188 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 193 



SIXTO PINILLA PLACE (HE-1) SITE 

 SITE DESCRIPTION 



The site, about 1 .25 kilometers south of the modern town of Parita, 

 Hes on a hill 200 meters northwest of the Parita River in an area 

 characterized by numerous rolling hills and intervening lowland fiats. 

 Trees are scattered, but small growth is luxuriant even in the dry- 

 season. The central portion of the site is a hilltop 100X50 meters 

 in total area, well above the flood level, with two knolls which rise 

 2-3 meters above the hilltop proper. 



When the 1948 excavations were undertaken by Dr. Stirling and 

 Dr. Willey, a small farmhouse stood on the southeast knoll with an 

 old well or excavated pit near it. Numerous large boulders averaging 

 50 cm. in diameter were present on the two knolls and on the flanks 

 of the hin. 



Excavation was undertaken in the saddle between the two knoUs 

 and on the northwest knoll, and various test pits were dug in the lower 

 slopes. These excavations revealed that the occupational layers 

 are quite shallow. In general, the area was covered by a thin layer 

 (20-30 cm.) of hmnus, then a layer of mixed red clay and organic 

 material extending down to a depth of 1 meter and underlain by 

 sterile yellow-white claj^ey soil. In view of this uniform picture of 

 natural stratigraphy and the lack of evidence of any artificial layering 

 such as floors or ash layers, profiles of the excavations are omitted. 



The shallowness of cultural remains is reflected in the sherd counts 

 of the two test pits and two trenches bearing statistically relevant 

 material. In all four cases the total sherds, especially polychrome 

 sherds, are concentrated in the upper two levels of excavation; the 

 humic and red clay zones. 



The first of these test pits, Pit 1, a 2X2 meter cut in the west 

 flank of the southeast knoU, was excavated in 25 cm. levels to a depth 

 of 175 cms., although no cultural material was found below the 75 cm. 

 mark. The lower two levels, with only 2 and 12 polychrome sherds 

 each, provide too small a sample for valid statistical analysis. The 

 dominant ceramic type within the upper two levels is Gir6n Poly- 

 chrome, which gains in popularity from the second level (25-50 cms.) 

 to the first level (0-25 cms.) (chart 12). Code Polychrome also 

 increased in popularity from the second to the first level, while the 

 percentages of the Azuero types, and Red Daubed and Red Line all 

 decrease from the second to the first level. The only Azuero group 

 type represented is Macaracas. Almost all of these sherds were of 

 the faded black and purple on red, rather than on cream or orange, 

 technique. The El Hatillo, Parita, and Calabaza varieties were 

 not represented. Within the Gir6n type, the Interior Banded and 



