tions from South America which are said to be smaller 
in size, slender and often lacking the paired winged 
protuberances. 
This smaller type was represented in the lower levels 
at Huaca Prieta by seeds recovered from a net float and 
illustrated by Whitaker (loc. cit., fig. 8 C). These seeds 
have an average maximum length of 13 mm. ; an average 
maximum width of 6 mm. ; in two cases they appear to 
have asuggestion of a winged protuberance. In addition 
to this group of specimens, others of the same type were 
recovered from the later or Cupisnique levels. 
To summarize the occurrence of these two types of 
Lagenaria seeds at Huaca Prieta: the first or large, broad 
type appeared only in the Preceramic horizon ; the second 
or small type was recovered in both the Preceramic and 
the Cupisnique levels. 
Through the generosity of Dr. William Duncan Strong 
of Columbia University I have been privileged to study 
the ethnobotanical collections from several other archae- 
ological sites on the coast of Peru. I wish also to express 
at this time my appreciation to various members of the 
Botanical Museum and the staff of the Biological Lab- 
oratories of Harvard University for their generous advice 
and assistance given me during the course of this study. 
Among the plant remains in these Peruvian collections 
are seeds, peduncles and shells, both whole and broken, 
of Lagenaria siceraria. Descriptions of the seeds of this 
plant from four sites will be given below. However, it 
seems advisable at the outset to describe briefly the gen- 
eral structure of Lagenaria seeds. 
The seeds of Lagenaria vary in shape and general ap- 
pearance, depending upon the type of fruit; they are 
usually more or less tapering. The hilum, the point of 
attachment of the seed to the fruit, is at the narrower 
end. The seed coat or testa comprises three types of tis- 
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