Modern Pueblo of Taos (Pueblo VI) 1850 - Present

North block of house (closer view) of Taos Pueblo, NM

San Ildefonso Pueblo: adobe structure, c. 1916

San Ildefonso Pueblo: kiva, c. 1916

Niman Kachina - watercolor on paper by Fred Kabotie (1944)

Kachina Doll - by Awa Tsireh

Corn Dance (1975 - 76)

Corn Dance (1975 - 76)

Corn Dance (1975 - 76)

Hopi Tablita, 1950s

Buttery Dance: Dancers emerging from the kiva

corn: a central concern of the Hopi; each kind has a different symbolic and nutritional signicance

Jewelry: Squash - blossom necklace - c. 1880s, coins silver

silversmith, with anvil made with railroad tie (1920s)

for each day of a redway ant ceremony, a new sand painting is created

for each day of a redway ant ceremony, a new sand painting is created

coiled shallow basket by sally black sumac and dye material

coiled shallow basket by sally black sumac and dye material

Harrison Begay Shepherdess (1960s), watercolor

spinning wool

Harrison Begay Navajo Weavers (1938), watercolor on illustration board

Preparing wool for weaving, at Monument Valley, United States by Navajo (Southwestern Native American) - 20th c.

apache weaver & basket

basket

Coiled Basket Olla, c. 1900, material willow, martynia, yucca, root

by Allen House, oh artist working on Resting at the Spring

woman weaving basket

Photograph by Edward S Curtis, of A Pima Home (1907)

Baskets, coiled geometric and naturalistic designs, 1890 1910

Havasu Falls

Tohono Oodham Baskets

Havasupal baskets, c. 1924

Recon, view of Hohokam town and elds

Hohokam pithouse oor

snaketown site: largest hohokam town on the gila river 300 BC - 1450 AD

Residential buildingsolder settlements such as Snaketown were abandoned, and pithouses began to be replaced by above-ground houses made of adobe with rectangular walls and adjoining, often terraced rooms. Groups of these houses were enclosed within adobe compound walls, forming residential groupings with houses for several related families, multiple shared plazas for work, gatherings, and ceremonies, and thatched-roof work/storage sheds called ramadas. These compounds may have housed the families within a clan.

map of the hohokam canal system in the salt river valley

hohokam canals at phoenix airport

hohokam canal remnant, Mesa, AZ

earthen canal, cross section of snaketown

medoamerican impacts on the hohokam, cultural elements over four time periods

Brightly colored ears of corn grown by the Hopi: each color represents a geographical direction: yellow, northwest; red, southeast; blue, southwest; white, northeast; purple, up; speckled, down

Metate and Mano grindstones for corn: det.

items outside hohokam home

ceremonial corn gridning (ma pe we), 1938 - gouache

reconstruction drawing of pueblo grande, in phoenix (AD 135)

Pueblo Grande - exterior corn of the NE platform mound, hohokam, class period 1200 - 1450

ball game - nayarit, 200 - 500 AD

mesoamerican ball court, looking west, in xochicalo, morelos, mexico

Architectural Changes and Settlement Pattern Changes in Hohokam society, A. D. 1100-1300period when sweeping changes took place throughout the Southwest, affecting the communities of all Puebloan groups

Ball Courts - Hohokam

Ballcourt ritualthe ballcourt system in the Hohokam world began to decline in the 1100s, together with the kind of ceremonial activity and public spectacle involved in towns playing the game. Platform moundsplatform mounds become larger, more dominant, more exclusive and private than before. As they grew larger and higher, the mounds may have changed in function from being used mainly as dance platforms to becoming temples and the residences of high-ranking individuals. Ceremonial activity involving the platform mounds may have replaced the ball game as the focus of community religious life
Ball from hohokam site

ball court at pueblo grande

pueblo grande - view of the ballcourt, hohokam, 1000 CE

pueblo grande - view of the ballcourt, hohokam, 1000 CE

hohokam ball game view

artistic reconstruction of big houses built on earthen mounds after 1300 AD and lived in members of the elite line

reconstruction of a classic period residential compound

Big HousesBig Houses, multistoried towers that seem to have evolved from platform mounds, began to be constructed near A. D. 1300. Three of them still exist in the Phoenix area, but only one, Casa Grande south of Phoenix, is well-preserved.
pueblo grande hohokam village roofs

marana mound site

pueblo grande

hohokam casa grande

Interestingly, groups such as the Zuni and Hopi today refer to the solstices not only as the middle points or middle places of the year, but refer to the horizon positions of the sun at the solstices and equinoxes as the suns winter house, summer house, and so forth. This reminds us of Cushings observations comparing Casa Grandes room layout to the arrangement of ears of corn on the Zuni Altar of the Six Directions, which symbolized the sky, earth, and world quarters, and served as the spiritual house of the sun during the ceremonies where it was used.

