CONCLUSIONS. 



Before American archeology can become a science, it must be studied region- 

 ally and intensively. Each region may be likened to one of the blocks in a 

 picture puzzle, with this difference, that the seriousness of the problem is due 

 more to the loss and indistinctness of parts than to their disarrangement. Not 

 only is the picture on many of the blocks indistinct and incomplete, but often 

 whole blocks are missing. It behooves the archeologist therefore to study the 

 more minutely every existing fragment for clues that may lead to the reconstruc- 

 tion of that which has vanished. 



Chiriqui as a region for intensive study has many points in its favor. It lies 

 at the gateway of two continents, midway between the classic fields of Mexico 

 and Peru. That part from which the vast majority of antiquities came is of small 

 extent, bounded on the north by a rugged mountain chain and on the south by 

 the Pacific Ocean, a veritable garden spot, sloping gently from the foot-hills of 

 the Cordilleras to the sea and abundantly watered by scores of mountain streams. 

 The soil is exceedingly rich, capable of supporting a large population, and the 

 climate is agreeable and healthy. On such a soil and amid such an environment 

 a splendid civilization might well be nurtured and grow to maturity. 



My reason for choosing Chiriqui as a field for intensive study is that the most 

 important collection of Chiriquian antiquities known, the one belonging to Yale 

 University, is in my charge. What I know of Chiriquian archeology has been 

 learned from it, from other collections both public and private, and from libraries. 

 What I have gleaned is offered to students of American archeology as a con- 

 tribution that invites a supplement from some one who may be so fortunate as to 

 have the time, inclination and opportunity for a personal investigation of this 

 region. It may not yet be too late to gather much information regarding the various 

 types of graves, for example, and the association of artifacts within them. Until 

 this is done, our knowledge of the time element and of the various steps in the 

 development of Chiriquian culture must remain largely conjectural. 



In freely acknowledging my indebtedness to previous writers on the archeology 

 of Chiriqui, the chief among them being Professor W. H. Holmes, it is fitting 

 that I should close with a presentation of some of the fruits that have ripened 

 primarily in the light of my own researches. 



The art products of Chiriqui comprise implements, statuettes, metates, stools, 

 petroglyphs, sculptured columns, amulets and ornaments of stone ; pottery in the 

 form of vases, tripods, bowls, cups, figurines, whistles, rattles, spindle-whorls and 

 stools ; and metal objects of gold and copper, alloys of these, and bronze. 

 A single shark's tooth, perforated for suspension, has been noted, and one figurine 

 of rosin. 



Attention is called to the general phylogenetic trend in the development of 

 Chiriquian art as a whole. The ties that bind the product of the stone worker to 

 that of the potter and the artificer in metal are more noticeable between stone 

 and pottery on the one hand and pottery and metal objects on the other, than 



