Handbook of South American Indians, Vol. 4

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

BULLETIN
143

HANDBOOK
OF

SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS

Julian H. Steward, Editor
Volume 4
THE CIRCUM-CARIBBEAN TRIBES
Prepared
in
of the Interdepartmental
Cooperation With the United States Department of State as a Project Committee for Scientific and Cultural Cooperation
^s^^mm^w^
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMEINT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON
1948
For
sale by the
Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C.
.^^ÔNiATlTg--
f/IMER.E1>
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology,

Washington, D. C, June 18, 1945.
Sir
:
have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript

of
entitled
American Indians. Volume 4. The CircumCaribbean Tribes," edited by Julian H. Steward, and to recommend that it be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Very respectfully yours,
"Handbook
South
M. W. Stirling,
Dr.
Chie^.
Alexander Wetmore,
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution
III
CONTENTS
Preface, by Julian H. Steward
PAGE xv
xvi
Acknowledgments
'
ontributors to
Volume 4
:
xix
Julian
The Circum- Caribbean tribes An introduction, by The basic Circum-Caribbean culture

Social and religious patterns
H. Steward
2 2
Material culture
Origins of the Circum-Caribbean culture
Distribution of the Circum-Caribbean culture
4
6
11
The Sub-Andean
tribes of western
Colombia
15
16
17
Material culture
The northeastern Sub-Andean tribes The Cordillera Oriental and Venezuelan Andes
Tribes west of Lake Maracaibo
Tribes of northwestern Venezuela Tribes of northern Venezuela
18 19
20
21
22
22
Material culture
23
23 23 23
The
Antilles
The Arawak
Social
and religious patterns
Material culture
24
25
The Carib
Central America
Distribution and antiquity of the Circum-Caribbean culture
26 26
28
31
tribes
Material culture
The Meso-American
Material culture
ii 33
34 34 34
35
35
The Tropical Forest peoples The Patangoro and their neighbors The Guayupe and Sae The Betoi and their neighbors The Otomac and Guamo The Achagua and Saliva The Pacific Coast tribes The Choco The Cayapa and Colorado The hunting and gathering tribes
Tribes of the Orinoco Basin
36
37
38
38 39 40
40
41
The Ciboney
Part
1.
of the Antilles
Central American Cultures
43
introduction, by Frederick Johnson
Central American Cultures:
An
43
43
44
Geography
Panama
VI
CONTENTS
The The The The The
PAGE 46 48
48 49
Southern Highlands Nicaraguan Highlands
Nicaraguan Lowland
Eastern Coastal Plain
Northern Coastal Plain Tribal divisions and history
49
49
The The The The The The
Cuna-Choco Division Talamanca Division

Caribbean Division
Caribbean Division
:
49
51
East Coast
57 60
61
North Coast
Northern Highland Division Meso- American Division
63
Bibliography
67 69
:
The archeology of Central America The archeology of Central America

can Strong
An
introduction, by
Wm.
Dun69
71
The archeology
of Honduras, by
Wm.
Duncan Strong
Introduction
71
The
northeast coast region
72
Environment Sites and remains Ceramics Nonceramic artifacts The Ulua-Yojoa region
12
72
76
81
85 85 85
Summary
Sites
of research
and remains Ceramics
87
99
103
103
Nonceramic artifacts Central and southwestern Honduras
Summary
The
of research
in
Ethnic correlations
Honduras
112 112 114

118
pottery time chart
consideration of ceramic styles
General considerations
Bibliography
120
of Costa Rica and Nicaragua,
The archeology
Strong
Introduction
by
Wm.
Duncan
121
121
The Pacific region The Highland region The Eastern Coastal Plain
Ethnic correlations in Costa Rica and Nicaragua
Bibliography
122
131
138
140
142
143 143
145
The archeology
Dari^n
of Panama, by Samuel K. Lothrop
Introduction
Code
Veraguas
Chiriqui
146 159
161
Bibliography
167
The
basic cultures of Central America, by Doris Stone
169
169
Introduction
CONTENTS
VII
FAGB
The
basic Central
American cultures and the Q-complex
169
170
175
Costa Rica
Nicaragua
Honduras
El Salvador
177
181
Guatemala
184
discussion
185
Summary and
Speculations
192
193 195
:
Bibliography
The post-Conquest ethnology of Central America The post-Conquest ethnology of Central America
by Frederick Johnson
An
introduction,
195
The Meso- American

Introduction
Division, by Frederick Johnson
199
199
Culture
Bibliography
200
204
tribes
:
The Northern Highland

Introduction
The
Lenca, by Doris Stone
205 205 205
Culture
Bibliography
217
tribes:
The Caribbean Lowland

Introduction
The Mosquito, Sumo, Paya, and

219
Jicaque, by Paul Kirchhoff
219
219
229
:
Culture
Bibliography
The Caribbean
erick
Lov^rland tribes
The Talamanca
Division, by Fred-
Johnson
231
Introduction
231 231
Culture
Bibliography
251
The
tribes
west and south of the
Panama
Canal, by Samuel K.
Lothrop
Introduction
253 253
253 256
B. Stout
Culture
Bibliography
The Cuna, by David

Culture
257 257
Bibliography
268
B. Stout
The Choco, by David

Culture
269 269 276

277
^''
^"î
Bibliography
The Cayapa and Colorado, by John Murra

Introduction
The Cayapa
Culture
The Colorado
Culture
278 284
285
291
Bibliography Anthrcôlogical needs and possibilities in Central America, by can Strong and Frederick Johnson
Wm.
Dun296
293
Bibliography
VIII
CONTENTS
PAGE
297
297
Part 2. The cultures of northwest South America Sub-Andean tribes of the Cauca Valley, by Gregorio Hernandez de Alba
Introduction
History
Tribes of the upper Cauca River
Tribal locations
299
302
302 303
Culture
Tribes of the North Colombia Highlands

Tribes east of the Cauca River
Tribal locations
307
308
308 309
313 313
Culture
Tribes of the Cauca-Atrato region

Tribal locations
Native culture The Indians of 1880
314 320
321
The 20th century Catio

Culture
322 326
Tribes of the Province of Aburra

Tribal locations
326 326 327

329
Culture
Bibliography
Tribes of the North Colombia Lowlands, by Gregorio Hernandez de Alba
Introduction
329
329 330 332
Tribal divisions and locations
History
Culture
Bibliography
338
339
The Patangoro and Amani, by Paul Kirchhoff

Introduction
339 339
extension of
Culture
The northeastern
Paul Kirchhoff
Introduction
Andean
culture,
by Alfred Metraux and

349
349
351
History
Tribal divisions
352
355 355
Physical appearance
Culture
Bibliography
368
The
Goajiro, by John
M. Armstrong and Alfred Metraux
369
The
region
369
369
Location and history

Physical appearance
370
370
Language
Culture
370
383
Sae,
Bibliography
The Guayupe and

Introduction
by Paul Kirchhoff
385
385
Culture
386
391
their neighbors,
Bibliography
The Betoi and
by Gregorio Hernandez de Alba
393
393
Tribal locations
CONTENTS
The
Betoi and their neighbors, by Gregorio Hernandez de Alba (contd.)
IX
Language
Historical sources
393
394
Culture
The Achagua and

History
Culture
their neighbors,
by Gregorio Hernandez de Alba
394 399
Tribal locations
399 400 402
The archeology of Venezuela, by Alfred Kidder

Introduction
413 413
Sources and history of investigation

Regional presentation of cultures
414
415
Lower Orinoco River

Middle Orinoco River Upper Orinoco River The Llanos
415
417
419
419
Lake Valencia
Northeast Coast
'
420 424
425 429
The Northwest The Andes
Summary and
conclusions
434
437
Future field work and problems Bibliography The Otomac, by Paul Kirchhoff
Introduction
438 439
439 440
444
445
Culture
Bibliography
Food-gathering tribes of the Venezuelan Llanos, by Paul Kirchhoff...

Introduction
445
Hunting cultures The Guahibo and Chiricoa

Introduction
History, sources, and
446 446 446

447
447
demography
Language
Culture
447 455
455
Bibliography
The Gayon
Bibliography
Fishing cultures
455
456 456 456 456

Taparita, and Atature
The Yaruro
Introduction
Culture
The Guamontey, Guamo,

Introduction
463 463
Culture
Bibliography
465 468
.
The
tribes of
northwestern Venezuela, by Gregorio Hernandez de Alba.
469
Tribal locations
469
469 469
Language
History
Culture
470
X
The
CONTENTS
PAGE
tribes of north central Venezuela,
by Gregorio Hernandez de Alba.
475 475
Tribal locations
History
Culture
476
476
The
tribes north of the
Orinoco River, by Paul Kirchhoff
481 481 481
Introduction
Culture
Part 3. The West Indies The West Indies An introduction, by Irving Rouse The Ciboney, by Irving Rouse
:
495 495 497 497
Introduction
Archeology
Culture sequences
497 499
501
History
Sources
503
The
ethnology of the Ciboney, by Pedro Garcia Valdes
503
Language
Culture
503
503
Irving Rouse
The Arawak, by
Introduction
507 507
Archeology
Culture sequences
507
510 517 520
521
History Sources
Ethnography The ethnography of Hispaniola Taino The ethnography of Hispaniola Ciguayo The ethnography of Puerto Rico, by Adolf o de Hostos
: :
522
539 540
540 540
Population
Culture
The ethnography
Population
Culture
of
Cuba
542 542 542

543
The ethnography of Jamaica The ethnography of the Bahamas The ethnography of the Virgin Islands The ethnography of the Lesser Antilles The ethnography of Trinidad
The
Carib, by Irving
544 544
545 545
Rouse
547 547
547 547
Introduction
Archeology History
Sources
548 549
565
Ethnography
Bibliography
Bibliography
567
ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATES
PAGE
1.
2.
3.
Ceremonial cache and urn and skull burials, Honduras North Coast Applique style vessels, northeastern Honduras Northeast Coast Honduras pottery types
Stone and metal work. Bay Islands, Honduras Honduras ceramic and marble vessels
108
108 108
108
4.
5.
108 108 108
6.
7.
Honduras pottery
styles
and types
style,
8.
Bold Geometric style pottery Ulua Polychrome vessels, Mayoid

duras
Santa Rita type, Santa Rita, Hon-
108
108
9.
10. 11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Yojoa Polychrome vessels. Lake Yojoa, Honduras Yojoa Polychrome and other vessels, Lake Yojoa, Honduras Early ceramic types, Honduras Playa de los Muertos style sherds and figurines, Honduras Stone statue and seats. Central America Stone artifacts from Costa Rica and Nicaragua
Stone carvings, Costa Rica Nicoya Polychrome, Costa Rica and Nicaragua
Central American goldwork and pottery
108 108 108 140 140

140
140 140 140 156

156 188 188
17. 18. 19.
Central American pottery types

Artifacts from Darien,
20. Artifacts
Panama from Code, Panama
21. 22.
23. 24. 25. 26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31. 32.
33.
34.
35. 36.
2i7.
from Costa Rica and Honduras Some basic Central American ceramic types Effigy vessels from Central America Central American pot legs, lugs, stands, figurines Central American ceramic tj'pes Stone seats or metates from Central America Stone peg figures from Costa Rica and Guatemala Stone peg figures from Costa Rica and Guatemala Stone sukia and animal figures from Costa Rica and Honduras Stone balls in the Terraba Plain Petroglyphs, Honduras and Costa Rica Stone grave markers from Honduras Lenca manufactures Lenca Indians Sumo and Mosquito Indians, Nicaragua
Tripod
styles
188
188
188
188
188 188
188 188
188
188
^1^ ^1^
228 ^ô 252

^^^
Sumo manufactures
Guaymi farming and Guaymi fish traps
foodstuffs
38. 39.
40.
41.
42.
Hip-roofed house of the Guaymi Guaymi shelter and loom weaving Valienti (GuajTni) bags, Panama
252 ^^^
252
^-^^
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
Guaymi pottery making Guaymi utensils Southern Guaymi burial Guaymi men in ceremonial costumes Guaymi ceremonies and ceremonial dress Guaymi balseria ceremony Guaymi man Cuna artifacts
252 252
252
252 252
'^^
268
XI
XII
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE 268 268 268
276 276 276 276
50.
51.
52. 53.
54.
55. 56. 57.

58. 59.
Cuna ceremonial objects Cuna wooden fetishes Cuna mnemonic picture-writing Choco artifacts Choco artifacts Choco artifacts Choco Indians Cayapa houses and village
Colorado houses, early 20th century Colorado and Cayapa Indians Colorado and Cayapa Indians
"Motilones" (Macoa, "Motilones" Indians "Motilones" (Macoa,
i.e., i.e., i.e.,
284 284 284 284 364 364

364
60.
61.
62.
Chake)
village life
63.
64. 65. 66.
"Motilones" (Macoa,
"Motilonps" costumes
Chake) carrying devices Chake) Indians
364 364 364
"Motilones" weaving
"Motilones" (Macoa,
"Motilones" (Macoa, "Motilones" Indians
i.e., i.e.,
67.
68.
Chake) crafts Chake) musical instruments and
364
fire
making..
364
69.
70.
71. 72. 73. 74.
364
i.e., i.e.,
"Motilones" (Macoa,
"Motilones" (Macoa,
Goajiro Indians
Chake) Indians Chake) Indians of the Sierra de Perija
364
364 380 428 428
Early and late Ronquin pottery, Venezuela Pottery from various Venezuelan regions
Pottery and stoneware of the Andean region, Venezuela
75. 76.
428
428
Venezuelan archeological sites n. Guahibo Indians 78. Guahibo Indians, Sikuani tribe 79. Landscapes of Hispaniola
80.
468
468
500 500 500
81. 82.
Cuban landscapes The Maniabon hills, Cuba Cuban landscapes

landscapes
500 500
500 500 532
83. Antillean 84. 85.
Ciboney artifacts from Cuba

Ciboney artifacts from Haiti
86.
87. 88.
89.
90. 91. 92. 93.
94.
Arawak sites in the West Indies Arawak pottery from the West Indies Arawak stone and bone work from the West Indies Arawak shell and woodwork from the West Indies Arawak history and ethnography in Hispaniola Arawak ethnology and plants in Hispaniola Arawak dance to the earth goddess
Carib Indians and artifacts Carib manufactures
Carib war dance
532
532
532
532
532 532 564

564 564
95.
96.
97. 98.
Cuban descendants of the Arawak Cuban descendants of the Arawak

Carib descendants
564 564
564
.. ..
ILLUSTRATIONS
Xlll
FIGURES
PAGE
1.
Sketch
map
of the Plan Grande
site,
Bonacca, Bay Islands, Honduras.
73
75
2.
Incised design on erect stone at ceremonial site on Claura River, northeastern
Honduras
11 78
0
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. 8.
North Coast Applique style vessel forms, Bay Islands, Honduras Bold Geometric style, San Marcos type pottery. Bay Islands, Honduras. Bay Island Polychrome vessel forms and carved steatite image, Bay Islands, Honduras Bay Island Polychrome pottery, Bay Islands, Honduras Sketch map of the lower Ulua and Chamelecon Rivers, Honduras Sketch map showing archeological sites around north end of Lake Yojoa,
82
84
Honduras
9.
86 94
95
.
10.
11. 12.
Playa de los Muertos, Honduras Vessel forms of the Playa de los Muertos style, Ulua River, Honduras. Vessel forms of the Playa de los Muertos style, Ulua River, Honduras.
Stratification at
97
105
13.
14.
Honduras stone sculptures Plan of Tenampua, Honduras Pottery vessel from Tenampua, Honduras
Temporal relationship of ceramic styles and types. Northeast Coast and Ulua- Yojoa regions, Honduras Mounds on Zapatero Island, Nicaragua Stone sculptures from Costa Rica and Nicaragua Burials at Las Guacas, Costa Rica Costa Rican and Nicaraguan pottery of the Pacific area
Costa Rican stonework Jade pendants, Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica Costa Rica stone spear-thrower pegs Costa Rican carved stone slabs Costa Rica and Nicaraguan pottery of the Highland area Metate from Cartago, Costa Rica Burial mound and general map of Las Mercedes, Costa Rica
109
UO
^^^
122
15.
16.
17.
18.
123
l25
19.
126
129
20. 21. 22. 23.

