^'^"No^esf^^' PREHISTORY OF PANAMA VIEJO — BIESE 19 



(Lotlu'op, 1954) and the custom is known throughout the Madden 

 Lake area. I have found burial urns on the Azuero Peninsula con- 

 taining typical El Hatillo polychrome and Veraguas-style tumbaga 

 eagle pendants. 



With future location of m'n burials from southern Central America, 

 particularly Costa Rica, and better age estimates, we well may be 

 able to trace direct southward migrations from the cultures to the 

 north. 



BURIAL OFFERINGS 



There is a general paucity of funerary offerings at this site. Most 

 of the urns were devoid of pottery, and goldwork conspicuously is 

 absent. Some of the m-ns contained simple utilitarian pottery, 

 unornamented plates, and small to medium-sized red ware pots. 

 Of these, three plates, two wide-mouthed bowls, and three narrow- 

 mouthed pots were recovered from urns. In each case they were 

 the only vessel in a given urn. Only 8 out of 20 definable urns con- 

 tained even this type of offering. Since they differ in no way from 

 the general refuse sherds throughout the site they are discussed 

 below under "Ceramics." In only one case, grave No. 2, was a 

 trace of food offering in the form of 6 gm. of carbon found within a 

 wide-mouthed bowl. A few urns contained decorated ware. Metal- 

 work, coral, jade, shell, or other jewelry materials were completely 

 absent. 



FUNERARY VOTIVE WARE 



The most remarkable and locally distinctive ceramic type from this 

 site is the brown incised ceremonial ware: exceptionally fine elaborate 

 vessels which betoken a high degree of skill in pottery culture. With 

 the sole exception of a tribowled candelabra, these objects all were 

 found unassociated in the burial area. A combination of their 

 elaborate nature, location, and scarcity is interpreted to indicate 

 that they should be considered apart from the other artifacts as a 

 special class of votive ware restricted to funerary use. Related un- 

 published specimens from Venado Beach and Madden Lake are 

 present in the Museo Nacional and in several local private collections. 



They are all light to medium chocolate brown in color with a line- 

 textured paste. The temper is of fine grit. Broken edges of the 

 thicker (1 cm.) sections show a green to gray center zone of incom- 

 plete firing. Plate 5, the most complex piece, was actually in two 

 separate fragments found more than a month apart and later recon- 

 structed. It is a double-bowled fixture resembling a candelabra 

 (14 cm. high and 24 cm. maximum width) and containing multiple 

 effigies. Each bowl represents a turtle, while each supporting arm 

 terminates in a humanoid face. The center junction of the arms and 



