■^°tfj<>Pgf**P- PREHISTORY OF PANAMA VIEJO — BIESE 37 



A water bird is shown in plate 13, 6, in a much cruder, but accurate, 

 simple linear incising. It probably represents the white heron which 

 may be seen on the beach next to the site and is common through 

 the Panama Gulf region. 



Other animal motifs are present in the ceremonial ware mentioned 

 in connection with burials. These are the turtle, aUigator, and 

 monkey, and humanoid three-dimensional figures. Several portions 

 of such figures are present in the collection. 



LOCATION 



From the few restorable vessels it appears that the biological mo- 

 tifs usually were placed separately on opposing sides of the vessel. 

 In aU cases the same pattern was present on both sides of the upper 

 half to one-third of the vessel. On some, the jar was divided into 

 four vertical panels by appliqued ridges into four alternating blank 

 and decorated vertical panels similar to the sections of an orange. 



On the other hand, pots with geometrical designs appear to be filled 

 across the entire visible outer sm'face leaving only the bottom and 

 interior undecorated. The rims were further elaborated on the top 

 or either side, but the rim and body decorations are not contiguous. 

 There is no evidence of any zoning of decorative fields. 



ANTHROPOMORPHIC EFFIGIES 



Four polychrome vessels were found which have humanoid fea- 

 tures. They are basically similar and have in common the ridging 

 to indicate hair style and the painted "mask." Beyond these fea- 

 tures, however, they are quite dissimilar in ceramic type, paint quality 

 and color, and in stylistic execution. They do not appear to be the 

 product of a single artist, nor to have the unity of similar vessels to 

 the west. 



Plate 15, b, is unquestionably a typical "Cocle-type" humpback 

 effigy in coarse slipped red ware with white panels to indicate face 

 and arms. The face is elaborated by a purple mask and the arms 

 and breastplate are decorated with geometric black lines in the typi- 

 cal Sitio Conte manner, but they were too poorly preserved to photo- 

 graph well. The protruding mouth and nose as a single unit makes 

 it resemble a monkey more than a human; an interesting combina- 

 tion when combined with the humpback. There are small raised 

 breasts and no evidence of masculine structure. 



In plate 21, b, is shown a miniature vessel in which the body is 

 barrel-shaped without arms. This is a better grade of slipped, 

 polished red ware with a soft white slip over most of the body. The 

 decorations in red and the mask in purple are edged with black material 



