SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONSVOLUME 76. NUMBER S
ADDITIONAL DESIGNS ON PREHISTORICMIMBRES POITERY
BYJ. WALTER FEWKESChief, Bureau of American Ethnology
(Publication 2748)
CITY OF WASHINGTONPUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTIONJANUARY 22, 1924
BALTUIOKK, MD., i: . S. A.
ADDITIONAL DESIGNS ON PREHISTORICMIMBRES POTTERYBy J. WALTER FEWKESCHIEF. BLRKAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGYINTRODUCTIONIn former papers ' the author has tried to show, from archeologicalstudies, that the prehistoric aborigines of the IMimbres Valley, NewMexico, developed a culture area differing from any other in theSouthwest. The characters which more than any other distinguishthis culture from others are the adornment of food bowls withrealistic, sometimes composite, figures of men and animals, and theartistic character of the designs. Previously to the year 1914, fewprehistoric Mimbres picture bowls had been published, but since thatdate, as shown in part by the literature,^ many of these have beenbrought to light, and there are now several collections of size fromthis valley, which have characteristic realistic figures. Of late yearsthere has been considerable activity in collecting prehistoric potteryin this area, and in Alay and June, 1923, the author revisited theMimbres Valley to procure some of this new material for the U. S.National Museum, and the following paper is mainly devoted to de-scriptions of specimens purchased at that time from Mr. E. D. Osborn,who first called his attention to the pottery of the Mimbres Valley.There are also considered in this article copies of photographs anddrawings of other designs and specimens which could not be pur-chased for the U. S. National Museum.The collections of Mimbres pottery that have been examined in thepreparation of this article are: about 100 specimens from the Osborncollection, which were purchased ; the collection owned by Mr. R. E.Eisele, of Fort Bayard, New Mexico; the collection made by Mrs.Watson, of Pinos Altos ; and that of Mrs. Hulbert of the same city.Mr. and Mrs. Cosgrove allowed the author to inspect a fine collectioncarefully made by them at Treasure Hill (Whisky Creek) near Silver
^ Archaeology of the Lower Mimbres Valley, New jMexico, SmithsonianMisc. Coll., Vol. 63, No. 10, 1914. Designs on Prehistoric Pottery from theMimbres Valley, New Mexico, ibid., Vol. 74, No. 6, 1923. Vide, idem. Vol. 65,No. 6, 1915; also Amer. Anth. (N. S.), Vol. XVIII, pp. 535-545, 1915.Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 76, No. 8
2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76City. This collection is particularly valuable as it was obtained fromone ruin. The author also examined a few small collections, as thatof Dr. Swope, previously considered, and a few specimens belongingto Mr. Thompson, of Deming.^Although this article is limited to designs on pottery, which areby far the most distinguishing feature, the Mimbres culture may alsobe characterized by other artifacts which will be considered in a finalreport on Mimbres prehistory.Mimbres pictures are painted on the interiors of food bowls andthe exteriors of vases. These objects are mortuary and found underthe floors of the rooms, the walls of which nowhere rise above thesurface of the ground, but are readily observed as small piles of rockcalled Indian graves. The grave yards are situated along both banks ofthe Mimbres River and are almost in sight of each other. In its courseafter it emerges from the hills the Mimbres River sinks undergroundbut flows onward, reappearing at times when the clay bed of theriver rises to the surface. The ruins do not always follow the sub-terranean course but occur scattered over the plain.Although the geographical extension or horizon of the Mimbresarea, as indicated by its peculiar pottery, has not been carefullyworked out it is practically limited to the Mimbres Valley, but notnecessarily to the terraces along the river. There are sites withpicture pottery on the eastern side of Cook's Peak, a prominentmountain belonging to the range that incloses the Mimbres basin onthe east. Northward Mimbres pottery has been found over the con-tinental divide in ruins on Sapillo Creek and tributaries of the UpperGila. The western extension of the Mimbres pottery area is notknown, but the ceramics rapidly change in character in this direction,merging into Gila Valley types.While the designs figured and described in this paper enlarge ourknowledge of the ancient ^limbrehos they do not materially changeconclusions already published. Before we can attempt any very exten-sive interpretations we sorely need more material ; but with the in-formation here published we may venture a few suggestions regardingthe culture of the ancient ]\Iimbres people. This knowledge, beingwholly derived from archeological data, must from the nature of itssource be tentative. We have no other way of revealing the mannersand customs of this prehistoric race, as historical accounts are very
^ The author takes this opportunity to thank all those who have aided him onhis visits to the Mimbres, especially Mrs. Watson, Mrs. Hulbert, and Mr. Eisele,who have allowed him to photograph and publish specimens in their collections.
NO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY—FEWKES 3
meager and no one has identified the survivors of these people.Archeology- contributes knowledge of their life by means of objectivematerial and for that material we must search among wrecks of theirhouses and the mortuary and other objects which are found in themor in their graves and refuse heaps.No one has yet carefully excavated their buildings sufificiently todetermine the form of their rooms, although fragments of walls havebeen brought to light. There are two types of mounds, differing insize and contents. One of these types, situated at the Gonzales Ranch,is lenticular in form, made up of adobe containing few stones. Thesemounds appear as low elevations rising but a few feet above thesurrounding surface. The other type, which seems to belong to a latersettlement, is indicated superficially by piles of stones formerly laidin adobe in walls of rudest masonry. These walls formed roomsunited in rows or even inclosing square courts. In some places thereappear on the surface circles of stones,* generally of small diameter,bearing outward resemblances to the tops of the bounding walls ofburied ceremonial rooms or kivas. Circular kivas have not Ijeenfound, up to the present, as far south as the Mimbres but a knowl-edge of their existence and structure would be of value in comparativestudies. Subterranean walls extending far below the surface havebeen laid bare, and several of these have a fine plastered surface.*Little is known of the structure of the roofs as wooden beams havenot yet been found. The floors are composed of hardened adobe,sometimes overlaid with flat stones. The dead were buried in thecorners of the rooms below the floors, some with limbs extended,others flexed. The bowls that accompany the dead are variouslyplaced, some being at the side of the dead, but now and then they wereplaced over the head like a cap. Mortuary bowls were depositedwith the dead by the ancient pueblos, whose cemeteries are situatedoutside the walls of their villages. These clusters of stone housesare locally called Indian grave yards, and are generally situated onnatural terraces a few feet alx)ve the river bed to avoid inundation,l)ut are not confined to the banks of the river, often appearing miles
* Possibly ceremonial rooms. " Architecturally the prehistoric habitations ofthe Mimbres Valley represent an old house form widely distributed in thePueblo region or that antedating the pueblo or terraced-house type beforethe kiva had developed."—Arch. Mimbres Valley, p. 52.
'Mr. Cosgrove (El Palacio, July 16. 1923) identifies two rectangular roomsexcavated by him at " Treasure Hill " as kivas, and refers to ventilation inthem. The author is unable to accept this identification without more knowl-edge than is now available of their structure.
