Several Sikyatki pottery designs showing the sky-band with the bird
figure hanging vertically from it are shown in the accompanying
illustrations. In order that the modifications in form may be readily
followed, those parts of the bird figures regarded as homologous are
indicated by the same letters.
The design in figure 63 represents one of the simplest forms of bird
symbols. A hornlike appendage is attached to the sky-band, on each side
of an elongate vertical body from which depends a number of parallel
lines representing tail feathers. The identification of this design
as that of a bird is based on comparative studies of designs less
conventional in character, to which attention has been and will later be
called.
[Illustration: FIG. 63.—Conventionalized bird form hanging from sky-band;
top view.]
[Illustration: FIG. 64.—Conventionalized bird form hanging from sky-band;
top view.]
[Illustration: FIG. 65.—Conventionalized bird form hanging from sky-band;
top view.]
[Illustration: FIG. 66.—Conventionalized bird form hanging from sky-band;
top view.]
A modification of the pendent body on the sky-band[25] appears to have
introduced the new element shown in figure 64 in which the body is drawn.
Although considerable variation exists in the form of the other parts,
a morphological identity exists in all these figures. In figure 65, in
which the feathers differ somewhat from those of the last design, the
parallel lines representing the bird’s tail are really seen. The design
shown in figure 66 is still more elaborate than the last, especially in
the anterior semicircle,[26] opposite that in which the tail feathers are
depicted.
[Illustration: FIG. 67.—Conventionalized bird form hanging from sky-band;
top view.]
[Illustration: FIG. 68.—Conventionalized bird form hanging from sky-band;
top view.]
The portion of the design situated in the anterior semicircle of figure
67 has no resemblance to a bird’s head, being destitute of eyes or beak.
The backward extending appendages on each side of the tail and the tail
itself has a projection on each side.
In figure 68 the whole anterior part of the design above the sky-band
is colored, the head appearing as a still darker semicircle. The tail
feathers are here reduced to simple parallel lines. The general form of
figure 69 is birdlike, but its affinity to the bird figures, pendent
from a sky-band, is closer than to any others. The homologous parts—tail
feathers, lateral body extensions, sky-band, and head—may be readily
recognized; the last mentioned is an ornamented rectangle. The whole
anterior hemisphere of this design is occupied by representations
of feathers arranged in two clusters, while in the surrounding area
their triple lines are crossed similarly to that occurring in other
hanging bird figures. It is but a step from this figure to the group of
unattached bird designs already considered.
[Illustration: FIG. 69.—Conventionalized bird form hanging from sky-band;
top view.]
[Illustration: FIG. 70.—Conventionalized bird form hanging from sky-band;
top view.]
The wings of figure 70 are outspread and the head consists of two
terraced bodies conventionally placed. The body and the tail of this
figure are not exceptional, but dragon flies are also represented.
Figure 71 presents a conventionalized bird seen in profile, and a broad
sky-band to which are attached representations of feathers and other
organs suggesting a bird.
An animal depicted in figure 72 is one of three similar figures from the
neck of the same vase, which are connected by a line or band. The design
shown in figure 73 represents a highly conventionalized bird hanging from
the sky-band with head and wings on one side and tail feathers below.