sorted, at some period of their
history, to the practice of burying articles of use or value with the
dead. It is to this custom that we owe the preservation of so many
entire pieces of these fragile utensils. They are exhumed from burial
mounds in great numbers, and to an equal extent, perhaps, from simple,
unmarked graves which are constantly being brought to light by the
plowshare. Fragmentary ware is found also in refuse heaps, on house
and village sites, and scattered broadcast over the face of the land.

This pottery, at its best, was probably not greatly superior in
hardness to our own soft earthenware, and the disintegrating agencies
of the soil have often reduced it to a very fragile state. Some writer
has expressed the belief that a considerable portion of the ware of
this province was sun-baked merely. This view is hardly a safe
one, however, as clay, unmixed with lime or other like indurating
ingredient, no matter how long exposed to the rays of the sun, would,
from ages of contact with the moist earth, certainly return to its
original condition. I have seen but few pieces that, even after the
bleaching of centuries, did not show traces of the dark mottlings that
result from imperfect firing. There probably was a period of unbaked
clay preceding the terra-cotta epoch, but we cannot expect to find
definite traces of its existence except, perhaps, in cases where large
masses, such as mounds or fortifications, were employed.

The relations of the various articles of pottery to the bodies with
which they were associated seem to be quite varied. The position of
each vessel was determined by its contents, by its symbolic use, or by
the pleasure of the depositor. Uniformity cannot be expected in
this more than in other features of burial. In other sections of the
country the pieces of pottery are said to have been broken before
final inhumation took place, but such was certainly not the practice
in this province.

AGE.--There can be no reasonable doubt that the manufacture of this
ware began many centuries before the advent of the white race, but it
is equally certain that the art was extensively practiced until quite
recent times. The early explorers of Louisiana saw it in use, and the
processes of manufacture are described by Dumont and others.

Possibly Du Pratz had in mind some of the identical vessels now
upon our museum shelves when he said that "the women make pots of an
extraordinary size, jars with a m