Tweet
I saved this for last cuss , well, just because.....This is a 14” high Weeden Island ceremonial vessel...it’s an extra ordinary example....Pottery is not graded like points, but if it was this would be a G10+...The motifs are punctuated, and cover 2/3rds of the face vertically, which is rare...The walls average 1/16” thick and have a ring to them like modern day ceramics... The main clay mixture is sand tempered The outer finish is enhanced by the application of a fine slip and desirable fire clouds.... the shape of it is round at the top and square at the bottom, ( a nice trick if you can do it ) and has a pre made kill hole.....The story !......It happened at site 8-P162 in Clearwater, Pinellas co. Florida, ...We had finished digging for the weekend, I came back on Wednesday to check for damage from locals (folks were constantly destroying the grid , throwing dirt and filling the squares) and met a boy, about 15 years old, said he found some pottery, so I went to look, well, here was this pile of sherds in a little red pull wagon, he tried to glue some together but they kept falling apart and was disappointed, said he was looking for arrowheads....A gift horse moment !.... Rule no.1 jump on it...I said don’t go anywhere,I’d be right back...One hour and six arrowheads later I was the caretaker of a whole pile of sherds.....Now what that pile contained was, two of the same size vessels made by the same potter, i glued them both and gave one to my diving buddy ( I regret not having pics of it, ) the top third was incised with zoomorphic designs ... Now for pics, and this is gonna take more than 8, hope I don’t send em into outer space...Pic. 1-2-3 shows the true reddish golden earth tones and are self explanatory, it should be noted that while toting the sherds from the site the boy lost some of the sherds, I looked and sifted for days, no luck...I backed those areas with paper rather than fill them in....Pic.4 are the designs, actual height is 9”....Pic.5 is an inverted bird head, and because of the sharp pointed beak I’m gonna guess a woodpecker..... Pic.6 is a design with an unknown meaning , however, the dominant depiction in the overall design of the vessel is of a rattle snake , so I’m gonna say the punctuated curled line’s represent the horned serpent.... pic.6 represents the rattles of a rattlesnake, they are not upside down hearts, like I thought for years, lol......Pic 7 shows that, of the three depicted, this one is different at the bottom, I have no clue as to why, but I believe it was a personal thing....Pic.8 shows representations of the serpent motif from the Spiro mound, note the rattles in the upper left....I would like to comment on the methods of applying the design but this post is already too long,, one other note....This is the first time anyone will be seeing this vessel since 1972, outside of the original Peninsular Archeological Society members and family...I’m happy to share this with you folks, cuzz I got to know some of you and you’ll probably never get to see closeups of a vessel like this anywhere...Thanks for lookin. P.S.Pics. 9-10, Added below.
-
Floridaboy. -
Hal that is awesome ( I don't think I have to tell you that). I think this is the best one you've shown. I see why you saved it for last.🐜 🎤 SW Georgia -
Pic9 is the third design , it’s a classic and incorporated into many of the W.I. designs, don’t know what it means...Pic10-11-12 shows two of the same, the third is very different...
Floridaboy.Comment
-
Between the car and the apartments is where all the pottery came from and where the car is was where the boy found the two vessels, almost in the road, we were walking all over it every day,lol..Sometimes you can’t hardly beat beginners luck...
Floridaboy.Comment
-
The total vessel of story Hal ! TY for showing Sir !Lubbock County TxComment
-
Wow a labor of love there Hal that is a beautiful artifact.TN formerly CT Visit our store http://stores.arrowheads.com/store.p...m-Trading-PostComment
-
Love it....man that's spectacular Hal.. that punctuated pottery is sweet....great story.....and you are very talented the way you restored that!!.....SW ConnecticutComment
Comment