222 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 193 



Patterned and Modeled variety, the Pito variety and strap-handled 

 jars within the Red Daubed variety, all within the Red Line type, 

 had consistent Early Code associations as did the Platanillo variety 

 of the Smoked ware type. Likewise, the Giron type is definitely 

 associated with Early Cocl^ vessels in graves at He-2 and was heavily 

 represented in the sherd lots at He-1 where Early Code polychromes 

 were also present. However, the stratigraphic situation at the 

 latter site is not clear. Giron type vessels were also common at 

 Venado Beach along with Early Code polychromes, but detailed 

 information on the grave associations of these vessels is not now 

 available. Giron pottery, either of this phase or the preceding one, 

 has also been found in the Pearl Islands and near the Gulf of San 

 Miguel in southern Darien. 



Thus far, the only evidence available for dating the phase are 

 two carbon-14 dates, A.D. 210 and A.D. 960, obtained at Venado 

 Beach for apparently identical burials. My tendency would be to 

 favor the later of these two, placing the phase in the second half of 

 the first millennium A.D. 



On the basis of the rich grave furniture at Sitio Conte and the more 

 subdued remains at He-1, it is clear that the phase represents a major 

 cultural florescence as compared to the relatively simple Santa Maria 

 Phase. Ceramics show considerable artistic imagination and tech- 

 nical excellence. Elaborate jewelry in gold, tumbaga, serpentine, and 

 agate and intricately carved bone are abundant in the larger graves. 

 Bark cloth and woven textiles are indicated by impressions. The 

 monumental stone pillars and carvings of Verrill's Rio Cano "temple" 

 site may have been erected in this phase, for Lothrop notes that 

 although pottery of both the Early and Late Periods at Sitio Conte 

 was collected at Rio Cano, the bulk of it was Early (Lothrop, 1942, 

 p. 212). The nature of the graves at Sitio Conte suggests the develop- 

 ment of wealthy chief doms and the possible practice of retainer burial, 

 although none of the Early Code graves (Grave 32, with six skeletons, 

 is the largest) contains mass interments comparable to the 22 indi- 

 viduals buried in Grave 26 of the succeeding phase. Evidence of the 

 use of fire in connection with burial practices, another characteristic 

 of the following phase, was present in some of the graves at Sitio 

 Conte but absent at He-1 and He-2. The inland site locations, the 

 high development of the more sophisticated crafts such as metallurgy, 

 and the presence of manos and metates in the graves, clearly imply an 

 agricultural base for the society. The continuing importance of the 

 hunt, however, is suggested by the frequent bundles of stone and bone 

 points and stingray spines found with the burials. Incidentally, the 

 practice reported by the Spaniards of using dogs in game drives 

 (Lothrop, 1937, p. 18) may have begun at this time, for numerous 

 perforated dog teeth were recovered from Early graves at Sitio Conte. 



