A Study of Pueblo Pottery as Illustrative of Zuñi Culture Growth | Page 7

tsí nan_, from _shú e_, splints; _k'i´sh pai e_, tapering
(_k'ish pon ne_, neck or smaller part of anything); and _tsí nan_, mark;
that is, "tapering" or "neck-splint mark." Curiously enough, in a
bottle-shaped basket as it approaches completion the splints of the
tapering part or neck all lean spirally side by side of one another (see
Fig. 515), and a term descriptive of this has come to be used as that
applied to lines resembling it, instead of a derivative from _ä´s sël lai
e_, signifying an oblique or leaning line. Where splints variously
arranged, or stitches, have given names to decorations--applied even to
painted and embroidered designs--it is not difficult for us to see that
these same combinations, at first unintentional, must have suggested
the forms to which they gave names as decorations.
[Illustration: FIG. 510. FIG. 511. Terraced lozenge decoration, or
"double-splint-stitch-forms."]
[Illustration: FIG. 512. FIG. 513. Double-splint-stitch.]
[Illustration: FIG. 514.--Diagonal parallel-line decoration.]
[Illustration: FIG. 515.--Splints at neck of unfinished basket.]
[Illustration: FIG. 516. FIG. 517. Examples of indented decoration on
corrugated ware.]
[Illustration: FIG. 518.--Cooking-pot of corrugated ware, showing
conical projections near rim.

_Pueblo coiled pottery developed from basketry._--Seizing the
suggestion afforded by the rude tray-molded parching-bowls,
particularly after it was discovered that if well burned they resisted the
effects of water as well as of heat, the ancient potter would naturally
attempt in time to reproduce the boiling-basket in clay. She would find
that to accomplish this she could not use as a mold the inside of the
boiling-basket, as she had the inside of the tray, because its neck was
smaller than its body. Nor could she form the vase by plastering the
clay outside of the vessel, not only for the same reason, but also
because the clay in drying would contract so much that it would crack
or scale off. Naturally, then, she pursued the process she was
accustomed to in the manufacture of the basket-bottle. That is, she
formed a thin rope of soft clay, which, like the wisp of the basket, she
coiled around and around a center to form the bottom, then spirally
upon itself, now widening the diameter of each coil more and more,
then contracting as she progressed upward until the desired height and
form were attained. As the clay was adhesive, each coil was attached to
the one already formed by pinching or pressing together the connecting
edges at short intervals as the winding went on. This produced
corrugations or indentations marvelously resembling the stitches of
basket-work. Hence accidentally the vessel thus built up appeared so
similar to the basket which had served as its model that evidently it did
not seem complete until this feature had been heightened by art. At any
rate, the majority of specimens belonging to this type of
pottery--especially those of the older periods during which it was
predominant--are distinguished by an indented or incised decoration
exactly reproducing the zigzags, serrations, chevrons, terraces, and
other characteristic devices of water-tight basketry. (Compare Figs. 516,
517 with Figs. 507, 508.) Evidently with a like intention two little
cone-like projections were attached to the neck near the rim of the
vessel (see Fig. 518) which may hence be regarded as survivals of the
loops whereby it has been seen the ends of the strap-handle were
attached to the boiling-basket. (See again Fig. 503, a.) Although varied
in later times to form scrolls, rosettes, and other ornate figures (see Fig.
519), they continued ever after quite faithful features of the spiral type
of pot, and may even sometimes be seen on the cooking-vessels of
modern Zuñi. To add yet another link to this chain of connection

between the coiled boiling-basket and the spirally-built cooking-pot,
the names of the two kinds of vessels may be given. The boiling-basket
was known as _wó li a k'ia ni tu li a tom me_, the corrugated cooking
pot as _wo li a k'ia te´ ni tu li a ton ne_, the former signifying "coiled
cooking-basket," the latter "coiled earthenware cooking-basket."
[Illustration: FIG. 519--Cooking-pot of corrugated ware, showing
modified projections near rim.]
[Illustration: FIG. 520.--Wicker water-bottle, showing double loops for
suspension.]
Other very important types of vessels were made in a similar way. I
refer especially to canteens and water-bottles. The water-bottle of
wicker differed little from the boiling-basket. It was generally
rounder-bodied, longer and narrower necked, and provided at one side
near the shoulders or rim with two loops of hair or strong fiber, usually
braided. (See Fig. 520.) The ends of the burden-strap passed through
these loops made suspension of the vessel easy, or when the latter was
used simply as a receptacle, the pair of loops served as a handle.
Sometimes these basket-bottles were strengthened at the bottom with
rawhide or buckskin, stuck on with gum. When, in the