70 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



reveals the role of symbolism in primitive art with remarkable clearness; 

 it illustrates with satisfactory completeness the nature and structure of a 

 typical barbaric pantheon; and since the symbols and conventions (and, 

 indeed, the personages represented) are of great constancy in primitive 

 thought, it affords a series of types available for use in identification and 

 comparison of a wide range of symbolic representations among the Pueblo 

 and other tribes, not only in ceremonies and sacred paraphernalia, but in 

 the decoration of fictile ware, basketry, woven fabrics, etc. 



Later in the year Dr. Fewkes was occupied with a systematic study of 

 the collections made by him in Arizona and New Mexico during 1896 and 

 1897, the study being carried forward with special reference to the sym- 

 bolic decoration of the fictile ware. All systematic investigators of the 

 decorative devices used by primitive peoples have been impressed with 

 their constancy, i. e., with the exceeding slowness of modification. They 

 have also been impressed with the dependence of the modification on 

 external forces and conditions rather than on the spontaneous internal 

 factor so prominent in the art of advanced culture. Recognizing these 

 characteristics of primitive art, Dr. Fewkes undertook to define the sym- 

 bolic (or esthetic) types prevailing among the peoples of "VVal pi, much as 

 a naturalist might define types of animal and vegetal life for the establish- 

 ment of species, genera, and orders, and for tracing the lines of vital 

 development in a distinctive environment. His symbolic types were based 

 on specimens observed among the tribesmen or obtained from sites by 

 their ancestors during the historical period; and he soon found that the 

 types served to indicate what may be termed a "symbolic province," i. e., 

 a region throughout which the symbolic devices were similar, but in which 

 they differed essentially from those of other regions. In this way he 

 defined an ethnic district and established standards for the guidance of 

 future investigation and also for the localization of ill-labeled specimens 

 in museums; for many collectors have been content to label specimens of 

 symbolic pottery, etc., "Arizona," "Pueblo region," or by other large and 

 indefinite political or natural divisions, thereby confusing important sym- 

 bolic distinctions and ethnic districts. As his investigations of the symbolic 

 types progressed, Dr. Fewkes became more deeply impressed than any 

 predecessor with the persistence of motives and the regularity of their 

 evolutional lines; and he conceived, in a definite and constructive way, 

 the possibility of tracing prehistoric migrations by means of the decorative 

 symbols, i. e., of employing symbolic devices as prehistoric records, read- 

 ing from them the tale of tribal movements before the coming of Coronado. 

 He conceived the possibility of coordinating the archeologic record as 

 taughl by symbols with tribal traditions, and the double advantage of 

 mutual verification between tradition and symbolic record. Proceeding in 

 accordance with these ideas, he obtained from living llopi traditions of a 

 former residence of their ancestors at a locality which they called Homo- 

 lobi; and by excavations identified this site and verified the traditions, 

 extending his knowledge of the evolution of the symbolic types; for the 

 Homolobi collections (now in the National Museum) are not only abun- 

 dant in decorated ware, but notably rich in symbols susceptible of inter- 

 pretation. Subsequent exploration brought him to the site of a ruin on 



