116 



TWO SUMMERS WORK IN PUEBLO RUINS 



[F.Tn. ANN. 22 



either tlio earth or the sun. /J'he position of the three tail feathers 

 in this drawing is thoroughly characteristic of ancient ijueblo art. 

 Instead of being drawn in a horizontal plane, as tliey naturally would 

 be in a side view of the bird, they appear in a vertical plane, as often 

 occurs in these iio-iu-es. This characteristic arrangement of the tail 

 feathers is common in the decoration of modern vases from Acoma, 

 where the bird is a constant ornament. It may also be seen in the 

 avian figures which decorate many of the ancient bowls, vases, and 

 jars from Sikyatki and Awatobi. The terraced figures on the under 

 side of the head are of frequent occurrence in bird designs. The three 

 cross lines occur on several Sikyatki bowls and represent stars. 



The design on the food bowl from the ruin of old Shumopovi, shown 

 in figure 71, represents a bird god, as is shown by the three tail feathers 



and the triangular wings. The head 

 takes the form and bears the symbol- 

 ism of that of a masked katcina still 

 personated in Tusayan. The horn on 

 the left side of the head terminates 

 in a conventional figure of a feather, 

 and the design on the right-hand side 

 is a symbol of the squash flower. On 

 the face is the terraced symbol of a 

 rain cloud, still nsed in modern llopi 

 symbolism and very common in an- 

 cient bird figures. Within this ter- 

 raced figure are represented the dragon 

 fly, rainbow, and falling rain. It will 

 be noticed that each of the two exte- 

 rior tail feathers bears two smaller 

 white lines. Similar sj^mbols charac- 

 tei'ize the figures of the war god, and 

 are said to indicate the hawk. There 

 are legends extant that these are 

 markings made by the claws of some 

 animal in its struggles. Thej^ are 

 found on the cheeks of idols of the war god in several pueblos, as Sia, 

 Zuiri, and those of Tusayan. 



The avian figure on the food bowl shown in figui-e 72 represents 

 a raptorial bird with extended wing. The homology of the two long 

 bodies dependent from the breast is apparent when we compare them 

 with the symbolic feather on Sikyatki pottery. They represent the 

 breast feathers of the eagle; the symbol is still preserved in modern 

 Ilopi ceramics, but, so far as is known, has not yet been found on 

 pottery from the Little Colorado ruins. 



Both eyes are rejjresented on one side of the head, and the beak is 



U' 



Fig. 



71. Bird design on food bowl from 

 Sliuniopovi (number 157795 ) . 



