NO. 14 ARCHEOLOGY OF BAY ISLANDS, HONDURAS STRONG I49 



rather common. These are usually of earth, often with a burned red 

 clay core and sometimes capped or surrounded by rough stones. 

 Rough stone causeways and encircling walls occur. One mound 

 contained a stone vault with several jars full of offerings, including 

 jade plaques, beads, and clay figurines. Broken pottery occurs in most 

 of the mounds. Stone carving on a large scale does not seem common, 

 but Gordon figures a crude anthropomorphic statue of Chorotcgan 

 type from near the Uloa. 



On both rivers occur " Playas de los Muertos " (beaches of the 

 dead), which are particularly extensive on the Uloa between Santiago 

 and Santa Anna. In the river banks near such places Gordon and 

 Blackeston found mixed human bones and artifacts to depths of over 

 20 feet. Blackeston obtained two dolichocephalic skulls from here.** 

 Steinmayer notes that the graves of nobles are stone-walled and dis- 

 tinct from those of commoners. He also describes the finding of 

 one of the elaborately carved Uloa marble bowls in this vicinity. 

 According to Spinden (1925, p. 540) two of these marble vases were 

 found near Santa Anna in a grave containing a typical Costa Rican 

 amulet of the type imported into Chichen Itza during the twelfth 

 century. This tends to date the marble bowls as a late type. 



Mrs. Popenoe opened a number of undisturbed graves at one of 

 these playas and was able to clearly separate the monochrome from 

 the polychrome pottery wares. These have hitherto always occurred 

 mixed, owing to redeposition by the river and other causes. Gordon 

 obtained no definite stratification but noted that the deeper deposits 

 were the richer. Urn burials probably occur, but I know of no definite 

 record. When Mrs. Popenoe's data are available, both ceramic and 

 burial types will be better known. 



At present little that is definite can be said regarding Uloa mono- 

 chrome wares save that many Bay Island monochrome types are 

 present. These include tripod vessels, cylindrical handled incensarios, 

 whistles, and flat and cylindrical pottery stamps. The Uloa whistles 

 and stamps are both more abundant and elaborate than the few on 

 record for the Bay Islands. The Uloa figurines and pottery heads, 

 which are both modeled and molded, are better made than those of 

 the Bay Islands, where figurines made in molds seem to be uncommon. 

 The grotesque applique types of the Bay Islands are not on record for 

 the Uloa district. Pottery labrets from this area are very similar to 



^^From near Santa Anna came a deformed male skull with filed and inlaid 

 teeth of Maya type and with a jade bead in its mouth; Blom, Grosjean, and 

 Cummins, 1933. 



