6 USE OF GOLD AND OTHER METALS 



trustworthy tradition of the ancieut inhabitants, and are said to care 

 noihiug for the cnrioos cemeteries among which they dwell, excepting 

 as a source of revenue. Mr. A. L. Pinart states, however, that certain 

 tribes on both sides of the continental <livide have traditions pointing 

 toward the ancient grave builders as their ancestors. 



There is probably no valid reason for assigning the remains of this 

 region to a very high antiquity. The highest stage of culture here may 

 have been either earlier or later than the period of highest civilization 

 in Mexico and South America or contemporaneous with it. As to the 

 affinities of the ancient middle Isthmian tribes with the peoples north 

 and south of them we can learn nothing positive from the evidences of 

 their art. So far as the art of pottery has come within my observation, 

 it appears to indicate a somewhat closer relationship with the ancient 

 Costa Eican peoples than with those of continental South America; yet 

 in their burial customs, and especially" in their use of gold, they were 

 like the ancient peoples of Middle and Southern New Grenada. 



The ancient cemeteries, or huacas, as they are called throughout 

 Spanish America, are scattered over the greater part of the Pacific 

 slope of Chiriqui. It is said by some that they are rarely found in the 

 immediate vicinity of the sea, but they occur elsewhere, in the river 

 valleys, on the hills, the plateaus, the mountains, and in the deepest 

 forests. They are very numerous, but generally of small extent. The 

 largest described is said to cover an area of about twelve acres. They 

 were probably located in the immediate vicinity of villages and towns, 

 traces of which, however, are not described by explorers. There can 

 be no doubt that diligent search will bring to light the sites of dwellings 

 and towns. One of the most circumstantial accounts of these burial 

 places is given by Mi-. Merritt, who was also the first to make them 

 known to science.^ Mr. JNIerritt was director of a gold mine in Veragua, 

 and in the summer of 1859 spent several weeks in exploring the graves 

 of Chiriqui ; he therefore speaks from iiersonal knowledge. In the au- 

 tumn of 1858 two native farmers of the parish of Bugaba, or Bugava, 

 discovered a golden image that had been exposed by the uprooting of 

 a plant. They proceeded secretly to explore the graves, the existence 

 of which had been known for years. In the following spring their 

 operations became known to the people, and within a month more than 

 a thousand persons were engaged in working these extraordinary gold 

 mines. The fortunate discoverers succeeded in collecting about a hun- 

 dred and thirty pounds weight of gold figures, most of which were 

 more or less alloyed with co]>per. It is estimated that fifty thousand 

 dollars worth in all were collected from this cemetery, which embraced 

 an area of twelve acuTS. 



Although there are rarely surface indications to mark the position of 

 the graves, long experience has rendered it comparatively easy to dis. 

 cover them. The grave hunter carries a light iron rod, which he runs 



» J. Kini; Merritt, in a paper read before the AiDericau Etlinolojj'ical Society, 1860. 



