THE NORTHWEST LOWLANDS 
THE ALAKA PHASE 
DESCRIPTION OF SITES AND EXCAVATIONS 
Two types of shell middens occur in the Northwest District, but 
only one belongs to the Alaka Phase. Mounds consisting mainly of 
small, striped snail (Veritina) shells mixed with no dirt and little ash 
appear to be associated with one of the pottery-making cultures. 
Alaka Phase shell middens are densely compacted refuse composed 
of shells (oyster, clam, mussel, snail, etc.), crab carapaces, and fish 
and animal bones and containing very crude percussion-made stone 
tools. Occasionally potsherds occur on the surface or in the upper- 
most levels, and sometimes human skeletal fragments are scattered 
haphazardly in the midden. Six Alaka Phase sites were investigated 
(fig. 4). 
N-6: LITTLE KANIABALLI 
A few kilometers downstream from its junction with the Barama 
River, a series of small tributaries drains into the Waini River. 
Their mouths are concealed by heavy growth of mangrove trees 
along the swampy bank. Little Kaniaballi Creek, one of these 
streams, drains into the right bank of the Waini. Near its headwaters, 
several kilometers from the mouth, a truncated conical shell mound 
rises prominently out of the surrounding swampy land. 
The first mention of this site is by Brett (1868, pp. 435-486), who 
speaks of a shell midden discovered by an Indian while hunting 
near the “Comonoballi,” above the confluence of the Morebo and the 
Waini Rivers. In 1920, the site was visited by Vincent Roth. His 
unpublished journal describes the difficulties in reaching it, the arma- 
dillo holes that riddled the surface, and the mucky conditions of the 
surrounding swamp. Digging in the black dirt and shell refuse with 
machetes and sticks, he and his companions found a “portion of a 
human thigh bone and several fish-bones and similar relics” (V. Roth, 
MS.,p. 110). 
At the time of our visit in 1953, the shell mound measured roughly 
10 meters in diameter at its flattened top and 30 meters in diameter 
at its base. Asa result of an irregularity in the surface of the swamp, 
elevation ranges from 4 meters above the swamp on the south to 5 
meters above it on the north. The mound, like the surrounding area, 
was overgrown with trees and bushes. The surface was disturbed in 
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