4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 7baway from springs, suggesting the puzzling question. " Where didthey get water? " One of the largest of the ruins, situated on Monte-zuma Hill, in sight of the highway not far from the village of PinosAltos, covers a high hill and consists of many clusters of rooms.In no instance is there evidence that the rooms of Mimbres houseswere several stores high or terraced as in the pueblo region. Neitherhas excavation revealed buildings surrounded by a wall resemblingcompounds like Casa Grande in the Gila. The mounds of ruins arelow, seldom if ever having walls projecting above ground.The most instructive of the large Mimbres ruins, and one thathas yielded many specimens, is called Old Town. This site givesevery evidence that it was once a populous settlement. It is situatedat the point where the Mimbres river leaves the mountains andenters Antelope Valley. Old Town is a typical Mimbres ruin but hasbeen pretty well ransacked by pot-hunters, yielding some of the mostinteresting specimens from this valley.REALISTIC DESIGNS ON POTTERYThe designs on Mimbres pottery are mainly painted on the insideof food bowls and naturally fall into three groups : (i) Realistic ; (2)conventional; (3) geometric. The large majority are realistic figuresof animals. There are several realistic birds' figures where wings ortail have become more or less conventionalized. The geometric figureseither form a marginal decoration or cover the whole interior of thebowl. They often adorn the bodies of animals.There is one interesting group of realistic designs that is uniquein pueblo decoration, viz., parts of two animals united, forming acomposite representation of some mythological personage.^ In oneor two instances human bodies have animal heads supposed to bemasks.The dififerent designs collected in 1923 are considered in the fol-lowing pages. The most exceptional figures are those of compositeanimals, one of which is shown in figure i, drawn from a photograph.This bowl, owned by Mr. Eisele, was found by him on the Gonzalesranch. The main figure was evidently intended to represent a humanbeing crouched in a sitting posture, annexed to which is apparently thebody of a bird, as shown by tail feathers. The face of the humanbeing is well made and the body weiars a kilt of checkerboard design.There are two curved pointed horns on its head. The face is crossed
^ In this connection see Tello, Las representaciones de los dioses en el arteantiguo peruano. Inca, Vol. i. No. i, January-March, 1923.
NO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY—FEWKES 5by a white band; body and limbs are black. The author believesthat here we have a composition of human figure and the tail of abird, quite different from any figure on any other piece of potteryknown to him.One of the most instructive pictures in the Eisele collection is thebowl shown in figure 2, upon which are represented three butter^ieswith outspread wings, two with extended and one with retractedprobosces. Each butterfly has two wings around the edge of whichare the customary dots which are almost universally found on butterflyfigures from the Hopi to the Gila Valley. In the middle of this groupstands a man who carries on his head a small vase which he holds inposition. One of the butterflies, clinging to the elbow of the manby its feet, extends its proboscis as if to take the contents of thevase. The color of this vase is light cream and the figures are paintedin brown merging into black. The ordinary symbol of the butterflyis, of course, triangular ; but in this case we have this insect shownfrom one side, which is a very rare position in pueblo pictography.The design on figure 3 ^ is very intricate, consisting of two units,each twice represented at opposite ends of diameter of the bowl.These units may be called central and peripheral. The former repre-sent two human beings facing in opp-^site directions and separated bygeometrical figures. The arms in each case are raised above the headas if holding a burden. The face of one is white ; the color of thebody is black. The appendages are slim. The other or peripheral unitis thought to represent a bird. Each of the two representations ofthis unit has extended tail. The last joint of the legs and the attach-ment of the legs to the back suggests a grasshopper. This is oneof the most complex of all the Mimbres figures, and probably illus-trates some ancient myth of which there is no survival, as the aboriginalinhabitants of the Mimbres have either completely disappeared or,what is more likely, have been absorbed into other stocks.Figure 4 represents a native drawing of a naked " human figurewith a feather tied in his hair. He holds at arm's length, in both hands,an animal which resembles a snake. On first sight the impressionwould naturally be that this figure indicates that the prehistoricNlimbrenos had some form of a snake dance, like that of the Hopi,or that this figure represents a shaman or snake charmer conjuringwith a reptile. It calls to mind a figure holding a curved object which
^ When not otherwise stated specimens here described are now in the col-lection of the U. S. National Museum, and were purchased from Mr. Osbornin 1923.
" Naked men's bodies and limbs are painted black.
6 SMITHSOx\IAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76
might be either a rabbit stick or snake, shown in figure 5 ; but untilwe have more detailed material we cannot regard this as more than asuggestion. It does not, of course, follow, even if this man is carryinga snake, that there was an elaborate snake dance among theIMimbreiios.Figures of snakes are rare, but Mrs. Watson, of Pinos Altos, hasa bowl with two coiled designs resembling snakes but without anaccompanying human figure ; the author has elsewhere ^ figured ahorned snake from this region.The posture of the well-drawn figure of a man in figure 6 (EiseleCollection) is peculiar. Arms and legs are extended and the upperpart of the head and nose is black ; cheeks white.The two human beings shown in figure 7 are remarkable. Theysuggest a child riding on the back of his parent, holding on literallyby the hair of his head. This interpretation does not explain the fishattached to the nose of the smaller figure, leading to the belief thatthere must be some unknown legend back of this figure. The fish hasthe two ventral fins and the two pectorals. There is also an anal finbut no dorsal. The fins that are represented are longer and morepointed than is usually the case ; and the crescent that ordinarilyrepresents the gill opening and operculum is missing, its place beingoccupied by an unusual black object depicted on a white ground.The small figure is apparently clothed in one of those jacket-likegarments worn by figures of hunters shown in a former article.^ Thisgarment is held in place by a woven belt whose ends appear in thefigure, tied around the body. There is no indication of clothing onthe larger figure, whose head, body, arms and legs are black, thecustomary color in representing nude figures. The attitude of thearms suggests an ancient Egyptian at prayer. The profiles of thefaces in both figures have a certain likeness.Whether figure 8 represents fishermen who have captured a largefish, some fish legend or a ceremony connected with fishing, is unknown,but each of the four participants has a line connected with the fish'smouth and above the group is an upright pole with feathers attachedat intervals. Every man has a different attitude and the faces of allare painted white with black crowns. The cheeks are crossed withparallel lines which also extend lengthwise on the fish. The operculum
^ Archaeology of the Lower Mimbres Valley, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., Vol.63, No. 10, fig. 28, 1914-
- Archaeology of the Lower Mimbres Valley, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., Vol.63, No. 10, fig. 13. 1914-
NO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY FEWKES 7
is not crescentic as in most fishes but is indicated by a white line. Thehead, fins, and tail are black ; ankles of all men are white in color.In figure 9 a man holding a bow and arrow is shown ; head and limbsare evident, but the bowl is so broken that other details do not appear.The head of the animal represented in figure 10 resembles that ofa carnivorous animal, as a mountain lion. The remarkable feature inthis figure is the tail, which is very much thickened and elongated,bearing a terraced design on the surface and ending in a triangulartip. A chevron figure on the head of this animal has some resemblanceto one on a serpent figured elsewhere.'The design figured on the inside of the food bowl (fig. 11) repre-sents a quadruped with a very long tail, curving over the back andending in a white tip. Attention should be called to the fact that inthis figure the anterior legs bend forward, and not backward, whichis the general case in most quadrupeds. This animal is apparentlywalking on his tail and perhaps visualizes some ancient myth similarto one to which my attention has been called as existing among thePlains Indians.The quadruped depicted in figure 12 evidently represents somecarnivorous animal of the cat group, resembling somewhat a wolverine.The interior of the bowl was so much broken that only one figureremained, the duplication Ijeing restored.Figure 13 is a figure of a mountain sheep or goat not unlike someother representations of the same animal elsewhere figured.We have in figure 14 a representation of a mountain goat, the formand attitude of which is highly characteristic. In figure 15. whichrepresents a mountain sheep, the dift'erences are brought out.Figure 16 represents a mountain lion but dififers from any vetfigured in the white line that extends from the ears to the throat.The tail in this figure is turned over the back—an almost universalposition in pueblo pictures of the mountain lion.Figure 17 is a negative picture, or one in white on a black back-ground, representing a rabbit. The ears bear the customary blackspots, and the eye is circular in form.Figures 18, 19, each represent two rabbits painted black on awhite ground. The body of one is marked with a longitudinal curvedwhite band with black dots, the other with a checkerboard pattern.But few instances of rabbit pictures are known to me in which theside of the body is decorated with any figure.
* This figure has, however, a cephalic horn which is absent in the designconsidered, which also has two ears.
