262 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY {Bull. 177 
Disposal of the dead—Inhumation or cremation are practiced, 
neither of which leaves any archeological evidence in the tropical for- 
est after a few years. 
DIAGNOSTIC FEATURES OF THE WAI WAI PHASE 
The archeological description of the Wai Wai Phase is based on 
two recently abandoned village sites and supplemented by informa- 
tion on four inhabited villages. Houses are typically small, circular, 
communal structures of pole and thatch, moved every 3 to 6 years. A 
single house constituting the village occupies a river bank usually but 
not always above flood level. The house is at the edge of a large 
garden clearing in which manioc and other food crops are grown by 
slash-and-burn agriculture. In settlement pattern, the Wai Wai Phase 
is distinguished from the Taruma Phase principally by the greater 
frequency with which the village is moved, resulting in a considerably 
shallower deposit of habitation refuse. 
The pottery of the Wai Wai Phase was classified into Erefoimo 
Plain, a poorly made ware, and two crudely decorated types, Erefoimo 
Incised and Erefoimo Painted. The poor quality of this pottery may 
in part be the result of its gradual replacement by metal cooking 
vessels and containers. Erefoimo Incised may be a pale reflection of 
Kanashen Incised of the Taruma Phase, which also utilizes crosshatch 
as a motif. 
Diagnostic pottery artifacts of the Wai Wai Phase are solid, 
cylindrical pot rests and thick, disk-shaped spindle whorls. No stone 
tools are made or used, nor was there any tradition of their having 
been used in the past. The presence of glass beads in the archeological 
sites confirms the fact that the Wai Wai have been recipients of 
Kuropean trade goods for at least since their entry into British 
Guiana around the beginning of the 20th century, although contact 
has not been sufficiently close to effect much alteration in the general 
culture. 
COMPARATIVE DATA, CONCLUSIONS, AND INTERPRETATIONS 
Archeological survey of the upper Essequibo River revealed only 
two successive cultural complexes. Both of these can be equated with 
ethnographically documented tribes, and have consequently been 
designated by their tribal names, the Taruma Phase and the Wai Wai 
Phase. The fact that such a correlation can be made is indicative of 
the short time that the area has been inhabited by semipermanent 
sedentary groups with a Tropical Forest type of culture. Prior to 
the arrival of the Taruma Phase, there is no record in either arche- 
ology or history that the region was inhabited, although it seems 
probable that wandering groups occupied it at least intermittently. _ 
