308 



POTTERY OF THE ANCIENT PUEBLOS. 



intimate with the ware of the Rio San Juan. A characteristic of this 

 pottery is the thinness of the walls and the hardness and tenacity of 

 the paste. In form a striking feature is the occurrence of bowls of 

 oval form, and in one case such a bowl has sides cut dowu or scalloped 

 and ends prolonged. The oval form is sometimes seen in other dis- 

 tricts, and the elongation of portions of the rim is a feature especially 

 characteristic of the Pima and Mojave work of to-day. 



Bowls. — I have already shown in Fig. 244 a small bowl from this 

 locality, in which a coiled exterior is combined with a polished and 

 painted interior. This is an unusual combination, the exterior com- 

 monly being plain. The following examples are grouped, as far as 

 possible, according to tbeir painted designs. A usual and very widely 

 distributed decoration consists of a belt of figures encircling the inner 

 margin. In its simplest condition it is only a single broad line, but 

 more fiequently it is elaborated into a tasteful border so wide as to 

 leave only a small circle of the plain surface in the bottom of the vessel. 

 The figures present much variety of effect, but combine only a few ele- 

 ments or ideas, as the following figures will amply show. All are rec- 

 tilinear, or as nearly so as the conformation of the vessels will permit. 

 No example of exterior decoration occurs. As my illustrations are 

 necessarily limited to a few pieces, those having the simpler combina- 

 tions of lines are omitted, and such only are given as exhibit the decora- 

 tions of this district to tbe best advantage. 



The bowl shown in Fig. 258 may be regarded as a typical example. 



FlG. 258.— Bowl : Tumulus at Saint George.— J. 



It is a plain hemisphere of gray clay, with roughly finished exterior 

 and whitened and polished interior surface. It is eight inches in diam- 

 eter and nearly four inches deep. The painted design occupies a band 

 about two inches wide, and consists of two broad bordering lines in- 

 closing meandered lines. The triangular interspaces are occupied by 

 serrate figures, giving to the whole ornament an appearance character- 

 istic of textile borders. 



Two small bowls have borders in which the meandered lines are in 

 the natural color of the ground, the triangular spaces being filled in with 



