Fivans and 
yvaneae ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH GUIANA 245 
Dress and ornament.—Men wore a cotton loincloth, which was long 
enough to hang down over the buttocks in back and half way to the 
knees in front. It was 8 to 9 inches wide and held by a series of three 
to six cotton cords tied individually around the waist. Nose, ears, 
and lower lip were pierced. Beads were worn around the neck and 
double strands around the shoulders. Bands of beads decorated the 
upper arm. Women wore a bead apron held by a small cotton string 
tied around the waist. Like the men, they wore beads on the upper 
arms and ornaments in the ear lobes and lower lip. 
DIAGNOSTIC FEATURES OF THE TARUMA PHASE 
The archeological description of the Taruma Phase is based on in- 
vestigation of 24 village sites and 11 former field clearings, 5 of which 
produced a handful of sherds. The site descriptions viewed in terms 
of the ceramic analysis and seriation suggest several characteristic 
features of the settlement pattern. First, villages were typically sur- 
rounded by garden areas, the only exceptions being those instances in 
which the hilltop was too small. Second, locations selected for either 
habitation or agriculture were always sufficiently elevated to escape 
flooding at high water. Third, the duration of the village was usually 
relatively short. Only one refuse accumulation exceeded 32 cm. in 
thickness, and this was at a site (E-30) that had more than one oc- 
cupation. On the other hand, this is a considerably deeper refuse 
accumulation than that occurring at any site of the Rupununi Phase, 
and in comparison with this Phase the Taruma Phase is characterized 
by relatively great village permanency. Fourth, the differential posi- 
tion in the seriated sequence of two strata cuts from the same site, as 
well as the excessive stretching of levels in a single cut (e.g., E-80, Cut 
1), indicates that a number of the sites were occupied more than once. 
This practice may be correlated with the relatively small amount of 
high land bordering the Essequibo, but it also is subject to the in- 
terpretation that the Taruma were restricted to movement within a 
specified area either by choice or by the presence of inhibiting condi- 
tions farther downstream. Fifth, the conclusion that Taruma village 
stability was greater than that in the Rupununi Phase is fortified by 
the existence of separate field clearings. These fields were sufficiently 
close for exploitation after the fields surrounding the village ceased 
to be productive without making the movement of the habitation site 
necessary. 
Village sites vary considerably in area, with a slight tendency for 
the later ones to be in the smaller end of the range. Smaller sites 
generally have shallower refuse accumulations and by inference were 
of lesser duration. Field clearings are correlated in size with the 
amount of nearly level, elevated land, and range from 50 by 70 meters 
