44 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. 
excavated a large number of both beautiful and 
curious vessels, many of them having for designs finely 
executed animal and human figures. 
Pottery with a red surface on which designs are 
painted in black occurs generally in the Southwest, but 
in the Little Colorado drainage is a ware with a red slip 
on which the heavier designs are painted in black, with 
narrower lines in white, which often border the black 
figures. This Little Colorado region is especially noted 
for a buff ware on which designs are painted in black 
which are also often bordered with white. . 
Rather late in the pre-Spanish period, over a large 
area centering in the Santa Fe region, a glaze paint was 
applied to a red or gray surface. At about the beginning 
of the Spanish occupation the glaze was combined with 
paint on the same vessels. Soon after, the art of using 
the glaze began to deteriorate and the modern painted 
ware began to make its appearance. 
Baskets. Fragments of baskets have been found in 
many of the ruins and it would appear that they were 
made over the entire area. One of the common types of 
basketry consists of a diagonal plaiting of strips of yucea 
leaves attached to a heavy wooden withe which forms 
the border. The better baskets are sewed on a coiled 
foundation. This foundation consists of two small 
peeled rods, placed side by side. Above them is 
placed a small bundle of fibers, a few splints, or some- 
times only two splints or welts. The sewing stitches 
pass through this bundle or between these splints so 
as to enclose a part of them and tie the successive coils 
together. The stitches do not ordinarily interlock. The 
specimens which have been preserved indicate a fair 
degree of skill and technical ability. The surviving 
material is too scanty to furnish a basis for a knowledge 
of the character or the variety of their designs. 
