E d 
aeases ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH GUIANA 63 
in a series of cemented strata. The absence of this condition of the 
refuse at the late sites, while not conclusive in itself, supports the 
interpretation of a decline in shellfish eating and its replacement by 
a different food. 
The only other evidence about the culture of the Alaka Phase comes 
from the presence of human bones haphazardly scattered in the midden 
refuse. If these are burials, the body was interred with little care 
and possibly disarranged by continuing habitation of the same spot. 
Bones found in the excavations were frequently broken several times, 
and it could not be established whether this damage occurred before 
or after burial. Brett also mentions finding human remains scattered 
in the refuse of the Waramuri midden. Verrill (1918 a; Osgood, 1946, 
pp. 38-34) describes burials in a sitting or kneeling position, but it 
is probable that the sites in which these occur were subject to Mabaruma 
Phase influence, especially since pottery bowls are often associated 
with the skeleton. In any case, this type of burial does not appear 
to be characteristic of the Alaka Phase, nor is there evidence of its 
presence in the early part of the Phase. Whether or not cannibalism 
was practiced in the Alaka Phase, as has sometimes been suggested 
because of the condition of the human bones (e.g., Im Thurn in Osgood, 
1946, p. 29), cannot be settled on the basis of the present evidence. 
Data on dress and ornament are confined to a single shark tooth 
drilled for suspension, probably on a necklace, and two awls of fish 
bone whose exact use cannot be established, but which could have been 
employed in the manufacture of articles of apparel or basketry. 
DIAGNOSTIC FEATURES OF THE ALAKA PHASE 
Alaka Phase sites are shell middens, typically located in, or ad- 
jacent to, mangrove swamps. They have been built up as a result of 
people living on a foundation provided by a small natural elevation 
that did not flood during high water. The middens vary from small, 
conical mounds 12 meters in diameter to large deposits 80 meters in 
length by 30 meters wide. Maximum height is 1 to 15 meters; the 
Waramuri and Sirika middens are reported to be several meters higher 
but it is not certain whether this is an estimate or a measurement. 
The deposit is composed principally of snail (Neritina zebra Bru- 
guiére and Thais coronata Lamarck), mussel (Aytilus falcatus Or- 
bigny), oyster (Crassostrea rhizophorae Guilding), clam (Phacoides 
pectinatus Gmelin), and conch (Melongena melongena Linné) shells, 
mixed with crab carapace fragments, mammal, bird, and fish bones, 
fire-cracked rocks, chips, ash, and a little dirt. Percolating water has 
dissolved calcium carbonate from the shells and redeposited it, creat- 
ing thick, hard cemented layers of refuse in the midden. Occasional 
human bones in the refuse possibly represent burials. 
