The art of pottery was highly developed amongst all the tribes hitherto mentioned, in spite of the facts that the use of the potter’s wheel was unknown, and that the method of firing was very primitive. No kilns were constructed, but the pots were fired by means of wood fuel in the open air, perhaps in a hole in the ground. The quality of the potting varies considerably according to locality, but the finer examples, such as the ware from Cholula and the Totonac district, exhibit a very high standard of paste, form and technique, though the potters of this region of America cannot boast such consummate mastery over their material as the early inhabitants of the Peruvian coast. The fact, that in the later years prior to the conquest pottery had become an article of trade and tribute, led to a wide dispersal of local types from centres of manufacture which had acquired a reputation for skill in the art; and considerable borrowing of forms and ornament had resulted. At the same time, provided that the possibility of importation be not overlooked, the pottery remains afford much valuable evidence as to the interrelation of the tribes and the early history of the country. The coordination of this evidence is however only just at its commencement; careful excavations with due regard to the stratification of remains have been made at a few points in the valley, and the results have proved of such importance that similar researches throughout the whole of Mexico and Central America are most earnestly desired by all students of American archæology. In the valley of Mexico the local ware manufactured under the Aztec _régime_ is easily recognizable. Fragments of coarse undecorated vessels are found, which appear to have been made by the simple expedient of plastering a basket over with clay and then firing, the basket being destroyed in the process. But the most characteristic ware falls into two main varieties. The first is moulded of an orange or reddish yellow clay, fairly well baked, but often showing a dark line down the middle of a fracture; the walls of the vessels are very thin, and the surfaces carefully smoothed, though not highly burnished. The commonest forms are shallow tripod bowls (Fig. 36, 3), standing cups and jugs with handles, and the ornament consists of small geometrical designs in black (Fig. 37). Moulded ornament is not common, though gadrooned bodies are occasionally found; incised decoration is confined to the utilitarian process of scoring the bottoms of bowls for use as graters in the preparation of peppersauce (_chilmolli_), and applied ornament is practically non-existent. Miniature tripod bowls with smooth bottoms are found, used to support the revolving spindle in the operation of spinning, and incense-spoons were also manufactured in this ware. The second main type consists chiefly of hour-glass shaped standing cups, of reddish, softer paste, with thicker walls coated with