38 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 97 



majority of the pottery is a coarse, brown or buff ware. There are 

 also a number of heavy dull orange pieces with broad red stripes 

 and some polish ; as well as a polished red incised piece and a fragment 

 of a heavy platter with coarse red and black line decoration. In the 

 talus below this bank were two large, square cut stones of volcanic 

 origin, A few crumbling human bones were also found in the bank 

 and on the talus. There are no surface mounds at San Luis, but 

 broken pottery occurs from just below the present surface to a depth 

 of about 3 meters. No stratigraphic changes in type occur so far 

 as our very small pottery sample is concerned, but the site merits much 

 more careful study than we were able to give it. 



As one rides past Cofradia on the way to Naco a few low mounds 

 are visible to the south of the road just after one has crossed the 

 Manchagualay River. We did not examine these in detail. Farther 

 along the Naco road, about i kilometer from that village, there is a 

 small Spanish colonial ruin located in dense bush about 20 meters 

 north of the road. It is the foundation of a small house made of bricks 

 and plaster, and the local people have tales concerning a magical 

 cross of gold that was once found here. As already stated, the ruins 

 of Naco extend for about i kilometer up the Naco River, and there are 

 said to be numerous mounds across the river from the modern town. 

 We visited the site of Quebrada Tostada, about two leagues upstream 

 from Naco in a hanging valley some 400 feet above El Salto, the wild 

 and beautiful falls of the Naco River. The main site at Quebrada 

 Tostada includes 4 or 5 acres of pine- and thorn-covered land. Low 

 stone and earth mounds are scattered over this area, and we found a 

 few sherds of coarse brown pottery. Local tradition says that " the 

 King ", i. e., Olid, fled to El Salto after he was wounded. We cut 

 our way down the steep, rough gorge to the falls but found no signs 

 of any settlement there. Our guide, Don Santiago Nolasco, said 

 that there were many low mounds scattered over the hills and moun- 

 tain valleys in the general vicinity of Quebrada Tostada, but he knew 

 of no nearby site comparable in size to the ruins at Naco. 



There is another important site in this general vicinity which we 

 had hoped to visit. This is the Bell Cave, which Blackeston (1910) 

 located near the headwaters of a small stream flowing into the 

 Chamelecon River, about 25 miles from the ruins of Naco. Blackes- 

 ton obtained a considerable number of copper bells and a few other 

 unusual artifacts at this site. We were told by Sr. Roque Hernandez 

 of San Pedro Sula that the site was not yet exhausted. Just before 

 we left Manacal, Sr. Juan Antonio Sarmiento of San Antonio Mahada 

 offered to guide us to the cave which he said was near his home. 



