Erpuyand ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH GUIANA 195 
ber water level (fig. 107). During the previous rainy season, water 
had come part way into the Wai Wai house, but did not reach the older 
site. The soil was gray brown, containing iron concretions, and no 
difference could be detected in coloration between the site and the 
adjacent area. A 1- by 1-meter test was made toward the east edge 
of the site, where the sherd concretion seemed greatest. Even here, 
however, the sherds were sparse and badly eroded. A sterile layer 
of lateritic iron concretion gravel was encountered at an irregular 
depth of 8 to 15 cm. 
E-5 ; ONORO FALLS 
On the right bank of the Essequibo, just below and opposite the 
mouth of Onoro Creek (fig. 79), the land rises to an elevation of 5 
meters and remains nearly level over a considerable area. According 
to Wai Wai informants, the summit had been inhabited by the Taruma, 
and the existence of a former clearing was attested by secondary 
growth of smalltreesand many spiny palms. The ground was littered 
with moss-encrusted dead trees, branches, and leaves so that no sherds 
were visible on the surface. Tests showed the soil to be brownish gray, 
loose loam, sterile for the first 8cm. Sherds were intermixed in level 
8 to 16 cm., below which the soil was more compact and sterile. The 
diameter of the old clearing was roughly 100 meters, but all parts did 
not produce sherds suggesting that the habitation area was associated 
with a field clearing. 
E-6 : MASAKUKINYERE 
This site is 214 hours’ paddling downstream from E-5, with no 
others reported in the intervening area (fig. 79). It occupies a high 
steep bank on the left side of the river, some 6 meters above the De- 
cember water level. The habitation area, 35 by 20 meters, occupies 
the major portion of the relatively level summit, which was covered 
by secondary growth, all the trees under 35 cm. in diameter. A 1- by 
1-meter cut was placed one-third of the distance from the southwest 
end of the site and excavated in 8-cm. levels. The first 8 cm. were 
sterile and mostly composed of thick root mat. Level 8-16 cm. was 
brownish-gray loam with abundant sherds and a few iron con- 
eretions. In level 16-24 cm., conditions continued the same except 
that the sherds were more concentrated. At 24 cm. pockets of iron 
concretion gravel were encountered. Below these the soil changed to 
a lighter-colored, sandier clay, the natural formation of the area. 
E-7 : MANAKAKASHIN 
On the right bank of the Essequibo, just below Manakakashin Falls, 
is a steep-sided, 10-meter-high hill (fig. 79). A small creek runs 
along the north edge. The dense vegetation contains a few trees 75 
