MINOR ANTIQUITIES
(continued)
The rooms and refuse-heaps of Spruce-tree House had
been pretty thoroughly ransacked for specimens by those who preceded the
author, so that few minor antiquities were expected to come to light in
the excavation and repair work. Notwithstanding this, however, a fair
collection, containing some unique specimens and many representative
objects, was made, and is now in the National Museum where it will be
preserved and be accessible to all students. Considering the fact that
most of the specimens previously abstracted from this ruin have been
scattered in all directions and are now in many hands, it is doubtful
whether a collection of any considerable size from Spruce-tree House
exists in any other public museum. In order to render this account more
comprehensive, references are made in the following pages to objects
from Spruce-tree House elsewhere described, now in other collections.
These references, quoted from Nordenskiöld, the only writer on this
subject, are as follows:
Plate XVII:2. a and b. Strongly flattened cranium of
a child. Found in a room in Sprucetree House.
Plate XXXIV:4. Stone axe of porphyrite. Sprucetree
House.
Plate XXXV: 2. Rough-hewn stone axe of quartzite.
Sprucetree House.
Plate XXXIX: 6. Implement of black slate. Form
peculiar (see the text). Found in Sprucetree House.
[In the text the last-mentioned specimen is again
referred to, as follows:]
I have still to mention a number of stone implements
the use of which is unknown to me, first some large (15-30 cm.), flat,
and rather thick stones of irregular shape and much worn at the edges
(Pl. XXXIX: 4, 5), second a singular object consisting of a thin slab of
black slate, and presenting the appearance shown in Pl. XXXIX: 6. My
collection contains only one such implement, but among the objects in
Wetherill's possession I saw several. They are all of exactly the same
shape and of almost the same size. I cannot say in what manner this slab
of slate was employed. Perhaps it is a last for the plaiting of sandals
or the cutting of moccasins. In size it corresponds pretty nearly to the
foot of an adult.
Plate XL: 5. Several ulnae and radii of
birds (turkeys) tied on a buckskin string and probably used as an
amulet. Found in Sprucetree House.
Plate XLIII: 6. Bundle of 19 sticks of hard wood,
probably employed in some kind of knitting or crochet work. The pins are
pointed at one end, blunt at the other, and black with wear. They are
held together by a narrow band of yucca. Found in Sprucetree House.
Plate XLIV: 2. Similar to the preceding basket, but
smaller. Found in Sprucetree House. . . .
[The "preceding basket" is thus described in
explanation of the figure (Pl. XLIV: 1) :] Basket of woven yucca in two
different colors, a nest pattern being thus attained. The strips of
yucca running in a vertical direction are of the natural yellowish
brown, the others (in horizontal direction) darker. . . .
Plate XLV: 1(95) and 2(663): Small baskets of yucca,
of plain colour and of handsomely plaited pattern. Found: 1 in ruin 9, 2
in Sprucetree House.
Plate XLVIII: 4(674). Mat of plaited reeds,
originally 1.2 X 1.2 in., but damaged in transportation. Found in
Sprucetree House.
It appears from the foregoing that the following
specimens have been described and figured by Nordenskiöld, from
Spruce-tree House: (1) A child's skull; (2) 2 stone axes; (3) a slab of
black slate; (4) several bird bones used for amulet; (5) bundle of
sticks; (6) 2 small baskets; (7) a plaited mat.
In addition to the specimens above referred to, the
majority of which are duplicated in the author's collection, no objects
from Spruce-tree House are known to have been described or figured
elsewhere, so that there are embraced in the present account practically
all printed references to known material from this ruin. But there is no
doubt that other specimens as yet unmentioned in print still exist in
public collections in Colorado, and later these also may be described
and figured. From the nature of the author's excavations and method of
collecting, little hope remains that additional specimens may be
obtained from rooms in Spruce-tree House, but the northern refuse-heap
situated at the back of the cavern may yet yield a few, good objects.
This still awaits complete scientific excavation.
The author's collection from Spruce-tree House, the
choice specimens of which are now in the National Museum, numbers
several hundred objects. All the duplicates and heavy specimens, about
equal in number to the lighter ones, were left at the ruin where they
are available for future study. These are mostly stone mauls, metates
and large grinding implements, and broken bowls and vases. The absence
from Spruce-tree House of certain characteristic objects widely
distributed among Southwestern ruins is regarded as worthy of comment.
