Pottery of the Mississippian Indians

In Monday's blog about the Etowa Indian Mounds I promised you I'd post some pictures of the pottery that is in the museum. Here they are with apologies about the quality of the pictures. It's best not to use a flash when taking pictures of old relics that are under glass because of the degradation that occurs to the art and the reflection on the glass.

This piece is a water jug.  It's a pretty good size and would likely have needed two hands to pour when it was full.  Since the people lived on a river it didn't have to be too large as water was readily available nearby.

This vessel was interesting in it's lack of ornamentation and in the angle of the neck.  This piece is most likely built with coils but I'd like to throw something this shape.

It's great that we can still see the color on this pot.  The indigenous people made an ocher stain to decorate the pots.   Today, I use an ocher glaze.

The neck of this pot is amazing, it looks like the head of a hawk to me.  We still have a few Red Tail Hawk and Cooper's Hawks in the Atlanta area.  A Red Tail Hawk lives near me, she's beautiful in flight.

I was unable to get a good angle for photographing this pot without getting that awful glare but you can still see the intricate carving on this piece.  The inside is actually rather smooth but you can still see signs of the hands of the maker.

Other Stuff:
Georgia Indian Pottery Type Page 
Lost Worlds
Fernbank Museum of Natural History

Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery