Illustrated Catalogue of the Collections Obtained from the Indians of New Mexico And Arizona in 1879: Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880-81, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1883, pages 307-428 — John Shaqi
Illustrated Catalogue of the Collections Obtained from the Indians of New Mexico And Arizona in 1879: Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880-81, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1883, pages 307-428Stevenson, James
History
Illustrated Catalogue of the Collections Obtained from the Indians of New Mexico And Arizona in 1879: Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880-81, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1883, pages 307-428
Stevenson, James
Indian pottery -- North America; Indians of North America -- Arizona; Indians of North America -- Industries; Indians of North America -- New Mexico
Although, as a rule, the paste of which the ware is made is
comparatively free from foreign matter, yet many pieces, especially of
the decorated ware, when broken, show little whitish or ash-colored
specks. These, when found in aboriginal pottery east of the Mississippi,
have, I believe, been without question considered as fragments or
particles of shell broken up and mixed with the paste. This may be
correct in reference to the pottery found east of and in the Mississippi
Valley, but this whitish and grayish matter in the pottery of the
Indians of New Mexico and Arizona is in most cases pulverized pottery,
which is crushed and mixed with the paste. Black lava is sometimes
crushed and used in the same manner.
The principal material used is a clay, apparently in its natural state,
varying in color according to locality. Although comparatively free from
pebbles or lumps of foreign matter, we detect in some of the coarser
specimens small particles of mica and grains of other materials, and in
one broken specimen the elytron of a small coleopterous insect. But as a
general rule, the paste appears to have been free from foreign matter.
A slight glance at this large collection is sufficient to show that the
potters worked by no specific rule, and that they did not use patterns.
While it is apparent that only a few general forms were adopted, and
that, with few exceptions, the entire collection may be grouped by
these, yet no two specimens are exactly alike; they differ in size, or
vary more or less in form. The same thing is also true in reference to
the ornamentation: while there is a striking similarity in general
characteristics, there is an endless variety in details. No two similar
pieces can be found bearing precisely the same ornamental pattern.
Much the larger portion of the collection consists of vessels of various
kinds, such as bowls, cooking utensils, canteens, bottles, jars,
pitchers, cups, ladles, jugs, water vases, ornamental vessels,
paint-pots, &c. These vary in size from the large vase, capable of
holding ten gallons, to the little cup and canteen, which will contain
less than half a pint. The other and much smaller portion includes all
those articles which cannot be classed as vessels, such as images, toys,
toilet articles, representations of animals, &c. The collection can
perhaps be most satisfactorily classified by reference to the coloring,
ornamentation, and quality, thus:
1. _The red or uncolored pottery_, which is without ornamentation of any
kind. Some of this is coarse and rough, and in this case always more
than ordinarily thick; but the larger portion has the surface smooth and
often polished. The color varies from the natural dull leaden hue of the
clay, to a bright brick red, the latter largely predominating.
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