Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2017
The ring vessel (or “doughnut jar”) and the stirrup spout-handle concepts probably diffused together, not only from Peru to Mesoamerica during the pre-Classic, but also from Mesoamerica to the southwestern and eastern United States. In the Southwest they first appeared in the San Juan area around A.D. 500; later they were accepted by other Anasazi and Anasazi-influenced cultures and persisted to the historic period. The apparent interest of the early Anasazi in odd vessel shapes may account for the acceptance of these two shape concepts by the Anasazi rather than by the Hohokam or Mogollon. The ring vessels and stirrup tubes may have continued into the historic period because, unlike most of the other odd forms, these had come to be traditional in certain persisting ceremonial contexts. However, before these suggestions can be adequately evaluated, more information from the Southwest is needed, and the meanings and associations of the two forms in Mesoamerica must be analyzed.