It will be noticed in looking over the author's collection that there
are no specimens of marine shells, or of turquoise ornaments or obsidian
flakes, from the excavations made at Spruce-tree House. This fact is
significant, meaning either that the former inhabitants of this village
were ignorant of these objects or that the excavators failed to find
what may have existed. The author accepts the former explanation, that
these objects were not in use by the inhabitants of Spruce-tree House,
their ignorance of them having been due mainly to their restricted
commercial dealings with their neighbors.
Obsidian, one of the rarest stones in the
cliff-dwellings of the Mesa Verde, as a rule is characteristic of very
old ruins and occurs in those having kivas of the round type, to the
south and west of that place.
It is said that turquoise has been found in the Mesa
Verde ruins. The author has seen a beautiful bird mosaic with inlaid
turquoise from one of the ruins near Cortez in Montezuma valley. This
specimen is made of hematite with turquoise eyes and neckband of the
same material; the feathers are represented by stripes of inlaid
turquoise. Also inlaid in turquoise in the back is an hour-glass figure,
recalling designs drawn in outline on ancient pottery.
The absence of bracelets, armlets, and finger rings
of sea shells, objects so numerous in the ruins along the Little
Colorado and the Gila, may be explained by lack of trade, due to culture
isolation. The people of Mesa Verde appear not to have come in contact
with tribes who traded these shells, consequently they never obtained
them. The absence of culture connection in this direction tells in favor
of the theory that the ancestors of the Mesa Verde people did not come
from the southwest or the west, where shells are so abundant. Although
not proving much either way by itself, this theory, when taken with
other facts which admit of the same interpretation, is significant. The
inhabitants of Spruce-tree House (the same is true of the other Mesa
Verde people) had an extremely narrow mental horizon. They obtained
little in trade from their neighbors and were quite unconscious of the
extent of the culture of which they were representatives.
POTTERY
The women of Spruce-tree House were expert potters
and decorated their wares in a simple but artistic manner. Until we have
more material it would be gratuitous to assume that the ceramic art
objects of all the Mesa Verde ruins are identical in texture, colors,
and symbolism, and the only way to determine how great are the
variations, if any, would be to make an accurate comparative study of
pottery from different localities. Thus far the quantity of material
available does not justify comparison even of the ruins of this mesa,
but there is a good beginning of a collection from Spruce-tree House.
The custom of placing in graves offerings of food for the dead has
preserved several good bowls, and although whole pieces are rare
fragments are found in abundance. Eighteen earthenware vessels,
including those repaired and restored from fragments, rewarded the
author's excavations at Spruce-tree House. Some of these vessels bear a
rare and beautiful symbolism which is quite different from that known
from Arizona. The few plates (16-20) here given to illustrate these
symbols are offered more as a basis for future study and comparisons
than as an exhaustive representation of ceramics from one ruin.
The number and variety of pieces of pottery figured
from the Mesa Verde cliff-dwellings have not been great. An examination
of Nordenskiöld's memoir reveals the fact that he represents about
50 specimens of pottery; several of these were obtained by purchase, and
others came from Chelly canyon, the pottery of which is strikingly like
that of Mesa Verde. The majority of specimens obtained by
Nordenskiöld's excavations were from Step House, not a single
ceramic object from Spruce-tree House being figured. So far as the
author can ascertain, the ceramic specimens here considered are the
first representatives of this art from Spruce-tree House that have been
described or figured, but there may be many other specimens from this
locality awaiting description and it is to be hoped that some day these
may be made known to the scientific world.
FORMS
Every form of pottery represented by
Nordenskiöld, with the exception of that which he styles a
"lamp-shaped" vessel and of certain platter forms with indentations,
occurs in the collection here considered.
Nordenskiöld figures a jar provided with a lid,
both sides of which are shown.a It would seem that this lid (fig.
