NO. 7 SOUTHWESTERN BASKETRY W ELTFISH ^^ 



WEST OF CARLSBAD, N. MEX. 



From a cave 50 miles west of Carlsbad, I have seen a coiled frag- 

 ment which is in Basket Maker technique/ The texture is coarser 

 than the Sacramento specimen, running 4 coils, 8 stitches per inch. 

 The foundation was probably rod-surrounded-by-bundle-of-fiber. 

 The arrangement of splicings suggests that the surface may have 

 been originally in two colors, with a design in triangular elements. 



The indications are that the Lower Rio Grande region forms the 

 southeastern boundary of the Southwestern basketry area. Further 

 to the south a distinct type of coiled basketry is found. I have so far 

 seen material of this Texas type from Brewster County, Texas,' 

 from D. G. Knight cave (20 miles southwest of Valentine, Texas ),^ 

 and from the Guadalupe Mountains.' 



The Texas type of coiled basketry is made on a bundle-of-grass 

 foundation, with stitches split on the non-work surface, worked 

 toward the left (jf the worker, on the concave surface : yucca sewing 

 thread is used. 



ANCIENT PUEBLO 



Over a period of many years, basketry has been secured from a 

 number of the existing pueblos (as well as one ruin — Sikyatki ) 

 which have been classified as " ancient pueblo." There is no adequate 

 evidence as to who made these baskets, but there can be little doubt 

 that they are of considerable antiquity. 



Many of the baskets were collected long ago by Stevenson and 

 Powell and are illustrated by photographs in Mason.* There are 

 occasional specimens in other museums, some obtained quite recently, 

 and still others are today in the hands of traders in Santa Fe and 

 elsewhere. 



^ Found by E. B. Howard of the Universitj- Museum, Philadelphia. 



^ Found by M. R. Harrington of the Southwest Museum. Specimens now 

 in Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. 



' Found by F. M. Setzler of the U. S. National Museum. 



* I give below in reference to the specimens, Mason's plates and page ref- 

 erences ; there is some confusion in the Mason references ; where my museum 

 number references do not agree with his information, they should be taken 

 as a correction of Mason, as they have been obtained directly from the speci- 

 mens. This is also true of some of Mason's allocations to pueblos and collectors. 



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