NO. I HONDURAS — STRONG, KIDDER, AND PAUL 35 



mound group and is one of the few in the Ukia-Chamelecon region 

 that can be photographed to advantage (see Strong, 1937, fig. 70). 

 The main features are four large mounds forming a rough square, 

 with another low mound in the center. The largest mound, to the 

 north, is about 2 meters in height, 27 meters in length, and 12 meters 

 in width. The others are slightly smaller, those to the east and south 

 being rounded rather than rectangular. The eastern mound had a 

 trench, made by workmen from Manacal, in the east side. The central 

 mound is about i meter in height with a diameter of 8 meters. It is 

 connected with the eastern mound by a low neck. The four main 

 mounds roughly correspond with the cardinal points, but there is no 

 exact orientation. A low, stone-covered mound is located about 

 40 meters to the west. The entire group is located on an open strip 

 of high, flat land, flanked on the east by a deep gully and on the south 

 and west by the steep river banks. An artificial terrace of river 

 boulders borders the site to the south. Behind the site rise rolling 

 pine-covered hills, and between it and the river proper is a densely 

 wooded flood plain. 



No artifacts occur on the surface other than a very few sherds 

 of plain brown ware. A rounded boulder in the central plaza suggested 

 an ape's head somewhat similar to that shown in plate 16, figure 3, 

 but we were unable to determine whether the stone had been actually 

 worked. The men who had dug the deep trench in the eastern mound 

 encountered nothing but stones and broken pottery. Pottery is visible 

 in the cut to a depth of 2.5 meters. We ran a trench through the 

 heart of the low central mound reaching a depth of i^ meters in the 

 center. The upper meter consisted of soil with many large boulders, 

 stones, and a few pieces of plaster ; below this was hard gravel. A 

 few lava metate and mano fragments and a considerable amount of 

 plain, brown pot sherds came from the upper meter. The Las Vegas 

 ceramic remains are predominantly of an unslipped brown ware 

 indistinguishable from cooking ware at Naco and in Ulua Polychrome 

 sites. However, a few polished and slipped sherds occur, and some 

 of these have linear designs in red and black. A few sherds of dull 

 orange ware with red stripes, a small orange rim with red and black 

 monkeys, and a hollow round tripod leg were also found. 



TRES PIEDRAS 



According to our workmen, this site received its modern name 

 " because it is a place where they catch many fish ", a puzzling ex- 

 planation unless one is aware that the name " Tres Piedras " may 

 be given to any person or place of particular potency. In a sense 



