306 POTTERY OF THE ANCIENT PUEBLOS. 



Classification by form. — The ware of each province is conven- 

 iently presented in form-groups, beginning with the more simple shapes 

 and advancing to the more complex. 



Bowls. — Bowl-shaped vessels have been in great favor with all the 

 Pueblo peoples, and in ancient times, especially in the north and west, 

 predominated very decidedly over all other forms. This is naturally a 

 favorite shape with primitive peoples, as it is the most simple and prob- 

 ably that first developed. A long experience would be necessary for 

 the evolution of narrow-necked or complex forms. 



Our collections contain many examples of ancient bowls, perfectly 

 preserved, but if this were not the case the shapes are so simple that it 

 would be an easy matter to make satisfactory restorations from frag- 

 ments. There is considerable diversity of outline, yet all may be con- 

 veniently classed under two beads : the hemispherical and the heart 

 shaped. The former are much more plentiful and were probably the 

 favorite food vessels of the people. Asa rule they are plain segments 

 of spheres. The rims are, in rare cases, oval in outline, and a few are 

 elongated at the ends. 



Heart-shaped bowls are characterized by a somewhat conical base and 

 a deeply incurved rim, sometimes much depressed about the contracted 

 mouth. The forms are often elegant, and the painted designs are gen- 

 erally well executed and pleading to the eye. 



Ollas. — Between bowls and pot-shaped vases or ollas there is but a 

 stop — the addition of an upright or recurving band forming a neck. 

 Iu vessels of the latter class the body is almost universally globular, 

 often tapering a very little below. Occasionally there is a slight flat- 

 tening of the bottom and very rarely a concavity. The neck is seldom 

 high, but varies greatly in size and shape. These vessels correspond to 

 the water vases of the modern tribes. 



Bottles. — Bottle-shaped vessels are very widely distributed. They 

 differ from the ollas in one respect only — the necks are narrower and 

 higher. They are rarely flattened, as are the modern Pueblo bottles 

 known as canteens. 



Handled vessels. — Smaller vessels of nearly all shapes are at times 

 furnished with handles. The origin of certain forms of these has re- 

 ceived attention in the introductory pages. They vary in style with the 

 shape of the vessel to which they are attached. Bowls exhibit two well- 

 marked varieties — a cylindrical form and a simple loop. Those of the 

 former often imitate the handle-like ueck of a gourd, and archaic speci- 

 mens from various parts of the Pueblo province are so literally copied 

 that the small curved stem of the gourd is represented. This feature in 

 some cases becomes a loop at the end of the handle, serving to suspend 

 the vessel, like the ring attached to our dipper handles. Specimens 

 from the headwaters of the Colorado Chiquito have the ends of the han- 

 dles modeled to represent the head of a serpents or other creatures. A 

 loop sometimes takes the place of the cylindrical handle, and is at- 



