NO. 14 ARCHEOLOGY OF BAY ISLANDS, HONDURAS STRONG iGj 



which is paved with rocks. One monoHth had a crude face incised at 

 the top and others had simple circular or geometric j^etroglyphs. No 

 artifacts were found. On the Rama River, which enters the Carib- 

 bean near Monkey Point, Spinden notes the occurrence of small 

 mounds containing abundant pottery. Painted and modeled ware, 

 including tripod bowls, figurines, whistles, etc., were found here. 

 Cookra Hill, near the south end of Pearl Lagoon, formerly had 

 ancient graves from which gold amulets, a marble mace head of 

 Nicoyan type, abundant pottery, and other artifacts have been re- 

 moved. Near Bluefields occur large and interesting shell heaps. 

 Pottery from these is usually unslipped but is elaborately modeled. 

 One type, with tripod feet decorated with faces and containing 

 rattles, suggests a local variant of Costa Rican pottery. A small 

 stone figure of a man, and two interesting types of monolithic axes, 

 figured by Lothrop (1926, vol. i, pi. 12, c, e), come from here. 

 Spinden calls attention to stone bowls with projecting heads, tripod 

 supports, and a band of interlaced decoration, which come from this 

 area. The well-made metates with animal heads from eastern Nica- 

 ragua form a link between Costa Rica and northern Honduras. 

 Spinden also states that small pots with plastic decoration and gold 

 figurines are said to have been found in the Pispis mining district. 

 He observed many elaborate petroglyphs near falls and rapids on these 

 eastern rivers. At the junction of the Yasica and Tuma Rivers, within 

 the wet belt and in the vicinity of mounds, he found two carvings of 

 the Nicaraguan lake type. One of these depicted a man with an alli- 

 gator clinging to his back. 



From the surveys made by Spinden, it thus appears that eastern 

 Nicaragua forms a cultural link between the Highland region of Costa 

 Rica to the south, and the Bay Islands and the Honduras coast to the 

 north. Too little is yet on record, however, to attempt a more detailed 

 comparison of types. 



CONCLUSION 



Although the foregoing study of Bay Island archeology is very 

 incomplete, owing to the lack of adequate excavations at any large 

 sites, certain interesting correlations are already apparent. The avail- 

 able material indicates that the islands had been occupied by a people 

 of fairly homogeneous culture for a considerable time prior to the 

 visit of Columbus. As to the relative age of this occupation, nothing 

 definite is known, but no conclusive evidences of great antiquity have 

 been reported. Analysis of the collections indicates that although 



