October 15, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



545 



by inferences based on the distribution of lan- 



The ultimate task of constructing a general 

 picture of the development of culture in America 

 can not be undertaken without the cumulative 

 evidence derived from all possible methods, direct 

 and inferential, for constructing cultural time se- 

 quences. 



The Zodiacal Basis of the Snake Vance and other 

 Hopi Ceremonials: Stansbuey Hagae. 

 The purpose of this paper is to present evidence 

 which tends to show that the ritual of the twelve 

 monthly festivals of the Pueblo Indians of Ari- 

 zona and New Mexico is based upon zodiacal sym- 

 bolism, in other words, that the features of each 

 festival refer to the attributes of the native zodi- 

 acal signs through which the sun is passing at the 

 time when the festival is held. This interpreta- 

 tion is supported: (1) by the rites directed each 

 month towards one of the twelve white marks dis- 

 tributed around the circular sacred kiva or re- 

 ligious edifice at Zuni, as described by the late 

 Frank Hamilton Cushing; (2) by the associa- 

 tion of the sun and star gods as the two principal 

 actors in the winter solstice ceremony at Walpi; 



(3) by the determination of the moment of be- 

 ginning the principal ritual of the Manzrau and 

 other festivals at Walpi by observation of the 

 zodiacal constellation in opposition to the sun at 

 the moment of midnight or approximately then; 



(4) by the repetition of each festival in a minor 

 manner at a date six months distant from the 

 principal performance, the minor festival being 

 directed toward the zodiacal sign in opposition to 

 the sun through the sign. But more impressive 

 than this internal evidence from the writer 's view- 

 point is the fact that the features of all twelve 

 of the Pueblo festivals in sequence correspond 

 with the features of the festival celebrated at the 

 same time amongst the ancient Mexicans and the 

 Maya of Yucatan; and the writer has estab- 

 lished at least to his own satisfaction, in papers 

 published in the American Anthropologist and the 

 publications of the International Congress of 

 Americanists, that this Mexican and Maya ritual 

 was based upon this same zodiacal symbolism. 

 Such a sequence of symbolism can not be created 

 by chance nor constituted by inauguration. It is 

 revealed in star charts and constellation symbols 

 in the codices, in mural paintings and in the de- 

 sign of sacred cities as well as in the ritual re- 

 ferred to; and if zodiacal in Mexico, the same 

 sequence of symbolism can hardly be otherwise 

 than zodiacal amongst the Pueblos. 



Probably in no religion did astronomy play a 

 more important part than in that of ancient 

 America from Peru to Arizona, and this zodiacal 

 symbolism gives us the key to its significance. 

 But in all this vast area only amongst the 

 Pueblos can the astronomic ritual still be seen. 



The Snake Dance, to-day the most famous ritual 

 of the American Indian, is but a subordinate epi- 

 sode of the festival which should be known as that 

 of the mountain lion held when the sun is passing 

 through the zodiacal constellation known to the 

 Pueblos, Mexicans and Maya by the name of that 

 animal. It is our sign Leo, the lion. And in the 

 following month the women's Maize Festival of 

 the Pueblos honors the Maize Goddess as in Mex- 

 ico, Yucatan and Peru when the sun is passing 

 through the sign of the Maize Mother. She is our 

 Virgo, the celestial mother of cereals. 



The Octopus Motive in Ancient Chiriquian Art: 



George Grant MacCukdt. 



In the ancient pottery of Chiriqui, one soon 

 learns to associate a given motive with a given 

 paste, slip, quality of modeling and the character 

 and number of the colors employed as well as the 

 method of their application. Thus we find the 

 plastic armadillo dominating the great group 

 which might appropriately bear that name; the 

 incised serpent goes with a distinctive group o£ 

 black ware; the plastic fish in the guise of tripod 

 supports runs through another group; while the 

 painted alligator is supreme in two closely re- 

 lated groups of painted ware. The most puzzling 

 designs were on the so-called lost color ware. A 

 key to their meaning recently came to light in the 

 shape of a more realistic rendering of the mo- 

 tive than had been known hitherto. The design, 

 called to my attention by Professor M. H. SavUle, 

 and recently published by me, represents an oc- 

 topus. 



A further study tends not only to confirm what 

 was said in my last note, but also to emphasize 

 the importance of this newly discovered motive as 

 the one distinctive feature of lost color symbol- 

 ism in ancient Chiriquian art. 



On a reexamination of the lost color ware, the 

 octopus design is found to appear unmistakably 

 under one guise or another on perhaps nine tenths 

 of all the lost color vases hitherto published; a 

 cursory study of the large duplicate series in the 

 Yale Museum shows that at least as large a per- 

 centage holds true of unpublished specimens. If 

 a new name were needed for this large group, 

 Octopus ware would thus be most appropriate. 



