From the delicacy of these specimens, and the amount of labor expended upon them, it is concluded that they were not used for ordinary purposes. They were perhaps designed to contain articles valued by the possessor, or to be used only on certain important occasions. It has been suggested that they were possibly the «censers» of the ancient priesthood, or, from the fact of their being found only in the altar mounds, appropriated to sacred purposes. This supposition might be made with equal propriety in respect to the coarser varieties also found on the altars, and which, it is evident, were designed to be used for purposes requiring strength and the capability of withstanding fire.
NUMBERS 3 and 4 are drawn upon the same scale with the two above described; they contain between one and two quarts. As before remarked, they may be regarded as in all respects very good specimens of the skill of the modern northern tribes in this description of manufacture.
In the mounds of the South, pottery exists in great abundance; but it differs very much in form and quality from the specimens found on the Ohio. It is coarser in material, and seems to have been manufactured with less care. The ornaments, although not without grace, are roughly executed. Some of the vessels seem to have been burned to considerable hardness, and exhibit the consequent redness of color; but most are of a dark brown, and appear to have been hardened over fires, rather than burned in kilns.
NUMBERS 6, 7, 8, and 9, as already observed, are examples of this Southern ware. Number 6 is from South Carolina; Nos. 7, 8, and 9, from Florida: they are all deposited in the cabinet of the Historical Society of New York. No. 6 is about twelve inches in height, of rather elegant model, and ornamented with scrolls. It contains upwards of a gallon. Nos. 7 and 9 hold about a quart each; No. 8 perhaps three quarts.
Some of those found in the mounds of Carolina are of great size, and capable [p191] of holding from three to thirty gallons. These are seldom ornamented, but are extremely well formed. It may be remarked that the handles of the Southern vases are often neatly moulded into scrolls, or representations of the heads of animals and birds.
