232 A STUDY OF CHIRIQUIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



name alligator-god. The conventionalized alligator head is often used, also, as a 

 decorative and symbolic motive on other figures than those of the alligator-god 

 I have demonstrated that the flattened horizontal bars, with their projecting attach- 

 ments, placed at the head and feet of so many Chiriquian gold images, are 

 traceable to multiple life forms — a common body with a head at each end (generally 

 the alligator). 



There is likewise a mythical image, part human and part bird, which I have 

 named the parrot-god ; to two other forms I have given the names jaguar-god and 

 crab-god. A number of these deities are reproduced in earthenware, one of the 

 most interesting being the jaguar-god. It should be recalled here that the finest 

 example of ceramic decoration in the collection is a painted figure of the alligator- 

 god. The gold images are all supplied with one or more rings for suspension. 

 It is worthy of note that all human figurines and those with human attributes are 

 so constructed as to present the front or ventral surface to view when suspended. 

 This is true also of bird and monkey figurines, while the reverse is true of those 

 representing all other animals, the dorsal view being the one exposed. 



It is still too early to determine the precise geographical boundaries of Chiriquian 

 culture. That these surpassed the present political boundaries of the province of 

 Chiriqui, particularly in the direction of Costa Rica, seems to be an established 

 fact. Numerous specimens of alligator ware, so characteristic of Chiriqui, have 

 been found in the region of Terraba ; and fine examples of armadillo ware, also 

 characteristic of Chiriqui, are noted from Boruca and even as far north as Mer- 

 cedes, where Mr. Keith also obtained a jaguar-god of alligator ware. The al- 

 ligator motives so characteristic of certain classes of Chiriquian pottery are found 

 on Costa Rican pottery that otherwise bears little resemblance to Chiriquian ware. 

 Thus we find the dorsal-view motive, the scale-group and the spine motives, as 

 well as the sigmoid scroll with a spot in the hollow of each curve, the last three 

 occurring as far north as Nicoya. The genetic relationship between Chiriquian 

 and Nicoyan culture is further emphasized by the evident kinship of the celt- 

 shaped jade amulets from Las Guacas to the gold parrot-gods from the valleys 

 of Rio General and Chiriqui Viejo. 



The recent discovery near Terraba and at Mercedes of gold images represent- 

 ing the alligator- and jaguar-gods indicates that the cult of those deities once 

 extended even beyond the waters of the Gulf of Dulce. Gold images in the 

 Chiriquian technique occur, though rarely, even as far north as Nicaragua. The 

 conventionalized treatment of the alligator points to a possible kinship between 

 Chiriquian and Mexican mythology. Several favorite Chiriquian totemic animals 

 appear in ancient Mayan codices. The characteristic jaguar metates and the two 

 prevailing types of stone stools have been found in Costa Rican graves. There 

 are also many points of resemblance in the graves themselves. 



Archeological evidences of contact with and influence by South American 

 civilization might be even more plentiful were the archeology of Colombia and 

 Ecuador as well-known as that of Mexico and Central America. The lost color 

 process, one of the characteristic Chiriquian methods of ceramic decoration, has 

 been found on ancient pottery from Rio Bamba, Ecuador. Petroglyphs not unlike 

 those of the piedra pintal are reported from Colombia and Venezuela (as well as 