great house complex: view of the four story structure showing the protective roof

great house complex: compounds outer walls, casa grade national monument (arizona), 1150 - 1450

Casa Grande was built in one massive construction phase about A. D. 1300, using more than 600 timber beams for its roof and floors transported from forests 50 miles away. It stands four stories tall without any internal reinforcing beams, supported by 5ft thick adobe walls. Many purposes have been suggested for Casa Grandes construction, including that it may have served as a fortress, a watchtower for defense, the residence of a high-ranking leader, and an astronomical observatory. The building may have combined these purposes, but certainly seems to have had astronomical features related to ceremonial calendars.

casa grande front view

casa grande - drawing from 1600s

casa grande - front view

casa grade wall remnants

interior window view, casa grande

casa grande, small windows for astr. observation

Casa Grandes upper floors feature a complex arrangement of windows and doors that seem to have been created for astronomical observations of the cycles of the sun and moon. Some windows are rectangular or T-shaped, while others are small circular portholes in the upper walls. Some windows align with other windows or with doorways to create patterns of light and shadow, such as windows lighting up, or casting beams of light to illuminate doorways, on the major days of the solar year, such as the solstices and equinoxes. Other windows seem to have been used to observe the phases and motions of the moon.
plan for casa grande

The plan of Casa Grande featured a central room that extended from the first to the fourth floor, surrounded by four rooms on each side in floors 1-3. Anthropologist Frank Hamilton Cushing, who lived with the Zuni in the 19th century, suggested that this layout of rooms resembles the way Zuni priests lay out ears of corn in the directional colors on their Altar of the Six Directions. Such altars are temporary constructions created in kivas as symbolic houses for gods who are called into the altars for the period of a ceremonial event.

zuni cornmeal design of six directions after cushing 1892, diagram illustrating a spiraling ritrual circuit performed during the winter solstice ceremonies

The reason why these observations would have been important lies in the importance of the solar and lunar calendars for planting crops and timing ceremonial events. Todays pueblo communities use observations of the sun and moon to determine the proper days for planting certain crops, for clearing fields, for harvesting corn, beans, and other foodstuff, and for hunting certain game animals. They also observe the seasonal movements of the sun and phases of the moon to determine the proper days for the new year ceremonies and other important religious observances in the year.
lithhograph of painting of altar of Shumaakewe Fraternity, Six people near altar of wood, feather, clay pots 1893

painting of ceremony, mathkethlannakw (great re fraternity), 1893

view through windows, casa grande

casa grande, solar window

Solstice and equinox dates are both important in the solar year cycle. The year has two solsticesthe winter solstice occurs near Dec. 21st, and its opposite, the summer solstice, near June 21st. They are the shortest and longest days of the year respectively, and mark the midpoint of the winter and summer seasons. Pueblo people regard them as the middle points of time, and the Zuni word for these solstices, for example, means middle place.

sun petrog, at casa grande

zones of the horzion and celestial events, for an observer at low northern latitude

daily motion of the sun across the sky on the solstice, equinox, and zenith

the sun priest in blanket, and partial native dress with ornaments (1896)

At each pueblo, an officiala village chief, Sun Priest, or kiva society leader, performs the task of watching the horizon at sunset or dawn to monitor the suns progression throughout the year. Using fixed points of reference, such as mountaintops, mesas, hills, valleys, and the locations of sacred shrines, the sun watcher observes where the sun rises on the horizon each day. Some pueblos prefer to make these observations at dawn, others at sunset. Phases and motions of the moon are also observed, because solar and lunar cycles are used together to determine the right dates to begin or end ceremonies, the time to make prayer feathers that will be placed as offerings at specific shrines, the right time to initiate young people into religious societies, etc.

