A Study of Pueblo Pottery as Illustrative of Zuñi Culture Growth | Page 8

evolution of the
pitcher, this type of basket was reproduced in clay, not only was the
general form preserved, but also the details above described. That is,
without reference to usefulness--in fact at no small expense of
trouble--the handles were almost always made double (see Fig. 521);
indeed, often braided, although of clay. Frequently, especially as time
went on, the bottoms were left plain, as if to simulate the smooth
skin-bottoming of the basket-bottles. (See Fig. 522.) At first it seems
odd that with all these points of similarity the two kinds of water-vessel
should have totally dissimilar names; the basket-bottle being known as
the _k'iá pu k'ia tom me_, from _k'iá pu kia_, "for carrying or placing
water in," and _tóm me_; the handled earthen receptacle, as the _í mush
ton ne_. Yet when we consider that the latter was designed not for
transporting water, for which it was less suited than the former, but for
holding it, for which it was even preferable, the discrepancy is
explained, since the name _í mush ton ne_ is from _i´ mu_, to sit, and

_tóm me_, a tube. This indicates, too, why the basket-bottle was not
displaced by the earthen bottle. While the former continued in use for
bringing water from a distance, the latter was employed for storing it.
As the fragile earthen vessels were much more readily made and less
liable to become tainted, they were exclusively used as receptacles,
removing the necessity of the tedious manufacture of a large number of
the basket-bottles. Again, as the pitcher was thus used exclusively as a
receptacle, to be set aside in household or camp, the name _í´ mush ton
ne_ sufficed without the interpolation _te_--"earthenware"--to
distinguish it as of terra cotta, instead of osiery.
[Illustration: FIG. 521.--Water-bottle of corrugated ware, showing
double handle.]
[Illustration: FIG. 522.--Water-bottle of corrugated ware, showing plain
bottom.]

POTTERY INFLUENCED BY LOCAL MINERALS.
Before discussing the origin of other forms, it may be well to consider
briefly some influences, more or less local, which, in addition to the
general effect of gourd-forms in suggesting basket-types and of the
latter in shaping earthenware, had considerable bearing on the
development of ceramic art in the Southwest, pushing it to higher
degrees of perfection and diversity in some parts than in others.
Perhaps first in importance among these influences was the mineral
character of a locality. Where clay occurred of a fine tough texture,
easily mined and manipulated, the work in terra cotta became
proportionately more elaborate in variety and finer in quality. There are
to be found about the sites of some ancient pueblos, potsherds
incredibly abundant and indicating great advancement in decorative art,
while near others, architecturally similar, even where evidence of
ethnic connection is not wanting, only coarse, crudely-molded, and
painted fragments are discoverable, and these in limited quantity.

An example in point is the ruined pueblo of _A´ wat u i_ or _Aguatóbi_,
as it was known to the Spaniards at the time of the conquest, when it
was the leading "city of the Province of Tusayan," now Moki. Over the
entire extent of this ruin, and to a considerable distance around it,
fragments of the greatest variety in color, shape, size, and finish of
ware occur in abundance. In the immediate neighborhood, however, are
extensive, readily accessible formations producing several kinds of clay
and nearly all the color minerals used in the Pueblo potter's art. Yet at
the greatest ruin on the upper Colorado Chiquito (in an arm of the
valley of which river _A´ wat ú i_ itself occurs), where the fallen walls
betoken equal advancement in the status of the ancient builders and
indicate by their vast extent many times the population of _A´ wat u i_,
the potsherds are coarse, irregular in curvature, badly decayed, and
exceptionally scarce. In the immediate neighborhood of this ruin, I
need not add, clay is of rare occurrence and poor in quality.
A more reliable example is furnished by the farming pueblos of Zuñi.
At _Hé sho ta tsí nan_ or Ojo del Pescado, fifteen miles east of Zuñi,
clays of several varieties and color minerals are abundant. The finest
pottery of the tribe is made there in great quantity, while,
notwithstanding the facilities for transportation which the Zuñis now
possess, at the opposite farming town of _K'iáp kwai na kwin_, or Los
Ojos Calientes, where clay is scarce and of poor texture, the pottery,
although somewhat abundant, is of miserable quality and of bad shape.
In quality of art quite as much as in that of material this local influence
was great. In the neighborhood of ruined pueblos which occur near
mineral deposits furnishing a great variety of pigment-material, the
decoration of the ceramic remains is so surprisingly and universally
elaborate, beautiful, and varied as