CONTRIBUTIONS

TO T H E

ARCHEOLOGY Of MISSOURI,
BY

THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SECTION
OF THE

ST. LOUIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.

PART I. POTTERY,

GEORGE A. BATES,
NATURALISTS' BUEEAU,
SALEM, MASS,

1880.

PREFACE.
W I T H the view of preserving some record of the rich prehistoric relics of the Mississippi Valley and especially in the state of Missouri, the Archaeological Section of the
St. Louis Academy
embodying

of Science

has imlertaken

the

the results of work and observations

papers are intended

not

so much

members of the Section, as

in

publication

of a series

the field by its

of

members.

the theories

and opinions

to be the means

of furnishing

to tliose interested

statement

of facts connected with

of

These

to express

archaeology of the country, a reliable

papers

individual
in

the

the occurrence

of prehistoric remains i n this important region.
The present volume is the first of the series, and contains a general description of
the

southeastern

Missouri

district

and

of the pottery

abundance in the burial mounds of that region.
have been selected far illustration from
individual

members, and the

Section

the

which

has

been

found

in

such

Characteristic specimens of the pottery

collections of the Academy of

Science and

is iulebted to Dr. G. Ilambach for the skill and

faithfulness with which he has executed the drawings on stone.
Should

the present

expected, treating of

u

venture meet with
Implements,"

and " Osteological Remains."

"The

encouragement, other volumes
Construction

and

Grouping

may
of

soon

be

Earthworks"

ARCHAEOLOGICAL REMAINS
IN

SOUTHEASTERN

MISSOURI.

BY

W. B.

POTTER.

T H E most extensive remains of the "Mound Builders," thus far discovered in
Missouri, are to be found in the extreme southeastern corner of the state, in a
low alluvial tract known generally as the "Swamp Region." I t covers an area of
about 4000 square miles and includes the counties of New Madrid, Scott, Mississippi, Pemiscot, Dunklin, Stoddard and portions of Cape Girardeau, Butler and
Kipley.
From the Mississippi River, near the town of Cape Girardeau, a line of bluffs,
at times bold and abrupt and always well defined, extends in a general southwesterly direction across the corner of the state and on into Arkansas.
This
forms the northern and western boundary of the Swamp Region and is composed
of the limestones and sandstones of the Lower Magnesian series which underlies,
the higher land beyond. * A thick deposit of the Bluff (Loess) formation covers
these older rocks, giving a character to the scenery similar to that along the
Mississippi and Missouri farther north.
The general surface of this region is but little above the mean stage of water
in the Mississippi River. I t is broken up into a series of long and comparatively
narrow tracts of more elevated arable land, known locally as " r i d g e s , " and intervening cypress swamps, stretching- from north to south, through which small
sluggish streams find their way, expanding at times into open lakes and farther
south into great bayous connected with the present channel of the Mississippi.
The "ridges" are generally quite level, with an average elevation above the
swamps of fifteen to twenty feet. The soil is very rich and has been cultivated
NOTE. — The Survey, the results of which are given in this paper, was "begun in the spring of
1876, and continued at such intervals, as the pressure of other duties afforded for visiting the district. The field work was completed in the spring of 1878, by my assistant, Mr. Carl Henrich, who
prepared the drawings, and furnished valuable notes of observations. — W. B. P.
1
(5)

6

EAKTHWOKKS OF MISSOURI.

in many places for more than fifty years, yielding fine "crops'of wheat and corn.
Occasionally a break appears in these ridges in the form of a slightly depressed
area entering obliquely# from the still lower swamps and stretching entirely across
the "ridge," or gradually fading aAvay into the general level within a short
distance.
During the greater part of the year, these "aroyas," as they might
be called, contain more or less water.
They are for the most part, therefore,
left uncultivated, and are at present covered with a rich growth of sycamore,
cottonwood, maple, oak and ash. The soil of the main portion of the "ridges"
is always a light sandy loam, while that of the "aroyas" is dark and heavy,
containing more clay and vegetable mould, and resembling very closely the soil
of the swamps.
The length of the principal "ridges" between the swamps is
from thirty to forty miles and the width from three to ten, while the smaller
vary from five to twenty miles in length and two to five in width.
The lines of cypress swamps and bayous wThich stretch from north to south
between these "ridges" are from two to twenty miles wide and twenty to forty
long.
The most important are the St. James Bayou on the east, the Bayou
St. John, Little River, and a number of small swamps and connecting streams
adjoining the St. Francois River on the west.
Besides these there are a number
of smaller swamps parallel to and connected with them.
They all sustain a
heavy growth of cypress, sour gum, water locust, with some red and white
maple, pin and Spanish oaks, besides a great variety of small shrubs and water
plants which add every year new deposits of vegetable mould to the already
rich though at present useless soil.
In many of these swamps ("cypresses" or "cypries," as they are generally
called) there are low, sandy ridges, two or three feet above the high-water mark
in the swamps; always quite narrow though often several miles in length. The
soil is light and sandy and contrasts strongly with the heavy, black muck-soil
of the surrounding swamps. I t is also quite different from the soil of the main
"ridges," already described, being much more barren and sandy, like the fine
incoherent sands of the ordinary Mississippi River deposits at the present day.
Such are the principal topographical features of the Swamp Country. It may
be well before proceeding to give a description of the archaeological remains
connected with it, to glance at the geological changes that have taken place in
this interesting region, as indicated by the facts already presented and yet to be
added.
The swamp region of Missouri is but a small part of the great area, of comparatively recent deposits, having the shape of an inverted V, the apex of which
lies on the Mississippi River, above Cairo, 111., and not far from the town of
Cape Girardeau, Mo.
The boundary limits of this area are the wTell-marked
lines of bluffs made up of older geological formations, one of which, as already
mentioned, passes from the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau in a southwesterly

EARTHWORKS OF MISSOURI.

7

direction across southern Missouri, through Arkansas, and sweeps around to the
west through Texas. The other crosses the southern part of Illinois and passes
on to the southeast, across Kentucky and Tennessee, stretching away to the east
through northern Alabama towards the Atlantic border.
Throughout this area, when there is no covering of more recent deposits,
beds of sand and clay or fossiliferous marls, all more or less imperfectly compacted, are to be found as the representative formations of the Tertiary period.
At that time then, the continent was at a lower level and the waters of the
Gulf of Mexico, from which these deposits were laid down, reached far up the
Mississippi valley above their present limits and beat against the opposing bluffs
of older rocks in southern Missouri and Illinois.
Later still in Post Tertiary times, while the waters supplied by the retreating
northern glaciers were subsiding—partly through aerial and partly through aqueous
agency, the peculiar deposit known as the Loess or Bluff formation, which occurs
so prominently along the valleys of the Mississippi and Missouri Eivers, was
deposited. Since which time, these streams have been engaged in cutting out
this Loess deposit, leaving it standing in almost perpendicular bluffs along their
borders.
The low alluvial lands in the region under consideration, represent delta and
river deposits which have been formed during the present epoch of the Quarternary in the broad lower valley of the Mississippi, from which the previous
Tertiary and Post-Tertiary
deposits were eroded by the combined action of gulf
and river waters.
'flie lines of bayou and swamp, already described as occurring in this region,
were most probably at one time the channels, through which the abundant waters
of the Mississippi found their way into the adjoining gulf and are similar to
those occurring near the present delta mouth of the river.
The narrow1 and
slightly elevated belts of fine sand found in the midst of the swamp, would
seem to have been bars and islands in the channels, while the larger tracts of
cultivated land ("ridges") lying between the swamps represent the more extensive areas of dryland and marsh, such as may be seen near the channel at this
day.
In consequence of changes in the flow of water in the river and the gradual
retreating of the waters of the gulf, the shifting current probably left these old
channel lines cut off from the general circulation. In process of time, as the
water in them became reduced, vegetation sprang up and the once open watercourses were converted into lines of swamp. Occasional overflows probably carried
into these places mud and silt, which, with the accumulating deposits of decaying
vegetation, gradually raised them to their present level.
The low bottoms or "arroyas"
of the "ridges," are evidently subordinate
portions of the old water-courses, which have been, in some cases, somewhat

8

EARTHWORKS O F MISSOURI.

elevated by earthquake action, or have been silted up more rapidly than the
main water-courses, owing to their having, from their land-locked position, received more of the material washed down from the "ridges."
It may have been that, during the time of the "Mound Builders," the present
swamps were open water-courses, since all their principal works, especially the
settlements, so far as observed in this region, were formed on the banks of the
"ridges" and not in the interior.
In the early part of the present century and especially during the years
1811 and 1812, this swamp region was visited by a series of earthquakes, and
striking evidences of their action are still to be seen in many places. Wellmarked traces of old land-slips and crevasses are frequently to be met with
along the borders of the "ridges;" also large sink holes and occasionally, circular
areas of barren quicksands, showing where sand and water had been forced up
from below through rents in the yielding alluvial soil. So far as observed, there
are no evidences whatever of similar disturbances having taken place, previous to
the construction of any of the works of the "Mound Builders" in this region.
The portion of country brought within the limits of the present survey, includes two tracts: one, a portion of the "ridge" known as the "Sandy Woods
Ridge," near the town of Diehlstadt on the St. Louis, Iron Mt. and Southern
R.R. in Scott Co.; the other, including the greater part of the "New Madrid
and Sikeston Ridge" in New Madrid Co. The former embraces one settlement
and system of works, as shown on Plate A ; and the latter includes four large
settlements besides a number of smaller works, shown on Plate B.
The "Sandy

Woods Settlement:'
The "ridge," on which this settlement is located, is
about twelve miles long and one to three miles wide. It runs south from the
Mississippi River near the town of Commerce, between the "North Cut Cypress"
on the east and the "State Grade," an oifshoot of the Bayou St. John, on the
west. That part of the "ridge" on which the mound-remains to be described
are situated, is somewhat isolated, and is nearly half a mile long by about an
eighth of a mile wide. The "North Cut Cypress" bounds it on the east and
lowlands or "cypries" on the north, west and south sides.
A well preserved settlement covers nearly the whole of this tract. It is
composed of a group of nine mounds and a large number of circular depressions,
enclosed within a wall and ditch, forming three sides of a rude parallelogram,
with the long side parallel to the Cypress Swamp which Ibounds it on the east.
[Plate A.] The wall is at present 2' to 2' 6" in height and V in width at the
base,—at the southern end of the east wall the height is 3' 6". The ditch on
the outside of the wall is 1' 6" to 3' in depth, and about V wide. The short

EARTHWORKS OF MISSOURI.

9

line of ditch on the east side connects with the swamp at its lower end,
and this suggests that the ditch might have been intended to carry water around
the settlement, and that the wall on the inside, formed of the dirt thrown out,
served to protect the settlement from overflows during high stages of water.
Near the southwest corner, on the south and west sides, the ditch is deeper than
elsewhere ( 3 ' to 5' deep). The "ridge" is also higher above the swamp at this
p a r t — a condition which would require the greater depth of ditch, such as we find,
if the latter was used for carrying water.
Two cultivated fields now occupy the greater part of this settlement. That on
the north has been worked for more than forty years, according to the statement
of the present occupants, and the other for about ten years, and this will account
for the better state of preservation of the mounds lying in the latter.
The principal mound of the group lies near the middle of the west side of
the settlement.
It is rectangular in plan, the base being 250' in a north and
south direction by 120'.
The top, which is 16' above the general level at the
/
north end and 18 at the south, is 110' by 54'. The surface is quite regular
and covered with numerous fragments of rude bricks of baked clay, containing
impressions of grass or straw. Some excavations have been made in this mound,
but nothing of interest obtained.
The mound next in size is that marked 20 [Plate A ] — a flat-top conical mound,
20' high, 100' in diameter at the base, and 24 / in diameter at the top.
Excavations are said to have been made in this mound some years ago, but no report could be obtained of the result.
The mound in the southwest corner of
low conical mound, similar in form to the
in diameter.
A deserted log-house stands
fragments of pottery are found in large
Apparently no excavations have been made

the southern field, marked (c), is a
usual burial mounds, 4' high and 100'
upon the middle of the mound, and
quantities scattered over the surface.
in this mound.

