STEVENSON.] rOKMS HAVE NO SYMBOLIC CHARACTERS. 333 



plate, are mucU like tbe similar vessels of Cochiti pottery, several of 

 which are figured iu this catalogue. 



The resemblance of this Indian ware, iu the form of the vessels, to 

 that fouud iu the ancient mounds of this country is so marked that it is 

 scarcely necessary to remind the reader of the fact, but it may be well 

 to call attention to the much larger proportiou of water vessels among 

 the Indian pottery than is seen iu collections from the mouuds. This, 

 however, may perhaps be accounted for by the scarcitj' of water in the 

 western region. 



The custom of the Zufii artists of making a diamoud or triangle over 

 the region of the heart of the elk and deer figures with a line running 

 to the mouth, althougli somewhat singular, is quite consistent with the 

 Indian practice of symbolic writing. I was informed by the Zuiii In- 

 diaiis that it was intended to denote that " the mouth speaks from the 

 heart." A similar mark occurs iu the decoration of the vase figured iu 

 Cesuola's " Cyprus," page 268. 



Contemporaneous and somewhat closely related tribes may use widely 

 diflercnt figures in the decoration of their ware, and hence it is unsafe, 

 in studying ancient specimens, to draw hasty conclusions from slight 

 differeuces in this respect; and I think I may also safely add that a 

 comparatively short pei'iod of time, a century or so at most, may suffice 

 to bring about a great change in the same tribe iu the form and manner 

 of decorating their pottery. It also shows us that the ware of a given 

 tribe, which does not bear the impress of civilized influence, can, by a 

 careful study, be distinguished iu ucarly all cases from that of auy other 

 tribe. I feel so confident of the truth of this statement, that I would 

 uot hesitate to undertake to pick out all pieces of ZuQi ornamented 

 ware from a collection of thousands of specimens of modern Pueblo 

 Indian pottery if indiscriminately mixed together. 



The Shiuumo pottery iu general appearance and form bears a strong 

 resemblance to that of Zuiii; iu fact it is almost impossible to separate 

 the ornamented bowls and water vases of the two if miugled together. 

 There are certain figures found iu the one which never occur in the other, 

 ■but there are a number of designs, especially of those most generally 

 eeeu, that are quite common to the pottery of both tribes. 



The different varieties of ware, the red or brown without decorations, 

 the white with decorations, and the black are in geueral use with the 

 tribe, and specimens of each are contained iu the collection. But few 

 specimens of the i)urely micaceous ware are found, either iu Zufn or 

 Wolpi. 



The prepouderauce of the large round water jugs in the Shiuumo col» 

 lection over that of ZuQi is noticeable. This form of vessel seems to be 

 more in use by tribes whose villages are quite remote from water or which 

 are situated on high mesas difficult of access. The kinds of vessels, 

 however, which are common with the ZuOians are also common with the 

 Shinumos, and those intended for the same use are generally of the same 



