REMAINS OF ART FOUND IN THE MOUNDS.
The condition of the ordinary arts of life amongst a people capable
of constructing the singular and imposing monuments which we have
been contemplating, furnishes a prominent and interesting subject
of inquiry. The vast amount of labor expended upon these works, and
the regularity and design which they exhibit, taken in connection
with the circumstances under which they are found, denote a people
advanced from the nomadic or radically savage state,—in short,
a numerous agricultural people, spread at one time, or slowly
migrating, over a vast extent of country, and having established
habits, customs, and modes of life. How far this conclusion, for the
present hypothetically advanced, is sustained by the character of the
minor vestiges of art, of which we shall now speak, remains to be
seen.
It has already been remarked, that the mounds are the principal
depositories of ancient art, and that in them we must seek for
the only authentic remains of the builders. In the observance of
a practice almost universal among barbarous or semi-civilized
nations, the mound-builders deposited various articles of use and
ornament with their dead. They also, under the prescriptions of their
religion, or in accordance with customs unknown to us, and to which
perhaps no direct analogy is afforded by those of any other people,
placed upon their altars numerous ornaments and implements,—probably
those most valued by their possessors,—which remain there to this
day, attesting at once the religious zeal of the depositors, and
their skill in the simpler arts. From these original sources, the
illustrations which follow have been chiefly derived.
The necessity of a careful discrimination between the various
remains found in the mounds, resulting from the fact that the races
succeeding the builders in the occupation of the country often buried
their dead in them, has probably been dwelt upon with sufficient
force, in another connection. Attention to the conditions under which
they are discovered, and to the simple rules which seem to have
governed the mound-builders in making their deposits, can hardly fail
to fix with great certainty their date and origin.
Thus in the case of the stratified mounds, we well know, if the
strata are entire, that whatever deposits are found beneath them
were placed there at the period of the construction of the mounds
themselves. On the other hand, if they are broken up, it follows with
equal certainty that the mound in which the disturbance is observed,
has been invaded since its erection.
It will therefore be seen that we have some certain means of
determining, aside from the distinctive features of the articles
themselves, which of the relics discovered [p187] in the mounds
pertain to their builders, and which are of a later date. Hence
results the importance of knowing the history of those relics
which may fall under notice, and the circumstances attending their
discovery, in order to feel authorized in drawing conclusions from
them. Their true position satisfactorily ascertained, we proceed with
confidence to comparisons and deductions, which otherwise, however
ingenious and accurate they might appear, would necessarily be
invested with painful uncertainty. From want of proper care in this
respect, there is no doubt that articles of European origin, which,
by a very natural train of events, found their way to the mounds,
have been made the basis of speculations concerning the arts of the
mound-builders. To this cause we may refer the existence of the
popular errors, that the ancient people were acquainted with the uses
of iron, and understood the arts of plating, gilding, etc.
Hence, too, the value of systematic investigations, conducted on the
spot, if we would aim to throw any certain light upon this branch of
inquiry, or do more than excite an ignorant wonder or gratify an idle
curiosity.
The general character of this class of remains has already been
indicated. They are such only as, from the nature of their material,
have been able to resist the general course of decay:—articles of
pottery, bone, ivory, shell, stone, and metal. We can, of course,
expect to find no traces of instruments or utensils of wood, and
but few and doubtful ones at best, of the materials which went to
compose articles of dress. Such remains as are found, so far as their
purposes are apparent, are classified; the remainder are so arranged
as best to facilitate description.
POTTERY AND ARTICLES OF CLAY.
The art of the potter is hoary in its antiquity. It seems to have
been the first domestic art practised by man, and the worker in
clay may be esteemed the primitive artisan. Go where we will, from
the hut of the roving Indian to the palace of the civilized prince,
we everywhere find the products of his craft, rude and unpolished
from the hand of the savage, or rivalling the marble from the
manufactories of Wedgwood and Copeland.