8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76In figure 20 we have representations of two animals, possiblymother and offspring, one large, one small, both of which have similarprojecting jaws. The posterior end of the body of the smaller mergesinto a fish ; the body and hind legs of a quadruped are replaced bythe body and fins of a fish, two on the back (where there is neverin other fishes more than one dorsal), and one anal fin.'Figure 21 shows two hornless quadrupeds standing feet to feet onan ornamented base decorated with checkerboard design. The bodyof each bears an intricate cross design with stepped edges. The neckhas white lines on three sides of a rectangle. Body black ; eyes lozengeshaped ; ears prominent ; tail short, stumpy, marked with white lines.Figure 22 represents some mythic animal with four legs, and araised wing. The body is continued in a very unusual posterior ap-pendage recalling a human leg. This specimen belongs to the Hulbertcollection. The body is surrounded by a belt with two series ofsquares, alternating black and white. The mythologic conception inthe mind of the painter of this design is a strange one. unlike anyyet described in pueblo folk tales.Figure 23 represents two figures with round heads, large white eyesand prominent lips. The figures of hands apparently are shown onthe corners of the bodies. Legs well drawn and toes human in char-acter. No suggestion is made regarding the identification of thesefigures.Figure 24 is a negative picture of a flying creature like a bat ° withlarge outspread wings, round head like that last mentioned, and promi-nent ears. This animal has a tail like that of a mouse outlined inwhite on a black ground.Figure 25 shows twO' quadrupeds with short, stumpy legs, rela-tively large heads and small necks, with white bodies. No identifica-tion of these animals has been made and the details of the smalldrawings are very incomplete.The peripheral parallel lines surrounding these figures are crossedby a zigzag line which follows the course of the inner cluster ofencircling parallel lines making a singularly ornate and exceptionaldecoration.
^The frequent occurrence of fish designs on Mimbres picture pottery hasled to a suggestion that we have evidence of a former life near more waterthan now flows in the Mimbres. But facts do not warrant the conclusion.The author has previously described a figure of a combined antelope and fish.^The belief that this figure represents a flying mammal or bat, is based onthe shape of the head and the absence of feathers.
NO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY—FEWKES 9Figure 26 belongs to the Eisele collection and was found in thesame ruin as figure i. It represents a wading bird (ibis ?) with cor-respondingly long legs and neck, along which are four small fishes.A short distance from its beak is another fish, apparently about to bedevoured by the bird.One of the instructive forms of composite animals is a figure re-sembling a bat seen laterally. It shows tail, fore and hind legs of aquadruped, and an appendage attached to the back as seen infigure 27. This appendage represents a wing or row of feathers, sevenof which are rounded at the tips and 24 marked with dots at the distalend, and three have their extremities cut off straight, angular or morepointed than the other feathers. The snout of this animal closely re-sembles that of a bat and has teeth. Three arrows are shown asconverging at the mouth as if talking to this animal. Altogether,this is one of the most exceptional forms of flying animals in theEisele collection, and represents some ancient myth.^As in collections previously described, avian figures predominate,but the few specimens here considered introduce one or two novelvariations. The simplest form of bird figure in the collection made in1923 is shown dorsally in figure 28. Here we have a form wherewings, body, tail, and head are outlined with straight lines. The headis triangular, black in color, with two dotted eyes. The wings are alsotriangular and are crossed by parallel lines. The body is rectangularand the tail ends in two triangular black points. The peripheral zoneof decoration of this vessel is peculiar and artistic, consisting ofalternating zigzag and triangular lines, the character and shape ofwhich are shown in the figure.Figure 29 (Eisele collection) represents a quail with tufted headturned to one side, and peculiar wing feathers. The aborigines rarelyrepresent a bird laterally with its head twisted back as gracefully as inthis picture. The curved appendage to the eye recalls the club-shapedbodies so constantly occurring in Casas Grandes pottery. The wingfeathers are of two varieties : one with rounded tips and dots ; theother pointed, without dots. The wing is made conspicuous by beingwhite in color while the bodv is black. The necklace is white.
^ It suggests a quadruped with an extended wing of a bird. The situationof the arrows is suggestive. In several Hopi legends there are accounts ofhow a supernatural being shot arrows into the sky, which talked w'ith a mytho-logical personage and then voluntarily flew back to the sender. One of thesetalking arrows was noted in the legend of the Snake people. Snake Ceremo-nials at Walpi, Journ. Amer. Arch, and Eth., Vol. IV, 1894.
10 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76The bird in figure 30 has widely extended wings of triangular shape,the feathers being represented by dentations on the lower side ; thetail feathers have characteristic white tips. The body is globular,without legs. There are parallel lines on the head resembling a tuftof feathers. The body decoration is a square enclosing three parallelconcentric Hnes and a white interior. The head is turned to one side,but the tail is shown from above.Figures 31 (Eisele collection), and ^^2 are representations of asimilar bird. The extended wings of figure 31 are crescentic and bearmidway three parallel white lines. Along the lower edge of each wingare clubshaped feathers. The head and tail are seen dorsally. Thelegs are abnormally extended, one on each side. The irregular designjust below the neck is a perforation made when the bowl was " killed."In figure 33 we see a well drawn representation of a turkey cock,showing the tail feathers twisted vertically out of perspective. Thefigure below on which it stands is a turkey hen. We have here bothsexes of the turkey. It will be noted that the body of the cock is notperfectly square but the surrounding lines are slightly bent or curved,imparting some grace to an otherwise stifif figure.As has been stated elsewhere negative pictures of animals or geo-metric designs occur on both Mimbres and Casas Grandes pottery.In these figures the animal is not drawn but a background is paintedin such a way that a white figure is represented. In certain Mimbresdesigns within the profile of the white or rectangular field is a picturein black. A figure of a human being or animal drawn inside thenegative of the same is exceptional in pueblo ceramic decoration.An example of this form of design is shown in figure 34.The bird represented in figure 34 is double headed and is one ofthose very exceptional figures in which we have a negative pictureoverlaid with a positive so that the latter seems to be rimmed witha white border. The body is rectangular, covered by a checkerboarddesign of small black and white lozenge-shaped figures. The twowings are dentated along their borders; legs short, without claws.The two round heads with short beaks face in opposite directions,and curved appendages recall feathers.Remove the picture in black from its setting or background and thenegative picture of a bird still remains, or a white figure with blackbackground. There are one or two other examples of similar overlaidpictures in Mimbres picture bowls.'
' Designs on Prehistoric Pottery from the Mimbres Valley, SmithsonianMisc. Coll., Vol. 74, No. 6, fig. 10, 1923.
NO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY—FEWKES I]A well drawn bird figure shown in figure 35 is represented on theright side. Unlike most of the Alimbres birds its beak is short andthe legs are small, placed far back on the body. Almost all the bodyis covered l)y a checkerboard design composed of alternate squares,white and black in color. The extended primary and secondaryfeathers of the wing are clearly seen. The tail is quite unlike thatof other birds, more like that of some quadruped. The geometricalmarking on the body under the extended wing is exceptional.The design on the bowl shown in«. figure 36 is an imknown birdwhose neck is ornamented with a number of dotted squares arrangedin a zigzag figure recalling the design on the head of a HornedSerpent shown elsewhere. The association of the checkerboard figureon the sun and serpent symbol is highly suggestive. The puncturein the middle of this bowl hides the figure on the body which is indi-cated by ends of white lines. This bird stands above an implementof unknown use.Figures 36a to 36/ represent the different forms of this implementwhich is several times figured with the realistic designs from theMimbres. The exact use of these objects is not known but it haslieen conjectured that they were knives, batons, or other stone objects,with handles. The simplest form is shown in figure 36a and con-sists of an elongated blade attached to a handle. This blade has zigzagmarkings which Mr. De Lancey Gill has suggested represent chippingof a stone implement (" sword ").Figures 36/? and 36r are aberrant forms of an implement that mayhave been used for defense, the same shown under a bird in figure 36.Figure 36/ resembles in some respects a stone spear point.Figure 36a introduces a figure of a circular body between the handleand the shaft, and two crescentic extensions between the handle andthe blade.Figure 36^ would seem to be analogous to the group of implementsabove although it wants the handle so conspicuous in the three pre-ceding figures. It has a circular extremity around which are a numberof small semicircles. This object was held in the hand of a quadruped,whereas, the other objects were associated with birds.In figure 36/, where two of these objects are represented on thesame bowl, we have, in addition to the handle, radiating lines at thepoint of attachment of the shaft and handle.The middle of this bowl has been punctured in " killing," thusrendering it impossible to discover whether an arm and leg is drawnon each side.
