The shell tempered series was 98.7% Neeley’s Ferry Plain and 1.3%
decorated in some fashion. These can be summarized as follows in
Table 2. All type definitions for the shell tempered series are from
Phillips, Ford, Griffin, 1951, Section III.
TABLE 2—SUMMARY OF SHELL TEMPERED PLAIN AND DECORATED POTTERY
Type Percent of the Percent of the
Shell Tempered Decorated Total
Series
Neeley’s Ferry Plain 93.1
Decorated Sherds all other types 1.3
Wallace Incised 13 (Fig. 17;1)
Miscellaneous—undefinable—incised 24 (Fig. 17;2)
(Fig. 17;3)
Nodes punched from interior 2 (Fig. 25)
Old Town Red 57
Carson Red on Buff 3 (Fig. 18;2)
Nodena Red and White 1
The inclusion of a Bell Plain Type is so tentative as to be
questionable. The few sherds so classified are better considered as a
refinement of Neeley’s Ferry Plain. This viewpoint receives additional
support with the statement that there was considerable variation in the
workmanship shown on Neeley’s Ferry ware, some being well polished and
with a finer shell temper. Some sherds that were first thought to be
clay tempered were later determined to be shell tempered with the shell
leached out. There was almost no lip decoration in the form of nicking
or notching. The standard treatment was simply a rounded lip smoothed to
the inside and outside vessel walls.
_Appendages_
Handles and lugs accounted for 1.4% of the sherd count. Of the
identifiable pieces and whole specimens, there are 17 lugs, 2 loop
handles, 2 intermediate and 49 strap handles. The lugs showed
considerable variation and specialization which may be a local
development. The Monette lug, as this local type has been called, is
basically a U shaped applique with the ends pointing downward
(Fig. 8;1-2). One example was well squared and gives the appearance of
an old European churn handle. According to Nash, the cup lug is this
same form inverted and these do occasionally turn up in less exaggerated
form on the Lower St. Francis River sites. Eight of the lugs are rounded
and are molded to the lip. Two are effigy tail lugs one of which was
riveted to the vessel rim (Fig. 8;4). The other has a node in the
center, outlined by an incised line. Two lugs are rounded and
bifurcated. (Table 3).
[Illustration: Figure 8. Pottery Handles and Lugs
_(No. 1 and 2. Monette lugs, 3. Riveted strap handle. 4. Riveted lug
handle, 5. Applique strap handle, 6. Curved strap, 7. Square strap,
8. Round strap)_]
TABLE 3—RELATIVE OCCURRENCE OF
POTTERY LUGS
Type Number
Bifurcated 2
Effigy Tail 2
Rounded 7
Monette 8
Total Number 19
The loop handle was uncommon and quite small. One was made up of two
strands or coils of clay loosely twisted to form the loop. The other is
a simple loop that rises above the lip. Both attach to and are possibly
riveted to the lip. They attach from lip to upper shoulder area.
Two handles are intermediate between loop and strap. One is attached
below the lip. The other is attached at the lip and has a node at the
top of the handle.
By far the most common appendage form was the strap handle and these
were first divided into three sub groups based on profile shape to show
attachment to the vessel wall (Fig. 8;6, 7, and 8). These handle forms,
like many of the lug forms, show a high percentage of attachment to the
vessel body wall by means of riveting (Fig. 8;3). They are molded to the
rim. Of the total of 51 handles, 49 were strap handles. The handles vary
from angular to curved in cross-section (Fig. 8;6, 7, 8). These are all
simple, unmodified strap handles that have the following variations; 4
are parallel sided, 2 expand toward the lip attachment, 1 expands toward
the shoulder attachment and four are undetermined in outline. One has an
extension of a notched lip decoration across the top of the handle at
the lip attachment.
Twenty-eight handles are bifurcated by nodes or an elevation of the
sides to form a ridge on the outer edges and sometimes to give the
appearance of a groove down the center (Fig. 9). Often there are
ear-like projections on either side, 20 occurring at the top of the
strap, but eight lower down toward midpoint (Fig. 10) are less common.
All are parallel sided and join at or just below the lip and attach to
the shoulder. All seem to be riveted to the shoulders, but molded to the
lip. One is angular and has an applique transverse ridge in the center
of the handle (Fig. 10).
Two strap handles have three fillets below the handle and extending from
it; one on each side and one from the center of the handle. One of the
two appears to have a small raised node on one side (Fig. 10; Row 2,
right).
A similar handle has only two fillets extending below it. The handle
edges are raised; the fillet appears to extend the raised edges onto the
shoulders. The top of the handle is flattened and vertically perforated
through the flat portion (Fig. 10; Row 2, left).
Another handle, similar in profile to that previously described, does
not have the added fillets, but has the flattened top and vertical
perforation. The handle is on a rim sherd decorated with a single
U-shaped horizontal line along the neck.
[Illustration: Figure 9. Jar Forms]
[Illustration: Figure 10. Pottery Handles]
Two handles have longitudinal grooves as decorations. One has three
U-shaped incisions or grooves and the two nodes at the upper end. The
other has 2 single central grooves (Fig. 10; Row 1, left).
Three sherds with handles have been classed tentatively at Matthews
Incised (Griffin, 1952, Fig. 122;d). One example shows a hole through
the flat upper portion of the strap and this was done while the clay was
still plastic (Fig. 10). Two sherds have bifurcated handles, the other
has been described as a loop handle. There are two pieces of fillet-tail
handles and pieces of five others. These were not identifiable as to
type.