46 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



B 3 (measuring 4 inches). The surface of this stone has been 

 polished to a greater extent than in D 2. The smaller end is not 

 only polished, but has its tapering extremity rounded off. Subse- 

 quently to the polishing process, the lateral portions have been sub- 

 mitted to the action of some substance which has rubbed and ground 

 off the polished surface, apparently with a view of rendering the sides 

 more acute. 



D 1 (measuring 3 T "L inches). A similar process has been exercised 

 on this specimen, on the lateral portions, whilst along the median 

 line, the ridge, which was so prominent a feature in B 1, has been 

 artificially obliterated. The polished portion extends a small dis- 

 tance up the blade. The acuminated point has been broken away, 

 exhibiting a hexagonal fracture. 



B 2 (measuring 3^ inches). This celt, of a lighter 

 porphyry than the others, presents the facet-shaped 

 arrangement of the lateral portions. Avhich is exhibited 

 to a greater extent in B 1. It is polished at the 

 sharp extremity. The acuminated extremity is ob- 

 tusely rounded ; near it, a deeper facet than the rest 

 is removed, with the probable purpose of rendering 

 more firm its attachment by some ligature to its 

 handle. JNo such device is found in the four other 

 celts. 



The above five celts, therefore, offer each distinc- 

 tive characters, and probably indicate different fa- 

 shions and patterns of the sculptor's, or rather cut- 

 Fig. B 2. ler's, art in Chiriqui. The specimen B 1, by its rough 

 facets, its slight degree of polish, its general flat appearance, and its 

 comparative simplicity of workmanship, seems to indicate its being 

 the product of a nation not much superior in civilization to the deni- 

 zens of the Kjokkenmoddings in Denmark. Seasonable ground of 

 doubt may exist as to whether it belongs to the same era as the four 

 porphyritic celts. The nation which produced such works of art as 

 some of the Chiriqui pottery and gold objects, would surely have ar- 

 rived at a higher degree of perfection in its weapons. It is undoubt- 

 edly, also, a finished celt, complete as far as its maker intended it to 

 be — not a mere spoilt model, thrown aside. The absence of proof 

 respecting its actual collocation with the Chiriqui antiquities, would 

 lead me to assign to it a far higher historical remoteness, and render 

 it possibly coeval with the remains of the old short-headed (brachy- 

 cephalic) mound-builders of Natchez, whose epoch in time antiqua- 

 rian archaeology in North America has as yet been unable to ascer- 

 tain. 



The four porphyritic celts have no such distinctive characters. 

 They might be the work of the earliest inhabitants of Chiriqui, or the 

 product of the idle Indian of the present year. 



A careful examination of the various types of celts, as denoting 

 distinctness of race, has led me to the conviction that the Chiriqui 

 celts are entirely sui generis. They differ from the more heavy cut- 