The mound (d) is 4 / high, 40' in diameter, and circular in plan.
No excavations have been made in it.
The mound (e) is circular in plan, 4 ; high and 60' in diameter.
Not excavated.
The mound ( / ) is elliptical in plan, with the long axis (nearly east and
west) 80', the shortest axis 40', and the height 4'. Not excavated.
The mound (g) north of the large mound is also elliptical in plan, with the
long axis (about northeast and southwest) 108' and the short axis 55'. The top
is nearly level and 3' above the general level. Slight excavations reported, but
nothing of interest obtained.
The two mounds marked (h) are the most interesting of the group.
They
are burial mounds, from which eight hundred to one thousand specimens of pottery, including many of those figured in this volume, have at different times been

10

EARTHWORKS OF MISSOURI.

obtained.
They are low, imperfectly defined mounds, lying partly in the north
field and partly outside near the swamp. They are circular in plan, 2! high and
somewhat over 100' in diameter. A large number of human bodies were buried
in these mounds and apparently without any systematic arrangement. A few w&re
found in a sitting or kneeling posture, but most of them were extended at full
length, some on the back, some on the face, and others again on the right or
left side. There were two layers of bodies, the lower about one foot below the
general level of the ground, and the upper within one foot of the surface of the
mounds, with six inches to one foot of dry earth between the two.
The earth
covering each layer of human remains is quite different from the adjacent soil,
being darker and containing more clay. The skulls and large bones of the skeleton are remarkably well preserved—quite soft and tender when first taken out
with the heavy damp earth adhering to them, but becoming strong and hard
when carefully dried. Near the heads flasks and bottles were generally found,
while near, and sometimes resting upon the middle of the skeleton, bowls and
flat dishes were usually obtained. I t is difficult to estimate the number of bodies
buried in these mounds, but it is probably between one hundred and two hundred in each.
A t (j) and (It) there are sunken areas from which a portion at least of the
earth for the mounds may have been taken. That at ( / ) is an irregular ellipse
in outline, 110' by 80', and that at (k) nearly 300' long by 150' wide.
Both
are at present marshes, containing considerable water and a luxuriant growth of
vegetation.
A marked feature of all the enclosed groups of mounds, observed in southeast Missouri, is the occurrence of a large number of circular depressions which
seem to mark the site of huts or dwelling places. In the "Sandy Woods Settlement" these circular depressions are very prominent, especially outside of the
cultivated fields and in the southeast corner of the south field, the surface of
which has not been so often turned up by the plow. The average depth of
these depressions is about 2' and the diameter 30'. The centres are 50' to 65'
apart; As may be seen in Plate A , there is no systematic arrangement or grouping
of the depressions. In the centre and occasionally at one side of these depressions,
there can be found, at a depth of about 15" below the present surface, a square
of burned or partially burned, clay 30" by 25". The clay was evidently placed
there designedly for it is entirely different from the sandy clay or loam which
occurs elsewhere throughout the settlement.
Small pieces of charcoal and fragments of charred bones have been obtained from these hearths. I t is reported that
the bones of children have been found in some cases between the depressions,
but the writer had no opportunity of verifying this statement.
A glance at the plans of the other settlements will show that there is always
an elliptical space near the large mound (so-called temple mound) and surrounded

EARTHWORKS OF MISSOUEI.

11

by other mounds, in which there are no circular depressions. I t is apparent that
the same arrangement was carried out at the "Sandy Woods Settlement." I n the
north field none of these depressions can be observed, owing to the long time
it has been cultivated. Within the area, surrounded by the mounds at (7), there
is no sign of the depressions, while in all other parts, of the south field at least,
a few scattering depressions are to be seen.
The "New

Madrid

and Sikeston

Ridge"
A portion of which is included in the present
survey [Plate B ] lies between two swamps, known as "East L a k e " and " W e s t
Lake." The "East Lake," called also "St. Mary's Lake," runs into the "Bayou
St. J o h n " which empties into the Mississippi a little above the town of New
Madrid. The "West L a k e " or "Swamp" is about twenty miles wide, and through
it flows a stream of considerable size called "Little River."
Mound remains are to be met with on both sides of the "ridge," near the
swamps, from a point about five miles below Sikeston all the way to New Madrid.
Among these are four settlements [A, B, C, D , Plate B ] , besides twenty or more
groups of scattered mounds.
Settlement A.—The
northern settlement [Plate C ] , on the West Lake, is about
thirteen miles above the town of New Madrid on the r edge of the swamp.
The
bluff rises about 22' above the present water level in the swamp, and is quite
steep. A wall and ditch surround the settlement, the former of which is 3' to
3' 6" high and the latter 18" to 2' deep. The most prominent mound is that
marked (33) [Plate C ] , placed on the edge of the bluff. I t is elliptical in plan,
110' by 70' in diameter at the base and l l 7 high. The long axis of the mound
is parallel with the swamp.
Excavations have been made in this mound, but
nothing of importance was discovered.
The mound marked (29) is one of the 'burial mounds of the group. I t is
a low flat mound of circular outline, 90' in diameter and V- 6" high. From this
mound a number of skeletons and a large quantity of pottery have been obtained from the north and east sides, the south and west sides seeming to be
almost barren of remains. Col. Croswell, who devoted some time in excavating
this mound, states that "there appeared to have been no observance of order in
depositing the dead in this mound." * # # # "The skeletons were as often with
the feet as the head to the centre, and were lying on the back, on the face,
on the right side and on the left, and in two instances appeared drawn up as
if in a sitting posture. As the first skeletons were uncovered on the outer margin, they were found lying side by side with a covering of about 14/' of earth.
The next layer immediately above was advanced a little nearer the centre. Then
followed others in the same order, until finally they were found lying six deep,

12

EARTHWORKS OF MISSOURI.

the bones much decayed, separated and broken, and mingled together in a mass
interspersed with the sand which had covered them."
The other burial mound marked ( 3 1 ) , at the corner of the cultivated field of
Mr. I . S. Brey, is a low flat circular, mound, 120' in diameter and 9' high. A
number of skeletons and much pottery have been taken from this mound also.
Col. Croswell states that rf a skeleton, was found extended at full length on the
back, with the skull resting upon a stone weighing sixteen pounds. The stone
is a smooth drift boulder of quartzite, having at one side, which lay uppermost,
nearly a flat surface with an artificial depression in the centre. It resembled the
old fashioned lapstone used by shoemakers. Another singular form of burial discovered in this mound, was that of a skeleton extended on the back, with the
skull resting in a shallow dish, the side next the shoulders having been removed
to accommodate the head and neck, and keep the whole on a level. During the
examination of the mound a hearth was exposed, covering a space of about 12'
square, in the immediate vicinity of which, three vessels were discovered which had
contained yellow and red paint."
The mound marked (29) is circular in plan, 60- in diameter and V high.
This is probably also a burial mound, but very little work has been done in
excavating it.
There are two small mounds marked (25 and 2 7 ) — 3 ' and 4/ high respectively,
and each 16' in diameter. No excavations have been made in them.
The circular depressions are well marked at this settlenient.
They occur all
over the settlement, with the exception of an oval space near the large mound,
as far as the cultivated field on the south side, in which all traces of the settlement are lost. A few depressions may be seen south of the corner of the field,
along the edge of the bluff, and probably the southern limit of the settlement is
not far from this place. The field extends south a quarter of a mile and beyond
it, in the woods, some imperfectly defined depressions occur; but there is no trace
of a wall or a ditch near, and it is not probable that these are connected with
the settlement on the north side. The depressions have an average depth of 27"
in the centre and a diameter of 30 r . There is no definite arrangement -in the
placing of these depressions, as may be seen in the plan. The square of baked
clay occurs generally in the centre, but is often found on one side and at a
depth of about 15". The square is 32" by 27", about 3" thick, and the upper
surface is much more baked than the lower. It is stated by the farmers residing
near, that in the ridges between the depressions "digging nearly always discloses
human and animal bones, but no pottery."
A sink occurs on the east side in the line of the wall and ditch, which may
mark the place from which the earth was taken to build up the mounds. A growth
of large timber covers the settlement at present, and includes such trees as syc-

EARTHWORKS OF MISSOURI.

13

amore, elm, maple and a few oaks. Some of these trees are 2f to 3' &f in
diameter and are to be found growing on the mounds or in the depressions.
Settlement B.—Lies near the southern end of the "New Madrid and Sikeston
Kidge" and about two and one-half miles due west of the former town. I t is situated on a bend of the bluff which, previous to the earthquakes of 1811—12, formed
the shore line of West Lake, but which is now about two miles to the east of
that body of water. The intervening lowland is still called a "Cyprie" as cypress
trees have stood there within the present generation. It runs south about a mile
and then turns southeast to the present channel of the Mississippi, two or three
miles below New Madrid. Another old water-course, now called a "Cyprie," is
shown on the general map [Plate B ] running southeast from West Lake to the
Mississippi at the town of New Madrid.
This also has become almost dry since
the earthquakes of 1811—12.
The Mississippi itself has made some changes in
this " r i d g e " of late years, cutting away a considerable portion of the land at the
bend and requiring the inhabitants of New Madrid to move their town farther
to the north several times within the last forty years—since the survey, from
which the old lines indicated on the general map were taken.
The settlement [Plate D ] stands close to the edge of the bluff and about
15' above the "Cyprie." It is known as the "Mound Group on Lewis' Prairie
near Mound Church." The eastern portion is well preserved, but the western is
almost completely obliterated by the plow which has passed over it for more
than forty years. Fortunately the most interesting part has been preserved. The
line of wall and ditch on the north side is easily traced from the fence to the
corner of the settlement, where it forms an angle of 87° or 88° with the east
wall. On the latter side there are two walls having a height of 3' 6" to 4/.
At the angle there is a flat circular mound 125' in diameter and 5' high, resembling the usual burial mounds, but no excavations have been made in it as
yet. This portion of the settlement is likely soon to be destroyed, as it has
recently been fenced in and forms part of a cultivated field.
The usual oval space, free from the circular depressions, is well marked here
and the great mound of the group stands in it. The long axis of the latter
does not coincide, however, with the long axis of the clear space, as in the case
of the other settlements. The large mound has a level top 165' long by HO 7
wide at the middle, the north end being somewhat wider than the south end.
Its base is 270' by 140' to 210' and the height 21'. A section through the
line c d shows the outline.
The members of the Mound Church, close by, use this mound for the burial
of their dead and have, as becomes good Christians, (?) thrown out the bones
of the unknown heathen to make room for the elevation of their own dead.
No more successful plan could have been devised for not only ensuring the
gradual destruction and loss, but of preventing the proper exhumation and study
2

14

EARTHWORKS OF MISSOURI.

of these interesting ancient remains. Many years ago Prof. Swallow, of the State
University, was afforded an opportunity of excavating in the mound. ' He cut a
ditch through to the centre and found a number of skeletons and specimens of
pottery.
I t is said that these were found in groups, 10' to 12' apart, enclosed
in baked clay and indeed fragments of the latter material are plentifully scattered
over the surface at present. A list of the relics obtained and a description of
the occurrence may be found in one of the late Annual Reports of the Peabody
Museum at Cambridge where the collection is deposited.
North of the large mound there is a nearly square, flat-top mound, l l 7 high,
150' by 120' at the base and 90' by 60' on the upper surface. Its long axis
forms an angle of about 50° with that of the great mound. The western part
has been levelled to make room for the fence, and the portion exposed in the
cut shows that baked clay forms an important element in its construction. Messrs,
Kochtitzky and Smith, of the L . E . V. and A. E. E . , report that they did some
digging in this mound in the summer of 1877 and found some human bones but
no pottery.
The mound (marked 9 on Plate D ) is much disturbed, excavations having been
made many years ago, but no information could be obtained concerning it. The
diameter is 110' and the height 9'.
Following the edge of the open space a nearly square flat mound will be
observed. This is 8' 6" high, 75' square at the top and 125' square at the base.
No excavations have been made in this. Still farther on, along the edge of the
open space, there is a mound of similar shape 9' high, 42' by 30' at the top
and 95' by 85' at the base. Beyond this again there is a conical round-top
mound 80' in diameter and 9' high.
Neither of the two last mentioned have
been opened.
Near the corner of the settlement, among the circular depressions,^ a mound
7' high and 120' in diameter occurs. I t resembles the usual burial mounds, but
na excavations have thus far been made in it.
Two mounds are still visible in the cultivated field (marked 6 and 7 Plate
D ) but the form and dimensions cannot be given with any accuracy. Mr. John
Eendsbarg, the owner of the field, reports that one mound was levelled "to make
the ploughing easier" and, that "much pottery was broken up during the process."
Outside the north wall of the settlement there is a mound of singular shape,
a section of which is given with dimensions on Plate D . It lies about 10° off
the N . and S. (magnetic) line and the southern end approaches within a few
feet of the wall and ditch.
The circular depressions are well preserved and may easily be traced around
the open space as far as the cultivated field. A section through two of these
(at a-b) shows the form and dimensions, also the position of the hearth of baked
clay.

EARTHWORKS OF MISSOURI.

