154 



ANCIENT AKT OF THE PROVINCE OF CHlRiyUI. 



1 have given this name to a class of stone carvings presented in a 

 previous section, ami. fni- want of abetter name, give it also to a 

 series of similar objicts modi'li'd in clay. These are among the most 

 elaborate products of Chiriquian art. In all cases they are of the 

 yellowish unpainted pottery and indicate much freedom and skill in 

 the handling of clay. They do not show any well defined evidences 

 of use, and as they are too slight and fragile to be used as ordinary 

 seats we are left to surmise that they may have served some purpose 

 in the religious rites of the ancient races. They are uniform in con- 

 struction and general conformation and consist of a circular tablet 

 supported by upright circular walls or by figures which rest upon a 

 strong, ring shaped base. The tablet or plate is somewhat concave 

 above, is less than an inch in thickness, and has a diameter of ten 

 and one-fourth inches in the largest piece, descending to seven and 

 one-half in the smallest. The margin is rounded and usually em- 

 bellished with a beaded ornament consisting of grotesque heads, gen- 

 erally reptilian. The variations exhibited in details of modeling are 

 well shown by the illustrations. In the example given in Fig. -i'M 



Fig. 830. Stool of plain terra cotta. decorated with grote.sque heads and incised figures— ;. 



the upright portion is a hollow cylinder, having four vertical slits, 

 alternating with which are oblique bands of ornament in incised lines 

 and punctures. The projecting margin of the tablet is encircled by 

 a row of grotesque, monkcy-liko licads, facing downward. 



Fig. 331 illustrates a siii'iiiiun in which three grotesque figures, 

 with forbidding faces, altiMii,iti> with as many fiat columns embel- 

 lished with rude figures of alligators. Eighteen grotesque, monkey- 

 like heads occupy the lower margin of the seat plate in the spaces 

 between the heads of the supporting figures. This specimen illus- 

 trates the favorite Chiriquian method of construction. The various 

 parts were modeled separately in a rough way and then set into place 