24.
130 130
133
134
137
25.
26.
139 148
149
27. 28. 29.

30. 31.
Code grave plan Code stone ax Color key for Code
pottery.
149 ISO
effigy vessel,
Early Polychrome, Code
An
Early Polychrome spouted
Code
150
151
32.
Zi. 34.
35. 36.
Early Polychrome, Code Early Polychrome, Code Late Polychrome, Code

Late Polychrome,
Miscellaneous
152
153 154
types 155
Code Code pottery
Vl
38. 39.
Code Code Code
ivory and goldwork

ear ornament
156 156
gold pendants
157 158
161
40.
41.
Gold and emerald pendants

Pictograph, Chiriqui country
42. Chiriqui
grave types
metates metates or stools
163 163
162
43. Chiriqui stone 44. Chiriqui stone
XIV
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
45. Chiriqui stone statues

46. Chiriqui pottery
164 165
types
47. Chiriqui pottery

48.
166
49.
50.
Lenca house Lenca woman's dress, Santa Elena Fundamental framework of Southern Guaymi hip-roofed house
207 209
235
.
51.
52.
53. 54.
55. 56. 57. 58.
59.
60. 61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66. 67.
Framework of Southern Guaymi hip-roofed house with Guaymi household furnishings Guaymi applique clothing designs Guaymi pottery Guaymi stone tobacco pipes Guaymi technique in making beadwork collars Guaymi burial Cuna sea turtle decoy Cuna painted balsa planks Cuna musical instruments Choc6 wooden seats and headrests Choco body ornamentation Choco coiled basket Choco pottery Choco pottery Choco artifacts
"Motilones" ax-flute
rafters added.
235
237
239 242 243
244 248
257 262
265 269
270
271
272 272 274

366
68. Incised pottery,
Los Barrancos, Venezuela
416 416
69.
70.
Pottery adornos, Los Barrancos. Venezuela Pottery from Lake Valencia Lake Valencia pottery adornos and shell objects, Lake Valencia Phase.
416
.
71.
72. 73. 74.
416
416 418
423
427
75.
76.
Lake Valencia figurine, Valencia Phase Early Ronquin painted pottery Lake Valencia figurine, Valencia Phase Carache painted pottery
Pottery of the northwest Venezuela region
region,
428
431
n. Artifacts of the Andean

78. 79.
Venezuela
Guahibo house (boo) Guahibo house (sorueto)
449
450
MAPS
PAGE
1.
2.
3.
Culture areas treated in Volume 4 The native tribes of Central America
xx
50
72
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. 9.
10. 11.
The archeology of Central America The archeological cultures of Panama in the 16th century The contemporary tribes of Central America The native tribes of Venezuela and lowland Colombia The archeology of Venezuela The tribes and cultures of the Antilles The aboriginal provinces of Cuba The aboriginal provinces of Hispaniola The principal villages of Puerto Rico and their chiefs
144
196
350 416
498
502
529
541
PREFACE
By Julian H. Steward
It
has always been supposed that the cultures of the Antilles and
northern Venezuela should be classed with those of the Tropical Forests.
Northern Colombia and Central America have been puzzling, however, for, though archeology reveals the presence in these areas of many elements
of
Mexican and Andean
civilizations,
the
modern
tribes are
definitely
is
Tropical Forest in character.
The
difificulty
has been that the ethnology
known mainly from fairly recent studies of the few extremely deculturated tribes who remain and that the archeology has not been linked to the
historic peoples except in a
few instances.
of the ethnography found in early docuat the
Lothrop's
summary (1937)
site of
ments of the Conquest period of Panama and his archeological work

late
pre-Conquest
Code
furnished cultural evidence of peoples
can scarcely be recognized as the precursors of the modern Cima.

recently, Kirchhoff has
who More
undertaken a thorough perusal of
all
the available
early chronicles bearing
on the peoples around the Caribbean Sea, and he

were actually and content of most of the Circum-Caribbean
of the
points out that, far from having a primitive culture such as that observed
among
their descendants of the past century, these tribes
highly developed.
He
finds also that the general pattern
these cultures were strikingly similar in

area.
It
was mainly
at his suggestion that the editor segregated the articles
on the tribes of this area from those grouped them in the present volume.
of
volume 3
Handbook and
As
be
the cultural relationships of tribes and groups of tribes cannot always

all
knowm until
the articles are assembled and viewed as a whole there
are several instances, as seen in retrospect, in which tribes are placed in the
wrong volume or
culture, or, as
in the
wrong
part of a volume.
The Circum-Caribbean
culture, certainly
it is
called in Colombia, the
Sub-Andean
includes the tribes
Santa Marta
In
fact,
who
it
of the South Colombia Highlands and of the Sierra de are described in Volume 2 on the Andean civilizations.
the Chibcha of Colombia are not properly classifiable as true
been possible to divide the volumes on a consistent cultural basis, the Choco, Cayapa, and Colorado of western, lowland Colombia and Ecuador, the peoples west of Lake Maracaibo, and those of the
Andean.
Had
lowlands of eastern Colombia should have been included with the Tropical Forest tribes who are described in Volume 3, and the hunting and gathering tribes of the Orinoco Basin and the Cihoney of the
West
Indies might
XV
XVI
PREFACE STEWARD
in
have accompanied the Marginal peoples who are treated

volume.
the
same
somewhat divided between volumes. Special on the archeology of Central America, Venezuela, and the Antilles are presented in the present volume along with the ethnography. The archeology of Colombia, however, has been presented as a whole in Volume 2, although some of the prehistoric remains are undoubtedly attributable to
is
The archeology
also
articles
the tribes encountered by the conquistadors.
One
of the greatest difficulties in preparing the present
volume was the
direct result of the paucity of information on
both the archeology and

but
ethnography.
As few
of the aboriginal tribes survive today, ethnologists
have largely ignored the area.

surveys, except in the
Archeologists have done

It
little
make
was consequently extremely difficult to find sufficient background of information to prepare articles without an enormous amount of original research, especially in the chronicles of the Conquest. Some groups of tribes were nearly omitted for want of someone who could do the necessary research. On tlie whole, the early sources have been used considerably less than was
hoped, but the coverage of the area has been completed.
especially grateful to Dr.
West Indies. contributors who had a
The
editor
is
summaries of the
and others
studies
;
tribes of
in
Venezuela.
Hernandez de Alba for preparing last-minute western Colombia and of the Caqnctio, Achagua, Hernandez de Alba's articles are not exhaustive
fill
they are merely preliminary essays hurriedly written to
in
gaps
in the
Handbook coverage
area
in
order to account for the more important
tribes
and
to give the general features of their culture.

is
America, but
it
not only the least
known
of
all
South
is
perhaps the most important to problems of native

history.
American culture
The
editor
and contributors
feel
with con-
siderable satisfaction that the articles have succeeded in bringing a great
deal of order to the previously confused anthropological picture of this
area and that a basis
is
provided for future research on

out.
many fundamental
problems that the Handbook helps point
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The
of
editor wishes to express his gratitude to the
staflf
Handbook
staff
and
this
the Smithsonian editorial
which have performed the enormous task
preparing the manuscripts, illustrations,
and bibliography of
volume.
grateful to the
For permission to publish the illustrations used in this volume we are Museo Nacional, San Jose, Costa Rica; the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of Harvard University the Museo Nacional of Tegucigalpa, Honduras the American Museum of Natural History, New York City the Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian
;
PREFACE STEWARD
Institution,
;
XVII
New York
individuals
this
Washington, D. C. and the American Geographical Society, City. We acknowledge also the kindness of the following
who
furnished photographs for illustrations to the articles of
Mrs. Doris Stone, Monseigneur Federico Lunardi, Dr. Frederick Johnson, Mr. Gerard Reichel-Dolmatoflf, Dr. Alexander Wet-
volume:
more, Llewelyn Williams, Batista Venturello, and the and Theodoor De Booy.
late
John Verrill
653334-^8-
CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLUME 4
OF THE
HANDBOOK OF SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS

Armstrong, John M., Washington, D.
C.
Gregorio Hernandez de Alba/ Bogota, Colombia. Adolfo de Hostos, Official Historian of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto
Rico.
Frederick Johnson, The Robert S. Peabody Foundation for Archaeology, Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. Alfred Kidder II, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
Paul Kirch hoff,
Escuela Nacional de Antropologia, Instituto Nacional
de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico, D. F.
Samuel K. Lothrop, Peabody Museum
of
Archaeology and Ethnology,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. Alfred Metraux,^ Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. John Murra, Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago,
Chicago,
III.
Irving Rouse, Department
of
Anthropology, Peabody
Museum
of
Nat-
ural History, Yale University,
New
Haven, Conn.
Julian H. Steward,^
Institution,
Institute of Social Anthropology, Smithsonian
Washington, D. C.
Doris Stone, San Jose, Costa Rica. David B. Stout,* United States Naval Reserve. Wm. Duncan Strong, Department of Anthropology, Columbia University, New York, N. Y. Pedro Garcia Valdes, Pinar
1948 Present address: Colombia. ^ Present address: * Present address * Present address: N. Y.
1
del Rio, Cuba.
Director, Instituto Etnol6gico de Popayan, Universidad del Cauca, Popayan,
Department of Social Affairs, United Nations. Department of Anthropology, Columbia University, New York, N. Y. Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Syracuse University, Syracuse,
XIX
- CBNTRAL AMERICA 2- COLOMBIA - VENEZUELA Z-THE ANTILLES

1
90
to
'0
(iO
40
30
Map
1.
Culture areas treated
in
Volume
left,
4.
(Stippled, the Tropical Forest Tribes,
Volume
3; hachure down-slanted to
right, the
the
Andean
Civilizations,
1.)
Volume
2; and
hachure down-slanted to
Marginal Tribes, Volume
XX
THE CIRCUM-CARIBBEAN TRIBES: AN INTRODUCTION

By Julian H. Steward
The
tribes described in the present
volume are on the whole perhaps
the least
known ethnographically of any in the areas covered by the Handbook. Whether insular or on the mainland, they were readily
The
from the coast and were quickly overrun by the Spanish congreat majority of them have long been extinct culturally
Practically
all
accessible
querors.
if
not racially.
that survive today
were dislocated from
their aboriginal habitats to
new and
often drastically different regions,
and for 400 years they have been subject to influence not only from the Spaniards but from the descendants of Negro slaves who penetrated most of the Caribbean islands and coast. In the Colombian Highland and North Coast Lowland the tribes have
entirely vanished as cultural entities,
and the only peoples now classed as
Indians are a few refugee groups in the low rain forests of the Atrato
River and the Pacific coast regions, the much acculturated, cattle-raising Goajiro on the Goajira Peninsula, some scattered primitive groups in the
and jungle on the western tributaries of the upper Orinoco River Colombia, and various culturally modified tribes around Lake Maracaibo. In Venezuela the descendants of the aborigines north of the Orinoco River are much mixed racially and have lost most of their native culture, the main exception being a considerable number of Warraii in the swamps of the Orinoco Delta. The Antillean tribes may be said to be extinct. In Central America the principal surviving Indians are the Cuna of Panama, a few remnant groups in Costa Rica, the Mosquito and their neighbors of the lowlands of eastern Nicaragua, and strongly Hispanicized Indians of Honduras, especially the Lenca. The chroniclers of the Conquest left relatively few and very fragmentary
llanos
in eastern
accounts of these tribes, though

tion
of their writings,
it is probable that more systematic utilizaboth published and archival, will supply fuller pictures of aboriginal ethnology. Few of the surviving tribes have been
all of
by ethnologists. Professional studies have been made, though not them have been published, only of the Lenca, Guaymi, Cuna, ChocS, Cayapa, Cdgaba, lea, Goajiro, Maeoa (Chake or "Motilones"), Yaruro, and Warrau.
visited
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
The Circum-Caribbean area has many archeological remains including mounds, burials, stone sculpture, ceramics, metallurgy, and other evidences
Honduras, however, these Code in Panama and Tairona and San Agustin in Colombia (the last two described in vol. 2 of the Handbook) are exceptions. Only the Antilles have been worked with any thoroughness. Elsewhere the remains have not been dated sequentially in relationship to one another, and few have been identified with tribes occupying the regions at the Conquest. These materials, therefore, must be used with great caution in rounding out the ethnographic picture, for many of them may have great antiquity.
of a rich culture.
South of the
Maya
frontier in
have received
little
more than
superficial surveys.
from the modern tribes with those from the and from archeology shows that all but the very backward and isolated tribes have suffered drastic changes. Gone are the
comparison
of data
earlier chroniclers
intensive horticulture, the dense population, the large villages, the class-
structured society, the mounds, temples, idols, and priests, the warfare,
cannibalism and
human
trophies, the elaborate death rites,
and even the
technological and esthetic refinements evidenced in the early metallurgy,
weaving, ceramics, and stone sculpture.
The modern
tribes
who
retain a
predominantly aboriginal culture have come to resemble the Tropical

Forest tribes (Handbook, vol. 3) rather than their
carry on small-scale slash-and-burn farming, and
own ancestors. They many of them now hunt
and
simple cloth, and
more than they till the soil. They live in small villages, weave make only plain pots. Their society is unstratified, their religious cults are scarcely remembered, and the principal survival of
fish
is
former days
the shaman.
THE BASIC CIRCUM-CARIBBEAN CULTURE*

SOCIAL
AND RELIGIOUS PATTERNS
The
tribes carried
on intensive farming, which outranked hunting,

its
gathering, and fishing in
productiveness and which supported a dense
population and large villages.

pact,
The
typical
community was a
large,
comIt
planned village of several hundred to several thousand persons.
consisted of pole-and-thatch houses arranged in streets and around plazas,
and
it
was surrounded by a
palisade.
In the village were temples, special
residences for chiefs, and storehouses.

