E d 
eer ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH GUIANA 201 
A considerable number of large sherds was found at and just below 
water level on the riverbank a little upstream. The source of these 
sherds could not be located, but it was evident that they had been 
washed down from the bank, which retreats into a small inlet at this 
point. This inlet is probably of recent origin and the sherds ap- 
parently came from the bank now washed away. 
E-16: WATAWATARITO 
E-16 is about 45 minutes’ paddling downstream from E-15, just 
below the junction of Watawatarité Creek with the right bank of the 
Essequibo (fig. 79). The bank rises steeply for 6 meters above the 
January water level, then levels off. An area about 350 meters long 
by 200 meters in from the edge of bank is covered with secondary 
growth marking the existence of a former clearing. Sherds were found 
in two places toward the front of this clearing, and an excavation was 
made in each (fig. 84). 
Cut 1, 1 by 1 meter, was placed in the center of an area of sherd 
concentration 10 meters in diameter, the edge of which was about 10 
meters from the bank. The soil was medium-gray loam, sterile and full 
of roots for the first 8 cm. level. Level 8 to 16 cm. produced sparse 
sherds. Below this, sterile, compact, light gray, sandy clay appeared. 
Cut 2, also 1 by 1 meter, was placed in the center of the second habita- 
tion area, some 35 meters northeast of the first. The soil was slightly 
darker than in Cut 1 and sherds were more numerous. Sterile, com- 
pact, light gray, sandy clay appeared at 30 cm. and continued to 60 cm. 
Below this was light, whitish-gray sand. 
E-17: TUTKO MUTUTO 
Low land separates E-16 from E-17, 50 minutes’ paddling down- 
stream on the right bank (fig. 79). Here several large rocks jut out 
from the shore and a narrow gulley bounds the hill on the upstream 
side. The bank rises steeply to 6 meters above the January water 
level and maintains this elevation over a large level area, the major 
portion of which is occupied by secondary forest growth with a large 
proportion of palms. Although the former clearing measured 150 
meters long by 75 meters deep, sherds occurred only on the western 
edge, in an area 10 meters in diameter and 15 meters in from the river 
bank, opposite the rock outcrop. A 1- by 1-meter cut here showed 
the dirt to be sterile, medium-gray loam for the first 8 cm. Sherds 
were present between 8 and 16 cm. Below 16 cm., the soil became 
compact, whitish clay, also sterile. 
E-18: YERKA MUTUTO 
E-18 is a considerable distance downstream from E-17, on the left 
bank (fig. 79). Here the land rises gently to a small summit 5 meters 
