Archeological Expedition to Arizona in 1895 Part 21

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLV

VASES WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKI]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 274--Upper surface of vase with bird decoration]

I have not ventured, in the consideration of the manifold pictures of birds on ancient pottery, to offer an interpretation of their probable generic identification. There is no doubt, however, that they represent mythic conceptions, and are emblematic of birds which figured conspicuously in the ancient Hopi Olympus. The modern legends of Tusayan are replete with references to such bird-like beings which play important roles and which bear evidence of archaic origins. There is, however, one fragment of a food bowl which is adorned with a pictograph so realistic and so true to modern legends of a harpy that I have not hesitated to affix to it the name current in modern Tusayan folklore. This fragment is shown in figure 275.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 275--Kwataka eating an animal]

According to modern folklore there once lived in the sky a winged being called Kwataka, or Man-eagle, who sorely troubled the ancients.

He was ultimately slain by their War G.o.d, the legends of which have elsewhere been published. There is a pictograph of this monster near Walpi,[148] and pictures of him, as he exists in modern conceptions, have been drawn for me by the priests. These agree so closely with the pictograph and with the representation on the potsherd from Sikyatki, that I regard it well-nigh proven that they represent the same personage. The head is round and bears two feathers, while the star emblem appears in the eye. The wing and the stump of a tail are well represented, while the leg has three talons, which can only be those of this monster. He holds in his grasp some animal form which he is represented as eating. Across the body is a kilt, or ancient blanket, with four diagonal figures which are said to represent flint arrowheads. It is a remarkable fact that these latter symbols are practically the same as those used by Nahuatl people for obsidian arrow- or spearpoints. In Hopi lore Kwataka wore a garment of arrowpoints, or, according to some legends, a flint garment, and his wings are said to have been composed of feathers of the same material.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLVI

BOWLS AND POTSHERD WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS FROM SIKYATKI]

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLVII

FOOD BOWLS WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS, FROM SIKYATKI]

From the pose of the figure and the various details of its symbolism there can be little doubt that the ancient Sikyatki artists intended to represent this monster, of which the modern Hopi rarely speak, and then only in awe. Probably several other bird figures likewise represent Kwataka, but in none of these do the symbols conform so closely to legends of this monster which are still repeated in the Tusayan villages. The home of Kwataka is reputed to be in the sky, and consequently figures of him are commonly a.s.sociated with star and cloud emblems; he is a G.o.d of luck or chance, hence it is not exceptional to find figures of gaming implements[149] in certain elaborate figures of this monster.

By far the most beautiful of the many food bowls from Sikyatki, and, I believe, the finest piece of prehistoric aboriginal pottery from the United States, is that figured in plate CXLVI, _d_. This remarkable object, found with others in the sands of the necropolis of this pueblo, several feet below the surface, is decorated with a highly conventional figure of a bird in profile, but so modified that it is difficult to determine the different parts. The four appendages to the left represent the tail; the two k.n.o.bs at the right the head, but the remaining parts are not comprehensible. The delicacy of the detailed crosshatching on the body is astonishing, considering that it was drawn freehand and without pattern. The coloring is bright and the surface glossy.

The curved band from which this strange figure hangs is divided into sections by perpendicular incised lines, which are connected by zigzag diagonals. The signification of the figure in the upper part of the bowl is unknown. While this vessel is unique in the character of its decoration, there are others of equal fineness but less perfect in design. Competent students of ceramics have greatly admired this specimen, and so fresh are the colors that some have found it difficult to believe it of ancient aboriginal manufacture. The specimen itself, now on exhibition in the National Museum, gives a better idea of its excellence than any figure which could be made.

This specimen, like all the others, is in exactly the same condition as when exhumed, save that it has been wiped with a moist cloth to clean the traces of food from its inner surface. All the pottery found in the same grave is of the finest character, and although no two specimens are alike in decoration, their general resemblances point to the same maker. This fact has been noticed in several instances, although there were many exceptional cases where the coa.r.s.est and most rudely painted vessels were a.s.sociated with the finest and most elaborately decorated ware.