1 Dr. Paul Kirchhoff, who has been engaged in a thorough study of early accounts of the tribes around the Caribbean Sea, called attention to the fact that at the time of the Conquest there was Unfortunately, great similarity between most of the tribes, attesting close historical connection. his study could not be completed in time to utilize the results in the Handbook, but it is hoped that he may soon publish his detailed comparative survey of these peoples. The present summary is essentially a synthesis of the data in this volume and in the second volume of the Handbook, and it should be considered in connection with the comparable summary of the cultures of the Tropical Forest tribes given in volume 3 of the Handbook.
Vol. 4]
THE CIRCUM-CARIBBEAN TRIBES STEWARD
Society was characteristically stratified into three or four classes.

village chief stood at the social pinnacle,
The
and
in
some areas he ruled over
federations of villages or tribes.
Characteristically, he lived in a large
house, received tribute, had
married his
either
full sister,
as
many wives and retainers (in Colombia he among the Inca), wore special insignia and orna-
litter, and at death his body was mummified or desiccated and placed in a special house or temple, or it was buried, accompanied by wives and servants who were stupefied and interred ahve (fig. 27), and often the chief's image was placed on the grave. There was rarely an organized priesthood, for in most of these tribes the shaman, and in some the chief, functioned as intermediary be-
ments, was carried by his subjects in a
tween the people and their gods.
Similarly, the noble class tended to
merge with
where extreme stratification occurred. The basic social arrangement would have been one of chiefs and common people except for extreme development of warfare, which served the social hierarchy in several ways. Captive men were usually put to death for cannibalistic feasts and for human trophies, both of which enhanced their captor's prestige. Women were usually annexed to their captor's household, either as wives or servants, and their number was a measure of their master's social standing. Wealth was a major factor in the status of chiefs and nobles, and it was produced by these large households, together with some tribute from commoners and even from other tribes. It would seem, however, that male captives were seldom kept as permanent slaves except among the Antillean Arawak. Their ultimate fate and even that of the children they might breed in their captor's tribe was to be killed and
that of the chiefs, except
eaten or sacrificed.
Human
sacrifice, therefore,
made warfare
also an
important adjunct to religion in the Central American and Colombian

tribes.
depended partly upon American chiefs were individual achievement in warfare. Some Central elected. In many tribes shamans had great power. So far as status was hereditary in Colombia and Central America, titles and property tended to pass in the matrilineal line, from a man to his nephew, and in some Sexual incases matrilineal clans were interwoven with social classes. version of men, probably connected with shortage of women caused by polygyny, was common. Religion centered around the temple cult. The temple was a special structure (it is uncertain how frequently it was set on a mound), which Instead of a sheltered idols (pi. 89, fe) to which offerings were made. special organized priesthood, which was more common in Central America and may have come from the Meso-American tribes, the shaman seems
Social status
was thus not
entirely hereditary but
usually to have been mediator with the deities; particularly he served as

oracle
chief
and made
sacrifices.
In the Antilles, however, the Arawakan
performed
this function.
The gods which were
supplicated by the
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
in
Circum-Caribbean peoples are not clearly described, but those mentioned myths and occasionally in ritual are usually celestial, the sun and moon
being especially prominent and the stars frequently named.

motifs.
There
is
occasional evidence of a jaguar cult both in religious practices and in art
Considerable preoccupation with the dead

tices,
is
manifest in burial prac-
and ancestors or ghosts are commonly named among supernatural spirits involved in religious beliefs. Urn burial (pi. 1, bottom) is CircumCaribbean, and burial mounds occur everywhere but in the Antilles. Where archeological sequences are known these two methods seem to
belong to fairly recent periods.
ceased
chief
Virtually
all
tribes disposed of a de-
with considerable ceremony, either desiccating the body

;
Arawak, where he became a god and temple idol also, the Cauca-Atrato region of Colombia and Darien and Code in Panama) or embalming it. When the chief was buried some of his retainers and wives were stupefied and interred with him, a practice found in all three areas.
(Antillean
MATERIAL CULTURE
Several facts indicate the importance of farming
among
these tribes as
compared with that of the Tropical Forest. Fields seem to have been much larger and more permanent, resembling plantations rather than the frequently shifting, slash-and-burn plots. Hunting and fishing were secondary, and, although the cultures rim the Caribbean Sea, few settlements were actually on the coast; by contrast, the Tropical Forest villages were characteristically riparian and coastal. Circum-Caribbean men seem to have devoted proportionately much more effort to farming than to hunting and fishing, and in many tribes they performed tasks of cultivation that elsewhere fall to women. By inference, the much larger and more permanent Circum-Caribbean villages must have required a more
assured food supply.
Domesticated plants varied somewhat, and the greatest number of

species
was found
in northern Colombia,
where, in addition to maize,
sweet manioc or yuca, beans, sweetpotatoes, and peppers, which were the
usual staples, the tribes grew
many
fruits
and cacao.
Bitter
manioc had
a very limited distribution,
its
spread in this area evidently having been

fishhooks,
post-Colombian.
Hunting and
(unfeathered
of the
fishing
were practiced, and
fish
nets,
fish
drugs, harpoons (pi. 56, right), spears, stone axes, and
bows and arrows
among several tribes) were general Amazon Basin, the bow and arrow had
in the area.
As
in parts
evidently spread at the
expense of the spear and spear thrower; these weapons have a strong Arrow poison was Circum-Caribbean with a few negative correlation.
gaps, and the poison
was generally
of animal-derived, putrified ingredi-
ents in contrast to the vegetable poisons used elsewhere in South America.
Vol. 4]

technological traits were:
The more important

of
loom-weaving
(pi.
40)
domesticated cotton, but ornamentation of cloth often by painting rather than by woven-in patterns; twilled and woven basketry (pi, 54, e,
;
f)
developed ceramics,
especially
with
plastic,
applied,
and
incised
decoration, and in zoomorphic, anthropomorphic, and tripod forms; dug-
out canoes and water travel (most developed on the South American,
Panamanian, and Antillean coasts; somewhat less so in the Sub- Andean areas and the remainder of Central America, where overland travel by roads was more characteristic) and stone axes, slings, and the weapons mentioned above. Metallurgy was best developed in Colombia and Panama (pi. 20; figs. 37-40), where gold and copper were smelted and
:
alloyed, but gold
America, and
objects,
was probably worked in a fev*' other parts of Central was taken from placer mines. Gold however, reached all tribes by trade.
in the Antilles gold
Some
parts
of
technologies which characterize the Marginal tribes in various
South America survive with a restricted distribution among tribes. The use of wild basts and a netting technique for making hammocks and carrying-bags is found among the Lenca and Talamanca, in northern Venezuela, in the region west of Lake Maracaibo,
Circum-Caribbean
and probably among the Antillean Arazvak. Coiled basketry is reported nowhere except among the Choco (fig. 63). Bark cloth (pi. 53, d, e) extends from the western Amazon through the Torn and Chanco of the Cauca River and the tribes of the North Colombian Lowland to the Talamanca Division and Caribbean Lowland tribes in Central America, and stone bark-beaters are found archeologically (pi. 14, d, e) somewhat beyond this distribution in Nicaragua and northeastern Honduras, but they are comparatively late in the Maya sequence. There was also extensive
use of decorated calabash containers
(pi. 54, c), a
Tropical Forest
trait
which tends
ceramics.
to
have a somewhat negative correlation with elaborated
Garments were made of woven cotton, the most common being the woman's apron and the man's breechclout, but various mantles or cloaks were also worn. The skull was artificially deformed, usually frontally or fronto-occipitally, and the nose and ears, but not the lips, were pierced for ornaments. Ornaments were made of gold, even where gold was not
worked, and
of
stone
(precious
and semiprecious stones
in
Central
America),
shell,
and other materials.
In food preparation, the most
common
utensils used
were stone metates,
mortars, potter}' jars and griddles, and babracots.
Among
items of household furniture, carved
wooden and
stone stools
latter taking
(pis. 26, 49, a, b; 88, /; figs. 43,
44) were characteristic, the
elaborate animal forms in the archeological sites of coastal
Ecuador and
the area, but,
Central America.
The platform bed occurred throughout
6
as in the
[E.A.E. Bull. 143
the
Montana east of the Andes, it seemingly was being replaced by hammock in lowland areas; in most tribes both were found.
esthetic
Among
troughs
and recreational elements were chicha and chicha
(pi.
62), tobacco, coca, some form of
game with a
and
ru,bber ball
which was probably played on
special courts, hollow-log
drums, skin
(pi. 68,
drums
(pi.
54, a), rattles, shell trumpets, panpipes,
flutes
top, left).
ORIGINS OF THE CIRCUM-CARIBBEAN CULTURE
To
sary
other
understand the origins of the Circum-Caribbean culture

first
it is
neces-
to classify
its
general structure and content with reference to
South American cultures. Considered in general terms, South American cultures may be classed roughly in four types ( 1 ) the hunting and gathering, or Marginal; (2) the Tropical Forest; (3) the CircumCaribbean and Sub- Andean and (4) the Andean. The Marginal tribes had a sociopolitical structure, which lacked classes and was based essentially on kinship ties, and a material culture, which
:
;
lacked certain key technologies found
among
the other three groups.
They
carried on no farming and,
if
ceramics, basketry, and weaving were
present, their pots
were crude,
their baskets
twined or coiled, and their
fabrics twined or netted.
The
other three groups had farming, ceramics,
twilled basketry,
in the variety
and loom weaving, and they differed from one another

esthetic patterning of their products rather than in the
and
essential processes.
In addition, the Circum-Caribbean and
Andean peoples resembled each
other and differed from those of the Tropical Forest in their sociopolitical
and religious patterns. Highly productive farming in the Andes and around the Caribbean Sea made possible a dense population and large villages which formed the basis of a class-structured society with chiefs, nobles, commoners, and slaves. In parts of Guiana and among the coastal and river Tupi, where resources of the sea and rivers supplemented farming, and in certain tribes of the Mojos-Chiquitos area of eastern
Bolivia,
tendency
to
similar
class-structured
society
is
evident.
Characteristically, however, the Tropical Forest peoples, like the Marginal

tribes,
had small
villages
and an unstratified
society, each
community con-
an extended lineage or being organized on other kinship lines. The Andean and Circum-Caribbean tribes also had a developed templesisting of
priest-idol cult,
whereas Tropical Forest
religion,
more
like that of the
Marginal peoples, centered around shamanistic practices, with only a few
group ceremonies conducted by the shaman. The Circum-Caribbean tribes differed from the
civilized peoples of the
Andes and Mexico

gious patterns.
in the elaboration of the basic sociopolitical
and
reli-
Among
the latter, social classes were
more complicated,
In the Circum-
more
fixed by heredity, and
more strongly endogamous.
Vol, 4]
Caribbean area status was somewhat mobile and, though hereditary rank was not absent, status often could be attained through warfare. The
had achieved political states, with rulers of dominions and even empires, and their warfare was directed toward conquest and tribute. The Circum-Caribbean tribes had only incipient states, and warcivilized peoples
fare furthered personal ambition rather than political ends.
Its
purpose
was cannibalism, display of human trophies, capture of female slaves, and, in some cases, taking of sacrificial victims. In religion, Mexico and the Andes had succeeded in separating shamanism from temple worship, and they had a special class of priests dedicated to community worship in temples. The Circum-Caribbean peoples also had temples, but their shamans performed not only as priests but also as medicine men. In their material arts the civilized peoples of Mexico and Peru excelled mainly in the elaboration of the processes which they shared with the Circum-Caribbean tribes. The greater variety of crops and better methods of cultivation made their farming more productive. Their pottery was better made and esthetically far superior, especially in painted decoration their weaving involved many special techniques; and their handling of
stones,
whether in construction or in sculpture, outranked that

peoples.
of the
Circum-Caribbean
had metallurgy, which became part of the Circum-Caribbean culture, and domesticated animals, which did not. The Circum-Caribbean cultures are distinguished from
also
The Andes
the civilized peoples not only by their lack of the latter's elaborations
but also by their possession of certain material items probably derived
from the Tropical Forest. Other embellishments that distinguish the civilized peoples from those of the Circum-Caribbean are certain intellectual accomplishments, such as quipus and scales in Peru and writing and astronomy in Mexico. Some Andean elaborations reached all the Circum-Caribbean peoples, and
others reached those of Colombia and Venezuela,
who
are called sub-
Andean
Antilles.
to distinguish
Certain
them from the peoples Mexican elaborations
of Central
America and the

reached
Central
similarly
America.
The
classification of
has developmental implications.

spread of the traits
ecological adaptations of
South American cultures into four general types Hypotheses concerning the origin and and complexes, however, must take into account the
human
societies
through exploitative techniques
to a variety of natural environments.
That the Andean and Mexican
civilizations differ
from the Circum-
Caribbean culture more in elaboration than in essential form or content
grew out of something generally similar to it and that own emphasis. It must be postulated, therefore, that a Formative Period culture once extended from Mexico to the Andes, and perhaps farther. This culture appears to have been an essentially High-
means
that they
each acquired
its

it
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
land one, though in certain localities

particularly material ones, that
cal rain forests.
proba,bly incorporated elements,

to the tropi-
were more especially adapted
To
judge from the Circum-Caribbean culture, the Formative Period

:
There were fairly large and permanent communities that rested upon adequate subsistence, principally farming. Society was characteristically class-structured and there may have been incipient states, though the Circum-Caribbean level
,
culture had the following general characteristics
of organization
would suggest that warfare was directed more toward
trophy taking (mainly head and bone trophies) and cannibalism, both
being means of gaining social prestige, than toward conquest and tribute,
features that go with a class system that
is
fixed by heredity.
That
chief-
tainship
was well developed
is
implied in the complex early burial types

;
found archeologically in many regions

priest complex, but the
elaborate burial for the chief
is
feature of the Circum-Caribbean culture.
In religion there was a templepriestly functions.
shaman probably performed the

represented by idols.
The gods may have been

American
ones, that place
very wide inter-
were celestial and animal spirits were important, that human sacrifice may have been practiced, and that offertories and shrines were used. A fairly adequate subsistence based particularly on maize farming in the Formative Period is implied not only by the known antiquity and wide distribution of maize but by the evident size and stability of many early archeological sites. Agriculture was becoming man's task, and hunting and fishing were diminishing in relative importance. The latter, however, were practiced locally, and, to judge by their wide distribution
distribution suggests that the principal deities
in the hemisphere,
devices available for hunting included traps, nets,
snares, deadfalls, pitfalls, spears,
cluded drugs, hooks, and nets.
and spear throwers, and for fishing inHunting and fishing, however, affected
of
the general patterning of these cultures only insofar as local abundance

of certain species
augmented or took the place
farming as the basis for
a dense population and stable communities.
graves,
There is archeological evidence that construction of mounds, ela.borate and possibly of temples and roads were carried on in the Formative Period. Such features in turn presuppose fairly organized, stable
Inter-American
distributions,
populations.
both
archeological
and
ethnological,
show
that the essential technologies of the Formative Period included
ceramics, especially with plastic and incised treatment, loom weaving,
domesticated cotton, netting, stone metates, stone grinding and polishing,
and
coiled basketry.
On
the basis also of archeological and ethnological distributions other
material items available to the Formative Period culture, though not

necessarily part of
it
in all localities,
were
breechclouts, aprons or wrap-
Vol. 4]
skirts, cloaks and mantles, sandals, ear and nose ornaments, neckhead deformation, body paint, tattoo, featherwork, mirrors, stone axes, wooden and stone-head clubs, panpipes, single-head skin drums,
laces,
flutes,
around
and
the
rattles.
As
New World
civilizations
developed from the Formative Period

