A Cache of Papago Miniature Pottery from Kitt Peak, South-Central Arizona

Abstract

The Kitt Peak cache is composed of a number of miniature pottery vessels, found in a rock crevice near the summit of Kitt Peak in southern Arizona. Such caches are widespread phenomena in the southwestern United States. Practically anything may be included in them, from projectile points to village fetishes. The cache may have been a personal offering to Ee-e-toy (Nature personified). Such gifts were given by the individual in order to replace objects taken from the natural environment. This idea of reciprocation is widespread among the Papago. The cache was probably deposited during the period AD 1725 to 1860.