The pottery exhumed from the burial places of Sikyatki falls in the
divisions known as--
I--Coiled and indented ware.
II--Smooth undecorated ware.
III--Polished decorated ware.
_a_. Yellow.
_b_. Red.
_c_. Black-and-white.
By far the largest number of ancient pottery objects from this
locality belong to the yellow-ware group in the above classification.
This is the characteristic pottery of Tusayan, although coiled and
indented ware is well represented in the collection. The few pieces of
red ware are different from that found in the ruins of the Little
Colorado, while the black-and-white pottery closely resembles the
archaic ware of northern cliff houses. Although the Sikyatki pottery
bears resemblance to that of Awatobi, it can be distinguished from it
without difficulty. The paste of both is of the finest character and
was most carefully prepared. Some of the ancient specimens are much
superior to those at present made, and are acknowledged by the finest
potters of East Mesa to be beyond their power of ceramic production.
The coloration is generally in red, brown, yellow, and black.
Decorative treatment by spattering is common in the food basins, and
this was no doubt performed, Chinese fashion, by means of the mouth.
The same method is still employed by the Hopi priests in painting
their masks.
The Sikyatki collection of pottery shows little or no duplication in
decorative design, and every ornamented food basin bears practically
different symbols. The decoration of the food basins is mainly on the
interior, but there is almost invariably a geometrical design of some
kind on the outside, near the rim. The ladles, likewise, are
ornamented on their interior, and their handles also are generally
decorated. When the specimens were removed from the graves their
colors, as a rule, were apparently as well preserved as at the time of
their burial; nor, indeed, do they appear to have faded since their
deposit in the National Museum.
The best examples of ceramic art from the graves of Sikyatki, in
texture, finish, and decoration, are, in my judgment, superior to any
pottery made by ancient or modern Indians north of Mexico. Indeed, in
these respects the old Tusayan pottery will bear favorable comparison
even with Central American ware. It is far superior to the rude
pottery of the eastern pueblos, and is also considerably better than
that of the great villages of the Gila and Salado. Among the Hopi
themselves the ceramic art has degenerated, as the few remaining
potters confess. These objects can hardly be looked upon as products
of a savage people destitute of artistic feeling, but of a race which
has developed in this line of work, through the plane of savagery, to
a high stage of barbarism. While, as a whole, we can hardly regard the
modern Hopi as a degenerate people with a more cultured ancestry,
certainly the entire Pueblo culture in the Southwest, judged by the
character of their pottery manufacture, has greatly deteriorated since
the middle of the sixteenth century.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY