HARTMAN : ARCHEOLOGICAL RESEARCHES ON THE PACIFIC COAST OF COSTA RICA 93 
the above described groups of ‘‘ Las Guacas” stone artefacts, such as the small celt- 
shaped, polished amulets of jade and other decorative stones, the tubes, ear-plugs, 
most of the small objects of personal adornment, the biomorphic ceremonial clubs, 
the large double-bladed sharp-edged axes, the bark-scrapers, and the beautiful, high- 
legged metates with curved plate and artistic ornamentation. 
In both the regions here contrasted the art of the sculptor in basaltic lava, the 
stone selected for the manufacture of household and ceremonial objects of larger 
size, has left numerous highly creditable examples of his work, although differing 
in character and conception. . On the other hand the special art of the manufacture 
and_ polishing of precious or decorative stones to be worn as amulets or ornaments 
is almost exclusively limited to the Las Guacas culture, which in consequence has 
attained a many-sided development. The few amulets and beads of stone occasion- 
ally encountered in the graves of the Gtietares are probably all of Nicoyan origin. 
While the sculptor in basalt in Nicoya devoted most of his attention to metates 
and their ornamentation, the skill of the highlander brought forth a large group of 
related objects, generally so-called “stools,” either provided with an oval plate and 
four legs representing a jaguar, or with a circular plate, with annular base often 
composed of the figures of monkeys. The Gtietares produced numerous stone idols 
in human shape, varying in height, even reaching full life size, as well as human 
heads of stone with flat bases. The latter they deposited in the graves. In Nicoya 
stone idols are of rare occurrence and are quite different in shape. No stone heads 
of this type have been found on the peninsula. | Almost the only artefacts of stone 
in the two regions which show similarity are the smaller stone celts of the type 
illustrated in this memoir. The celts of black aphanite typical of the highlands 
and having a diamond-shaped section do not occur in Nicoya. 
The generally close relationship between the culture of the Chiriquians of 
Columbia and the Gtietares has long ago been pointed out by Professor W. H. 
Holmes. ‘The similarity is especially striking in the stone objects brought to light. 
Having had the opportunity to compare the vast archeological material of the 
National Museum of Costa Rica and of the private collections of the same country 
with the extensive collection of material from Chiriqui in the Yale University 
Museum and in the National Museum in Washington I find that the principal 
stone artefacts appear, as a rule, to be almost identical in form. ‘The idols, however, 
plainly differ in several respects. On the other hand the Chiriquian collections 
contain whole groups of ceramic artefacts of a superior character and not found in 
the territories of the Gtietares. 
The Las Guacas culture appears to be a local development with many peculiar 
