Pecan Point short-necked bottle in Holmes’s account

Overview

Figure 407 in Holmes’s study represents a short-necked, wide-mouthed bottle from Pecan Point, Arkansas. He describes a symmetrical, carefully finished vessel with a narrow horizontal lip. The body expands abruptly below the upright neck to a squarish shoulder and then curves inward toward a hemispherical base. The complete engraving shows the plain surface and rounded lower body without added feet, handles or a tall pedestal. In describing the surrounding class, Holmes says most examples have dark grayish-brown, fire-mottled surfaces, while some are lighter or painted. That class-level observation is not an exact colour record for every vessel.

Holmes separates these wide-mouthed bottles or jars from pots and high-necked bottles chiefly for convenience of description. He suggests that the group was not used for ordinary cooking or serving, noting an absence of wear and fire marks, but does not establish the actual contents or function of this example. The account’s broader discussion also warns that regional ceramic similarities need not identify a single people. This profile therefore retains the named find locality and described form without assigning a modern nation, an individual maker or a specific ritual. Its evidence is the dated archaeological collection study and illustration, not a reconstruction of an observed household practice.

History & identity

William H. Holmes’s archaeological collection study in the Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.

Sources & representation

Complete introductory and general context, pot section and opening jar passage read; complete original linked figure inspected.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Ancient Pottery of the Mississippi Valley

   William H. Holmes · 1886

   Fourth Annual Report,1882–83, printed title Washington: Government Printing Office,1886; contribution pp.361–436.

Language & cultural connections

Source-supported language and cultural connections have not yet been compiled for this profile.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Historical archaeological collection accountSelected vessel and continuous contextual sectionsResearch access: 2026-10-18
2. Digitized original edition witnessOriginal bound report: title and contentsResearch access: 2026-10-18

Image credits

Generated material interpretation; not a photographed or authenticated archaeological specimen.