July 20, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



79 



placed with faces towards the rising sun.' 

 The author suggests that a wooden structure 

 with thatched roof may have covered the 

 mound, while the ' flat stone walls apparently 

 only served for enclosures.' Four human 

 figures and one of an alligator were found at 

 the base of the large mound. A small mound 

 at the end of the northern stone wall was also 

 investigated, but neither it nor the large 

 mound was completely explored. 



In the thick forest near the enclosure there 

 were graves that had previously been opened. 

 They were all of an oval or rectangular shape. 

 Only after careful search in the 'thorny thicket, 

 beneath the gigantic forest trees ' were hitherto 

 omdisturbed graves discovered. " They were 

 arranged in small groups inside a common and 

 almost circular platform, or enclosure, usually 

 about half a meter in height." Each enclosure 

 was bounded by a margin of stones of various 

 sizes. The groups, each containing from three 

 to five graves, are described. As regards con- 

 struction the graves at Mercedes all belong to 

 one class. The walls are still in perfect condi- 

 tion except when interfered with by the roots 

 of trees. Partially chipped limestone slabs 

 form roof and floor. 



Only one grave contained traces of bone. 

 In most of them pottery was found. "The 

 majority of these vessels show signs of wear 

 and are covered with soot proving that they 

 were employed as cooking utensils." Other 

 objects found were: Charred corn and corn- 

 cobs, two stone celts and a bead of blue glass. 

 This latter being of European manufacture, 

 gives a clue to the age of the burials (not 

 earlier than the sixteenth century). In these 

 regions it has been the custom to bury the 

 dead inside the houses, so that in all proba- 

 bility the low platform enclosures, containing 

 the graves described, were primarily founda- 

 tions for the huts of the living. 



A curious discovery was made about 100 m. 

 from the temple mound, where the 'rains had 

 swept away the humus and uncovered a small 

 portion of the roof of a stone chamber, con- 

 taining a lot of pottery, but no proof that it 

 had been used as a grave.' The construction 

 of the chamber, which differed in several re- 

 spects from the graves and the amount of 



pottery contained therein, leads the author to 

 look upon it as a cache. 



Not the least interesting find made in the 

 neighborhood of Mercedes was a stone-cutter's 

 workshop. It was discovered by chance while 

 opening forest paths in search of graves. 

 " Over a surface of some 20 square meters and 

 to a depth of about one meter, the soil was 

 intermingled with chips and partly finished 

 idols." ' 



Eains making work on the Atlantic low- 

 lands practically impossible the highland val- 

 leys of the interior were chosen as a field of 

 exploration, but not before investigating a 

 number of sites known to the occupants of 

 the neighboring haciendas. These included a 

 stone enclosure at Williamsburg and graves at 

 Siquirres, Sta. Rosa, Guasimo and Jiminez. 



As to work in the highlands, the valley of 

 Cartago was selected as the most promising. 

 Near Santiago, twelve stone cists and as many 

 grave-pits were found in a flat elliptical 

 mound, the cists being arranged in the eastern 

 half and the pits in the western half. The 

 latter differ in construction from the cists, 

 being bowl-shaped and formed of cobblestones. 

 The cists were all quadrangular, with 'roof, 

 sides and bottom composed of thin slabs of 

 limestone.' In both forms of grave, a number 

 of objects, chiefly pottery, were found. 



There were no traces of bones. The graves 

 were not long enough to admit of adult burial 

 at full length. It is presumed that these 

 graves were used as repositories of the bones 

 only after removal by decomposition or other- 

 wise of the soft parts, a presumption streng-th- 

 ened by the fact that ' quite small stone cists 

 were found in several places to contain rem- 

 nants of skeletons, which had been apparently 

 deposited in them in bundles.' 



The vessels in the Santiago stone cists were, 

 as a rule, well preserved; few bore marks of 

 iise. In fact only a few are large enough to 

 admit of practical use. They are probably 

 symbols of larger vessels. Later researches on 



^ It was for his work on the east coast that the 

 Loubat prize was awarded to Mr. Hartman by the 

 Swedish Academy of Literature, History and 

 Antiquities. 



