Mr. Bandelier advances the idea that this deposit of corrugated ware may represent the site of an ancient pottery, where the vessels were laid out in heaps surrounded by fuel and burned as by the modern Pueblo potters, the broken pieces being left on the ground, forming finally a considerable stratum. If this is correct, then the true explanation probably is that on this spot only the one variety of pottery was made, the painted pottery of the same locality, if such was in use, being made by potters in other parts of the village. Unless there is an actual superposition of the ancient painted ware upon deposits of the coiled variety, we learn nothing of chronological importance.
The valley of the Rio Grande has furnished but few specimens of the coiled ware, although it is known to occur along nearly its entire course through New Mexico.
DISTRICT OF THE RIO GILA.
The broad area drained by the Gila River and its tributaries abounds in ruins and relics, but its exploration is yet very incomplete. Coiled pottery identical, in nearly every respect, with that of the more northern valleys is abundant, but it is sometimes associated with painted wares very different in style from those of the cliff-house districts. It will probably be found that the ceramic products of the Rio Gila and the Rio Grande are much less homogeneous than those of the Colorado Chiquito, the San Juan, and the Rio Virgen.
IMITATION COIL-WARE.
I have already mentioned the occurrence in the Pueblo towns of modern coiled pottery, and also that there are seen, occasionally, vessels in which the coiled effect is rudely imitated by means of scarifying and indenting the plastic surface. Specimens of the latter class are generally small rude bottles with wide recurved lips and slightly conical bases. They are very rudely made and clumsy and are but slightly baked, and on account of the omission of proper tempering material are extremely brittle. They are new looking, and in no case show indications of use, and I have seen no example worthy of a place upon our museum shelves save as illustrating the trickery of the makers. It is possible that they are made by the Mokis, but if so by very unskilled persons who have neither understood the methods nor employed the same materials as the professional potters. I consider it highly probable that some clever Navajo has thought, by imitating archaic types of ware, to outwit collectors and turn an honest penny.
PLAIN WARE.
All the groups of pottery furnish examples of plain vessels. These are generally rudely finished and heavy, as if intended for the more ordinary domestic uses, such as the cooking of food and the storing of provisions and water. The material is coarser than in the nicely finished pieces and the surface is without the usual slip and without polish or applied color.
The characters of these utensils are quite uniform throughout very widely separated districts, so that it is more difficult to assign a single vessel to its proper family than in the case of decorated wares.
We have from Saint George and other localities examples of plain vessels that belong, without a doubt, to the coiled variety, the resemblance in material, color, shape, and finish being quite marked.