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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[Bull. 191 



serpent appears to be a variety of sea creature; the illusion is created 

 mainly by the long curling "antennae." No truly representative 

 creatures are known in Panama or its waters, but one is reminded of 

 the common yellow-bellied sea snake (Polamis platuria) which may 

 have been elevated by prehistoric imagination to the level of some 

 superstitious significance. Several sherds would appear to be of the 

 same pattern. 



A very realistically executed lizard or iguana is illustrated in plate 

 12 and figure 12, representing the finest example of incised relief 

 ware from the site. The backward-facing position of the head appears 

 rather unusual for Panama and gives the whole design an appearance 

 reminiscent of Quetzalcoatl motifs in Mexico such as that on the 

 facades of Xochicalco. This is also frequently the position in which 

 Chinese dragons are portrayed. Lothrop (1942; figs. 43-44) illus- 

 trates a bird in this position from a painted Code plate, but there 

 does not seem to be any relation between the above and the serpent 

 or lizard motifs from Sitio Conte or Veraguas, The collection also 

 includes fragments of other similar designs, all of which are approxi- 

 mately the same size. 



A nearly complete parrot was found (pi. 13, a), which, judging by 

 its curvature and thickness (10 mm.), originally formed a portion of 

 a very large urn. This is an example of the modeled-relief technique 

 in which the body is formed by pushing the clay outward from the 

 inside of the vessel so that the actual wall thickness remains un- 

 changed. Again, one is reminded more of Mexican motifs than of 

 the polychrome phases of Panama. A similarly formed monkey urn 

 was discussed earlier. 



Figure 12. — Detail of lizard effigy jar. 