15

Setlement (7.—The northern settlement, (C on Plate B also Plate E ) on the
east side of the "ridge," is situated about seventeen miles north of New Madrid
oil the bank of the swamp (East L a k e ) . A wall and ditch form three sides and
the swamp the fourth of a square, enclosing the best preserved of the settlements
so far observed. The bank of the swamp near the north and south walls is quite
high and steep, but in the intermediate portion the slope is more gradual, having
evidently been subjected to a greater amount of washing.
The greater part of the settlement is in a cultivated field, and all traces of it
will soon be obliterated under the levelling action of the plow.
The open elliptical space is easily traced, its long axis pointing N. 30° E .
The large mound, also elliptical in plan, lies near the outer edge of this space
and nearly parallel with the latter.
The mound is at the base 230' by 1157 to
135' and at the top, which is 7' above the general level at the south end, rises
gradually to 1 1 ' at the north end.
There are three other mounds on or near the bounding line of the clear space;
two of them on the west side 2' 6" to 3' high and about 30' in diameter, though
imperfectly defined and the third on the east side, nearly opposite the large
mound, 11' high and 100' in diameter.
Among the circular depressions there are three mounds—a small one near the
middle of the north wall 50' in diameter and 5' high; one to the south of this
70' in diameter and 4/ high, and the third outside of the field near the swamp
9 K in diameter and V high. The latter mound, on which stands the ruins of an
C
old log cabin, has been dug over indiscriminately many times and has furnished
a large amount of pottery and some human remains. Most of the latter seem to
have been thrown aside as of no value, to judge from the broken skulls and
fragments of bone scattered in every direction over the mound. The walls, ditches
and circular depressions are quite similar in form and dimension to those of the
other settlements already described.
On the north side of the settlement there are two small mounds near the
edge of the bluff, one 3' high and 50' in diameter shown in the plan and the
other of the same dimensions 50 yards farther north, not shown. Outside the
west wall there are five mounds, but all too imperfectly defined to permit of
even approximate dimensions being determined.
South of the settlement there are several mounds (see Plate E ] the smallest
of which is 4' high, 50' in diameter and the largest 9' high and 160' in diameter.
No excavations have been made in any of these. Mounds similar to these are found
scattered along the bank as far south as an old arm of the swamp, now nearly
dry, which runs for some distance inland towards the northwest. On the south
side of this old bayou the large mounds disappear and a group of twelve smaller
mounds may be seen placed close together near the bluff. Ten of these are low flat
circular mounds, ranging from 35' to 110' in diameter and 2' 6" to 5' in height.

16

EARTHWORKS OF MISSOURI.

A conical mound 65' in diameter and 6' high occupies a somewhat central position
among these, and near the north end of the group there is a low elliptical mound
80' by 40' at the base and 3' 6" high. No excavations have been made in any
of these.
Settlement D.—A
little farther south we come to the fourth and smallest
settlement, situated on a small promontory formed by two old branches of the
swamp, now quite dry, which stretch inland for a short distance. The line of wall
and ditch, surrounding the settlement, follows for the greater part of its course the
banks of these branches. A t the south-west corner a right angle is formed and
there a low flat-top mound occurs 60' in diameter and 4' high. There is only
one mound among the depressions.
I t resembles the usual burial mounds in
appearance and is 65' in diameter and 4' 6" high.
The depressions cover the whole area within the settlement except an oval
space 120' by 90' near the wall on the north-east side. The large flat rectangular
mound does not occur in this settlement. No excavations have been made at the
place.
South of and immediately adjoining this settlement, there are a large number of
small mounds ranging in size from 25' to 90' in diameter and from 2' to 4' in
height, with occasionally a higher conical one among them. There is no systematic
arrangement in the grouping of these mounds, but they lie scattered along both
sides of an old dry branch of the swamp for about three-quarters of a mile
towards the southwest. Some digging has been done in these mounds, but with
what result could not be ascertained.
Farther south, along the border of the "ridge," single mounds occur and a
number of groups containing twelve or fourteen small mounds placed close together,
but without any system. The most extensive group of small mounds occurs near
Femberg's Mill. There are seventy-five or eighty scattered over a large area,
none of them over 60' in diameter. No excavations have been made in them.
South of the last named group the mounds disappear altogether along the
East Lake, and as the banks of the "ridge" are quite low, the absence of mounds
may be due to the tendency to overflow at this place during the time of the
Mound Builders, when the water level was relatively higher than at present.
South of settlement A on West Lake single mounds are occasionally met
with scattered along the edge of the bluff, most of them are of the low conical
type. Five miles south of the above named settlement, there is a group of seven
large mounds scattered over an area of a quarter of a mile square. They are
circular in plan and range from 120' to 330' in diameter and from 7' to 11 / in
height.
A t Lewis Wallace's farm there is a group of twenty small low mounds 35'
to 50' in diameter and 3 ' 6" to 4' in height, with a larger one 65' in diameter
and 8' high occupying a somewhat central position among them.
Many other

EARTHWORKS OF MISSOURI.

17

smaller groups occur along the bank of West Lake, but the mounds are of the
same flat circular type and scattered about without any definite order or arrangement.
There are several mounds inland at some distance from the swamps.
Three
of them occur on or near the post-road from Sikeston to New Madrid and from
nine to thirteen miles north of the latter place. They are, however, almost entirely destroyed by the cultivation of the land and it is impossible to determine
their original form or dimensions.
A t Wallaces farm there are two mounds 240 yards apart, one circular in plan
270' in diameter and 9' high, and the other elliptical in plan lying due south of
it 350' by 200' and 13' high.
Nine miles north of New Madrid and over a mile east of West Lake there
are two large circular and two elliptical mounds shown on the general map near
township line 24. The first circular mound is 17' high and 360' in diameter at
the base and very near to it is an elliptical mound 470' by 280' at the base and
12' high. Of the other pair the elliptical mound is the largest and highest, being
560' by 360' at the base and 14f high, while the circular mound is 250' in
diameter and 9' high.
They are 100 yards apart at their bases. Another and
similar pair of mounds are situated about half of a mile away and nearer the
swamp. The circular mound is 345' in diameter and 16' high with a house and
barn at present standing on it.
The adjoining elliptical mound is 480' by 270/
and 11' high. Still another pair occur in an open field north of the Davis farm
on the West Swamp. The elliptical mound is 480' by 270' and 11' high, while
that of circular outline 170 yards distant is 200' in diameter and 6' high.
Such is a general description of the Swamp region of south-east Missouri and
an important part of the archaeological remains found there.
In conclusion, the
following brief summary of the characteristic features of the district may be added:
I . The earthworks of the district are, with very few exceptions, found along
the borders of long "ridges" of level land, close to the intervening lines of swamp
and bayou, which latter seem to represent the old channels of the Mississippi
River during the time of the Mound Builders.
I I . The general level of the country and especially of the "ridges" is higher
at present than when these earthworks were constructed. This is everywhere apparent from the relation of the old, but now dry branches of the swamps ('"Cypries")
to the ridges and the main lines of swamp and bayou. The cause of this change
of level may be referred partly to the earthquake action of 1811—12 and earlier,
of which there is abundant geological evidence as well as historical proof; and
partly to changes in the quantity and flow of water in the Mississippi.
I I I . The earthworks consist of (a) what may be regarded as settlements, enclosed on three sides by lines of wall and ditch, the swamp forming the fourth;
(6) groups of numerous small mounds scattered about without order or arrange-

18

EARTHWORKS OF MISSOURI.

ment, some of which contain a few human remains and a little pottery, but most
of which are barren; (c) groups of two mounds of large size, one circular and
the other elliptical in plan, differing in relative size and position; (d) single
mounds of medium size scattered indiscriminately along the banks of the "ridges"
or a short distance in the interior.
The use or object for which the last three
classes of mounds were constructed is not at present apparent, though it must
be said that they have been as yet but imperfectly examined here or elsewhere.
I V . At the settlements the ditch is always outside of the wall. I t is possible
that the ditch was used for conveying water around the settlement and not merely
for defence, and that the wall was thrown up on the inside to protect the settlement, where the land was low, from being flooded during high stages of water
in the connected water-course. The relation of level between the ditch and swamp
at the "Sandy Woods Settlement" favors this view. At the other settlements the
bluffs are twenty feet or more above the swamp where the ditches meet the latter,
but the ditch is, as a rule, deeper at these places than elsewhere and it is most
probable that the water level is much lower than in former times.
V . Circular depressions are thickly scattered over the surface within the walls
of the settlements, with the exception of an elliptical area generally 600' to 800'
by 300' to 400'. These depressions seem to mark the sites of huts or dwelling
places, a nearly square hearth of baked clay being always found in the centre or
at one side.
V I . The characteristic mounds of the settlements a r e : («) a large nearly rectangular, flat-top mound, the long axis of which is 'nearly parallel with the long
axis of the clear elliptical space; (6) a few small, low, conical mounds scattered
along the edge of the clear space; (c) one or two very low circular mounds of
comparatively large diameter near the border of the settlement, which contain human remains disposed in one or more layers together with pottery; (cZ) in the
case of two settlements a mound placed at one angle of the line of wall and
ditch; besides a few scattered about outside the walls.
V I I . The soil of the "ridges," on which the earthworks are situated, is a
sandy loam, while the soil covering the mounds is in almost all cases a dark
somewhat plastic clay soil which has doubtless been brought from a distance.
The squares of baked earth in the circular depressions are also composed of clay
differing from the surrounding soil.
This clay earth is such as would be likely
to occur as a deposit in quiet water and was probably obtained from the bed of
old lagoons connected with the adjacent water-courses, now represented by the
lines of swamp and bayou.
V I I I . The relics of the Mound Builders handiwork found in this region are
articles for household use or ornament and agricultural tools, with a notable absence of implements of war or the chase, such as are found so plentifully in
other parts of Missouri. The pottery occurs in the greatest abundance and always

EARTHWORKS OF MISSOURI.

19

in the burial mounds. Characteristic specimens of it will be found illustrated and
discribed in another part of this volume. The material of which it is composed
is clay, similar to that used for the hearths, and fine fragments of shells.
As
most of the ware is only sundried or but partially baked the addition of lime in
some form would seem to be necessary to give the required coherence. Specimens
of very coarse ware which have been thoroughly baked do not exhibit any traces
of the fragments of shell.
Several engraved shells have been found.
One of them, the property of the
Archaeological section, is 3" in diameter and bears the figure of a- huge spider;
the other, in the collection of the writer, is 6" in diameter with human figuresdrawn upon it. Both are from the expanded portion of the whorl of the Busycon
perversion, complete specimens of which shell are occasionally found in the mounds.
Beads formed from the columella of the same species are not uncommon.
A
plain circular disk 2%n. in diameter and -J" thick of cannel-coal with two small
holes near the margin was obtained from one of the burial mounds.
A few sharp pointed knives of bone and deer's horn occasionally are found,
together with small pieces of grit-stone, about the size of a hen's egg, with deep
grooves on all sides, showing that they had been used for sharpening the knives.
Beautiful specimens of spades and hoes of white, opaque and yellow jaspery
chert, well polished and striated longitudinally at the working end, are among the
agricultural tools found.
These are, however, generally obtained from the open
fields and not from the mounds themselves.
Concretions of chert and jasper, such as are common to Subcarboniferous and
Lower Magnesian limestones, also pebbles of quartzite and other crystalline rocks
of the drift, occur frequently in the mounds. These must have been brought from
a considerable distance for no such material occurs naturally in any part of the
swamp region.

THE ANCIENT POTTERY
OF

SOUTHEASTERN

MISSOURI.

BY

D R . EDWARD EVERS.