;
culture,
each acquired specialized features and styles
readily distinguishable
from the Andes, and subareas

It
is
of each
Mexico became became dis-
tinguishable from one another.
at present difficult to ascertain to
what extend
emphasized
localities
localities differed in the

stylistic
occurrence of the essential Formative
Period features and in the

style
handling of them.
Archeology has so
differences that
as a
criterion
of prehistoric cultural
may
well appear
much more
unlike than they really were.
socioreligious patterns,
Ti also
culture corresponds to the postulated Formative
Period culture in the presence of the essential ecological adaptations, the has special
traits
and the technologies and traits of material culture. and specialized handling of traits that are peculiar
to the
material items that are

forest
Mexican and Andean civilizations. In addition, it has several more particularly associated with a tropical rain environment. The following chart shows the interareal linkage of
traits
Circum-Caribbean
also, differences.
with Mexico, the Andes, and the Tropical Forest
Linkages of Elements in the Circum-Caribbean Area

Cull lire
'
10
Linkages of
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Vol. 4]

traits
The many
in sites
assumed
to
perishable materials, and, though
have come from the Tropical Forest involve some of them might have been preserved
light
on the arid coast of Peru, archeology elsewhere can throw no on their antiquity or origin. It is likely that those that require forest materials, are adapted to a hot climate, and have an ethnographic distribution predominantly in the rain forest areas came from such regions. For some items, however, such an origin must be accepted with caution. The blowgun, for example, now has a Tropical Forest distribution, but it also has been found archeologically in the Early Periods of Peru.
The
general
inference of these considerations
is
that the
Circum-
Caribbean developed out of an early culture with characteristics that are

thought of as Andean.
Its
class-structured
society
may
represent a
response to intensive farming and a fairly dense population coupled
with pressures of warfare rather than a specific complex derived from
some
single center of origin.
Many
of its special elaborations,
however,
both in element content and in stylistic handling, are derived from the
Andean and Mexican

that
its
civilizations, especially the former.
It
even appears
greater at
its
specific
resemblances to the Andes
may have been
some
early prehistoric period
than at the Conquest.
Meanwhile,
and semitropical regions made it receptive to many which the Tropical Forest added at some undatable period. material items
distribution in tropical
DISTRIBUTION OF THE CIRCUM-CARIBBEAN CULTURE

culture
is
found
in areas that are largely high-
land but that have neither the great altitude nor the continuous mountain
masses of the Andes or the Plateau of Mexico.
To
a great extent, the
environment
is
tropical or subtropical.
The
portions of Colombia where the
Andean
Cordillera breaks
down
into a series of smaller
mountain blocks with comparatively low

less coincidental
valleys
between them are more or
with the distribution of Sub-
Andean
cultures.
The
tribes
of
the
Southern Colombian Highland
(Handbook, vol. 2, p. 911) really belong to this class. To the north of them tribes of the upper Cauca River were essentially Sub-Andean, though The peoples of the Cordillera lacking a few characteristic features. Central between the Cauca and Magdalena Rivers and of the Cordillera Occidental west of the Cauca also belong in this group. Farther west, the Choco of the Pacific Coast lowlands are definitely Tropical Forest in culture. The North Colombia lowlands on the Atlantic coast are SubAndean, and a very similar culture continues through Panama, Costa
Rica, Nicaragua, and
Honduras
to the
Maya
frontier in northwestern
Honduras. The greater part of Central America is mountainous, but there are no great continuous mountain masses. It is possible that some less-developed peoples had survived in certain parts of Central America, I or example, the Sumo, Jicaque, and Pay a of the East Coast Lowlands
X2

Conquest Period culture
off
is
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
of Nicaragua, but the
not sufficiently well
known to clarify this point. Where the Cordillera Oriental branches

in
from the Cordillera Central

is
southern Colombia, the Sub-Andean culture continues north through
the Pijao and
Panche
to the ChibcJia
(Muisca), whose culture
Andean
primarily in having achieved political states (Handbook, vol. 2, p. 887),
and
its
distribution continues to the north of the Chibcha
Maracaibo.
toward Lake Approaching Venezuela the mountain chain forks again southp.
west of Lake Maracaibo, and, as Kirchhoff points out in "The Northeastern
Extension of Andean Culture" (this volume,

of
349), one branch runs west
Lake Maracaibo to the Sierra de Peri j a and onward toward the Sierra de Santa Marta, and the other runs northeast skirting Lake Maracaibo on its southeast side and becoming the Cordillera de los Andes in Venezuela. The tribes of the Cordillera Oriental north of the Muisca (Chibcha) are little known except for a few data on the Lache, who adjoined the Muisca on the north, and on the Chitarera, somewhat farther north. These peoples were definitely Sub-Andean or Circum-Caribbean in their general culture elements and patterns. East of the Andes, the Betoi, Achagua, and other tribes of eastern Colombia are Tropical Forest. The group of tribes extending northward to the Sierra de Santa Marta and the Goajira Peninsula, west of Maracaibo, seem to have lacked most of the essential features and should probably be considered Tropical Forest peoples. The Timotean peoples of the Venezuela Andes, however, were definitely Sub-Andean, and, despite breaks in its continuity, marked even by hunting and gathering tribes of northern Venezuela, the CircumCaribbean culture is somewhat resumed among the Carib tribes who were
spread along the north coast of Venezuela to the Delta of the Orinoco.
break is again encountered in the Lesser Antilles, which had been invaded by the Carib, probably in the last century before the Conquest, but the Circum-Caribbean culture is found again among the Araivak of the Greater Antilles, and it extended as far as Cuba and Haiti, where the primitive hunting and gathering Ciboney still survived.
general hypothesis
is
offered to explain this distribution.
In the
first place, it is
probable that the fundamentals of this culture were spread
from a single source.

embellished
litters
The occurrence of such specific items as goldamong the Antillean Arawak as well as in the Andes
art motifs in
and
of definitely
Colombian
Central America cannot be

intertribal contact so
explained by independent invention.

strong that
it
They imply
must have
facilitated the diffusion of
many
other
traits.
At
the
same time, the
social
and
political patterns required
a basis of
permanent villages. H diffusion from a single source is postulated, therefore, it must have involved the essential technologies and subsistence as well as the sociopolitical and religious features.
intensive farming that supported large
of the Circum-Caribbean culture
Vol. 4]
13
Theories of the origins of American civilizations have always tended

to
push the ultimate origin

basis of
to the area that
is
least
known
scientifically.
Mexican culture was sought first in Mexico and then in the Andes, and when developmental stages were not found in Peru, ultimate origins were again pushed to the least-known areas, the jungles east of the Andes. That many individual Highland traits were ultimately derived from the jungle is quite probable. That the essential sociopolitical patterns and esthetic elaborations of the basic technologies came from an area that still can support only slash-and-burn farming and small communities organized on a simple kinship or unstratified basis
improbable.
is
The
highly
The
alternative hypothesis
is
that
the patterns characteristic of the
Circum-Caribbean cultures were Higliland-derived and that at one time they formed a substratum which extended from the Andes to the Mexican Highlands. This substratum probably included the elements listed for
Out of it grew the Mexican culture, which emphasized the temple cult and war achievements, and the Peruvian civilization, which elaborated sociopolitical structure and material arts.
the Formative Period culture.
corollary hypothesis
is
that at a fairly early period, perhaps
culture
was
less
environmentally specialized than later or

it
when the when it had

it
greater vigor and adaptability,
thrust widely into regions
where
later
ceased to exist sometime before the Conquest,
It failed particularly in
savanna and tropical rain forest areas.
This hypothesis not only helps
explain such breaks in the distribution of high cultures as that between

the Central Andes and the Chibcha of Colombia or that between South America and Mexico, but it accounts for gaps in the occurrence of thtCircum-Caribbean culture, such as those west of Lake Alaracaibo, in northern Venezuela, and between the north coast of Venezuela and the Antillean Arawak, and it also explains certain archeological remains. In the llanos of eastern subtropical Bolivia are mounds and causeways that antedate the historic people. In the same area the social classes and the temple-priest complex found among the Mojos-Chiquitos tribes and even as far east as the Xaray on the upper Paraguay River (Handbook, vol. 3) may represent survivals of an early Sub-Andean complex. Stirling (personal communication) reports large mounds on the lower ]\laran6n River of eastern Peru where only primitive tribes were found in the historic period.
In Colombia, east of the Cordillera Oriental, are ancient
stone structures, and great causeways are found in the llanos of eastern
Colombia nearly to the Orinoco River. Ethnologically, the occurrence of mummification among the Piaroa, east of the upper Orinoco, and idols among the Saliva suggests earlier Highland influence. Stone- faced terraces
and stairways
of large monolithic stones in the Sierra de Santa
Marta, neither built by the historic Cdgaba, are evidence of a thrust northward, west of Lake Maracaibo. If the stone structures of the Tai653334
48
14
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
rona area along the coast north of the Sierra de Santa Marta can be
attributed to the Tairona themselves, they
in strength of the earlier culture.
may
represent a local survival
In the southern Colombia Highlands,
and architecture of San Agustin is apparentand surpasses anything attributable to the peoples found at the Conquest. The general style and the alter-ego motif of this sculpture is found viîdely on stone statues in Central America north to Nicaragua. These threads of evidence are at present very tenuous and await
ly fairly old,
the elaborate stone sculpture
archeological verification in the rain-forest areas.

to maintain that all these thrusts
It is
purely speculative
the other hand,
were contemporary.
On
would seem to be some causal connection between the thrusts of a Highland culture into the lowlands or forests at many different places and their consistent failure. If cultures of an Andean or Sub-Andean type were carried by actual movements of peoples into sparsely populated lowlands or tropical forests, they would at first find little opposition. The culture, however, seems to depend upon dense populations clustered in
there
This is difficult to maintain in tropical rain forests, where slash-and-bum farming is carried on, and it is perhaps significant that the Maya, who were unique in maintaining a high civilization outside a Highland area, had settlements dispersed around religious centers. As the lowland became more densely settled owing to better farming, intensified warfare would not only be a factor requiring more highly nucleated settlements but it would add to the precariousness of their tenure. Present data, therefore, could be interpreted to mean that the CircumCaribbean culture originated from an early Sub-Andean stratum that may have been carried in part by migrations of peoples into thinly populated areas. Population pressure and the necessity of adapting to nonHighland environments eliminated some of the more typical Andean traits, but the basic patterns and many specific elements survived in simlarge stable villages.
pler but unmistakable form.
In historical terms, this hypothesis

gested
that the
may
be extended to account for the
origin of the Tropical Forest culture.
In
Volume 3
it
has been sug-
Tropical Forest complex has the
technologies which
and that these technologies appear to have spread down the Guiana coast and by water up the Amazon, The Circum-Caribbean cultures near the mouth of the Orinoco
characterize the Circum-Caribbean peoples
would supply a source for these
traits; indeed,
archeology of the lower

is
Amazon
yields
pottery that in
many
respects
surprisingly like the
Circum-Caribbean,
land cultures there
at
This thesis suggests that subsequent to the early expansion of the Highmay have been some deculturation which was checked The Circum-Caribbean culture retained a Circum-Caribbean level.
the general form of the Highland culture,
and even added material items
from the Tropical Forest, but
it
was not
able to maintain the sociopolitical,
Vol. 4]
THE CIROUM-CARIBBBAN TRIBES STEWARD

and material elaborations
of the civilized peoples.
15
religious,
The Con-
quest initiated another period of drastic deculturation which eliminated

all
but the bare technological processes, and, though the cultures
may
still
be regarded as essentially aboriginal, the modern peoples resemble those

of the Tropical Forests rather than their
own
ancestors.
Loss of lands,
to
wars of the Conquest, and European diseases contributed

fied the cultures.
a reduction
of the population, and influence from both Spaniards and Negroes modi-
In a more fundamental sense, however,
it
that the class-structured society, the temple-idol complex,

for slaves
would seem and the wars
and for victims for
sacrificial rites
and human trophies formed

practices.
strongly interrelated patterns which were destroyed by European religion
and by laws which prohibited many

also perished.
of the
key
With
the loss
of these patterns, the artistic refinements that
What was
left
were expressions of them was simple technologies farming^ in un-
favorable areas, weaving plain cloth, manufacture of unadorned ceramics,
canoe making, and the like

chiefs,
and
unstratified social groups with
weak
with warfare reduced to mere defensive fighting, and with religion

idols.
reduced to shamanistic practices without temples or

culture stepped
In short, the
down
to the Trooical Forest level.
THE SUB-ANDEAN TRIBES OF WESTERN COLOMBIA

The
peoples described in Hernandez de Alba's articles in this volume
on the "Tribes of the North Colombia Lowlands," "Tribes East of the
Cauca River," "Tribes of the Cauca-Atrato Region," and "Tribes of the Upper Cauca River" conform to the general Circum-Caribbean pattern, but were Sub- Andean in the possession of certain specific Andean items,
such as liana bridges,
salt
working, copper smelting and alloying with
gold, construction of roads

chief to his sister,
and
hilltop forts,
war banners, marriage
of a
Caribbean Sea.
Period
tribes.
and other features not found elsewhere around the Archeology reveals traits not reported for the Conquest
of these traits, such as the carved stone statues of
Some
San Agustin and Tierradentro, evidently belong exclusively to a very early period. Other archeological traits, such as shaft-and-chamber burials, stone-cist burials, and negative-painted and monochrome-incised
ceramics, have specific stylistic resemblances to Early Period remains of the North Highlands of Peru, but in generalized form they
may
well have
survived to the Conquest
among some Colombian
tribes.
Although the great ethnographic diversity in Western Colombia undoubtedly reflects to some degree the fragmentary information of our sources, archeology suggests a comparable local difference, and there
seems little doubt that Colombia's extreme local geographic diversity has êen an important factor in splitting the area into cultural provinces.
16

