36 ANCIENT ART OF THE PROVINCE OF CHIRIQUI. 



ing pot. Many stories bearing upon this point have been told me. A 

 Washington jeweler is represented as having exhibited in his win- 

 dow ( 111 PiMi]is\ Ivania avenue about the year 18G0 a remarkable series 

 of tlnsr liiiiki'is. most of which were afterwards sent to New York 

 to he luc'ltiMl. About the same period a gentleman on entering a shop 

 in San Francisco was accosted by a stranger who had his pockets well 

 filled with these curious relics and wished to dispose of them for cash. 

 A number of my acquaintances have neat but grotesque examples of 

 these little images of gold attached to their watch guards, thus ap- 

 proving the taste of our prehistoric countrymen and at the same 

 time demonstrating the identity of ideas of personal embellishment in 

 all times and with all peoples. 



The ornaments are found only in a small percentage of the graves, 

 those probably of persons sufficiently opulent to possess them in life; 

 a majority of the graves contain none whatever. They are often 

 found at tlie bottom of the pits, ami jirobably in nearly the i)osition 



OCcupie,! hy th.'lll while still attaclie.l to the persons of" tile (lead. It 

 is .said tliat occasionally they are found in niches at the sides of the 

 graves, as if placed during the filling of the pit. 



Strangely enough, the gold is very generally alloyed with copper, 

 the composite metal ranging from pure gold to pure copper. A small 

 percentage of silver is also present in some of the specimens exam- 

 ined, but this is probably a natural alloy. In a few cases very simple 

 figures appear to have been shaped from nuggets or masses of the 

 native metals; this, however, is not susceptible of proof. The woi'k 

 is very skillfully done, so that we find it difficult to ascertain the 

 precise methods of manipulation. The general effect in the more 

 pretentious pieces resembles that of our filigree work, in which the 

 parts are produced by hammering and united by soldering; yet there 

 are many evidences of casting, and these must be considered with 

 care. As a rule simple figures and some portions of composite fig- 

 ures present very decided indications of having been cast in molds, 

 yet no traces of these molds have come to light, and there are none 

 of those characteristic markings wliich result from the use of com- 

 posite or '-piece" molds. Wire was extensively rased in the forma- 

 tion of details of anatomy and emliellishinent. and its presence does 

 not at first seem compatible with ordinary casting. This wire, or 

 pseudo-wire it may be, is generally about one-twenty-fifth of an inch 

 in diameter. 



The manner in which the numerous parts or sections of complex 

 figures are joined together is both interesting and perplexing. Evi- 

 dences of the use of solder have been looked for in vain, and if such 

 a medium was ever used it was identical in kind with the body of 

 the object or so small in quantity as to escape detection. At the 

 junction of the parts tiiere are often decided indications of hammer- 

 ing, or at least of the strong pressure of an implement; but in pur- 



