10} d 
crated ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH GUIANA 259 
duration of 6.82 years while the actual duration is 6 years may be coin- 
cidental. On the other hand, if the pattern of use of E-2 is typical 
of Tropical Forest villages of this or longer duration, then the error 
is standardized and canceled out. If the refuse accumulation at H-2 
is accepted as normal, that at E-11 cannot be so accepted.. Here, in 
spite of diligent search and knowledge of the approximate house loca- 
tion, no more than 5 sherds of Wai Wai pottery types could be found. 
The only explanations appear to be either an abnormally small popula- 
tion, or an abnormal pattern of refuse disposal. ‘The location of the 
house on the brink of a nearly vertical bank makes it as easy to discard 
refuse into the river as in some other direction, and perhaps this was 
done to some extent, if not completely. The location of the house 
deviates from the normal Wai Wai pattern in being so close to the 
bank. In all other cases, the slope of the hillside makes it necessary to 
set the house farther back to escape flooding, and rules out the disposal 
of refuse into the river without special effort. 
The pattern of refuse distribution at E-2, where the position of 
the house and work shelters was still evident, shows an accumulation 
of sherds both inside and immediately around the main house. The 
“major concentration was a little to one side of the habitation area, 
where large fragments and vessels damaged beyond use but not com- 
pletely smashed were discarded. A similar pattern of refuse dis- 
posal would explain differences in sherd concentration in different 
parts of other Tropical Forest archeological sites. 
Probably the most important result of attempting to treat the 
Wai Wai as an archeological phase.is the demonstration this pro- 
vides of the value of defining extinct cultures in terms of a number 
of sites spread over a considerable time span. The instantaneous 
portrait allows a description of the culture, but if this kind of analysis 
is attempted after working with a large series of survey sites such 
as compose the Taruma Phase definition, one has the impression of 
groping in the dark. It was not possible to isolate any consistent 
paste or temper differences in Wai Wai pottery that would warrant 
subdivision of the plain pottery into two or more types. It was also 
impossible to determine which features of the ceramics are significant 
as time markers, and the feeling is always present that something is 
being overlooked. The fact that archeologists rely upon a series of 
samples from different points in time to reveal the aspects that change 
and thus have descriptive value, emphasizes the problem involved in 
arriving at ethnographic pottery definitions that can be integrated 
with archeological pottery type descriptions. It is obvious that the 
solution to this problem is not an easy one, and factors inherent in 
the two frames of reference may prevent any but a superficial type 
of correlation. More intense investigation of the possibilities should 
be undertaken, however, before all hope is abandoned. 