1),b unlike those provided with knobs, found by the author, had
two holes near the center. The decoration on the top of the lid of one
of the author's specimens resembles that figured by Nordenskiöld,
but other specimens differ from his as shown in figure 1. The specimens
having raised lips and lids are perforated in the edges of the openings,
with one or more holes for strings or handles. As bowls of this form are
found in sacred rooms they would seem to have been connected with
worship. The author believes that they served the same purposes as the
netted gourds of the Hopi. Most of the ceramic objects in Spruce-tree
House were in fragments when found.c Some of these objects have
been repaired and it is remarkable that so much good material for the
study of the symbolism has been obtained in this way.
aSee The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde, pls.
XXVIII, XXIX: 7.
bThe text figures which appear in this paper were drawn from
nature by Mrs. M. W. Gill, of Forest Glen, Md.
cThe author is greatly indebted to Mr. A. V. Kidder for aid
in sorting and labeling the fragments of pottery, without his assistance
in the field it would have been impossible to repair many of these
specimens.
FIG. 1. Lid of jar.
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Black and white ware is the most common and the
characteristic painted pottery, but fragmentary specimens of a reddish
ware occur. One peculiarity in the lips of food bowls from Spruce-tree
House (pls. 16-18) is that their rims are flat, instead of rounded as in
more western prehistoric ruins, like Sikyatki. Food bowls are rarely
concave at the base.
No fragments of glazed pottery were found, although
the surfaces of some species were very smooth and glossy from constant
rubbing with smoothing stones. Several pieces of pottery were unequally
fired, so that a vitreous mass, or blotch, was evident on one side.
Smooth vessels and those made of coiled ware, which were covered with
soot from fires, were evidently used in cooking.
FIG. 2. Repaired pottery.
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Several specimens showed evidences of having been
broken and afterwards mended by the owners (fig. 2); holes were drilled
near the line of fracture and the two parts tied together; even the
yucca strings still remain in the holes, showing where fragments were
united. In figure 3 there is represented a fragment of a handle of an
amphora on which is tied a tightly-woven cord.
FIG. 3. Handle with attached cord.
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Not a very great variety of pottery forms was brought
to light in the operations at Spruce-tree House. Those that were found
are essentially the types common throughout the Southwest, and may be
classified as follows: (1). Large jars, or ollas; (2) flat food bowls;
(3) cups and mugs; (4) ladles or dippers (fig. 4); (5) canteens; (6)
globular bowls. An exceptional form is a globular bowl with a raised lip
like a sugar bowl (pl. 19, f). This form is never seen in other
prehistoric ruins.
STRUCTURE
Classified by structure, the pottery found in the
Spruce-tree House ruin falls into two groups, coiled ware and smooth
ware, the latter either with or without decoration. The white ware has
black decorations.
The bases of the mugs (pl. 19) from Spruce-tree
House, like those from other Mesa Verde ruins, have a greater diameter
than the lips. These mugs are tall and their handles are of generous
size. One of the mugs found in this ruin has a T-shaped hole in its
handle (fig. 5), recalling in this particular a mug collected in 1895 by
the author at Awatobi, a Hopi ruin.
The most beautiful specimen of canteen found at
Spruce-tree House is here shown in plate 20.
FIG. 4. Ladle.
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The coiled ware of Spruce-tree House, as of all the
Mesa Verde ruins, is somewhat finer than the coiled ware of Sikyatki.
Although no complete specimen was found, many fragments were collected,
some of which are of great size. This kind of ware was apparently the
most abundant and also the most fragile. As a rule these vessels show
marks of fire, soot, or smoke on the outside, and were evidently used as
cooking vessels. On account of their fragile character they could not
have been used for carrying water, for, with one or two exceptions, they
would not be equal to the strain. In decoration of coiled ware the women
of Spruce-tree House resorted to an ingenious modification of the coils,
making triangular figures, spirals, or crosses in relief, which were
usually affixed to the necks of the vessels.
FIG. 5. Handle of mug.
