These mortuary vessels were discovered generally at one side of the chest or neck of the person whose remains they were intended to accompany, and a single specimen was found inverted over the head of the deceased. The number of vessels in each grave was not constant, and as many as ten were found with one skeleton, while in other graves only one or two were found. In one instance a nest of six of these basins, one inside another, was exhumed. While many of these mortuary offerings were broken and others chipped, there were still a large number as perfect as when made. Some of the bowls had been mended before burial, as holes drilled on each side of a crack clearly indicate. Fragments of various vessels, which evidently had been broken before they were thrown into the graves, were common. There is a general similarity in the artistic decoration of bowls found in the same grave, as if they were made by the same potter; and persons of distinction, as shown by other mortuary objects, were, as a rule, more honored than some of their kindred in the character and number of pottery objects deposited with their remains. There were also a number of skeletons without ceramic offerings of any kind. In one or two interments two or more small jars were found placed inside of a food bowl, and in many instances votive offerings, like turquois, beads, stones, and arrowpoints, had been deposited with the dead. The bowls likewise contained, in some instances, prayer-sticks and other objects, which will later be described. One of the most interesting modifications in the form of the rim of one of these food bowls is shown in plate CXX, _e_, which illustrates a variation from the circular shape, forming a kind of handle or support for the thumb in lifting the vessel. The utility of this projection in handling a bowl of hot food is apparent. This form of vessel is very rare, it being the only one of its kind in the collection. A considerable number of cups were found at Sikyatki; these vary in size and shape from a flat-bottom saucer like specimen to a mug-shape variety, always with a single handle (plate CXXV). Many of these resemble small bowls with rounded sides, but there are others in which the sides are vertical, and still others the sides of which incline at an angle to the flattened base. The handles of these cups are generally smooth, and in one instance adorned with a figure in relief. The rims of these dippers are never flaring, either inward or outward. As a rule they are decorated on the exterior; indeed there is only one instance of interior decoration. The handles of the dippers are generally attached at both ends, but sometimes the handle is free at the end near the body of the utensil and attached at the tip. These handles are usually flat, but sometimes they are round, and often are decorated. Traces of imitations of the braiding of two coils of clay are seen in a single specimen.[112] [Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY