euntn] DICE GAMES 47 
When this piece falls with this side uppermost it augments the count 
in the play. 
Figure 3 represents the obverse of a set of Zuni canes for sholiwe, 
reproduced from memory by Mr Cushing for the writer in the sum- 
mer of 1893. The athlua, or “ sender,” the uppermost cane in this 
set, corresponding with the north, is marked on the convex side with a 
cross, agreeing in this 
respect with one of 
the sticks of the Tewa 
game, figure 255. 
This peculiarity, in 
one form or another, 
is repeated through- vas 
= Fic. 4. Handle of atlatl, showing crossed wrapping for the 
5 : 
out the implements attachment of finger loops; cliff-dwelling, Mancos canyon, 
hereafter described, Colorado; Free Museum of Science and Art, University of 
the obverse of one of — Penmsyivanis. 
the sticks in many of the sets being carved or burned, while in others 
the stave is tied about the middle. This specially marked die is the one 
that augments the throw. In attempting to account for it, it occurred 
to the writer to compare the Zuni cane bearing the cross marks with 
the atlatl, or throwing stick, from a cliff-dwelling in Mancos canyon, 
Si) 
Fig. o. Atilatl (restored); length, 15 inches; cliff-dwelling, Mancos canyon, Colorado; Free 
Museum of Science and Art, University of Pennsylvania. 
Colorado, in the University of Pennsylvania museum (figures 4 
and 5). Mr Cushing had suggested that the athlua, placed beneath 
the other canes in tossing them, corresponded to the atlatl. The 
comparison seemed to confirm his suggestion. The cross mark is pos- 
sibly the cross wrapping of the atlatl for the attachment of finger 
Fic.6. Stick die; length, 7 inches; cliff-dwelling. Mancos canyon, Colorado; Free Museum of 
Science and Art, University of Pennsylvania. 
loops. According to this view, the Zuni canes may be regarded as 
symbolic of the atlatl and three arrows, such as are carried by the 
gods in Mexican pictures. From the evidence furnished by the 
implements employed, I concluded at first that the games with 
tossed canes, staves, etc., must all be referred to the regions of cane 
arrows and the atlatl, probably the southwestern United States. 
Later observations upon other Indian games, in which it is ap- 