The site of every Indian town throughout the West is marked by the
fragments of pottery scattered around it; and the cemeteries of the
various tribes abound with rude vessels of clay, piously deposited
with the dead. Previous to the advent of Europeans, the art of the
potter was much more important and its practice more general, than
it afterwards became upon the introduction of metallic vessels. The
mode of preparing and moulding the material is minutely described by
the early observers, and seems to have been common to all the tribes,
and not to have varied materially from that day to this. The work
devolved almost exclusively upon the women, who kneaded the clay
and formed the vessels. [p188] Experience seems to have suggested
the means of so tempering the material as to resist the action of
fire; accordingly we find pounded shells, quartz, and sometimes
simple coarse sand from the streams, mixed with the clay. None of the
pottery of the present races, found in the Ohio valley, is destitute
of this feature; and it is not uncommon, in certain localities, where
from the abundance of fragments, and from other circumstances, it is
supposed the manufacture was specially carried on, to find quantities
of the decayed shells of the fresh-water molluscs intermixed with
the earth, which were probably brought to the spot to be used in
the process. Among the Indians along the Gulf, a greater degree
of skill was displayed than with those on the upper waters of the
Mississippi and on the lakes. Their vessels were generally larger and
more symmetrical, and of a superior finish. They moulded them over
gourds and other models, and baked them in ovens. In the construction
of those of large size, it was customary to model them in baskets
of willow or splints, which, at the proper period, were burned off,
leaving the vessel perfect in form, and retaining the somewhat
ornamental markings of their moulds. Some of those found on the Ohio
seem to have been modelled in bags or nettings of coarse thread or
twisted bark. These practices are still retained by some of the
remote western tribes. Of this description of pottery many specimens
are found with the recent deposits in the mounds. They are identical
in every respect with those taken from the known burial-grounds of
the Indians; and though generally of rude workmanship, they are not
destitute of a certain symmetry of shape and proportion.
Among the mound-builders the art of pottery attained to a
considerable degree of perfection. Various though not abundant
specimens of their skill have been recovered, which, in elegance of
model, delicacy, and finish, as also in fineness of material, come
fully up to the best Peruvian specimens, to which they bear, in many
respects, a close resemblance. They far exceed anything of which the
existing tribes of Indians are known to have been capable. It is to
be regretted that none of these remains have been recovered entire in
the course of our investigations: they have been found only in the
altar or sacrificial mounds, and always in fragments. The largest
deposit was found in the long mound, No. 3, “Mound City,” (see page
149,) from which were taken fragments enough to have originally
composed a dozen vessels of medium size. By the exercise of great
care and patience in collecting and arranging the pieces, a few
vessels have been very nearly restored,—so nearly, as not only to
show with all desirable accuracy their shape, but also the character
of their ornaments. They exhibit a variety of graceful forms.
The material of which they are composed is a fine clay; which, in
the more delicate specimens, appears to have been worked nearly
pure, possessing a very slight silicious intermixture. Some of the
coarser specimens, though much superior in model, have something
of the character of the Indian ware already described, pulverized
quartz being intermixed with the clay. Others are tempered with a
salmon-colored mica in small flakes, which gives them a ruddy and
rather brilliant appearance, and was perhaps introduced with some
view to ornament as well as [p189] utility.[124] None appear
to have been glazed; although one or two, either from baking or
the subsequent great heat to which they were subjected, exhibit a
slightly vitrified surface. Their excellent finish seems to have been
the result of the same process with that adopted by the Peruvians in
their fictile manufactures.
[Illustration: XLVI.]
PLATE XLVI.
EARTHEN VESSELS FROM THE MOUNDS.
This Plate exhibits drawings of eight vessels of pottery; of which
Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, were taken from the mounds of Ohio, and Nos. 6, 7,
8, 9, from the mounds of South Carolina and Florida. Nos. 3 and 4,
although taken from the mounds, will readily be recognised as of
comparatively modern manufacture. They were found with the recent
deposits, and may be considered as fair specimens of Indian skill
in this department. Unlike the older vessels with which they are
placed in contrast, they are heavy and coarse, both in material and
workmanship.
