814 PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 



Huacas. Erom near Matina to and beyond Las Huacas are cuts and 

 other remains of an old road supposed to antedate the conquest. 

 Along its route cane and pita grows, marking its trail through forests, 

 up and down hill, in straight lines, instead of the zigzag for easier 

 grades, as would have been the case with Spanish roads. This road 

 was like those in the mountains of Guatemala in their propensity to 

 follow the crest of the ridge. 



The next morning three men were set to work excavating at a point 

 on the road to Matina, about 200 yards from the house of Angela 

 Oarrillo, where irregular piles of stones, forming elevations of 2 feet in 

 height indicated huacas. Near the surface there were many fragments 

 of metates of great variety and rollers. At this point hundreds of metates 

 appeared to have been broken, and it seemed incredible that they 

 should have been the results of accidental breakage, but rather as if in 

 time of war sudden flight had become necessary and articles too heavy 

 for easy transportation had here been rendered unfit for the enemy's 

 use. Near the surface, and mixed with the stones, were fragments of 

 the class attributed to the Ohorategas in a paper on Nicaragua.* Lower 

 were fragments of red painted pottery. At 51 inches depth the hand- 

 some argillite gorget No. 59849 was found, in the mouth of a red vase. 

 No. 59811. The body of the vase was in fragments ; it was apparently 

 a water jar. The end of the gorget showed above the mouth. About 

 2 feet away and 19 inches lower was found No. 59850, which unfortunately 

 was badly broken by the Macana. On a level with that and within 2 



feet was the celt No. . The small vessels Nos. 59827, 59828, 59829 



were found in the earth above the gorgets, and were probably associated 

 with them in origin. 



Among a great number of shards there were none of Luna ware.t 



About a mile from Carrillo's, near the house of Mayorga, were many 

 large huacas on the border of the old roadway. 



That evening we returned to Nicoya, and the next few days were 

 spent in hunting and interviewing old Indians, always with eyes and 

 ears open for the green stone mine. There was an old man named Es- 

 piritu, living near Nicoya, of much shrewdness and native intellect. He 

 took a great deal of interest in antiquities and questions concerning 

 the old Indians. He reported that many of the old graves were seven 

 or eight varas deep. A Frenchman who had spent several years in 

 Chiriqui told me that the huacas were similar to those observed near 

 Nicoya. Of course, the only possible way of discovering the source of 

 the jadeite was by searching the ravines and cuts while hunting or 

 riding, or by questioning the old Indian hunters and rubber-men. 

 Many of these men become interested in what they saw I considered 

 so important, and some later traveler may reap the reward in finding 

 a guide to the jadeite mine. 



"Archselogical Researches in Nicaragua, Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, 

 No. 383, p. 80. 



t Archjeological Researches in Nicaragua, p. 80. 