The ladle ill.u.s.trated in plate CXLII, _e_, is one of the most beautiful in the collection. It is decorated with a picture of an unknown animal with a single feather on the head. The eyes are double and the snout continued into a long stick or tube, on which the animal stands. While the appendage to the head is undoubtedly a feather and the animal recalls a bird, I am in doubt as to its true identification. The star emblems on the handle of the ladle are in harmony with known pictures of birds.

The feather decoration on the broken ladle shown in plate Cx.x.xI, _f_, is of more than usual interest, although it is not wholly comprehensible. The representations include rain-cloud symbols, birds, feathers, and falling rain. The medially placed design, with four parallel lines arising from a round spot, is interpreted as a feather design, and the two triangular figures, one on each side, are believed to represent birds.

The design on the food bowl depicted in plate Cx.x.xI, _e_, is obscure, but in it feather and star symbols predominate. On the inside of the ladle shown in plate Cx.x.xI, _c_, there is a rectangular design with a conventionalized bird at each angle. The reduction of the figure of a bird to head, body, and two or more tail-feathers occurs very constantly in decorations, and in many instances nothing remains save a crook with appended parallel lines representing feathers. Examples of this kind occur on several vessels, of which that shown in plate CXLV, _a_, is an example.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 276--Decoration on the bottom of plate CXLVI, _f_]

There are many pictures of birds and feathers where the design has become so conventionalized that it is very difficult to recognize the intention of the decorator. Plate CXLVII, _f_, shows one of these in which the feather motive is prominent and an approximation to a bird form evident. The wings are shown with a symmetric arrangement on the sides of the tail, while the latter member has the three feathers which form so constant a feature in many bird symbols. In _b_ of the same plate there is shown a more elaborated bird figure, also highly modified, yet preserving many of the parts which have been identified in the design last described.

The beautiful design shown in plate CXLVI, _e_, represents a large breath feather with triangular appendages on the sides, recalling the posterior end of the body of the bird figures above discussed.

The interior of the saucer ill.u.s.trated in plate CLXVI, _f_, is decorated with feather symbols and four triangles. The remaining figures of this plate have already been considered.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLVIII

FOOD BOWLS WITH SYMBOLS OF FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI]

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CXLIX

FOOD BOWLS WITH SYMBOLS OF FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI]

The figures on the vessel shown in plate CLXVII are so arranged that there can be little question of their h.o.m.ologies, and from comparisons it is clear that they should all be regarded as representations of birds. There appears no necessity of discussing figures _a_ and _b_ of the plate in this interpretation. In figure _c_ the center of the design becomes circular, recalling certain sun symbols, and the tail-feathers are readily recognized on one side. I am by no means sure, however, that the lateral terraced appendages at the opposite pole are representations of wings, but such an interpretation can not be regarded as a forced one. Figure _d_ shows the three tail-feathers, lateral appendages suggestive of wings, and a square body with the usual decorations of the body and head of a bird. The design shown in figure _f_ suggests in many ways a sun-bird, and is comparable with those previously studied and ill.u.s.trated. There is no question of the h.o.m.ologues of tail, head, and wings. The meridional band across the bowl is similar to those already discussed, and its relationship to the head and tail of the bird identical. This design is interpreted as that of one of the numerous birds a.s.sociated with the sun. The crescentic extension above what is apparently the head occurs in many bird figures and may represent a beak.

Many food bowls from Sikyatki are ornamented on their interior with highly conventionalized figures, generally of curved form, in which the feather is predominant. Many of these are shown in plates CXLVIII to CLVII, inclusive, and in studying them I have found it very difficult to interpret the symbolism, although the figures of feathers are easy to find in many of them. While my attempt at decipherment is not regarded as final, it is hoped that it may at least reveal the important place which the feather plays in Tusayan ceramic decoration.

