122 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 177 
Punctate, both of which are typical of the middle to late part of 
the Mabaruma Phase, suggests that this contact may span a rather 
long period of time after the arrival of the Mabaruma Phase in the 
Northwest District. If the upper level of N-11 is taken as indicative 
of the proportions of the pottery types in the contemporary Mabaruma 
Phase site, it would correlate approximately with the upper two 
levels of N-1 (fig. 48). Perhaps the contact between the two Phases 
spans the occupation of N-1. It seems to have been characterized 
by gradually increasing intensity culminating in the disappearance 
of the Alaka Phase (cf. pp. 59-63). 
It should be noted that the distinction made by Osgood (1946, pp. 
48-49, 58) between the pottery at Mabaruma and Kumaka has not 
been followed with the same emphasis here. Seriation of the strati- 
eraphic excavations shows that these two sites are connected by a con- 
tinuous pattern of ceramic evolution, so that they represent different 
portions of a continuum rather than distinct complexes. Our inter- 
pretation supports Osgood’s conclusion that the two sites are chrono- 
logically separated and further documents the similarities that he 
recognized between them. 
DIAGNOSTIC FEATURES OF THE MABARUMA PHASE 
The 14 habitation sites representing the Mabaruma Phase exhibit 
wide variation in size and depth of refuse deposit. The area ranges 
from 875 to 17,570 square meters, with sites of all sizes found through- 
out the sequence. Village permanency is extremely variable, judging 
from the fact that four sites have refuse deposits of 5 em. or less in 
depth, and six of 30 cm. or more, with a maximum of 65 cm. All the 
sites are on land that is above flood level, but the location may be 
anywhere from a riverbank 1 to 2 meters above high water to the 
summit of a hill some 90 meters in elevation. Rapid decay of organic 
materials that were used in house construction makes it difficult to 
reconstruct the type of dwelling. The existence of sites on a sloping 
hillside like N-19 suggests that houses may have had raised floors. 
No cemeteries have been discovered, and the only evidence of burial 
pattern comes from a few skeletons found by Verrill (1918 a, p. 15) 
at N-16. These were lying with the legs flexed and the faces toward 
the east. One had a pottery bowl covering the back of the head. 
The seriation of the Mabaruma Phase sites is based on changes in 
the relative popularity of four plain and four decorated pottery types. 
Coarse-tempered Mabaruma Plain, dominant in the early part of the 
sequence, gives way to fine-sand-tempered Hosororo Plain. Steatite- 
tempered Hotokwai Plain reaches a climax about the middle of the 
Phase, and mica-tempered Koberimo Plain is a diagnostic late type. 
Kaituma Incised and Punctate, in which incisions are combined with 
