locality, in which a coiled exterior is combined with a polished and
painted interior. This is an unusual combination, the exterior commonly
being plain. The following examples are grouped, as far as possible,
according to their painted designs. A usual and very widely distributed
decoration consists of a belt of figures encircling the inner margin. In
its simplest condition it is only a single broad line, but more
frequently it is elaborated into a tasteful border so wide as to leave
only a small circle of the plain surface in the bottom of the vessel.
The figures present much variety of effect, but combine only a few
elements or ideas, as the following figures will amply show. All are
rectilinear, or as nearly so as the conformation of the vessels will
permit. No example of exterior decoration occurs. As my illustrations
are necessarily limited to a few pieces, those having the simpler
combinations of lines are omitted, and such only are given as exhibit
the decorations of this district to the best advantage.
The bowl shown in Fig. 258 may be regarded as a typical example.
[Illustration: FIG. 258.--Bowl: Tumulus at Saint George.--1/3.]
It is a plain hemisphere of gray clay, with roughly finished exterior
and whitened and polished interior surface. It is eight inches in
diameter and nearly four inches deep. The painted design occupies a band
about two inches wide, and consists of two broad bordering lines
inclosing meandered lines. The triangular interspaces are occupied by
serrate figures, giving to the whole ornament an appearance
characteristic of textile borders.
Two small bowls have borders in which the meandered lines are in the
natural color of the ground, the triangular spaces being filled in with
black. In one case the effect of the guilloche is given in the same
manner.
Few vessels exhibit a more characteristic example of the ornamentation
of this ware than that given in Fig. 259. It is identical in surface
finish with the last, excepting that the exterior has been painted red.
An exceptional feature may be noticed in the shaping of the rim, which
has been brought to a sharp edge.
[Illustration: FIG. 259.--Bowl: Tumulus at Saint George.--1/3.]
The design occupies the usual space, and consists of a very elaborately
meandered or fretted line, which is so involved that the eye follows it
with difficulty. Four units of the combination complete the circuit of
the vessel. In another specimen, which also has the design divided into
four parts, the lower line of each part is made straight, by which means
the space left in the bottom of the vessel is square instead of round,
as in the other cases.
[Illustration: FIG. 260.--Bowl: Tumulus at Saint George.--1/2.]
Another variety of decoration, quite characteristic of this region,
consists of a band of fret-work dashed boldly across the inner surface
of the bowl, giving a most striking result. These figures appear to be
fragments of continuous borders, taken from their proper connections and
made to do duty on a surface that had ordinarily been left without
decoration. This observation has led to the proper interpretation of
many enigmatic combinations at first thought to have especial
application and significance.
[Illustration: FIG. 261.--Painted device.]
The handsome shallow bowl presented in Fig. 260 has been badly broken
and carefully mended while still in the hands of its aboriginal owners.
It is ten and one-half inches in diameter, and only three and
three-fourths inches in depth. The surface finish is identical with that
of the preceding example. The design, which consists of a single segment
of a chain of fret-work, is drawn in broad, steady lines. Fig. 261.
Not unlike the last in its leading features is the vessel illustrated in
Fig. 262. The label indicates that it was collected at Kanab, Utah, a
Mormon village ninety miles east of Saint George. The design is carried
over the whole inner surface, and is somewhat difficult to analyze.
There is little doubt, however, that it consists of portions of fretted
or meandered patterns arbitrarily selected from basketry or other
geometrically embellished articles, and applied to this use. The
complete device is shown in Fig. 263.
[Illustration: FIG. 262.--Bowl from Kanab.--1/4.]
The following examples are unique in their styles of decoration. The
first, Fig. 264, resembles the preceding save in its painted device.
Like a few others, it has been badly fractured and carefully mended by
its Indian owners. It was obtained also at Kanab, and is nine inches in
diameter by four and one-half in height. The design is cruciform in
arrangement, the four parts being joined in pairs by connecting lines.
It exhibits some very unusual features (Fig. 265), and we are led to
suspect that it may in some way have been significant, or at least that
it is a copy of some emblematic device.
[Illustration: FIG. 263.--Painted device.]
