68 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 146 
Hill, Lerma, and other North American sites, and South American 
finds such as Lauricocha in Peru and Ayampitin and Intihuasi in 
Argentina. The extremely eroded condition of the site does not permit 
the establishment of stratigraphic sequence, but a carbon-14 date of 
16000 ± 300 years (Rouse, 1960, p. 8) aligns the site chronologically 
with some of the above-mentioned finds. 
Folsomoid points found at Bejuma, State of Carabobo, and points 
and scrapers recovered along the shores of the Icabaru and Kukenan 
Rivers in Venezuelan Guiana can be included typologically in this 
early preceramic period, although there is no evidence as yet of their 
stratigraphic position or associated cultural or faunal remains. 
Preceramic Period 11. — The second period of the Preceramic Epoch 
is characterized by the appearance of groups of shellfish gatherers 
along the Caribbean coast. A number of carbon-14 dates indicate 
that about 2200 B.C., shell middens were in existence both in the east 
(Cubagua Phase, 4150 ± 80 years; Manicuare Phase, 3570 ± 130 
years and 3050 dz 80 years) and the west (El Heneal, 3400 d= 120 
years). The artifact complex from the shell middens varies both in 
tool types and in the raw materials from which they were manufac- 
tured, probably reflecting chronological differences. The earliest sites 
are characterized by conical bone points, bone spatulas, and biconical 
stones, while the later ones reveal an increasing predominance of 
shell tools. The principal tool innovations are the shell adzes made 
from the S trombus gigas, and stemmed stone projectile points. 
The shellfish diet of these groups must have been supplemented by 
fishing with nets and by hunting of land animals. The existence of 
manos and metates suggests that wild-plant foods were exploited. 
The presence of sites not only on the mainland but also on the off- 
shore islands indicates that the people possessed watercraft and a 
rudimentary knowledge of navigation. Evidence of burial practices is 
limited to the Manicuare Phase at a single site (Punta Gorda), where 
human remains were found scattered in the midden refuse. Red 
ocher has been found in all the middens, but its use is uncertain. 
CERAMIC EPOCH 
MIDDLE AND LOWER ORINOCO AREA 
Ceramic Period 1. — About 1000 B.C. the first pottery-making groups 
appear along the Orinoco River. Known as the Saladero Phase, the 
pottery is characterized by white-on-red decoration in geometric mo- 
tifs covering the entire vessel surface and by fine incised hachure. 
The Saladero people apparently practiced the cultivation of manioc, 
judging from the existence of a few sherds of griddles. However, 