SOCIAL
[R.A.E. Bull. 143
Western Colombia, except the Choco, a Tropical Forest were sedentary, intensive farmers who lived in large planned and probably palisaded villages. The village, and in some instances the tribe or dominion, was controlled by a chief of exalted status and great power. Under the chief were nobles, commoners, and slaves. Among the Carrapa, Picara, and Paiicura, the chief married his sister, a system which the Inca used to preserve the purity of the emperor's divine descent. The
All tribes of
people,
chiefs
seem usually
is
to
have been succeeded by their sons, but a matrilineal

the chief's
his special
tendency
daughter.
evident in the frequent marriage of a chief to his sister's
high position are his very large

insignia
The Fincenu even had female chiefs. Evidences of number of wives and retainers,
and ornaments, the gold-adorned litter in which he was carried, and etiquette accorded him, and the burial of a number of his wives and retainers with him. Development of states through federation or imperialism, though less advanced than among the Chibcha, is recognizable among the Quimbaya, Tohi, Cenu, and Mompox of the North Colombia Lowlands, the Lile of the upper Cauca River, and the Ancerma, Catio, and other tribes of the Cauca-Atrato region. In severaJ cases, the chief received tribute from federated or subjugated tribes. Subchiefs and nobles evidently comprised a distinct and somewhat endogamous class, and below them were the commoners and finally the slaves. Warfare was essential to this class system, for cannibalism and the display of human trophies were means of gaining prestige, and captives constituted a slave group. The extent to which the upper strata were really warrior classes is not clear, but the existence of regular armies and the frequent reports of female warriors, who acquired military fame no less than the men, show the great importance of warfare. Human trophies consisted of flayed skins and even arms and legs stufifed with ashes (Lile, Gorron, Ancerma, and some tribes east of the Cauca) and skulls that were either painted (Ancerma) or had their features restored with modeled wax. These trophies were displayed on poles. Cannibalism is reported among all tribes except possibly those of the North Colombia Lowlands. East of the Cauca River, prisoners were fattened before they were killed and eaten, and in the Cauca-Atrato region, the Caramanta ate not only captives they had taken but slaves bought from other tribes for the sole purpose of eating them. East of the Cauca River and in the Cauca-Atrato region, captives were also used as sacrificial victims in
the special obeisance
religious rites.
Temples and idols probably occurred everywhere except on the upper Cauca River. In the North Colombia Lowlands, the "great temple" of the Fincenu accommodated 1,000 people, and in the Cauca-Atrato region, the Ancerma temple was on a large hill ascended by bamboo stairs. In both cases, the temple was entered only by priests and chiefs. Idols of
Vol. 4]

wood were kept
in these sanctuaries, but
17
painted or gold-sheathed
among
such as the Caramanta, Poso, and Anna, who built no temples, people kept idols in their own dwellings (as among the Antillean
tribes,
some
Arawak) and made
offerings to them on special altars. There seems to have been no special priesthood. On the upper Cauca and among the Evcgico, shamans communicated with the deities, who were not represented by idols. "Priests" are mentioned among the An-
cernm, but
the case
it
is
possible that they
among
the
were shamans, as seems to have been North Colombia Lowland tribes. In any case they
served as oracles and
made
offerings to the idols.
The nature
idols,
of the deities and the purposes of the temple or idol worship
seems to have varied considerably.

including the jaguar.
to the Sun.
The Finceiiti apparently had animal The Carrapa lacked idols but made offerings
deity,
ihe sun
and
The Ancerma principal uiooii. The Nittibara
Xixarama, was the parent
of
god, Guaca, was represented as a
jaguar, and the Catio had celestial deities.

sacrifice is recorded for the Pozo, Arma, Quinibaya. Picara, and Caramanta, but its nature and purpose are seldom revealed. The ArmL and Quinibaya performed the rite on a special platform. The Caramanta cut out the victim's heart to control the weather, and the Po::o
Human
Paiicura,
made sacrifices before going to war. The shaman served as doctor as well
as priest.
In the North Colombia
Lowlands, he seems to have treated patients

of the gods, using tobacco for purification.
in the
temple with the help
The Ancerma shaman masair.
saged and sucked his patient and blew the sickness into the
MATERIAL CULTURE
Western Colombia had the
ial
essential
Circum-Caribbean
(
traits of
mater;
culture:
pole-and-thatched houses, often on piles
Cauca- Atrato )
;
planned, compact, palisaded villages;
wooden
stools
(upper Cauca)
;
stone
metates;
hammocks (North Colombia Lowlands, Quimbaya)

;
platform
beds (Ancerma)
containers
textiles
;
;
dugout canoes; gold mining and goldworking; calabash

;
pottery, often with negative-painted designs
woven
cotton
;
breechclouts, aprons,
and cloaks or mantles

of gold
;
featherwork
ear
and nose ornaments, especially

baya)
litter;
;
skull deformation (Pozo,
Quim-
matting; probably basketry but techniques not known; the chief's spear and spear thrower (east of Cauca, Cauca- Atrato, Province
;
of
Aburra) the bow and poisoned arrow (more northern: Province of Aburra, east of Cauca (?), North Colombia Lowlands); darts; slings (North Colombia Lowlands, east of Cauca, Province of Aburra) clubs,
;
;
drums shell trumpets coca and chicha. Specifically Andean traits found here but rarely encountered elsewhere around the Caribbean Sea are: manufacture and trade of salt; copper smelting and alloying with gold (upper Cauca and east of Cauca) and
harpoons
flutes
; ; ; ;
18

specialized metallurgical processes
;
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
many
road construction (Arma, Catio,

or
vine
Abibe,
Niifabe,
Urezo,
;
Aburra)
liana
suspension
bridges
;
(Aburra) rain gutters and storage vessels (Catio) gold pincers (Quimbaya) war banners (east of the Cauca) maces (Province of Aburra); balsa canoes (Cenu) markets; wrapped funeral bundles (Gorron) and a system of weights and measures.
aqueducts
; ; ; ;
The
Tropical Forests
traits that
may
be the origin of the following Western
had a limited distribution in the Circum-Caribbean area: cultivation of the pixiuva palm; bark cloth (Chanco, Arma) labrets (Poso, Arma) ligatures around the arms and legs; and the use of dfeadfall traps, boiling water, and pitfalls with sharp stakes in house
;
Colombian
defense (Antiochia).
Special features of
more
;
restricted distribution
fish
Colombia Lowlands)
fattening of
cf.
artificial
were: wells (North ponds (Gorron) the rearing and

;
;
young pecarries (Urabd, Yamici)

;
Antillean Araivak)
pottery ocarinas (east
mute dogs (?) (Aburra; and gold of the Cauca)

;
armor (?) (Arma).
The
only information about crisis rites concerns burial, the
more com-
which were reserved for chiefs. The Genu and Yapel of the North Colombia Lowlands and the Nore, Gauca, and probably the Catio and Guazusu of the Cauca-Atrato region buried a chief in a moundenclosed vault but gave commoners ordinary earth burial. The Ancerma and Caramunta of the Cauca-Atrato region and the tribes east of the Cauca and of the upper Cauca buried chiefs in a deep pit. The Ancerma first desiccated the body, but the Quimbaya cremated it and buried the
plicated forms of
ashes.
It is
not certain whether these pits correspond to the shaft-and-
chamber
burials
found archeologically
in the
Quimbaya, upper Cauca,
Tierradentro, and Narifio zones.
Many
of the latter
may
belong to a
very early period.
THE NORTHEASTERN SUB-ANDEAN TRIBES

The Highland tribes in the Cordillera Oriental north of the Chibcha and in the Andes which stretch toward the coast on both sides of Lake Maracaibo not only seem to represent a marked break-down of SubAndean
culture but
fail
to supply
many
essential links with the north
coast of Venezuela to the east
and with the Antillean Arawak.
One
has
the feeling that the data are too fragmentary to give a coherent picture.
It is possible, of course, that tribal movements, for example, of the Cariban Motilones and their neighbors, may have broken the continuity. Even the Timote of the Venezuelan Andes, who have the strongest SubAndean complex, do not wholly fill the bill, for they seemingly lacked such an essential trait as metallurgy. Archeology has not yet corrected the difficulty, for metallurgy has not been found in Venezuela. Arche-
Vol. 4]

Andean
19
ology does, however, provide evidence of
influence in the stone
terraces and rock-Hned tombs of the Andes south of Lake Maracaibo and in the mounds and causeways in the llanos of Colombia west of the
Orinoco River. It also suggests that the culture of the northeast coast of Venezuela was formerly more like that of the Orinoco and West Indies.
THE CORDILLERA ORIENTAL AND VENEZUELAN ANDES

The Lache and
Thnote
of the
Chitarera, immediately north of the Chihcha, and the

to
Venezuelan Andes seem
have had the most complete
Sub-Andean
culture.
Some
more
of
the tribes between them, such as the
Zorca, were perhaps
typically Tropical Forest.
These number of fruits. The Timoteans had permanent, often terraced Large, fields, and used water-storage tanks and irrigation ditches. villages were also characterplanned, permanent, and perhaps palisaded istic of the Timoteans, Corbago, and Lache; one Lache town had 800 Chitarera and Zorca villages, however, were small. The stone houses.
able
tribes cultivated the essential food plants, including a consider-
large communities
chieftainship
would seem to have afforded a basis for developed and a class structure on the Circum-Caribbean pattern. The only evidence of this is a reference to noblemen and the statement There is no reference that some Ti mot can chiefs ruled whole valleys.
to
special
burial
for
chiefs,
or to
litters.
Evidence of a temple
cult
comes from the Ladie, who built a "House of the Sun," like the Chihcha temple, and from the Tint'Oteans, who had a temple in the center of These latter temples held idols made of pottery, wood, every town. stone, or cotton thread, and they were entered only by the priests, who made offerings of manufactured objects, foods, beads, and deer parts More specifically Andean was the Timotean belief in gods to the gods. of mountain peaks and lakes, and their rituals performed on mountaintops and in caves. But human sacrifice was missing. Virtually nothing is known of the war complex, though warfare seems There is evidence of somewhat regito have been of some importance.
mented military operations
oners
in the Cordillera Oriental
and of taking
pris-
among
the Timoteans.
Cannibalism
is
not mentioned, and the
straw-stuffed
human
dead.
heads, arms, and legs found
though suggesting the war trophies of Western Colombia,

the tribe's
among the Corbago, may have been
own
These Sub-Andean tribes lacked metallurgy but had some of the other loom-woven textiles of cultiessential Circum-Caribbean material traits vated cotton; ceramics; cotton tunics and mantles (Timote women
:
pinned theirs at the
left
shoulder with a
of
wooden or gold pin)
necklaces
and breastplates, especially
bone; liana suspension bridges; clubs; spears; apparently either the bow and unpoisoned arrow (the Chinato
20
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
poisoned theirs) or else the spear thrower, but not both; shields; shell
trumpets; drums; rattles; chicha
coca; tobacco taken in jelly like form;
and metates.
Hammocks
are not mentioned.
TRIBES WEST OF LAKE MARACAIBO In the area west of Lake Maracaibo there seems to have been great
local cultural variation.
Traces of Sub-Andean culture are not wanting,

Cdgaba, and
but most
Goajiro.
information comes from the modern Chake,
These
tribes are definitely not
nearly to the Tropical Forest patterns,
Sub-Andean and conform more but the Chake and Cdgaba may
have changed during the historic period.

in the
Some
use of stone construction
Tairona area suggests a limited survival of Sub-Andean culture.

cultivate
The modern Chake

their fields are not
a considerable number of plants, but
permanent.
As
a corollary, their villages are small
and
of
their society unstratified.

;
Their religion evidently lacks any trace

reported.
of the temple cult
a harvest festival with chicha drinking and castigation

is
one another with bow staves
In the Sierra de Santa
Marta, archeology suggests the earlier presence of more advanced agriculture, but the
elementary irrigation.
strata
modern people make only rough stone terraces and practice Modern Cdgaba villages are small and lack social and chiefs. They are governed by priests, who wear spirit masks
in the village temple,
and conduct seasonal ceremonies

various spirits and
which also serves

so
as the men's house, but there are no idols.
Supernatural beings include
human
They
is
ancestors.
The Goajiro have been

little
com-
pletely modified by their early adoption of cattle that

inal culture remains.
trace of aborig-
are intensive nomadic herders, with farming

cattle,
secondary.
Wealth, represented by
gives social status, but the

far as
is known, the Goajiro had no trace of a temple cult, and their religion is limited to beliefs in a culture hero, bush spirits, and a god or gods of thunder, lightning, and They have shamans who function solely as medicine men, drought.
basic social structure
matrilineal sibs.
So
performing with the aid of a spirit-helper. The Goajiro had some warfare, and possibly slaves were taken, but cannibalism, human sacrifice,
and human trophies are not recorded from any of these

used in disposing of deceased
later
chiefs.
tribes.
Burial customs give no hint of the elaborate Circum-Caribbean methods
The Chake expose
the
body and
bundle up the bones and place them in a cave, perhaps a reflection of Andean procedures. The Cdgaba and Goajiro practice primary earth
burial,
and the Goajiro rebury

is
in
an urn.
done on the true loom by the Chake, Cdgaba, and Goajiro, the first two with agave fibers and domesticated cotton, the Goajiro with wild cotton. The Cdgaba, Chake, Arhuaco, and Goajiro also make netted
carrying bags.
Weaving
The Chake make a
variety of twilled
and woven baskets,
Vol. 4]
21
but the Cdgaba
make only a few mats and boxes, the Goajiro no baskets. Crude pottery is made throughout the area. Metallurgy is not reported. Other elements present are: bows and arrows (unfeathered among the Chake; poisoned with animal-derived ingredients, Goajiro); fish drugs (Chake) fish nets (Cdgaba) babracot (Chake) and metate (Chake, Cdgaba). The pre-Columbian presence of dogs is doubtful. The Chake The platform bed is absent, but the are un-Andean in shunning salt. Cdgaba and Goajiro use the hammock, and the Cdgaba have wooden
;
;
worn by gowns are Andean traits, and so are Coanoa nose and ear ornaments made sometimes of The Chake and Cdgaba Goajiro men wear breechclouts. trade gold. not ascribed any of these tribes. The use carrying baskets; canoes are Cdgaba make complicated log bridges. Coca, chicha, tobacco, drums, hollow-log drums (Goajiro), flutes, trumpets, and rattles are found.
stools.
The long
cotton tunics of the Chake, the cotton blankets
Goajiro
women and by
the Coanoa, and the Cdgaba
TRIBES OF
NORTHWESTERN VENEZUELA
The tribes of the northwestern portion of Venezuela between Lake Maracaibo and Cabo Codera (p. 469) seem to have formed a somewhat tenuous link in the Circum-Caribbean culture between the Timotcans and the tribes north of the Orinoco River. In religion and political organization the
blances to the
Arawakan Jirajara and Caquetio have Arawakan Taino of the Antilles.

unit
certain specific resem-
was the village, which had its own chief, but the war chief and the Caquetio had a tribal chief of general power and prestige. The Caquetio chief was accredited with supernatural power to control natural phenomena and plant growth, he was carried in a hammock, and he received special treatment at death. Under
The
political
Jirajara had a tribal
the chief
class.
At
were nobles, warriors, and rich men, each forming a special death, leading men were burned and their ashes drunk, but the
head
a
chief's body was desiccated, placed in his house in his hammock with wooden image below him, and later cremated and his ashes drunk.
These
tribes
in sociopolitical
were extremely warlike, but the functional life is not known.
role of
warfare
There was some kind of community temple (adoratorio) where offerings were made by shamans to the sun and moon and where shamans practiced divination with tobacco ash and communed with spirits while taking tobacco and a narcotic herb. Each house was also a place of worship in that it had its own idols. Human sacrifice was practiced young
:
girls rain.
were beheaded and
their blood offered to the sun in order to obtain
Shamans not only served
as priests but they also cured illness
]by
sucking out the disease-causing object. Agriculture was best developed among the Caquetio and Jirajara.
Barquisimeto, irrigation was carried on.
Salt
Near was manufactured and
;; ;
22
traded.

