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, probably brought to the spot to be used in
the process. Amongst 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 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.
* * * * *
=_Benjamin Silliman, 1779-1864.
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