Necklaces, earrings, bracelets, arm bands, hair combs and pins were made from wood, bone, shell and stones including turquoise. Some ornaments may have had ritual significance or use as badges of office. They probably helped define social status, especially in larger communities. These designs may represent family, clan or village affiliation, or simply the potter's imagination. Shapes included jars, bowls, pitchers, ladles, canteens, figurines and miniatures.
Pottery contains hidden clues about the people who made it.
Its surface may retain pollen from food plants or scrapings from a meal. Styles and designs changed through time and varied across regions. They reveal much about social groups and trade networks. These early people were not isolated from each other, or from other cultures in western North America. They participated in a far-reaching network of trade which brought exotic items from as far away as the Pacific coast and the Gulf of Mexico.