NO. 1 CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN LATIN AMERICA 
73 
stones suggests that among the plant foods exploited was a variety of 
grain. 
Along La Cabrera Peninsula and the coast of Lake Valencia, influ- 
ences from the plastic Barrancoid tradition of the Orinoco mixed with 
the pottery tradition of western Venezuela, giving rise to La Cabrera 
Phase. The pottery style is reminiscent of Barrancas, being based 
principally on incision, modeling, and applique, and emphasizing bio- 
morphic adornos. Associated with this are a series of western cul- 
tural elements, such as coffee-bean eyes, double spout linked by a 
bridge handle, incised lines filled with pigment, ring-and-leg bases, 
and pipes. 
The relatively large extent of the archeological sites implies that 
the population at this time must have been numerous and dispersed 
along the coast. Griddles indicate the utilization of manioc ; pipes, the 
cultivation of tobacco. Subsistence was probably basically agricul- 
tural, although supplemented to a large degree by hunting and fish- 
ing, since the zone is rich in both land and sea fauna. Burial was pri- 
mary, and some differential treatment of the dead, possibly equated 
with differential social status, is evident in the association of pottery 
vessels with some individuals. 
Ceramic Period III. — Between a.d. 1150 and 1500, the Lake Va- 
lencia region continued to feel the influences of diverse cultural tra- 
ditions. At the beginning of the period, new types of pottery appear 
that are related stylistically to the Arauquinoid tradition of the Ori- 
noco River. Perhaps it was this influence that stimulated the develop- 
ment of the Valencia Phase, one of the most complex archeological 
phases of Venezuelan prehistory. The pottery decoration is exclusively 
plastic, featuring biomorphic adornos representing birds, frogs, and 
mammals; large funerary urns, effigy jars, and female figurines with 
rectangular heads are typical. 
Large habitation mounds cover a wide zone bordering the lake and 
constitute one of the most striking features of the Valencia Phase. If 
all were occupied simultaneously, they reflect an incipient urbanism. 
Some degree of social stratification seems implied by the organiza- 
tion of collective effort required to construct the earth mounds. Some 
evidence of religious development is supplied by the profusion of 
pottery vessels associated with secondary urn burials, and by the 
abundant and well-developed figurine style, which suggests to some 
observers the existence of a fertility cult. On the other hand, as Kid- 
der (1944) has pointed out, there is no clearcut separation between 
utilitarian and nonutilitarian pottery. Some vessels associated with 
