﻿NO. 7 SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I926 221 



those from Mesa Verde and show an imperfect technique, nor are they 

 as boldly drawn and cleverly combined. They show a close resem- 

 blance to the black and white ware of the Marsh Pass ruins and those 

 identified as belonging to the San Juan culture. There is no external 

 ornamentation on the black and white food bowls, but jugs and other 

 forms of the same ware show elaborate external decoration. 



A prevalent type of pottery obtained in the Elden Pueblo ceme- 

 tery has a bright red color on the exterior and lustrous black on the 

 interior (fig. 218). Some of these specimens have their outer surface 

 corrugated, but the black interior surface occurs both in many of those 

 which are corrugated and others whose outer surface is smooth. This 

 ware, whether bowls, jars, or vases, is characteristic, and may be 

 known as the Flagstafif ware ; although widely distributed all over the 

 Southwest, it is especially abundant in localities where Gila Valley 

 ware prevails. The black color on the inner surface of the jar or bowl 

 was formed in the same way as at the modern Santa Clara pueblo, 

 where it is produced by the action of smoke from a smothered fire. 

 Various substances may be used to create this smoke. The Hopi often 

 use for that purpose a thin piece of corn bread, called paper bread, but 

 other substances are likewise employed. A similar method of using 

 smoke to impart this black color was employed by the ancient Greeks 

 and Egyptians. 



The forms of the red pottery here described as Flagstaff type are 

 food bowls, vases, jugs, ladles, ollas, and the like. The several jugs 

 and bowls, some smooth, others with corrugated exterior and lustrous 

 interior surface, would indicate that these two groups were contem- 

 ]:)orary. Both, however, are supposed to antedate what is called the 

 black on white pottery, which type is decorated and by far the most 

 attractive of all the archaic ware from Elden Pueblo. The designs 

 on this ware are conventionalized figures painted on a white ground. 



In order to simplify a study of the variety of pottery found at 

 Elden Pueblo these artifacts are here divided into six groups, classi- 

 fied as follows: i. Rude and undecorated, with no evidence of coil; 

 2. Corrugated and coiled ; 3. Mat red ware ; 4. Smooth red ware ; 

 5. Polychrome ; and 6. Black on white, or white on black, decorated 

 with geometrical designs. 



/. Rude, undecorated, and uncoiled. — The few objects referred 

 to this type of pottery are very coarse and show no indications that 

 they were made by coiling. They seem to have been fashioned by 

 the hands, working a lump of clay and possibly smoothing it by the 

 aid of a stone or some other implement. Finger prints and other 

 markings occur on the surface of these vessels. They show no at- 