sketch of the sunrise horizon, san francisco peaks east of the hopi village

On both equinoxesdays of equal night and day that mark the start of spring and fallthe sun rises and sets due east and due west on the horizon. However, in the northern hemisphere, which is tipped away from the sun in the winter, and toward the sun in the summer, the sun appears to move either south or north on the horizon in its rising and setting positions until it reaches its seasonal extreme pointsthe maximum north or south positions it will reachwhich occurs on the two solstices. These extreme horizon points are also called the solstice points, and they correspond to the intercardinal directionsnortheast and northwest for summer, southeast and southwest for winter.

moon

Because the northern hemisphere is tipped away from the sun in the winter, from our perspective, the sun will appear in the southern sky, closer to the equator, in the winter months. For each day after the fall equinox on Sept. 21st, the sun will appear to rise a little further south of due east, and set a little further south of due west each day. This movement continues until around Dec. 21st, when it rises at its southern extreme point on the southeast horizon, and sets at its southwestern extreme point on the western horizon, marking the day of winter solstice. For many pueblos, this is the day of the new year, and is marked by the years most important ceremonial events.

moonrise over casa grande After winter solstice, the sun begins a gradual, day journey southward from this southern horizon exteme position back toward due east and west. At spring equinox, the sun has completed its return to the east at dawn and sets due west at sunset. After spring equinox, March 21st, the sun slowly begins to progress each day further to the north of east when it rises and north of west when it sets. This continues until it reaches the day of summer solstice, June 21st, when this movement stops, and the sun rises at its northeast horizon extreme position and sets in the northwest. In the summer, the northern hemisphere is tipped toward the sun, which makes the sun appear from our perspective to be in the northern sky, away from the equator. Until summer solstice, each day the sun rises a little further to the north of due east, and sets a little further north of due west. At summer solstice, the sun stops in this progression, and moves no further north. Instead, it begins to reverse its movement, and will rise and set closer and closer to due east and west with each passing day. Observing this solar cycle helped Pueblo priests to understand the yearly cycle of the seasons, and the rhythms of the natural world. Peoples lives were closely attuned to this cycle, through their work in planting and harvesting, hunting game in the appropriate seasons, gathering wild plants at the proper times, and offering their prayers to the spirits of their ancestors, the sun, earth, plants, and animals at the correct times. Knowing the cycles of the sun and moon allowed Pueblo priests to conduct preparations for an approaching festival or begin making prayer feather offerings in the kivas that would be deposited at springs, caves, and other sacred sites before the next full moon. Social, ceremonial, and agricultural life were all closely organized by these astronomical rhythms.

diagram, casa grande astronomy

We can observe certain cosmological and astronomical features in Casa Grandes designthe importance of four stories, a central room connecting earth and sky, surrounded on each of the three lower stories by four rooms oriented to the cardinal directions and world quarters, the positioning of doors and windows to allow for observing the horizon on the upper stories, and to use seasonal patterns of light and shadow in these openings to determine dates of the solar and lunar cycles.
winter basket dance - boy draped in boroughs near santa clara pueblo

bracelet from sedentary period, 900 - 1100 made of shell

jewelry: shell bracelets and ornaments

papago woman harvests suguaro fruit

body adornment - From Snaketown, southern Arizona A sea shell with a horned toad design (top left) that was etched with an acidic concentrate of fermented cactus juice. A slate bird pendant (top right) has the head carved in prole. The shell bracelet (right center) has a carved design representing a rattlesnake with its head in a bird's beak. The snake's rattles are to the right of the bird's head and on the underside of the bracelet. In the center are two tiny bird fetishes, one of shell, the other of turquoise. The latter is a pendant, as indicated by the drilled hole. The shell necklace at the bottom is 28 1/2 in. long

jewelry - turquoise necklace, shell pendant with etched frog, turquoise earrings, and turquoise shell pendant

