Ladd] PARITA AND SANTA MARIA ARCHEOLOGY, PANAMA 219 



a Smoked ware spouted and fluted jar, and a Venado Beach incised 

 bowl. 



Find 6 is a three-legged metate. 



Field observations suggested that Find 7 (a Smoked ware spouted 

 jar and a spatulate celt) may be part of the 4-6 Unit placed as grave 

 goods in the upper part of the Find 5 Unit shaft. The spouted jar 

 would fit chronologically with such an interpretation. 



Find 10 associates a Red Daubed strap-handled jar with a Platanillo 

 variety bowl and, again in line with the situation at He-1, would be 

 placed in the Early Period. 



Find 1 1 could also be classified as an Early Period cache on the basis 

 of the Smoked ware spouted jar. The other two vessels have both 

 Early and Late affiliations ; a Code Red ware plate with drooping lip 

 (Lothrop, 1942, pi. 14) and a Red ware chalice (Early associations in 

 Find 24 at He-1 and Late in Find 14 at the same site). 



Find 14 consisted of two vessels; a Red slipped plate and a Smoked 

 ware spouted jar. The presence of the latter vessel suggests an Early 

 Period timespan for the find unit. 



Glancing briefly at special circumstances connected with the finds, 

 it is apparent that many of them were single complete vessels or 

 caches of two or more without evidence of burial. In one instance. 

 Find 10, a jar was found with an inverted bowl cover, a practice also 

 found at He-1. No human remains were associated with this find. 

 Finds 4 and 5 were accompanied by decayed human bone, apparently 

 one individual each. Find Unit 5 was placed in a clearly delineated 

 pit under a layer of stones and included evidence of fire (Find 5-/ 

 showed fire clouding over the design and had carbon on both interior 

 and exterior surfaces of the base). At least one vessel was obviously 

 placed in the grave in a broken condition (the fragments of Find 5-g 

 were found stacked on top of each other). Units 4 and 5 also were 

 associated with nonceramic grave furniture; the three-legged metate 

 of Find 6, and possibly the stone celt of Find 7. Other burials are 

 represented by the presence of powdered human bone in association 

 with Finds 11 and 15. The only other evidence of fire uncovered at 

 the site was exterior base burning and blackening of Finds 2-a and 3, 

 neither of which was a burial. 



SUMMARY 



In summary, it appears that He-2 was a hill and valley occupation 

 site during the Early Period as represented at Sitio Conte and con- 

 temporaneous, in part, with the Gir6n site. The particular hilltop of 

 Trenches 1, 2, and 3 may have been a graveyard, but the number 

 of undecorated and presumably utilitarian sherds suggests a site 

 occupied by people who buried their dead in their living area and also 



