1 6 Timehri. 



Ossororo Hill. 

 This is a high and large hill fronting on the Aruka River and 

 connected by intermediate hills with the Wuauina Hills. It is the site of 

 the Government rubber plantation and has been partly cleared. Its 

 natural forest is fairly thick and heavy, and upon its crest there is a 

 9mall pond or lake of water. It is of laterite formation, a distinctly 

 " red " hill and no traces of shell heaps were found. Numerous fragments 

 of pottery, earthenware heads and stone implements have been found 

 here in the past and I secured a fair number. Below the hill and now 

 largely covered by the swamp soil, is a large bed of sea-shells. These 

 have been disturbed in digging drainage ditches, and it is impossible to 

 say with certainty if they were placed in the spot by human beings or 

 were accumulated through the action of the waves. They are far below 

 the level of all other deposits noticed. 



Kumaka Hills. 

 These are on the Aruka River about two miles below Ossororo and 

 form an irregular chain with the Kobarima and Barambima Hills. They 

 are mainly cleared and are occupied by the plantations of the Consoli- 

 dated Rubber Co. Their forest growth is rather sparse and large areas 

 are covered with a very thin layer of red soil. They are of laterite forma- 

 tion and distinctly " red hills." On these there are no shell deposits but 

 for many years fragments of pottery, heads, images and stone implements 

 have been found upon them in large numbers. All of these have been 

 obtained from the eastern slopes and near the summit of the hill, where 

 masses of laterite abound and where the soil is poorest. I obtained a very 

 large collection (Figs. 13, 14, 15) of heads, many fine pieces of decorated 

 pottery and a number of stone implements. Of these perhaps the most 

 interesting are several flat heavy pieces of earthenware covered with 

 what appear to be hieroglyphs or inscriptions and which I believe are 

 pieces of inscribed tablets as they are plane surfaces and could not have 

 formed any portion of a hollow vessel.* (Fig. 16.) 



Another interesting specimen is a portion of an axe head 

 formed by chipping while a similar fragment of the same size and form 

 shows the appearance after being rubbed to a finish. (Fig. 17) As far 

 as I am aware there is but one other specimen of a chipped axe known 

 from British Guiana, a very perfect example found on the Potaro by Dr. 

 Roth. 



Most of the stone implements found on this hill were badly 

 weathered and many had been broken, apparently through cultivation of 

 the soil in recent years. Among the fragments of pottery is one which is 

 decorated on the concave or inner side, which is very unusual. 



No graves nor skeletons could be found on this hill but I was told 

 by the manager, Mr. Pierre, that formerly skulls and other human remains 



* A portion of the same, or u very similar "tablet" is preserved in the Georgetown 

 Museum. It's locality is not ifiven. 



