Chapter IV: Indian Pottery

Successors of the Mound-builders.--Opinion of Professor
Marsh.--Pueblos descended from the Mound-builders.--Natchez and
Mandan Tribes.--Pueblos of Colorado, etc.--Pottery found at El
Moro.--Zuni.--Further Discoveries.--Immense Quantities of
Fragmentary Pottery.--Corrugated Pottery of Colorado.--Painted
Pottery.--Moquis of Tegua.--Modern Pueblos.--Trade in
Pottery.--Resemblances between Potteries of South, Central, and
North America.--Indian Pottery from Illinois.--Louisiana, and how
Pottery made.--New Jersey Indians.--Tennessee.--Maryland.--Other
Indian Tribes.

After the Mound-builders came the Indians. A distinction must be observed between the real North American Indians and those tribes in New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona, of whose pottery specimens belonging to the present day have been obtained. It is clear that whether or not the Mound-builders and Toltecs were the same people, the former had no affinity of race with the Indians. They were undoubtedly an American race, while the Indians were as undoubtedly Asiatic, for whom no ancestry can with any show of reason be traced to the Mound-builders. Were the resemblance between the Indians and the nomadic tribes of Siberia beyond Behring Strait to be set aside as proving nothing, we should yet have the tradition common to many tribes pointing to a north-western source, to fall back upon in disposing of the question of the origin of the red man. We may, therefore, leave him out of farther present consideration, and turn to the successors of the Mound-builders.

Professor O. C. Marsh in a recent lecture touched upon this point, and at the same time hinted at a possible community of race among all the ancient peoples of America. “On the Columbia River,” he said, “I have found evidence of the former existence of inhabitants much superior to the Indians at present there, and of which no tradition remains. Among many stone carvings which I saw, there were a number of heads which so strongly resemble those of apes that the likeness at once suggests itself. Whence came these sculptures, and by whom were they made? Another fact that has interested me very much is the strong resemblance between the skulls of the typical Mound-builders of the Mississippi valley and those of the Pueblo Indians. I had long been familiar with the former, and when I recently saw the latter, it required the positive assurance of a friend who had himself collected them in New Mexico to convince me that they were not from the mounds. In a large collection of Mound-builders’ pottery, over a thousand specimens which I have recently examined with some care, I found many pieces of elaborate workmanship so nearly like the ancient water-jars from Peru, that no one could fairly doubt that some intercourse had taken place between the widely separated people that made them.”

According to this view the Mound-builders would have a relationship with the Peruvians on the one hand, and with the Pueblos on the other. When the Mound-builders retreated from their upper settlements, they maintained for some years their occupancy of territory along the lower Mississippi, before finally retiring toward the south. It is hardly possible that they disappeared _en masse_ before the invaders, or that those lingering behind the main body should have been utterly exterminated. It would be difficult in that case to account for such exceptional Indian tribes as the Natchez and Mandan. Both tribes were skilful workers in clay. The Natchez, at the time when the West was first opened up by Europeans, over three hundred years ago, were making pottery comparable with that of Europe. They found the requisite clay on the banks of the Mississippi, and were acquainted with the use of color. The Mandans employed earthen-ware in their households, almost as extensively as any modern people. They baked pots in such a way that they were as capable of resisting the action of heat as the metal utensils of the present day. These were hung over the fire for purposes of cooking and numberless other articles of earthen-ware were seen in their lodges. The Mandans were making pottery on the upper Missouri forty-five years ago, and probably continued doing so until a late date.

The Pueblos of New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona present us with another problem, which can only be solved by one of two suppositions, either that they are the descendants of emigrants from Central America who degenerated through contact and association with Indians, or that they represent a remnant of the Mound-builders who sought in the west the security which the main body of their countrymen found in the south. We shall find additional reason hereafter for believing that if there was no extensive amalgamation of the races, the Indians at least borrowed some of the customs of their predecessors. If it be well understood that the ancient occupants of the territory extending from the mouth of the Mississippi northward and westward to Arizona had a common origin, and that their victorious barbarian successors were in certain districts modified by absorption, such facts as a similarity between the pottery of Louisiana or Illinois and Colorado need not be received with either hesitation or bewilderment. And, besides, the historical necessity for ascribing it to a specific age is thereby materially lessened.

