598 FEWKES: UNIQUE PREHISTORIC POTTERY 



attention should be given to the reactions of the soils into which 

 it is proposed to transplant wild flowers in general, their culti- 

 vation would be attended with a greater degree of success. 



ETHNOLOGY — A unique form of prehistoric pottery.^ J. Wal- 

 ter Fewkes, Bureau of American Ethnology. 



The specimen of pottery here described was found by a farmer 

 in cultivating his field near Dolores, in the southwestern corner 

 of Colorado. The antiquities of this region show that it was 

 inhabited in prehistoric times by a people who had made great 

 advancement in architecture, on which account some of the 

 best known examples of their buildings have been set aside by 

 the Government for the permanent preservation of these remains. 

 Some of the best known of these buildings are the cliff dwellings 

 of the Mesa Verde National Park, but there are many others in 

 form of castles and towers equally instructive situated in can- 

 yons and valleys west of this plateau as far as Utah. These 

 skillful builders have left evidence of their superior craft far into 

 New Mexico, at Aztec, and the large buildings along the Chaco 

 Canyon. They characterize what is called the San Juan culture 

 area, the horizon of which has not yet been determined. 



This so-called San Juan culture area can be distinguished by 

 ceramic as well as architectural features. Similar varieties of 

 pottery are found over this whole area. In other words pottery 

 and its decoration support architectural evidences of the extent 

 of this culture area. We find the same technique, color, and 

 design throughout. Foremost among the distinctive forms of 

 pottery found in this area are the corrugated and black and 

 white ware, types no longer manufactured and most abundant 

 in early prehistoric times. We rarely find in this area imitations 

 of human and animal figures in relief, a style of ceramic art 

 quite common in northern Mexico and southern Arizona. 



Several effigy vases have been collected from this area in the 

 last few years, and it is probable that their numbers will increase 

 year by year. The specimen here considered cannot be called 



1 Published by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 