12 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76As the use of the objects which these figures represent is purelyconjectural it is much to be hoped that other bowls on which theymay be figured will later be brought to light for examination.The present figure (fig. 37) is from the original now in the U. S.National Museum, and dififers from the former illustration ' in thetail feathers which are unique. Each of the six tail feathers bifurcatesinto two parallel lines as here shown (fig. 37). The wing is highlysymbolic ; its central part in the original has a brown color which ishere incorrectly indicated by parallel lines resembling hachures else-where shown. We have only one-half of this bowl, but there wereundoubtedly two parrots on it when complete. The triangular objectin front of the parrot is connected in some way with the " sword "elsewhere considered.Portions of a head and tail of an animal are shown in figure 38.Enough is preserved to indicate that they are parts of a bird figm^ecarrying a twig of leaves or feathers in the mouth. The middle of thebowl is too much broken to enable one to determine the shape of thebody, wings, and the remainder of the design.The mouth of figure 39 has teeth unlike any genus of living birdand the tail resembles that of a fish more than any other animal. Thespecimen is owned by Mr. Eisele, of Fort Bayard. The head bearstwo horns that remind one of some species of Cervidae, but the bodyand wings are strictly avian. The correlation of a long neck andlegs exists in this picture.Figure 40 shows two negative designs, that above representing arabbit and the one below a highly conventionalized bird. These twofigures are separated by a band consisting of several parallel linesblack and white alternating. The original is in the Hulbert collectionat Pinos Altos.Figure 41 is a well drawn bird from the Eisele collection as seenfrom the side. This bird shows a tail prolonged at the two corners intopointed feathers and is the only bird design that has this characteristic.Figure 42 represents a man herding a turkey whose globular bodyis different from that of any turkey yet described. The originalspecimen is in the Watson collection at Pinos Altos.Two designs of figure 43 in Mrs. Watson's collection are supposedto represent serpents, but their identification is doubtful. They arecomparable with the so-called serpents held by the priests shown infigures 4 and 5.
^ Designs on Prehistoric Pottery from the Mimbres Valley, fig. 46. Fig. 6 inthis article is a female figure with a basket on her back in which are twins,each with a sun symbol.
NO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMRRES POTTERY FEWKES I3Figure 44 is the dorsal view of a lizard. The design on the marginof this bowl appears nevei^ to have been completed but consists oftriangles, five of which are simply outlines ; the remainder filled inwith solid black.The surface of the food bowl shown in figure 45 is decorated witha picture of a turtle crowded into the whole interior surface of thebowl. The body of this turtle is crossed by a number of parallellongitudinal lines and on each side of it are two curved bands withdentations on one side. The hind legs have no indications of feet.On each side of a pointed tail and in a corresponding position to thehead there are depicted angular extensions of the rim, black in color,the shapes of which can be seen in the figure (45).The head of figure 46 also resembles that of a turtle but the frag-ments of the bowl on which the body was drawn are missing. Thefore and hind legs and tail are represented by triangles paintedsolid black.Figure 47 represents a turtle with outstretched legs, triangularhead and a single eye. It is surrounded by four white scrolls.Figure 48 has fragmentary parts of two lizards arranged sideby side.Figure 49 represents a turtle with four claws ; the tail and headshown on the periphery of the carapace. The back is covered with arectangular figure with concentric quadrangles.It is interesting to notice how often ' the fish was used by the pre-historic aborigines of the Mimbres Valley in decorating the insidesurface of their food bowls. The main ditTerences in the dififerentfishes are specific or indicated by the geometric figures on their bodiesor in the shape and number of their fins. The body of the fishshown in figure 50 is decorated with a plaid, rarely used but notunknown as a geometric ornament.Animals with their mouths approximated are sometimes foundon Mimbres ware and it is suggested that the intention was to repre-sent these two animals as talking to each other. In figure 51 we havea common example of this usage in Mimbres pictography, namely,a bird and fish with mouths approximated.Figure 52 represents a fish, the body of which is covered by acheckerboard design of alternating black and white squares. In otherrespects this figure is not exceptional, similar fishes having been often
^ Very few fishes are depicted on prehistoric pueblo pottery of other areasso far as is known to the author.
14 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76figured, but the arrangement of the gill opening is unusual and theanterior end of the body is differently marked from others that theauthor has seen.The bowl, the design on which is shown in figure 53, was brokenwhen found, rendering the relationship of the two animals and theaccompanying object painted on it more or less doubtful, but parts ofa fish figure and of an antelope are recognizable. The highly instructiveoriginal of this picture is owned by Mrs. Watson. Apparently this isnot a composite of an antelope and fish but the former stands in frontof the latter. The author has no theory to suggest regarding anidentification of the object on which the hind legs of the antelope rests.The animal pictured in figure 54 is called the " vinagaroon " andbelongs to the Arachnida, or spider group, differing from insects inhaving four pairs of legs instead of three. Two representations of thisanimal are known to the author but the greater part of one figure isillegible.Figure 55 represents some insect, as a grasshopper, the surface ofthe body of which is covered with a checkerboard pattern.The animal shown in figure 56 has three legs on one side of thebody, recalling an insect. It has antennae and head like those of thesame group of animals ; but the body is far from realistic, recalling aturtle. This may be one of the composite animals of which the authorhas already spoken, as its identification as one animal is difficult.The design on figure 57 represents the same animal as figure 56,but with minor differences. Legs are absent in this figure and its bodyinstead of being decorated with a checkerboard pattern has wineglassand other figures in white outlines on a black ground. In figure 57 thesemicircular design corresponding to the curvature of the body isblack ; its middle is occupied by a semicircle with hachures and saw-toothed straight edge.The author is unable to identify the insect pictured in figure 58.It has certain anatomical likenesses to the ant lion but the head issomewhat exceptional. The original figure shows a possible compositeanimal, but the relationship of it is unknown. The original is ownedby Mrs. Hulbert. of Pinos Altos.Figure 59 is probably a mythological conception, the identificationof which is at the present time conjectural. In form the main designis a prominent circle with triangular extensions suggesting a sunsymbol and two eyes like those of a mask. This disk is supported ontwo appendages resembling legs. An elbow-shaped organ hangsbetween these legs, and the region of the face below the eyes is
NO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY—FEWKES I 5