Items of material culture reported include
;
:
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
pile dwellings
clubs
bows and arrows (poisoned among the Jirajara) fish drugs; hammocks; women's front apron, skirt {Jirajara), or a string passed between the legs men's calabash penis cover or string to tie up the penis body paint
; ;
dugout canoes carrying bags ceramics; woven cotton bags, garments, and hammocks (the weaving technique unknown); trumpets; tobacco; masato, which may have been
chief's feather, gold,
;
;
and pearl ornaments
fermented,
i.e.,
chicha; and a
maguey
drink, perhaps similar to pulque.
TRIBES OF NORTHERN VENEZUELA

Connections between the Andes and the Antilles, though somewhat
broken
in the Cordillera Oriental and the Cordillera de Merida, are partly resumed among some of the Cariban tribes of the area between the Orinoco River and the north coast of Venezuela (p. 481). The linkage, however, is mainly in material and social features the temple cult is
;
lacking.
As
archeology suggests that resemblances of this area and the

at
Antilles
were somewhat greater
an
earlier period, the historic inhabitants
may
not have transmitted the Circum-Caribbean culture to the Antilles

it
possibly they merely acquired
by contact with those who did transmit
them.
SOCIAL
Intense farming
is

list
indicated not only by a considerable
of plants,
including bitter manioc and rows of fruit trees, but by irrigation (Cn-
managoto) and in some tribes the performance of the main labor by men. Villages were very large (as many as 200 houses among the Aruacay),
and surrounded by one to three palisades. {Piritu smaller, for they were abandoned at a death.) Social classes were well developed, with a powerful chief and frequently various subchiefs and there were some federations. The chief was carried in a gold-adorned litter, and on the Unare River he had a harem of 200 wives (attended by eunuchs, according to the chroniclers!). His decrees were promulgated from an artificial mound, and he had power of life and death over his subjects. Often these chiefs had magical power and were also shamans. The Caracas had graded military classes with distinctive insignia. Traces of Sub-Andean death practices are found here, though it is not clear whether they were restricted to chiefs: desiccation of nobles and hanging the body in the house (Chiribichi) roasting and burial, with subsequent reburial or cremation {Piritu) burial in a clay and log tomb with an image on top {Aruacay). The Cumand dried the body and drank the bone powder and fat. Little is known of commoners or slaves, except that the latter, who probably were war captives, were objects of trade. There was considerable warfare, carried on with The prinfairly well organized armies which included female warriors. cipal weapons were bows, arrows with animal-derived poison, spears,
carefully laid out,
villages
may have been

;
; ;
Vol. 4]

clubs,
23
shields,
and, on Trinidad, spear throwers; these were kept in
The Cumanagoto, Marcapana, and Palenque were cannibalistic, and the Piritii drank powdered enemy hearts in chicha. The only record of human trophies is Piritu flutes of human bone. Human sacrifice is not
arsenals.
reported.
cult. The sun and moon were supreme Ceremonies had some connection with deer and fish, and offerings of first fruits and of various valuable objects were made to the
Religion lacked the temple
beings.
earth and ocean.
The Palenque had hunting and

great
fishing magic.
The
shaman,
who had
power and
social prestige
and frequently was
also the chief,
came nearest
to performing priestly functions
when he
served as oracle, communicating with spirits in caves so as to learn the

future.
He
cured sickness by sucking out or causing the patient to

evil
spirit.
vomit the disease-causing

"yopa," a narcotic
battle
snuflf,
Witchcraft and divination with
are reported.
The
Piritu used flagellation in
magic and the ant ordeal
in girls' puberty rites.
MATERIAL CULTURE
Material culture includes the following elements wild cotton; pottery; basketry;
excellently carved
salt
:
textiles of
woven
making; dugout canoes; hammocks;
wooden
stools; the calabash penis cover, penis thread,
or breechclout for
men
the apron, breechclout, or drawers for
women
head deformation; profuse ornaments of many materials including trade

gold and pearls (the Guaiqueri had pearl fishing)
turkey,
;
tattooing; domesticated
Muscovy duck, and

?)
;
bees; fish harpoons, nets, traps, and hooks;
bird snares and bird lime; the babracot; chicha; tobacco; hollow-log
drums (
flutes; shell
trumpets; and rattles (used by shamans).
THE ANTILLES
had swept the Antilles: first, the primitive hunting and gathering Ciboney coming probably from Florida second, the Arofwak, who were typically Circum-Caribbean and came from South America; third, the Carih, who were Tropical Forest rather than Circum-Caribbean, and also came from South America. At the Conquest the Ciboney occupied part of Cuba and Haiti. The Arawak held the remainder of the Greater Antilles, but they had been driven from
of cultural influence
Three waves
most of the Lesser Antilles by the Carih, probably

historic period.
in a very recent pre-
THE ARAWAK
SOCIAL
The Arawak
fishing,
lacked some of the
cultivated plants but nonetheless depended
and they tended
to live
more important Circum-Caribbean more upon farming than on away from the seacoast. Their villages,
24
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
which consisted of as many as 3,000 persons, were carefully planned, and each enclosed a ball court. Commoners occupied communal houses, but the chief, who had great prominence, lived in a special house of his own. In the hierarchy of chiefs, the head chief ruled a province, which
and a 80 villages, each with a headman. A chief had power of life and death, and he controlled civil, military, and religious He bore titles, was treated affairs, there being no separate priesthood. with special etiquette, and, to complete the parallel with Colombia, he was carried in a gold-decorated litter and upon his death he was either disemboweled, dessicated, and kept as an idol (zemi), or he was buried, accompanied by several of his wives. Ranking below the chief were the nobles who formed a council, the commoners, and the slaves. The society had matrilineal inheritance but lacked clans. It is probable that the slave class came from war captives, but the Arawak evidently departed from the Circum-Caribbean pattern in lacking cannibalism and human sacrifice. There was some warfare, however, and on St. Croix Island, female warriors are reported. Arawakan religion had the functional equivalent of the priest-templeidol complex, but the elements and organization were somewhat distinctive. Evidently combining the guardian spirit concept with fetish worship, there was a large number of idols called zemis. These were made of different materials, and they represented plant, animal, and human spirits,
into as
was divided
many
70
as 30 districts, each under a subchief,
district consisted of
to
often those seen. in dreams.
A common
type found archeologically

special purpose,
is
a three-cornered stone.
Each zemi served a
and every
person had one or more in his house.
The zemis were
offered food,
and people fasted and took emetics and snuff while invoking their help. Because the chief's zemis were the most powerful in a community, he conducted group celebrations in their honor. A more specific Circum-Caribbean trait is the public seance which
shamans held
in caves to
addition to zemis there
communicate with zemis and other spirits. In was belief in nature spirits and in human ghosts,
and the sun and
a cave.
which were feared.
Celestial deities are mentioned,
moon were connected

Shamans conformed
a patient.
with the myth of

to the
ritual
human emergence from
pattern in taking snuff and emetic
before singing, shaking a rattle, and sucking the cause of disease from
The dead were

the head
usually buried in the ground or placed in a cave, but

in
was always kept
a basket in the house.
Children sometimes
received urn burial.
MATERIAL CULTURE
The Arawak
most
if
material and technological culture seems to have included

the Circum-Caribbean elements.
not
all
With
the aid of irriga-
Vol. 4]
25
tion,
they grew potatoes, peanuts, beans, and arrowroot, but they evieither
dently
lacked
hard-kernel
maize or ate their maize before
it
matured.
This
may
bitter
explain
why
they used the mortar but not the metate.
They
tipiti,
also
had
but these traits
manioc and squeezed the poison out of it with the may have been acquired in the historic period.
characteristic dish.
The pepper pot was a
The Arawak hunted with
clubs,
and they used calabash masks for taking ducks. The absence of the bow, except among the Ciguayo (who used featherless arrows that were sometimes poisoned), and the presence
dogs, bird decoys, drives, and corrals,
of the spear
pense of the latter elsewhere
thrower suggest that the spread of the former at the exmay have been comparatively recent. In
nets, weirs, hooks, harpoons,
warfare, clubs and stones (on Trinidad, the sling) were also weapons.
Fishing devices included the usual items
and baskets. The domesticated parrot is of local interest, and the somewhat puzzling mute dog may be related to a similar animal ("perro mudo")
of the Abu^rrd of Colombia.
Other
typical
Circum- Caribbean
traits
found among the Island Arawak

for
are the woman's apron, frontal head deformation, ear and nose piercing,
the platform bed for chiefs
and hammocks
commoners, carved
stools
of both stone and wood, dugout canoes, carrying baskets, twilled basketry,
pottery with plastic forms and with one-, two-, and three-color positive
and negative designs, and wooden bowls. Metallurgy was restricted to gold, which was taken from placer mines and worked by hammering, but objects of gold-copper alloy were obtained by trade. The presence of true weaving is uncertain hammocks, bags, and aprons may have been netted of cotton. The rubber-ball game, cigars, hollow-log drums, gourd rattles, shell trumpets, chicha, and coca ( ?) are all Circum-Caribbean. but the use of emetics and of snuiif taken through a Y-tube is ex;
ceptional.
THE CARIB The

Island Carih were very similar to the
but their social and religious patterns were

Forests,
Arawak in material culture, more like those of the Tropical

of
and
their ferocity
and cruelty
in
warfare were very reminiscent
the Tupi.
They made
continual raids and took female captives as wives,
but tortured, killed, and ate male captives and

Socially they
made
trophies of their bones.
were extreme individualists and attached little importance to rank or to chieftainship. Prestige was acquired by achievement, and a boy's powers were tested in his puberty rites. Although captive wives were kept in a slave status and occasionally a slave was buried with his or her master, the children of captive women were freemen. Lacking
social classes, kinship relations
were of great importance, and the
village
tended to consist of an extended matrilineal family.
26

seen in offerings
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
A reflection of Arawakan religion is

spirits,
made
to guardian
which were not, however, represented by idols. The importance attached to the dead people is shown not only in the great fear of ghosts but also in the shaman's practice of keeping his ancestors' bones as a source of power and the belief that his ancestor's spirit assisted him in
obtaining a spirit helper.
held public seances.
Shamans cured by means

girls*
of sucking.
They
also
Ritual elements included fasting, scarifying
were present
of chicha.
in boys'
and
puberty
rites
and
both
use
feasts with
much
Among
mythological supernatural beings were an

astral beings, especially the
unnamed
power
in
Heaven, various
sun and moon, and
a culture hero from heaven.
The Carih
In material
usually practiced earth burial, but sometimes they cremated
a chief and drank his ashes with chicha.

traits the
Carib differed from the Arazvak in making great
use of bitter manioc, which they prepared with the manioc grater and the
wove cotton, and dugout canoes. Their weapons included bows and poisoned arrows, javelins, and clubs. The Carib lacked the ball game and had other athletic contests instead, but they used cigars, single-head skin drums, gourd rattles, conch-shell trumpets, and one-string
tipiti, in
their failure to use salt, in the certainty that they
in their expert navigation in large, planked,
gourd instruments.
CENTRAL AMERICA
DISTRIBUTION AND ANTIQUITY OF THE CIRCUM-CARIBBEAN CULTURE
In instances
when
early documents and the archeology of the protohis-
toric period give a reliable picture of the aboriginal peoples, the cultures
are so strikingly different from those of the

to recognize that the latter are
modern
tribes that
it is
difficult
descendants of the former.
In the absence
it
of
Conquest period data,
this drastic deculturation
makes
extremely
difficult to ascertain the native distribution of the
Circum- Caribbean culture. The Cuna who live between the Panama Canal and Colombia must once have had a Circum-Caribbean culture, for, though their modern sociopolitical organization is of a Tropical Forest type, archeological remains of the
late prehistoric
period and documents of the early post-Conquest period
traits. The tribes southwest of the Canal, who probably belonged to the Guaymi group, had a culture very similar to the aboriginal Cuna. The chroniclers describe these people as cultivating many large cleared areas where today there is jungle and as having a
supply
many
of the missing
stratified society.
The Talamanca
clans, boys'
Division
is
also undoubtedly classifiable as

traits,
Circum-
Caribbean, though they have a few
such as netted bags, bark cloth,

possible that in
puberty ceremonies, and communal houses, that are usually

is
associated with less-developed cultures. It
some instances
these features occurred in isolated, culturally retarded tribes, but on the
Vol. 4]
THE CmCUM-OARIBBEAN TRIBES STEWARD
27
whole they appear to have persisted in true Circum-Caribbean contexts. Archeology of the general Talamanca area, however, reveals unexpectedly developed features house and burial mounds, courtyards, and monoliths in the Pacific region and grouped burial and habitation mounds in the Highland. Associated with these are carved stone statues, many of them with
:
the alter-ego motif or other features linked with South America.

also archeological evidence of metallurgy in gold
There is and of three-legged or four-legged stone zoomorphic metates or stools. These archeological materials have not been interrelated sequentially, and none but a few ceramic
types have been identified with
modern
tribes.
is
Though animal-form
no certainty that they were not taken from old sites. At least one mound group appears to have been occupied at the Conquest. Perhaps it is assignable to the MesoAmerican tribes, for it does not fit the ethnographic picture of the Talamancan peoples. Many of the other mounds and stone carvings could
well antedate the historic tribes.
metates were used by the historic tribes, there
Lowlands of Nicaragua and Honshow the Circum-Caribbean complex in greatest strength among the Mosquito of the Eastern Coastal Plain and among the Sumo. This impression may merely reflect insufficient information about other tribes, though the Jicaque and Paya appear to have been on
the tribes of the Caribbean
duras, ethnological data
a distinctly lower level. the
Among
Archeology discloses definite Maya influence Ulua-Yojoa region, but this influence is not manifest in the culture
in
of
the Jicaque
coast of
who
occupied this region at the Conquest.
On
the northeast
Honduras and the Eastern Coastal Plain of Nicaragua the archeology has a non-Mexican character, and the monoliths and stone statues are of South American types. In Jicaque and Paya territory there are
a great
many
indications of a high culture, such as
mound
groups, paved
roads, canals, monoliths, stone statues,
and
offertories, but their
age and
stone-
relationship to the Conquest Period tribes are uncertain.
If certain
and the Paya, the post-Conquest deculturation of these tribes must have been very great. On the Eastern Coastal Plain the mounds, monoliths, goldwcrk, and
faced
to the
mounds can be assigned
Su\a.-Jicaque
stone animal-form metates seem congruent with the cultural level of the
Mosquito, but here too the archeological materials are undated and
of
many
them may represent a much earlier period. The same holds for the Highland area with its burial and habitation mounds, its alter-ego, chacmool, and various small stone statues, its stone-cist and mound burials, its carved stone slabs, and its stone metates and stools. The region of the Caribbean Lowland tribes has the modeled and tripod ceramic complex
of Stone's Central American "Basic Culture" (p. 169), which apparently persisted from a fairly early period to the Conquest, but the only correlation with historic tribes
is
that
monochrome, both associated with urn
Luna polychrome and incised Zapatero burial, were made by the Ulva,
28
and
that the
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Bold Geometric polychrome and North Coast Applique styles These wares, though distinctly non-Mayan, extended to the Maya frontier in the Uhia-Yojoa district, where they blended with Mayan styles.
probably pertain to the Lenca, Jicaque, and Paya.
In the Northern Highlands the modern Lenca have lost most traces of
the site of
a Circum-Caribbean culture, but
if
Tenampua
in Central
Hon-
duras really belonged to them, they had a very high culture at the Conquest. This hilltop site is fortified with stone walls and has a ball court
and numerous terraces and mounds, some of them stone-paved. This and other hilltop sites may be connected with the supposed Lenca pilgrimages in the last century to their aboriginal village sites and with their
modern custom
of visiting hilltop shrines to
commune
with the
spirits.
But the ceramics of these sites have not yet been identified with the Bold Geometric and Bold Animalistic polychrome and North Coast Appilique pottery styles that were probably made by the Conquest period Lenca. If the structural complex represented at Tenampua is actually Conquest Period Lenca, the Circum-Caribbean culture must have existed in some strength in Highland Honduras, and it may have considerable antiquity, for the ceramic traditions of the Lenca are fairly old in the area.
SOCIAL

of
Panama.
Aboriginal
villages
the
Cuna are not
described,
but
communities southwest of the Canal had as many as 1,500 people, were palisaded with living fences, and each had a large, many-roomed, and
well-provisioned house for the chief.
much
less impressive.
Modern Cuna villages The Conquest Period Cuna had four