The Pueblos, or Village Indians, of New Mexico and Arizona have left many interesting pieces of earthen-ware, and many others of the present time come from the same section. There is abundant proof that this entire district was inhabited at a very ancient date, and the relics of successive degrees of civilization are found in the ruins. El Moro, in New Mexico, was visited by Lieutenant Simpson in 1849, and afterward by Lieutenant Whipple. Pottery was found painted in zones and wavy lines, and occasionally highly polished. Following the same parallel westward, Lieutenant Whipple discovered other ruins to which no age could be ascribed, although some were clearly more ancient than others, indicating that the region must have been inhabited throughout a long series of years. More pottery was collected, brightly colored, and painted after patterns resembling those noticed at El Moro. The paintings occasionally assumed the forms of animals and insects. Still farther to the west, at Zuni, and at places beyond it in the same direction, the examples of the ceramic work of the early inhabitants multiplied. Sun-dried bricks were found to have been employed in building, and in addition to painted pottery, an older indented kind was met with.

An extended exploration of the same region, but somewhat farther north, was made in 1875, under the auspices of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories. Mr. W. H. Holmes and Mr. W. H. Jackson subsequently presented notices of the results of their examinations of the ancient ruins within an area of six thousand square miles, chiefly in Colorado, but partially also in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. Their joint evidence regarding the immense quantities of fragmentary pottery seen in the course of their explorations must create great astonishment. In speaking of the ruins of a village in New Mexico, situated on the Rio de la Plata, about twenty-five miles above its junction with the San Juan, Mr. Holmes says, “The soil was literally full of fragments of painted and ornamented pottery.” Near the same locality, and while riding through a desert-like district, he observed “fragments of pottery strewed around,” and “on the high dry table-lands, on all sides, fragments of pottery were picked up.” Writing of the Montezuma cañon in Utah, Mr. Jackson says, “As the valley widened it was dotted in many places with mounds thickly strewed over with the ever-accompanying ceramic handiwork of the ancient people in whose footsteps we are following, and occurring so frequently and of such extent as to excite astonishment at the numbers this narrow valley supported.” The same writer says, “All who have ever visited this region, which extends from the Rio Grande to the Colorado and southward to the Gila, have been impressed with the vast quantities of shattered pottery scattered over the whole land, sometimes where not even a ruin now remains, its more enduring nature enabling it to long outlive all other specimens of their handiwork.”

The presence of such immense quantities of fragmentary pottery can possibly be explained upon the hypothesis that the vessels were liable to fracture when exposed to the fire, and that those cracking under the heat were thrown away when taken out of the primitive and open kiln.

The specimens obtained, both fragmentary and entire, give abundant opportunity for studying the processes and decoration of these old-time potters. As illustrating the fertility of their talent for shaping and ornamenting their wares, Mr. Holmes observes that on one occasion, when encamped in the Mancos Cañon, he found, within a space of ten feet square, fragments of fifty-five different vessels, and adds that, “in shape these vessels have been so varied that few forms known to civilized art could not be found.” The clay varies according to locality, in some cases being of an apparently fine quality mixed with sand and shells, and in others coarse and more friable. All this old pottery was made by hand, and fired, although no remains of kilns have been discovered.