covered by a chevron-shaped zone of alternate black and whitesquares forming a checkerboard decoration reminding one of thefigure of the sun elsewhere shown. It is possible that this is a repre-sentation of some mythological being, or symbol associated with sunworship; but too little is known of the Mimbreno m\1:hology toproperly identify it. GEOMETRICAL DESIGNSThe Mimbres geometrical designs are quite unlike those describedfrom pueblo areas. Several geometric designs are negative figures orwhite designs brought out by black backgrounds. The most abundantgeometric figures are the interlocking slanting terraces, one coveredwith hachure, the other plain black. In all the figures rectilinear linespredominate and zigzags are the most pronounced. It is wonderfulhow many different designs can be produced by a modification of thetwo interlocking terraces, parallel lines and cruciform figures. Allgeometric designs are limited to the inside surface of mortuary bowls,the exterior being destitute of decoration. There are no brokenencircling lines.The characteristic geometrical patterns of the Mimbres ware, onaccount of their strictly American character no less than their greatartistic beauty, are particularly good as patterns for decoration offabrics and specialists have already begun working on them with thisthought in mind. They are as unlike those of prehistoric potterv fromother pueblo areas as are the various realistic designs already con-sidered. Their significance cannot be determined—a condition trueof most pueblo geometric figures—but irrespective of that they areof the utmost importance in determining by comparative methods ofthe relations of the pottery and hence the relation of subculturesof our Southwest which is the home of the pueblos. The generalcharacters of the geometrical patterns may be seen in figures 60et seq., no two of which are identical. It will be seen on examinationof these figures that the majority are linear designs with now andthen curved lines. Among other figures may be identified the cross,stars, broad arrow, squares, triangles, checkerboard and other figures.The designs are simple, either covering the whole interior surfaceof the food bowl or confined to the periphery leaving a central circu-lar, rectangular or other formed area without decoration.The design on figure 61 represents a four-pointed star outlinedin pure black and filled with a hachure. Its center is occupied by ageometric figure with a number of concentric smaller rectangles2
l6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. y6A five-pointed star has not yet been found in Mimbres designs andthe star made up of four blocks of sohd black with a white center socommon on Sikyatki ^ (a Hopi ruin) and other Hopi pottery is like-wise absent in Mimbres ware.In figure 62 we also have a representation of a star verging intoa cross in which the arms are not pointed but cut ofif at right angles.The design in figure 63 is cruciform with suggestions of a swastica.The arms are prolonged into needle-like points ; on one side of eacharm there are three serrations with notched edges. This tmiqueform of cross the author does not find duplicated in prehistoricpueblo pottery and is peculiar to the Mimbres.The cross-shaped figure forming the design (fig. 64) has threearms and a central circular area ; the intervals between the arms beingfilled in with parallel lines or hachures and dots. This figure, like thepreceding, is peculiar to the Mimbres ceramic area.There is very little duplication of geometric designs in the collec-tion. The design of figure 65 is painted red and consists of threearms, each formed of three parallel lines extending from a circularcenter to the peripher^^ The three areas between these groups of linesare filled in with zigzag white figures ending in interlocked spirals, aunique form of decoration.In figure 66 we have the negative picture of a three-lobed designbordered with dentations, the triangular intervals being filled in withsolid black.The beautiful design shown in figure 67 can best be appreciated byan examination of the illustration. Cross hatching introduced in thetwo opposite units is a new feature in Mimbres geometrical designsand is exceptionally striking.There are six white bordered arrows in figure 68 alternating withthree rectangles with hachures and three in white forming an attrac-tive design exceptional among pueblo decorations.Figure 69 is an artistic design with four rectangular figures on aI)lack ground alternating with which are eight small white circleseach with a cross in black at its center.Figure 70 is largely made up of negative designs artisticallyarranged with hachures, dual terraced figures forming a combinationof a unique character in pueblo designs.Figures 71 and 72, hitherto undescribed geometrical decorations onpueblo pottery, are artistic and so far as known characteristic of theMimbres. Although the various geometrical designs on Mimbres pot-tery dififer greatly they have a general similarity.
* Vide 17th Ann. Rep. Bureau of American Ethnology.
NO. 8 DESIGN'S ON MIMBRES POTTERY—FEWKES 1
7
Figures 73 and 74 are characteristic designs not found amongpueblos.The design on figure 75 is an intricate serrate figure surroundinga central circle that is devoid of decoration. The two regions of thezone about the central figure are different ; on one side we have threepoints of a star; on the other bars and hachures.The design shown in figure 76 is a central white circular zone withprojecting points of an irregular star around which is a meanderof white lines with black background, in four zones, each zone remotelylike the others.Figure "jj has zigzag lines surrounding a central circle withoutdecoration. There are rain-cloud designs which can best be seen byexamining the figure.In figures 78 the design is composed of zigzag and other figuressurrounding a central undecorated circle.Figure 79 shows a design on a black background made up ofzigzags, rectangles, and hachured triangles surrounding a centralundecorated zone.Figure 80 recalls pueblo designs but is strictly characteristic of theMimbres.Figure 81 is an unusual geometric pattern in which hachures andwhite zigzag lines predominate.In figure 82, representing a design from the Black Mountain ruin,we notice the main dift'erences between Gila and Mimbres designs.This bowl is made of red ware and has a yellow interior on whichare painted a solid black circular rim and white squares with blackdots.In order to show how much tbe designs on Gila Valley potterydiflfer from those of the Mimbres A^alley the author has introducedfigure 82 from the Black Mountain ruin not far from Deming. Thisruin was settled by colonists from the Gila Valley and in its moundsare also found other specimens of Gila Valley pottery as well as thatcharacteristic of Casas Grandes, specimens of which are also shownin subsequent figures.The design (fig. 83) consists of a number of zigzag bands radiatingfrom the center.Each of the designs (fig. 84) can be reduced to a quadrangular bodythe margins of which have rows of triangles.The design on figure 85 is stellate, in which the white is broughtout into a negative picture by a decorative black base. The design is notsymmetrical and is characteristic.
l8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76
In figure 86 we have represented a design made of white areas asin figure 85 forming a cross with four arms. Few specimens of thisdesign have been found in the Mimbres Valley.The design (fig. 87) has elements of figure 86 and that shown infigure 88 has an hourglass center. The last designs are unique, neverfound in pueblo decorations.Figure 90 shows a unique design from a Alimbres bowl composedof two units: one, white bars interlocking with parallel black lines ; theother, white zigzags on a black base.The design on the food bowl shown in figure 91 is a cross formed ofwhite bands, and parallel lines surrounded by encircHng lines andhachures arranged in groups. •The design on figure 92 may be reduced to two rings surroundinga black central circular region. These two rings are made up ofalternating white triangles on a black ground ; but these triangles donot correspond, to form rectangles, as one would expect ; the trianglesin the interior zone are more pointed than those of the exterior zone.There seems to be no indication, however, that in making these doubledesigns a pattern was used, and the whole design afifords evidences ofhaving been drawn free-hand.In figure 93 we have a design depicted on a flat circular clay disk,in Mrs. Watson's collection, slightly curved on one face and flat onthe other. The design is restricted to the curved surface ; the flatside being undecorated. The use of this object is unknown, but it hasa likeness to one shown in profile in a previously published figurewhere three men engaged in a game of chance are represented andthe stake is a bunch of arrows in a basket.Figure 94 shows a design of intricate character in which are intro-duced a central undecorated area surrounded by a rectangular figurewith radiating extensions recalling figure 63. The peripheral portionof this design is quite dififerent from those previously described in theso-called friendship curve, a pueblo feature repeatedly found on picto-graphs and pottery designs. It also occurs in various modifications ofMimbres pottery.Figures 95 and 96 are simple designs that need no description andcan be readily understood by examination of the illustrations. Theelement of artistic beauty in figure 95 that separates it from themajority of other designs of the same general nature is a series ofdotted lines forming a tracery passing over the zone of parallel linessurrounding the central figure.
