b. Scraping; the dark part of the olla has just been moistened to soften the clay.
heavy, and therefore need thinning, take considerably longer. It may even be necessary to moisten the surface a second time. The potters judge the proper thickness of the bowls by weighing them in the two hands with the elbows unsupported.
Large ollas, while being scraped, are held in the lap, with the mouth inclined to the left and away from the body. The left hand supporting the olla is placed palm down upon the neck ([pl. 19], b). Because of the extent of surface to be gone over only that part of the olla about to be scraped is moistened with the cloth. When a case-knife is used instead of a can-top, it is held either at right angles to the surface worked or at an angle of about sixty degrees with the surface, the upper edge of the knife tilted away from the body ([pl. 19], a). In all vessels, bowls as well as ollas, the angle with the horizontal made by the mouth varies considerably, according to the part of the vessel being scraped. After the scraping proper is completed, one potter sometimes rubs the surface, including the rim and lip, with a little steel wool, which noticeably improves the smoothness. The final step is to go over the entire surface carefully with the palm of the right hand in search of irregularities or small uneven spots.
When the scraper is laid aside for the last time, the surface of the vessel is again softened with a wet cloth. By means of vigorous rubbing the thin film of moist surface-paste is redistributed over the entire exterior of the vessel, filling the small scratches made by the scraper, and softening the edges of the larger ones. If the vessel is a bowl or a large olla, its position is then changed so that its mouth is tilted to the right and towards the body, whereupon the interior is treated with a wet cloth. The finishing touches consist in smoothing, either with a wet cloth or the ball of the finger, small areas of the surface which are not quite to the potter’s satisfaction. The use of the wet cloth gives a uniform smooth texture which is a distinct improvement over the scraped surface. The paste resumes its dry color in three to five minutes after the wetting. This process actually amounts to the same thing as putting a thin slip of paste upon the vessel, but the potters do not think of it in that light. It is said that some women entirely omit this final smoothing step. Formerly a wet cloth was not used; the fingers alone, a piece of sandstone, or a corncob served, according to the informants, to smooth the surface after scraping. As a matter of fact, however, cloth was used in old times for smoothing pottery, as clay-smeared rags are occasionally discovered in the rubbish of ancient cliff houses. Ground potsherds, on the other hand, were more often used than gourd-rind kajepes, the latter being very rare even in the dry deposits found in caves. At Pecos well-worn fragments of the spongy interior parts of large animal bones have been found which may well have been employed for smoothing.
The time element in scraping is a variable quantity. Table VI on the following page is the record of one potter. A, B, and C were large ollas; D, E, and F were small globular ollas six inches in diameter and five inches high; G was a shallow, wide-mouthed bowl.
TABLE VI
| A Min. Sec. | B Min. Sec. | C Min. Sec. | D Min. Sec. | E Min. Sec. | F Min. Sec. | G Min. Sec. | |
| Wet cloth applied | 00.00 | 00.00 | 00.00 | 00.00 | 00.00 | 00.00 | 00.00 |
| Scraping begun | 00.30 | 01.00 | 00.30 | ||||
| Wet cloth applied again | 02.30 | 08.30 | |||||
| Wet cloth applied again | 04.00 | 11.00 | |||||
| Steel wool rub begun | 05.30 | 16.30 | |||||
| Scraping done, exterior smoothing begun | 08.00 | 18.30 | 18.00 | 08.30 | 03.00 | 05.00 | 08.00 |
| Interior smoothing begun | 14.30 | 26.00 | 11.00 | 05.30 | 07.30 | 11.00 | |
| Finishing begun | 17.00 | ||||||
| Set aside | 17.30 | 31.30 | 35.00 | 13.00 | 08.30 | 08.30 | 15.30 |
The treatment of the vessels after scraping varies considerably among different potters. One places the scraped vessels in the sun for a period of not less than three days in order to test them for cracks; another begins the next step in the work, that of slipping, almost at once, sometimes the same day; a third after scraping ollas replaces them in the sun for a day or so, in order to allow them to “get warm” (that is, dry thoroughly),[38] before the slipping and polishing are begun.