HOLMES] ABOEIGTXAL AMEEICAN ANTIQUITIES PART I 143 



They were living in neat houses and cultivating the land with skill 

 and industry. They made sugar from cane, and their cotton cloth, 

 dyed in various hues, was highly esteemed for its texture.^ In a wide 

 area about the delta of the Amazon, as already indicated, there are 

 traces of a state of development considerably in advance of that of 

 any of the historic peoples, while along the northern border of the 

 continent, from the mouth of the Amazon to Lake Maracaibo, the 

 Arawak and Carib stocks had made marked advancement in the arts; 

 and their implements, utensils, and personal ornaments present many 

 features of interest, although the culture state as a whole appears to 

 be considerably lower than that achieved by the same stocks in the 

 West Indies. 



Evidences of advanced culture are found along the Andean slopes 

 of Bolivia, doubtless echoes from the highland or survivals of culture 

 among peoples driven from the ui)land valleys by the Inca. There 

 are in the upper valle^^s of the IJio Mamore burial mounds from 

 which are obtained pottery and stone implements such as usually 

 pertain to the sedentary, agricultural status, and the same is true of 

 some parts of the valleys of the Parana and Paragua3\ 



Stone implements and utensils of excellent make and considerable 

 variety are widely distributed. The total absence of 

 stono Implements stone from the marshy areas of the ancient lake beds 

 and the vast alluvial areas of the lower courses of the 

 rivers natui'all}^ interfered with progress in many branches of the 

 arts. Stone celt-hatchet blades, Avhere found, are identical in type 

 with these implements in Xorth America, and they were and in some 

 sections still are hafted in a similar fashion. The axes are, for the 

 greater part. South American in type, many of those of the far south 

 having an hourglass outline, while the prevailing form in the north 

 is notched or winged laterally. Occasional examples of the grooved 

 ax are found in ditferent parts of the area, these being identical in 

 type with the grooved ax of North America. The occurrence of 

 mortars, flat rubbing stones, and well made pestles over the region 

 occupied historically by the bolas-using tribes of the south may be 

 explained by assuming that these utensils served in pulverizing other 

 food materials than maize, unless, indeed, it is conceded that agri- 

 culture was practiced in this region. Chipped implements are rare 

 in the north but were in common use among the tribes of the south, 

 where they include knives, scrapers, and drill and projectile points of 

 A'arieties duplicating those of northern America. 



Sculpture was in its infancy throughout the area and no important 

 specimens have been reported, but* occasional examples of skillful 

 lapidarian work as well as implements and ornaments of copper and 



1 Brinton (quoting Hervas and Castelnau), The American Race, p. 243. 



38C57°— 19— Bull. 60, pt i 11 



