56 



ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCHES IN NICARAGUA. 



Of the smaller vessels, which seem to have been designed for water and 

 food, as shown by the remains of bones, &c., the majority are oblong, but vary 

 infinitely in size, shape, and ornamentation, two being rarely formed alike. 

 Evidently the potter's wheel was not used. These vessels can be arranged in a 

 series from round to the longest oblong through an almost imperceptible grada- 

 tion. A great many of them have raised ornaments on the sides and at the 

 ends, suggesting the original bird shape, with wings, head, and tail. This form is 

 particularly well shown in the figures of a jar from Huehuetenango, Guatemala.* 

 From the same locality Mr. Stephens obtained other vases of Mexican style of 

 ornamentation. A specimen of the bird-shaped jar, with head and tail, the wings 

 indicated by painted lines, will be described as found in a mound at Los Cocos. 

 Most of the oblong jars are unpainted, some are colored solid red, and others are 

 marked with red on a buff ground, as if fingers dipped in red paint had been 

 drawn along the length of the vessel. No. 28,586, Fig. 114, an oblong jar, has a 

 head on each end, with the orifice nearly in the centre of the back. One of the 

 heads is a monkey's, the other much like that of a seal. The latter design is 

 quite frequent on the small end of oblong jars. 



Fig. 114. 



No. 28,586. 



No. 28,CGO. 



No. 28,739. 

 Oblong vessels, Santa Helena. 



Dr. Berendt thought that the peculiar shape of the oblong burial urns was 

 due to their convenience for containing the long bones, but the discovery of skel- 

 etons which had not been disarticulated disproved this theory. Squier noticed 



* Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan. Stephens. Page 231. 



