The clay pits lie north of Samoki, between a quarter and a half of a mile distant, and the potters go to them in the early morning while the earth is moist, and dig and bring home the clays.  The woman gathers half a transportation basket of each of the clays, and while at the pits crudely works both together into balls 4 or 5 inches in diameter.  In this form the clay is carried to the pueblo.

All the pottery is manufactured in the shade of the potter’s dwelling, and the first process is a thorough mixing of the two clays.  The balls of the crudely mixed material are put into a small, wooden trough, are slightly moistened, and then thoroughly worked with a wooden pestle, the potter crouching on her haunches or resting on her knees during the labors.  She is shown in Pl.  LXXXIX A. After the clay is mixed it is manipulated in small handfuls, between the thumb and fingers, in order that all stones and coarse pieces of vegetable matter may be removed.  When the mortarful has thus been handled it is ready for making pots.

A mass of this clay, thoroughly mixed and plastic, is placed on a board on the earth before the kneeling or crouched potter.  She pokes a hole in the top of this mass with thumbs and fingers, and quickly enlarges it.  As soon as the opening is large enough to admit one hand it is dug out and enlarged by scraping with the ends of the fingers, and the clay so gathered is immediately built onto the upper rim of the mass.  The inside is next further scraped and smoothed with the side of the forefinger.  At this juncture a small mass of clay is rolled into a strip between the hands and placed on the upper edge of the shaping mass, completely encircling it.  This roll is at once shaped by the hands into a crude, flaring rim.  A few swift touches on the outer face of the crude pot removes protruding masses and roughly shapes the surface.  The rim is moistened with water and smoothed inside and out by the hand and a short, round stick.  This process is well illustrated in Pl.  XC.  The first stage of manufacture is completed and the vessel is set in the sun with the rim of an old broken pot for a supporting base.

In the course of a few hours the shaped and nearly completed rim of the pot becomes strong and set by the heat of the sun.  However, the rough and irregular bowl has apparently retained relatively a larger amount of moisture and is in prime condition to be thinned, expanded, and given final form.  The pot is now handled by the rim, which is sufficiently rigid for the purpose, and is turned about on its supporting base as is needed, or the base is turned about on the earth like a crude “potter’s wheel.”  A smooth discoidal stone, some 4 or 5 inches in diameter, and a wooden paddle are the instruments used to shape the bowl.  The paddle is first dipped in water and rubbed over one of the flattish surfaces of the stone slightly to moisten it, and is then beaten against the outer surface of the bowl, while the stone, tapped