W. .1. nOFFMAN. ANTIyl'ITIKS OF NEW MEXICO AND ARIZONA. 1K> 



having to descend into a deep hole, and that it was necessary lo re- 

 main all nig'ht without water."* The narrator never made an expedi- 

 tion to the mines, the reported al)S(iiice of water prcjbably being the 

 cause of his avoiding the dangers attending such an undertaking. 



The ornamentation upon the pottery found about the ancient ruins, 

 differs in design from that produced to-day, or even that style em- 

 ployed before the introduction of European or American ware, which 

 suggested new forms anci which has, in several instances, materially 

 modified their primitive artistic taste. Upon the older vessels, 

 straight lines and triangles predominate atid form the base of nearly 

 all varieties of decoration, while upon the true modern pottery curved 

 lines are generally the most prominent. There are very decided dif- 

 ferences in the decoration of the respective pueblos, which, to one 

 thoroughly accjuainted with them, can nearly always be distinguished; 

 an attempt to exhibit this variation without the proper illustrations 

 would be a useless undertaking at this time. 



Pott(irv is manufactured at present by the inhabitants of all the 

 Pueblos but those of Taos and Picuri, exceptuig- in instances where a 

 woman of the manufactm-ing tribes marries a Taos or Picuri Indian. 

 The ordina;y decorated ware is made by numerous tribes, but for the 

 purpose of giving it a better finish, a polishing stone is used, giving 

 the surface of the vessel a gla/(Ml appearance after baking. The clay 

 employed in constructing the vessel, when of the proper consistence, 

 is worked with the thumb and fingers, aided with a small wooden 

 trowel oi- a fragm<^nt of pottery to shape the ware until of the in- 

 tended proportions and shape. The vessel is then sun-dried, after 

 which the ornamentation is applied, when it is baked. The Indians 

 of the Moqui Pueblos, as well as those of Zufii, Acoma, Laguna, Je- 

 mez, Silla and Santa Ana, do not employ polishing stones, but paint 

 the pottery in various styles of decoration, each general type present- 

 ing sub-types characteristic of certain families or clans which are 

 always recognizable by one intimately acquainted with them.f 



* Quoted at second hand from " Davis' C'onq. of N. Mex." 18(59. 



f I am indebted to Col. James Stevenson for information regarding tlie 

 present mode of manufacture of pottery by these Indians. During the past 

 two seasons he has made a tliorougli study of the arts and home life of the 

 aborigines of New ilexioo, liis collections now ready for jiernianent exliibi- 

 tion in the National Museum comprisiag 4,500 specimens of pottery, repre- 

 senting all imaginable forms, sizes and styles of decorations; also, about 

 3,000 archieological specimens of stone, wood and bone, 50 musical instru- 

 ments, 150 articles of clothing, about 40 varieties of paints, earths and other 



