18 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 191 



Figure 2. — Raised serpent design from burial urn. 



was capped by the upper part of an identical vessel bearing fragments 

 of the same double lizard design. 



A third complete decorated urn recently has been acquired by the 

 Museo Nacional and is restored completely. This urn is of the same 

 approximate size as the one just described and is elaborated on 

 each side of the opening by a highly realistic monkey (pi. 4). Like 

 several of the other designs, the body of the monkey was formed by 

 pushing outward the soft clay from the interior of the vessel. The 

 limbs are elaborated further by shell stamping. 



PAINTED URNS 



Approximately 75 percent of an urn-size vessel bearing a red and 

 black on white geometric design (pi. 4) was in fragments on the 

 surface of the central burial area. Three other fragments, not from 

 the same vessel, also were found on the surface. There was no 

 associated skeletal material, so the use of the vessel is only inferred 

 from location and size. Again, this is a black-bordered red on white 

 ware and not a true polychrome in the sense of having three or more 

 colors as a primary design element. This type of design was not 

 found on any other vessel, but similar designs are known from ca- 

 rafes and small bowls from Code Province. Simple bichrome geo- 

 metric patterns of this type are common throughout the Americas. 



The documentation of urn burials in southern Central America 

 is especially important since this is considered to be primarily a 

 later South American trait which may be an indicator of counter- 

 migration. On the other hand, this burial custom is well known from 

 the Southern United States, Mexico, and as far south as Nicaragua. 

 From the latter there is a gap in the existence of the trait until La 

 Gloria on the Atlantic coast of Colombia, near the Panama border 

 (Linne, 1929). The urns recovered from Ancon Hill and presently 

 in the Canal Zone museum previously were widely known but un- 

 documented. Similar urns were also reported from Venado Beach 