Hohokam tradeseashells from the Gulf of California and the southern California coast, turquoise, pottery, cotton textiles, salt, corn and other crops, buffalo hides and meat, flint and obsidian for stone tools, macaws and parrots, copper bells

jewelry - horned lizard efgy, top etched using acid from cactus juice

lapidarythe art of gem-cutting Etched shells and turquoise mosaic seashells such as spiny oyster (usually red or orange in color) could be etched with designs using wax or resin and an acid made from fermented cactus juice. Pieces of turquoise, white shell, jet, coral, hematite and other materials could be used to make mosaics, glued into place on seashells or pieces of wood with tar or pitch adhesives. Seashell pendants may have served as insignia of ceremonial society membership, or of social or ceremonial rank.
etched shell from sedentary period - 900 1100

etched shell from hohokam 900 - 1100

brown painted shell

frog efgy 900 - 1100, marine shell

jewelry - toad or frog efgies, made of turquoise and shells

Hohokam shell and turquoise jewelry shells were imported from the California coast and Gulf of California, turquoise was mine throughout the Southwest. Preferred seashells included red or orange spiny oyster (spondylus) shells and giant bitter clamshells from the Pacific Ocean, used to make pendants, bracelets, rings, and necklace beads. Other materials included coral (red or pink), hematite (a red iron oxide), stones such as steatite and soapstone, and black jet. Pieces of seashell or mother of pearl could be drilled using an arrow-like stone point to pierce them for suspension, and turquoise and other stones could be carved, drilled, abraded, and polished using stone tools and sand. Shells and turquoise were considered sacred because of their symbolic relationship to water, the source of life.

the well dressed hohokam, probably wore a kilt, face paint, a bone hairpin and shell jewelry

mosaic shell pendant, central arizona, 1200 - 1400 - turquoise shell and beads

jewelry - shell mosaic found at extinct pueblo of Hawika, of turquoise and shells

The use of seashell and turquoise has a very long history among the Pueblo people, from ancient times to today. All the ancient cultures of the region used seashells as pendants, strung them on necklaces, anklets, or wristlets, wore them as dance rattles, or shaped pieces of seashell into necklace beads that are commonly known as heishi (a Pueblo word for seashell.) Beautiful heishi necklaces with turquoise inlaid seashell pendants have been excavated at archaeological sites of the Anasazi, Salado, and Mogollon as well as the Hohokam. Historic examples have been found at the extinct Zuni pueblo of Hawika, abandoned after the Spanish conquest. Inlaid shell pendants were made at Zuni for the tourist trade in the early 20th century. Today, the jewelers of Santo Domingo Pueblo near Santa Fe are best known for their excellence in creating colorful seashell heishi necklaces much like those of the Hohokam, and for turquoise mosaic inlay designs on spiny oyster and other seashell pendants.

jewelry - spondylus shell pendant inalid with turquoise and mother of pearl by Ca Win Jimmy Calabaza, turquoise form lone mountain mine, NV. Spondylus shell traded from the gulf of california

1995 - owen angie reano, mosaic cuff bracelet of tiger cowrie shell, turquoise, shell, jet with black epoxy

jewelry - mosaic santo domingo pueblo, ve pieces

jewelry - mosaic santo domino pueblo, displayed with cup prehistoric deign

hohokam drilling jewelry

stone pendants and gurines (top) and stone bowls or incense burners (bottom)

bear fetish - turquoise

Fetishan object believed to be inhabited by a spirit. Among the Pueblos, fetish animals are carved from stone and used in ceremonies to ensure success in hunting or healing. Zuni fetishes are best known, made for both traditional ceremonial purposes and as works of art for commercial sale. The Zuni have six animals for healing (wolf-east; mountain lion-north; bear-west; badger-south; eagle-zenith; molenadir), and six animals for hunting ( ). These animals are identified with the 6 directions (east, north, west, south, above, and below) as well as the colors of the six points.

zuni fetishes - cushing

Small stones that resemble the shapes of these animals are believed to depict these Beast Gods, and to serve as vessels that can be inhabited by their spirits. The Hohokam and other ancient Southwest groups may have made and used similar fetishes carved from stone or seashell, and perhaps associated with colors and directions, and with powers such as hunting or healing. Hohokam carvings of snakes, birds, four- footed animals, frogs, turtles, etc., may have been believed to be fetishes that contained animal helping spirits, or may have been worn or carried as amulets or spiritual charms.

