are also the fins and tail. Many examples of this
form are found, some of which are elaborately treated, the scales
being minutely shown. The body of the fish is sometimes placed in the
natural upright position, the neck of the vessel rising from the back,
producing a lenticular shape.

[Illustration: FIG. 417.--Sunfish vase: Arkansas.--1/3.]

The animal so carefully modeled in the vessel given in Fig. 418
resembles a raccoon or an opossum. The mouth of the vessel is wide and
the neck upright and short. The body is ornamented with a pattern
made up of triangular groups of incised lines, which may or may not be
meant for hair.

[Illustration: FIG. 418.--Opossum vase: Arkansas.--2/3.]

The love of modeling life forms shows itself again in the little vase
illustrated in Fig. 419. The head of some animal, rudely suggested,
projects from one side, while a curved tail on the other carries out
the idea of the complete creature. The round body is decorated with
broad vertical lines in dark red. A red line encircles the rim.

[Illustration: FIG. 419.--Animal-shaped vase: Arkansas.--1/3.]

It is not strange that a people who had successfully engaged in the
modeling of life forms, and especially the heads of animals, should
attempt the human head. Their remarkable success in this direction is
shown in a number of vases, one of which is given in Fig. 420. This
and kindred peoples had made considerable progress in carving in stone
and other materials, evincing a decided talent for sculpture; but clay
is so much more readily manipulated than either wood, stone, or shell,
that we are not surprised to find their best work in that material.

It is an interesting fact that with all this cleverness in the
handling of clay, and in the delineation of varied models, the art had
not freed itself from the parent stem--the vessel--and launched out
into an independent field. In a few cases such an end seems to have
been achieved by certain groups of mound builders, notably those whose
works at Madisonville, Ohio, have recently been explored by Professor
Putnam. Modeling in clay was probably confined to vessels for the
reason that, through their humble agency, the art was developed.

Up to the present time I have met with but eight of these curious
head-shaped vases. All were obtained from the vicinity of Pecan Point,
Arkansas, and, like other vessels, have been associated with human
remains in graves or mounds. It is true that in all ca