NUMBER 1 is a beautiful vase, moulded from pure clay, with a slight
silicious intermixture. Its thickness is uniform throughout, not
exceeding one sixth of an inch. Its outer as well as interior surface
is smooth, except where it is dotted by way of ornament. Its finish
resembles in all respects that of the finer Peruvian pottery, and,
when held in certain positions towards the light, exhibits the
same peculiarities of surface, as if it had been carefully shaved
and smoothed with a sharp knife. It is highly polished, and has an
unctuous feel. The exterior is ornamented as represented in the
drawing. The lines are carved in, and appear to have been cut by some
sharp «gouge-shaped» instrument, which entirely removed the detached
material, leaving no ragged or raised edges. Nothing can exceed
the uniformity and precision with which they are executed; and it
seems almost impossible that the artist could have preserved so much
regularity, with no other guide than the eye. There are four groups
or festoons of lines, each of which occupies an equal division of the
surface. A line is carried around the top of the vase near the edge,
in which, at equal distances from each other, are pierced four small
holes, a fifth of an inch in diameter. Between this line and the edge
is a row of dots, formed with the same instrument used in carving
the lines, held in an oblique direction to the surface. The spaces
between some of the lines are [p190] roughened in a similar manner.
The color of this vase is a dark brown or umber. Its height is five
and a half, its diameter six and a half inches. The fragment, Fig. 5,
exhibits the thickness of the ware, the size of the engraved lines,
etc.
NUMBER 2 is a vase of coarser material but more elaborate outline
than the one just described. It is square, with slightly rounded
angles, and has a singular offset or shoulder at the top. Its
exterior is divided into four compartments, within each of which
is an ornamental figure, somewhat resembling a bird with extended
wings. This ornament is thrown in relief by the roughening of the
remaining portions of the surface. One or two other vases have been
found, possessing the same shape and having identical ornaments, but
lacking the offset or shoulder above mentioned. The ornamental work,
in all of these specimens, is executed in a free, bold style; and
the figures differ just enough to show that they were not cut after
a pattern. This vase is burned hard; its thickness is but one eighth
of an inch; its dimensions are, height five inches, greatest diameter
the same.
From the delicacy of these specimens, and the amount of labor
expended upon them, it is concluded that they were not used for
ordinary purposes. They were perhaps designed to contain articles
valued by the possessor, or to be used only on certain important
occasions. It has been suggested that they were possibly the
«censers» of the ancient priesthood, or, from the fact of their being
found only in the altar mounds, appropriated to sacred purposes. This
supposition might be made with equal propriety in respect to the
coarser varieties also found on the altars, and which, it is evident,
were designed to be used for purposes requiring strength and the
capability of withstanding fire.
NUMBERS 3 and 4 are drawn upon the same scale with the two above
described; they contain between one and two quarts. As before
remarked, they may be regarded as in all respects very good specimens
of the skill of the modern northern tribes in this description of
manufacture.
In the mounds of the South, pottery exists in great abundance; but it
differs very much in form and quality from the specimens found on the
Ohio. It is coarser in material, and seems to have been manufactured
with less care. The ornaments, although not without grace, are
roughly executed. Some of the vessels seem to have been burned to
considerable hardness, and exhibit the consequent redness of color;
but most are of a dark brown, and appear to have been hardened over
fires, rather than burned in kilns.
NUMBERS 6, 7, 8, and 9, as already observed, are examples of this
Southern ware. Number 6 is from South Carolina; Nos. 7, 8, and 9,
from Florida: they are all deposited in the cabinet of the Historical
Society of New York. No. 6 is about twelve inches in height, of
rather elegant model, and ornamented with scrolls. It contains
upwards of a gallon. Nos. 7 and 9 hold about a quart each; No. 8
perhaps three quarts.
Some of those found in the mounds of Carolina are of great size, and
capable [p191] of holding from three to thirty gallons. These are
seldom ornamented, but are extremely well formed. It may be remarked
that the handles of the Southern vases are often neatly moulded into
scrolls, or representations of the heads of animals and birds.
[Illustration: Fig. 71.]
