54 



ARCHAEOLOGICAL, RESEARCHES IN NICARAGUA. 



them, were bits of red rock called curiol by the Indians. This they said was 

 ground up and served as the red paint on their earthen ware. In Costa Rica 

 black and yellow rock are also used. 



Pig. 112. 



No. 28,436. Vase from Santa Helena. 



The most interesting piece of pottery found was a gracefully formed vase, 

 with figures resembling the sculpture and the stucco designs seen in the old ruins 

 of the Maya cities, Palenque, Copan, &c. These figures seem to have been 

 graven with a sharp instrument before the clay was burned, and then a cream 

 colored paint applied. The paint has in many places peeled off, showing the 

 well burned red clay beneath. 



Among other objects of special interest obtained here were a spindle whorl, 

 small painted idols, an arrow-head of chalcedony, a spear-head, a rude clay 

 whistle shaped like a bird, two teeth of a saw-fish, and, in one of the small vessels, 

 a shark's vertebra. 



