POTTERY.
A knowledge of the art of pottery extended throughout the region we are describing, and must have been known from a very early date. The shell-mounds of evidently high antiquity which abound on the shores of the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea contain, along with implements in bone and stone, fragments of earthenware. These are often very rude, but, as has been pointed out (p. io6), this fact does not necessarily signify that the tribes who formed these refuse-heaps were ignorant of anything better. They visited the shore only at certain seasons and as hunting parties, and would bring with them merely their commonest and most indispensable ware.
Pottoy of the Arazc'acks and Caribs.—Large urns or vases have been obtained from Barbadoes and other islands of the West Indies. From their shape and the character of the ware it is evident that the ancient natives of the islands practised this art very much as the Caribs and rawacks do to-day, and with little difference in skill or in the prevailing designs of their products. The favorite shape is that of the "buck-pot" (fig. 39). It is not unlike an ordinary fish-globe, but has a wider lip or rim. Some of these are quite large, being two feet in diameter and two or three feet high. They are still used for containing beverages of different kinds. The best of these vessels are in appearance as perfect in shape and as truly curved as though made with the potter's wheel; yet they arc formed by the hand alone, guided only by the eye, as has been proved by the observa tion of modern travelers. It is noteworthy that this form of the " buck pot" is also common in the mounds of the Ohio Valley (p. 77), although in finish the latter are inferior to the Carib product.
Popery irr Braz-11.—Most of the tribes on the Amazon and its tribu taries were practical potters, though those who lived up the river must he given precedence for artistic skill over those near the coast. Both, how ever, turned out work which was superior to that of the tribes of Guiana and the West Indies. This superiority shows itself in texture, in contour, and in richness of decoration. The frequent imitations of the figures of animals and of the human body remind one of the designs of the Peruvian potters. (See Vol. I. pl. 53.) The finest examples are the rkasauns, as they
are locally termed. They are mortuary urns deposited in the graves of heroes, either to receive their bones after they had been cleansed of flesh or to lie beside their bodies. Two interesting specimens of these, both of undoubted antiquity, are represented in Figures 42 and 43 (pi 8), and cannot fail to convey a favorable opinion of the skill of their makers.
Papery of Me Pampas.—The Pampean tribes were likewise well ac quainted with this art. The absence of wood and the scarcity of large stones rendered them more dependent on clay vessels than were the natives of other localities. The sites of their ancient villages are marked by surprising quantities of potshards. These indicate that the clay was usually tempered with sand and rather lightly burned, in some cases more on the interior than on the exterior of the vessel. This was doubtlesss accomplished by filling it with dried dung and then blowing the fire with tubes. The decorations are generally straight lines, though sometimes the human face or other objects are rudely outlined on the moist clay. Colored fragments nttest that some vessels were painted in several colors. The forms are rarely graceful, and the vessels were generally small or medium in size. We do not find in the La Plata region specimens equalling the best fur nished by the valley of the Amazon.
Poilery In Chihi—In Chili two distinct varieties of pottery are found, which the antiquaries of that country refer respectively to the Age of Stone and the Age of Bronze. But an examination of their forms and texture seems to show conclusively that they differ not so much in date as ethnically. The coarser and ruder is much like that of the Pampean tribes, while the finer betrays unmistakably the Peruvian characteristics. The one doubtless is of native Araucanian manufacture, while the other is the product of those colonies of more highly civilized peoples whom the Incas, in accordance with the well-known principles of their state policy, transported to the extreme south as soon as they had brought a portion of that region under subjection. (See Vol. I. pl. 52.)