Ladd] PARITA AND SANTA MARIA ARCHEOLOGY, PANAMA 163 



types within a group, since one of these divisions or types was found 

 without appreciable amounts of the other at the two Herrera sites. 

 In view of these considerations the polychromes and associated red 

 and plain pottery included under the Santa Maria label in 1954 

 (Willey and Stoddard) and in 1957 (Ladd) were reclassified into the 

 two types, Gir6n Polychrome and Escota Polychrome, as set forth 

 below. In order to emphasize the essential similarity between these 

 two types in terms of paste, general size, surface treatment, and decora- 

 tive motifs, the concept of the pottery group was employed (Gifford, 

 personal communication) and they were classed within an Aristide 

 pottery group. 



GiRON polychrome; banded lip variety 



CROSSHATCHED SUBVARIETY 



Sample. — 85 sherds. 



Paste. — Paste is homogeneous with fine-grained temper of white, reddish, and 

 dark particles. Pores are finer than the smallest particles. Fractures usually 

 reveal negative impressions of particles. Structuring is rarely apparent, al- 

 though it tends to be lamellar (parallel to the vessel surface) when present. 

 Occasional larger particles of red hematite are found. Color of the paste is most 

 commonly orange-yellow (Maerz and Paul, 1930, "cork," 12-B-7). Occasional 

 dark fired zones occur on the interior, exterior, or both, and are usually brown 

 (Maerz and Paul, "beaver," 15-A-6). These zones rarely approach blackness. 

 Hardness ranges from 2.5-3 on Mohs' scale. Thickness ranges from 6-12 mm. 

 with the average at about 8 mm. 



Firing is generally uniform. Occasional sherds show thin surface layers darker 

 than the rest. In a few sherds the dark fired zones may make up three-quarters 

 of the sherd's thickness. Firing clouds appear frequently on the outside surface. 



Shapes. — Open bowls, medium to deep. The largest vessel measured 43 cms. 

 in diameter taken at the inside of the orifice. Lips are flat and wide (1-3.5 cms.) 

 and are generally flanged either to the exterior or to both interior and exterior of 

 the vessel. The upper surfaces are slightly rounded or flattened, generally on a 

 more or less horizontal plane, or slanting slightly outward (fig, 59, a-g). Bases 

 are unknown for this subvariety, but they are probably rounded. 



Surface. — Decoration consists of black painted designs confined to the upper 

 surface of the lip, except for an occasional slight extension over the inside of the 

 lip (pi. 13, /, g). The design crosshachure is arranged within a subtriangular 

 zone in which the truncated apex is pointed outward. The base of the triangle 

 consists of a black band or line running along the interior edge of the lip. The 

 crosshachure is limited laterally by the solid black borders of the enclosing tri- 

 angle design. Lips and interiors of the vessel are usually red slipped, although 

 occasional buflf or possibly white slip ground colors occur on the lip. Exteriors 

 of the vessels are buff, often with smearing and dribbles of the interior red slip 

 extending down from the lip. 



The design units were probably spaced equidistantly around the lip and arranged 

 four to a vessel. 



RADIAL BANDED SUBVARIETY 



Sample: 189 sherds. 



Paste. — Paste is somewhat more variable than the crosshatched subvariety, 

 although most sherds fall within its range. There are a few, however, which 