F E W departments of science have become more popular in this country during
the last ten or fifteen years, than that of archaeology.
The universal distribution
of the evidences of previous occupation of this continent by a people unknown
even to tradition; the frequent discussion of a subject so readily comprehended;
the facility of collecting and preserving innumerable specimens of art evidently
belonging to the "lost race:" all these have contributed to especially recommend
the science of archaeology to all educated men. This popularity has had its advantages, but its disadvantages as well.
While we, no doubt, owe to it the
preservation of very many interesting and valuable specimens which would otherwise
have been destroyed and lost to science, and while it has prevented the destruction of many of the most important monuments of ancient civilization, it has yet
had the disadvantage of distributing into many small private collections, inaccessible
to*those desirous of studying their characteristics, thousands of important relics,
which are so much needed to shed additional light upon the history, origin, character and civilization of a people, of whom they are the only records. Again, the
ease with which small collections can be obtained and the natural ambition of
every man to contribute to the knowledge of all that relates to his race, have
induced too many to devote their energies to the promulgation and elucidation of
certain vague theories, rather than to an accurate description of those articles which
they possess.
W e believe that our knowledge of the facts relating to the prehistoric inhabitants of our continent, especially to those who inhabited the Mississippi Valley,
is still tog meagre and uncertain to warrant any definite inference as to their origin,
character or civilization. What we need most, therefore, is a thorough knowledge
of all that relates to them—an accurate description of all their monuments, implements and works of art, unprejudiced by any preconceived notion of their
3

(21)

22

ANCIENT POTTEKY OF MISSOURI.

descent or of their relation to other nations; untrammeled by any theory as to
the hidden meaning " o r " symbolic significance of the articles we find, or of their
forms and decorations.
It is only after we have obtained a complete and comprehensive knowledge of all that remains as an index of their civilization that
we can form a correct idea as to tvhat they were, and thus secure a safe foundation for any researches as to who they were, whence they came and what has
become of them.
I t is the desire of the authors to contribute their mite to this general knowledge of the subject—nothing more. This paper is intended simply as a description
of the pottery from the burial mounds in Southeastern Missouri.—A description, we
hope, unbiased by any preconceived opinion as to the people whose relics it may
be.
In selecting pottery in preference to any of the other relics of ancient civilization contained in the various collections accessible to us during our investigations,
we have been governed by the idea that in this we should be most likely to
find a safe index, when once correctly understood, of the specimens of hand-work
which may be looked upon to a certain extent as an index of the development
attained by the people who in former times inhabited that region.
At all events whether it be t r u e ; that " clay is a material so generally diffused
and its plastic nature so easily discovered, that the art of working it does not
exceed the intelligence of the rudest savage," 1 or, whether the discovery of the
art of pottery was the result of the slow development of intelligence and of long
observation in the "rudest savage," after he had existed without it for centuries,
or, whether the knowledge of it in any given nation was acquired by contact
with others more advanced—in all cases, the nation practising the art would not
only give to it a character indicating the degree of civilization to which it had
attained, but would most likely impress upon it also the stamp of its own peculiar
genius.
True, these impressions will not always be equally well defined. As a nation
advances its individual peculiarities will become more pronounced and will find
more definite expression in its actions, customs and works of a r t ; while in its
infancy it- will be less distinct from other nations having attained the same stage
of development.
Again, two nations growing up under similar circumstances and
in similar surroundings will naturally develop similar tastes and will give expression to them in something of the same manner. This is apt to become a source
of serious error, in as much as we are led to infer an identity or, at least, an
intimate relation of people whose productions resemble each other, while the resemblance may only be due to the fact, that these nations had only reached a
certain stage of development at which their works of art did not yet reflect their
peculiarities of character. There is a general resemblance between the early pot1

Birch: Ancient Pottery. Introduction, page 1.

ANCIENT POTTERY OF MISSOURI.

23

tery of the Egyptians, the Assyrians and the Babylonians; yet in that of later
date and greater artistic value the peculiarities are sufficiently distinct to denote
the race to which they belong. There is, too, a general resemblance in the ancient
pottery of Greece and Eome, and yet in the largest portion of it the national
characteristics are so well defined that w^e have no difficulty in recognizing them.
The pottery of the so-called "Mound-builders" bears such a striking resemblance
to that of the ancient inhabitants of Peru as well as to that found in the "cliffhouses," that this has been quoted as an argument in favor of the theory that
these nations were identical.
Now while this may have been the case (and the
theory is maintained by many of our most eminent and accomplished authorities),
the argument drawn from the resemblances of ancient pottery, at that stage of
development, can at best be only of corroborative value, when taken in connection
with other more positive evidence.
It is more than probable that when we shall have studied the pottery of the
so-called "Mound-builders" more thoroughly than has been done heretofore, and
when we shall have carefully described and compared the material already stored
up in the various collections of this country, we shall find such characteristic
differences, that we shall be compelled to abandon several of the theories that
are now accepted as being true in reference to the character and customs of this
people and its relations to other nations.
It is a noteworthy fact, that very little of the ancient pottery, whether found
in the old world or in the new, whether in the lacustrine habitations of Switzerland,
in the "Kjokken moddings" of Denmark or in the mounds of the Mississippi
Valley, is of such rude construction as to indicate the first efforts of the art.
All of it has already attained to a certain degree of perfection.
Probably this
is due, in part, to the fact that the earlier specimens were too frail and imperfect to long survive the wear and tear of daily u s e ; in part to the fact that
much of that which we find is taken from burial places and temples for which
only the better specimens were selected, and to the sanctity and seclusion of which
they owe their perfect preservation; in part, perhaps, to the length of time that
may have elapsed between the discovery or acquisition of the art of making pottery and the period, at which the specimens we now find may have been used.
The farther back, however, we can trace pottery among the various ancient races,
the more closely do the productions of each resemble those of the rest.
Even
the rare specimens of the earliest Greek pottery, the later productions of which
in their pure and chaste beauty surpass everything, even of modern art, very
much resemble those of the ancient Peruvians. 2 There is a ready explanation for
all this.
All of the pottery we find belongs to nations who have abandoned, more or
less, their nomadic habits and who have followed agricultural pursuits for some
2

Birch, loc. cit., p. 180.

24

ANCIENT POTTERY OF MISSOURI.

time. [We notice some crude attempts to mould clay among people, who, though
not strictly nomadic, yet do not practice agriculture. Thus, for instance, the E s quimaux are said to make vessels by moulding clay walls upon flat stones or to
enlarge the capacity of hollow stones, etc., by raising their edges by means of
clay. 3 This may possibly be the first step in the acquisition of a knowledge of
pottery, but it can not be considered such yet.] " O u r minds are apt to run in
grooves" at all times, and the ideas of nations following the same pursuits and
surrounded by more or less of the same conditions, are' apt to develop in similar
grooves, in regard to the manufacture of their implements and utensils. Surrounding objects would often supply the patterns, according to which vessels were
fashioned; the use to which they were devoted often dictated their forms and the
material at hand necessarily determined their structure and durability.
Nature
herself thus, in a measure, dictates the form and style of vessels and utensils.
Could we obtain the first fruits of the primitive attempts at making earthen ware,
we should probably find the specimens so much alike that we could not tell the
productions of one nation from those of any other. If we bear this in mind, and,
if in studying the pottery of a nation, we endeavor to trace it from its origin
through its various stages of progress, noting as we proceed its resemblance or
its dissimilarity to that of other people, but drawing no inferences not warranted
by known facts, we shall arrive at a thorough knowledge of our subject and
shall avoid many serious errors that other methods of investigation are apt to
lead us into. 4
In studying the pottery from the burial mounds in Southeastern Missouri, we
have had access to a number of collections aggregating nearly 4000 specimens
gathered in that region. The majority of these belong to the Academy of Science
and to the collection of Dr. Engelmann and Prof. Potter; a few of those represented in our plates belong to smaller collections, and credit will be given in the
notes accompanying the plates. In the latter we have endeavored to reproduce
all the distinct types and remarkable specimens represented in the various collections, great care having been taken to secure the utmost accuracy and correct
proportion in all the drawings. The relative size is noted in each figure and
the specimens marked with the respective numbers of the collection to which they
belong.
All of the pottery here to be described was taken from a number of
burial mounds in the vicinity of what are supposed to have been ancient settlements, the location and character of which are fully described by Prof. Potter in
the report and in the maps printed with this description.
All of this pottery is made of a dark, somewhat greyish clay, mixed with
sand and shells in varying proportions.
The largest portion of it is sun-dried;
3

Sir John Lubbock: Pre-historic races, p. 585.
How far our persistent efforts to see "resemblances" may lead us, is shown in Barber's article in the
"American Antiquarian," No. 2, p. 61 et seq.
4

ANCIENT POTTERY OF MISSOURI.

25

n much smaller number of vessels are baked; none of it is glazed; nor does any
of it bear evidence of having been turned on the wheel, though the symmetry
and accuracy of some of the specimens are such, that we can scarcely believe >it
possible that the unaided hand could have fashioned anything so perfect.
Most
of the vessels are plain black; in some of the ornamented pieces, the ornamentation is moulded in the clay (especially in the case of figures), but does not
differ in color from the rest of the vessel. In many of the ornamented specimens
the decoration is painted in red, white or black.
This paint is not burnt into
the clay, but simply laid on, and is very apt to scale off or to separate on
washing, so that great care is necessary in cleaning some of the specimens to
preserve the decoration.
I t is not easy to determine in all cases what material
was used as paint. In the vessel represented by the upper right fig., pi. 18, a
quantity of finely powdered red dust was found, apparently red ©chre, which is
supposed to have been the paint used. In some cases in which the coloring now
appears of a dark red hue, the original color seems to have been black and the
present tint the result of wear and tear.
The great variety of forms and our ignorance of the specific uses to which
the variously shaped vessels were put, render a classification impracticable. Still, as
it is desirable that we should proceed systematically, we have endeavored to group
the various vessels according to some characteristic, common to a large number of
them. Thus the vessels represented on the first five plates have this in common;
they all have a more or less spherical body and a long cylindrical neck somewhat contracted at or near its middle. Some, and these are by far the most
numerous of any represented in our collections, are plain black, well-moulded,
sun-dried and unadorned. [Fig. 33 plate 2.] A few have, in addition, a rim at
the base, either entire (46 pi. 1) or perforated (29 pi. 2).
One of the former
class represented in fig. pi. 1, has the base of the neck encircled by a projecting collar, with its under surface smoothly grooved and four bands connecting it
to the body of the vessel, as though it had been the intention to pass a string
through the four holes formed by the bands which should lie smoothly in the
groove of the collar. A similar collar, with only two bands however, is seen in
fig. 23 same plate; but instead of the hollow foot we have three short legs furnishing the support. Few specimens have the foot as large as that of fig. 4
plate 8. A very unique specimen is represented by fig. 28 plate 4. A plain,
black, sun-dried jar is supported by three large feet, somewhat resembling small
jugs in shape. These feet are hollow and communicate by a pretty large opening with the main cavity of the vessel; they are united to each other by narrow, flat bands, which appear to be solid. There is only one other specimen
like this among the entire 4000 pieces,' much less perfectly finished, however,
than the one represented, being more like the Tennessee specimen given by Putnam

26

ANCIENT POTTERY O F MISSOURI.

in his "Archaeological Explorations* in Tennessee." 5 The peculiar shape of the vessel represented by fig. 19, plate Sy suggests the idea that it was intended t o
represent one of the ordinary jars just described, superimposed upon one of the
open dishes in plate 10. I t is more probable, however, that the potter had no
such, idea in his mind, but simply intended the groove and its* "handles" for the
reception of the cord by which the vessel was to be suspended.
None of the
other vessels represented, in the plates mentioned have any extra support.
In
those in* which: the body is almost a perfect sphere, the bottom is just sufficiently flattened to allow the vessel to stand unsupported.
In others the sphere
is so much compressed as to give the body an elliptic outline, and the bottom
then, presents a sufficiently large surface to prevent the vessel from falling when
it is set down.
I n very many the spherical form is almost destroyed, the
bottom being made quite flat, and the upper portion either flattened (fig. 12,,
plate 4 ) , or indented so as to present a scalloped appearance (fig. 15, plate 2>
and fig. 6, plate 4 ) , or certain portions of the body are made to project beyond
the general surface as in fig. 50, plate 1 and in fig. 44 y plate 2.
The surface
of the vessel pictured in fig. 210, plate 3 presents a series of elevations and
depressions arranged spirally around the body of the jar.
I t is difficult to determine the precise method, in which this spiral was formed; whether by tracing
the spiral depression around the body with some blunt instrument, or by winding
a string of clay about the jar and then moulding the intervening spaces into
shape.
The general effect of this arrangement is similar to that of the corrugated pottery of the "cliff-houses" of which it somewhat reminds us. 6
Many of
these specimens are beautifully decorated, and we shall presently call attention to
the principles which, we think, should guide us in all pur studies of the ornamentation of ancient worMs of art.
The vessels presented in plates 6 and 7 all have short cylindrical necks and
no handles, while the forms of the body are very much the same as in the
figures described above, almost every variety of the former being reproduced
among the latter except the three-legged forms.
The specimen corresponding to
fig. 85> a, plate 7, presents an additional interesting feature, however, in having
a flat, internal lip, half covering the mouth.
Its position and shape are well
represented by fig. 85 y 5.
Plates 10 to> 13 (inclusive) present a number of very wide-mouthed dishes,,
generally with two handles and no extra support; ruder in structure, less perfectly finished and less elaborately decorated than those pictured in previous*
plates. Of the figures on plate 14, four represent wide-mouthed dishes with more*
or less perfect lips—almost flat in fig. 244, more rounded and grooved in fig.
5
6

Eleventh Annual Report of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, p. 356.
Compare plate XLIV in Geological and Geographical Survey, etc., Hayden, 1876.

