272 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 177 
compacted and stony soil. The surface collection represents all parts 
of the site and contains, in addition to aboriginal remains, a wide 
variety of objects of European origin. The presence of a worked 
fragment of glass eliminates the possibility of later reoccupation of 
the spot, and analysis of these materials (see table L, pp. 315-317) 
establishes a relatively recent date for the site. 
R-5: MARAKANATA WATERHOLE, VILLAGE 1 
Sites R-5 through R-9 are in the approximate geographical 
center of the north Rupununi savanna, and on the watershed between 
drainages leading to the Amazon on the west and the Atlantic on the 
east (fig. 109). This area is characterized by uneven terrain and a 
vegetation pattern in which small irregular extensions of grassland 
are surrounded by large patches of forest (pl. 53,6). Site R-5 (fig. 
110) occupies a tonguelike peninsula extending into a low area of 
Ité palm swamp. Ten meters below the summit, on the south edge 
of the rise, is a waterhole reputed among the local ranchers to have 
been dug by the Dutch. Whether or not it was improved by Euro- 
peans, this spring and swamp would have provided sufficient water 
for aboriginal use. 
The surface of the peninsula is composed of hard, compact, later- 
itic soil, which could be dislodged with a trowel only with great 
difficulty at the time of our visit in the early part of the dry season. 
The grass was bunchy and tangled, but had been burned shortly be- 
fore our arrival so that the ground surface was exposed. Sherds and 
stone artifacts were found in two places 300 meters apart, and in 
view of the possibility that these represented different occupations, 
the collections were kept separate and the areas given separate site 
numbers. 
R-5 is the smaller of the two sites, covering an approximately 
circular area about 25 meters in diameter. It is located on the neck 
of the peninsula some 50 meters from the steep drop leading to the 
waterhole. The surface is generally level and liberally sprinkled 
with small stones. The majority of the sherds were found on the 
surface, several tests revealing nothing deeper than 8 cm. A con- 
trolled excavation 1 by 2 meters placed in the center of the site pro- 
duced only 76 sherds. 
R-6: MARAKANATA WATERHOLE, VILLAGE 2 
R-6 is 300 meters west of R-5, separated from it by a slight de- 
pression (fig. 110), and situated on top of a knoll 3 meters higher 
than the adjacent ground level. The gravelly lateritic soil and sparse 
vegetation are identical to the surrounding area (pl. 53, 6). Cultural 
remains were scattered over a roughly circular area 400 meters in 
diameter, and tests showed them to be restricted to the surface. In 
