Evan d 
ee ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH GUIANA 14 
During the aboriginal period, its use appears to have been restricted 
to hunting grounds for groups inhabiting the adjacent forests. 
These three geographical zones are correlated to some degree with 
differences in climate, particularly rainfall. The contrast is especially 
pronounced between the savanna and the forest. Records of average 
rainfall over a period of 10 years give a figure of 148.2 cm. (56.4 
inches) at Bon Success (now Lethem) in the center of the savanna 
and 173 cm. (68.2 inches) at Annai, 11.2 km. (7 miles) from the edge 
of the forest. At Kurupukari, on the Essequibo River within the 
forest zone, the average for the same period is 209 cm. (82.4 inches) 
(Baldwin, 1946, p. 7). On the coast, rainfall averages around 228 
em, (90 inches) with a maximum of 492.5 cm. (193.89 inches) recorded 
in 1922 (Colonial Office, 1952, p. 104). Records kept for the 3 years 
1954-57 at a station on the upper Essequibo, above the mouth of the 
Kassikaityu, give an average annual rainfall there of between 254 
and 382 cm. (100 and 150 inches) (Leavitt, Pers. commun.). In ad- 
dition to a difference in total annual rainfall, there is a difference in 
the distribution of the rain over the year. The savanna not only 
receives less rain than the forest but most of it is concentrated during 
the wet season from mid-May to the end of August. Elsewhere there 
is a “little rainy season” in December or January, a long rainy season 
from March to August, and occasional showers during the other 
months. In the upper Essequibo, monthly records show a fall of 
between 5 and 20.3 cm. (2 and 8 inches) during the “dry season” 
months. More evenly distributed rainfall was probably as im- 
portant as differences in soil fertility in explaining the concentration 
of aboriginal habitation in the forests. 
Temperature differences between the coast and the interior are not 
pronounced. The coastal annual mean is about 26.8° C. (80.3° F.) 
with extremes during 87 years ranging from 20 to 35.6° C. (68 to 96° 
F.) (Colonial Office, 1952, p. 104). Temperature records on the 
Rupununi savanna during 1942 gave a mean maximum of 31.2° C. 
(88° F.) and a mean minimum of 23.6° C. (74.5° F.) (Baldwin, 
1946, p.7). 
Archeological survey and excavations were undertaken in four 
separate parts of British Guiana, representing all three of the geo- 
graphical zones: the coastal swamp, the savanna, and the forest. A 
detailed description of the particular regions investigated will assist 
in understanding the differences in aboriginal settlement. 
THE NORTHWEST LOWLANDS 
The area administratively known as the Northwest District occupies 
the northwestern corner of British Guiana and includes the drainage 
systems of the Barima, Barama, and Waini Rivers. Archeological 
survey was confined to the lowland zone, occupying the coastal half 
