PAINTED WARE. 75 



painted handled group than to the armadillo ware. Examples are given in Plate XIX. 

 Figure a represents one type. The looped handles placed horizontally are so treated 

 as to indicate life forms. Three incised nodes represent the mouth and eyes, the 

 latter being quite far apart, and incisions at the bases suggest either feet or the 

 carapace. The same style of handle with slight variations is repeated in figure b. 



What appears to be two pairs of handles in figure c is in reality but a variation 

 of the type of handle shown in two preceding figures (see PI. XVIII, figs, a and 

 b). The head is an incised node on the rim. The forelegs are set rather far 

 apart, so as to look like a pair of handles. The eyes are placed on the shoulders 

 and the knees are marked by carapace symbols. The same form of handle is 

 repeated in other specimens, with gradual elimination of life symbols. 



The decorative element on the handles shown in figures d and e may represent 

 either man or monkey. The body, also, of the vessel in figure d is ornamented 

 by a row of flattened pellets, forming an irregular circle at the level of the bases 

 of the handles. This circle is interrupted at one handle but drops suddenly and 

 passes beneath the handle on the opposite side. These flattened pellets probably 

 represent the body-markings of the alligator. A similar motive is found on 

 pottery from the highlands of Costa Rica, ancient pueblo of Curridabat, where 

 representations of the alligator or parts thereof predominate. The bottom of the 

 vessel is flattened over a limited area. 



The vase reproduced in figure / has a similar flattening of the bottom. The 

 base of each vertical handle is bifurcated, making a combination handle, conform- 

 ing to both the horizontal and vertical patterns. One of the manlike or apelike 

 figures holds his hands at the top of his head, while the hands of the other are 

 held to his chin. 



Painted Ware. 



The painted pottery found in Chiriqui is divisible into about ten more or less 

 distinct groups (see p. 66). While some of these classes are large, examples of 

 others are so rarely met with as to suggest the possibility of their being im- 

 portations. While the basis of classification generally rests on an ensemble of 

 characters rather than on some one distinctive feature, the lines of demarcation 

 are easily traceable by any one at all familiar with Chiriquian ceramic art. 



As might be anticipated, the introduction of color as an ornamental factor often 

 tended to minimize the importance of incised and plastic features as well as of 

 form and finish in general. 



As a result, decorative motives derived from the armadillo and the serpent, 

 which have given their names to two important groups of unpainted ware, are 

 practically never executed in paint; while incised or plastic motives derived from 

 the alligator, whose name is applied to a characteristic group of painted ware, 

 are equally rare. It is likewise true that no class of ware surpasses the armadillo 

 group in general excellence of modeling, while the poorest examples in this 

 respect are to be found among the lost color vases, which are particularly lacking 

 as regards interior finish. 



A comparison of the various classes of painted ware among themselves brings 

 out some striking differences that apply even to the manner in which a given 



