Page:Mexican Archæology.djvu/235

Rh under the Aztec régime is easily recognizable. Fragments of coarse undecorated vessels are found, which appear to have been made by the simple expedient of plastering a basket over with clay and then firing, the basket being destroyed in the process. But the most characteristic ware falls into two main varieties. The first is moulded of an orange or reddish yellow clay,

fairly well baked, but often showing a dark line down the middle of a fracture; the walls of the vessels are very thin, and the surfaces carefully smoothed, though not highly burnished. The commonest forms are shallow tripod bowls (Fig. 36, 3), standing cups and jugs with handles, and the ornament consists of small geometrical designs in black (Fig. 37). Moulded ornament is not common, though gadrooned bodies are occasionally found; incised decoration is confined