ANCIENT ART OF THH TROVINCl: OF CHIRIOUI. 



By William H. Holmes. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Until fumparatively recent times the province of Cliiriqui has 

 remained almost unknown to the world at large. The isthmus 

 was traversed a number of times by the conquerors, w^ho published 

 accounts of their discoveries, but it was reserved for the period of 

 railroad and canal exi)loration to furnish trustworthy accounts of its 

 character and inhabitants. The situation of Cliiriqui is uniqiie. 

 Forming, politically, a part of South America, it belongs in reality 

 to the North American continent. It occupies a part of the great 

 southern flexure of the isthmus at a point where the shore lines begin 

 finally to turn toward the north. 



The map accompanying this paper (Plate I) conveys a clear idea of 

 the position and the leading topographic features of the province. 

 The boundaries separating it from Veragua on the east and Costa 

 Rica on the west run nearly north and south. The Atlantic coast line 

 has a northwest and southeast trend and is indented by the bay or 

 lagoon of Cliiriqui. The Bay of David extends into the land on the 

 south and the Gulf of Dolce forms a part of the western boundary. A 

 range of mountains, consisting principally of volcanic products, ex- 

 tends midway along the province, forming the continental watei'- 

 shed.' The drainage comprises two systems of short rivers that run, 

 one to the north and the other to the south, into the oi)](osing oceans. 

 Belts of lowland border the shorelines. Tluit on the south side is 

 from twenty to thirty miles wide and rises gradually into a i)lateau 

 two or three thousand feet in elevation, which is broken by hills and 

 cut by caiions. This belt affords a natural thoroughfare for peoples 

 migratiui;- fr<nii coiitinfiit to (•(nitincnt. and doubtless formed at all 

 periods :iii ;i(tracti\c disti-ict I'ny < iccu|i,Lt ii m. It is in the middle por- 

 tion of thissti-ipof lowland. I'spi^cially in t he drainage area of the Bay 

 of David, that the most plentiful evidences of ancient occupation are 

 found. Scattering remains have been discovered all along, however, 

 connecting the art of Costa Rica with that of Veragua, Panama, and 



' For physic.il features, see report of Lieutenant Norton (Rejiort Cliiriqui Coininis- 

 sioii, E.x. Doc. 41. 1860). 



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