120 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 177 
absence in each pottery type. Except for Mabaruma Incised, where 
the same two forms are found throughout the sequence (fig. 49), the 
appearances and disappearances form a pattern that divides the 
Mabaruma Phase into approximately equal thirds. Characteristic 
of the early period are: Akawabi Incised and Modeled Form 3 and 
Aruka Incised Form 4. The middle period introduces Akawabi In- 
cised and Modeled Form 1, Aruka Incised Forms 1, 2, 3, and 5, and 
Kaituma Incised and Punctate Form 1, all of which appear almost 
simultaneously. About half-way through the middle period, 4 more 
vessel forms appear: Akawabi Incised and Modeled Forms 2 and 4, 
and Kaituma Incised and Punctate Forms 3 and 4. The late period 
begins with the appearance of Kaituma Incised and Punctate Form 2. 
Stone artifacts are too infrequent to be reliable indicators of culture 
change. Their scattered distribution suggests that most of the types 
occur throughout the sequence. One possible exception is the hoes, 
all of which came from three sites in the middle of the Phase (Ap- 
dendix, table 2). The most commonly used rock material is fine- 
grained, micaceous schist. 
Since habitation sites of the Phase vary considerably in size, the 
area of habitation was calculated and the results arranged in the order 
of seriation in the hope that this might reveal some change in the 
settlement pattern. However, of the five largest sites with an area 
of 5,674 to 17,570 square meters (N-1, N-12, N-16, N-21, N-22), three 
are in the early part of the sequence and two are late. The remaining 
sites range from 875 to 3,850 square meters in area. These differences 
reflect localized factors unrelated to a change in settlement pattern 
or community size during the Mabaruma Phase. Elevation of the 
terrain was of no significance as long as it was above flood level. 
Many of the sites are on the summit of very high hills, some of which 
seem to have no water supply for domestic use except at the base 
(e.g., N-1). Others are on river banks or the flank of a hill. Appar- 
ently a high and well-drained location was preferred for the village. 
This would explain the clustering of Mabaruma Phase sites in the 
Aruka River drainage, which contains most of the high land near the 
coast in the Northwest District. Only two sites (N-4 and Verrill’s 
Maruiwa Hill) were found somewhat removed from this nucleus on 
the Barima River. 
The house type utilized by the Mabaruma Phase is problematical 
because of the absence of any direct evidence in the form of postholes, 
which are not detectable under tropical conditions. The rather steep 
slope of several of the sites, particularly N-19, suggests that raised 
floors may have been used. 
The subsistence base of the Mabaruma Phase is suggested by several 
characteristics of the sites and artifacts. No shellfish remains occur, 
