246 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 177 
to 200 by 500 meters. It is probable that the larger fields represent 
successive increases in the size of the clearing as the earlier portions 
ceased to be productive. Some of the fields were undoubtedly reused 
when villages returned to former locations, so that the dimensions 
reflect directly only the most recent clearing. A temporary shelter 
was often built in the field, as the finding of a few sherds in a single 
spot indicates. 
The pottery of the Taruma Phase was classified into two major and 
one minor plain ware and five decorated types. Yochdé Plain, tem- 
pered with fragments of decomposed granite, is dominant at the 
beginning of the Phase, and shows a relatively steady decline through- 
out the site sequence. Kalunye Plain, a fine sand-tempered ware, 
exhibits a corresponding increase and is the major pottery type at the 
close of the Phase. Mawik4é Plain, tempered with cariapé, has a 
sporadic distribution with a tendency to maximum popularity toward 
the middle of the sequence. The decorated types are well defined but 
useless for temporal distinctions within the Phase, since they show no . 
clear-cut trends. Decoration is by incision (Kanashen Incised), 
punctate (Kassikaityu Punctate), slipping and painting (Manaka- 
kashin Red and Manakakashin Red-on-White), and stamping (Onoro 
Stamped). Vessel shapes are simple bowl and jar forms. In the 
absence of complete specimens, evidence of crudity of form comes from 
the irregularity of the rim curvature and lack of consistency in pro- 
file at opposite edges of a single sherd. Base forms are typically flat 
or a slight pedestal. Annular bases are limited to the early half of 
the Phase and rounded bases are late. 
Diagnostic pottery artifacts of the Taruma Phase include pot rests 
of generally conical form, and thick, disk-shaped, spindle whorls. 
Pottery whistles are recorded ethnographically, and the peculiar con- 
tours of a few sherds suggest that they may have belonged to this 
type of object. Stone artifacts are often represented by a single 
specimen of each type and cannot be considered as characteristic of 
the Taruma Phase. 
Ethnographic data on the Taruma confirm the conclusion derived 
from archeological evidence that this group is a typical representative 
of the Guiana variety of Tropical Forest culture. The absence of 
burial sites is explained by the fact that disposal of the dead was by 
cremation or inhumation, neither of which can be detected arche- 
ologically under tropical forest climatic conditions. Documentary 
evidence establishes that the Taruma Phase became extinct in the 
second decade of the 20th century as a result of disease. In spite of 
this long post-Columbian survival, only five sites produced. European 
trade materials, supporting the ethnographic information that the 
Taruma had only superficial and sporadic contact with European 
civilization. | . 
