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.
PLATE XLVI. EARTHEN VESSELS FROM THE MOUNDS.
This Plate exhibits drawings of eight vessels of pottery; of which Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, were taken from the mounds of Ohio, and Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9, from the mounds of South Carolina and Florida. Nos. 3 and 4, although taken from the mounds, will readily be recognised as of comparatively modern manufacture. They were found with the recent deposits, and may be considered as fair specimens of Indian skill in this department. Unlike the older vessels with which they are placed in contrast, they are heavy and coarse, both in material and workmanship.