54 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 



92 



represents a human face with uptilted nose, punctate eyes, and raised 

 ear pkigs. The face projects from the body of the kig in a manner 

 suggesting- inclusion within the mouth of a shark or serpent (fig. 12). 

 However, as later discussion of lugs on this ware will show, this may 

 be illusory. Like the lugs, tke tripod feet, which are perforated on 

 the inner side, also serve as rattles. The painted design is considerably 

 weathered, but owing to its duplication on both sides of the vessel it 

 has been possible to restore it with complete accuracy (compare pi. i 

 and pi. 6, fig. 2). This design is executed with black and purplish- 

 red lines on a uniform orange-red slip, which covers the entire pot. 



Fig. 12. — Detail of lug, central offertory vessel (Polychrome I. pi. i). Dixon 

 site, Roatan. (White, orange-red: black, black; hatching, purplish red.) 



The central black and purplish-red design in the main panel is a 

 variant of the widespread plumed serpent motif. It consists of a 

 grotesque head with eye, nose, and mouth indicated and decorated 

 with nose ornaments, ear plugs, and an elaborate plumed headdress 

 (pi. i). The body is a conventionalized serpent form with a short 

 writhing midsection decorated with plumes and ear plugs. The 

 body terminates in a conventional tail tip formed by a square crossed 

 by three vertical lines. The small design in the panel above is the same 

 motif, done solely in purplish-red and considerably simplified. Like- 

 wise, the small panel above each lug is the same design even more 

 condensed (fig. 12). Inside the rim is a broad, purplish-red line and 



