AlSrCIENT PUEBLOS OF UPPER GILA REGION. 39 



caused to adhere by pressure. In the final process of smoothing the 

 vessel coiling is obliterated ; but in the stage of construction the exte- 

 rior of the vessel remains ridged, while the interior is smoothed, on 

 account of the squeezing together of the clay there to make the coils 

 adhere. It was customary to indent these ridges, producing in this 

 way a rough but pleasing surface. The indentation was always made 

 with the tip of the finger, and sometimes the asperities of the surface 

 were reduced slightly by rubbing with a polishing stone. Such ex- 

 amples are quite common in the region west of the upper Rio Grande 

 Valley, but are comparatively rare again in the Gila Valley and in 

 the lower Gila and Mexico scarcely occur at all. The variety of coil 

 which is typical of the Blue River region was formed by pressing 

 down the coil into a narrow ridge, producing in this way an imbri- 

 cated surface effect. The coil appears to have been formed with the 

 finger, although in some cases a knife-like tool was used. The rough 

 edges of these ridge coils were smoothed down. The result was a 

 series of ridges, giving the vessel the effect of a basket ; and by press- 

 ing these ridges at intervals with a tool patterns resembling those on 

 baskets were formed. (See pi. 5.) Quite frequentl}^ patterns were 

 made by drawing a blunt tool across the surface and supplementing 

 this with small depressions at regular intervals. (See pis. 5, 6.) 

 One excellent specimen of this type, a vase of large size decorated 

 with impressions in the coil, from Spur Ranch, is shown. (PL 7, 

 fig. 2.) The specimen was found sunken in the floor in the corner of 

 a room which had been used for ceremonies. The vessel was covered 

 with soot when found and had been put to domestic use before it was 

 buried in the room. A similar jar was found in the corner of a room 

 in a small cliff dwelling on the Rita Blanca above the Spur Ranch 

 house, and specimens have been discovered at other places. (Cat. 

 No. 231920, U.S.N.M.) This type is practically confined to the re- 

 gion described in this paper, but may, like the painted coil type, 

 overlap the margins of neighboring geographical areas to a slight 

 extent. In this region there are also found vessels whose surface is 

 covered with partial coiling, the remaining surface being polished, 

 this portion usually being the body of the vessel, while the coiling 

 extends over the neck and down on to the shoulder. Frequently small 

 bottle forms are decorated with fine coil patterns. The great variety 

 of coiling and the prevalence of the simple but effective means of 

 modifying it for decorative purposes render the pottery of this re- 

 gion extremely interesting, and since the ware is particularly subject 

 to breakage entire pieces are rare. The fragments may be utilized 

 to convey an idea of its value to the student of archaic designs. The 

 fragments on plates 5 and 6 are mostly from the necks of vessels 

 which carried the decoration, while the globular bod}' was plain. 



