NO. 14 ARCHEOLOGY OF BAY ISLANDS, HONDURAS STRONG 47 



tripod legs also occur. The sherds from this site, however, are so 

 badly broken up that shapes and sizes are hard to determine. Rim 

 fragments fall into three main types: those of more or less vertical 

 jars; contracted necks with low slightly flaring rims (much like 

 fig. II. a-(l) : and contracted mouths, with no neck, but with swollen 

 lips. One of the latter is unique in having a broad, flat, horizontal 

 groove running aroimd the rim, sejiarating it into a lower inner and 

 a higher outer portion. The paste of this ware is well made and well 

 fired, attaining a hardness of 5 in some cases. It ranges in color 

 from light bufl^ to dark red. with a red-brown the prevailing tone. 

 Xo slip is visible on the great majority of pieces. The surface is well 

 polished in most cases, burnished in others, and in four cases the 

 sherds are fired to a slaty consistency showing gray blue on the 

 inner surface and in cross-section, but polished brown on the outer 

 surface. These are the pieces that attain to a hardness of 5. 



Two large fragments are rather unique. The first of these is a 

 small jar (7.5 cm in diameter at the mouth) with a constricted neck 

 and flaring spout. Only the neck and rim are present. The color 

 is a dark brown. It has dark grit tempering, is well polished, and is 

 unique in having vertical fluting down the neck at 4-cm intervals, 

 the square spaces between being decorated with small, even punctate 

 marks. The second unique fragment has a similar constricted neck 

 and three incised lines around the shoulders, below which is a vertical 

 incised pattern. The latter design is obscure, because the lower 

 portions of the vessel are missing. 



Decoration in this ware is achieved by incision, applique, elaborate 

 lugs and feet, as well as by form and polish. There are some 15 

 fragments of tiny jars wnth delicate incision and punctate design plus 

 applique work (pi. 5, c, /). These are very thin (2 mm in thick- 

 ness in several cases). Two of these small fragments have incised 

 grotesque faces, with " coflfee bean " eyes and peaked noses in relief. 

 The heavier ware ranges from very hard, beautifully incised sherds 

 to coarser, crudely incised pieces. In thickness this type of pottery 

 ranges from 2 to 10 mm. Step, fret, cross-hatched designs or com- 

 binations of these with dots, double scroll and dot, and curvilinear 

 human or monstrous faces (pi. 5, d) all occur (similar to pis. 24, 

 a. b; 26, and 30, a, b, c, c). Only three sherds of this monochrome 

 type of ware have a visible slip. Two of these are rim fragments 

 of straight-walled vessels, with a dark red slip and an incised step 

 design reinforced with black paint (similar to pi. 18, fig. i, e). The 

 third is a highly polished fragment with a flat, projecting rim. It 