Fig. 71, Number 1, is a very good specimen of an ancient Peruvian
vessel, now deposited in the museum of the Historical Society of
Connecticut, at Hartford. The peculiar spout, answering the double
purpose of use and ornament, has been observed in some of the vases
of the Southern United States. Number 2 illustrates one variety of
earthen ware, which is common from the mouth of the Ohio to the Gulf
of Mexico. This specimen was taken from a mound at Ellis’s Bluff,
near Natchez. It contained burnt remains, though we are uninformed of
what description. It is unbaked and composed of a singular kind of
clay, which exhibits the appearance and has the feel of the softer
varieties of “soap stone.” The material is accurately described
by Mr. Flint, in his account of certain articles of pottery found
in Missouri. “The composition when fractured shows many white
floccules in the clay, that resemble fine snow; and these I judge
to be pulverized shells. The basis of the composition seems to be
the alluvial clay, carried along in the waters of the Mississippi,
and called by the French ‘«terre grasse»,’ from its greasy feel.”
This specimen is seven inches high by eight inches in its greatest
diameter. The neck is two and a half inches long, and a cover
fits neatly over it, completely closing the vessel. It is very
symmetrical, exhibiting but slight irregularities. Its thickness
is not far from three eighths of an inch, but it is evidently not
uniform throughout. It has no markings, except some irregular notches
in the rim of the base.[125]
Many vessels of similar shape are found in Tennessee, Mississippi,
and Louisiana, of which number 3 of the cut furnishes a very good
example. They are of a great variety of sizes, and sometimes have the
form of the human head, or of [p192] animals. The celebrated “Triune
vessel,” which has been made the basis of so much unprofitable
speculation, was of the latter character, and represented three
human heads joined at the back. They are variously ornamented,
and sometimes painted with red and brown colors. Their form seems
generally to have been suggested by that of the gourd.
[Illustration: Fig. 72.]
Fig. 72, Number 1. This vessel, clearly of modern workmanship, was
found a few feet below the surface, near the town of Hamilton, Butler
county, Ohio. It was placed beside a human skeleton, and contained a
single muscle-shell. The material is a compound of clay and pounded
shells; its height is seven inches, diameter five and a half. Number
2 was found in the same vicinity, and under similar circumstances
with that last described. It is of like composition, thick, and of a
dark black color.
Number 3 was found in Perry county, Indiana, at a locality known as
the “Big Bone Bank.” It is composed of finer material than those
just described. The aperture at the mouth is two inches in diameter;
the vase itself is five inches in height, and measures thirteen in
circumference. The “Big Bone Bank,” to which we have alluded, occurs
on the Wabash river, ten miles above its mouth, and is supposed by
many to have been a cemetery of the mound-builders. Human remains are
very abundant here, and are said to occur as deep as ten feet below
the surface. With these are deposited various relics, consisting for
the most part of vessels of pottery, which are exposed from time
to time by the wasting away of the bank. The following specimens,
obtained from this locality, together with those just described, are
in the cabinet of JAMES MCBRIDE, Esq., Hamilton, Ohio.
[Illustration: Fig. 73.]
[Illustration: Fig. 74.]
Fig. 73 measures three inches in height by seventeen in
circumference. It is [p193] of fine clay, burned, and in model
somewhat resembles the ancient pipkin. Before it was fractured, it
probably terminated in a representation of the head of some animal.
Fig. 74 is of precisely the same material with that last described.
Besides the two handles, it has four strong knobs at right angles to
each other, by which it was probably designed the vessel might be
suspended.
All the vessels from this locality are composed of clay, compounded
as already described, and baked; they are of small size, the largest
containing but little more than one quart. They fall far short of
those from the mounds in fineness and elegance of finish, though
superior to the general manufacture of the Indians. They resemble
more closely the coarse but very well moulded pottery of Florida and
the South-west.
A few «terra cottas» have been found in the mounds; they are said to
be abundant at the South, where they are represented to possess a
great variety of forms. In material they are identical with the finer
specimens of pottery already described, and like them seem generally
to have been baked.
[Illustration: Fig. 75 Half size.]
