42 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bdll. 41 



bowl. As black is the s3nnbolic color of the underworld, a stone of 

 this color is found on the black ear of corn representing the nadir. 



If this cylinder is a fet- 

 ish it may have been 

 somewhat similarly used. 



BASKETRY 



Not a single entire bas- 

 ket was found, although 

 a few fragments of bas- 

 kets made of woven 

 rushes or osiers were ob- 

 tained (fig. 14). It would 

 aj^pear, however, from a 

 fine basket figured by 

 Nordenskiold, which he 

 ascribes to Spruce-tree 

 House and from other 

 known specimens, figured 

 and unfigured, that the 

 Mesa Verde people were skillful basket makers. None of the frag- 

 ments obtained by the author, and the same holds true regarding the 

 basket figured by Nordenskiold, are decorated. 



AVOODEN OBJECTS 



Few objects made of wood were obtained at Spruce-tree House, but 

 those which were found are well made and reveal the existence of 

 interesting aboriginal customs. Wooden objects closely resembling 

 some of these were used until a few years ago by the Hopi and other 

 Pueblo tribes. 



Sticks Tied Together 



Among the wooden objects found are many perforated sticks tied 

 together by strings. This specimen (fig. 15) is not complete, but 



Fig. 14. Fragment of basket. 



Fig. lo. Sticks tied togetliei-. 



enough remains to show that it is not unlike the covering in which 

 the Hopi bride rolls her wedding blankets. From the place where 

 the object was found, it appears that the dead were wrapped in cover- 

 ings of this kind. Although the specimen is much damaged, it is not 



