A STUDY OF CHIRIQUIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



between stone on the one hand and metal on the other. It is significant that 

 these ties binding together the art in all mediums seem to be centered in the 

 group of unpainted pottery, to which I have given the name armadillo ware. 



With the exception of architecture, the stone art of Chiriqui compares favorably 

 with that of Mexico or Peru. The chipping and polishing of stone implements 

 was carried to a high degree of perfection in view of the serious handicap due 

 to the apparent lack of flint and obsidian, which have been everywhere the chief 

 heritage of stone-age culture. Use was made of local stone almost exclusively, 

 the choice of materials being confined principally to those of volcanic origin. 

 The overcoming of technical difficulties inherent in the raw materials is nowhere 

 better exemplified than in the series of celts, metates and stools. Jade ornaments 

 are rare; the character of the material and the workmanship point to a kinship 

 with the numerous amulets of jade that have been found in Nicoya, or at least 

 to a common source of jade supply located presumably somewhere in Costa Rica. 



Fictile products form the great bulk of Chiriquian antiquities. The major part 

 of these are simply vessels in the form of vases with round bottoms or mounted 

 as tripods. Their prototype was presumably the calabash. Aside from this the 

 plant world had practically no influence on the elaboration of form and ornament 

 in clay, the plasticity of which is so well calculated to stimulate the imagination, 

 clay yielding readily to any form that fancy may dictate. These forms, whether 

 useful or ornamental, present surfaces that invite further decoration by means 

 either of engravings or painted designs, thus bringing into play the whole realm 

 of art, from sculpture in the round and relief to engraving and painting. 



Chiriquian pottery admits of classification into : (1) Unpainted ware and (2) painted 

 ware, each main division comprising a number of subdivisions. My reasons are 

 given for proposing several changes in the nomenclature of Holmes. Instead of 

 the "terra cotta" or "biscuit" group the name armadillo is recommended for the 

 great group of unpainted ware, and the serpent group is substituted for the " black 

 incised " group. In the division of painted ware, a change of one group name 

 is suggested, viz., fish group instead of " tripod " group. These changes are all 

 in line with Holmes's choice of the name "alligator" for one of the important 

 groups of painted ware. The names of animal forms are thus applied to four 

 groups instead of only one, as was the case in the earlier classification. The 

 changes therefore are justified by precedent, as well as on the ground of appro- 

 priateness and uniformity, and by the fact that the ancient Chiriquian potter drew 

 his motives wholly from the animal world. 



I have given the name of chocolate incised ware to a small group not hitherto 

 noted, with distinctly Costa Rican affinities. Some of the larger groups admit of 

 further differentiation ; for example, the salmon-colored variety of the armadillo 

 ware. The handled group also comprises two more or less distinct varieties, one 

 painted and the other unpainted. On the other hand, the polychrome ware and 

 the alligator ware have so many points of similarity that they might well be 

 considered as varieties of one group, to all of which the name alligator applies 

 with equal fitness. Alligator motives predominate in both, but those in each group 

 are distinctive in character. This fact supported by the presence of characters that 

 are common to the polychrome ware alone such as the use of an additional 