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The symbolism on the pottery of Spruce-tree House is
essentially that of a cliff-dwelling culture, being simple in general
characters. Although it has many affinities with the archaic symbols of
the Pueblos, it has not the same complexity. The reason for this can be
readily traced to that same environmental influence which caused the
communities to seek the cliffs for protection. The very isolation of the
Mesa Verde cliff-dwellings prevented the influx of new ideas and
consequently the adoption of new symbols to represent them. Secure in
their cliffs, the inhabitants were not subject to the invasion of
strange clans nor could new customs be introduced, so that conservatism
ruled their art as well as their life in general. Only simple symbols
were present because there was no outside stimulus or competition to
make them complex.
On classification of Spruce-tree House pottery
according to technique, irrespective of its form, two divisions appear:
(1) Coiled ware showing the coils externally, and (2) smooth ware with
or without decorations. Structurally both divisions are the same,
although their outward appearance is different.
The smooth ware may be decorated with incised lines
or pits, but is painted often in one color. All the decorated vessels
obtained by the author at Spruce-tree House belong to what is called
black-and-white ware, by which is meant pottery having a thin white slip
covering the whole surface upon which black pictures are painted.
Occasionally fragments of a reddish brown cup were found, while red ware
bearing white decorative figures was recovered from the Mesa Verde; but
none of these are ascribed to Spruce-tree House or were collected by the
author. The general geographical distribution of this black and white
ware, not taking into account sporadic examples, is about the same as
that of the circular kivas, but it is also found where circular kivas
are unknown, as in the upper part of the valley of the Little Colorado.
The black-and-white ware of modern pueblos, as Zu-i
and Hano, the latter the Tewan pueblo among the Hopi, is of late
introduction from the Rio Grande; prehistoric Zu-i ware is unlike that
of modern Zu-i, being practically identical in character with that of
the other ancient pueblos of the Little Colorado and its tributaries.
DECORATION
FIG. 6. Fragment of pottery.
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As a rule, the decoration on pottery from Spruce-tree
House is simple, being composed mainly of geometrical patterns. Life
forms are rare, when present consisting chiefly of birds or rude figures
of mammals painted on the outside of food bowls (fig. 6). The
geometrical figures are principally rectilinear, there being a great
paucity of spirals and curved lines. The tendency to arrange rows of
dots along straight lines is marked in Mesa Verde pottery and occurs
also in dados of house walls. There are many examples of stepped or
terraced figures which are so arranged in pairs that the spaces between
the terraces form zigzag bands, as shown in figure 7. A band extending
from the upper left hand, to the lower right hand, angle of the
rectangle that incloses the two terraced figures, may be designated a
sinistral, and when at right angles a dextral, terraced figure (fig. 8).
Specimens from Spruce-tree House show considerable modification in these
two types.
FIG. 7. Zigzag ornament.
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With exception of the terrace the triangle (fig. 9)
is possibly the most common geometrical decoration on Spruce-tree House
pottery. Most of the triangles may be bases of terraced figures, for by
cutting notches on the longer sides of these triangles, sinistral or
dextral stepped figures (as the case may be) result.
The triangles may be placed in a row, united in
hourglass forms, or distributed in other ways. These triangles may be
equilateral or one of the angles may be very acute. Although the
possibilities of triangle combinations are almost innumerable the
different forms can be readily recognized. The dot is a common form of
decoration, and parallel lines also are much used. Many bowls are
decorated with hachure, and with line ornaments mostly rectilinear.
FIG. 8. Sinistral and dextral stepped figures.
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The volute plays a part, although not a conspicuous
one, in Spruce-tree House pottery decoration. Simple volutes are of two
kinds, one in which the figure-coils follow the direction of the hands
of the clock (dextral); the other, in which they take an opposite
direction (sinistral). The outer end of the volute may terminate in a
triangle or other figure, which may be notched, serrated, or otherwise
modified. A compound sinistral volute is one which is sinistral until it
reaches the center, when it turns into a dextral volute extending to the
periphery. The compound dextral volute is exactly the reverse of the
last-mentioned, starting as dextral and ending as sinistral. If, as
frequently happens, there is a break in the lines at the middle, the
figure may be called a broken compound volute. Two volutes having
different axes are known as a composite volute, sinistral or dextral as
the case may be.