Plate CXLVIII, _a_, shows the spiral ornament worn down to its lowest terms, with no hint of the feather appendage, but its likeness in outline to those designs where the feather occurs leads me to introduce it in connection with those in which the feather is more prominent. Figure _b_ of the same plate represents a spiral figure with a bird form at the inner end, and a bundle of tail-feathers at the outer extremity. On this design there is likewise a figure of the dragon-fly and several unknown emblems. Figure _c_ has at one extremity a trifid appendage, recalling a feather ornament on the head of a bird shown in plate Cx.x.xVIII, _a_. Figure _d_ has no conventionalized feather decoration, but the curved line terminates with a triangle. Its signification is unknown to me. For several reasons the design in _e_ reminds me of a bird; it is accompanied by three crosses, which are almost invariably found in connection with bird figures, and at the inner end there is attached a breath feather.

This end of the figure is supposed to be the head, as will appear by later comparative studies. The bird form is masked in _f_, but the feather designs are prominent. This bowl is exceptional in having an encircling band broken at two points, one of the components of which is red, the other black.

Feather designs are conspicuous in plate CXLIX, _a_, _b_, in the former of which curved incised lines are successfully used. In _c_, however, is found the best example of the use of incised work as an aid in pottery decoration, for in this specimen there are semicircles, and rings with four triangles, straight lines, and circles. The symbolism of the whole figure has eluded a.n.a.lysis. Figure _d_ has no feather symbols, but _e_ may later be reduced to a circle with feathers. The only symbols in the design shown in _f_ which are at all recognizable are the two zigzag figures which may have been intended to represent snakes, lightning, or tadpoles.

When the design in plate CL, _a_, is compared with the beautiful bowl shown in plate CXLVI, _d_, a treatment of somewhat similar nature is found. It is believed that both represent birds drawn in profile; the four bands (_a_) are tail-feathers, while the rectangle represents the body and the curved appendage a part of the head. From a similarity to modern figures of a turkey feather, it is possible that the triangle at the end of the curved appendage is the feather of this bird. An examination of _b_ leads to the conclusion that the inner end of the spiral represents a bird's head. Two eyes are represented therein, and from it feathers are appended. The parallel marks on the body are suggestive of similar decorations on the figure of the Plumed Snake painted on the kilts of the Snake priests of Walpi. The star emblems are constant accompaniments of bird designs. Figure _c_ has, in addition to the spiral, the star symbols and what appears to be a flower. The design shown in _d_ is so exceptional that it is here represented with the circular forms. It will be seen that there are well-marked feathers in its composition. Figure _f_ is made up of several bird forms, feathers, rectangles, and triangles, combined in a complicated design, the parts of which may readily be interpreted in the light of what has already been recorded.

The significance of the spiral in the design on plate CLI, _a_, is unknown. It is found in several pictures, in some of which it appears to have avian relationship. Figure _b_ of the same plate is a square terraced design appended to the median line, on which symbolic stars are depicted. As in many bird figures, a star is found on the opposite semicircle. There is a remote likeness between this figure and that of the head of the bird shown in plate CXLV, _d_. Plate CLI, _c_, is a compound figure, with four feathers arranged in two pairs at right angles to a median band. The triangular figure a.s.sociated with them is sometimes found in symbols of the sun. Figure _d_ is undoubtedly a bird symbol, as may be seen by a comparison of it with the bird figures shown in plate Cx.x.xVIII, _a-f_. There are two tail-feathers, two outstretched wings, and a head which is rectangular, with terraced designs. The cross is triple, and occupies the opposite segment, which is finely spattered with pigment. This trifid cross represents a game played by the Hopi with reeds and is depicted on many objects of pottery. As representations of it sometimes accompany those of birds I am led to interpret the figure (plate CLVII, _c_) as that of a bird, which it somewhat resembles. The two designs shown in plate CLI, _e_, _f_, are believed to be decorative, or, if symbolic, they have been so worn by the constant use of the vessel that it is impossible to determine their meaning by comparative methods. Both of these figures show the "line of life" in a somewhat better way than any yet considered.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CL

FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI]

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. CLI

FIGURES OF BIRDS AND FEATHERS FROM SIKYATKI]

