Ladd] PARITA AND SANTA MARIA ARCHEOLOGY, PANAMA 113 



MACARACAS TTPE; CUIPO VARIETY 



Sample. — 13 vessels or large fragments, 11 sherds (pis. 7, c, d; 

 8, a). 



Paste. — Temper is crushed white and black rock easily visible to 

 the naked eye against the brick-red paste color. The color is the 

 same as that for the Pica-pica variety. Hardness is 2.5 on Mohs' 

 scale. 



Shapes. — Vessel forms represented at He-4 include round based 

 collared jars with angled shoulders (fig. 35, j) and pedestal plates. 

 Size on both shapes ranges from miniature (plates 8 cm. tall, 8-9 cm. 

 in diameter; jars 6-7 cm. in diameter) through small to medium 

 (plates 19 cm. in diameter; jars 11-13 cm, in diameter) to one large 

 example, Find 373-3, with a diameter of 38 cm. Wall thicknesses 

 vary somewhat with overall size, ranging from 6-8 mm,, but on the 

 large vessel mentioned above were surprisingly thin, averaging about 

 5 mm, Plate lips are rounded and otherwise unmodified. Pedestals, 

 like those of the Pica-pica and Higo varieties are generally relatively 

 tall and slim. Jar collars are short with a tendency toward horizontal 

 flattening of the lip. Adjacent to the collar base there is often a 

 flattened area of shoulder, which may be horizontal or slant slightly 

 down toward the shoulder angle. In some cases the shoulder angle 

 is high on the body, giving a pear-shaped appearance to the total. 

 In others, the angle is located about the midpoint of body height. 



Appendages and construction. — Although the method of construction 

 is not apparent and no appendages are known for this variety at the 

 El Hatillo site, a short description of the rattle base mentioned above 

 is in order. The pedestal interior is closed over near the foot, about 

 one-fifth of the way up the pedestal, by a layer of paste. This layer 

 is perforated by smaU holes and by two intersecting center cuts 

 similar in appearance to a pie crust cut into quarters (see fig. 53, k, 

 for a comparable Red-buff base). Forty-five small fired clay pellets 

 were placed in the hollow area of the base between the paste 

 layer and the point of juncture with the plate. Two narrow, opposed 

 slits perforate the pedestal wall midway between the base rim and the 

 point of juncture with the plate. 



Surface. — Of the 13 whole vessels in the collection assigned to this 

 variety, 10 came from one grave, Find 374, and it is this lot with a 

 uniform surface appearance which wiU be described first. The 

 surface is smoothed and polished, but the colors remain duU. Ground 

 color in most of the specimens is a dark red similar to the paste color; 

 only a few of the plates exhibited a dull cream or almost buff shade. 

 Decorative zones vary with the vessel form. On pedestal plates 

 both upper and lower surfaces of the plate and the exterior of the 

 pedestal base are decorated. On the high-angled shoulder jar form 



