ih ee RP ee RTE ore een ye ae ir aan a 
1876.] * The Ancient Pottery of Colorado, ete. 459 
was not calcareous, as it does not effervesce under acid, or, if at 
all, only slightly and in particular places, so that in all probabil- 
ity salt was used for glaze, as this mineral occurs abundantly 
throughout the country, both in a solid form and in, solution in 
the waters of many of the springs, frequently combined with a 
little lime. Adair, in his History of the American Indians, de- 
scribes a method of glazing employed by some of the southern 
tribes of our country. They place the vessels over a smoky fire 
of pitch-pine, which gives them a smooth, black appearance, as 
of enamel. 
Some of the ancient pottery may have been shaped by the 
operation of casting, for no indications of the potter's wheel or 
lathe can be discovered. Beyond doubt a portion of the ware 
was formed by molding, and in some instances the lower halves 
of small-mouthed vessels were shaped in a matrice or between 
two molds, while the upper portions, including the neck and 
handles, were finished more rudely by hand. This peculiarity 
may be seen in many broken fragments where the interior of 
Jugs is exposed to view. In several dippers which I have before 
me I can readily perceive that the handles were modeled over 
cylindrical sticks, somewhat greater in diameter than an ordi- 
nary lead pencil, and, previous to completing the end, the stick 
_ Was withdrawn, leaving fine parallel lines and ridges around the 
interior of the hollow tube. Then a piece of clay was added to 
the extremity, and rounded and smoothed into shape. 
In fact, though these prehistoric people were considerably ad- 
vanced in some of the useful arts, and were cognizant of the 
general principles by which they were employed, they were sadly 
'gnorant of the use of tools, even of the most simple patterns; 
and yet, to-day, tons of this hand-made pottery may be gathered 
through the cations of the far Southwest. This class of fictile 
fabrics resembles more closely the modern ware of civilized 
Peoples than that of any other aboriginal or ancient tribe, in 
the forms of the vessels, the symmetrical finish, the coloring, glaz- 
mg, the manner in which it has been baked or burnt, and the 
quality of the ware. Tt exhibits a greater advancement in the 
feramic art, and shows that those people who manufactured it 
Were well along in civilization. It is entirely different from any 
of the pottery of other ancient tribes, especially of those Indian 
tribes east of the Rocky Mountains ; and in the quantity which 
Was made, it stands alone in the annals of prehistoric man. 
Plate IX., Figure 5, represents a very perfect specimen of 
