No single area on the continent existed in a vacuum, isolated from the influences of their neighbours. In the Canadian Prairies, influences from the Mississippian Culture of the Mississippi Valley were felt and are clearly attested by pots such as this specimen found near Heward, Saskatchewan.

One feature which is best appreciated by looking down upon the pot from above are four groups of three deep, inward-sloping notches made on the inside of the vessel lip. These groups of notches neatly quarter the pot opening. Although the exact symbolic meaning of the notches may be lost in time, it is tempting to see here parallels with the four cardinal directions so important in the world views of many peoples.

Further Reading

Syms, Leigh
1979  The Devils Lake--Sourisford Burial Complex On the Northern Plains. Plains Anthropologist 24(86):283-308.

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