ANCIENT POTTERY O F MISSOURI.

•m

250, well formed an fig. 85 and most perfect in fig. $46-.
The peculiar tuber*
eular decoration is the same on all four, but we nMst leave it to more ingenious
investigators to interpret their meaning.
All of the vessels represented on this
plate are plain, black, sun-dried specimens.
The remaining three are remarkable
only for their peculiar handles, which are readily understood by a glance at the
figures.
Plate 15 represents a number of interesting specimens in regard to the use
of which much curiosity has been manifested.
All five of them (the 6th belongs
to another class) are black, sun-dried vessels, with somewhat elongated bodies,
flat, broad lips and prominent handles, four of which are in the shape of birdheads.
These heads are hollow and contain clay pellets, which rattle whenever
the vessel is shaken.
From a few broken specimens it would seem that these
heads were fashioned separately from the body and then moulded to the latter,
as the fracture is always of the same character.
The peculiar shape of the
vessel has suggested the theory that they were lamps, and attention has been
called to their resemblance to old Roman lamps.
This theory is very plausible,
although no corroborative evidence has been found to prove that they were actually used for this purpose.
None of them contain any oily matter or are stained
by any grease spots—of course the absence of such evidence does not disprove
the theory.
The vessels represented on plate 17 are not very numerous in our collections
—they are shallow dishes, ruder in appearance than any of the others and
probably earlier specimens.
Indeed, the square shaped vessel is probably one of
the earliest shapes devised by the ancient potters; it is very rarely that we find
any one of them decorated. 7
The rest of these dishes differ mainly in the shape
of the rims.
Some are plain, some are smoothly scalloped, some sharply seal*
loped and one specimen has an imbattled rim.
I t is the only one of its kind
in our collections, though it is said such specimens are very numerous in Zuni
pottery. 8
Of all the vessels that have come under our observation none surpass those
pictured on plate 22, in simplicity and beauty of form.
They are all greyish
black, sun-dried specimens without any painted decoration, yet their form is
perfect.
They seem to be exact imitations of gourds, such perhaps as were
themselves used as vessels, the point at which the stem was cut off being indicated in every piece, as seen in the figures. The mouth in all is at the side,
above and generally on a plane with the surface of the vessel, though a few
have a short projecting neck, like the one of fig. 128.
One other specimen we desire to call special attention to here, on account of
its rarity; the one represented by fig. 5, plate 18.
I t is the only one of the
7

See plate LXXI. Geological and Geographical Survey, etc., loc. cit.
Bancroft—Native Races of the Pacific, Vol. IV, p. 616.

28

ANCIENT FOTTERY O F MISSOURI.

kind, and we believe it is seldom met with in any collection of the so-called
Mound-builders' pottery.
The neck is in the shape of a handle, the mouth
feeing in a projecting portion of its centre.
Of course; this handle is hollow
throughout, to admit of the introduction of fluids.
The specimens' represented in the remaining plates are remarkable for the animal and human; forms which they represent or with which they are decorated.
They are the most interesting of all our specimens as exponents of the high
degree of artistic skill attained by their manufacturers and the higher taste of
the people who used them.
But the acquisition of artistic skill and the development, of taste in nations are
governed by the same rules as in individuals; and just as the early drawings of a
number of untrained, individuals subjected to the same course of instruction by
the same masters will exhibit similar forms and designs, until they have acquired
sufficient skill and practice to exhibit their own ingenuity, so> nations widely separated and distinct from each other, but influenced by similar causes, will, in the
early stages of development, produce works of art very much alike, until at such
a time when their skill and practice shall enable them to. give expression to
their own peculiar characteristics. W e . believe that this view should guide us in
our study of early decorative and plastic a r t ; and that we should check the
growing tendency to attribute to every ancient relic more than it actually represents. Too many of the modern investigators are not content with a simple and
matter-of-fact explanation. To> them, every item relating to an ancient race is of
"great historic" significance; every utensil, that is unearthed must have been devoted to some more important and significant use than a corresponding one of
the present day; every line of decoration must have some "hidden meaning;"
every grotesque form necessarily represents some worshipped idol, or is symbolic
of some religious or secular custom.
The simplest decoration consists of small indentations, points as it were, made
with the finger or some blunt instrument, and arranged in a row (fig. 39, plate
2 ) , or in several undulating rows (figs. 147 and 154, plate 10). Simple straight
lines sometimes were used to adorn the vessels as in figs. 152, 141 and 159,
plate 10, or these were used with the points to make very neat decorations, as
in fig. 5, plate 10. The simple combination of straight lines, known as the fret
or herring-bone decoratipn, and its various modifications are found on every variety
of implements and vessels among all ancient races and have retained their popularity as a simple, yet beautiful ornamentation to the present day.
The circle,
the ellipse and their combinations form the basis of very many beautiful designs
and have been a fruitful source of "hidden meanings" to modern archaeological
speculators.
Even so simple a decoration as the concentric circles on fig. 252,
plate 5 and 122, plate 6, have already been "interpreted;" while the decoration
of fig. 44, plate 2, has been explained as a symbolic representation of the sub-

ANCIENT POTTERY OF MISSOURI.

29

division of the year into thirteen months, the four central spaces denoting the
four seasons.
To us all these are only artistic decorations, simple in design,
almost perfect in execution and exhibiting a refinement of taste which we could
not have expected in a people making use of the rude implements which we
find in connection with their pottery.
The plastic nature of clay, so ready to
receive every impression that primitive ingenuity could invent, probably at an early
date suggested the imitation of surrounding objects as ornaments to their vessels.
These attempts, however, seem to have been the last step in the development of
decorative art among those who inhabited the region about New Madrid; for we
find no very perfect reproduction of any of the animal forms or of the human
figure.
Some of the former are too crude to enable us to determine positively
what animals were intended; others though sufficiently characteristic as to form
are not of such accuracy or perfection as to denote any great skill or experience
in plastic art.
Probably the simplest specimen of this kind that we possess is
the ornament on fig. 25, plate 1, a plain disk of clay to represent the human
face; two depressions denoting the eyes, a third the mouth and a prominent
ridge forming the nose.
Another specimen of the same type with a little more
oval face, is seen in fig. 121, plate 7. Fig. 132, plate 19 represents a full head
(the neck of some vessel), the facial outline of which is very much in accord with
the full face on the two pieces just referred to. The heads, both animal and human,
in fig. 6, plate 1 1 ; fig. 2, plate 1 5 ; fig. 277, plate 19 and figs* 5 and 6, plate 2 1 ,
though more or less rude and imperfect, denote a decided progress, and form
the precursors, as it were, of the reproduction of the full figure as we see it
in .fig. 1, plate 1 9 ; 3 and 4, plate 20 and 2 and 3, plate 21.
The simplest
animal form in our collection is that of the serpent.
It occurs comparatively
often, either on the body of the vessel as in fig. 5, plate 20, or around the
base of the neck like the two s( Vpents in fig. 275, plate 5, or wound around
the body as in fig. 473, same plate. Of course it has been inferred that the
serpent was an object of worship among the Mound-builders, especially by those
who believe with Prof. Sayce (of Oxford), that the serpent symbol * marks a particular stage in the history of natural religion/' 9 The abundance of snakes in the
region inhabited by the ancient potters and the ease with which the form of the
serpent can be reproduced both in painting and in plastic art, probably account
for its frequent occurrence as an ornament, more satisfactorily.
The owl, too,
seems to have been a favorite model, though it does not occur in our collections
as often nor as elaborately finished as in the "cliff-house pottery" of the ancient
races of the Pacific.10
The i attempt to make the vessel itself represent some animal or a human
figure denotes a still higher order of ideas than the use of the figures as mere
9

Quoted in the "American Antiquarian," No. 1, page 53.
Hayden's reports loc. cit., plate LXVIII.

l0

30

ANCIENT POTTERY OF MISSOURI.

ornaments, though the execution is frequently much more imperfect. This class
of specimens is found among the pottery of the Mound-builders in disproportionately large numbers, being rare in that of other nations, more especially in the
ancient pottery of the old world, only two pieces at all similar to them being
pictured by Birch in his "Ancient Pottery."11 Most of these vessels are unadorned,
sun-dried specimens, as figs. 2 and 76, plate 16 and fig. 1, plate 20, while a
few are baked and elaborately painted like fig. 290, plate 9. These are the most
characteristic specimens of the Mound-builders' pottery and are destined to form
a prominent feature in all future investigations of this branch of the plastic art
among the ancient races of this continent. We have been especially careful in
reproducing these figures as accurately as possible and our readers will obtain
from the plates and the accompanying description of each individual specimen all
the facts to which special attention has not been directed in the text.
In concluding, we may say; that the only inferences which our study of the
ancient pottery of New Madrid Co. warrant, are: that, while it teaches us
nothing as to the identity of the people who produced it or of their relation to
others, and while it gives us no information of their religious sentiments or their
secular customs, beyond the fact that they followed the universal custom of burying objects of art or value with their dead (a custom which has survived among
all nations to the present day), it does teach us, that these early inhabitants had
long since emerged from a condition of barbarity and had attained a degree of
civilization and culture, which, if acquired by the slow process which we observe
in historic races, will date their existence back centuries before the discovery of
this continent.
u

Fig. 13, p. 29 and fig. 183, p. 457.

JF

#"™,,**"~"--""H«»»-l-.-»»,*,ra,»„

I

* ooo^o o o o \OQ o o i
.
« °u 0 n o o oo 0u# logooi
* O
'^ O O O O

Co

Mo

Q

fn°n
ooo
ro o
0<

fo0
#»

Jl^

f
K

o°
oO

looo
I ooo
|0O0
lo°0
fo^o

^

IQO^O

! °§°

° o^oo o_y^o
oo o - b o
x^
too
§OQ

O OOi

*

4
3

*

*i

^

<« a
^
^

ft

JF

#"™,,**"~"--""H«»»-l-.-»»,*,ra,»„

I

* ooo^o o o o \OQ o o i
.
« °u 0 n o o oo 0u# logooi
* O
'^ O O O O

Co

Mo

Q

fn°n
ooo
ro o
0<

fo0
#»

Jl^

f
K

o°
oO

looo
I ooo
|0O0
lo°0
fo^o

^

IQO^O

! °§°

° o^oo o_y^o
oo o - b o
x^
too
§OQ

O OOi

*

4
3

*

*i

^

<« a
^
^

ft

» Jke. JtZ**u.f* Ctteu. 9f Ji£*

JP/QLU

C9

fcMtnt* *& A

A
xW&£&M „

'OQpOocTn-^
0Q00°on?08

ooSogggo^

in

-*,..

o0

^ooo£

0c:

vl

i\0°#°rOOO^OOo3
oo 0 °Ooool
^ % O O O Q ^

m

0 o%OOQX)!
Jo 'o° 0 o> 0 °o°c!
Do°o°8goO°o'
Q °Or, O oO0 O G°
0

o

J#>*t

J3S.

CHENR'CH
& Ha.itilra.cix. fee

Idthogra.pkedf hg Jlugust

del.

Gast 4 Co? NewPxocess, StLoais

6trch.JeC,-JLou.is

Qtcoc oj7 Jc-C.

/VcttLoient

PUU 2J,

JB.

t'l

^,(^ummm\mmw,

o^ooo

oo o o0o
O'

oo
o
o
-«4. # / * • -

r —

«* #/<?- - -,

ffeclzon

a. &

00

o°'
oQP°
TA. e piitm 2er*s in &icac£e ele ircc Zzlo n,
Lnfae?
ate ire grene**ccZ leycL o/AiyJi

c /fie id
AJLJ

1

no
1

IV o

tccnd.

d.Kcnvich
Gc.ffec n% 6 <Lcfa. /**£»

Jf*/*-

111

Xitliogmphed

Su,rir$-Jpril787S.
h; .August

Gast $ Co? ArewPrvce*9.st.Loitn

&+&• JSc* Sh Louts

\PUteJP.

CCcm.* of %Jc>l.

S.ttUmenlC.

X*

O!

}
<*~*3 <dfatAewri

0 0°O?On°0°0°°°°°°<^?(

Arm,

l§0?f

o

suse

o^osSi

x>Po°
O^QO'
o oo0 -

ooOOQO Q ° P . - S J ^ ^ ^ - f c ^ l

&%czs MvLt&zw* JuzrynC

?ke. mounds

<t,tore tfajge*erml

Ze Vtl of fiU la-it- d*

*+so
it

$9

IfO

"rio/**

Gtt+i ffen,r€efc. <?e.l.
&. /•/a.m&a.<& /**e.