The smaller pieces, such as cups and jars, are usually covered with a peculiar thin, hard, and smooth glaze or enamel, and then painted. The larger pieces, which apparently answered the purpose of the Egyptian amphora, present a rough, corrugated surface, are seldom glazed and never painted. A specimen of the latter class, found among the _débris_ in one of the cliff-houses of the Mancos in Colorado, is given in the illustration (Fig. 408). Its rough exterior is to be attributed to the process of making. The potter began by drawing the clay into strips, and then commencing at the bottom, wound the strips spirally and pressed each layer down upon that below it, indenting the outside with a stick or with his thumb. The illustration (Fig. 409) may serve to elucidate the method of construction. The inside is perfectly smooth, and so well are the strips worked together, that they show no division on fracture. An attempt was made at decoration or variety, by running the strips a few times round without indenting them and by attaching scrolls or spirals immediately below the neck. All the pottery of this description is ancient. A jar of similar construction to the above, but of a better shape, was found in Epsom Creek, Utah (Fig. 410). The fragment of a handle (Fig. 411) would appear to indicate that the ancients were familiar with the well-known cable pattern of modern porcelain manufacturers. It is made by twisting together three rolls of clay. A ladle (Fig. 412) and what seems to have been a pipe (Fig. 413) will tend to show farther the extent of the resources of the aboriginal potters of the west.

In the specimens of their painted pottery we have the best means of judging their art. The painting is generally black laid upon the white enamel or glaze; and however the color was obtained, it was very durable. Although the fragments, as we have seen, have lain on the ground exposed to the action of the weather for at least several centuries, the color, in very few cases, shows any symptom of decay. In one piece the white ground has actually worn away, leaving the black decoration in relief. The designs show a vast amount of ingenuity on the part of the artists. They are nearly all modifications of the fret and scrolls. A very common style (Fig. 414) consists of a series of enclosed squares, the alternate borders being composed of crossed lines and straight lines, and having undecorated bands between. A remarkably fine specimen (Fig. 415), both in shape and the simplicity of its decoration, was taken from a grave on the banks of the San Juan, near the mouth of the Mancos. Its excellent form, and the throwing of the classical fret round the widest part of the body, bear witness to an artistic sentiment of considerable refinement. The artists of the time appear to have chiefly directed their attention to tasteful combinations of lines in triangular, rectangular, and other odd forms, in which the two latter are united or conjoined with straight bands of color. A fine specimen (Fig. 416) was found in a heap of rubbish at a cave ruin on the De Chelly. Its perfectly rotund form argues a skill in manipulating the clay which one can hardly conceive possible without the assistance of the wheel. For the purpose of farther illustrating the decorations and shapes, a few fragments are presented in a restored and extended form (Figs. 417-420). In nearly every case the decoration is on the inside of the vessel, sometimes covering the entire surface, but more frequently taking the form of a band round the lip; when it appears on the outside, it generally consists of a narrower band (Fig. 422). It will be observed that, so far, we have not met with a single attempt at decoration by painting animal or floral forms. Mr. W. H. Jackson says that only one fragment has been found exemplifying such a style (Fig. 423). It was found in the upper cañon of the Montezuma, and has the figure painted on the inside. A rudely modelled frog on the outside of a fragment of a cup (Fig. 424) is from the same district. In this case the ornamentation is in relief on the outside.

It would be interesting to inquire if the modern Moquis of Tegua are the degenerate descendants of the ancient inhabitants of the cave-dwellings and cliff houses of the valleys of the San Juan and its tributaries. The probabilities are in favor of such a supposition, just as the semi-civilized dwellers in modern Zuni are the descendants of the old Pueblos. There are evidences of decay scattered throughout the entire region.

In architecture the inhabitants of the present day are certainly inferior to their old-time predecessors, and in the ceramic art there is a similar decadence. A very peculiar and altogether exceptional piece (Fig. 425) was found by Mr. W. H. Jackson among the Moquis of Tegua, about which its possessors could give him no information. He concluded that it had been made at Zuni by the Pueblos, and a color of probability is lent to this supposition by the fact, previously noted, that the Pueblos of Zuni make use of insect and animal forms in decorating their pottery. The specimen mentioned is evidently of modern manufacture. The upper part is white, the lower red, and the figures are red and black. More nearly resembling, although far inferior to, the ancient works is a piece (Fig. 426) made by the Moquis of Tegua. The decoration is after the ancient type, but more crowded and complicated, and covers both the inside and the outside of the vessel. It is a fair example of the modern work, of which two further examples are given (Figs. 427 and 428).