The meander (fig. 10) is also important in
Spruce-tree House or Mesa Verde pottery decoration. The form of meander
homologous to the volute may be classified in the same terms as the
volute, into (1) simple sinistral meander; (2) simple dextral meander;
(3) compound sinistral meander; (4) compound dextral meander; and (5)
composite meander. These meanders, like the volutes, may be accompanied
by parallel lines or by rows of dots enlarged, serrated, notched, or
otherwise modified.
FIG. 9. Triangle ornament.
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In some beautiful specimens a form of hachure, or
combination of many parallel lines with spirals and meanders, is
introduced in a very effective way. This kind of decoration is very rare
on old Hopi (Sikyatki) pottery, but is common on late Zu-i and Hano
ceramics, both of which are probably derived from the Rio Grande region.
Lines, straight or zigzig, constitute important
elements in Spruce-tree House pottery decoration. These may be either
parallel, or crossed so as to form reticulated areas.
Along these lines rows of dots or of triangular
enlargements may be introduced. The latter may be simply serrations,
dentations, or triangles of considerable size, sometimes bent over,
resembling pointed bands.
Curved figures are rarely used, but such as are found
are characteristic. Concentric rings, with or without central dots, are
not uncommon.
Rectangles apparently follow the same general rules
as circles, and are also sometimes simple, with or without central dots.
FIG. 10. Meander.
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The triangle is much more common as a decorative
motive than the circle or the rectangle, variety being brought about by
the difference in length of the sides. The hourglass formed by two
triangles with one angle of each united is common. The quail's-head
design, or triangle having two parallel marks on an extension at one
angle, is not as common as on Little Colorado pottery and that from the
Gila valley.
As in all ceramics from the San Juan area, the
stepped figures are most abundant. There are two types of stepped
figures, the sinistral and the dextral, according as the steps pass from
left to right or vice versa. The color of the two stepped figures may be
black, or one or both may have secondary ornamentation in forms of
hachure or network. One may be solid black, the other filled in with
lines.
In addition to the above-mentioned geometrical
figures, the S-shaped design is common; when doubled, this forms the
cross called swastika. The S figure is of course generally curved but
may be angular, in which case the cross is more evident. One bowl has
the S figure on the outside. All of the above-mentioned designs admit of
variations and two or more are often combined in Spruce-tree House
pottery, which is practically the same in type as that of the whole Mesa
Verde region.
CERAMIC AREAS
While it is yet too early in our study of prehistoric
pueblo culture to make or define subcultural areas, it is possible to
recognize provisionally certain areas having features in common, which
differ from other areas.a It has already been shown that the form of the
subterranean ceremonial room can be used as a basis of classification.
If pottery symbols are taken as the basis, it will be found that there
are at least two great subsections in the pueblo country coinciding with
the two divisions recognized as the result of study of the form of
sacred roomsÑthe northeastern and the southwestern region or, for
brevity, the northern and the southern area. In the former region lie,
besides the Mesa Verde and the San Juan valley, Chaco and Chelly
canyons; in the latter, the ruins of "great houses" along the Gila and
Salt rivers.
aThe classification into cavate houses, cliff-dwellings, and
pueblos is based on form.
From these two centers radiated in ancient times two
types of pottery symbols expressive of two distinct cultures, each
ceremonially distinct and, architecturally speaking, characteristic. The
line of junction of the influences of these two subcultural areas
practically follows the Little Colorado river, the valley of which is
the site of a third ceramic subculture area; this is mixed, being
related on one side to the northern, on the other to the southern,
region. The course of this river and its tributaries has determined a
trail of migration, which in turn has spread this intermingled ceramic
art far and wide. The geographical features of the Little Colorado basin
have prevented the evolution of characteristic ceramic culture in any
part of the region.
Using color and symbolism of pottery as a basis of
classification, the author has provisionally divided the sedentary
people of the Southwest into the following divisions, or has recognized
the following ceramic areas: (1) Hopi area, including the wonderful ware
of Sikyatki, Awatobi, and the ruins on Antelope mesa, at old
Mishongnovi, Shumopavi and neighboring ruins; (2) Casa Grande area; (3)
San Juan area, including Mesa Verde, Chaco canyon, Chelly canyon as far
west as St. George, Utah, and Navaho mountain, Arizona; (4) Little
Colorado area, including Zu-i. The pottery of Casas Grandes in Chihuahua
is allied in colors but not in symbols to old Hopi ware. So little is
known of the old Piros ceramics and of the pottery from all ruins east
of the Rio Grande, that they are not yet classified. The ceramics from
the region west of the Rio Grande are related to the San Juan and Chaco
areas.
