E a 
Evang an ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH GUIANA € 
consisting of two adobe huts beside an airstrip where British Guiana 
Airways landed on a regular schedule once every 2 months. We were 
214 days early, but hung our hammocks and stuck close to them to be 
sure we would not miss our plane. 
The flight to Georgetown in the DC-3 cargo ship was routine. Stops 
at Lethem and Annai gave us a glimpse of the savanna at the end of 
the dry season, with the grass burned brown. We landed at Atkinson 
Field on February 3, 1958, and spent the first evening in Georgetown 
walking around admiring the bright lights, having seen nothing 
stronger than a lantern for nearly 3 months. The manager of the 
Hotel Woodbine greeted us with joy, having concluded weeks before 
that we had succumbed to one of the numerous perils that all coastal 
inhabitants are certain abound in the interior. 
Since our research time was now running short, we arranged to 
take the next coastwise steamer for the Northwest District, which 
left on February 16. Although the trip took only 20 hours, the ship 
was subjected during this entire time to constant lateral wave action, 
which rocked and rolled it severely and rhythmically from side to 
side and reduced most of the passengers to a state of acute misery. 
On arrival at the district headquarters at Mabaruma (fig. 1), we 
were once again permitted to stay at the Government Rest House. The 
District Commissioner and other Government officials were very coop- 
erative, which greatly simplified the problem of transportation. 
Travel is by water, and without access to a motor launch we would 
have had to restrict our investigations to the immediate vicinity of 
Mabaruma. As it was, we accompanied several officials on trips up the 
Waini, Barima, and Aruka Rivers, making shorter trips up shallow, 
narrow creeks and between sites in small dugouts (pl. 7, 6). Dry 
land is so infrequent that camping is almost impossible, and small 
rest houses have been constructed by the Government for the use of 
traveling officials (pl. 5, 6). We slept in these or we hung our 
hammocks in a schoolhouse or store. 
The inclement weather in the Northwest District made up for the 
conveniences of travel. Heavy showers fell almost daily, often sev- 
eral times a day. We frequently had either to suspend work, covering 
the excavation with a waterproof tarp and awaiting the rain to pass, 
or to continue digging in soil that soon turned into muck. The 
sherds were usually wet in any case, and the bags had to be watched 
carefully for traces of mildew. When the sun came out after a 
shower the humidity was intense. Partly because of the high humid- 
ity, nights were frequently chilly enough to make us shiver in our 
hammocks in spite of a woolen blanket. 
A number of the sites of the Alaka Phase were surrounded by 
mangrove swamp and accessible only on foot. After making our way 
