20 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 101 



base bears, on each side, a modeled head with four stylized limbs 

 resembling a howler monkey. The base and underside of the bowls 

 are elaborated with geometrical patterns in incised lines and punched 

 dots. The hollow base is flat on the bottom and contains small 

 pellets which rattle. There are five holes leading to the interior of 

 the base. A record of a very similar vessel found at Venado Beach 

 was published with a suggestion of its possible use as a type of oil 

 lamp (Vinton, 1951). Plate 6 shows two views of a like vessel from 

 the Museo Nacional collection. In this case there is only a single de- 

 sign, a bird. In plate 6, a, a slightly different type of bird head, 

 evidently from the same class of vessel, is shown to illustrate the 

 variation in feather elaboration. 



A related "single candelabra" is shown in plate 7, a, presumably a 

 crustacean or insect. The Museo Nacional has a double vessel in 

 this pattern from Venado Beach and a third was recovered in situ 

 with an open extended burial in Upper Madden Lake. A miniature 

 candelabra is shown in plate 7, /, with further ornate brown ware 

 effigies depicting an alligator, bird, and turtles. 



Another candelabra type object with three symmetrical radial arms 

 bearing recurved bowls and a central smaller bowl (8.5 cm, radial arm 

 length) is shown in plate 8, a. It is decorated all over with an incised 

 and punched geometric design and has a flat-bottomed rattle base. 

 This object was found in situ in plain burial urn No. 1, held in the 

 upraised right hand of an adult male skeleton. The bowl which was 

 lowermost was pulverized and is shown reconstructed in the photo- 

 graph. The object evidently had been broken and repaired in ancient 

 times. The base was fractured cleanly and fitted together with a 

 white substance which had the gummy consistency of contact glue 

 when first removed from the damp earth, but which became quite 

 hard and brittle after 2 weeks' exposure to the open air. There 

 was no trace of the substance around the find and it is highly unlikely 

 that it could have filtered into an in situ crack. 



Small vessels resembling candlesticks are shown in figure 3, a. 

 They have a hollow annular base and incised or punched designs (3.5 

 and 4 cm. high). 



Plate 7, /, illustrates one of a series of miniature anthropomorphic 

 bottles with covers in the so-called "poison-pot" class. These are of 

 finely surfaced incised brown ware and have holes drilled in both the 

 bottle and cover for the attachment of lids. The bottles hold about 

 1 fluid ounce, and though no traces of material have been identified 

 from the interior they are thought to have been used for arrow poisons 

 or some type of ritual substance. Some have an extra set of holes 

 for suspension. They are known from this area and from Sitio Conte. 

 A lid from a similar bottle of larger size is shown in plate 8, d. 



