NO. 14 ARCHEOLOGY OF BAY ISLANDS, HONDURAS STRONG 163 



forms with alligators or animals on their backs or shoulders, seated 

 human figures with an animal head on the shoulders, human figures 

 with an animal on the shoulders whose jaws enclose the human head, 

 a man with a large gorget on the breast or in the hand, a man seated 

 on a tall column with a tenonlike appendage on his head, seated 

 statues with crossed arms, a seated female figure holding a child, and a 

 figure whose lower face is covered by a projection suggesting a bird's 

 bill. Lothrop (1921) has shown that the type centers in Chorotegan 

 territory in Nicaragua and Costa Rica but also occurs, apparently 

 at a very early period, in the highlands of Chiapas and Guatemala 

 and in Honduras, where statues of this type were found in early 

 structures at Copan, and elsewhere in the country. The miniature 

 carving found by Mitchell-Hedges in the Sacrificial Spring on Bon- 

 acca (fig. 37, h) is of this type. The larger statues find stylistic 

 resemblances in carved jades and decorated pottery of Chorotegan 

 manufacture. 



Petroglyphs, ranging from simple linear figures to complex inter- 

 woven patterns, occur in this region. Lothrop points out resemblances 

 between these and certain types in northern South America and the 

 West Indies. Flat-topped mounds made up of stones or earth, often 

 surmounted by stone statues, were probably used as places of sacri- 

 fice. Low stone and earth mounds served as house foundations, but 

 there are no records of temples occurring on mounds. Circular mounds 

 of earth and stone, from 20 to 40 feet in diameter and not more than 

 6 feet high, served for burial purposes. Isolated statues or stone 

 slabs with petroglyphs often occur in or around the base of these 

 mounds. Refuse and shell heaps have been reported. Oviedo tells of 

 a shrine on the summit of a volcano where Chorotegan caciques went 

 to consult an oracle. There was a heap of excellent pottery deposited 

 at this shrine, mostly broken, but some vessels were complete. 



Urn burial was very common in this area. Bransford figures three 

 types of urns, foot-shaped, circular, and boat-shaped. Complete, 

 partial, and cremated human skeletons with simple gifts are found in 

 these urns. On the peninsula of Nicoya inhumation, often in a mound, 

 was practiced. Stone graves and graves marked by slabs occur at 

 certain sites. 



The majority of the known artifacts come from graves. Metates 

 are common, and Hartman (1907 a) distinguishes a type with three 

 circular legs and another with three elaborately carved triangular legs 

 often with a projecting animal head at one end. The former are 

 usually decorated with animal figures, the latter with geometric pat- 

 terns. The excellent carvings and open work on the stone metates of 