The almost total absence of life forms in the art of the primitive
Pueblos has often been remarked. One example only has been discovered in
this region. This occurs in a subject painted on the inner surface of a
rather rude, oblong, bowl, from the Saint George tumulus, Fig. 266. A
checkered belt in black extends longitudinally across the bowl. At the
sides of this, near the middle, are two human figures, executed in the
most primitive style, as shown in Fig. 267. Their angular forms are
indicative of textile influence. The middle part of the bowl is broken
out, so that the feet of one figure and the head of the other are lost.
[Illustration: FIG. 264.--Bowl from Kanab.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 265.--Painted device.]
These figures resemble those painted upon and picked in the rocks of the
pueblo region, and the triangular head is sometimes seen in the ceramic
decoration of modern tribes. A bowl with similar figures was brought
from Tusayan by Mr. Mindeleff. It is illustrated in Fig. 268.
[Illustration: FIG. 266.--Bowl with human figures: Tumulus at Saint
George.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 267.--Painted design.]
[Illustration: FIG. 268.--Bowl with human figures: Province of
Tusayan.--1/3.]
Among the many fine things from the mound at Saint George are a few red
bowls. They were made of a slightly reddish clay, or the paste has
reddened uniformly in burning, and a slip or wash of bright red color
has been applied to the surface. The designs are painted in black, but
differ in style from any of the preceding. This work corresponds very
closely indeed with the decorations of similar vessels from the Little
Colorado. The marked peculiarities of the ornamentation and color of
these bowls give rise to the idea that they may have been intended for
some especial service of a ceremonial character. It is not impossible,
however, that these vessels reached very distant localities by means of
trade. A representative example is shown in Fig. 269. The broad interior
band of ornament is divided into four compartments by vertical panels of
reticulated lines. The compartments are occupied by groups of
disconnected rectangular fret-links on a ground of oblique stripes.
[Illustration: FIG. 269.--Red bowl: Tumulus at Saint George.--1/3.]
The heart-shaped bowls previously mentioned include medium sized and
small vases, with slightly conical bases, distended shoulders, and much
constricted, often depressed, apertures. They are of very general
distribution, but like the hemispherical red bowls are rarely found in
numbers. It is probable that they were devoted to ceremonial rather than
to domestic uses. The shapes are generally pleasing to the eye; the
finish is exceptionally fine, and the designs, though simple, are
applied with more than usual care.
A very good specimen from the tumulus at Saint George is illustrated in
Fig. 270.
[Illustration: FIG. 270.--Heart-shaped bowl of red ware: Tumulus at
Saint George.--1/3.]
The bottom in this case is slightly flattened, and the incurved lip but
slightly sunken. The paste is a light red and the surface has received
a coat of bright red color. The design is in black, is extremely simple,
and rather carelessly drawn. The principal figure seems to be a very
simple form of the favorite device--the meander.
A large fine bowl much like the preceding, and obtained from the same
locality, is owned by the Salt Lake City Museum. The design is of the
same class, but very much more elaborate. Another example from Saint
George is smaller and yellowish-gray in color, with figures in red and
black. At Kanab I picked up fragments of a small vessel, highly polished
and of a rich, brownish-purple color, the designs being in black.
Another fragment showed designs in bright red and black upon a yellowish
ground.
OLLAS.--I have already called attention to the fact, that the Saint
George tumulus furnished no example of ollas or large-necked vases of
the painted variety, vessels of this class being plain or of the coiled
ware. In the vicinity, however, I collected fragments of the white
painted pottery derived from large vessels of this class, very much like
the large, handsome vessels of ancient Tusayan. A number of such
fragments come from the vicinity of Kanab. Plain vessels of this shape
were obtained from the tumulus at Saint George. They are identical in
every other respect, save the presence of designs, with the painted
pottery. Some have received a wash of red, while it is not improbable
that others have lost their color or decorative figures by wear or
weather.
[Illustration: FIG. 271.--Red pitcher: Tumulus at Saint George.--1/3.]
