THE LOST COLOR GROUP. ]_]_]_ 



by one or two rows of dots. The design is referable to the spines and scales 

 of the alligator. The width of the panels being greater than that of the light 

 upper zone, the lower part of the design in each appears in the red ground of 

 the lower zone. 



In figure 183 very little black is used, just enough to serve as a setting for 

 the design. It is, in fact, one of the few examples in which the black becomes 

 a component part of the design in two colors — black and light on a light ground. 

 The same may be said of the black and red designs on a red ground (see 

 PL XXIX, fig. d). It is not a perfect example, however, for the black frame- 

 work of the design is fused with the solid coat 

 of black on the neck. Two series of gracefully 

 curving bands, some continuous and some broken, 

 with a horizontal connection at their bases, form 

 a bilaterally symmetrical figure that covers almost 

 half the upper zone. This is repeated on the op- 

 posite side. 



The original ground colors of the series brought 

 together in Plate XXX are also light above and red 

 below. Figure a presents what might be considered 

 the vestiges of a square lip. The otherwise 

 circular margin of the rim is interrupted at four Fig l83 ._ V ase in red, light cream and 



points by slight prominences, tWO Of which have black, ornamented with bilaterally 



■ 1 , re ■ r, ■ , j j symmetrical figures each covering 



been broken off. Painted eye ornaments surround about half of t f ie upper zone _ Los ° t 

 the neck, and the shoulder is adorned by two panels color ware. '/» 

 with a design of plain and scalloped horizontal bands. 



Life forms in relief are comparatively rare in the lost color group. They 

 usually consist of an animal head projecting from the body of the vase on one 

 side and a tail on the other. Beyond this the globular form of the body is not 

 interfered with. In figure 6, two heads appear on one side and a single tail on 

 the other. The heads are alike and reptilian in character, with eyes represented 

 in color. The tail was cut off short in a vertical plane that is not at right angles 

 to the axis of the common body. The two panels that reach laterally from head 

 to tail may be intended to supplement the representation in relief, thus completing 

 the connection between the double head and the tail. 



The animal head and tail in the round on the shoulder of the vase reproduced 

 in figure c are those of the racoon. Although the head is conventionalized, 

 there is no mistaking the genus in the aspect of the pointed nose and the position 

 of the eyes. The latter are represented both in the round and in color. The 

 tail is cross-banded but much shortened to avoid breaking. The well-known 

 Procyon lotor does not range farther south than Costa Rica. Procyon cancrivorus, 

 a crab-eating racoon, that belongs in Colombia and Guiana, is also found as 

 far north as Chiriqui and is probably the species here represented. Quadrangular 

 panels decorated with dorsal-view (alligator) motives, some of them incomplete, 

 reach from head to tail on either side. A series of eye ornaments surrounds the 

 neck of the vase. 



The design in figure d consists of radiating lines enclosing rows of spots. 



