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