zuni fetish colors and directions Cosmologyfrom the Greek cosmos, a word that refers to a universe ordered by certain principles or laws. Southwest Indian cosmologyemphasizes the dual pairings of earth and sky (Mother Earth, Father Sky), paired principles such as male/ female, night/day, sun/moon, life/death. The universe is organized by four sacred directions, the cardinal directions north, west, south, and east, which are assigned symbolic colors and identified with four sacred mountains. Ceremonial actions, prayer offerings, etc., are performed in a sacred circuit of the four directions, offered to the spirits that reside at these cardinal points, as well as to the zenith (highest point) of the sky and the nadir (lowest point) of the earth. Color/direction symbolism varies among the different Southwest Indian groups, but the Zuni, as one example, identify white with the east, yellow with the north, blue with the west, red with the south, all colors (like the rainbow) with the zenith, and black with the nadir. The Zuni Beast Gods associated with their healing and hunting fetishes are carved from materials in the colors of their associated directions or world quartersthe wolf is white for the east, the mountain lion yellow for the north, the bear blue for the west, the badger red for the south, the spotted eagle all colors for the zenith, and the mole black for the nadir of the underworld. These are the six animals for healing the Zuni hunting fetishes substitute the wildcat and coyote for the mountain lion and wolf, but the rest are the same

zuni war gods

For the Zuni, these animals are associated with the Beast Gods of their creation lore, powerful supernatural animals conquered and tamed by their Twin War Gods, supernatural brothers who made the earth safe for the people after their emergence from the underworld. Using their bows made of rainbow and their arrows made of lightning, the Twin War Gods subdued the Beast Gods and turned them to stone. They banished all these powerful animal spirits to the world directions, making them promise to use their powers to help humans in healing and hunting instead of preying on them
zuni water skate

The numbers four and six are sacred because of their association with the four directions, earth, and sky. A seventh direction is the center of the world where the axes of the world quarters, earth and sky all meet. Seven is also a sacred ceremonial number.

waterskate nds the center

In cosmology, time is also part of the world directional scheme, and periods of time are assigned to the world quarters. For example, there are four seasons of the yearspring assigned to the direction East, winter to the North, fall to the West, and summer to the South. Spring and fall are times of change, associated symbolically with east and west, sunrise and sunset. Winter is identified with the north as the direction of cold winter winds, summer with the warm winds from the south. Times of day are also associated with directionsdawn with the east, midday with the south, sunset with the west, and night with the north. Periods of life are associated with directions, tooinfancy with the east, adulthood with the south, old age with the west, and death with the north. So the organization of space is also the organization of time in the universe.
necklage - seven strand bib fetish necklace (zuni) of turquoise and coral

cacti

group of hohokam pots

Pottery firing terminologya kiln requires fuel, which may include certain types of wood, dung, or even coal. Potsherds are fragments of broken pots. The color, appearance, and texture of pottery is affected by many factors, including the types of clay and temper used, the kind of fuel used for the firing, the temperature of the fire, and whether the firing oxydizes or reduces the pots. If the fire is left to burn uncovered, with air circulating freely around the pots while they heat, the oxygen in the air will turn iron content in the clays red. If the fire is reduced, by smothering it during the heating process by covering it with dung, ash, etc, reducing the amount of air circulating around the pots, the lack of oxygen in the atmosphere around them will cause iron in the clays to turn black.

basket carriers, vase details

papago potter using coil with paddle and anvil method of making pottery, 1908

Pottery terms: slip (mixture of colored clay with water used to paint the walls of a pot), coiling (creating long ropes of wet clay and using them to hand build the walls of a pot), temper or grog (coarse material such as sand, volcanic ash, or ground potsherds mixed with the wet clay to give it body and the ability to withstand thermal shock while firing), firing (heating pottery in an oven or kiln to bake it to a hard consistency), kiln (an oven, which may be created outside, to fire pottery), anvil and paddle method (an alternative to coiling, using a stone anvil with a rounded head and a wooden paddle to shape the walls of a pot). Walls of a pot may be smoothed using a scraper made from the shell of a gourd. Pots will be slipped to give them an outer coating of color. Burnishing, or polishing, may be accomplished by using a smooth stone to polish the walls. Brushes may be made from strands of fiber from the leaf of the yucca plant, or from human or animal hair. Paints other than slip may be made from minerals or from plants such as the rocky mountain bee (also known as wild spinich) plant.

