Frequently this packet of meal may be replaced by a picture of an ear of corn drawn on a flat slat, the so-called "corn paho" of the Flute maidens,[164] or we may have an ear of corn tied to the wooden slat. In the Mamzrau ceremony the women carry these painted slats in their hands, as I have elsewhere described.[165] It appears as if, in all these instances, there exists a sacrificial object, a symbolic offering of corn or meal.

The constant appearance of the feather on the paho has suggested an interpretation of the prayer-plumes as symbolic sacrifices of birds on the theory of a part for the whole; we know that among the Nahua sacrifices of birds were common in many ceremonials. The idea of animal sacrifice, and, if we judge from legends, of human sacrifice, was not an unknown conception among the Pueblos. While it is possible that the omnipresence of the feather on the prayer-sticks may admit of that interpretation, to which it must be confessed the male and the female components in double pahos lend some evidence,[166] I believe the main object was, as above stated, an offering of meal, which constituted the special wealth of an agricultural people.

MARINE SHELLS AND OTHER OBJECTS

The excavations at Sikyatki did not reveal a large number of marine shells, although some of the more common genera used in the ancient pueblos were found.

There were several fragments of Pectunculus cut into the form of wristlets, like those from the ruins on the Little Colorado which I have described. Two beautiful specimens of Oliva angulata, truncated at each pole, which occurred in one of the mortuary bowls, and a few conical rattles, made of the spires of Conus, were taken from the graves; there were also a few fragments of an unknown Haliotis. All of the above genera are common to the Pacific, and no doubt were obtained by barter or brought by migratory clans to Tusayan from the far south. One of the most interesting objects in Sikyatki food basins from the necropolis was a comparatively well preserved rattle of a rattlesnake. The Walpi Snake chief, who was employed by me when this was found and was present at the time it was removed from the earth, declared that, according to the legends, there were no Snake people living at Sikyatki when it was destroyed, but the discovery of the snake rattle shows that the rattler was not without reverence there, even if not in the house of his friends, and some other explanation may be suggested to account for this discovery. There are evidences that the ancient Hopi, like certain Yuman tribes, wore a snake's rattle as an ornament for the neck, in which case the rattle found in the Sikyatki food basin may have been simply a votive offering, and in no way connected with ceremonial symbolism.

Among many other mortuary offerings was one which was particularly suggestive. This specimen represented in [plate clxix], e, is made of unbaked clay, and has a reticulated surface, as if once incrusted with foreign objects. The Hopi who were at work for me declared that this incrustation had been composed of seeds, and that the pits over the surface of the clay cone were evidence of their former existence. They identified this object as a "corn mound," and reminded me that a similar object is now used in the Powamu, Lalakonti, and certain other ceremonies. I have elsewhere mentioned the clay corn mound incrusted with seeds of various kinds in a description of the altar of the last-mentioned ceremony. These corn mountains (ká-ü-tü'-kwi) are made in the November ceremony called the Nā-ác-nai-ya, as described in my account of those rites from which I quote[167]—

"The Tá-tau-kya-mû were very busy in their kib-va. Every member was shelling corn of the different colors as if on a wager. Each man made a figure of moist clay, about four or five inches across the base. Some of these were in the form of two mammæ, and there were also many wedge and cone forms, in all of which were embedded corn kernels, forming the cloud and other of the simpler conventional figures in different colors, but the whole surface was studded as full as possible with the kernels. Each man brought down his own pó-o-tas (tray), on which he sprinkled prayer-meal, and set his ká-ü-tü'-kwi (corn mountain) upon it. He also placed ears of corn on the tray."

These corn mountains were carried by the Tá-tau-kya-mû priesthood during an interesting ceremony which I have thus described:[168]

"The whole line then passed slowly along the front of the village sideways, facing the north, and singing, and all the women came out and helped themselves to the clay molds and the ears of corn borne by the Tá-tau-kya-mû, bestowing many thanks upon the priests."

The fragment of polished stone shown in [plate clxix], d, is perforated near the edge for suspension, and was found near the aural orifice of a skull, apparently indicating that it had been used as a pendant. With this object, many rude arrowpoints, concretions of stone, and the kaolin disk mentioned above were also found. Small round disks of pottery, with a median perforation, were not common, although sometimes present. They are identified as parts of primitive drills.