JACKSON.] POTTERY. 449 



from the sun's rays, and the bare rocky surface all about them is so de- 

 nuded of all soil, that the water is hardly tainted with the least impurity. 

 A sbort distance below these pockets, and near the verge of the bluif, 

 there had evidently been other and larger reservoirs of the same nature. 

 The Pueblo Alto is directly back of this point less than half a mile, and 

 it was from here that the people probably obtained much of their water. 



POTTEET. 



In the accompanying plates I have grouped a few of the most inter- 

 esting examples of ancient and modern pottery, from the regions cov- 

 ered by our investigations. The ancient ware, as shown in the two first 

 plates, represents some of the most striking examples of the taste and 

 skill in ceramic decoration of the unknown potters. All who have ever 

 visited the region of the ancient ruins, which covers all of New Mexico 

 and Arizona, and portions of adjacent territory, have been impressed 

 with the vast quantities of shattered pottery scattered over the whole 

 land, sometimes where not even a ruin now remains, its more enduring 

 nature enabling it to long outlive all other examples of the handiwork 

 of the makers. 



PLATE LXIV. 



Fragments of painted ware, mostly of bowls and mugs, and, with but 

 one exception, from the south side of the San Juan River. The material 

 is generally dark gray, sometimes nearly white where the heat has been 

 greatest, and is hard and firm, giving a clear ringing sound when struck. 

 The paste shows a large percentage of a gritty substance resembling 

 crushed fragments of burnt clay. The surface, however, is generally 

 <3uite smooth, with a glossy appearance in some instances, much resem- 

 bling a regular glaze. Upon this the black design lies without any per- 

 ceptible wearing away, although these specimens have been exposed to 

 all the disintegrating influences of soil and climate for centuries. 



The pieces marked a and b are fragments of mugs, about 4 inches 

 diameter and from 4 to 5 inches high, sometimes with handles, very 

 much like an ordinary beer-mug of the present time. All the other 

 pieces, with the exception of c (see also Plate XLY, Pig. 8), are from 

 bowls, varying from 13 inched diameter to mere cups of only 4 or 5 

 inches diameter, d is a, fragment from the Chaco Canon. See Plate 

 XLV, Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, for further details of this kind of pottery. 



PLATE LXV. 



Ancient Pottery. Nos. 1 and 3 are dippers with handles broken off; 

 of a coarse, gray ware; from about the ruins of Montezuma Oaiion ; the 

 first being found upon the plateau at its extreme head. No. 2 is a bowl 

 that was found buried quite deeply near the ruins in Montezuma Caiion, 

 described in page 428. Nos. 4 and 6 are pitchers from a grave on the 

 banks of the San Juan Eiver, near the mouth of the Mancos. The 

 literal reproduction of the photographic process by which these plates 

 ^re produced renders any further description unnecessary. No. 5 is a 

 small jug, minus its handle, that was found buried among the ruins of 

 the great Cave Town on the De Chelly (see page 421). It is as symmet- 

 rical in its outline as if turned upon a wheel, and the design is traced 

 upon it with the most exact precision. 



29 G 



