132 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 60 



IG. The Central Americax-Istiimlvn Area 



Passing to the south of the Maya-Quiche Province into the Cen- 

 tral American area proper, a decided step downward in the culture 

 scale is manifest, a descent broken somewhat by the influence of 

 Maya contact along the northern border and by the intrusion at 

 various points of Nahua colonies. These latter were established 

 in pre-8panish times in southern (Juatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, 

 and Panama. Apart from the Nahua groups, the inhabitants be- 

 longed to a large number of distinct linguistic stocks, but all are 

 now largely blended with intrusive elements of European, African, 

 and West Indian origin. None of these stocks could claim an espe- 

 cially high culture rank at the period of conquest and the majority, 

 though practicing agriculture and the simpler forms of textile, 

 ceramic, and other arts, rose only slightly above the status of the 

 simple savage. 



The inferior state of pre-Columbian culture in this area is espe- 

 cially emphasized by the absence of architectural 

 Culture Inferior remains. The whole area contains, so far as re- 

 ported, only very limited traces of stone building or 

 of major anti(]uities of any kind. Sculpture of the human figure, of 

 which tliere are many examples, was still in the primitive stage, the 

 clumsy forms being rigid, expressionless, and inartistic, contrasting 

 strongly with the exceptionally free and graceful treatment of the 

 Maya-Quiche area. The apparent absence or rarity of traces of the 

 recording arts also serves to stamp the advancement of this area as of 

 decidedly inferior grade to that of the areas to the north. Sculptural 

 representations of animals correspond in character with those of the 

 human form except as elaborated in the remarkable stool and stool- 

 like nictates found in great numbers in Costa Pica and in northern 

 Panama. In this branch of handicraft, strange to say, the ancient 

 Costa Kicans stand at the head of the American tribes. The elabo- 

 rately carved and tastefully embellished forms suggest the extension 

 of the function of these objects beyond ordinary practical uses into 

 the realm of superstition and ceremony. Achievements in the potter's 

 art also in some sections, especially on Ometepe Island and the shores 

 of Lake Nicaragua and in Chiri(iui, Panama, go far toward rescuing 

 the ancient craftsmen from relegation to a decidedly inferior status. 

 Indeed, there is not in America any group of ceramic products dis- 

 ]ilaying a refinement of taste in modeling su]:)erior to that of 

 Chiriqui. It is also to be observed that as metallurgists the ancient 

 Central Americans must be accorded high rank. Countless ex- 

 amples of skillfully executed ornaments in gold and gold-cop]ier 

 alloys have been recovered from burial ]^laces in Costa Rica and 

 Chirici[ui, and the Spanish invaders reaped a rich harvest in the 



