290 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull 177 
tered along the slope. The contents were missing. This jar is Rupu- 
nuni Plain Form 3 b, with a rim and shoulder diameter of 44 cm., a 
neck height of 12.5 cm., and a body-wall thickness varying from 11 
mm. near the bottom to 5 mm. at the rim. Twelve sticks, 1.00 to 1.25 
meters long, were lying beside what was identified as the original 
position of the jar. 
R-34: BEI-TAU, SHELTER 1 
Toward the eastern margin of the south Rupununi savanna, the 
terrain is hilly and the grass is broken by patches of forest (fig. 109). 
One forested hill, known as Bei-tau (pl. 59, a), has a number of 
granite outcrops on the west side, two of which contained Rupununi 
Phase ceramics. Shelter 1, the largest and best preserved burial site 
included in the survey, was located at the base of a huge boulder, 
whose front surface curved outward and upward producing a shel- 
tered area a little over 3 meters deep. The relatively level earth floor 
some 4 meters long sloped upward at each side. These slopes were 
composed of rocks of various sizes mixed with dirt washed down from 
the hillside. 
Near the center of the level floor was a pile of thin granite slabs 
(pl. 59, 6), arranged so as to completely cover the protruding base 
of a large inverted vessel. South of this main jar (Jar A) were five 
small bowls, three upright and two inverted, all on the surface of the 
ground (fig. 117; pl. 59, b). Removal of the rocks covering Jar A 
revealed another small vessel by the northeast side. A few sherds 
were scattered on the surface, most of them belonging to these six 
small bowls. Excavation of Jar A revealed a large jar inverted as a 
lid over a completely buried upright jar whose mouth was 15 cm. 
below the present ground surface. This lower vessel was two-thirds 
full of leaves, bark, and dirt. Careful examination of the contents 
showed no remaining traces of bone. A variety of burial goods of 
European origin, including fragments of glass, part of an iron knife, 
a coin bearing the date 1809 and perforated for suspension and glass 
beads, establish this burial as recent (see table L, pp. 315-317). 
Further excavation of the floor of the shelter brought to light a 
second covered vessel, Jar H, which was completely buried. Rock 
slabs had been arranged over the lid in a manner similar to Jar A, 
suggesting that when the burial was placed in the shelter the ground 
level may have been lower and the lid may have protruded. The 
center of Jar H was 1.30 meters southwest of the center of Jar A, 
and Bowl F on the surface above overlapped the north side. Jar H 
contained a small amount of dirt, but no bone fragments remained. 
There was a clustering of small white glass beads on the southwest 
side. 
