NO. I HONDURAS STRONG, KIDDER, AND PAUL 45 



frog with a small one on its back (compare Gordon, 1898, pi. 9, i, j). 

 Pottery stamps likewise occur from top to bottom. From P i comes 

 a round, stemmed stamp with a neat monkey design ; from P 5 a 

 rectangular, stemmed stamp with a squirrel design and a butterfly- 

 shaped stamp with two crude faces ; from P 6 an elaborate froglike 

 stamp with small circles for designs, and, from P 7 a rectangular 

 stamp with a geometric design. 



Compared to the amount of pottery recovered from this excavation, 

 the total list of other artifacts is pitifully small. P i yielded i broken 

 T-shaped drill of obsidian ; P 2, 30 fragments of obsidian flake knives, 



1 crude obsidian drill, 2 polished pebbles, i piece of crudely flaked 

 quartzite ; P 3, 2 crudely chipped stones, i polished pebble, 2 pieces 

 of baked clay with wattle and daub impressions ; P 4, i lump of clay ; 

 P 5, 6 fragments of obsidian knives; P 6, i obsidian knife fragment ; 



2 quartzite stones, i smoothed piece of baked clay, i large alligator 

 ( ?) bone with 2 perforations, i tapering, cylindrical brick of baked 

 clay; and P 7, the butt end of a small celt of hard green stone. This 

 slim list clearly indicates what a tremendous proportion of the ancient 

 material culture was perishable. Were it not for the advanced and 

 abundant ceramic remains in prehistoric Ulua sites, one might reason- 

 ably, but erroneously, conclude that only a very simple prehistoric 

 culture had flourished there. 



SANTA RITA (fARM I7) 



Excavation work was carried on at this site by Dr. and Mrs. Kidder 

 from the middle of March until the rising water level drove them out 

 of the excavations on May 20, 1936. Work was also going on at 

 Lake Yojoa, but all the other members of the expedition spent some 

 time in the Santa Rita excavations. The site is located on the 

 Comayagua River just below the little town of Santa Rita (map, 

 fig. 5). It consists of refuse deposits and living levels exposed in 

 the steep banks of a flood channel of the river and is only 200 meters 

 west of the overseer's house on farm 17 of the Tela Railroad Co. 

 The main irrigation canal for the lower valley takes out from the 

 Comayagua just east of the overseer's house. Thanks to the courtesy 

 of the Tela Railroad Co. and of the overseer, Mr. John Thompson, 

 we were able to board comfortably at the farm house and to use its 

 broad porches for sorting specimens. 



The physiographic and cultural evidences revealed by the Santa 

 Rita excavations are complex and require far more detailed treatment 

 than is possible here. However, certain very significant correlations 



