ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCHES IN NICARAGUA. 



15 



diameter, and contained only teeth and dirt. These relics belong to an entirely 

 distinct class, and will be described further on. 



Burial urns were exposed in the ditch at B, on a southern projection of the 

 line of excavation, and were reported to have been found at the aguacate tree, 

 near where a prolongation of the line north strikes the beach. 



The plan on page 8 is given merely to facilitate description. The bearings 

 were by pocket compass, and distances, when taken, were paced. The ditches 

 shown averaged 2J feet deep. The lava was found everywhere at about the same 

 depth, in wavy lines, as if to fit inequalities of the surface. In several places 

 under it were found collections of cobble-like lava stones. These may have been 

 collected to clear the land for cultivation. In other portions of the island they 

 are strewn over the surface, and in many places the beach is lined with the same 

 stones worn round. 



Below is a condensed tabulated statement of the urns, in the order in which 

 they were disinterred, the first column containing the number of the jar and 

 its shape ; the second, the shape and material of the cap, using the word earthen 

 where the material was the same as that of the ordinary jar, and the word 

 painted* where of finer manufacture, painted bowls, &c. Under the head position 

 is the point of the compass towards which the skeleton faced, or to which the 

 toe end of the shoe-shaped jar pointed. In the column for size the abbreviation 

 dia. signifies diameter, dep. depth, th. thickness, 1. length, cir. circumference, 

 br. breadth, j. jar, and c. cap. The figures in this column refer to inches. 



DETAILED LIST OF URNS EXHUMED. 



* These painted caps wore of the class styled Luna terra-cotta. 