The modern Pueblos are exceptional both for the comparative excellence of their work, and by reason of the fact that they make pottery for the purposes of trade, as well as for their own use. This appears from Gregg’s work, published about twenty-five years ago, entitled “Commerce of the Prairies.” The author says: “They manufacture, according to their aboriginal art, both for their own consumption and for the purpose of traffic, a species of earthen-ware not much inferior to the coarse pottery of our common potters. The pots made of this material stand fire remarkably well, and are the universal substitutes for all the purposes of cookery, even among the Mexicans, for the iron castings of this country, which are utterly unknown there. Rude as this crockery is, it nevertheless evinces a great deal of skill, considering that it is made entirely without lathe or any kind of machinery. It is often fancifully painted with colored earths and the juice of a plant called _guaco_, which brightens by burning.”

To revert for a moment to Professor Marsh’s remarks, there appears to be abundant reason for considering a great proportion of the old pottery of America as belonging to one class, and that the old inhabitants were originally of one race. The corrugated ware which we first found in Colombia reappears among the Pueblo Indians, and has also been found in Utah. The Indians made it in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Georgia, Florida, and District of Columbia, having probably acquired the art from their predecessors. Professor Rau says it was widely known in North America, and Mr. Hartt shows the wide spread of the practice of coiling throughout South America. The latter states upon authority that the tribes on the Araguaya River all coil, using the hand, water, and a bamboo trowel. The same process is found among the tribes of the Orinoco section. The red and dark brown painted ware we have traced from Peru to Nicaragua, and thence to the Moqui settlements. The Moquis of Arizona make great numbers of the shallow ladles with short handles terminating in animals’ heads, similar to those of Peru. We have seen the Brazilians and Moquis both using vegetable colors on pottery, and it is probably only our ignorance of Peruvian and Central American methods which hinders our tracing these processes back to antiquity. It is difficult upon any other hypothesis than that of a community of race to explain these facts. We have said that the Moquis may be descendants of Mound-builders seeking safety in the west. They may also have come directly from the south, and having passed the country lying between the Gulf of Mexico and the Sierra Madre, have reached the Colorado River, along the upper affluents of which their settlements extend.

An interesting discovery was made some years ago by Mr. Charles Rau on the Cahokia Creek in Illinois, in the rich alluvial strip of land known as the “American Bottom.” He there found the place where pottery had been made by some former inhabitants, and saw the clay-pit, and the heaps of shells to be ground or broken and mixed with the clay. The vessels were all round-bottomed, and do not appear to have differed much in shape from those of the San Juan Valley. The painting deserves particular notice. It was laid upon the outside so as to cover it, and sometimes on both sides, and in either black, dark brown, or a beautiful red, only one color being used on each article. “It is evident that the coloring preceded the process of baking, and the surfaces thus coated are smooth and shining, the paint replacing to a certain extent the enamel produced by glazing.” Covering the entire surface with one color does not suggest much ingenuity, but on the pieces where incised lines and indentations form the decoration, there are fuller evidences of artistic feeling. The lines were either drawn straight round the vessels, or formed zigzags or figures of greater or less simplicity. Without insisting upon any relationship between the potters of the Cahokia and the Mound-builders, Mr. Rau believes the pottery he found to be equal to that taken from the mounds of the Mississippi valley. Some of the unpainted vessels were made in basket moulds, and other remains, such as the fragment of a toy canoe, show that modelling was practised to some extent. The age of this pottery is left to conjecture.

The same writer quotes from Dumont, who wrote about a century and a quarter ago, a description of the method of making earthen-ware adopted by the inhabitants of the large tract of country then called Louisiana. The passage is here given in full: “After having amassed the proper kind of clay and carefully cleaned it, the Indian women take shells which they pound and reduce to a fine powder; they mix this powder with the clay, and having poured some water on the mass, they knead it with their hands and feet, and make it into a paste, of which they form rolls six or seven feet long and of a thickness suitable to their purpose. If they intend to fashion a plate or a vase, they take hold of one of these rolls by the end, and fixing here with the thumb of the left hand the centre of the vessel they are about to make, they turn the roll with astonishing quickness around this centre, describing a spiral line; now and then they dip their fingers into water and smooth with the right hand the inner and outer surface of the vase they intend to fashion, which would become ruffled or undulated without that manipulation. In this manner they make all sorts of earthen vessels, plates, dishes, bowls, pots, and jars, some of which hold from forty to fifty pints. The burning of this pottery does not cause them much trouble. Having dried it in the shade, they kindle a large fire, and when they have a sufficient quantity of embers, they clean a space in the middle, where they deposit their vessels and cover them with charcoal. Thus they bake their earthen-ware, which can now be exposed to the fire, and possesses as much durability as ours. Its solidity is doubtless to be attributed to the pulverized shells which the women mix with the clay.” It will be observed that this is practically the same method of construction described by Messrs. Jackson and Holmes as existing in the San Juan valley.