The Spruce-tree House pottery belongs to the San Juan
area, having some resemblance and relationship to that from the lower
course of the Little Colorado. It is markedly different from the pottery
of the Hopi area and has only the most distant resemblance to that from
Casas Grandes.a
aThe above classification coincides in some respects with
that obtained by using the forms of ceremonial rooms as the basis.
HOPI AREA
The Hopi area is well distinguished by specialized
symbols which are not duplicated elsewhere in the pueblo area. Among
these may be mentioned the symbol for the feather, and a band
representing the sky with design of a mythic bird attached. As almost
all pueblo symbols, ancient and modern, are represented on old Hopi
ware, and in addition other designs peculiar to it, the logical
conclusion is that these Hopi symbols are specialized in origin.
The evolution of a ceramic area in the neighborhood
of the modern Hopi mesas is due to special causes, and points to a long
residence in that locality. It would seem from traditions that the
earliest Hopi people came from the east, and that the development of a
purely Hopi ceramic culture in the region now occupied by this people
took place before any great change due to southern immigration had
occurred. The entrance of Patki and other clans from the south strongly
affected the old Hopi culture, which was purest in Sikyatki, but even
there it remained distinctive. The advent of the eastern clans in large
numbers after the great rebellion in 1680, especially of the Tanoan
families about 1710, radically changed the symbolism, making-modern Hopi
ware completely eastern in this respect. The old symbolism, the germ of
which was eastern, as shown by the characters employed, almost
completely vanished, being replaced by an introduced symbolism.
In order scientifically to appreciate the bearing on
the migration of clans, of symbolism on pottery, we must bear in mind
that a radical difference in such symbolism as has taken place at the
Hopi villages may have occurred elsewhere as well, although there is no
evidence of a change of this kind having occurred at Spruce-tree House.
The author includes under Hopi ware that found at the
Hopi ruins Sikyatki, Shumopavi, and Awatobi, the collection from the
first-named being typical. Some confusion has been introduced by others
into the study of old Hopi ware by including in it, under the name
"Tusayan pottery," the white-and-black ware of the Chelly canyon.a There
is a close resemblance between the pottery of Chelly canyon and that of
Mesa Verde, but only the most distant relationship between true Hopi
ware and that of Chelly canyon. The latter belong in fact to two
distinct areas, and differ in color, symbolism, and general characters.
In so far as the Hopi ware shares its symbolism with the other
geographical areas of the eastern region, to the same extent there is
kinship in culture. In more distant ruins the pottery contains a greater
admixture of symbols foreign to Mesa Verde. These differences are due no
doubt to incorporation of other clans.
aOf 40 pieces of pottery called "Tusayan," figured in
Professor Holmes' Pottery of the Pueblo Area (Second Annual Report of
the Bureau of Ethnology), all but three or possibly four came from
Chelly canyon and belong to the San Juan rather than to the Hopi ware.
Black-and-white pottery is very rare in collections of old Hopi ware,
but is most abundant in the cliff-houses of Chelly canyon and the Mesa
Verde ruins.
The subceramic area in which the Mesa Verde ruins lie
embraces the valleys of the San Juan and its tributaries, Chelly canyon,
Chaco canyon, and probably the ruins along the Rio Grande, on both sides
of the river. Whether the Chaco or the Mesa Verde region is the
geographical center of this subarea, or not, can not be determined, but
the indications are that the Mesa Verde is on its northern border. Along
the southwestern and western borders the culture of this area mingles
with that of the subcultural area adjoining on the south, the resultant
symbolism being consequently more complex. The ceramic ware of ruins of
the Mesa Verde is little affected by outside and diverse influences,
while, on the contrary, similar ware found along the western and
southern borders of the subcultural area has been much modified by the
influence of the neighboring region.
