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Meeoenel ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH GUIANA 341 
or that the populations involved were large (cf. Im Thurn, 1883, pp. 
11-12, 202). 
In addition to providing a basis for the reconstruction of South 
American prehistory, the data presented in this report are applicable 
to several specialized problems. One is the relative priority of maize 
and manioc cultivation in northern South America. On the basis 
of evidence at Momil on the north coast of Colombia, Reichel- Dolma- 
toff (1956, pp. 270-272; 1957, p. 238) has postulated that manioc pre- 
ceded maize in that region. This conclusion rests on the fact that 
griddles of the type used for the preparation of bitter manioc in the 
Tropical Forest area today occur in the earlier part of the deposit, 
referred to as Momil I. In Momil II there is a sudden appearance 
of metates and manos, which are usually considered to imply the 
cultivation of maize. Cruxent and Rouse (1959, pp. 263-265) have 
analyzed their data on Venezuela for evidence on this point, and con- 
clude that a similar priority existed there, with maize diffusing from 
the west and replacing manioc in the Andean portion of Venezuela 
but never reaching the eastern part of the country. Their conclusion 
is based on the fact that griddles are characteristic throughout the 
archeological sequence in the east but are absent in the later western 
sites. 
Investigation of the occurrence of griddles and of milling stones in 
the archeological sequence in British Guiana shows very little temporal 
difference. Stone fragments identified as parts of manos or metates 
come from all Phases except the Taruma and Wai Wai, while griddle 
sherds occur in all the pottery making Phases except the Wai Wai, 
where metal has been substituted. In view of the assertion by Cruxent 
and Rouse that maize cultivation was not present in eastern Venezuela, 
the question arises as to whether milling or grinding tools necessarily 
imply maize. It has been shown in other parts of the Americas, 
notably in the southwestern United States, that such implements are 
characteristic of seed gatherers, so that the conclusion that they reflect 
maize agriculture is tentative in the absence of other supporting evi- 
dence, such as the introduction of Mesoamerican pottery traits found 
by Reichel-Dolmatoff on the Colombian coast. The presence of mill- 
ing stones in the British Guiana phases could be dismissed on the basis 
that they are associated with a method of wild food preparation were 
it not for their apparent late position in the Alaka Phase sequence. 
This Phase is interpreted as having initially had a nonagricultural 
economy based principally on shellfish gathering. Toward the end 
of its existence, pottery appears and there are indications that agricul- 
ture was also introduced. There are no artifacts to support this sub- 
sistence change except for the appearance of milling stone fragments 
at the latest site. If these artifacts were not restricted to use with cul- 
