FBWKES] ANTIQUITIES OF MESA VERDE NATIONAL PAEK 31 



no complete specimen was found, many fragments were collected, 

 some of which are of great size. This kind of ware was apparently 

 the most abundant and also the most fragile. As a rule these vessels 

 show marks of fire, soot, or smoke on the outside, and were evidently 

 used as cooking vessels. On account of their fragile character they 

 could not have been used for carrying water, for, with one or two ex- 

 ceptions, they would not be equal to the strain. In decoration of 

 coiled ware the women of Spruce-tree House resorted to an ingenious 

 modification of the coils, making triangular figures, spirals, or crosses 

 in relief, which were usually affixed to the necks of the vessels. 



The symbolism on the pottery of Spruce-tree House is essentially 

 that of a cliff-dwelling culture, being simple in general characters. 

 Although it has many affinities Avith the archaic symbols of the 

 Pueblos, it has not the same complexity. The reason for this can be 

 readily traced to that same environmental influence which caused the 

 conununities to seek the cliffs for protection. The very isolation of 

 the Mesa Verde cliff-dwellings prevented the influx of new ideas and 

 consequently the adoption of neAV symbols to represent them. Secure 

 in their cliffs, the inhabitants were not subject to the invasion of 

 strange clans nor could new customs be introduced, so that conserv- 

 atism ruled theii- art as well as their life in general. Only simple 

 symbols were present because there was no outside stimulus or compe- 

 tition to make them complex. 



On classification of Spruce-tree House pottery according to tech- 

 nique, irrespective of its form, two divisions appear: (1) Coiled ware 

 showing the coils externally, and (2) smooth ware with or without 

 decorations. Structurally both divisions are the same, although their 

 outward appearance is different. 



The smooth ware may be decorated with incised lines or pits, but 

 is painted often in one color. All the decorated vessels obtained by 

 the author at Spruce-tree House belong to what is called black-and- 

 white ware, by which is meant pottery having a thin white slip cover- 

 ing the whole surface upon which black pictures are painted. Occa- 

 sionally fragments of a reddish brown cup were found, while red ware 

 bearing white decorative figures was recovered from the Mesa Verde ; 

 but none of these are ascribed to Spruce-tree House or were collected 

 by the author. The general geographical distribution of this black- 

 and-white ware, not taking into account sporadic examples, is about 

 the same as that of the circular kivas, but it is also found where cir- 

 cular kivas are unknown, as in the upper part of the valley of the 

 Little Colorado. 



The black-and-white ware of modern pueblos, as Zuni and Hano, 

 the latter the Tewan pueblo among the Hopi, is of late introduction 

 from the Rio Grande ; prehistoric Zuni ware is unlike that of modern 