LITTLE COLORADO AREA
Although the decoration on pottery from Spruce-tree
House embraces some symbols in common with that of the ruins along the
Little Colorado, including prehistoric Zu-i, there is evidence of a
mingling of the two ceramic types which is believed to have originated
in the Gila basin. The resemblance in the pottery of these regions is
greater near the sources of the Little Colorado, differences increasing
as one descends the river. At Homolobi (near Winslow) and Chevlon, where
the pottery is half northern and half southern in type, these
differences have almost disappeared.
This is what might be expected theoretically, and is
in accordance with legends of the Hopi, for the Little Colorado ruins
are more modern than the round-kiva culture of Chaco canyon and Mesa
Verde, and than the square-ceremonial-house culture of the Gila. The
indications are that symbolism of the Little Colorado ruins is a
composite, representative in about equal proportions of the two
subcultures of the Southwest.a
aThe pottery from ruins in the Little Colorado basin, from
Wukoki at Black Falls to the Great Colorado, is more closely allied to
that of the drainage of the San Juan and its tributaries.
As confirmatory of this suggested dual origin we find
that the symbolism of pottery from ruins near the source of the Little
Colorado is identical with that of the Salt, the Verde, and the Tonto
basins, from which their inhabitants originally came in larger numbers
than from the Rio Grande. In the ruins of the upper Salt and Gila the
pottery is more like that of the neighboring sources of the Little
Colorado because of interchanges. On the other hand, the ancient Hopi,
being more isolated than other Pueblos, especially those on the Little
Colorado, developed a ceramic art peculiar to themselves. Their pottery
is different from that of the Little Colorado, the upper Gila and its
tributary, the Salt, and the San Juan including the Mesa Verde.
The Zu-i valley, lying practically in the pathway of
culture migration or about midway between the northern and southern
subceramic areas, had no distinctive ancient pottery. Its ancient
pottery is not greatly unlike that of Homolobi near Winslow but has been
influenced about equally by the northern and the southern type. Whatever
originality in culture symbols developed in the Zu-i valley was
immediately merged with others and spread over a large area.b
bThere is of course very little ancient Zu-i ware in
museums, but such as we have justifies the conclusion stated
above.
MESA VERDE AREA
While there are several subdivisions in the eastern
subcultural area, that in which the Mesa Verde ruins are situated is
distinctive. The area embraces the ruins in the Montezuma valley and
those of Chelly canyon, and the San Juan ruins as far as Navaho
mountain, including also the Chaco and the Canyon Largo ruins. Probably
the pottery of some of the ruins east of the Rio Grande will be found to
belong to the same type. That of the Hopi ceramic area, the so-called
"Tusayan," exclusive of Chelly canyon, is distinct from all others. The
pottery of the Gila subculture area is likewise distinctive but its
influence made its way up the Verde and the Tonto and was potent across
the mountains, in the Little Colorado basin. Its influence is likewise
strong in the White Mountain ruins and on the Tularosa, and around the
sources of the Gila and Salt rivers.
An examination of the decoration of pottery from
Spruce-tree House fails to reveal a single specimen with the well known
broken encircling line called "the line of life." As this feature is
absent from pottery from all the Mesa Verde ruins it may be said
provisionally that the ancient potters of this region were unfamiliar
with it.
This apparently insignificant characteristic is
present, however, in all the pottery directly influenced by the culture
of the southwestern subceramic area. It occurs in pottery from the Gila
and the Salt River ruins, in the Hopi area, and along the Little
Colorado, including the Zu-i valley, and elsewhere. Until recorded from
the northeastern subceramic area, "the line of life" may be considered a
peculiarity of ceramics of the Gila subarea or of the pottery influenced
by its culture.
Among the restored food bowls from Spruce-tree House,
having characteristic symbols, may be mentioned that represented in
plate 16, d, d', which has on the interior surface a triangular
design with curved appendages to each angle. The triangular arrangement
of designs on the interior surface of food bowls is not uncommon in the
Mesa Verde pottery.
Another food bowl has two unusual designs on the
interior surface, as shown in plate 18, c, c'. The meaning of
this rare symbolism is unknown.
In plates 16-19 are represented some of the most
characteristic symbols on the restored pottery.
The outer surfaces of many food bowls are elaborately
decorated with designs as shown, while the rims in most cases are dotted.
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