Lithographed

hg Jlugust

Gast ef Co? AfemProce?8.StLom&

PLATE I.
FIG.

23.

A

BLACK,

SUN-DRIED

HOLLOW

BAND

VESSEL, W I T H
MTTED

WITH

T H R E E ROUND F E E T .
TWO

HANDLES,

SO

THE

THAT

N E C K IS E N C I R C L E D BY A

A ROPE

MIGHT

T H R O U G H , W H I C H W O U L D FLF SMOOTHLY INTO T H E H O L L O W O F T H E BAND.

BE

PASSED

T H E SCAL-

L O P E D GROOVE ADDS MATERIALLY TO T H E BEAUTY O F T H I S S I M P L E DESIGN.

FIG.

24.

B L A C K , S U N - D R I E D SPECIMEN.

T H E H O L L O W BAND ENCIRCLING T H E NECK I S F I T T E D W I T H

F O U R H A N D L E S INSTEAD O F T W O ; T H E SCALLOPED GROOVE I S W A N T I N G ; T H E CIRCULAR
FOOT I S H O L L O W .

FIG.

25.

SUN-DRIED

SPECIMEN, ORNAMENTED W I T H

WHICH

SEEM

TO

HAVE

F O U R SMALL R U D E CASTS O F T H E HUMAN

BEEN FASHIONED

SEPARATELY

VESSEL.

FIG.

35.

THIS

IS A

AND

THEN

APPLIED

TO

FACE,
THE

|

SPECIMEN O F B A K E D W A R E ,

O F VERY

FINE

FINISH.

I T S COLOR I S

BROWNISH

Y E L L O W , AND T H E DECORATION I S P A I N T E D I N W H I T E AND R E D .

FIG.

46.

P L A I N , UNADORNED, S U N - D R I E D SPECIMEN.

FIG.

50.

BAKED

SPECIMEN O F D A R K Y E L L O W COLOR.

R E D AND B R O W N R I N G S .

T H E CIRCULAR FOOT I S H O L L O W .

THE

DECORATION I S P A I N T E D I N A L T E R N A T E

T H E V E S S E L I S C R A C K E D AND T H E N E C K I S LOST.

Arck. Sea. StLotus J&a. ofSci.

&.jJocnib(z.dt,)fec.

PLATE I

J &*st&&Mlh<.

PLATE II.
FIG.

15.

A PLAIN, SUN-DRIED VESSEL;

BLACK;

ORNAMENTED W I T H T H R E E SCALLOPED R O W S O F F I N E

DOTS, A P P A R E N T L Y M A D E W I T H A T H I N STICK.

FIG.

29.

BLACK,

SUN-DRIED

SPECIMEN;

WITH

QUITE A LARGE

PERFORATED,

H O L L O W FOOT,

AND A

GROOVED L I N E ENCIRCLING T H E NECK.

FIG.

33.

P L A I N , S U N - D R I E D , VESSEL :

BODY MUCH COMPRESSED

AND F L A T - B O T T O M E D ;

N E C K CONICAL

B E L O W , BUT C Y L I N D R I C A L A B O V E .

FIG.

39.

B L A C K , F L A T - B O T T O M E D , S U N - D R I E D VESSEL, ORNAMENTED BY A R O W O F SMALL DEPRESSIONS.
T H E I R R E G U L A R L I N E INDICATES T H E L I N E O F F R A C T U R E I N T H E SPECIMEN.

FIG.

40.

B A K E D SPECIMEN;

Y E L L O W BASE, AND ORNAMENTATION I N R E D AND W H I T E .

FIG.

44.

SUN-DRIED SPECIMEN;

T H E ORNAMENTATION CONSISTS O F T W O W H I T E

ELLIPSES;

T H E SPACE

B E T W E E N T H E M BEING D I V I D E D INTO T H I R T E E N P A R T S , AND T H E SPACE E N C I R C L E D BY
T H E I N N E R INTO F O U R P A R T S .

Jlrch. Sec St.Lou/is Jlav. ofSci-

&. Howiboozh, fee

PLATE

a.

Jl GastkCb.Wh

PLATE I I I .
FIG.

18.

B A K E D SPECIMEN;: GROUND COLOR R E D ; ORNAMENTATION I N D A R K R E D A N D BLACK, SYMMETR I C A L , T H E N E C K E N C I R C L E D BY T W O E L E V A T E D R I D G E S S E P A R A T E D BY GROOVED L I N E S .

FIG.

19.

P L A I N UNBURNT V E S S E L ; F U N N E L - S H A P E D N E C K ; : A D E E P GROOVE, SPANNED BY T W O SMALL
H A N D L E S , PASSES AROUND T H E M I D D L E O F T H E B O D Y ; T H E SPECIMEN T H U S A P P E A R S TO
BE

FIG.

22.

FIG.

172.

COMPOSED O F T W O D I F F E R E N T VESSELS S U P E R I M P O S E D .

B A K E D S P E C I M E N ; ORNAMENTED W I T H B R O W N , . , R E D AND W H I T E BANDS.

S M A L L S U N - D R I E D S P E C I M E N ; F L A T BOTTOM; N E C K .ENCIRCLED BY AN E L E V A T E D B A N D ;

RE-

SEMBLING AN OLD GERMAN MEDICINE VIAL.
FIG.

210.

F I N E SUN-DRIED VESSEL;

ORNAMENTED BY A L T E R N A T E DEPRESSIONS A N D ELEVATIONS

AR-

RANGED HORIZONTALLY AND GIVING TO THE SPECIMEN A CERTAIN RESEMBLANCE TO
"CORRUGATED"

FIG.

282.

EARTHENWARE.

R U B E , S U N - D R I E D I R R E G U L A R L Y F O R M E D SPECIMEN, W H I C H SUGGESTS T H E I D E A O F BEING A
" F I R S T ATTEMPT."

Jlrch Sec.St.LcuisJLcoL.ofBci.

PLATE 3.

AS 210.

f-tiautttotdvfec.

46<tsbkCcf.Liih.

P L A T E IV.
FIG.

I.

BAKED

SPECIMEN ; DARK RED, W I T H

ORNAMENTATION IN BRIGHT RED, AND T H E CENTRAL

C L E AND ITS FOUR DIVISIONS IN DARK RED.

CIR-

LOOKING AT THE SPECIMEN THE IMPRESSION

IS OBTAINED THAT THE ORIGINAL COLOR OF THE VESSEL WAS LIGHT RED AND THAT THE
DARK RED WAS LAID ON SUBSEQUENTLY LEAVING THE ORNAMENTATION IN THE ORIGINAL
COLOR.
FIG.

6.

PLAIN SUN-DRIED SPECIMEN; THE UPPER PART OF THE BODY REPRESENTING FOUR ARCHED
PROTUBERANCES.

F I G . 23.

BAKED SPECIMEN; BODY FLATTENED ABOVE AND BELOW; ORNAMENTATION ©ARK RED ON PALE
RED GROUND.
c

F I G . 26.

FINE, SMOOTH, SYMMETRICAL, FLESH-COLORED, BAKED SPECIMEN; ORNAMENTATION IN WHITE
AND RED.

FIG. 28.

SUN-DRIED SPECIMEN;

THE THREE FEET ARE HOLLOW AND COMMUNICATE WITH THE MAIN

VESSEL; THEY ARE UNITED TO EACH OTHER BY SMALL SOLID BANDS.
FIG. 47.

BAKED

SPECIMEN; ORNAMENTATION IN WHITE, PALE RED AND DARK RED;

WANTING.

THE NECK IS

<Arch. Sec. StLoids Jlcci. ofSci.

PLATE +.

PE 12

G-.ff&niback, fee.

A.$cbStkColtik.

P L A T E V.
FiG.

252.

"BAKED S P E C I M E N ; E L E S H - C O L O R E D ; ORNAMENTATION I.IN R E D AND W H I T E .

FIG.

265.

B A K E D S P E C I M E N ; E L E S H - C O L O R E D ; ORNAMENTATION :IN R E D AND W H I T E .

FIG.

275.

S U N - D R I E D SPECIMEN.

O N T H E U P P E R P A R T O F T H E BODY TWO S N A K E S ; ONE H E A D

L A P S T H E OTHER, B U T T H E TAILS DO NOT O V E R L A P .

FIG.

473.

FIG.

20.

B A K E D , R E D S P E C I M E N ; SNAKE W O U N D SPIRALLY ABOUT T H E BODY.

R E D D I S H - Y E L L O W , B A K E D S P E C I M E N ; T H E ORNAMENTS A R E P A I N T E D I N D A R K R E D .

OVER-

Arch-Sec. SiXouifJcct-of'£GC.

Gr.HoviLbotck/j fee*

PLATE

S.

Jl.&oistkCo.Zi&t,.

PLATE VL
FIG.

90.

B A K E D S P E C I M E N ; F L E S H - C O L O R E D ; DECORATION I N R E D AND W H I T E .

FIG.

91.

SUN-DRIED

SPECIMEN;

F L A T BOTTOM; imcK

NECK INDENTED SO AS TO M A K E I T

P E R F O R A T E D BY T W O H O L E S ;

T H E RIM O F T H E

"ROPE-SHAPED."

FIG.

92.

B L A C K , S U N - D R I E D S P E C I M E N ; VERY SHORT NECK.

FIG.

101.

S U N - D R I E D S P E C I M E N ; F L A T , N A R R O W BOTTOM-, BODY SOMEWHAT F L A T ABOVE ALSO.

FIG.

111.

S U N - D R I E D S P E C I M E N ; T H E DARK LINES D E N O T E SMALL GROOVES, APPARENTLY MADE W I T H
A SMALL

FIG.

122.

STICK.

B A K E D S P E C I M E N ; T H E ORNAMENTED PORTIONS P R O J E C T FROM T H E MAIN BODY; DECORATIONS
I N D A R K R E D AND P A L E

FIG.

221.

RED.

RUDELY SHAPED, FLAT-BOTTOMED, SUN-DRIED

SPECIMEN.

Jlrch- Sec.StIouzsAca,.of$ch.

PLATF 6.

%

&.Ha.Ttvbac?L>feo.

J.&astk&Mlh

PLATE VII.
FIG.

72.

BLACK, SUN-DEIED SPECIMEN;

F I G U E E MOULDED I N T H E CLAY O F T H E BODY.

FIG.

79.

BLACK, SUN-DEIED SPECIMEN;

T H E S U E F A C E O F T H E BODY CONSISTS O F A L T E E N A T E

EIDGES

A N D DEPRESSIONS W E L L S H A P E D AND M O U L D E D .

FIG.

85a.

BLACK, SUN-DEIED SPECIMEN;

T H E NECK PROJECTS FEOM T H E BODY I N A MANNER

SUGGEST-

I N G THE PROBABILITY OF ITS HAVING BEEN FASHIONED SEPARATELY AND SUBSEQUENTLY
MOULDED UPON THE BODY.

FIG.

85b.

FIG.

94.

T H E R E IS> AN, INTERNAL L I P .

T H E S A M E — V I E W E D FROM ABOVE, A N D S H O W I N G T H E I N N E R L I P .

B A K E D , F L E S H - C O L O R E D S P E C I M E N ; DECORATION I N R E D , AND VERY B E A U T I F U L L Y AND S Y M METRICALLY P A I N T E D .

A V E E Y P E E F E C T SPECIMEN.

FIG.

104.

B L A C K , S U N - D E I E D SPECIMEN;: H O L L O W F O O T ; COMPRESSED BODY.

FIG.

121.

SUN-DEIED

SPECIMEN.

ORNAMENTED

BY F O U R R U D E F A C E S , F A S H I O N E D

SEPARATELY AND

SUBSEQUENTLY ATTACHED.

FIG.

203.

SUN-DRIED VESSEL;

ELONGATED, FLAT-BOTTOMED BODY;

L O W E R H A L F O F BODY I N A L T E R -

N A T E ELEVATIONS AND DEPRESSIONS, THE UPPER RIDGE INDENTED AT REGULAR INTERVALS.

JJrchSeeSt.LouisJcoc.ofSci.

6 f/am&ecAh,,feo.

PLA TE 7.

Jt.GtKSti'Co.ZitTu.

PLATE V I I I .
FLG.

1.

A

BEAUTIFUL

SPECIMEN O F B A K E D W A R E ;

T H E DECORATION I S P A I N T E D I N B R I G H T

RED,

B R O W N AND W H I T E .

FIG.

2.

