56 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 82 



recovered at Pinedale. It was probably used as a fetish or formed a 

 part of a medicine man's outfit. Crinoid stems and asbestos which 

 were also found belong in the same class of articles. 



Pigments. — Hematite is by far the most prevalent of pigment 

 materials. It was found not only in its normal state, but also in 

 micaceous and specular forms. Limonite, used in pottery making, 

 kaolin, and copper carbonate were also found. 



Painted stone slab. — Just above the floor of room 2, test i, in 

 rubbish which had been cast into the abandoned room were found the 

 shattered parts of a painted stone slab. The restored object, pictured 

 in figure 14, is made of a pinkish-colored sandstone. It measures 

 16 by 19 inches and is | inch in thickness. The central portion of the 

 stone has been neatly trimmed out to form a circular opening, 10 inches 

 in diameter. Prior to its painting, one side of the slab was smoothed 

 down to provide a better surface for the designs. A thick white kaolin 

 wash was first applied, not only to the dressed surface but to the 

 reverse side and the edges as well. The black and yellow pigments, 

 both apparently of mineral origin, are evanescent. Nevertheless, in 

 the best preserved parts, the paints are still vivid and full of life. 

 Nowhere is the loss of figures so great as to cause doubt as to the 

 continuity of design. 



From the top of the slab extend a series of ii black triangles, 

 i^ inches high with apexes pointed downwards. Below these, travers- 

 ing the full width of the slab, is a heavy black line made by two 

 parallel strokes of the designer's brush. Still lower and just above 

 the aperture is a yellow band i inch wide framed at both edges by 

 narrow black lines. Underneath the upper framing line a dark red 

 pigment shows up clearly, apparently a part of a previous design. To 

 the right and left of the opening are free zig-zag patterns in yellow 

 outlined in black except for the ends which are left open. The inner 

 edge of the hole is finished with black pigment, now almost wholly 

 obliterated. A single black line near the base completes the decoration. 



As to its use, we believe it safe to say that the slab formed a part 

 of an altar decoration or was otherwise used in religious rites. This 

 inference is not wholly without foundation for painted slabs are still 

 used by the Hopi Indians in the construction of the Antelope altar in 

 the Snake Ceremonial.^ Matilda Coxe Stevenson, in her treatise of 

 Zuni mythology and ritual, records a ceremony " in which a wooden 



' Fewkes, J. W., 1894, p. 43. 



''Coming of Ko'loowisi (Plumed Serpent) and Involuntary initiation into the 

 Ko'tikill. Twenty-third Ann. Rep., Bur. Amer. Ethnol., pp. 94-102, 1901-02. 



