Rl-ssELL] ARTIFACTS 127 



of the bottom it is placetl on the ground and a httle loose soil is 

 drawn up to serve as a support and in this it is turned slowly with 

 the hands as re(|uireil (pi. xvii, c). As the lower coils become dry 

 they are smoothed with a polishing stone with strokes made from 

 l)ol()W upward; if a part has l)econie too hard to be easily rubbed 

 downi the hand is dipped into the vessel of water that is within reach, 

 and applied to the spot. 



When the last coil has been shaped a dark red shale is ground in 

 water imtil the liquid has ])ecome (|uite thick; this is a])plicd to the 

 outer surface with the hands. As the slip dries it is rubbeil with the 

 polishing s'lone until it becomes hard and smooth. 



After drying over night the vessel is ready for burning. A very 

 shallow pit is dug and a fire is kept in it for some time to dry the 

 earth thoroughly, then a little dry mesquite or decayed willow wood 

 is spread in the depression, and the vessel is laid on its side upon the 

 wood and entirely covered with sticks laid up "log-cabin fashion." 

 In the specimen shown in figure 52 the wood liad burned away in 

 about twenty minutes. The photograph was taken as the burning 

 brands fell from the sides. 



The final step, if the vessel is to be decorated, is to apply the black 

 mesquite pigment with a sharpened stick (pi. x\u,d), made from 

 Baccharis glutenosa, which has a large pithy center. The vessel is 

 again subjected to heat for a few minutes until the decoration has 

 assumed a deep black color, when it is finished. 



Finished Products 



Water reservoirs or coolers (fig. 53, a, b) are the largest and finest 

 pieces of fictile ware made by the Pimas and Papagos. The latter 

 carry on a tlu-iving trade with the whites by supplying each house 

 with one or more of these big round-bottomed pots, which are so 

 porous that the evaporation from the outside measurably cools the 

 water within. Altliough the term "olla" is applied to all Indian 

 pottery in the Southwest, the word generally refers to this particular 

 class of vessels. One will be found set in a three-forked post under 

 the arbor at every Pima home." An olla was secured which had been 

 hidden away among the rocks in the hills for many years (fig. 54). 

 It is among the smallest of those used for water coolers, and may 

 well serve here to illustrate the minimum size and also a variation 

 in decoration.'' 



Ollas with angular profile are not uncommon (fig. 55). 



Cooking pots (pi. xviii, a) are more numerous than the water 



<■ The larger specimen (fig. 53. b) collected is 0..'W7m. high, 0.27.5 m. in diameter at the top. and l.ir,i m. 

 in its maximum cinimiference. The decoration is derived from the llohokam pottery oJ theCasa 

 Blanca district. 



6 Height, 0.3^ III.; diameter at top, 0.17.'> ni.; iTia-xinium circninference, O.y.'iO m. 



