The Diaguite urnsare furnished with covers in the shape
of pottery bowls similarly ornamented. As a whole the
pottery of this region is well worthy of close study. Be-
sides vases of coarse manufacture, some of which ap-
pear to be of earlier date than the finer ware, the pots
fall into two main types, polychrome and black. In both^
types the clay is well mixed, though the paste is not so
good as in Peru ; powdered sherds or friable rock was
mixed with it, and the vessels were built up by the coiling
process, or, in rare cases, moulded in a basket. In the
case of the polychrome ware, the vessel was then covered,
sometimes on both surfaces, with a cream or buff slip,
on which the designs were painted in black picked out
with crimson. In the case of the black ware, thick plum-
bago slip was employed, and the designs incised with a
graving-tool possessing one or more points (Fig. 29, a



THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES 229

and b). The shapes of the vases are graceful and sym-
metrical ; the bodies are usually globular with a small flat
base, and are furnished with a short neck terminating
in a rim, and, in many cases, a pair of handles. The
Peruvian pattern shown in PI. XXII, 5-7, is frequently
found, and many of the specimens were, no doubt, im-
ported, but the type was frequently copied on the spot
and adorned with designs which are quite local in char-
acter (Fig. 29, c). Other Peruvian types are vases with




Fig. 29. — A and B Diaguite black engraved pottery (scale J).
c Vase of Peruvian type but local manufacture ; Calchaqui valley (after

Boinan : scale 7).
