^^^^■^^•gjP^P- PREHISTORY OF PANAMA VIE JO — BIESE 45 



Madden Lake areas and its accumulation will necessitate revision of 

 any system. Furthermore, we may well find that stratified deposits 

 wUl presage a system of classification having temporal as well as 

 geographical value in the determination of cultural parameters. 

 Nevertheless, a summary of the ceramic collection presented herein 

 may be given in the form of a preliminary classification. This is 

 intended only to be descriptive of the various broad groups of pottery 

 recovered and to be used as an aid for further comparisons; to divide 

 it immediately from the equally broad cultures previously described 

 from Panama. 



I. Panama Viejo Red Ware 

 II. Panama Viejo Decorated Brown Ware 



1. Incised brown ware. (PI. 8, e.) Identical to those sherds of the 



same name from Sitio Conte. The paucity of examples would 

 suggest it is neither native to, nor representative of, either of 

 these areas. 



2. Geometric brown ware. Including its red-brown variants. The de- 



sign is geometrical and incised with secondary elaboration by 

 punching and mechanical stamping with shell and reed. 



3. Biometric-relief brown ware. (With red-brown variants.) The de- 



signs are animal representations in bas-relief outlined by incising 

 and elaborated by secondary stamping. This also would include 

 the smaller designs in which the representation is not actually 

 elevated from the vessel surface. 



III. Panama Viejo Black on White Paneled Red Ware 



IV. Panama Viejo Ceremonial Ware 



Including those elaborate vessels with geometrical designs and/or 

 three-dimensional modeled or appliqued sculptures (modeled- 

 relief brown ware). 

 V. Panama Viejo Urn Wares 



1. Red urn ware, and the common red-brown covers 



2. Relief urn ware 



3. Black on white paneled red urn ware (covers only) 



4. Red and black on white urn ware 



The remaining painted sherds are represented by only one example 

 each and cannot be classified. They are presented only for descrip- 

 tive purposes. 



DISCUSSION 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 



The most important material from this site, for the tracing of 

 horizontal distribution, is the decorated brown ware. From the 

 Pearl Islands, Linne (1929) illustrates a nubbin sherd (p. 99), incised 

 animal feet (p. 81), and alligator and serpent designs in raised brown 

 ware with similar techniques in reed marking, shell marking, punching, 

 and incising (p. 90). 



