THE LOST COLOR GROUP. 109 



so well exemplified in the alligator and the polychrome ware (see PI. XL, fig. /; 

 and text-fig. 256). Its occurrence in the lost color group is one of the many 

 links that bind the ceramic art of Chiriqui into one consistent whole. 



The narrow neck of a bottle-shaped vase from Divala (fig. c) was never polished 

 and is surrounded by a series of eye ornaments in relief. The contact between 

 the upper and lower zone is slightly angular. Groups of radiating bands with 

 intervening triangles mark the upper half. Some of the broader black interspaces 

 are relieved by rows of spots. With the exception of a small round area on the 

 bottom, which is in solid black, horizontal bands and panels completely cover 

 the lower zone. 



Reference has already been made to the lack of adhesiveness in the final coating 

 of black paint, which is supposed to be of a vegetal nature. Nowhere is it com- 

 pletely preserved. In many cases very little remains : in others it has disappeared 

 entirely. 



In figure cl, a specimen from Divala, only the upper half received the wax 

 treatment. Above the three horizontal equatorial bands, a diamond-shaped panel 

 is repeated six times. In each panel are series of parallel bands meeting at an 

 angle and grouped around a central cross, the motive being similar to that on 

 the inner surface of an open shallow bowl of the red line group. 



A wide-mouthed vase with recurved lip is reproduced in figure e. The pattern 

 is confined to the upper half of the body, the final coating of black encroaching 

 but a short distance on the lower red zone, which is separated from the upper 

 by horizontal bands. Similar bands are carried around the shoulder just below 

 the neck. The three series of vertical bands accompanied by marginal serrations 

 are motives derived from the dorsal aspect of the alligator. These bands alone may 

 be looked upon also as completing the formation of three quadrangular panels, 

 all being treated in the same way — a nest of triangles in the center, with the 

 remaining space covered by a triangular piece-work of red and black. 



Thus far the body of the vessels of this group has always been divided into 

 an upper and lower zone. A distinct departure is taken in figure /. Under the 

 recurved lip there is a pronounced collar, with a life form in relief — a prominent 

 beaklike nose, eyes set wide apart, and a tail opposite the nose. The framework 

 of the design on the body consists of three series of longitudinal bands. Each 

 of the three panels thus formed is subdivided into three panels by two groups of 

 horizontal bands. These panels are all traversed by faulted meanders. The wider 

 of the intervening black bands are generally marked by a single row of spots 

 in the color of the original ground. This style of ornament recalls the serpent 

 motive, which characterizes the group by that name. 



One of the vases with original ground of red (fig. 181) had seen much service, 

 the recurved lip having disappeared piecemeal. The broken surfaces are aged 

 and smoked and the tone of the entire red ground is deepened. On opposite 

 sides of the body are life forms in low relief. Alternating with these on the 

 upper zone are two four-sided panels, each filled by a painted design that retains 

 only slight traces of a life form. The elements of the design are the same on 

 either side, but the combination of these elements is such as to produce two 

 somewhat different results. The motive resembles one that reappears on a number 



