Ladd] PARITA AND SANTA MARIA ARCHEOLOGY, PANAMA 205 



Figure 67. — Idealized diagram of grave pit, Find 14, He-1. 



in the Late Code Period. No artifacts of bone or stone were present 

 in the grave unit. 



Find 16-17 Cache Unit, located in Trench 1 at a depth of 2-3 meters, 

 is similar in shape to Find 14 grave pit, except for the occurrence of 

 three small pits in the floor of the lower grave chamber of the 16-17 

 unit. These latter measured roughly 15 cms. in diameter and were 

 10-12 cms. deep. Red clay, charcoal, and burned earth were found 

 in association with some of the vessels of the unit, in addition to a 

 flint chip. An entrance shaft is suggested in the upper southeast 

 corner of the chamber by a tentative upward continuation of the 

 chamber about 50 cms. in diameter. No bones or other artifacts are 

 mentioned in the field notes, but the following vessels were found with 

 the unit: two open bowls with ring bases which I have classed as 

 Paneled Red ware; thi-ee Code polychrome cups of the Sitio Conte 

 Later Period style; one polychrome collared jar with a design layout 

 similar to a vessel from the Late Period Grave 26 at Sitio Conte 

 (Lothrop, 1942, fig. 192, e) and a collar design which is duplicated by 

 a sherd from the Rio Estibana, Macaracas (ibid., fig. 466, a); and two 

 wide-mouthed collared jars, one of which is definitely Red Daubed 

 with a triple teardrop motif, and the other of which is probably an 

 unfinished Red Daubed specimen. Thus this cache, like Find Unit 

 14, can be considered as coeval with the Late Period at Sitio Conte. 

 The Code cups are illustrated in Stirling, 1949, p. 376, center row 

 (Find 17-a left, Find 17-6 center, Find 16-17-c right). 



Find 18 Grave Unit is another grave pit shaped similarly to that 

 of Finds 14, 16-17, and 19, also lined with burned day which apparently 

 served as a domelike lining or roof for the burial chamber. Only 

 three pottery vessels were encountered in the grave, a complete Code 

 polychrome plate (Late Period), fragments of another which is also 

 probably of the Late Period, and a Red Daubed collared jar. In 

 addition to the vessels, a white ash layer was present in the grave 

 chamber along with a fragment of a stone metate, fragments of a 

 stone disk or mirror, and two hemispherical pieces of earth which 

 were shaped like the earthfills of vessels and may represent decayed 

 gourds or bowls. A few human bone fragments were noted, but no 