In plate CLII, _a_, is shown a compound figure of doubtful significance, made up of a series of crescents, triangles, and spirals, which, in _c_, are more compactly joined together, and accompanied by three parallel lines crossing three other lines. The curved figure shown in _b_ represents three feathers; a large one on each side, inclosing a medially smaller member. In _d_ is shown the spiral bird form with appended feathers, triangles, and terraced figures. Figure _f_ of this plate is decorated with a design which bears many resemblances to a flower, the peripheral appendages resembling bracts of a sunflower. A somewhat similar design is painted on the side of the helmets of some _katcina_ dancers, where the bracts or petals are colored in sequence, with the pigments corresponding to the six directions--north, west, south, east, above, and below. In the decoration on the ancient Sikyatki bowl we find seven peripheral bracts, one of which is speckled. The six groups of stamens(?) are represented between the triangular bracts.

The designs shown in plates CLIII to CLV, inclusive, still preserve the spiral form with attached feathers, some of them being greatly conventionalized or differentiated. In the first of these plates (figure _b_) is represented a bird form with triangular head with four feathers arranged in fan shape. These feathers are different from any which I have been able to find attached to the bodies of birds, and are thus identified from morphological rather than from other reasons.

The body of the conventionalized bird is decorated with terraced figures, spirals, flowers, and other designs arranged in a highly complicated manner. From a bar connecting the spiral with the encircling line there arises a tuft of feathers. Figure _a_ of the same plate is characterized by a medially placed triangle and a graceful pendant from which hangs seven feathers. In this instance these structures take the form of triangles and pairs of lines. The relation of these structures to feathers would appear highly speculative, but they have been so interpreted for the following reason: If we compare them with the appendages represented in the design on the vase shown in CXLIII, _b_, we find them the same in number, form, and arrangement; the triangles in the design on this vase are directly comparable with the figures in plate CXLIII, _b_, in the same position, which are undoubtedly feathers, as has been shown in the discussion of this figure. Consequently, although the triangles on the pendant in plate CLIII, _a_, appear at first glance to have no relation to the prescribed feather symbol, morphology shows their true interpretation. The reduction of the wing feather to a simple triangular figure is likewise shown in several other pictures on food vessels, notably in the figure, undoubtedly of a bird, represented in plate CXLVI, _a_.

In the two figures forming plate CLIV are found simple bird symbols and feather designs very much conventionalized. The same is true of the two figures given in plate CLV.

The vessels ill.u.s.trated in plate CLVI, _a_, _b_, are decorated with designs of unknown meaning, save that the latter recalls the modification of the feather into long triangular forms. On the outer surface this bowl has a row of tadpoles encircling it in a sinistral direction, or with the center of the bowl on the left. The design of figure _c_ shows a bird's head in profile, with a crest of feathers and with the two eyes on one side of the head and a necklace. The triangular figure bears the symbolism of the turkey feather, as at present designated in Tusayan altar paraphernalia. As with other bird figures, there is a representation in red of the triple star.

Figure _d_ is the only specimen of a vessel in the conventional form of a bird which was found at Sikyatki; it evidently formerly had a handle. The vessel itself is globular, and the form of the bird is intensified by the designs on its surface. The bird's head is turned to the observer, and the row of triangles represent wing feathers. The signification of the designs on _e_ and _f_ is unknown to me.

Figures _e_ and _f_ of plate CLVI are avian decorations, reduced in the case of the former to geometric forms. The triangular figure is a marked feature in the latter design.

The designs represented in plate CLVII are aberrant bird forms. Of these _a_ and _b_ are the simplest and _c_ one of the most complicated. Figure _d_ is interpreted as a double bird, or twins with a common head and tails pointing in opposite directions. Figure _e_ shows a bird in profile with one wing, furnished with triangular feathers, extended. There is some doubt about the identification of _f_ as a bird, but there is no question that the wing, tail, and breath feathers are represented in it. Of the last mentioned there are three, shown by the notch, colored black at their extremities.