In pressing the coil down, in welding it to the preceding turn, internal support would be necessary, as otherwise the strain would warp the walls. A curved trowel or a rounded pebble could be used as long as the aperture would admit the hand, but no support excepting the fingers, or an implement shaped for the purpose, could be used beyond this stage. The whole process was a most delicate one, requiring patience and skill. In this respect it contrasted strongly with the coiling of other peoples. As indicated by numerous specimens, the coil was sometimes laid on the inside of a shallow basket or bowl, the surface of the vessel showing a combination of basket-markings and nearly obliterated spiral creases. This device served a good purpose in starting the vessel, the upper part being completed by free-hand coiling.
_Coiling of other peoples._--The art, as practiced by the Indians of Louisiana, is graphically described by Dumont. The following paragraph is translated from his work:
"Moreover, the industry of these (savage) girls and women is admirable. I have already alluded to the skill with which, with their fingers only, and without a wheel, they make large pieces of pottery. The following is their method of work: After having collected a quantity of the proper kind of earth, and having cleaned it thoroughly, they take shells which they break up and reduce to a very fine, loose powder; they mix this fine dust with the earth which they have collected, and, moistening the whole with a little water, work it with their hands and feet into a paste, from which they make rolls six or seven feet long and as thick as they may desire. If they wish to make a dish or a vase, they take one of these rolls by the end, and marking on this lump with the thumb of the left hand the center of the vessel, they turn the roll around this center with admirable rapidity and dexterity, describing a spiral. From time to time they dip their fingers into the water, which they are always careful to have near them, and, with the right hand, they flatten the inside and the outside of the vase, which without this would be uneven. In this way they make all kinds of earthen utensils, dishes, plates, bowls, pots, and jugs, some of which hold as much as 40 or even 50 pints. This pottery does not require much preparation for baking. After having dried it in the shade, they make a large fire, and as soon as they think they have enough embers they clean a place in the middle, and, arranging the pieces of pottery, cover them with charcoal. It is thus that the pieces are given the necessary heating (cooking), after which they are as strong as our pottery. There is no doubt but that we must attribute their strength to the mixture which these women make of powdered shells with the earth which they employ."[1]