The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-01-26
Relics OF ABORIGINHS
Traces Of the Early Inhabitants of
Naryland'S Eastern Shore.
Site of IN Ancient Indian Pottery
EsiIn on the south Bank OF the
ChOptank-Rrohen Fragments of
Burnt Clay Discovered Burial
Ground of the Abaco Tribe.

thrown upon the tribal life of rSa aDUTig-
inal Inhabitants of the Eastern Shore Gy
the discovery of what seems to be the an
cient site Of a primitive Indian pottery
kiln near the clay beds OF. the south bank
OF the Choprank. in Dorchester county
Upon the summit of large sand dune
over the surface of which to the depth OF
foot or mere are scattered shells which
from their evident age have remained
there for centuries is situated the sup
posed site Of the Indian Industrial art
The hill is but mile from Cambridge, IN
the rear Of Lodge Cliff, the home OF \ L.
Richardson, and within few hundred
! yards OF Sandy Hill, the country seat of
J. s Mundy. Of Newark. n. J.
From the erosion Of the banks by the
fierce northeast storms and action Of The
waves CT the Choptank the hill is gradual
y becoming eliminated and already a
great slice has been cut, which reaches 10
the centre of the hill
The crumbling earth upon the receding
side exposes many broken specimens Of
ancient pottery. and after storms OF ur-
| usual violence relic hunters frequently
visit the spot to secure the exposed speci-
mems. The enormous number of fragmen-
| tary posts and other vessels of clay scat
tered in an area of f W hundred square
feet and the close pro Unity TO the clay
beds gives rise to the sGpposition that the
site is that of an Indian pottery kiln
Many bushels Of potsherds can now be
collected within a radius Of q very few
yards upon the surface alone, and as the
specimens extend to the depth Of three or
/ four feet the amount of broken baked clay
/ is very great.
The specimens are in good condition. and
though probably losing the original color,
show very distinctly the decorative effect
( produced at the time of construction. The
! fact that all the specimens even those ex-
! caVated, are fragments, varying from one
( 10 SIX inches in length and that many Of
f. those found in close proximity beneath the
surface bear 10 direct connection with
: each other seems 10 strengthen the idea
/ Of the pottery kiln. as in q mandatory
! Of that character the casualties would naT-
uraiIy be very great. owing to the difficult
/ y OF successfully baking the earthenware-
/ That no other pottery OF the kind had been
discovered in Maryland does not. in the
/ opinion Of local ethnoiegists. eliminate the
/ fact o. the pTOb9 bic existence Of this one.
/ Many pieces Of clay pipes. some Of them
/ bearing designs Of really artistic beauty,
! have been found. and this seems to be Inost
unusual TO the Indians OF the Eastern
Shore. as no other evidences Of their ef-
/ forts toward artistic work have been found
/ Upon large bowls decoration has been at
/ tempted and some Of the efforts are most
lapdaDle for these pioneers Of American
J art Symmetrical rows or indentati0ns and
! decorated borders evidently surrounded
{ many OF the finer pieces Of pottery. and
Z from tie sE.oothness and tough fiber OF
the ware the manufacturers were evident
! y skillful workers and understood the
{ trdue- Many or inc specimens show the
/ general outline OF large urns, but none Of
/ the fragments have yet been pieced TO-
! gether so as to show tie original forms
| Should the discovery prove conclusiveIy
! 10 be what il now seems a distinctly new
| liglt viii have been thrown upon the eco
| nomic life OF the early Indians Of Mary
| land who now are accredited with but 1T
| tie inclination toward Industry and art
| and the existence Of an extensive pottery
| kiln would seem to imply that the Indians
! or dorchester at least, were not deficient
| IN the early methods of artistic construc-
| ton
4 few hundred yards from the pottery is
| an old burial ground OF the Abaco indians
where the bones of Teuuehapan, Hard
| Swamp. Winacco. and many others Of she ?
/ chlefS are now supposed to rest Upon The
north and river exposure of the old Gene
! terry, which also is upon. or rather within
a hill, bleached human bones are washed
out by the rains and drop upon the beach
/ below Implements of war and many
| pieces of broken earthenware are exposed
( with the bones. and at one point upon the
! sheer plane of the cliff, fifty feet above
I the beach, appear a great number of the
! mingled remains, ready to fall from The
| crumbiing earth.
| Why the pottery is in such a fragnen-
| tary condition even when washed ont with
< q af :.
| deeper deposits which could not have been
| exposed 10 casualties are il broken con-
/ dition and nothing of whole form has been
| so far found 4 peculiar chaos also ex-
| lists in the position and condition OF the
! bones Like the earthenware. the bones
: OF one immediate locality frequently seem
/ 10 bear no relation to each other
Contrary 10 the custom of placing the
1 dead IN sitting or reclining posture
| which has been shown in the excavations
| OF other Eastern burial sites these re
| mains seem TO have been dumped promis-
| cuously into pit or We're left to be COW
/ cred by the shifting sands, which during
| high windstorms bank up Ia drifts like
snow.
! As the average soil Of tidewater Mary
land is OF a consistency conducive to the
rapid decay of all perishable specimens
/ OF Indian handiwork, very few intact re-
mains of the ancient people are now in
implements which throughout the State
attest by their numbers the evidence of
4 large population. even in prehistoric
times. Upon both the burial hill and that
Of the pottery many stone relics have
been found and in the Surrounding neigh
borhOod about the bases OF the hills
specimens are abundant
The arrow points in the vicinity Of the
pottery site distinctly differ from the
beautiful specimens found in the adjacent
country, most Of the former being in an
unfinished or broken condition Many
! chips. or fakes are also IN evidence upon
the pottery hill and It is possible that
ia conjunction with the ancient kiln was
conducted a workshop I'm which arrows
we're constructed from the fiinty boulders
Of the river shore
That these hills and the immediate vi
/ entity was TIE industrial centre Of a large
! tribe az the Choptank or Abaco Indians
IS from the nature of the surrounding evil
dence not at all improbable.
Es~LA %E