l68 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 92 



much of Bay Island civilization was developed in situ, this develop- 

 ment took place under strong alien influences from different regions 

 at dift'erent times. On the basis of site segregation, stylistic sequence 

 and some stratigraphy, an attempt has here been made to suggest 

 the gross sequence of Bay Island prehistory. Acknowledging the 

 shakiness of this structure as at present conceived, it may with caution 

 be employed in gauging the relative periods and the directions from 

 which these dift'erent cultural thrusts appeared. There is little in the 

 available evidence to indicate that the Bay Islands were ever an 

 important cultural center but much to indicate their peripheral 

 receptivity. 



The outline sketches of adjacent regions have indicated that Bay 

 Island culture was very similar to that of the northern coast of Hon- 

 duras, although many artifact types from the islands are as yet 

 unreported for the mainland. In mound types and rough stone struc- 

 tures the Bay Islands, the northern coast, and the Uloa region share 

 fundamentally similar types. Suggested correlations between Uloa 

 polychrome pottery types and those of the Bay Islands indicate that 

 the latter wares were relatively late. The same can be said in regard 

 to the Uloa marble vase type of decoration, copper bells, and small, 

 plumed heads of jadeite or green stone, all of which are shared with 

 the Bay Islands. Although there are many other artifact types in the 

 Uloa region which also occur in the Bay Islands, they are as yet 

 undated and cannot help us here. 



Between the developed architecture and carved stone technique of 

 the Maya and the rough stone and earth mound complex of Honduras 

 and the regions to the south, there appears to be a complete break. 

 The Bay Islands share this latter complex. Whether the simpler type 

 represents a substratum from which arose the complexity of Maya 

 architectonics is a problem that cannot be entered upon here. How- 

 ever, the assumption sometimes made that the southern complex was 

 merely a crude borrowing from developed Maya styles seems rather 

 illogical in the light of general distribution and the sharp break between 

 the two. Certain similarities between Bay Island and Maya methods 

 of disposal of the dead appear in the cases of urn burial, inhumation 

 in mounds, and rare skull burials, recorded for the Maya ; however, 

 Maya practices in this regard are so varied and the Bay Island record 

 so incomplete that any conclusions seem futile. 



Maya ceramics, including early types at Holmul and in British 

 Honduras, and some simple types at other sites, show a number of 

 general resemblances to monochrome pottery wares from the Bay 