HANDLED VESSELS.--From the tumulus at Saint George we have a very
excellent example of pitcher, which is shown in Fig. 271. The shape is
not quite satisfactory, the neck being clumsy, but the workmanship is
exceptionally good. The surface is even and well polished and the color
is a strong red. The painted design in black, upon the red ground,
consists of a number of meandered lines, to which are added at intervals
small dentate figures, as seen in the cut.
DISTRICT OF THE RIO SAN JUAN.
In a number of ways the valley of the Rio San Juan possesses unusual
interest to the antiquarian. Until within the latter half of the
nineteenth century, it remained wholly unknown. The early Spanish
expeditions are not known to have penetrated its secluded precincts, and
its cliff-houses, its ruined pueblos and curious towers have been so
long deserted that it is doubtful whether even a tradition of their
occupation has been preserved, either by the nomadic tribes of the
district or by the modern pueblos of the south. Certain it is that no
foreign hand has influenced the art of this district, and no Spanish
adventurer has left traces of his presence.
The ceramic remains are more uniform in character and apparently more
archaic in decoration than those of any other district. They belong
almost exclusively to two varieties, the coiled ware and the white ware
with black figures. The former has already been described, the latter
must now pass under review.
It is unfortunate that so few entire vessels of the painted pottery have
been found in this region. The fragments, however, are very plentiful,
and by proper study of these a great deal can be done to restore the
various forms of vessels. In my paper upon this region, in the Annual
Report of the Survey of the Territories for 1876, I gave a pretty
careful review of the material then in hand. Finding that in very few
cases were there whole vessels representing the achievements of the
ancient potter and decorator, I presented a number of restorations from
the better class of fragments. This was done in a way that could lead to
no serious misapprehension, as the fragments used were always clearly
indicated. The expert need never go astray in his estimate of the
character of the vessel to which given pieces belonged, and his
restoration from them gives a completeness of conception to the reader
or student at a distance that could never be acquired by the most
careful study of illustrations of the fragments. The fragments are
exceedingly plentiful about camp sites and ruins, and fairly whiten the
debris slopes beneath the houses in the cliffs. I found my mind so
diverted by these fascinating relics that it was often difficult to keep
the geologic problems of the district properly in view.
No tumuli or burial places were observed, but I suspect that careful
search will bring them to light, and that they will yield much richer
results than the scattered fragments of the surface. The district now
under consideration comprises the entire drainage of the Rio San Juan.
It includes the well-known valleys of the Animas, the La Plata, the
Mancos, the McElmel, and the Montezuma on the north, and the Chaco and
the de Chelly on the south. On the north I include also a portion of the
valley of the Rio Dolores. The center of the district will not be very
far distant from the corner stone of the four political divisions of
Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.
The collections from the valley of the Rio de Chelly, one of the richest
sections of this district, are very badly scattered, and the vessels
cannot be identified. Many fine things have been carried away to the
south and are now in the collections from Cibola and Tusayan; while
others have been brought east by the various expeditions without a
proper record of the locality. This is to be regretted, as it makes it
impossible to study the shades of distinction between the wares of
neighboring localities.
Bowls were very numerous and greatly varied in size, finish, and
ornamentation. Many have received painted designs both inside and out.
This occurs with those having nearly upright rims. Handled-cups of
hemispherical shape are also common, but the heart-shaped bowls are of
rare occurrence. Bottle-shaped vessels and ollas have not, as in the
south, formed a prominent feature. For some of the latter very neat lids
have been made, the rims being shaped for their reception. Upright
vessels with handles are common. Eccentric or animal forms have not been
found.
BOWLS.--The arrangement of the designs upon the bowls is far from
uniform. In a great majority of cases, however, they occupy belts
encircling the inner and outer margin. The fragmentary condition of the
remains makes it impossible to restore designs that covered the entire
surface of the vessels. The decorations comprise nearly all the usual
elements and motives. In Fig. 272 we have a small bowl from Montezuma
Cañon, Utah. In form it is a deep hemisphere. The design is upon the
interior surface, and consists of a broad band bordered by heavy lines
and filled in with vertical lines. The rim is ornamented with seven
pairs of dots. Fig. 273 is restored from a fragment obtained in
southwest Colorado. It shows an interior ornament consisting of a
well-drawn chain of volutes.