T H I S I S ALSO A B A K E D S P E C I M E N ;

ITS COLOR I S P A L E Y E L L O W A N D T H E DECORATION, VERY

NEATLY E X E C U T E D , I S P A I N T E D I N R E D AND W H I T E .

FIG.

3.

P L A I N , BLACK, S U N - D R I E D S P E C I M E N ;

FIG.

4.

THIS

SPECIMEN

WAS

OBTAINED

VERY NUMEROUSLY R E P R E S E N T E D I N T H E

NEAR

THE

BOUNDARY

W H E T H E R T H I S V E S S E L W A S B A K E D OR NOT.
BEEN PAINTED RED, THE LIGHTLY
PAINTED W H I T E ;

OF

ARKANSAS — I T

COLLECTIONS.

IS

DOUBTFUL

O R I G I N A L L Y T H E VESSEL SEEMS TO H A V E

SHADED PORTION REPRESENTS A DEPRESSED

T H E R E A R E T H R E E O F T H E S E F I E L D S ON T H E BODY O F T H E

T W O W H I T E S T R I P E S ALSO E N C I R C L E T H E N E C K .

FIELD

VESSEL.

Arch.Se>cSt.Louis Ac&. of Sci.

G.Bcwibauch fe>c.

PLATE 8

A.Gast&Cv.Ziili

PLATE IX.
FIG.

l.

O N E O F T H E MOST R E M A R K A B L E

OPINIONS

HAVE

B E E N E X P R E S S E D AS TO T H E SPECIES O F ANIMAL R E P R E S E N T E D — SOME CLAIMING

THAT

IT

REPRESENTS

AND

CLAIMING

AN

SPECIMENS I N T H E

ANTEDILUVIAN

ANIMAL,

T H A T T H E MOULDER'S

T H E VESSEL IS B A K E D

COLLECTION.

OTHERS

GOING

VARIOUS

TO T H E O T H E R

FANCY H A S P R O D U C E D

AND O F A Y E L L O W I S H

COLOR;

SIMPLY

A

T H E DECORATIONS

EXTREME

CARICATURE.
ARE

PAINTED

RED AND W H I T E .

FLG.

2.

BAKED

SPECIMEN

OF

YELLOWISH

COLOR:

THE

DECORATION

CONSISTS

OF A WHITE

BAND

CROSSED BY R E D L I N E S , AS S H O W N I N T H E F I G U R E .

FIG.

3.

T H E HOLLOW HEAD OF A BAKED
U R E 1.

F I G . 4.

A VERY NEAT SPECIMEN O F B A K E D W A R E ;
DENOTING

F I G . 5.

SPECIMEN;

I T I S SUPPOSED TO R E P R E S E N T

I T H A S NO RESEMBLANCE TO T H E H E A D O F F I G T H E H E A D O F A BAT.

T H E COLOR IS A P A L E Y E L L O W , AND T H E

CURVES

T H E SCALES A R E P A I N T E D IN W H I T E .

FRAGMENTS OF A BAKED VESSEL;

T H E DECORATIONS A R E P A I N T E D I N R E D AND W H I T E .

<Arch.S6c.St.IonisJ.ca/. of Sci.

&.Ha,viba,ch f&c

PLATE 9

A.Gast&Co.ZitK

P L A T E X.
A L L OF THE SPECIMENS

REPRESENTED ON THIS PLATE ARE ^UN-DRIED;

YET IN ALL OF THEM THE

BOTTOM AND SOMETIMES ALSO THE SIDES GIVE EVIDENCE OF HAVING BEEN EXPOSED
TO THE ACTION OF FIRE.
ANCE, THAT

I T HAS BEEN SUGGESTED, IN EXPLANATION OF THIS APPEAR-

THEY MAY HAVE

BEEN USED AS COOKING

UTENSILS.

NONE OF

THESE

VESSELS ARE PAINTED; THEIR DECORATIONS CONSIST OF LINES OR SMALL DEPRESSIONS,
APPARENTLY MADE WITH SOME SMALL SHARP INSTRUMENT AND VARIOUSLY ARRANGED,
AS SEEN IN THE FIGURES.

JrcJi.Sec.StIvuiS/Jca.ofScir

147 fc.S. \

PLkTEW

%

154 A.S.

141 A.S."

'&, Heart iecck, fa -

^ tfowtsd i/ft^.

P L A T E XL
LIKE THE SPECIMENS REPRESENTED ON THE PRECEDING PLATE, ALL OF THESE ARE PLAIN, BLACK, SUNDRIED VESSELS.
EIRE.

FIGS. 80-88-158 HAVE

THE

APPEARANCE OF HAVING BEEN ON THE

ArcTv. Sec. St Louts, Acou. ofSci.

PLATE 11

.P.E.

&J/cunbcK.c?i fya.

AGoftlCdMt

PLATE X I I .
ALL OF THESE SPECIMENS ARE SUN-DRIED—BUT FIGS. 184-190-206 ARE ALSO SLIGHTLY BURNT.
THE VESSELS ARE BLACK, THERE BEING NO PAINTING ON ANY OF THEM.

A L L OF

T H E DECORA-

TIONS CONSIST OF GROOVED LINES OR CIRCLES, MADE WITH A SMALL STICK OR SOMETHING SIMILAR.

IN FIG. 190 THE DECORATION CONSISTS OF A^ROW OF SMALL, SHALLOW

DEPRESSIONS, WHILE IN FIG. 184 IT CONSISTS OF A NUMBER OF PROJECTIONS, NOT VERY
WELL SHOWN IN THE DRAWING.
PROJECTIONS.

T H E SCALLOPS OF FIG. 206 MEET AT SIMILAR, SMALL

PLATE 12

Jlrch.Sec. St.Louis, ACOL ofScu

/

PEI84.

457

G-Hambach, fee.

UTH.A.GASl&Cp.

PLATE X I I I .
T H E SPECIMENS HERE REPRESENTED ARE ALL BLACK, SUN-DRIED VESSELS.

W E FIND NO PAINTING ON

ANY OF THEM, NOR ANY EVIDENCE OF THEIR HAVING BEEN NEAR THE FIRE.

T H E FIG-

URES OF ANIMALS IN FIG. 241 AND THE VESSEL JUST ABOVE ARE RATHER RUDELY EX-

ECUTED.

Mctv.$ecStLoius,J^ax,.ofSci.

G-tioLiiibocchtfec-

PUTE /J>.

Jtttvt&foiLtlu

P L A T E XIV.
ALL

SUN-DRIED S P E C I M E N S ; P L A I N B L A C K ;

T H E L I T T L E PROTUBERANCES m

F I ^ S . 85-244-246-25® ARE,

EVIDENTLY INTENDED TO REPRESENT SOME SIGNIFICANT FIGURE, BUT THE EXECUTION IS
TOO RUDE AND IMPERFECT TO INDICATE ITS CHARACTER.

Arch. Sec St.Ioxds, <Aca, of<2c£~

PL4TE/if

P.E. 229

•*83I3B2U«SK££

G./jamfcach.fec.

RE 228

UTff.A.fiAJTfCOl

PLATE
THE

VESSELS

REPRESENTED

ON THIS

PLATE

XV.

EXCEPT FIG. 6 ARE

AMONG

M E N S THAT HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED IN THIS REGION.
BROAD,

FLAT

SHOULD

WE

LIP

HAVE

DISCOVER

LED
ANY

TO

THE

PROOF

SUPPOSITION

THAT

THEY

THE

THAT

WERE

MOST

INTERESTING

SPECI-

T H E I R PECULIAR SHAPE AND THE
THEY

USED

AS

WERE

USED

SUCH,.THEY

AS

LAMPS.

WILL

BE-

C O M E HIGHLY VALUABLE SPECIMENS IN EVERY COLLECTION AS ANOTHER EVIDENCE OF
THE SOCIAL ADVANCE OF THEIR MAKERS.

THEY ARE ALL BLACK, SUN-DRIED SPECIMENS

WHICH GIVE NO EVIDENCE OF HAVING BEEN NEAR THE FIRE.

IN NEARLY ALL OF THEM

THE HANDLE IS MOULDED INTO THE SHAPE OF SOME ANIMAL OR AT LEAST IT REPRESENTS THE HEAD OF ONE, THOUGH IN SUCH AS RESEMBLE FIG. 4, IT IS DIFFICULT TO
TELL WHAT IT DOES REPRESENT.

IN THE MAJORITY OF THE SPECIMENS, THE

"NOSE"

IS BROAD, FLAT AND UNADORNED, AS IN FIGS. 2 - 3 - 4 ; IN A FEW THE NOSE IS DRAWN OUT
TO FORM A WELL-GROOVED LIP, AS IN FIG. 1 ; AND IN FIG. 5, NOT ONLY DOES THE
HANDLE REPRESENT A SMALL BIRD, BUT THE NOSE TOO IS ORNAMENTED, BY HAVING A
SNAKE COILED ABOUT IT, THE POETIC INTERPRETATION OF WHICH IS " A SNAKE CHARMING A BIRD."
F I G . 6 IS A BLACK, SUN-DRIED SPECIMEN, THE BODY OF WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT A FROG ( ? ) .

Arch. Sec.St.Louis, Jlccu. of Set.

fcHoLinfivLckifec.

PLATE IS.

J.GooMSLCo.Uth

PLATE XVI.
FIG.

l.

BLACK,

SUN-DRIED

SPECIMEN;

T H E BODY VERY I R R E G U L A R AND R E P R E S E N T I N G

THE RUDE

OUTLINES O F AN ANIMAL, PROBABLY A T U R T L E .

FIG.

2.

FIG.

76.

FIG.

133.

BLACK, SUN-DRIED SPECIMEN;

TWO HANDLES;

BODY R E P R E S E N T I N G A F R O G .

V E R Y N E A T , S U N - D R I E D SPECIMEN R E P R E S E N T I N G A F I S H .

A H E A D W H I C H PROBABLY F O R M E D T H E H A N D L E O F SOME SPECIMEN L I K E F I G . 3, P L A T E 23.
I T I S B L A C K AND S U N - D R I E D .

T H E PECULIAR

H E A D - D R E S S W A S PROBABLY F A S H I O N E D

S E P A R A T E L Y A N D T H E N A P P L I E D , B U T F I T S VERY CLOSELY.

T H E H E A D I S H O L L O W AND

CONTAINS SOME P E L L E T S .

FIG.

292.

BLACK,

SUN-DRIED

SPECIMEN.

T H E RIM PROJECTS

GROOVED LINES, GIVING I T T H E APPEARANCE
PROBABLY I N T E N D E D TO R E P R E S E N T

A

LITTLE

OF A ROPE.

AND IS

DECORATED

WITH

T H E UPRIGHT HANDLE IS

T H E H E A D O F SOME ANIMAL O F W H I C H T H E F L A T ,

HORIZONTAL H A N D L E I S T H E T A I L , B U T T H E RESEMBLANCE CAN NOT B E T R A C E D TO ANY
K N O W N FORM.

FIG.

422.

(LEFT).
HALF

A

SUN-DRIED
THE

SPECIMEN O F P E C U L I A R

WHOLE THE APPEARANCE OF A SHELL.

FIG.

422.

(EIGHT)

SHAPE.

A S SHOWN I N T H E F I G U R E O N E -

BODY IS LARGER THAN THE OTHER AND MORE

BLACK, SUN-DRIED

SPECIMEN.

CURVED,

GIVING TO THE

Arch. Sec. StXoztfci Jlca.. ofSci-

PLATE 16.

r_rrrr^

6.HoLTriboocK,f£G.

A.6<KshfcCo.Li&v.

PLATE XVII.
THIS

PLATE

S H O W S T H E V A R I O U S FORMS O F S H A L L O W VESSELS R E P R E S E N T E D
WITH

T H E EXCEPTION OF FIG.

W H O S E ONLY ORNAMENTATIONS

173,

THEY

A R E A L L BLACK,

CONSIST I N T H E P E C U L I A R

T H E SQUARE FORM O F F I G . 342 is E X T R E M E L Y R A R E .

I N OUR COLLECTIONS.
SUN-DRIED

SPECIMENS,

S H A P E G I V E N TO T H E R I M .

F I G . 173 is P A I N T E D R E D I N S I D E

AND OUTSIDE J IT IS DOUBTFUL WHETHER IT IS BAKED OR NOT.

PLATE a

Jfrch.tfec. St.Louis, J)ca. ofSci.

i-*.S.90.

- £ - &.S.4&6

^-^.S.3^^
*.S?334

/

>

P.E-173

S.tfeanheuh^tea.

A6astk.Co.LiHi,

PLATE
UPPER

RIGHT

HAND

FIG.

