NO. 1 CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN LATIN AMERICA 47 
such as metallurgy are closely related to the Early Code Culture of 
Period V. A single carbon date cannot be considered as conclusive. 
During Period III the ceramics over the whole area show many com- 
mon features. The most typical decorative technique is zoned bichrom- 
ing, a combination of one-color painting with incision or engraving. 
Representative types include Bocana Incised, Rosales Engraved, 
Scarified, and Guacamayo. Simple bichromes are also common. Poly- 
chrome is generally not present except at Puerto Nuevo (Veraguas- 
Chiriqui frontier, carbon-14 date of 230 B.C.), where sherds of a 
Black-and-Red Line on Buff were found. 
The known sites of Period III represent simple small permanent 
villages. In some regions, as in northwestern Costa Rica, caves were 
occupied. Agriculture was probably the main source of food, but fish- 
ing and hunting remain important. Simple three-legged metates are 
common, and some elaborate ones have been found in Veraguas. The 
stone industry consists of pebble tools and polished celts. There is no 
evidence of jade, metal, figurines, or monumental sculpture. Burial 
practices differ throughout the area, but the Veraguas shaft-and- 
chamber tradition is attested for the first time. Large mounds have 
been reported only at Puerto Nuevo, where they cover burials. In this 
period, no highly developed division of labor, no social stratification, 
and no important ceremonialism seem to have existed. Nevertheless, 
the bases for such developments are present. 
The very high developmental level of the Barriles Culture, with 
structures (floors or foundations of stone slabs), different burial 
forms, and striking monumental sculpture, contrasts strangely with 
the relatively simple pottery, which shows affinities with ceramics of 
Period III. 
Period IV lasts approximately from a.d. 300 to 500, and is made 
up of the following phases : 
Santa Maria Phase— Parita Bay (Willey and Stoddard, 1954; Ladd, 1957). 
White-slipped Polychrome Phase — Veraguas (McGimsey, 1961). 
Thin Red Phase — Chiriqui Province (McGimsey, 1961). 
Linear Decorated Phase — northwestern Costa Rica (Baudez and Coe, 1960), 
formerly called Early polychrome A. 
Santa Isabel and Palos Negros Phases — Isthmus of Rivas (Norweb, 1961). 
The pottery of this period is characterized by the appearance and 
development of false polychrome (also called two-color painting, like 
the Santa Maria Polychrome and Zelaya Trichrome) and of some true 
polychrome (Veraguas White-Slipped Polychrome and Lopez Poly- 
chrome). The motifs are very simple, mainly linear. Figurine 
whistles are common in northwestern Costa Rica. 
No striking changes from the preceding period can be observed. 
