ADMINISTRATIVE EEPORT LXXIII 



higliest product of their genius and handicraft, was raised to 

 higli rank in tlieir ceremonial system and made the vehicle of 

 invocatory and thaumaturgic symbolism. Indeed, the strong- 

 est motives of Pueblo life, simply economic on the one hand 

 and crudely philosophic on the other, seem to have met and 

 culminated in the fictile art. Accordingly, the characteristics 

 of the prehistoric inhabitants of the Pueblo region appear to 

 be recorded with remarkable completeness in a single class of 

 artifacts — the rich and varied jjroducts of their potteries. 



The best collections of ancient Pueblo potterv, both in 

 number and quality of specimens, are from ancient mortuaries. 

 This association is especially significant as a revelation of 

 fiducial custom; it indicates that the finest ware was made, 

 not for everyday use but for sacrificial or sacramental pur- 

 poses, in connection with the always tragic mortality of man- 

 kind, just as the finest baskets of the California Indians are 

 made for sacramental burning or burial with the body of the 

 maker; and the e^^dence of the association is confirmed ])y 

 that of the contents of dwellings in which the pottery rem- 

 nants are prevailingly of connuoner ware. The symbols so 

 abundantly depicted on the mortuary vessels tlu'ow light on the 

 features of the faith in which they were conceived; and to 

 some extent they illumine also the industrial and social char- 

 acteristics of the prehistoric pueblo liuilders. Acc( n'dingh" 

 the descriptions and illustrations comprised in Dr Fewkes' 

 memoir constitute a noteworthv contribution to kuowledg-e of 

 one of the most interesting- lines of ethnology. 



