The ancient Sikyatki people were accustomed to deposit in their
mortuary vessels fragments of minerals or ground oxides and
carbonates, of different colors, used as paints. It thus appears
evident that these substances were highly prized in ancient as in
modern times, and it may be mentioned that the present native priests
regard the pigments found in the graves as so particularly efficacious
in coloring their ceremonial paraphernalia that they begged me to give
them fragments for that purpose. The green color, which was the most
common, is an impure carbonate of copper, the same as that with which
pahos are painted for ceremonial use today. Several shallow,
saucer-like vessels contained yellow ocher, and others sesquioxide of
iron, which afforded both the ancients and the moderns the red pigment
called _cuta_, an especial favorite of the warrior societies. The
inner surface of some of the bowls is stained with the pigments which
they had formerly contained, and it was not uncommon to find several
small paint pots deposited in a single grave. The white used was an
impure kaolin, which was found both in masses and in powdered form,
and there were unearthed several disks of this material which had been
cut into definite shape as if for a special purpose.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY