72 



A STUDY OF CHIRIQUIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



ornamented with a lizard-like form in relief. The bottom of each vessel is flat, 

 quite thin, and smoked by use over the fire. This type of vessel may have 

 served to heat water, on account of the comparatively great area of the surface 

 exposed to fire, from which it could have been easily removed by means of the 

 prominent handles. To empty such a utensil of its contents, however, after 

 its removal from the fire, would seem to have been an awkward undertaking. 

 The type might have served as a foot-warmer had it come from a colder 

 climate. The workmanship in both examples is crude and the paste coarse. 

 Holmes * figures a specimen similar to these, except that he describes the bottom 

 as being concave. He also states that the type is common in Peru and occasion- 

 ally met with in Central America. 



THE BLACK INCISED OR SERPENT GROUP. 



In point of numbers this is a small group and, with few exceptions, strikingly 

 uniform in style and decoration. The color, where not leached out, is black to 

 brown. With the exception of a large tripod with loop-shaped supports — the 

 largest tripod in the entire collection, with a capacity of 5.6 liters (5600 cc) 

 — the series is remarkably uniform in respect to size, the average capacity being 

 about 125 cubic centimeters. The walls are practically impervious to water. 



Fig. Il6 a. Fig. Il6£. 



Fig. 1 1 6 a. — Vase decorated with parallel zigzag incised lines, 'h ; b.— Detail of incised pattern decorating the 

 bottom of the vase shown in figure a. Serpent ware. V» 



Some typical examples of this interesting group of ware are illustrated in 

 Plate XVII. A characteristic specimen from Divala is shown in figure a. Where 

 they merge into the lip, the vertical handles are crossed by an incised fillet 

 resembling the carapace symbol so common to the armadillo ware. Each side 

 of the vase is decorated by an incised pattern evidently intended to represent a 

 two-headed serpent with forked tongue. The body of the serpent is folded on 

 itself in such a manner as to produce geometric outlines and thoroughly cover 

 the field to be decorated. The deep incisions were made before the paste 

 hardened and were filled with a white substance, probably infusorial earth, white 

 clay or chalk, that stands out in bold contrast to the black ground. 



1 Op. cit, fig. 88. 