SUN-DRIED

SPECIMEN;

S E L A QUANTITY OF RED POWDER

XVIII.
T H E DECORATION IS PAINTED IN RED.
WAS FONND,

I N THIS

SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN THE

VESPAINT

U S E D I N PAINTING T H E DECORATIONS.
FIG.

2.

LOWER

T H I S IS A R A R E SPECIMEN.

RIGHT

HAND

FIG.

A PLAIN,

I T IS B A K E D AND O F UNUSUAL SIZE.
SUN-DRIED

SPECIMEN.

T H E MOUTH

OF T H E VESSEL IS IN T H E

BACK O F T H E H E A D O F T H E F I G U R E .
FIG

341.

UPPER

LEFT

HAND

T H E INSIDE

Q^SE O F T H E VERY

F E W SPECIMENS T H A T H A V E ANY DECORATION ON

I T I S A BLACK, , S U N - D R I E D S P E C I M E N , AND T H E D E C O R A T I O N SIMPLY C O N -

SISTS O F G R O O V E D , CONCENTRIC S E M I C I R C L E S M A D E W I T H SOME SMALL INSTRUMENT.
M I D D L E LEFT HAND FIG.

T H I S SPECIMEN WAS OBTAINED

BOUNDARY.

I T IS DOUBTFUL W H E T H E R

FROM

T H E STATE O F ARKANSAS, NEAR T H E

IT HAS BEEN NEAR

T H E F I R E O R NOT.

THE

VESSEL IS P A I N T E D R E D .
LOWER LEFT HAND FIG.

B L A C K , SUN-DRIED

SPECIMEN

SUPPOSED

TO R E P R E S E N T

AN O W L ( ! ) .

LIKE

T H E M A J O R I T Y O F S U C H V E S S E L S , I T H A S T H E MOUTH O F T H E V E S S E L I N T H E B A C K O F
THE HEAD.

PLATE 18.

Jlrck. Sec. St.Louis, JICOL. of Set.

'"^JiWSWffet.

v^

^

(7- H0OK&&C&,

*^

* .?

A.

\

f&C.

J-GooSt&CoMth,.

PLATE X I X .
FIG.

1.

A B A K E D SPECIMEN T H E P R E S E N T COLOR O F W H I C H I S GREY, B U T W H I C H SEEMS ORIGINALLY
TO

HAVE

BEEN

BROWN.

T H E WINGS

AND

THE

ROUND

SPOTS

ON

THE

BODY

ARE

PAINTED WHITE.

FIG.

132.

BLACK,

SUN-DRIED

LETS.

FLG.

277.

SPECIMEN.

455.

H E A D I S H O L L O W AND CONTAINS A NUMBER O F

PEL-

A P L A I N SUN D R I E D SPECIMEN, T H E H E A D O F W H I C H IS S U P P O S E D TO R E P R E S E N T T H E H E A D

OF A FOX.
FIG.

THE

I T W A S PROBABLY A T ONE T I M E T H E H A N D L E O F A L A M P .

SUN-DRIED

SPECIMEN.

"
*
THE

N E C K I S S U P P O S E D TO B E AN IMITATION O F AN O W L ' S

HEAD,

W H I L E T H E BODY IS PROBABLY I N T E N D E D TO R E P R E S E N T A F R O G .

FIG.

459.

I N T H I S F I G U R E T H E ZIGZAG L I N E I S D R A W N A L I T T L E TOO R E G U L A R L Y .

I N T H E ORIGINAL

T H E L I N E S SEEM TO B E MORE I N T H E S H A P E O F T H E OUTLINES O F A L E A F . , T H E L I N E S
A R E G R O O V E D ; T H E SPECIMEN I S B L A C K AND S U N - D R I E D .

Jfrck.Sec&.Letus. Jfm.ofSci.

O.Hoimtcichf-fec.

PLATE 19.

AGwhkCo.LCtlu

P L A T E XX.
FIG.

l.

A VERY U N I Q U E

SPECIMEN.

THE

F I G U R E I S R A T H E R R U D E L Y O U T L I N E D BUT T H E VESSEL I T -

SELF PRESENTS A VERY HANDSOME APPEARANCE.

IT IS A SUN-DRIED SPECIMEN.. THE

FOOT IS H O L L O W AND P E R F O R A T E D W I T H A NUMBER O F H O L E S .

FIG.

2.

A

BLACK,

T W O - N E C K E D BOTTLE,

FECTLY M O U L D E D ;
T H E VESSEL.

FIG.

3.

THIS

APPARENTLY;

T H E F A C E S H O W N I N T H E F I G U R E IS I M P E R -

DIRECTLY O P P O S I T E TO I T ON T H E R E V E R S E S I D E IS T H E MOUTH O F

T H E SPECIMEN IS S U N - D R I E D .

SPECIMEN I S P E C U L I A R I N T H I S T H A T I T H A S T H E MOUTH P L A C E D ON ONE SIDE, AND I N
HAVING

THE

FIGURE

DOUBLE,

THERE

BEING A SIMILAR F I G U R E

R E V E R S E S I D E AS ON T H E S I D E S H O W N I N T H E D R A W I N G .

FIG.

4.

A VERY P E C U L I A R L Y
FIGURE

SHAPED P I P E ;

AND F A C E ON

SUN-DRIED

THE

SPECIMEN.

T H E FOOT IS H O L L O W AS F A R U P AS T H E ARMS O F

AND T H E OPENLNG I S SUCH AS TO SUGGEST T H E I D E A T H A T I T W A S

THE

INTENDED

F O R T H E R E C E P T I O N O F A STICK ON W H I C H T H E P I P E W A S C A R R I E D .

FIG.

5.

BLACK, SUN-DRIED

SPECIMEN.

THE

DECORATION IS T H E SAME ON T H E R E V E R S E S I D E AS ON

T H E SIDE SHOWN IN T H E PICTURE.

JrcTi.Sea.St.loids, JICOL. of SOU.

G.Hambackjfec.

PLATE 20.

J.Oast&Co.lith.

PLATE X X I .
ALL

O F T H E VESSELS H E R E
DIFFERS

REPRESENTED

FROM

THE

ARE

REST IN

BLACK,

SUN-DRIED

SOME MANNER

SPECIMENS;

WHILE

EACH VESSEL

THEY ALL H A V E T H E MOUTH PLACED IN

T H E BACK OF THE H E A D OF T H E FIGURE REPRESENTED.

THE

FIGURES

THEMSELVES

CAN B E B E T T E R UNDERSTOOD BY A CLOSE E X A M I N A T I O N O F T H E P L A T E S T H A N BY ANY
DETAILED DESCRIPTION IN WQRDS.

PUTS 2/.

J?rch.Sec.St.Louis,JaiL of Set.

\ *>.

OJctmdacli,-f<?c*

A6*stl0olffk.

PLATE
FEW

SPECIMENS [IN

OUR

COLLECTIONS

ARE

XXII.

AS B E A U T I F U L

AS

THOSE

REPRESENTED IN THIS

PLATE.

T H E DESIGN, T H O U G H VERY S I M P L E AND A P P A R E N T L Y AN I M I T A T I O N O F T H E GOURD, I S
NEATLY EXECUTED IN ALL, AND T H E VESSELS THEMSELVES, THOUGH ALL BLACK
SUN-DRIED, ARE W E L L FINISHED THROUGHOUT.

AND

A7vh.Sec.StXou,i$j2ai.0fSci.

&. Hamibacck/, fiec

PL A re <p.

A.Oast&Ca.Littu

PLATE XXIII.
FIG.

1.

BLACK, SUN-DRIED

SPECIMEN;

T H E F A C E ONLY ON ONE S I D E , T H E R E V E R S E I S SMOOTH;

FOOT I S H O L L O W A N D NOT P E R F O R A T E D ;

T H E N E C K I S B R O K E N O F F , BUT I T H A S

THE
BEEN

SUGGESTED T H A T T H I S W A S PROBABLY A L O N G - N E C K E D B O T T L E .

FIG.

2.

B A K E D SPECIMEN ; A F A C E ON E A C H S I D E ; T H E V E S S E L IS R E D , AND T H E F A C E S A R E TATTOOED
I N B R O W N ABOUT T H E EYES, ACROSS T H E C H E E K S AND ABOUT T H E MOUTH.

FIG.

3.

B L A C K ; S U N - D R I E D SPECIMEN.

T H E T W O H E A D S A R E H O L L O W AND CONTAIN P E L L E T S .

FIG.

4.

T H I S V E S S E L RESEMBLES T H E SPECIMEN F O U N D I N A R K A N S A S ( P L A T E 18)

\
SMALLER I N SIZE.
FIG.

5.

A VESSEL IN T H E SHAPE OF A F R O G ;
HANDLES.

BUT IS VERY

MUCH

I T IS A PLAIN, SUN-DRIED SPECIMEN.

SUN-DRIED.

T H E N E C K I S D E E P L Y GROOVED AND F I T T E D W I T H

TWO

drchSec.Stlowisdca ofSci.

GManibacK fee.

PLATE 23

A£ast&Co2vth.

PLATE
FIG.

l.

BLACK, SUN-DRIED

SPECIMEN;

XX I Y.

VERY NEATLY F I N I S H E D AND W E L L

FORMED.

T H E MOUTH O F

T H E VESSEL IS I N T H E BACK O F T H E H E A D .

FIG.

2.

A L S O A BLACK,

SUN-DRIED

SPECIMEN,

B U T NOT SO FINELY

FINISHED,

NOR SO C A R E F U L L Y

F O R M E D AS T H E P R E C E D I N G .

FIG.

3.

A VERY FINE, SUN-DRIED SPECIMEN FROM PERRY COUNTY, MO.
F O R T H E P U R P O S E O F COMPARISON.

T H I S SPECIMEN

I T HAS BEEN FIGURED HERE

I S N O W I N T H E COLLECTION

OF

T H E I L L I N O I S S T A T E PENITENTIARY AT C H E S T E R , I L L S .

FIG.

4.

BLACK,

SUN-DRIED

SPECIMEN,

NOT SO W E L L

EXECUTED;

THE HEAD

ESPECIALLY

IS

MUCH

MOKE I M P E R F E C T T H A N I N T H E O T H E R SPECIMENS, T H E O P E N MOUTH DETRACTING FROM
THE

SYMMETRY O F T H E F E A T U R E S .

ING A N Y W H E R E , SHOWING

FIG.

5.

BLACK,

SUN-DRIED

GENERATION

SPECIMEN.
BEING

THIS

F I G U R E I S H O L L O W , B U T T H E R E I S NO O P E N -

THAT I T W A S NOT A VESSEL.

THE

FIGURE

ESPECIALLY

WELL

IS

REPRODUCED

EXECUTED.

IN

FULL,

[ I T HAS

BEEN

T H E ORGANS
SAID,

BY

OF

SOME

AUTHORS, THAT THIS IS RARELY THE CASE IN THIS CLASS OF POTTERY, BUT THERE ARE
AT

LEAST

FIVE

SPECIMENS IN THE

COLLECTIONS

HERE IN WHICH

THEY

ARE WELL

SHOWN.]

FIG.

6.

T H I S F I G U R E ( S U N - D R I E D ) I S ALSO H O L L O W , BUT H A S NO OPENING

FIG

7.

T H I S IS A VERY F I N E SPECIMEN*
ORIGINALLL" P A I N T E D ,
THOUGH
FIGURE

ANYWHERE.

I T I S D O U B T F U L W H E T H E R I T W A S B A K E D OR NOT.

AND W H I T E

T H E DECORATION

AND R E D P A T C H E S

ITSELF

HAS

I T WAS

O F P A I N T CAN STILL B E SEEN,

D I S A P P E A R E D , ALMOST

ALTOGETHER.

THE

R E P R E S E N T S A WOMAN W I T H A C H I L D ON H E R BACK, T H E H E A D O F T H E C H I L D

IS BROKEN O F F AND NOT IN T H E COLLECTION.

T H E SPECIMEN IS H O L L O W , B U T H A D

ORIGINALLY NO OPENING A N Y W H E R E .

FIG.

8.

BLACK,

SUN-DRIED SPECIMEN;

LARGE

PROPORTION.

IN T H I S SPECIMEN TOO T H E P E N I S I S R E P R E S E N T E D I N R A T H E R

THE

FIGURE

I S NOT W E L L

VESSEL, AS USUAL, IS IN T H E B A C K O F T H E H E A D .

EXECUTED.

THE

MOUTH

OF THE

Arch. Sec. St.Lo ids Ac&. of

^

;:

'"%

i£ivifll^^***®^'" ""'*'&'

<*#£

4
#

#

GMa-mfiaAzk' fee.

^1

J.GaHScCo.Zith