KIDDER-GUERNSEY] | ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN ARIZONA 169 
definition of coiled basketry reads as follows: “ [It] is produced by 
an over-and-over sewing with some kind of flexible material, each 
stitch interlocking with the one immediately underneath it.” The 
present type, whose sewing elements do not interlock, does not accord 
with the above description, and we have here, apparently, a funda- 
mental difference between Basket Maker and Cliff-dweller coiled 
basketry and what we must suppose, on the authority of Mason, to 
be the more general style. We have not had an opportunity to fol- 
Jow this line of investigation, although it promises much of classifica- 
tional value; we have noted, however, that Navaho basketry (prob- 
ably made by Paiute women) is made in the same way as our cave 
material. That from the Coahuila (northern Mexico) burials, on the 
other hand, has interlocked sewing elements. 
While all the specimens in our collection conform exactly to the 
description given above, they vary considerably in fineness of weave 
and excellence of materials (see pl. 76). The coarsest pieces have 
foundation rods one-quarter inch in diameter and run 24 coils and 
a 
Fic. 80.—Detail of coiled basketry weave. 
6 to 7 stitches to the inch; the finest have 7 coils and 12 stitches; 
the great majority have 5 coils and 9 to 11 stitches. This is com- 
paratively coarse weaving (our few Cliff-dwelling examples have 
5 coils and 17 to 20 stitches to the inch), and results in the exposure, 
between the stitches, of the foundation rods which, in the Cliff- 
dwelling pieces, are hidden because the splints are narrower and are 
pulled closer together. The edge bindings are all simple. 
In regard to the manufacture of these baskets (or at least those 
of bowl-like form), it seems probable that they were held right-side 
up, that the foundation was steadied by the left hand and the awl 
and sewing splint manipulated from the inside with the right hand. 
Looking from above, the coil, in all the bowl-like specimens, is seen 
to run counterclockwise. 
SHAPES 
Shallow trays are the commonest form. They range from 3 
inches to 3 feet in diameter, the smaller ones (pl. 76, m) being rela- 