In Pueblo religious symbolism, the ceramic bowl can serve as a symbol for the earth and the underworld it contains, with the rim of the bowl representing the horizon. A second bowl or a basket inverted over the bowl rim to rim can represent the sky arching over the earth. Some researchers have argued that the designs on Mimbres bowls, which include symbols for swirling clouds, lightning, mountains, etc, might be interpreted as symbolizing the sky, and creating a kind of panorama of the sky for the deceased person to enjoy for eternity. Some have also compared the concept of the bowl turned over the head of the deceased person, and broken with a hole at the bottom, as related to the mythical concept of the underworld sky, which the ancestors had to pierce in order to ascend by climbing on a reed to reach a higher underworld, a higher level of existence. In burial ceremonies, this might relate to the concept of the souls ascent from this world to its ultimate destination, the sky world, where it would become manifest as cloud. Leaving the corpse, the breath body, the Pueblo concept of the soul, would become part of the atmosphere, entering the sky to join the ancestors as rain, mist, and clouds.
ceramic jar - drawing of jar with row of dancers 700 - 900 AD

ceramic jar - drawing of jar with row of alternating gures, 900 - 1200 AD

bowl - gures dancing, ceramic

harvest dancers (1990), santa clara,

Female dancers are wearing embroidered white cotton mantas with sash belts; male dancers are wearing white mantas with redand-black borders and crocheted openwork leggings

tablita, painted wood and feathers

plate - hohokam, 900 - 1100 AD, from snaketown ruin, red on buff

musician

kokopelli - 1954

Some mythical beings are fluteplayers, perhaps counterparts of Kokopelli and other flute-playing fertility figures. Others may represent ceremonial clowns, such as the Koshare clowns whose antics symbolize disorder in contrast to the perfection and order of the katsinam.

Figures include animals such as macaws, parrots, and snakes, mythological figures such as the fluteplayer (maybe corresponding to Kokopelli), and rows of dancers. Geometric designs include waves, spirals, zigzags, etc., that refer to such elements of nature as flowing water, rain, clouds, and lightning. Many designs painted on pottery resemble the patterns of textiles, which in Southwest societies are often symbolically related to clouds, vapor, mist, fog, and rain. Ceremonial songs and poetry often refer to the gods creating the sky by weaving its colors and patterns of clouds on a sky loom, and to blankets of cloud, fog, mist, snow, etc. Human effigy jars were hollow vases modeled in the shape of seated human figures. Many held ashes of a cremated individual, and may have been portraits of the deceased. Geometric designs painted in red on these figures may have represented textiles, garments, tattoos, or face and body paint.
red on buff - bowl

Hohokam potteryred on buff style using linear geometric or figural designs.

untied states - arizona, hohokam culture, north american, native american hohokan, jar with zig zag pattern, AD 850 950

jar southwestern arizona 900 - 110

seated human gurine, 1100, ceramic

ceramic efgy vessels

Animal effigies (effigy means a symbolic image of an animal, human, plant, or supernatural figure) Hohokam carved animal figures in turquoise or other stones resemble fetishes used by various Pueblo tribes today

plated - painted pottery colonial period, 700 - 900 ceramic

plan - mimbres houses enter by way of ramp 200 - 1000

The Mogolloneastern neighbors of the Hohokam, and southern neighbors of the Anasazi, inhabiting the rugged mountains, canyons, and dry desert lands of west central New Mexico and eastern central Arizona, with communities extending into northern Mexico. Ceramicsthe Mogollon were the first Southwest group to learn about pottery from their neighbors to the south in Mexico, and they were the first to use pottery in the region. From the Mogollon, knowledge of how to make pottery spread west to the Hohokam and north to the Anasazi. Most Mogollon pottery is fairly simple, consisting of plain brownwares that have little or no paint or decoration. The exception, however, lies in the elegant black-on-white pottery of a small subgroup of the Mogollon called the Mimbres, who inhabited the Mimbres River Valley in western New Mexico.

mogollon pit houses sections and plans

Mimbres black-on-white slipped pottery was made during a brief period from about A. D. 1000-1150. Mimbres decorated ceramics consist of large hemispherical bowls with painted interiors. Many of these were used for burial, with the bowl inverted over the head of a deceased person who was buried seated upright in a pit beneath a household floor. Most of these pots have been ceremonially killed by piercing a hole in the bottom of the bowl, to release the spirit of the pot before it is placed in the burial pit.

mimbres architecture - surface room (left), mattock site, surface room (up rt), galaz village, 150 rooms - 1000 c.

