The rudest type of pottery from Sikyatki has been classed as coiled
and indented ware. It is coarse in texture, not polished, and usually
not decorated. Although the outer surface of the pottery of this class
is rough, the general form of the ware is not less symmetrical than
that of the finer vessels. The objects belonging to this group are
mostly jars and moccasin-shape vessels, there being no bowls of this
type. As a rule, the vessels are blackened with soot, although some of
the specimens are light-brown in color. The former variety were
undoubtedly once used in cooking; the latter apparently for containing
water or food. In the accompanying illustration (plate CXIX, _a_) is
shown one of the best specimens of indented ware, the pits forming an
equatorial zone about the vessel. All traces of the coil of clay with
which the jar was built up have been obliterated save on the bottom.
The vessel is symmetrical and the indentations regular, as if made
with a pointed stone, bone, or stick.
In another form of coarse pottery (plate CXIX, _b_) the rim merges
into two ears or rudimentary handles on opposite sides. Traces of the
original coiling are readily observable on the sides of this vessel.
Another illustration (plate CXIX, _c_) shows an amphora or jar with
diametrically opposite handles extending from the rim to the side of
the bowl. The surface of this rude jar is rough and without
decoration, but the form is regular and symmetrical. In another
amphora (plate CXIX, _d_) the opposite handles appear below the neck
of the vessel; they are broader and apparently more serviceable.
The jar shown in plate CXIX, _e_, has two ear-like extensions or
projections from the neck of the jar, which are perforated for
suspension. This vessel is decorated with an incised zigzag line,
which surrounds it just above its equator. This is a fair example of
ornamented rough ware.
Several of the vessels made of coarse clay mixed with sand, the grains
of which make the surface very rough, are of slipper or moccasin
shape. These are covered with soot or blackened by fire, indicating
their former use as cooking pots. By adopting this form the ancients
were practically enabled to use the principle of the dutch-oven, the
coals being piled about the vessels containing the food to be cooked
much more advantageously than in the vase-like forms.
The variations in slipper-shape cooking pots are few and simple. The
blind end is sometimes of globular form, as in the example illustrated
in plate CXX, _a_, and sometimes pointed as in figures _b_ and _c_ of
the same plate. One of the specimens of this type has a handle on the
rim and another has a flaring lip. Slipper-form vessels are always of
coarse ware for the obvious reason that, being somewhat more porous,
they are more readily heated than polished utensils. They are not
decorated for equally obvious reasons.