LIGHTNESS OF SERI OLLAS 



183^ 



even the ware of the wide-wandering Papago is more extravagant than 

 that of the Seri in the ratio of 100 to 54. It is noteworthy, too, that 

 the typical iSeri ware is much more uniform than that of the other 

 tribes; the various specimens seen in use at Costa Rica, and nearly 

 entire in various parts of Serilaud, were closely similar in form and 

 nearly alike in dimensions; while the innumerable smaller fragments 

 scattered over Seriland and the neighboring "despoblado" or buried 

 amid the shells of Punta Antigualla correspond precisely in thickness, 

 in curvature, in material, and in finish with the ware observed in use. 

 Neither the manufacture of the ware nor the sources of material have 

 been observed by Caucasians. Examination of the specimens indicates 

 that the material is a fine and somewhat micaceous clay, apparently 

 an adobe derived from granitoid rocks; and such material might be 



Ratio of capacity to weight among Indian ollas ' 



Capacity I Weight 



Ratio Meau ratio 



Seri: 



Plain . . 



Painted 

 Papago : 



No. 1... 



No.2... 



Sia 



Zuni 



Acoma 



Hopi 



Litere 

 15. U 

 15.61 



17.03 

 8.51 

 15.14 

 12.30 

 15. 61 

 13.72 



Kilograms 

 1.91 

 2.30 



4.08 

 2.38 

 3.82 

 3.18 

 4.31 

 4.06 



0.126 



.147 



.239 

 .279 

 .252 



.258 

 .276 

 . 295. 



) "■ 



137 



.253 



.271 



obtained in various parts of Seriland. The structure of the ware 

 reveals uo trace of coiling or other building process, nor does the tex- 

 ture clearly attest the beating process employed by the Papago potters; 

 but there is a well-defined lamellar structure, and the surfaces (espe- 

 cially inner) are striated circumfereutially or spirally in such manner 

 as to suggest a process of rubbing under considerable pressure. All 

 the specimens are so asymmetric as to indicate the absence of mechan- 

 cal devices approaching the potter's wheel, while the necks are of such 

 size as to admit the hand and forearm of an adult female but not of a 

 warrior. Some suggestion of the manufacturing process is atibrded by 

 miniature fetishistic and mortuary specimens, such as those depicted 

 iu figures 17 and IS, and the larger specimens shown in figure 39, which 

 were evidently shaped from lumps of suitable clay first hollowed and 

 then gradually expanded by manipulation with the fingers, with little 

 if any aid from implements of any sort. On putting the various indi- 



■In tbia table tbe ratio is expressed by the weight in kilograms for each liter in capacity. Tho 

 Papago and Pueblo siiecimen.s were selected from typical material in the National 'Museum and at 

 random, save thjit iu the Pueblo ollas choice was made of specimens corresponding approximately in 

 size with those of the Seri. 