:
are seemingly
social classes,
though today they have merely extended matrilineal households. Southwest of the Canal the aboriginal classes were ( 1 ) The head chief, who
controlled several villages; (2) the nobles,
in
war or
inherited them;
(3)
who captured their retainers commoners, who might marry nobles;

Ceremony attending
litter
and (4)
is
slaves,
who were war
prisoners.
the chief
and had many wives and slaves. A chief or noble was either buried with wives and retainers v/ho had been stupefied, or his body was desiccated and seated in a room or placed in a hammock. Similar burial is indicated in the Code area, and Sitio Conte had archeological evidence of burial of a headman with many wives and quantities of gold and other valuable objects. Secondary urn burial is reported archeologically on the Atlantic Coast and deep-grave burial on the Pacific.
not fully described, except that he was carried in a
Warfare was well developed and there were standing armies.

were taken, and the early Cuna
drink their blood
;
Captives
killed
male enemies so that the sun might
a man accredited with 20 such victims received a title. Southwest of the Canal acquisition of territory as well as prestige were
objectives.
war
Vol. 4]

of a temple cult, except
29
There are no records

the shaman's fetishes
(see below)
suggest.
worship.
The modern Cuna
are Christians.
what human sacrifice and There was formerly sun They have a considerable
ceremony for girls a year after their puberty confinement. The priest or shaman burns cacao in a brazier, smokes cigars, and chants with the aid
mnemonic board. These elements enter other shamanistic activities, and the shaman also uses wooden fetishes, perhaps survivals of or derived from an idol cult. With their aid he prognosticates, finds lost objects, and cures disease, sending his fetish's soul to bring back that of the
of a
patient.
The mnemonic boards bear a kind
of conventionalized
system of pictures
and symbols, but they are not true writing in any sense inasmuch as the symbols are peculiar to the individual and cannot be interpreted by other
shamans.
The Talamanca
more important
possibly
Division.
Farming
to
in the
Talamanca Division was

it
at the
time of the Conquest than today, and
supported
palisaded villages which consisted of a large house or a group of houses,
some
of
them communal,
judge from modern dwellings.

the Guaymi, the Talamanca
Early documents report feudal states

Division, and the Guetar.
among
The
Brihri even conquered the Terraba in the
early 19th century, and they exercised political control over the Cabecar.
Brihri chieftaincy rests in a single family and must be a survival of an
main Brihri, Cabecar, and Terraha headwar chiefs. Chiefs wore gold ornaments and special insignia. The Guetar had nobles, commoners, and slaves, the last being captive women and children captive men were sacrificed.
older class system, though the
men were
said to be elective
Social stratification
erally to
among
the
Circum-Caribbean
tribes
this
seems gencertainly
have been
at the
expense of clan systems, and
was
Mexican and Andean civilizations. The Brihri, however, had exogamous matrilineal clans and moieties, and the modern Guaymi evidently have exogamous clans. Evidence of avuncular marriage and matrilineal descent appears among some of the West Colombian SubAndean tribes. Though usually superseded by classes, a clan system is not incompatible with them, as shown by the Northwest Coast culture of British Columbia and Alaska, which combined a strong class system with matrilineal clans and moieties. Perhaps in Central America we have
true of the
an old Chihchan clan organization. Warfare was an important feature of social life, for its purpose was to obtain women and children as slaves and men as sacrificial victims. Brihri, Cahecar, and Terraha warriors formed a special class and received
traces of
special burial.
Kinds of burial accorded chiefs and nobles are not reported, but some were present embalmed bodies placed in mortuary buildings (Guetar), inhumation, and various kinds of secondary burial
of the usual practices
:
30
Whether

archeological deep-shaft graves in Veraguas
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
and
stone-cist graves
;
in Chiriqui
were connected with the

cult is not
historic tribes is not
known
the latter
are thought to he late prehistoric.
The temple
priesthood.
burial feasts.
mentioned, and concepts of supernatural beings

sacrificed
are not known, but the Bribri and Guetar are accredited with a formal
The Guetar
human
beings at every
moon and
at
An
secret
teeth
unusual Guaymi feature, reminiscent of more primitive
tribes, is a
ceremony in which boys are instructed, their faces painted, and chipped (Negro influence?), after which they may marry.
their
The Caribbean Lowlands. The modern Caribbean Lowland tribes have a considerable list of cultivated plants (p. 220), but their farming is slash-and-burn. Their early villages consisted of 100 to 500 people living
in
The
Sociopolitical features are little known. though elected by the elders, had supreme power. A hereditary, matrilineal tendency is evident among the Mosquito, but no clans are
chief,
one or more communal houses.
mentioned.
A Mosquito chief was sewed up in a mat, and slaves, servants, and sometimes a shaman were buried with him. That mummification was practiced is uncertain. The Sumo may have made gold and clay masks of deceased chiefs. Warfare was well developed among the Mosquito, Sumo, and perhaps the Paya. The first two tribes accorded military rank and insignia to all men, and they subjected boys to tests as part of their puberty training. The Mosquito fought wars to take captives and the Sumo to kill their enemies, make trophies of their teeth and fingernails, and reputedly to
eat them.
no record of a temple cult, and only the shaman is reported His main function is to cure sickness, which he does by means of trances, dancing, singing, using painted sticks and carved He figures, and driving the disease-causing spirit out of the patient. also placates evil spirits. Among supernatural beings are the sun, moon,
There
is
in recent times.
various astral gods, and a remote sky deity called
"Our
Father."
At
death, the corpse
is left
in the hut,
which
is
abandoned.
is
A Mosquito
wife exhumes and carries her husband's bones, and there
an anniversary
mourning ceremony.
An unusual ritual element is the steam bath for pubescent girls and mothers of newborn infants, a North American trait, and circumcision
among
the
Sumo.
The North Highlands.
Little
information on the Conquest Period
ethnology of this area has been assembled, and the modern Lenca reveal
scant traces of the Circum-Caribbean socioreligious culture.
They now
Their seem more Honduran than Lidian. Honduran type, but if hilltop of the modern
villages
forts
and houses are
and mound groups
such as Tenampua (above), belonged to the Lenca, a very developed
Vol. 4]
31
Circum-Caribbean community type with characteristic social and political features must have been present. Some towns still have hereditary chiefs,
and the modern two-class system may be a modified vestige of native

social stratification.
Warfare
There
is
in recent times usually has involved
boundary disputes, but

to obtain his valor.
at one time a warrior ate the heart of his slain
enemy
no evidence as yet that associates any complicated methods
of burial with the Lenca.
few native religious elements are recognizable today: pilgrimages great veneration of the sun to sacred hills to commune with spirits agricultural ceremonies with drinking of chicha and offerings of burned copal shamanistic curing through offerings of white chickens and copal
; ;
to crosses
on sacred
hills
;
divination by shamans,
who throw
colored
beans from a calabash
ritual chicha
drinking
copal burning as an offer-
ing; and fumigation of persons.
Some
of the archeological hilltop sites
may
be old Lenca religious centers, evidencing a very rich native religious
complex.
MATERIAL CULTURE
The
material culture of the
modern
tribes of Central
America has
lost
the intensity and esthetic refinements of the Conquest Period, but the
essential technologies are present.
The principal crops are maize, sweet manioc, sweetpotatoes, peppers, kidney beans, lima beans, gourds, calabashes, and several fruits. Bitter manioc was not pre-Columbian. It reached the Cmia and the Caribbean
Lowlands in the 17th century; the latter probably obtained it from the Carib. Whether irrigation was practiced must be ascertained archeologically. Two Talmnanca subsistence traits that are found also in northern Colombia are the cultivation of the pejibaye palm {Guilielma utilis) and the raising of wild peccaries. The Muscovy duck may have been kept by the Caribbean Lowland people and by the Lenca. Domesticated
turkeys are kept by the Lenca, but their pre-Columbian distribution is Apiculture in the Caribbean Lowlands is an exceptional not known.
feature.
The
aboriginal presence of the dog
is
uncertain.
Central American hunting techniques include

guns, spears, slings, traps, snares,
pitfalls.
bows and arrows, blow-
game
drives with nets (Cima), and
The
spear thrower was used in the Darien region and occurred
archeologically at
the
Code, but it seems to have been superseded since by Cuna arrows are unpoisoned, but poisoned arrows were used southwest of the Canal and occasionally by the Talamanca Division. The Caribbean Lowland tribes used animal-derived poison, and their arrows were unfeathered. The blowgun was probably used everywhere to shoot clay pellets, but the Ctma adopted the blowgun with Various chipped blades found a poisoned dart in the historic period.
bow and
arrow.
32
archeologically

may have been
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
knives. There were also axes and celts. were arrows, hooks, nets, traps, spears, drugs (Caribbean Lowlands, Lenca), and harpoons (Carribbean Lowlands). The production and trade of salt was of some importance.
The
principal fishing devices
The metate and mortar for grinding food and the babracot for smoking meat were used in food preparation. Pottery griddles occur in the Caribbean Lowlands. Three-legged and four-legged stone metates (or seats) occur throughout Central America, but whether they were made by the historic tribes is a problem for archeology.
Basketry was made by
that the
all tribes,
but weaves are not described, except

coiling,
and the Talamanca North Highlands (Lenca), but archeological stone bark-beaters show that it was probably general. Loom weaving of domesticated cotton formerly occurred in all tribes, except perhaps the Talamanca Division, which now uses wild cotton. A wild bast and a netting technique were used for hammocks (Talamanca Division) and carrying bags (Talamanca Division, Caribbean Lowlands, Lenca). Ceramics, though now plain, were once predominantly of the plastic, incised traditions. There were, however, a few polychromes (e. g., at Code and the Bold Geometric ware of the Lenca, Jicaque, and Paya and the Luna polychrome of the Ulva). Negative-painted ware from Chiriqui and from Honduras may be ascribable to some of the Talamanca Division peoples. The negative-painted and the plastic-incised wares are probably part of the old CircumCaribbean culture. Some authors attribute the polychromes to MesoAmerican influence.
twilling,
Cwia used
wickerwork, and
a hexagonal weave.
Bark
cloth is reported for all areas except the
In Panama, metallurgy
in
gold and gold-copper alloys was highly de-
veloped as far as Veraguas, but

is
it faded out in Costa Rica. Some gold found archeologically in the Caribbean Lowlands, but it may represent
trade
objects.
archeologically, perhaps originating

late center
Approaching the Maya frontier, copper bells occur from the secondary and comparatively
In the central part of Central
in
of metallurgy in Mexico.
America there is an apparent and unexplained gap of metallurgy and negative-painted pottery.
Central American clothing includes:
breechclout
the distribution
men's the penis cover (Cuna) (Talamanca Division, Caribbean Lowlands); the woman's
;
wrap-around
skirt; various
mantles of bark cloth
Avith painted designs
(Talafittanca Division) or of textiles with

; ;
woven-in designs (Caribbean

;
Lowlands) some skin garments (Lenca) sandals (Lenca) skin sandals (Paya) skin, moccasinlike footgear (Mosquito) ear, nose, and other ornaments of gold, precious stones, and feathers head deformation (Caribbean Lowlands) scarification (Talamanca Division) tattoo as insignia of rank (Cuna) and chipped teeth (Caribbean Lowlands Negro influence?). Mirrors were found at Code.
;
;
;
o.. 4J

of platform beds,
33
(all
Household furniture consists

Lenca), wooden
tainers.
hammocks
but the
stools, stone stools
(?), and gourd and calabash con-
Dugout canoes
;
in the
Darien region were described as huge
sails. Dugouts For carrying objects on land, the Panamanian tribes used carrying baskets and the balance pole, but the other tribes used netted bags. Paved roads, a conspicuous feature in the Honduran Highlands, may have been made by the historic tribes.
and pearl-inlaid
southwest of the Canal they had cotton
also occurred in the Caribbean Lowlands.
The
aboriginal
musical instruments were shell trumpets, panpipes,
bows (Caribbean Lowlands), skin drums, drums (Caribbean Lowland), hollow-log signal drums (Cuna), whistles, and pottery ocarinas. Chicha and tobacco are general. Tobacco or coca was chewed in the Cuna and the Talamanca Division. Pottery pipes were used by the Talamanca Division, and cigars by the
calabash rattles, flutes, musical
goblet-shaped
Cuna.
A
pua
ball
is
game was played

Lenca
site,
in a special court
also.
by the Cuna and,
if
Tenam-
by the Lenca
THE MESO-AMERICAN TRIBES

The more important Meso-American tribes are a number of Nahiiatlanand Chorotegan-s^t^Ving peoples distributed principally along the Pacific coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. They are thought to have migrated to this region from Mexico comparatively recently, some within two to They are four centuries before the Conquest and others even later. polychrome ceramic wares to Central accredited with introducing certain
America, and some of their
traits,
such as the game of voladores, the

the whole, however, they seem to
custom
of
tongue piercing, and
certain religious practices, are definitely
Mexican, not Circum-Caribbean.
On
have adopted the Circum-Caribbean culture and to have contributed very little to it.
SOCIAL
Meso-American communities consisted of houses arranged in streets around a plaza where temples and chiefs' "palaces" were built, often on low mounds. Society was stratified into three hereditary classes: (1) Chiefs, priests, and nobles (2) commoners and (3) war prisoners, who performed menial labor but were ultimately sacrificed and eaten.
;
Acquisition of wealth, however, improved social status.