[Illustration: FIG. 272.--Bowl: Montezuma Cañon.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 273.--Bowl: Rio San Juan--1/3.]
Many of the bowls were large and handsomely finished, both surfaces
being whitened and polished. A superior example is given in Fig. 274.
Neat borders have been applied to both interior and exterior surfaces.
They are suggestive of patterns produced through the technique of
textile products, and consist of interrupted forms of the meander. I
have restored from small fragments in this and other cases, for the
reason that no large fragments of the finer vessels are preserved.
[Illustration: FIG. 274.--Bowl: Rio San Juan.]
[Illustration: FIG. 275.--Bowl: Rio San Juan.]
Fig. 275 illustrates a very pleasing vessel. It is hemispherical, and
about eleven inches in diameter. A narrow zone of ornament based upon
the meander encircles the exterior margin of the rim, and a broad,
carefully drawn design, consisting of two parallel meanders, Fig. 276,
occupies the interior. It will be seen that the meandered fillets are in
white, and the bordering stripes and the upper and lower rows of
triangular interspaces are in solid black, while the median band and its
connecting triangles are obliquely striped. It should be noticed that
the oblique portions of the meanders are indented or stepped. This is a
very usual occurrence in these decorations, and may be taken as a pretty
decided indication that they were copied, more or less directly, from
textile ornamentation in which all oblique lines are necessarily
stepped.
[Illustration: FIG. 276.--Painted design.]
[Illustration: FIGS. 277 and 278.--Handled cups: Montezuma Cañon.--1/3.]
HANDLED CUPS.--Small cups were generally furnished with handles and
probably served as ladles and spoons. An entire specimen is rarely
found. Two are illustrated in Figs. 277 and 278. They were obtained by
W. H. Jackson from the ruins of Montezuma Cañon. The handles of these
vessels vary a great deal; some are flat, while others are round,
consisting either of a single or a looped roll of clay; some are hollow,
resembling the handles of gourds, and a few are made of twisted fillets.
This latter form belongs generally to upright cups.
[Illustration: FIG. 279.--Vase: Rio San Juan.]
OLLAS.--It is quite impossible to make satisfactory restorations of the
vases or ollas from the small fragments recovered. The evidence is
sufficient, however, to show that vessels of this class were numerous,
and often large. I have made two restorations of small examples
belonging to this class, of which there are fragments showing the neck
and upper part of the bodies. The bottoms are so universally rounded
that I have drawn full globular shapes; Figs. 279 and 280. The most
striking character of Fig. 279 is the shape of the rim, which is
fashioned for the reception of a lid. The same feature is noticed in a
small vessel obtained at Zuñi.
[Illustration: FIG. 280.--Vase: Rio San Juan.]
Examples of lids from the San Juan Valley are shown in Figs. 281 and
282. They were evidently designed for vessels of the class just
described. The specimen given in Fig. 281 is neatly finished and
embellished, and the quality of the ware is very superior.
[Illustration: FIG. 281.--Vase lid: Rio San Juan.]
[Illustration: FIG. 282.--Vase lid: Rio San Juan.]
HANDLED VASES.--Many small vessels were furnished with handles, some
horizontal and others vertical. Of the first variety is the example
shown in Fig. 283. The fragment was obtained from the great ruin at
"Aztec Springs," Colorado. It shows a small, symmetrical vessel, with
black lines and devices. The handle, which probably had a companion on
the opposite side, is strong and neatly made.
Figure 284 represents a very pretty little vessel, brought by Mr. W. H.
Jackson from the Cañon de Chelly. It is of the usual gray polished ware,
the base being somewhat roughened by use. The design consists of
encircling lines combined with a belt of disconnected triangular hooks
or fret-links.
[Illustration: FIG. 283.--Handled bottle: Rio San Juan.]
Handled mugs with round bodies and wide high necks were in great favor
with the San Juan potter. There are but two entire specimens in the
collection. These were obtained by Capt. Moss, of Parrott, who stated
that they, with other relics, had been exhumed from a grave in the San
Juan Valley. Both are comparatively rude in construction, and seem to be
considerably weathered. The one shown in Fig. 285 is decorated with a
classic meander which encircles the body of the vessel. The other,
illustrated in Fig. 286, has the upper part covered with simple figures
resembling bird tracks.
