338 BUREAU OF AMERICAN: ETHNOLOGY [Bull 177 
level of development. Disposal of the dead was by secondary urn 
burial in cemeteries. With the passage of time, the Mabaruma Phase 
influence on the pottery disappears leaving only the occasional and 
rudimentary decoration and simple utilitarian vessel forms native 
to the Abary Phase. As was postulated for the Mabaruma Phase, it 
seems probable that this culture survived until European times. An 
early description, dating from A.D. 1670, identifies the Indians in the 
vicinity as Arawak and there is a good possibility that they are de- 
scendants of the peoples of the Abary Phase, although this cannot be 
proved. 
The final coastal invader detected by our archeological investiga- 
tion is the Koriabo Phase, which arrived in the Northwest District dur- 
ing the latter part of the Mabaruma Phase occupation (fig. 126). The 
contemporaneity of these two groups is demonstrated by trade sherds 
in the sites of both, although the exchange was unequal and Mabaruma 
Phase sherds are far more frequent in Koriabo Phase sites than the 
reverse. The earliest indication of Koriabo Phase contact is slightly 
later in the Mabaruma Phase seriated sequence than the time at which 
the Abary Phase contact is postulated to have occurred, or about A.D. 
1200-1300. Details of rim form and decorative technique point to a 
derivation from the east, with specific resemblances discernible on the 
coast of Dutch Guiana (fig. 127). Koriabo Phase pottery is sand 
tempered and is characterized by simple decoration by incision 
(Koriabo Incised) or scraping (Koriabo Scraped), both of which 
may be accompanied by small adornos or applique. Habitation areas 
are small, and there is no evidence of the method of disposal of the 
dead. The seriated sequence shows very little pottery change, sup- 
porting the conclusion that the duration of the Phase in the Northwest 
District was relatively short. Evidence of commerce with the Ma- 
baruma Phase continues to the end, which probably coincided with 
European domination of the Guiana coast. 
During the time the foregoing events were taking place on the coast, 
there is no-evidence to indicate that pottery making groups inhabited 
any of the interior portion of the colony. On the upper Essequibo, 
the earliest remains are those of the Taruma Phase, whose migration 
from the lower Rio Negro in Brazil (fig. 127) is dated historically as 
posterior to A.D. 1670 (fig. 126). Taruma Phase pottery is predomi- 
nantly sand tempered. Decoration includes incision (Kanashen In- 
cised), painting (Manakakashin Red-on-White and Manakakashin 
Red), stamping with a palm nut (Onoro Stamped), and punctation 
(Kassikaityu Punctate). Pottery artifacts are restricted to pot rests, 
whistles, and spindle whorls. Since the Taruma Phase survived into 
the 20th century, the archeological data can be correlated with ethno- 
graphic information provided by various European visitors to the 
