224 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 193 



of some Parita design elements out of Macaracas elements. Delgado 

 Red modes, especially the oblique lip of the class "c" collared jars, are 

 characteristic of the phase. With the possible exception of a late 

 carbon-14 date tor a deep grave at He-4 (see p. 151), no evidence for 

 absolute dating of the phase has yet come forth. Geographically, the 

 phase is represented on the Parita River, in Veraguas (both El Hatillo 

 and Parita types) and in Chiriqui (Parita type only) . The Sitio Conte 

 Period of Decline (Lothrop, 1942) may be contemporaneous. Few, if 

 any, vessels have come to Hght east of the region adjacent to the 

 Parita River, although similarities to both Parita and El Hatillo types 

 have been noted for the Pearl Islands. 



Aside from the ceramics, the phase content so far is scanty. Very 

 few Herrera Phase burials have been excavated; most of the El 

 Hatillo and Parita vessels at He-4 were scattered singly or in caches 

 of two or three vessels throughout Mound III. The few burials 

 which have been excavated, all in Mound II, were urn burials both of 

 adults and children with El HatiUo type vessels, ash, and bm-ned bone 

 in association. Grave furniture consisted of perforated human teeth 

 and delicately carved manatee bone which, aside from the highly 

 developed carving technique, do not indicate the richness or variety 

 of the preceding two phases. On the other hand, the massive amounts 

 of "killed" pottery which comprise the bulk of Mound III, and the 

 existence of the mound itself, certainly indicate a surplus economy. 



EL TIGRE AND LA ARENA PHASES 



The final two phases. El Tigre and La Arena, remain as described 

 by Willey and McGimsey in 1954 and occur, respectively, around the 

 time of the Conquest or shortly post-Conquest and in recent times. 

 El Tigre, consisting of large coarse vessels found among the coastal 

 salt flats and probably representing the remains of salt boiling opera- 

 tions, may or may not be contemporary with the final part of the 

 Herrera Phase. La Arena pottery was made within the memory of 

 the local inhabitants when visited by members of the 1952 expedition. 



In view of the varying geographic limits of the phases as noted 

 above, it is difficult to establish new regions for Panama although the 

 old ones of Veraguas, Code, and Darien are now in need of qualification, 

 if not revision. The Canal Zone region is valid, I think, as a transition 

 area between the predominantly plastic-decorated pottery sites of the 

 tropical forest zone to the east and the polychrome tradition of the 

 savanna zone of the west. Beyond that, however, any further dif- 

 ferentiation rests on circmnstances which have changed through time. 

 Thus, the Santa Maria Phase appears at the present time to have been 

 concentrated in the area between the Santa Maria River and the 

 Rio Grande de Code. The Early Code Phase shows considerable 