NO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY FEWKES IQFigure 97 shows two effigy jars from the Minilires Valley whichare instructive as indicating the geographical distribution of thisform. In the Casas Grandes pottery, where these effigy jars aremuch more numerous and complicated, we have a very large relativenumber of similar forms, some of which have been modified intohuman figures. In the Mimbres, on the contrary, objects of this kindare quite rare. The designs on the two here figured strictly belongto the Mimbres group.In figure 98 we have still another of these effigy jars, which, how-ever, differs from those spoken of above in that a handle is absent.The form of these jars suggests a conventionalized bird, the con-ventionalized designs on the body representing wings ; the eyes andmouth are rudely indicated by circles. The remaining designs on figure
_99 are representations of a mountain sheep, and on figure 100, whatappears to be a composite animal having a tail of a bird and the limbs,thorax, body, and head of an insect.The last figure (fig. loi) represents four rude undecorated vasesbelonging to the coiled variety of pottery, evidently cooking vessels,one of which has a handle. This type of pottery, found throughoutthe Mimbres Valley, recalls the archaic types recorded from thepueblo region but is crude in comparison with them. It resemblessomewhat prepuebloan types from northern New Mexico andColorado, but the fine corrugated and coiled ware of the North isthinner and shows greater technique and variety than that either ofthe Mimbres or Casas Grandes in Chihuahua.Geometric decorations are generally arranged on bowls either intwo or four ; sometimes in three, but very rarely five and higher num-bers. When the unit design is doubled the two units are placed diamet-rically opposite on the bowl. Decoration is always absent on theexteriors of the food bowls. It will be noticed in a consideration ofdual designs in the series that the repetition of the same unit is paintedfreehand ; no pattern or stamp was used and the unit pattern whenrepeated varies somewhat in execution. Evidently the potter heldthe object in her hand and painted by the eye, arranging the figuresin such a way that the spaces might be filled by the pictures. A modi-fication of the shape of the figure to conform with the area to becovered was not uncommon. The lines are sometimes so fine that wecan hardly suppose the chewed end of a yucca stick was used as abrush as is generally the case among the Hopi.
20 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76COMPOSITE DESIGNSThe composite pictures are representations of two animals com-bined. The custom of uniting different animals as a unit is sometimesfound among the more advanced tribes of Mexico and CentralAmerica, but is rare or unknown among the North American Indians.As examples of these composite pictures may be mentioned quadrupedsrepresented with a human head and nondescript animals with thebody of an antelope and tail of a fish, or tails of twin fishes added to aturtle body. These composite pictures illustrate to the Indian mindtheir folk-lore or mythology and may represent mythological beingsor legends now forgotten which were current at the time they weremade. It may be possible by renewed research to find survivals ofthese stories in the folk-tales of kindred peoples and thus determinewhat personages these composites were intended to represent ; but atpresent we can do no more than recognize that the Mimbres Valleypottery bears evidences of a rich mythology or folk-lore that hasdisappeared. Fishes and quadrupeds are the most common of thecomposite forms.Two of the best examples of a composite animal in the collectionnow being described are shown in figures i and 14; in figure 37 thewing and its feathers, also the tail feathers, are conventionalized,while the head and body of the bird are wonderfully realistic.Attention may be called to the tendency to conventionalize certainorgans, as wings and feathers of birds, even when the figure of thebird is realistic. This may be an index of the change from realismto symbolism which in Sikyatki pottery has gone so far as to reducethe whole figure to a symbol.COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MIMBRES DESIGNSGeographically the valley of the Mimbres lies between high landson the east and north and the Casas Grandes Valley on the south.As the physiography of these neighboring areas is different andpottery designs unlike each other, it may be well to devote a few linesto comparative studies. The northern and western neighbors of theaborigines of the Mimbres were those of the Gila Valley and itstributaries ; on the south the Mimbres Valley merges into that ofnorthern Chihuahua. It is natural that the distribution of ancientpueblo and other pottery in our Southwest should follow rivers orstreams of water whose banks are natural trails. The presence ofwater, also a desideratum for an agricultural population, may beconsidered in a general treatment of migration of people.
XO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY—FEWKES 21The geographical location of tributaries of four streams of constantwater, the Gila, the Rio Grande, the Little Colorado and the San Juan,played an important part in migration. The Mimbres not being con-nected with these rivers or their drainage areas, being in a way isolated,we may expect, a priori, that it.s pottery was little modified by that ofthese other drainage areas. The Rio Grande river in the latitude ofDeming to the Gulf of Mexico is singularly free from tributaries,especially on the right bank, and there are no river routes for inter-change of prehistoric people. Higher up we find pueblos on thisriver still inlaabited. The Gila river also has few tributaries in itslower course and few ruins away from the river itself. It runs eastand west ; its sources and those of the Salt divided into numeroustributaries. In this country of the Upper Gila and Salt we find manyruins of several varieties. There are several northern tributaries whereruins are abundant and in the Upper Gila there are many tributariesand many ruins among the canyons of the sources of this river.Throughout its whole course from source to the Gila Bend there aremany ruins. The northern tributaries overflowed their populationbeyond the Mogollon into the A'^alley of the Little Colorado as far northas the Hopi, Zuni, et alii. This wide north-south distribution of GilaValley pottery is due to the direction of the flow of the many tribu-taries of these rivers.The main tributaries of the San Juan on the left or south bank werealso significant in the direction of human migrations. The generaltrend of migration is south from this river and the ruins are moreabundant near the sources and along tributaries. The isolated Mim-bres X^alley migrations had very little eflfect on the potter}^ designsof the aborigines of the San Juan.There seems to be a consensus of opinion of the few ethnologistswho have considered the Casas Grandes ceramic culture area that itis true puebloan, or that pottery likenesses are sufficient to place both inthe same group. If we limit the term " true pueblo " to a type of seden-tary culture ' that developed in the northern part of New Mexico andArizona and the southern part of Utah and Colorado, the differencesare striking. The author believes there are so many features in theculture of the Gila that are dififerent from the pueblo that in strictscientific usage it is better not to classify them in the same type.It is believed that the Gila culture spread north over the MogoUonmountains into the Little Colorado valley and even north of that into
* Practically the so-called " Kiva culture " of the San Juan Valley, whosestructural characteristics have been elsewhere pointed out.
22 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76
the Hopi region where it mingled with the true pvieblo, migratingsouthward, thus forming a mixed culture. In New Mexico the samething happened ; the pueblo element, originating in the north, extendedas far south as Zuni, in which are evidences of a mixture with the Gilaculture. The ancient potters of the Upper Gila and Salt rivers leftabundant pottery and there is enough material from which we canby comparison determine their relation to the people of the LowerGila. They show the union of the true pueblo culture and that of theaborigines south of them, which did not greatly differ from thepueblos.The pottery of the adjacent Gila-Salt area differs from that of theMimbres in several characters. The designs on the interior are broadblack rectangular lines on a gray surface, the outside of the bowlbeing red in color, whereas Mimbres ware is white with narrow blackor red figures ^ on the inside of the bowls.It is also pertinent to point out the differences between the potteryof the Mimbres Valley and that of northern Chihuahua (CasasGrandes region), which are significant. The available collections thusfar made in these two regions afford differences in data; an exam-ination of these collections shows that the specimens from the Mim-bres are food bowls, while those from northern Chihuahua are vases.As a rule food bowls found in the latter region are small and deep,although sometimes large. They are decorated on the exterior,which is not the case in similar vessels from the Mimbres. About tenper cent of the Cases Grandes vases are effigies, while only a verysmall portion of the Mimbres vases can be so designated. In the CasasGrandes area are many polished black bowls like the so-called SantaClara ware, but little black ware has thus far been found in the Mim-bres. The same is true of undecorated red ware, which occurs inChihuahua but is rare or absent in the Mimbres.It is mainly in the decoration of pottery of the two areas that wefind the greatest differences in the pottery. That from the Chihuahuamounds is more brilliant in color than any other in the Southwest ; itis very smooth without superficial slip, in which it recalls old Hopiware from the ruins of Sikyatki where the beautiful figures are alsopainted directly on the surface, not on a slip. Casas Grandes wareis a polychrome, or red and yellow on a gray-white ground. The ware
' Incidentally attention should be called to the uniform width of the encirclingparallel lines and the boldness with which they are drawn in Mimbres ware.In the accompanying figures Mrs. Mullet has preserved that uniformity inbreadth of line and distance apart. This fact is mentioned lest some criticmay find too much regularity in the drawings.