In a valuable paper upon “The Stone Age in New Jersey,” by Dr. C. C. Abbott, of Trenton, and published in the report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1875, much interesting information is given of the Indian pottery of that State. Dr. Abbott describes a small round vase with flaring rim, decorated before firing with lines roughly made with a pointed stick. He then gives a caution which it is well to bear in mind when examining the pottery comprehensively styled Indian. The vase is in size similar to those found in western mounds, but less carefully ornamented. Difference in decoration is not, however, always a safe test to apply in order to distinguish the pottery of the Mound-builders from that of the Indians. “In gracefulness of outline the New Jersey vase is the equal of that of the Mound-builders, while we have seen a drawing of a large vase found in Vermont which exceeds in elaborateness of detail any figured by Messrs. Squier and Davis. The Mound-builders were never inhabitants of what is now known as New Jersey nor of the State of Vermont, but pottery is sometimes found in these sections the equals in some instances of the pottery of the west in style of decoration, while in all cases it is as hard and durable.” A pipe, the bowl of which slopes outward and with the underside of the stem flattened, is also described by Dr. Abbott. It is made of fine yellow clay. A fragment of another pipe with a quadrangular bowl was made of the paste generally used by the Indians, a mixture of clay, mica, and shells. Some of the fragments of pottery are curiously marked with dots and lines. In one case a spear of grass had been employed to make bead-like studs in rows on the surface.

A discovery was made a few years ago in Tennessee, by which we learn something of the Indian processes (Dr. J. F. Wright on “Antiquities of Tennessee,” Smithsonian Report, 1874). It consisted of an excavation six or eight feet in diameter, and four or five feet deep, and was apparently a kiln or oven for baking pottery. Unwrought clay, charcoal, fragments of pottery, and pieces of bark more or less charred were found among the sand in the excavation. The pottery was peculiarly marked on the _inside_, and investigation led to the conclusion that the vessels had been moulded round an interior core of beech bark, the corrugations of which corresponded exactly with the impressions on the pottery. The Maryland Indians (Paper by O. N. Bryan, Smithsonian Report, 1874) are thought to have baked some of their pottery in nets.

Many others of the Indian tribes practised the fictile art, very few, so far as is known, being entirely ignorant of it. Moulding in clay was not, however, a practice likely to commend itself or to offer any attractions to the nomadic red man, and it fell into desuetude, whenever the introduction of metal utensils rendered its continued pursuit not absolutely necessary. Some of the tribes which followed the buffalo possibly never engaged in it, but left the practice to their corn-raising brethren (Dr. W. E. Doyle on “Indian Forts and Dwellings,” Smithsonian Report, 1876). The exceptional tribes of New Mexico and Arizona, which cannot, as already pointed out, be identified with the North American Indians, are chief among the few which still continue to make pottery. We have seen that they adhere in a great measure to the ancient shapes and primitive decorative patterns. The fact of chief importance in connection with the old potters of the West and the processes to which they resorted is their employment of a glaze. It is considered by Dr. Emil Bessels as the most striking peculiarity of the pottery found near the ruins. It is regular, very hard, sometimes opaque and whitish, at others transparent and tinged with blue. Neither this glaze nor the colors have been accurately analyzed, but of the latter the reddish-brown and brown are undoubtedly mineral, derived from iron and manganese. The black was probably an organic substance, such as charcoal made into a pigment by being mixed with fine clay.