THE CERAMIC ART. 



Age. — The ceramic art of the ancient Pueblos is practically a unit. 

 We find in its remains few indications of distinct periods. There is 

 nothing to carry us back to a remote past. The oldest specimens known 

 are nearly as high in the scale as the latest. In the deposits of caves 

 and burial grounds we find, so far, nothing more archaic than in the 

 ruins of once populous villages and beneath the fallen walls of hewn- 

 stone cliff houses. In methods of manufacture and in styles of orna- 

 mentation there is no specific distinction. 



Once introduced, there is much in the character of the country to de- 

 velop this art. The people were sedentary, and thus able to practice 

 the art continuously for a long period; and iii a country so arid there 

 was often great need of vessels suitable for the transportation and stor- 

 age of water. 



Material. — Nature was lavish in her supply of the material needed. 

 Suitable clay could be found in nearly every valley, both in the well- 

 exposed strata and in the sediment of streams. 1 have noticed that 

 after the passage of a sudden storm over the mesa country, and the 

 rapid disappearance of the transient flood, the pools of the arroyos 

 would retain a sediment of clay two or three inches thick, having a 

 consistency perfectly suited to the hand of the potter. This I have 

 taken without tempering aud have made imitations of the handsome 

 vases whose remnants I could pick up on all sides. In drying and 

 burning, these vessels were liable to crack and fall to pieces ; but I see 

 no reason why, with the use of proper tempering materials, this natural 

 paste might not be successfully employed. It would not be difficult,, 

 however, to find the native clay among the sedimentary formations of 

 this district. Usually the clay has been very fine grained, and when 

 used without coarse tempering the vessels have an extremely even and 

 often a conchoidal fracture. 



Tempering. — The materials used in tempering do not often come into 

 notice. It appears that, in a majority of cases, fine sand, probably de- 

 rived from naturally disintegrated rocks, was employed. A large per- 

 centage of rather coarse sand is found in the more roughly finished 

 coil-made ware, but vessels intended for smooth finish have little per- 

 ceptible tempering material. 



The speckled appearance of some of the abraded surfaces suggests 

 the use of pulverized potsherds, a practice frequently resorted to by 

 the modern tribes. In some localities, uotably iu the south, we find a 



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