A Mimbres Vessel

Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology

Clifford C. Richey
November 2014
It would be helpful to refer to:
academia.edu/Universal-Prehistoric-Depicted-Sign-Language
when reading this paper. It explains the use of Form, Imagery, Gesture Signs,
Stance, allusion, and position as used in composing glyphs.

Illustration 1: Original

Illustration 2: Color Coded

Mimbres pottery was produced from the late 10th to early 12th century A.D. in the Southwest of the
present day United States. The Form and Imagery of the Vessel was composed following the rules of
depicted sign language as used by the Native Americans. This particular Vessel is described as a
depiction of a woman giving birth.1 Although the Scene depicts a birthing the Figure itself represents
the Female-earth.
The Total Form of the Vessel is Oval or Egg shaped. The Egg represents, the one who will emerge.
Within it, the Egg, is a broad Dark Line, in the darkness, followed by many smaller Lines that indicate,
the flowing. This is followed by the (blue-green) Saw-toothed sign for water. Surrounded by the
flowing water is a Large Figure, the great one, whose Stance is one of Sitting, waiting or awaiting, the
birth of the Tiny Dark Face, the little one, in the darkness, his appearance. The Face is composed of
1

http://www.archaeology.org/issues/89-1305/features/738-mimbres-bowls-southwest-collapse-reorganization

an Eye, The Eye of the Sun, a metaphor for Venus, a U shaped, turning sign and a Mouth, at, the
water-source, that is a Horizontal Rectangle, a horizontal-place sign. The small Arm and Hand that is
also emerging, represents, a warrior, a steward of the Sun. This describes the birth of Venus from,
positionally, beneath the earth.

Illustration 3: Color Coded

The Body of the Female-earth is a (green) Large Vertical Rectangle, the great vertical-place (a place
having height and depth). The (blue) Quarter Circles are the sign for, positionally, on, the sides, of the
already established, Female-earth.

Illustration 4: The Great

One
Because we are dealing with a linguistic system that is non-linear, we must step back for a moment and
take a look at the Form that the Arms and Legs create. The Large (red) Circle has a dual function, it is
at once numerical and locational thus, the great one, the one, his location, (referring to the surrounding
watery underworld or the water internal to the Female-earth).
Moving back to the (blue) Quarter Circles we need to remember that in gesture signing the Left side
represented the direction, east while the Right side represented the west. Therefore, the message relates
to the east and west sides of the earth.

Illustration 5: Color Coded

In Illustration 5 we note that the (tan) upper Legs of the Figure are in the Form of Severed Fingers
pointing a direction, here. The Form of the Space created between the Finger-tips is that of a (lightgreen) Horizontal Rectangle or a horizontal-place sign. This is the place of emergence and alludes to
an orifice or hole in the Female-earth. The (blue) Legs and Feet, as independent signs, indicate, a long,
walk, or journey, positionally, below, in the east and west. This, of course, parallels the cyclical
movements of Venus.
The (blue) Arms and Hands of the Figure represent the warrior-steward of the Sun, the metaphor for
Venus as a warrior-star and a companion-spirit of the Sun. Venus is positionally, on the sides of the
earth. It is not accidental that the Hands are positioned at the Knees of the Figure as the Knees allude
to the joints, the ones, that open and close. Of course, the Knees connect to the Severed Fingers
described above, and to the place of the orifice, the place of the emergence.

Illustration 6: The Face

The Face, his appearance, or his emergence from the (light-green) Horizontal Rectangle, a
horizontal-place, positionally, on the surface of the (green) Body of the Female-earth. The
Horizontal Rectangle alludes to the Throat of the Body. The Throat is a connecting tunnel from the
Stomach to the Mouth, a water-source. The (light-blue) Line that creates the Profile of the Face rises
from the Throat to the (pink) Mouth and then to the Nose that alludes to the Nostril or the hole. The
Line continues on upwards to the Arc of the Head that represents, the arch of the sky.