NO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY FEWKES 23from the IMimbres may be called the black and white, although mamof the bowls are gray rather than white, and even pass into a red.The decorations of both Casas Grandes and Mimbres ' food bowls aredrawn in black and brown ranging into tan color, but it would appearat times as if this difference in coloration was due to unequal firing ofthe paint which is apparently some iron oxide. There are one or twopolychrome bowls and one in which the figures are decidedly red.The change in color by exposure to the air in some specimens whichwere collected in 191 4 is perceptible. But while the Mimbres potterymay be classified as black and white ware it differs from that foundin cliff dwellings and other archaic ruins. The main differences arenot so much in colors as in designs, which afford a clear idea ofcultural differences. In other words, it is. of course, in the decora-tions that the main difference between the pottery from the tworegions lies.The animals represented on the Chihuahua (Casas Grandes) pot-tery are very few compared with those on Mimbres ware. Birds,snakes, a quadruped or two, the frog, and one or two others, embracethe main animal designs on the southern pottery, while in the Mimbresthe number of animals depicted in very much larger. A complete listof these would make a catalogue of some size, but a few of thoseanimals not found on Casas Grandes ware might be mentioned.Among quadrupeds are the lion, deer, antelope, mountain sheep ; sev-eral species of fishes ; a large number of birds ; many insects, asbutterflies, dragon flies ; scorpions, turtles, lizards, and various otheranimals. None of these are represented in relief, however, as is thecase with animal forms on pottery from Casas Grandes, but arepainted on a flat surface mainly on the inside of bowls. There is noarea in the Southwest where the animals represented on pottery out-number those of the Mimbres, nor any area where the aboriginalpotters have left us such truthful realistic pictures of animals bywhich they were surrounded.The representations of human beings in the Chihuahua ware arepainted effigies ; there are few representations, so far as known, ofan effigy human being or one in relief on the pottery of the Mim-bres. The author has seen no picture on Casas Grandes pottery inwhich men are represented as hunting, gaming, or engaged in anyoccupation.
^The character of the design rather than the technique of the pottery dis-tinguishes the two regions.
24 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76The geometrical designs as well as naturalistic representations ofmen or animals from Casas Grandes and the Mimbres have much incommon but several dififerences. One of the most common of thegeometrical decorations is the step figure divided into two halvesseparated by a zigzag band. This is almost universal throughout thepueblo area.^ In the Casas Grandes ware one of these oppositelyplaced series of step figures is generally (not always) black and theother tan colored or red. The same design on the Mimbres warehas one series painted a solid black color and the other has hachurelines, a design which occurs all over the Southwest and which theMimbres area shares with the Pueblo and the ruins in the valley ofthe Gila. This likeness suggests that the Mimbres ware is allied bothto the puebloan and to that from Casas Grandes.One important geometrical decoration of the Mimbres pottery con-sists of parallel lines. In their desire to decorate all portions of theobject they have almost invariably filled in dififerent geometrical out-lines with hachure or cross hatching, checkerboard or other rectangu-lar figures as suited the wish of the designer. Another favoritegeometrical design is the cross of various kinds, among which theelaborate swastika may be mentioned. A rectangular design of fre-quent use throughout the Southwest is the compound triangle madeup of two or more united triangles. This is a favorite decoration onthe bodies of animals and has been variously interpreted. The triangleis the symbol of life, and the arrangement of several triangles mayhave some similar meaning. Similar triangles, double or single,appear on the walls of kivas or sacred rooms of clifif dwellings, in thehouses and on the wedding blankets of the Hopi girls. Among theliving Hopi a triangle is commonly said to represent the butterfly, a
.symbol of life or fertility.Another favorite rectangular ornament is the checkerboard pattern,alternate clusters of black and white triangles or squares forming avery efifective rectangular pattern. The checkerboard is very com-monly associated with the sun but is also frequently found in thepaintings of animal bodies.The majority of geometrical figures are rectangular or triangular:Spirals, circles, and curved lines are very rare.There is one geometric design which occurs almost universally inthe pueblo area and while it suflfers several modifications is essen-tially identical in widely separated geographical localities. This dec-
^ One of the strongest reasons advocated to include these areas among thepueblos.
NO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY—FEWKES 25
oration may be called the " dual reversed stepped design." It is com-posed of two terraced figures so placed that their terraces interlock,leaving a zigzag line betw^een them. This is particularly characteristicof black on white or gray ware which is most abundant on the oldestdecorated pottery of the Southwest, but it also survived into moderntimes. In the Mimbres pottery as in other types it forms the mostabundant form of geometric decoration. The two series of reversedterraces are different either in color or design. This is indicatedin the Mimbres by solid black on one side and hachure or parallellines on the opposite, while in the Casas Grandes pottery one seriesis solid black, the other red, hachure being exceptional ; the terraceshere, acute angled among the pueblos, become right angles as in MesaVerde pueblos situated in both caves and open situations.The presence of this " dual reversed stepped design " on the ancientdecorated pottery of our Southwest in the judgment of some authorsrelegates both Mimbres and Casas Grandes pottery to the pueblo type.It suggests that the Mimbres pottery is old,^ and the fact that it is soabundant on black and white ware, which is considered old, supportsthe same conclusion. There are several other characteristic pueblodesigns on Mimbres pottery, as the interlocked spiral. They pointto pueblo affinities.The rectangle is found constantly on pueblo pottery; it is some-times simply an outline but may be solid black or crossed by parallellines which may be cross hatched and form a checkerboard patternwith or without dots. The edges of these rectangles may be dentated,serrated, or without ornament, simply plain. The rectangular figure,generally single but rarely double, is very common on animal designs.The realistic figures on Mimbres and the symbolic figures onSikyatki ^ ware have little in common ; there are comparatively fewrealistic animal designs depicted on bowls from the latter ruin. Itwas the habit of the Sikyatki potters to decorate the outside of theirfood bowls as well as the interior with geometric figures, a habitrarely if ever practiced by the Mimbres potters. The highly conven-tionalized designs on the inside of Sikyatki food bowls were seldom
^The black and white ware found elsewhere in the Southwest shows very-few reahstic figures except in the Mimbres, but many simple geometric designs.
' 17th Annual Report, Bureau of American Ethnology, PI. CXXI. Whilecomparative studies bearing on the relation of Sikyatki pottery are not whollysatisfactory it has seemed to the author that the affiliations of Awatobi designswith those of Sikyatki are not as close as he thought a quarter of a centuryago. Awatobi pottery is nearer to that of the Little Colorado than is Sikyatki,and this is also the teaching of tradition.
