5S2 THE CLIFF VILLAGES OF THE RED ROCK COUNTRY. 



relative. Possibly a somewhat similar eonception suggested the act of 

 depositing the stone slab with a rain-cloud symbol in the prehistoric 

 graves of Sikyatki. 



Objects made of clay, or pottery, are by all odds the most artistic 

 found in the Sikyatki cemeteries. It seems almost inconceivable that 

 these symmetrical forms could have been made without knowledge of 

 the potter's wheel, yet such is the truth. It is not too much to say that 

 this collection contains objects more finely made and elaborately deco- 

 rated than any ceramic work of any aboriginal tribe of North America, 

 and that it will compare favorably with that of the cultured stocks of 

 Central America. It is far superior to modern pottery made in adja- 

 cent pueblos in form, fineness of parts, and beauty of decoration. It 

 is ornamented with an elaborate polychrome symbolic decoration, which 

 differs in character from that of any modern pueblo near or remote. 

 It is obvious, I believe, that the value of this large and beautiful collec- 

 tion of ornamented pottery lies primarily in the study of the symbolic 

 decorations. These symbols, rarely duplicated, form a body of paleog- 

 raphy which is an important index of ancient thought and feeling. 

 Never before has such a great variety of ancient picture writing been 

 taken from any one ruin of our Southwest, and as a consequence never 

 has a larger amount of ancient pueblo pictography been placed before 

 the student. If it were possible to interpret these pictures aright, our 

 knowledge of ancient pueblo conceptions would be vastly enlarged. 



Articles included in the designation "pottery" include rough, undec- 

 orated vessels made with coiis of clay, which are readily traced on the 

 exterior, and finely decorated smooth ware in which the appearance of 

 the coils has been obliterated by polishing. The Sikyatkians made 

 both kinds, apparently iu the same way as do their descendants. 



The former kind includes cooking pots, slipper-shape food recepta- 

 cles, and water jars. In most instances these were blackened by use, 

 but the coarse clay and embedded grains of sand were easily seen. 

 The decorated pottery, on the other hand, was not blackened, and 

 includes food basins, bowls, jars, vases, dippers, and other household 

 ware. These may be classified according to character or color into 

 three groups: (1) Black and white pottery, (2) yellow pottery, and (3) 

 red ware. 



The few specimens of black and white pottery in the collection are 

 small bowls and jars, and were not made by Sikyatki potters, but were 

 heirlooms from ancestors who derived them from cliff-house people, of 

 whom this colored ware is characteristic. The red ware is likewise, I 

 believe, intrusive in Sikyatki, and not a product of their skill, for it is 

 characteristic of older rather than more recent times. The style of 

 decoration of both black and white and red ware is mainly geometric 

 designs, meanders, frets, key patterns, and spirals. Figures of animals, 

 plants, and human beings are rare or unknown. The larger number of 

 articles of pottery from Sikyatki are of the fine yellow ware, consisting 



