212 A STUDY OF CHIRIQUIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



exactly alike, forming a group that is bilaterally symmetrical. In the outer hand 

 of each figure is something resembling a canoe paddle ; while in each inner hand 

 a staff is held vertically One of these seems to be set with a tomahawk blade 

 and the two are bound together at three or four points. In addition to the 

 head-dress, the central feature of which resembles the blade of a paddle, there 

 is an elaborate necklace and loin-band from which there hangs a short apron. 

 The long pointed noses are turned sharply upward (retrousse). The ear orna- 

 ments, the cylindrical ends of which are seen above each ear, are characteristic- 

 ally Colombian. 



The ancient artificers of Chiriqui understood the value of a frame to a picture. 

 One example has already been given in figure a. A second instance is noted 

 in figures h and h\ which is also a fine illustration of skill in hammering and 

 uniting castings. The hammer marks are visible on both the front and back 

 of the frame, but the welding shows only on the back. The human figurine 

 was molded in a single piece ; the two sides and bottom of the frame were 

 cast in three pieces. The dorsal view shows how their thinness was increased 

 by hammering and how the various elements were united the ears and 

 hands to the sides of the frame, and the latter and the feet to the bottom. Two 

 slender grooved vertical bars, are attached to the elbows and to the lower 

 part of the frame, dividing the space that separates the sides of the latter 

 from the legs. To these bars and to the sides of the frame are attached six 

 small triangular castings, three on each side. They are similar in shape to some 

 of the spine- or scale-motives painted on pottery of the alligator and lost color 

 groups. Two rods of gold, welded at points between the shoulders and the frame, 

 are carried some distance above the head-dress and end in recurved loops that 

 droop forward. 



The fact that a repetition of the human figure with similar attributes occurs not 

 only in metal but also in clay and stone tends to increase our interest in ancient 

 Chiriquian mythology, which abounds in original elements and is so highly 

 developed. If only its history could be known and names be given to these 

 distinct groups of deities, as has been done for Egypt, Greece and Mexico ! 



Two groups have already been cited : the man holding a conch or fish to his 

 mouth and the man with flute and rattle. A third is represented by the small 

 figurine in color (PI. XLVIII, fig. /). This is characterized by the head-dress and 

 by the act of pulling two snakes from its wide-open mouth, one held in each 

 hand by a grip about the neck. Each head is formed by two wires coiled at 

 the ends, while the body of each is composed of two twisted wires. The head 

 of the snake, in the right hand, has been broken off. The foundation of the head- 

 dress is low and flat. Its chief ornamental feature consists of two snake heads 

 similar to the foregoing, but with bodies made of wires that are not twisted. 

 The three projections on the front of the head-dress would be meaningless, 

 were it not for other representations of the same deity, wherein these ele- 

 ments are treated in a more realistic fashion. They are bird heads, an illustra- 

 tion from the work of Holmes (fig. 30) leaving no doubt on this point. The 

 snake heads in Holmes's figure are also more realistic, resembling more the 

 serpent heads with forked tongues on the black incised pottery (serpent ware). 