Illustration 7: The Face

Within the Profile Face is the (white and blue) Form of a Large Water Drop, a great, particle of water.
The Stance of this particle is, heading upwards, and is Double Lined indicating, between two things, or
hidden, positionally, within it, the hole, sign which alludes to the Eye the Eye of the Sun or Venus.
The word great indicates importance and not size. The top of the water-particle touches or connects
to the (blue) arc or bow of the sky. This tells us that the transfer of the spirit of a deceased human (the
human profile) from, the mouth or throat of the earth, (the surface of the Female-earth) to the Male-sky
is via a water particle a reference to evaporation.

Illustration 8: Color
Coded
The are two compound signs in the upper right near the shoulder of the Figure. There is a (tan)
Severed Finger, pointing a direction, downward, here. It is in the Form of the descending sign. The
Form of thi sign coud be considered that of a Slug indicating, slowly-moving. The (red) Upside down
V sign indicates, held-down, positionally below. The (blue-green) Multi-lined sign represents
flowing (water) with a (green) Horizontal Rectangle, a horizontal-place, positionally, below. The
Stance of this sign is Leftward Leaning indicating, stopped. Stopped at a place of flowing water,
below.
In other papers we have spoken to the point that depicted sign language was universal in ancient times.
In the case of this Mimbres composition there is little doubt that the signs used were based on sign
language as many of them are documented in books about American Indian gesture sign language.
However, when we talk about American Indians or Native Americans we must remember that these are
appellations only and do not reflect reality. The people that first came to the Americas were all tribes
and/or clans that originated outside the Americas. They were already well versed in gesture and
depicted sign language. It is therefore not surprising that such signs are found in many other places in

the world as people have been continually migrating from one place to another up until the present
time. This explains the appearance of these ancient signs world-wide. It is a testimony to the
conservative nature of the ancient peoples that not only the signs but the cosmological themes the
signs preserved are found in widely disparate times and locales. As an example, the following
composition is found on a Bridle excavated in England and determined to be from Anglo-Saxon times.
This composition not only relates to Venus as did the above Mimbres composition but gives us further
insight into how the Body was utilized related to compositional organization and for also for its
associational value.

Illustration 10: Anglo-Saxon

Bridle
Dana Goodburn-Brown and
University of Reading)

Illustration 9: Color Coded: Inverted for

Clarity

The (yellow) center of the Bridle remnant was the sign for a stara Large or a great star.2 This sign is
documented in books about American Indian gesture signs. In gesture signing the Left hand always
represented the east. The (light-blue) Circles represent, the one, his location, thus, the great-star,
Venus, in the east and west, positionally, above and below. The (light-green) Shepherd's Staffsigns
indicate, taken, in the direction of the staff. The central (red) line indicates a pathway. All the Staffs
have such a Center Line. The Double Lines of the Crook represents something, between two things, or
hidden. Taken on a hidden pathway, to the sides (of the center) the east and west, and taken upwards
and downwards above and below.
Unfortunately, the signs in the center of the star cannot be seen well enough to translate. Most of the
ancient signs were normally attached to a Body of some animal or even a plant that served the
organizational and associational needs of the depicted sign language system. In this case the Horse
itself, especially its Mouth, became part of the message. The Great Body or great one, its Mouth. A
Mouth, any mouth, represented, a water-source. The source of water referred to the watery
underworld. Tentatively, the Great Body, appears to have represented the earth.
From the above we can see that the message is cosmological and refers to Venus arising from the
underworld, above and below, and in the east and west. Far from being just interesting designs or
2

Tomkins, William Indian Sign Language, Dover Publications Inc, New York 1969. pp 54-55.

decorations on the Bridle they represent a very ancient cosmological system central to many cultures
around the world. The Bridle also tells us that the ancient compositions were not within a frame as we
expect of artistic compositions today. The ancient compositions could extend to the area in which they
are found. This also tells us why, in certain excavations, bones, ceramics, and other items were
carefully arranged as compositions that can tell us about the cosmology of the people that created them.