mistaken for seeds of the second or smaller type found 
at Huaca Prieta, as a comparison of Plate LVII, C with 
Whitaker’s fig. 83C clearly reveals. Yet the variation in 
the seeds of the Aspero gourd, all contained in a single 
fruit, is strictly the product of differences in the degree 
of erosion. 
The early Ancon-Supe period of the central coast, to 
which the Aspero site belongs, is contemporaneous with 
the Cupisnique period of the north coast. Although the 
large, winged gourd seeds were not recovered from the 
Cupisnique levels at Huaca Prieta, gourd plants pro- 
ducing seeds of this kind were existing at that time at 
Aspero to the south. 
At Huaca de la Cruez in the Viru Valley Strong dis- 
covered 88 seeds (8/V-162) and some shell fragments of 
Lagenaria in a burial of the Mochica period. The seeds 
were together in one lot. Although not actually asso- 
ciated in the collection with the parent fruit, which in 
all probability became broken after burial, the shell frag- 
ments and seeds may have been parts of a single fruit. 
All of these seeds from Huaca de la Cruez show evi- 
dence of erosion. Seventeen specimens, or 27 percent of 
the entire group, are fairly well preserved ; 87 specimens, 
or 45 percent, show marked erosion; while 27 seeds, or 
33 percent, have lost practically all of the outer layer of 
the seed coat. A series of these specimens showing pro- 
gressive degrees of erosion are illustrated in Plate LVIII. 
The seventeen best preserved specimens (Plate LVIITI, 
A) have an average maximum length of 18 mm. and an 
average maximum width of 10-10.5 mm. The parallel 
longitudinal lines and the paired wings are distinct. The 
color of the seeds is generally a light brown. A few, 
however, have an occasional black marking due to dis- 
coloration from the grave content. 
The 27 specimens showing the greatest degree of ero- 
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