36 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 81 
few sherds of small pieces scattered over the surface of the ground, 
but tons of sherds of the large pieces. 
There is no doubt that many of the smaller pieces were for cere- 
-monial use, as their size would make them of no value for ordinary 
use. They were also too well made and decorated to have been toys 
for the children to play with. Several good specimens of the clays 
used in the manufacture of the pottery were recovered, and it would 
be interesting to experiment with them and see the results that might 
be obtained. 
CLAYS AND PASTES 
Although no ciay beds were found during the excavation, several 
excellent specimens of Glays and pastes were found in the rooms. 
Some of these show plainly the type of pottery for which they were 
used. 
A long leaf-shaped piece of creamy yellow paste, heavily mixed 
with mica, was undoubtedly intended for the making of the black 
coiled ware. The piece shows, roughly, the impressions made by 
the hands and fingers in rolling and kneading it into its present form. 
A bit of this paste was subjected to a smoky, hot flame for a few 
minutes and burned a deep black such as we find in the cooking ware. 
It is also possible that the mixture was used as a wash, as will be 
seen later when the incised pottery is dealt with. (P1.36, A.) One 
specimen is mixed with a large percentage of yellow ochre (pl. 36). 
This burns a beautiful red when subjected to a clear flame and may 
have been used as the slip or to make the entire red ware. The red 
ware in many cases shows red all the way through a fracture of the 
pot. A heavy mixture of yellow ochre in the paste for the red ware 
will give this result. The women of some of the Rio Grande pueblos 
make a ware with a red slip in the following manner: After a piece 
has been sun dried it is given a heavy wash of yellow ochre; when 
this wash is dry the whole exterior of the pot is polished with a pol- 
ishing stone and then baked in a native kiln. Where the ochre has 
soaked into the pores of the pot, after burning, a fracture shows the 
same beautiful red as is found on the outside which was covered with 
the wash. An interesting bit of clay is molded into an oval with a 
band of nail indentations running around the middle of it and another 
line of indentations running over the top of one end. My first thought 
was that it was a ceremonial object of some kind, but upon showing it to 
one of the women of Santa Clara, who is an excellent potter, she smiled 
and, tossing it from one hand to the other, said that she had made 
many similar ones. To quote her: “You know that sometimes several 
of us (Indian women) get together and make pottery. After we are 
through with the serious work, we sit and talk and tell stories. We 
almost always have some clay left, and while we are talking and visit- 
ing we take a lump and play with it. Some women make funny 
