pottery, rainbow?

[larson1951]

i find quite a few pieces with this design on the rim
i only save rim pcs as they are usually the only part of the piece that has any design
i have always thought that this design is supposed to honor or imitate the rainbow
i thank you in advance for any input regarding this

steve

 

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[flintdigger]

Thse are some interesting rim sherds.

 

[blindpig]

Hay there Larson !! ,
I think they could represent a rainbow . Now,...set aside all that we KNOW about rainbows . I must believe rainbows would have been seen as "good and powerful medicine" for all man , woman & child to see . Showing Herself after nursing the land . It would only be logical to believe that these peoples would honer her by placing her image on the very bowls they drink and take nourishment from .
Anyway ,... rainbows are but a wondrous sight,.. and perhaps more so ,.. if you didn't know that they were nothing more then light reflecting off H2O in the atmosphere......
Yeah ,.. kinda sucks ,... knowing too much ,........... Blindpig

 

[naturegirl]

Very interesting observation larson, and blindpig. and it's knowing too little that sucks

 

[flintdigger]

The designs are fantastic.

 

[Neogeo]

Could they be mounds or other sacred hills?

 

[larson1951]

hey thanks frank
that is another good idea
i never thought about a mound or midden
i guess prob not a midden since the middens around here were trash heaps but a mound is an excellent idea
steve

 

[NorCal Gal]

I found at least one link with some Indian symbology on it that you might want to take a look at (it shows something like your "rainbows"):

http://www.artmuseums.com/nov1.htm

(about 2/3 or 3/4 of the way down the page).

I didn't know what specific area you were in but, a search on Google (images) with "Native American symbols "West Virginia" (or where ever it is that you are)" would probably yield some better examples.

Keep on a-huntin'!

Hello from Northern CA from
NorCal Gal

 

[larson1951]

hey thanks norcalgal
i found the rainbow thingy
pretty cool
steve

 

[NorCal Gal]

Cool! Glad to be of help!

 

[centfladigger]

it was circles before the piece broke, it looks cord marked and not paddle stamped. THey had all kinds of awesome designs, I love the punctated and incised pottery.

 

[larson1951]

thanks much centfladigger
glad you like
i just posted a couple more
one has the punctate design i believe
the rainbow was a rainbow however and not a circle
i have looked at and found buckets and more buckets full of pottery in the last 25 yrs and have seen hundreds of rainbow designs, but not even one circle in this part of the country
steve

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Steve, I never noticed that until you pointed it out but a couple of the pieces you sent me have the Rainbow design on them. Very cool.

The piece in the bottom right corner in the first pic the bottom middle of the second pic.

Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[coteau]

I think they are rainbows and the nodes/bumps in the center of them are suns. Or maybe they are earthlodges?

The type of pottery is called Le Beau ware and was generally made from AD 1450-1650. There are some other older (AD 1200-1450) types of pottery (Fort Yates ware) that have a similar design, but they are V-shaped rather than rainbow shaped. So, the design might not represent rainbows at all....? Interesting stuff. A person could spend a lifetime studying pottery....

I dug up this old post (almost 2 years old - man time flies) that has a short explanation of Le Beau ware.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,265750.0.html

 

[larson1951]

hey thanks for that coteau
i forgot about that post
steve