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ieee 35 ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH GUIANA 121 
except at site N-4, indicating that this food resource so thoroughly 
exploited by the Alaka Phase was not utilized by the Mabaruma Phase. 
Although no direct evidence exists, it can be concluded that the major 
food supply was derived from agriculture. Indirect evidence in the 
form of pottery griddles suggests that the staple crop was manioc. 
One mano fragment and two metate fragments may reflect a supple- 
mentary use of maize, although the reconstructed size of the metates 
is smaller than that usually associated with maize grinding. 
There is little evidence of burial pattern. The only skeletal remains 
identified with the Phase are three found by Verrill (1918 a, p. 15) 
at N-16. These were lying side by side, with the legs flexed and the 
faces toward the east. The central one, identified as a male, had a 
pottery bowl over the occiput. Since no burials have been found in 
other habitation sites, it is possible that this is an exceptional rather 
than a typical example of burial practice. 
Sites in the latter third of the Mabaruma Phase sequence produced 
trade sherds of Koriabo Incised (fig. 48). Both the paste and the 
characteristics of the decoration identify these as of Koriabo Phase 
origin. These sherds are significant because they reflect a commerce 
between the two Phases that is better documented in the other direc- 
tion by a considerable amount of Mabaruma Phase trade pottery in 
Koriabo Phase sites (see pp. 139-141). The unequal balance of trade 
is readily explainable by the superiority of the Mabaruma Phase 
ceramics both technically and artistically to those of the Koriabo 
Phase. Trade sherds of cariapé-tempered Barima Plain occur at 
sites throughout the Mabaruma Phase in a small frequency (fig. 48). 
This type has been tentatively identified with the Koriabo Phase, but 
it is possible that both Phases received it from an unidentified third 
source (see pp. 151-152). 
Site N-11 of the Alaka Phase has been placed at the bottom of 
the Mabaruma Phase seriation chart (fig. 48) because it shows the 
gradual replacement of the Alaka Phase shell-tempered Wanaina 
Plain with Mabaruma Phase pottery types. Although N-11 is in 
drained mangrove swamp and the lower levels are below the water 
line so that migration of specimens could have occurred, it is diffi- 
cult to believe that the trend of change would have remained so 
consistent if there had been much of this kind of disturbance. The 
decline in popularity of Wanaina Plain from 94.3 percent to 53.0 
percent to 14.8 percent is correlated with the increasing frequency 
in the same levels of the three early Mabaruma Phase plain wares, 
Mabaruma Plain, Hosororo Plain, and Hotokwai Plain. This does 
not represent the origin of the Mabaruma Phase, but rather trade 
or contact between it and the Alaka Phase. The presence of a small 
percentage of sherds of Koberimo Plain and Kaituma Incised and 
