NO. I HONDURAS — STRONG, KIDDER, AND PAUL . 97 



Pottery deposit, or grave, 4 occurred under a mass of great rocks 

 and consisted of three nested pots at a depth of 72 centimeters. It 

 was located 2.5 meters east of deposit 3 in the cross trench. The upper 

 vessel (pi. 13, d) was inverted over an upright, smaller, two-handled 

 bowl, and also contained a very crude, unslipped, and slightly shoe- 

 shaped vessel with horizontal, solid, round handles. Inside the latter 

 was one cylindrical, thin pottery bead. The upper vessel is a striking 

 open bowl (pi. 13, d) one-half of the surface of which is eroded. 

 The original slip is dull orange, but the entire outside was covered 

 with black, against which a thrice repeated dull orange, dark orange, 

 and red serpent design stands out. The serpent, with bulrushlike 

 flames darting from its nostrils, is definitely Nicoyan in style. A band 

 of conventionalized serpent heads circle the outside of the rim and 

 two black bands the inside. The small two-handled pot is even more 

 eroded. It has a light orange slip, two conventionalized red and black 

 alligator designs (similar to fig. 25) and other geometric designs on 

 the body. The vertical strap handles have definite nodes. The coarse 

 brown slightly shoe-shaped pot is very badly eroded and lacks all 

 surface finish. Despite the lack of skeletal remains, this pottery de- 

 posit has all the earmarks of a funerary ofifering. It is particularly 

 interesting since it contained only the local Bold Animalistic type of 

 pottery in association with a shoe-shaped vessel. 



Pottery deposit 5 consisted of several vessels uncovered in the 

 northwest quadrant of the mound. They occurred over a triangular 

 area 2 by 3 meters in extent and may or may not have represented 

 one or more grave ofiferings. No human remains were found here or 

 elsewhere at La Ceiba. The first vessel was a small, straight-walled 

 bowl with a band of red frets against a brighter background around 

 the neck. The entire middle portion of the outer body is black but 

 much of the surface is eroded. It was found in an upright position 

 at a depth of 45 centimeters. The next is a small, swollen pot with 

 slightly flaring lips and small, solid, rectangular, tripod legs. It is 

 badly eroded but has traces of black and dull buff circular designs 

 on a dull orange background. It was found in an upright position 

 at a depth of 30 centimeters. The third vessel is a large, badly eroded 

 bowl found upright and wedged in among great rocks at a depth of 

 •50 centimeters. Traces remain of an intricate but conventionalized 

 dark red and light orange design against a black background. Like 

 many of the Yojoa pots it has two black bands inside, below the lip. 

 At a depth of 32 centimeters a badly eroded straight-walled vase with 

 solid, rectangular tripod support was found upright, covered with a 

 broken bowl. The vase had only traces of black paint on the outer 



