[Illustration: FIG. 351--Bifurcated rectangular design]
[Illustration: FIG. 352--Lines of life and triangles]
[Illustration: FIG. 353--Infolded triangles]
The material at hand adds nothing new to the theory of the evolution
of the terraced ornament from basketry or textile productions, so ably
discussed by Holmes, Nordenskiöld, and others. When the Sikyatki
potters decorated their ware the ornamentation of pottery had reached
a high development, and figures both simple and complicated were used
contemporaneously. While, therefore, we can so arrange them as to make
a series, tracing modifications from simple to complex designs, thus
forming a supposed line of evolution, it is evident that there is no
proof that the simplest figures are the oldest. The great number of
terraced figures and their use in the representation of animals seem
to me to indicate that they antedate all others, and I see no reason
why they should not have been derived from basketry patterns. We must,
however, look to pottery with decorations less highly developed for
evidence bearing on this point. The Sikyatki artists had advanced
beyond simple geometric figures, and had so highly modified these that
it is impossible to determine the primitive form.
As I have shown elsewhere, the human hand is used as a decorative
element in the ornamentation of the interior of several food bowls. It
is likewise in one instance chosen to adorn the exterior. It is the
only part of the human limbs thus used. Figure 354 shows the hand with
marks on the palm probably intended to represent the lines which are
used in the measurement of the length of pahos or prayer-sticks. From
between the index and the middle finger rises a line which recalls
that spoken of in the account of the hand on the interior of the food
bowl shown in plate CXXXVII.
[Illustration: FIG. 354--Human hand]
The limb of an animal with a paw, or possibly a human arm and hand,
appears as a decoration on the outside of another food bowl, where it
is combined with the ever-constant stepped figure, as shown in figure
355.
[Illustration: FIG. 355--Animal paw, limb, and triangle]