Fig. 75. This unique relic was ploughed up, on the banks of the Yazoo
river, in the State of Mississippi. It is composed of clay, smoothly
moulded and burned, and represents some animal, «couchant», lips
corrugated and exhibiting its teeth as if in anger or defiance. It
seems to have been used as a pipe. The attitude is alike natural and
spirited.[126] [p194]
[Illustration: Fig. 76 Half size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 77. Half size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 78. Half size.]
Figures 76 and 77 are both pipes of baked clay. They were ploughed
up in Virginia at a point nearly opposite the mouth of the Hocking
river, where there are abundant traces of an ancient people, in the
form of mounds, embankments, etc. One represents a human head, with
a singular head-dress, closely resembling some of those observed on
the idols and sculptures of Mexico. The other represents some animal
coiled together, and is executed with a good deal of spirit.
Fig. 78 is a reduced outline representation of an article of baked
clay, found a number of years ago, in a mound near Nashville,
Tennessee. It has the form of a human head, with a portentous nose
and unprecedented phrenological developments. It is smooth and well
polished, and contains six small balls of clay, which were discovered
upon perforating the neck. They must necessarily have been introduced
before the burning of the toy. Similar conceits were common in Mexico
and Peru, and were observed by Kotzebue upon the North-west Coast.
The Mexicans had also rude flutes of clay, upon which, with a little
practice, not unmusical sounds may be produced.
[Illustration: Fig. 79.]
[Illustration: Fig. 80.]
Fig. 79 was taken from a mound in Butler county, Ohio. It represents
the head of a bird, somewhat resembling the toucan, and is executed
with much spirit. It seems originally to have been attached to some
vessel, from which it was broken before being deposited in the
mound.[127] [p195]
Fig. 80 presents greatly reduced sketches of a couple of clay pipes.
The one indicated by the figure 1 was found in a mound in Florida,
and is now in the museum of the Historical Society of New York; the
other is from a mound in South Carolina, and is in the cabinet of Dr.
S. G. Morton, of Philadelphia. Most of the ancient clay pipes that
have been discovered have this form, which is not widely different
from that adopted by the later Indians.
Notwithstanding the regularity of figure and uniformity of thickness
which many of the specimens of aboriginal pottery exhibit, it is
clear that they were all moulded by hand. There is no evidence that
the potter’s wheel was known, nor that the art of glazing, as now
practised, was understood. It is not impossible, but on the contrary
appears extremely probable, from a close inspection of the mound
pottery, that the ancient people possessed the simple approximation
towards the potter’s wheel, consisting of a stick of wood grasped in
the hand by the middle and turned round inside a wall of clay, formed
by the other hand or by another workman. The polish, which some of
the finer vessels possess, is due to other causes, and is not the
result of vitrification. That a portion of the ancient pottery was
not baked is very certain; but that another portion, including all
vessels which were designed for common use, for cooking and similar
purposes, was burned, is equally certain. In some of the Southern
States, it is said, the kilns, in which the ancient pottery was
baked, are now occasionally to be met with. Some are represented
still to contain the ware, partially burned, and retaining the rinds
of the gourds, etc., over which they were modelled, and which had
not been entirely removed by the fire. “In Panola county,” says Mr.
R. Morris, in a private letter, “are found great numbers of what are
termed ‘«pottery kilns»;’ in which are masses of vitrified matter,
frequently in the form of rude bricks, measuring twelve inches in
length by ten in breadth.” It seems most likely that these “kilns”
are the remains of the manufactories of the later tribes, the
Choctaws and Natchez, who, says Adair, “made a prodigious number of
vessels of pottery, of such variety of forms as would be tedious to
describe, and impossible to name.”
FOOTNOTES:
[124] “The present Chilenoes are good potters for common ware; they
introduce a considerable quantity of earth and sand, containing
abundance of yellow mica, and their vessels sometimes contain as much
as seventy gallons or more. They are of great thinness, lightness,
and strength.”—«Schmidtmeyer’s Chile», p. 117.
[125] In the cabinet of Dr. S. P. HILDRETH, Marietta, Ohio.
[126] In the cabinet of JAMES MCBRIDE, Esq.
[127] In the cabinet of JAMES MCBRIDE, Esq.
[p196]