296 



POTTERY 



[b. a. e. 



for household use, although the most cul- 

 tured tribes made and decorated vases 

 for exclusively ceremonial purposes. In 

 some communities a wide ranjie of articles 



San Juan Pueblo woman polishing a Bowl 



wag made, the plastic nature of the ma- 

 terial having led to the shaping of many 

 fanciful forms. Florida burial mounds 

 contain many rudely shaped vessels, often 



paddle stamps for decorating pottery, o, Figures Cut 

 IN WOOD, Cherokee; b, cord Covered (restoration) 



toy-like, liesides other articles of clay in 

 great variety, manifestly intended as mor- 

 tuary offerings and not to serve any prac- 

 tical end (Moore). 



The ornamentation of vases included 

 the modeling of various life forms in the 

 round and in relief, and incising, im- 

 printing, and stamping designs of many 

 kinds in the soft clay. The more advanced 

 potters employed color in surface finish 

 and in executing various designs. The 

 designs were often geometric and primi- 

 tive in type, but in many sections life 

 forms were introduced in great variety 

 and profusion, and these were no doubt 

 often symbolic, having definite relation 



modern zum ollas 



to the use of the object, ceremonial or 

 otherwise. Unbroken examples of earth- 

 enware are preserved mainly through 

 burial with the dead, and the numerous 

 specimens in our collections were obtained 

 mainly from burial places. On inhabited 

 sites the vessels are usually broken, but 

 even in this form they are of great value 

 to the archeologist for the reason that 

 they contain markings or other features 

 peculiar to the tribes concerned in their 

 manufacture. 



ZUNl DECORATING WITH DESIGNS IN COLOR. SANTA FE 



The ancient potters of the Pueblo 

 country excelled those of the historic 

 period in the quality and beauty of their 

 ware, as in Tusayan, and some varieties 

 are without a rival in the art n. of the 

 valley of Mexico. We here recognize 

 numerous groups of products representing 

 different communities, tribes, or groups 

 of tribes, but there is a general resem- 

 blance throughout in form> material, 



