NO. I HONDURAS STRONG, KIDDER, AND PAUL 79 



seeking an earlier type of culture at the Los Naranjos site. In this 

 venture he was successful despite the very limited time available. 



Only within the last 4 or 5 years has the occurrence of prolific 

 mounds around the north end of Lake Yojoa become a matter of sci- 

 entific knowledge. The first of these were dug up by local farmers 

 and, later with the permission of the Honduras government, J. B. 

 Edwards carried on extensive excavations in the region. In 1934 Mrs. 

 Doris Zemurray Stone " visited Los Naranjos and published a brief 

 report. 



In 1935 Frans Blom, Dr. Jens Yde, and Prentiss Andrews spent 4 

 days around Jaral in the course of the Tulane University-Danish Na- 

 tional Museum Expedition." They explored around the various sites, 

 worked with Mr. Edwards, and from him obtained collections of the 

 polychrome ware. 



On our second visit we rented a dilapidated house in Jaral and 

 boarded at the " Grand Hotel Rats' Nest ", as it was fittingly christened 

 by Yde and his companions. Our genial host, " El Chino Alejandro ", 

 however, made us as comfortable as his limited resources permitted. 

 In Jaral we were also greatly aided by Capt. Evalyn Bush, and in the 

 field by our two main workers, Paco Ramirez, of Dos Caminos, and 

 Miguel Hernandez, of El Eden. Information furnished by Mr. J. B. 

 Edwards proved very useful throughout our work. 



The major geographic characteristics of Lake Yojoa have already 

 been touched upon. Outstanding archeological features of the plain 

 at the northern end are, first of all, the great mound group and frag- 

 mentary stone statues at Los Naranjos (great mound group, map, 

 fig. 20) ; next the long earth mound or causeway, with its parallel 

 ditch, just east of the road to Jaral (map, fig. 20) ; and finally the 

 series of " ancient cemeteries ", or low house mounds containing 

 burials, about 3 miles east of Jaral near the lake shore (map, fig. 20). 

 In the following account we will attempt to present very briefly the 

 major characteristics of certain of these features, each of which merits 

 at least a full season's work and a complete report. Our primary aim 

 was to determine the nature and association of the major ceramic 

 wares present at such sites and, if possible, to determine whether strati- 

 fication of culture horizons might be present. The apparent richness 



" 1934. PP- 123-128. Mrs. Stone, p. 128, mentions the occurrence of gold at 

 this site. To the best of our knowledge, no metals of any kind have ever been 

 found there. 



"See Yde, 1935, and 1936. The earlier report (fig. s) shows four typical 

 Yojoa vessels; the upper has the "dancing figures" and is Mayoid in type. 

 The three lower vessels are in the local Bold Animalistic style. 



