FEWKES] THE POTTERY OF SIKYATKI 653 
eases the constriction is so shallow that it is hardly perceptible (plate 
CXXVI, a, b). The size varies from a simple globular vessel not larger 
than a walnut to a jar of considerable size. Many show marks of 
previous use; others are as fresh as if made but yesterday. 
One of the most fragile of all the globular vessels is a specimen of 
very thin black-and-white ware, perforated near the rim for suspen- 
sion (plate cxxxm). This form, although rare at Sikyatki, is repre- 
sented by several specimens, and in mode of decoration is very similar 
to the cliff-house pottery. From its scarcity in Tusayan I am inclined 
to believe that this and related specimens were not made of clay 
found in the immediate vicinity of Sikyatki, but that the vessels were 
brought to the ancient pueblo from distant places. As at least some 
of the cliff houses were doubtless inhabited contemporaneously with 
and long after the destruction of Sikyatki, I do not hesitate to say that 
the potters of that pueblo were familiar with the cliff dweller type of 
pottery and acquainted with the technic which gave the black and- 
white ware its distinctive colors. 
By far the largest number of specimens of smooth decorated pottery 
from Sikyatki graves are food bowls or basins, evidently the dishes in 
which food was placed on the floor before the members of a family at 
their meals. As the mortuary offerings were intended as food for the 
deceased it is quite natural that this form of pottery should far out- 
number any and all the others. In no instance do the food bowls exhibit 
marks of smoke blackening, an indication that they had not been used 
in the cooking of food, but merely as receptacles of the same. 
The beautiful decoration of these vessels speaks highly for the artistic 
taste of the Sikyatki women, and a feast in which they were used must 
have been a delight to the native eye so tar as dishes were concerned. 
When filled with food, however, much of the decoration of the bowls 
must have been concealed, a condition avoided in the mode of orna- 
mentation adopted by modern Tusayan potters; but there is no doubt 
that when not in use the decoration of the vessels was effectually 
exhibited in their arrangement ou the floor or convenient shelves. 
The forms of these food bowls are hemispherical, gracefully rounded 
below, and always without an attached ring of clay on which to stand 
to prevent rocking. Their rims are seldom flaring, but sometimes have 
a shght coustriction, and while the rims of the majority are perfectly 
circular, oblong variations are not wanting. Many of the bowls are 
of saucer shape, with almost vertical sides and flat bases; several are 
double, with rounded or flat base. 
The surface, inside and out, is polished to a fine gloss, and when 
exteriorly decorated, the design is generally limited to one side just 
below the rim, which is often ornamented with double or triple parallel 
lines, drawn in equidistant, quaternary, and other forms. Most of the 
bowls show signs of former use, either wear on the inner surface or on 
the base where they rested on the floor in former feasts. 
