A GIFT FROM ECUADOR 



liii Churl, s IC M,a,l 



THE collection presented a'ccntly to the Museum \)\ Miv 1). C. 

 Stapleton contains two stone seats found near the Port of Manta, 

 Province of Manal)i, Ecuador. Such stone seats have heen dis- 

 covered in great ntunbers on the summits of Cerro de Hojas, Cerro Jabon- 

 cillo, Cerra .Tu]ia and ( "erro Anna, Nuexo and form the most remarkable 

 featinv of the arclia'ology of Manabi, nothing rescmbbng them being known 

 from any otlier ])art 

 of the Americas. 



The specimens in 

 the various museums 

 of Europe and Amer- 

 ica have come for tlie 

 most part from ("erro 

 de Hojas, found in 

 prehistoric house 

 sites. All of these 

 seats appear to liave 

 been ear\ed from 

 andersite or from 

 argillaceous shaly 

 sandstone — the two 

 presented by Air. 

 Stapleton are of the 

 lattei — and all may 



be described as T^- 



shaped, although 



there is considerable variety in their width and in the curve of the sides. 

 Usually the crouching figure supporting the seat represents a man or a puma, 

 but bird, lizard, bat and monkey-like forms also occur and some specimens 

 have been foimd in which the supports and l)ases are without figures. 



In addition to the stone seats from Manabi, Air. Stapleton's gift to the 

 Museum includes some thirty specimens from the Pro\ince of Esmeraldas, 

 about one-half of which were excavated from prehistoric burial moinids, 

 the balance coming from the Cayapa Indians who inhabit the province 

 to-day. 



Of the archieological part of the collection, second to the stone seats in 

 interest are the pottery stamps as showing the status of the ornamental 

 art of this unknown people. In all probability these stamps were used 

 to ornament cf)tton and bai-k cloth. 



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