Various forms and sizes of triangles, singly or in combination, constitute one of the most constant devices used by the cliff-dwellers of the Mesa Verde in the decoration of their pottery. It is common to find two series of triangles arranged on parallel lines. When the component triangles are right-angled they sometimes alternate with each other, forming a zigzag which may be sinistral or dextral. This design may be called an alternate right-angular figure. If instead of two parallel series of right-angle triangles there are isosceles triangles, they may be known as alternate isosceles triangles. These triangles, when opposite, form a series of hour-glass figures or squares. This form is commonly accompanied by a row of dots, affixed to top and base, known as the dotted square or hour-glass figure. Hour-glass designs are commonly represented upright, but the angles of the triangles may be so placed that the series is horizontal, forming a continuous chain. Often the bases of these serially arrayed hour-glass figures are separated by rows of dots or by blank spaces. A row of triangles, each so placed that the angles touch the middles of the sides of others in the same series, form an arc called linear triangles. The St. Andrews cross, which occurs sparingly on Mesa Verde pottery, is formed by joining the vertical angles of four isosceles triangles. The cross and the various forms of the familiar swastika also occur on Cliff Palace pottery. The star symbol, made up of four squares so arranged as to leave a space in the middle, is yet to be found in Mesa Verde. Parallel curved lines, crooked at the end or combined with triangles and squares, occur commonly in the pottery decoration of Cliff Palace. S-shaped figures are known. Rectangles or triangles with dots, or even a line of dots alone, are not rare in the decoration. No designs representing leaves or flowers occur on pottery from Cliff Palace, nor has the spider-web pattern been found. The most common geometrical decorations are the stepped or terraced figures, generally called rain-clouds. POTTERY RESTS Among the objects found in the refuse heaps of Cliff Palace are rings, about 6 inches in diameter, woven of corn husks or cedar bark bound together with fiber of yucca or other plants. These rings (pl. 28) were evidently used as supports for earthenware vases, the bases of which are generally rounded, so that otherwise they would not stand upright. Similar rings may have been used by the women in carrying jars of water on their heads,[74] as among the Zuñi of to-day. Some of these rings may have been used in what is called the "ring and dart" game, which is often ceremonial in nature. The best made of all these objects, found by Mr. Fuller on his visit to a neighboring canyon, is shown in the accompanying illustration (pl. 28, _b_). The specimen is made of tightly woven corn husks, around which the fiber is gathered so as to form an equatorial ridge rarely present in these objects.