shows a great deal of ingenuity and some
taste. There is apparently no feature copied from nature or from
ideographic art. Two or three distinct implements have been used.
A part of the neck ornament was made by rolling back and forth a
circular tool, a _roulette_, the edge of which was notched. A row of
indented nodes has been produced upon the exterior surface of the neck
by impressing upon the inside the end of a reed or hollow bone about
one-fourth of an inch in diameter. Patterns of bold, rather carelessly
drawn lines cover the body and seem to have been made by trailing,
under pretty strong pressure, the smooth point of a stylus--probably
the bone or reed already suggested. Some of the larger indentations
upon the lower part of the neck may have been made by the same
implement held in an oblique position. The use to which this vessel
was applied can hardly be guessed. It was found with the remains of
its owner, and probably contained food or drink.
[Illustration: FIG. 456.--Vase: Davenport, Iowa.--1/3.]
Another smaller vessel from the same locality and found under similar
conditions shows the same characteristics of material, form, and
ornament. There are also a few other fragments of the same ware
from this group of mounds. One of these shows that decoration by
the indentation of twisted cords was practiced here as elsewhere. A
similar vase tastefully decorated with indented lines about the neck,
and a band of decoration consisting of broad, plain, sinuous bands
upon the body, comes from a mound in Scott County, Iowa. Height six
inches, diameter the same. The rims of all these vessels are square on
the edge, showing the full thickness of the walls.
[Illustration: FIG. 457.--Vase: Wisconsin.--1/2.
[_National Museum._]]
A very interesting vessel obtained by Captain Hall from a mound in
Wisconsin is represented by a number of large fragments, probably
comprising about one-half of the walls. It must have been somewhat
larger than the vase given in Fig. 456, and in a general way resembles
it closely. It appears to be more pointed below than the other, and
has a slightly flaring rim. The walls are one-fourth of an inch thick.
The paste is coarse and is tempered with sand, as in the cases already
described. The lower part of the body is covered with nearly vertical
cord marks. The upper part was smoothed, rather rudely, for the
reception of additional decoration, which consists of several bands of
indented figures. The principal implement used was apparently a stiff
cord, or a slender osier wrapped with fine thread, which has been
laid on and impressed with the fingers, forming nearly continuous
encircling lines. Bands of short oblique lines made in the same
manner also occur. Just below the margin there is a line of annular
indentations made from the exterior, leaving nodes on the inside--the
reverse of the treatment noticed in the vessel already illustrated.
Fragments of identically marked ware from the vicinity of Prairie du
Chien may be seen in the National Museum.
A large fragment from Baraboo County, Wisconsin, shows a full body and
a slightly flaring rim. The upper part is ornamented with horizontal
lines of annular indentations, and the body is covered with rather
rude patterns made by rolling a notched wheel or _roulette_ back and
forth in zigzag lines.
Two handsome pieces of this ware were recently obtained by the Bureau
of Ethnology from a mound in Vernon County, Wisconsin. The finest of
these, which is shown in Fig. 457, is six and a half inches in height,
and in symmetry and finish rivals the best work of the south. The
paste is dark, compact, and fine grained, and tempered apparently
with sand. The color of the surface is a rich, mottled brown. The most
striking feature of the decoration consists of a number of polished
bands, extending in divers directions over the surface, the
interstices being filled in with indented figures. The lip is smooth
and the margin rounded. The exterior surface of the narrow collar is
ornamented with oblique lines made by a _roulette_, and crossed at
intervals with fine incised lines. The neck is slightly constricted,
and is encircled by a polished zone one and one-fourth inches wide,
having a line of indentations along the upper edge. The body is
separated into four lobes by four vertical, depressed, polished bands
about one inch wide. Two of these lobes are crossed obliquely by
similar polished bands. These bands were all finished with a polishing
implement, and are somewhat depressed, probably the result of strong
pressure with this tool. They are bordered by wide incised lines. The
intervening spaces are indented with a _roulette_.
[Illustration: FIG. 458.--Vase; Illinois.--3/4.]
A handsome little vessel, obtained from a mound at Albany, Whitesides
County, Illinois, is illustrated in Fig. 458. It apparently belongs
to the silicious ware of the north. The shape and ornamentation are
somewhat novel. Four large flattish lobes occur about the body, on
each of which a figure somewhat resembling a Maltese cross has been
made by incising or impressing broad, shallow lines. The remainder of
the body is covered with marks that resemble impressions of a coarse
osier basket. This specimen was collected by Mr. C. A. Dodge, and
a short description was published by Prof. W. H. Pratt in the third
volume of the proceedings of the Davenport Academy.