A considerable number of cups were found at Sikyatki; these vary in size and shape from a flat-bottom saucer like specimen to a mug-shape variety, always with a single handle ([plate cxxv]). Many of these resemble small bowls with rounded sides, but there are others in which the sides are vertical, and still others the sides of which incline at an angle to the flattened base.
The handles of these cups are generally smooth, and in one instance adorned with a figure in relief. The rims of these dippers are never flaring, either inward or outward. As a rule they are decorated on the exterior; indeed there is only one instance of interior decoration. The handles of the dippers are generally attached at both ends, but sometimes the handle is free at the end near the body of the utensil and attached at the tip. These handles are usually flat, but sometimes they are round, and often are decorated. Traces of imitations of the braiding of two coils of clay are seen in a single specimen.[112]
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXI
DECORATED POTTERY FROM SIKYATKI
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY—— SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXXII
DECORATED POTTERY FROM SIKYATKI
Small and large ladles, with long handles, occurred in large numbers in Sikyatki graves, but there was little variation among them except in the forms of their handles. Many of these utensils were much worn by use, especially on the rim opposite the attachment of the handle, and in some specimens the handle itself had evidently been broken and the end rounded off by rubbing long before it was placed in the grave. From the comparatively solid character of the bowls of these dippers they were rarely fractured, and were commonly found to contain smaller mortuary objects, such as paint, arrowheads, or polishing stones.