36 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 63 



Mountain Lion. One of the Oldtown bowls is -decorated with a 

 representation of the wild cat or mountain lion, and is a fair example 

 of archaic design (fig&quot;. 23). The feature that distinguished this 

 quadruped is the position of the tail which, like those of Pueblo pic 

 tures of mountain lions or cats, is bent forward over the back. 



Both head and body are rectangular and the legs are short and 

 stumpy with sharp curved claws. The ears, mouth, and teeth have 

 characteristic features of carnivora and the tail is banded, especially 

 near the end. 



The geometric design on the side of the body consists of an angular, 

 S-shaped design with two equal armed stars, the latter associated with 

 the mountain lion in Pueblo symbolism. The single figure drawn on 

 this bowl occupied the middle of the interior, but in the next bowl this 

 figure is duplicated. 



The two figures on another bowl also represent some cat, or 

 mountain lion, but the geometric figure on its body differs so much 

 from the first specimen that it may belong to a different genus. The 

 geometrical designs occur on both the anterior and posterior extremi 

 ties of the rectangular body and consist of triangular figures with 

 parallel lines and terraces recalling rain-clouds. This bowl is owned 

 by Mr. E. D. Osborn, and was found at Oldtown. The decorations 

 on the two quadrants alternating with the animal figures are bands 

 from which other markings radiate to the side of the bowl. 



Badger. The quadruped drawn on the inside of a bowl found at 

 Oldtown, and now owned by Mr. E. D. Osborn, has some resem 

 blances to a badger, especially in the head, ears, teeth, and tail. The 

 geometrical design on the body of this animal consists of an unequal 

 sided rectangle enclosing four triangles with angles so approximated 

 as to form an enclosed rectangle. The head has two bands extending 

 longitudinally, apparently conventionalized markings characteristic 

 of this animal, as they do not occur on deer, wildcats, or mountain 

 sheep. 



Birds. As has been pointed out in the author s identifications 1 of 

 designs on Sikyatki pottery, those representing birds are among the 

 most abundant. The same holds also in the pottery from the Mim- 

 bres, where several figures identified as birds occur on food bowls. 

 Two of these are duplicated on the same vessel, practically the same 

 figure being repeated on opposite sides. In the latter case each mem 

 ber of the pair faces in an opposite direction or is represented as if 

 moving with the middle of the bowl on the left. 2 



1 17th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., p. 682. 



2 This is known as the sinistral circuit and is regarded as beneficial in Hopi 

 ceremonials. 



