NO. 14 ARCHEOLOGY OF BAY ISLANDS, HONDURAS STRONG 33 



the inner cave served as a hiding place. Such places must have been 

 at a premium when the Spanish slave hunters were harrying the 

 Islanders. 



BIG BIGHT CAVE 



This interesting site is close to East Harbor (see map, fig. 2) and 

 has been rather thoroughly cleaned out by other visitors. It is locally 

 known as " Big Bight Cave " and consists of a rough, basinlike area 

 of rough rock or coral perhaps 25 yards in diameter, in which there 

 are a number of cracks, pits and caves full of fresh water. According 

 to Bird the formation here is volcanic in origin while my own hasty 

 impression was that it was tumbled coral rock. The pools are sur- 

 rounded by great irregular masses of needle-sharp rocks, and the 

 holes have from i to 6 feet of water in them, many being inaccessible. 

 Flat, smooth pieces of coral are laid as stepping stones from the 

 inland edge of the basin to the main water hole. The site is only about 

 30 or 40 feet from the sea. 



By stripping and diving, I secured a representative collection of 

 potsherds. I presume Bird obtained his in the same manner for the 

 only pieces noticed by us were in the water. Bird mentions it as " a 

 water hole used by Indians " and states that " the surface of all sherds 

 show the effect of lying in water ; in nearly all cases the sand temper- 

 ing is exposed on the surface ". His collection includes 2 small com- 

 plete vessels and some 13 sherds. All the pottery is of the monochrome 

 red or brown type without any visible slip. One complete bowl is 

 6 cm in height with a slightly contracting neck, plain rim, and a wide 

 mouth. The other is 5.5 cm in height, it is a small plain jar with 

 globular body, a restricted orifice and a slightly flaring, medium high 

 rim. A half portion of a large open bowl with an annular base is 

 rather striking (fig. 34, b). It is ii cm in height, of coarse, brown, 

 sand-tempered pottery, and has two solid, vertical loop handles and 

 a double line of bosses around the body. There are five fragments of 

 medium-sized jars with slightly flaring rims ranging from 2 to 4.5 cm 

 in height. Three of these have rather crude incised, applique, and 

 punctate decorations. The most elaborate sherd is from a shallow 

 open bowl with flaring lips and a tall tripod base. The legs are cylindri- 

 cal with round swollen tips and raised upper portions with punctate 

 decorations. Around the body, below the rim, is an incised series of 

 panels, each containing two opposed step designs. There are two 

 separate feet from similar vessels which, like the above, form rattles ; 

 one of these may be from the same bowl, but the other is of mammi- 

 form or cascabel shape. There is one small, solid, rectangular lug 