Among the most novel works of the ancient potter are the flat-bottomed
mugs with upright sides, and with vertical handles which extend the
whole length of the vessel, giving very much the appearance of a German
beer mug. For a long time it was thought improbable that a vessel of
this character should be the _bona fide_ work of the cliff-dweller, for
his status of culture seemed to call for globular bodies and rounded
bases. But so many examples have been found that there is no longer room
for doubt.
[Illustration: FIG. 284.--Small bottle: Rio San Juan.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 285.--Handled mug: Rio San Juan.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 286.--Handled mug: Rio San Juan.--1/3.]
[Illustration: FIG. 287.--Handled mug: Rio San Juan.--1/2.]
[Illustration: FIG. 288.--Handled mug: Southern Utah.--1/2.]
Fig. 287 is restored from a large fragment brought from the San Juan
Valley. Its walls widen a little below, and the very pretty ornament is
somewhat unevenly applied. The handle is made of a double rope of clay,
and extends from the lip to the base. The example shown in Fig. 288 was
obtained in the vicinity of Provo, Utah, by Capt. G. M. Wheeler's
expedition. It is so like those from the San Juan that I place it here
for comparison. It is a little wider toward the base, and is nearly
symmetrical. It is four inches in height and the same in diameter. A
very similar vessel, probably from the Province of Tusayan, is found in
the Keam collection.
DISTRICT OF THE COLORADO CHIQUITO.
The collection from this district, which includes the ancient provinces
of Cibola and Tusayan, is already very large, and much more material
will yet accrue, for pottery fanciers have taken up the search, and both
whites and Indians are on the _qui vive_ for additional examples of the
artistic and showy specimens.
The National Museum has procured many fine pieces through the agents of
the Bureau of Ethnology, and the collection of Mr. Keam is especially
rich in the pottery of Tusayan. Some of the finer examples of the latter
collection are selected for illustration.
It seems unaccountable that such a large number of the ancient vessels
should be preserved, and that too in a country where vessels are
constantly in demand. Many have been picked up by the Pueblo tribes and
laid away for especial uses or possibly as heirlooms; but many of those
secured by recent collectors were obtained from the sites of ancient
settlements, from burial places, and from caves, and brought directly to
the market so recently made for them.
There can be no doubt that many of the specimens accredited to this
district have come from neighboring or distant provinces; yet within the
valley of the Little Colorado there are such wide variations from
predominant types that foreign pieces cannot be readily detected. Many
of the finer pieces of the white ware are rather new looking and show
very superior taste and skill. The indications are that the manufacture
of this white ware was kept up in portions of this district down to a
comparatively recent date, possibly until the coming of the Europeans.
It will probably be impossible to determine just why and how the archaic
types gave way to the transitional and modern. It may be found, however,
that the influence of the Spaniard was a factor in the change.
Beside the archaic white ware and its closely associated red ware the
province of Tusayan furnishes two or three distinct varieties, all of
which, unlike that ware, are apparently confined to very limited
districts. These have been briefly described on a preceding page.
Many pieces of the white ware are of large size and of elegant shape and
finish. Some of the ollas and bottles are masterpieces of the art. The
texture of the paste is fine and the color is often quite white. The
designs are uniformly in black and are superior in execution and
conception to those of the north.
BOWLS.--The bowls are very generally hemispherical. The finish, like
that of the pottery of the San Juan and the Rio Virgen, is rather rough
on the exterior, and whitened and polished on the inner surface. The
painted figures are confined to the interior, and are highly elaborated
combinations of the usual geometric motives. They are generally made up
of four sections of double-zoned borders such as occur on the exterior
of vases, cut out, as it were, and fitted into the bowl in a cruciform
arrangement, a plain square remaining in the bottom of the vessel. See
Fig. 291. There are, however, many examples which consist of two
encircling zones of ornament identical in style and arrangement with
examples from the Rio Virgen, Figs. 230 and 231, and from the Rio San
Juan, Figs. 248, 259, and 274.