THE LESSER CIVILIZATIONS 167 
and legs of the monkeys are lengthened and given an 
extra number of joints while the heads degenerate into 
circles. The tongues of the serpents are elongated and 
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Fig. 59. Front View and Profile View Serpent Heads in Chorote- 
gan Art. Although derived from Mayan models they have under- 
gone great changes and have become highly conventionalized. 
bent downward at the end. All the open spaces are 
treated with scallops or fringes of short lines. 
There is also in Chorotegan art a crocodilian motive 
that may be peculiar to the Isthmian region although 
it has Mayan affinities. The jaguar is also important 
in this ancient art. Among the most interesting vases 
are those that have a modeled head projecting from one 
side (jaguar, monkey, or bird) and two of the three 
legs of the vessel modified into animal legs. On these 
elaborate vessels there are bands of painted decoration 
most concerned with the crocodile. 