26 S.MlTilSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76
accompanied with geometrical figures. Negative pictures, so commonon the Mimhres ware, are not found on ancient Hopi (Sikyatki)ceramics. The great difiPerence between ancient Mimbres and Hopidesigns is that the former are reaHstic ^ ; the latter conventional andlimited to a few forms ; no fishes, turtles, or deer appear on Sikyatkiware because aquatic animals were absent from their water course.Among the cliff houses we find mountain sheep represented realis-tically as pictographs. The ceramic art of Sikyatki reflects a water-less desert, but the Mimbrenos lived in a valley where water, althoughsmall in quantity, was perennial.The " killing " of mortuary bowls before they were buried isalmost universal in Mimbres ware. The bowls were almost withoutexception perforated artificially. Sometimes several perforations weremade and in one instance three of these holes were arranged in sucha way as to suggest a mask with the mouth and eyes of a human face.Sikyatki pottery was never perforated and " killing " mortuaryobjects was almost wholly unknown. There are no reliable evidencesthat the San Juan cliff dwellers killed their mortuary pottery. Thepotters of the Gila killed their mortuary vessels as did also certainof their descendants.The Mimbres pottery is distinguished from that of Casas Grandesby significant conventionalized designs. The " club-like " ornament,so conspicuous a negative design on Casas Grandes decoration, ispractically absent in the Mimbres area. This ornament can generally,be reduced to bird heads, feathers, or even bird bodies, and is generallyintroduced to fill in triangles where the background is solid black.Whereas bird figures on Casas Grandes ceramics like the " club-like "figures are almost invariably negative or white on black background,only a few negative pictures of birds are found on Mimbres ware, butinstead birds are black or red painted on a white ground ; we have nohuman beings, fishes, rabbits and other animals in white on black inMimbres ware. This is one of the several differences between thepictured pottery of the two culture areas. Although bird figuresdiffer there is a similarity in the form of feathers when used as anindividual decorative element in the two regions.We can say that the remarkable development of realistic designsin the Mimbres area is local, but that the designs are related to thepueblo and have affinities on one side to the Gila and on the otherto the Casas Grandes, but on the whole the culture was self centered
^At Sikyatki we find few realistic and many symbolic and geometric designs ;in the Mimbres many realistic, few symbolic and many geometric.
NO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY FEWKES 2J
and unique. The interlocked terraced figures and spirals it shareswith the pueblo may be a survival of a pueblo relationship and maybe an evidence of a remote kinship, but in the Mimbres environmentthe designs have become wholly unlike the northern relatives.RELATIVE AGE OF MIMBRES POTTERYThe age of the IMimbres Pottery is unknown save that it antedatesthe historical epoch. The method of determining its age by the stratifi-cation of shards in refuse heaps has not been found feasible in thisregion, mainly because deep refuse heaps have not yet been dis-covered. The small size of those that are known indicates a rathershort occupation and although a few different kinds of pottery occurthey have not yet been arranged in an evolutionary series. It is doubt-ful whether or not all types were synchronous with the picture bowls.Probably when the valley was first peopled the colonists came fromareas beyond the mountains and the production of realistic figuresdeveloped after they had inhabited the Mimbres \'alley for sometime.^The fact that these designs are highly realistic or specialized doesnot, in the author's judgment, mean that the culture which theyexpress was necessarily late in development. What few facts wehave point to limited residence in an isolated valley.The potters who painted the designs on IMimbres ware were con-temporary with those who decorated the beautiful pottery of northernChihuahua and that of the Gila compounds as indicated by the pres-ence of shards or even complete specimens from these regions. Thetransfer was either by traders or possibly by clans or colonists seekingnew homes, which appears to account for the alien ware at BlackMountain ruin.While the penetration of the Casas Grandes type of j)ottery intothe Mimbres Valley, either through trade or otherwise, is indicatedby this ceramic distribution, we have no evidence of a counter migra-tion or that Mimbres types or styles of design migrated south acrossthe Mexican border. We have large collections of Casas Grandesware but in none of them are true iMimbres picture bowls.The great abundance of designs and the absence of conventionalismis interpreted to mean that pottery making in the .Mimbres was not
* Unfortunately the individual ruins from which most of the specimens hereconsidered have been taken are not definitely known. There is, however, noevidence that there is any great difference in age between the various ruinsalong the Mimbres.
28 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76limited to a few individuals as among the Hopi. Many Mimbreswomen were potters and there was more individuality in the designsthey used. Among the ancient Hopi (Sikyatki) pottery designs showa more crystallized conventional art.It is not possible in the present state of our knowledge to deter-mine the date when the prehistoric Mimbreiios disappeared or possi-bly were merged into the Apache of the same tin^e, but it appears thatthey were contemporaneous with the prehistoric population of theGila and the Casas Grandes.
NO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY—FEWKES 29
mullet^MIMBRES FOOD BOWLS.1. Human being with horns. 4.2. Man and three butterflies. S.3. Two human beings and two animals. 6. Man with serpent.Man with snake.Seated man.
30 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76
11 12 mulletfMIMBRES FOOD BOWLS.7. Two human figures and a fish. 10. Quadruped with large tail.I*our men and a fish. u. Unidentified quadruped.9. Man with bow and arrow. 12. Two mountain lions.
NO 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY FEWKES 31
13 14
15 16
17
13. Mountain sheep.14. Mountain goat.15. Mountain sheep.
18 niulletfMIMBRES FOOD BOWLS.16. Mountain lion.17. Negative picture of rabbit.18. Two rabbits.
32 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76
19 20
22
23 MIMBRES FOOD BOWLS19- Two rabbits.20. Unidentified animals. niuWeH21. Two fawns. 22. Unidentified composite animal.2Z. Two unidentified figures.24. Negative picture of bat.
NO. DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY FEWKES 33
26
MIMBRES FOOD BOWLS25. Two quadrupeds.26. Crane with five fishes.27. Bat.
30
28. Cubist bird.29. Unidentified bird.30. Unidentified bird.
mieH
34 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76
31 32
33 34
35
31. Unidentified bird.32. Unidentified bird.33. Turkey cock and hen.
36 riulleifMIMBRES FOOD BOWLS.34. Bird with two heads.35. Bird with elevated wing.36. Bird witli " sword."
NO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY FEWKES 35
36a 36b 36c
36d 36e 36f fTluKcrtUNIDENTIFIED OBJECTS FROM DIFFERENT FOOD BOWLS.
36 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76
37 38
39 40
41 42 mulleh^MIMBRES FOOD BOWLS.
^l' ri^'^'^°H:>\ -.1. I,- • L , 40. Negative pictures of rabbit and bird.38. Dove (?) with object in beak. 41. Unidentified bird.39. Unidentified bird. 42. Man herding turkey.
NO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY—FEWKES 37
43 44
45 46
47 48 \TU\vfi-MIMBRES FOOD BOVVf.S.43. Two serpents. 46. Turtle.44. Lizard. 47. Turtle.45. Turtle. 48. Lizard.
38 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76
49 50
51 52
S3
49. Turtle.50. Fish.51. Bird and fish.
54 mulierfMIMBRLS I'GOD BOWLS.52. Fish.53. Antelope, fish, and unknown object.54. Arachnid.
NO. DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY—FEWKES 39
55 56
57 58
59 MIMBRES FOOD BOWLS.55. Grasshopper. 58. Unidentified insect.56. Unidentified insect. 59- Sun symbol.57. Unknown animal.
muiicfi-
60. Geometric design.
40 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76
61 62
63 64
65 66 rOuWetfMIMBRES FOOD BOWLS.Geometric Designs.
NO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY—FEWKES 41
67 68
69 70
71 72 niulleltMIMBRES FOOD BOWLS.Geometric Designs,
42 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76
73 74
75 76
77 78 muiieht-MIMBRES FOOD DOWLS.Geometric Designs.
NO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY FEWKES 43
79 80
8J 82
83 84 mulleht-MIMBRES FOOD BOWLS.Geometric Designs.
44 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76
85
87 88
89 90MIMBRES FOOD BOWLS.Geometric Designs. mulle^^
NO. 8 DESIGNS ON MIMBRES POTTERY—FEWKES 45
91 92
93 94
95 96 mullei-r-MIMBRES FOOD BOWLS (FIG. 93, CLAY DISK).Geometric Designs.
97
99 100 98
101MIMBRES POTTERY.97. Effigy vase (lateral and front view).98. Effigy vase (lateral view).99. Mountain sheep. 100. Unidentified insect.10 1. Four rough corrugated jars.(46)