Mimbres designs may be abstract and geometric, or figural, including images of animals, birds, humans, insects, supernaturals, and mythological figures. Often, geometric borders are combined with figural designs placed within a central circular area of white paint. Geometric designs such as stepped terraces, spirals, hatching (use of parallel lines to fill in areas or create shades of gray) and cross-hatching, zigzags, wavy lines, etc., refer to such natural forces and features as wind, rain, flowing water, lightning, mountains, and clouds. Designs often have a dynamic, spiraling quality that leds the eye to rotate around the center of the bowl, suggesting the concept of movement and cycles of change as part of nature and lifes processes. Designs may be paired, suggesting the cosmological principle of duality, or divided into four parts, referring to the quadripartite or fourfold principle of space and time.

Figural designs may consist of a single animal, human, insect, or supernatural being, featured in the central white area at the bottom of a bowl. However, they may also feature a combination of figures who seem to be shown interacting, suggesting a narrative or story-telling context for these images. Some seem to represent scenes of daily life; others are more esoteric, suggesting that they show parts of myths or legends, or perhaps stories that belong to the lore of specific clans. Some animals in Mimbres art may depict animals associated with specific clans. Other animals may be tied to myth or legend, such as the association of a rabbit with the moon. Supernaturals in Mimbres art include figures of twin boys or young men, perhaps corresponding to the Hero Twins or Twin War Gods of Pueblo mythologies, and a female supernatural who may represent their grandmother, Spider Woman, who helped to guide the people on their emergence from the underworld. Some scenes may relate to emergence stories, showing protohumans who have combined human and animal traits, or people emerging from the sipapu, the navel of the earth mother, the opening that led them from the underworld.
cliff dwelling, dwelling, ladder reconstruciton, exterior, gila cliff dwelling national monument, new mexico, mogollon culture, 1270 - 1333, ladder reconstruction

cliff dwelling, dwelling, ladder reconstruciton, exterior, gila cliff dwelling national monument, new mexico, mogollon culture, 1270 - 1333, ladder reconstruction

cliff dwelling, t-shaped window, wood lintel exterior, gila cliff dwelling national monument, mogollon 1270 - 1333

anasazi - pitcher (socorro style), new mexico or arizona, pueblo, 10th century 12th century

storage jar - tularosa black-on-white, 1100 - 1300 ceramic

tularosa black on white, 1100 - 1250

bowls, boldface black on white 750 - 1000

deer efgy - reserve black and white mogollon, 950 - 1150, ceramic

bowl - lizard black on white style III: mimbres classic

bowl - lizard polychrome style III, classic swarts ruin

bowl with abstract bat design

bowl with mountain sheep design

black and white bowl -horned animals mogollon c. 950 - 1250

bowl - rabbit heads style III, classic black on white swarts ruin

bowl - black on white style III, classic las dos site

ceramonial bowl, stepped-terrace prayer meal bowl, 19th c., ceramic, pigment

bowl - black on white style III, mimbres classic galaz site

bowl - black on white style, III classic swarts run

bowl - black on white early style III, classic

bowl - black on white late style, transition to mimbres classic swarts ruin

bowl - ying insects basket, style III, classic black on white

mimbres reference: kokopelli

bowl depicting ritual fertility clown, ceramic

clown gure with antelope headdress black on white - classic mimbres c. 1100

clown getting ready - c. 1930, watercolor on paper

kachina doll - koshare (hano clown)

emergence of the clowns, 1988, roxanne swentzell

hopi ceremonial dance - 1921

delight makers - koshares

mimbres black on white bowl - rabbit on a cressent moon

polychrome bowl - man wearing antler headdress 1000/1150

bowl - armadillo with deer mask, black on white style III classic

bowl - rabbit man with burden basket, black on white style III - classic cameron creek village

mimbres reference - illustration of the climbing from the other worlds and the moment of emergence

bowl - crouching man with bird tail, horns on head black-on-white style III, classic

mimbres black on white bowl: horned mythic animal with sh or bird, frog, and insect attributes

in dreams - 1970

mimbres - reference spider woman with her carrying basket and the two little twins

bowl - two men and a sh monster, black on white style III, classic

gurines - cottonwood

cache of ritual gure, 1350 - wood, stone, cotton, feathers, bers

gurines - stone

bowl - man in sh black on white style III, classic

bowl depicting decapitation scene, 1000/1150

bowl - three circle red on white