472 REPORT OF NATIONAL MITSEUM, 1902. 



The pot })askot of the Punumints is in coiled work uiul Ims the shape 

 of a rather deep bowl with curved sides and a deep bottom, and has a 

 capacity of about 3 })ints. The squaw uses it as a general measure, 

 as a bowl for dry food and for soup, and often, when in the sunshine, 

 as a hat. ]\lost of their starchy food is roasted dry l)y mixing- seeds, 

 before they are ground, with liot coals and Stirling them in the ])as- 

 ket. This process is still largely used. 



Tlie water basket has a capacity of '2 or 8 gallons. Its outline is 

 that of an urn with a narrow neck and a rounded, conical bottom. 

 The entire inner surface, and frequently the outside, is coated with 

 pitch. Woven into the shoulder of the basket on one side are two 

 loops of horsehair, or other strong material, to which is attached a 

 thong. In carrying, this thong is passed around the forehead, while 

 the basket is rested on the back between the shoulders. 



All the Shoshonean types of weaving, all their forms of baskets, and 

 most of the patterns on them are ancient. The can\'on walls of the 

 upper tril)utaries of the Colorado are honej^combed with clitf and cave 

 dw^ellings. From them came inexhaustible treasures of l)asket work." 



In the collection of Dr. C. Hart Merriam in Washington City there 

 ai'e most excellent examples of the Panamint (Shoshonean) Indian 

 basket work in which the ornamentation has been a matter of especial 

 stud}". Plate 183 illustrates live examples from Dr. Merriam's collec- 

 tion, which I am allow^ed here to reproduce. Before speaking of them 

 it will be at once noticed that these Indians, whose origin, or at least 

 most numerous kindred, are in the Interior Basin, have been in con- 

 tact with well-known California tribes and have been subjected to their 

 influence. (See also Plate 185.) 



Fig. 1 will be recognized at once in its relationship with the Tulare 

 tribes. The ornamentation consists of four cycloidal radii made up of 

 rectangles in black, arranged in stepped pattern. Each one of these 

 rectangles is ornamented with two double chevron patterns called hour- 

 glass designs bj^ Dr. Dixon. In some examples the color is mixed red 

 and black. Collections of short and parallel lines on the ])order ter- 

 minate the patterns. 



Fig. 2, another Panamint bowl, has the center ornamented with 

 groups of small rectangles in threes. The tirst ])and near the bottom 

 has for decoration a design which resembles a barbed harpoon head 

 with unilateral prongs. The principal band on the body is decorated 

 with a series of rhombs in black, containing white and black designs 

 within. In some of the Californian eastern tribes this design repre- 

 sents the eye, but until the symbol is surely known, denotive names 

 are better. The border is decorated with grou])s of short marks in 

 threes. 



«See F. Y. Coville's account of the Panamint Indians of Death Valley, California, 

 American Anthropologist, V, 1892, pp. 351-361. 