council had great power, and
Politically, a
among
the Chorotega
it
selected the chief.
Nicarao chieftaincy was probably hereditary, though the council also had considerable power. Warfare was highly developed, and there were trained armies. War
was waged
to settle
boundary disputes and
to obtain slaves for sacrifices
34
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
and for cannibalism. The taste for human flesh was so great that slaves were bred in order that they might be slaughtered. The temple cult was served by a special priesthood, which performed ceremonies to the various gods on holy days, at the cacao harvest, and on such occasions as birth and death.
MATERIAL CULTURE
Many
crops were cultivated, the most important being maize, cacao,
and tobacco.
Weaving techniques are not mentioned; the fibers of cotton, agave, and palm were used. Ceramics were well developed and included polychromes of Mexican origin. The presence of metallurgy is uncertain. Dugout canoes and rafts were made. Clothing and ornaments included the men's breechclout and sleeveless tunic of woven cotton (Nicarao), women's skirts (Nicarao), the woman's decorated breechclout (Orontina) gold beads, identifying tattoo marks, head deformation, and men's tongue and ear piercing. Chicha was made, and coca was chewed with lime. The Mexican game of voladores was played, but the ball game is not reported.
THE TROPICAL FOREST PEOPLES

THE PATANGORO AND THEIR NEIGHBORS
In general, these tribes lacked the intensive farming, especially of
and the salt making of northern Colombia. Their technology is little known. They made pottery but lacked metallurgy and apparently used no canoes. Villages were palisaded and were of fair size, consisting of 80 to 90 houses each, with a ceremonial building in the center. Highland traits present are the platform bed, head deformation, and liana Men went naked and women wore aprons. Unlike most Subbridges. Andean tribes, the Patdngoro were organized in exogamous matrilineal clans rather than social classes. Warfare was strongly developed; weapons included the bow and poisoned arrow, lances, boiling water, deadfall doors, and sharpened stakes placed in pits. Captives were taken not for ritual purposes but for cannibalism, which was so strongly deAll captives veloped that human flesh constituted an essential food. were killed at once, either being cooked or else cremated, ground, and mixed with chicha, an Amazonian trait. There is no evidence of a temple-priest complex, though the Aniani shaman concealed himself behind a wall to answer questions, which is reminiscent of the oracular Deities were celestial, including functions of the Sub-Andean priest. one which sent thunder and lightning. These tribes practiced earth burial and believed in an afterworld that was so pleasant that people sometimes committed suicide. Shamans apparently had both human and animal tutelary spirits, and they cured disease by sucking.
fruits,
Vol. 4]

THE GUAYUPE AND SAE
35
These
the
tribes,
occupying the llanos and forests on the eastern slope of

of the Chibcha,
had a general Tropical Forest culture with perhaps a few Sub-Andean traits. They were farmers and lived in palisaded villages of multifamily houses arranged around a plaza that had a ceremonial building. They had no class system, but old men apparently had superior status and formed a council. Chiefs were elected, and their prestige is indicated only in their use of stools and feather
blankets and their claim to half the bride price paid at each marriage,
Andes south
deceased chief was cremated, and his ashes were ceremonially drunk
in chicha
by his successor.
There was much warfare, but slave taking, cannibalism (except Sae funerary cannibalism), and human trophies are not reported. At their initiation boys were whipped and pricked with lances to make them good
warriors.
The
special
religious
Tropical Forests rather than to the
house was perhaps comparable to that of the Andean temple. The sun and moon,
who were man and

were
evil
wife,
beings.
No
ceremonialism
were the gods, and the jaguar and other animals is mentioned except shamanistic
curing,
which was accomplished by sucking out the disease-causing object. Subsistence was based on farming, bitter manioc probably being one of the crops. The technology is not well known, but cotton was grown and must have been woven, though feather instead of cotton blankets Except for these blankets and are mentioned as articles of clothing. These ornaments, people went naked. some gold, shell, and feather
used hammocks, wooden
stools,
tribes
clubs,
bows and arrows,
slings,
and
shields.
dugout canoes, spears, lances, They took coca and tobacco
to obtain visions.
THE
The Betoi and
BETOI
AND THEIR NEIGHBORS
be classed as Tropical Forest in culture, although in some respects they were little more developed than the hunting and gathering tribes to their east in the llanos of eastern Colombia. They were farmers but carried on much hunting and fishing.
their neighbors
may
Their villages were small and were frequently moved. Each consisted In of one or more communal houses sheltering an extended family. to a single extended family, some cases the village apparently was limited
and
local
exogamy was therefore
practiced.
The
village
head
man was
An the oldest person or one of the older persons of the community. was hired laborers, paid with anomalous feature found among the Airico
shell disk
money.
Religion was limited to belief in a sun god {Betoi) and other mythological beings, but there were no priests or idols. The shaman performed
as medicine
man and used
snuff of "yopa"
powder.
There were no
36
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
temples or group religious ceremonies, but each village had a festival
house
in
which
tribes
men
assembled to drink chicha.
These
(poisoned
carried
on warfare, using
clubs,
bows and arrows
among
the Lucalia), axes, and lances, but the purpose and
nature their fights are not known.
Female
burial.
infanticide
is
reported.
The dead always
received direct earth
calabashes,
Manufactures were limited to ceramics, bark cloth, mats (Anabali), and dugout canoes. Betoi chiefs wore bark-cloth garments; Jirara and Airico women wore genital covers made of leaves. Bodily
instru-
adornment consisted only of paint and feather crowns. Musical ments mentioned are flutes, fifes, and wooden signal drums.
THE OTOMAC AND GUAMO

These
tribes contrast sharply
with their primitive hunting and gatheris
ing neighbors, and their presence in the area

interest that archeology in the llanos of
unexplained.
It is
of
tension of an
(p.
Andean
culture nearly to
Venezuela shows an early exthe Orinoco River. KirchhoflF
439), however, likens these people to Central American tribes.

villages
seem to have controlled was regimented with respect to warfare, there is no evidence of a class system. Warfare was mainly against Carib raiders, and women participated in battles, helping the men. There was no temple cult. The moon, probably a supernatural being, had a special connection with women. The Otomac believed they were descended from stones. The shaman performed as medicine man and cured by sucking out stones. Curing was also accomplished by smearing blood on the patient a child's tongue was pierced and his own blood smeared on his body. Circumcision was practiced at puberty. No Andean burial forms are reported a body was given earth burial and
were reputedly
large, but chiefs
The
groups of houses, not whole
villages.
Though
life
later reburied in
a cave.
Subsistence was based on fairly intensive farming which was done by
men on
flood plains, but food plants
were limited
to
one kind of maize,
sweet manioc, pineapples, and several roots.
People slept on the ground
under palm-leaf mosquito

finely
nets.
Industries included the manufacture of
woven
cotton, ceramics, calabash containers, palm-fiber baskets
and
bags,
and dugout canoes.

the weapons.
Clubs, bows, and unpoisoned arrows were
among
Feathers and other ornaments were worn in progold,
fusion, but there
was no
and the only garment mentioned
is
men's
wide cotton
ball
belts.
In their festivities people drank chicha, took coca,
played the trumpet, and bled themselves.
They
also played the rubber-
game.
Vol. 4]

THE ACHAGUA AND SALIVA
37
as the Puifiave,
Saliva, and probably some of the adjoining tribes, such were well advanced above the Guahibo and their other hunting and gathering neighbors, but they had few Andean or Sub-
The Achagua,
Andean features. Their probable possession of patrilinear, totemic, exogamous sibs and an ancestor cult links them mainly with the Tucanoan
tribes of the
Northwest Amazon (Handbook, vol. 3). were farmers, and they had fairly large, palisaded villages, many of which evidently consisted of a single communal dwelling and The villages were probably impermanent, a separate men's clubhouse. however, for they were moved at the death of an occupant. There is strong evidence that the Achagua had patrilinear, exogamous, totemic The village had a chief but accorded him sibs, each perhaps localized.
These
tribes
few privileges except that of access to vestal virgins of some kind.

Saliva chief had to endure a pepper and ant ordeal before taking
office.
There were no social classes. The main grouping outside the family was sexual men foregathered and held drinking bouts in their clubhouse, from which women were barred. Trophy taking, cannibalism, and capture of slaves and sacrificial victims are not reported, and there was no warrior class. The Achagua and
:
Saliva fought mainly defensively against predatory tribes, such as the

Carib, Caberre, and others, which sought to enslave them.
Presence of the temple cult is suggested only by the Saliva sculptured "demons," which were consulted as oracles. The Saliva held ceremonies in honor of the Creator, and they also worshiped the sun and moon.
Achagua masked men represented
deities
in
a ceremony from which
women were
vol. 3, p.
cult, Handbook, had a first fish ceremony. Among their gods were a supreme being and special gods of cultivated fields, Witchcraft riches, fire, fate, and madness, and one that holds the earth. and divination were strongly developed in this area. The Saliva shaman sucked, blew on, and anointed his patient in order to cure him and purified people and objects with smoke from a cigar
excluded.
(Cf. the Tucanoan ancestor

also
889).
The Achagua
containing copal.
The Achagua
practiced female infanticide.
At
a Saliva funeral special
paraphernalia and trumpets were used and later thrown into the river.
The body was buried and subsequently disinterred, cremated, and the ashes drunk with chicha. The Achagua buried in a sealed grave. The main items of Achagua material culture were Bitter manioc and the tipiti bows and poisoned arrows (the Caberre were the principal
:
producers of poison)
both of
fish nets; fish

;
drug (barbasco)
basketry shields;
skirts,
well-developed basketry
netted
hammocks and women's

;
probably
hemp
or other wild bast, but no true weaving

;
ceramics in some variety of forms
calabash vessels ;
men's breechclouts wooden stools dug;
38
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
out canoes and pole rafts; body paint; shell bead necklaces (used also
as
money) necklaces and ear and nose ornaments of pearls; silver pins (post-Columbian?), but no goldwork; tattoo, but not as an insignia of
;
status
hollow-log
drums trumpets and "yopa"

; ;
snuff used for divination.
THE PACIFIC COAST TRIBES

The
low, densely forested and
now
unhealthy regions of the Pacific
from Ecuador to the junction of Panama with South America was occupied by peoples with backward cultures. On the Colombia coast were the Choco. On the Ecuadorian coast Andean influence from the Highlands and from the Peruvian coast had implanted advanced cultures (see Handbook, vol. 2, p. 780), which surrounded a primitive enclave, the Cayapa and Colorado, who adjoined each other on the western slope of the Cordillera.
coast stretching
THE CH0C6
The Choco were slash-and-burn
horticulturists, but
they grew only
food plants and lacked domesticated cotton and tobacco.

hooks, and on hunting with the blowgun and dart and the
feathered arrow.
They
relied
considerably on fishing, using nets, spears, arrows, and a drug, but no
They made bark
cloth, twilled
bow and unand woven basketry,
calabash containers, pottery, dugout canoes, one-piece wooden stools, men's loincloths, women's wrap-around skirts, ear and nose ornaments, and round pole-and-thatched houses, often on piles. They had coiled
basketry, one of the few modern survivals of this technique which North and South American peripheral distributions and archeological evidence show to have been very old and once probably very widespread. They
lacked metallurgy.
Textile weaving
was introduced only
recently.
Like
Andean hammock as
the
tribes,
they slept on the platform bed, but they had the
a cradle.
;
lineal lineages that
was not stratified instead there were exogamous, patriwere probably clans. Chieftainship was weakly developed, there is no evidence of a war complex with trophies and cannibalism, and shamanism takes the place of the temple cult. Some Highsociety
Choco
land influence has crept into the local context, however, for the shaman's
fetish staff,
doll,
which
is
believed to contain his spirit helper, and the infant's
idol
which is alleged to embody its guardian spirit, may well reflect the complex of neighboring tribes. Shamanistic curing through exorcising malignant spirits is a somewhat distinctive practice, and the wooden models of boats with spirit images used in training shamans are unique. Supernatural beings, besides guardian spirits and spirits' helpers, include the culture hero, good and evil spirits, and ghosts. A girl's puberty observance involved her isolation, as usual, but the use of the scratching
stick is another old,
widespread element that usually has survived only
Vol. 4]

The main
39
in peripheral areas.
flutes,
musical instruments are the panpipes,
skin drums, and hollow wooden drums.
The ceramic
art
is
anthropomorphic and zoomorphic.

THE CAYAPA AND COLORADO
The Cayapa and Colorado
differ
from the Choco
in specific
elements
According to from the Highland and thus may once have tradition, they descended
rather than in the general organization of their culture.
had a more developed

recent, but there is
like that of the
culture.
Information about them
is
comparatively
little
to suggest
Andean
patterns.
Their culture,
Choco,
is
Tropical Forest in
many
specific elements.
in
A
the
trans-Andean spread of some of these appears very possible

the fact that the Colorado actually traveled across the
view of
to
Andes
Canelo on the eastern slopes to obtain
fish poison.
The Cayapa and Colorado

nets,
cultivate not only food plants but cotton
and
coca (Cayapa), and they keep guinea pigs.

traps, hooks,
The Colorado
take fish with
thatch, those of the
and drugs. Houses of both tribes are frame and Cayapa being on piles. The Cayapa sleep in hammocks, the Colorado on platform beds. The bow and arrow and the dugout canoe were used by the Colorado but not by the Cayapa. Both have blowgims, but the former shoot darts from them, the latter clay pellets. Cotton weaving, twilled basketry, metates, and crude pottery
are probably
either.
common
to both tribes, but metallurgy
is
not reported for
Calabashes somewhat replaced pottery
among
the Cayapa.
Dress
of earlier periods
ported.
showed Highland influence, even the poncho being reFronto-occipital head deformation was recently found among
the Colorado.
of the
Villages are small, those of the Colorado consisting of one house, those Cayapa of three or four pile dwellings, each sheltering several
families.
Perhaps the
social
unit
inhabiting the
Cayapa house
is
patrilineal lineage, for there is
some tendency
to patrilocality.
Chieftain-
ship
is
a war complex.
not well developed, nor are there social classes, a temple cult, or At the time of the Conquest, however, the Colorado
were described as warlike and "idolatrous," but as lacking chiefs. There are few data on puberty observances, except the Colorado nosepiercing and cayapi-drinking rite for boys. The games which the Colorado played as part of mourning wakes are a Highland trait. Both tribes
bury their dead. Musical instruments of probable aboriginal origin are panpipes,
drums, and
rattles.
flutes,
thunder, and other
Religion involves good and bad spirits; the latter cause lightning, Among the Colorado and probably the Cayapa, evils.
shamans deal with these spirits. To cure disease the Cayapa shaman exorcises an evil spirit, and he also sucks. Two ritual elements link the
40

the belief that disease
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Colorado with the Montana:
is
caused by the
out,
intrusion into the body of sharp spines, which the
shaman "sucks"
and the use
of cayapi {Banisteriopsis caapi).
THE HUNTING AND GATHERING. TRIBES

The
principal distribution of the hunting
tribes is in the
book, vol. 1)
and gathering, or Marginal, Gran Chaco, Patagonia, and Tierra del Fuego (Handand around the perimeter of the Amazon Basin (Handbook,
vol. 2). The second group includes the Shiriand, IVaica, Guaharibo, Auake, Caliand, and Maracand of the Amazon-Orinoco watershed. Other primitive hunting and gathering tribes, who are described in the present
volume, occupied the llanos or plains of the Orinoco Basin and a portion
of the Antilles.
The Guaiqueri and Guamontey were

;
scattered along the
lower Orinoco River

eral
the Guahiho, Chiricoa, Yaruro,
and others
;
lived
west of the upper Orinoco in western Venezuela and eastern Colombia sev-
groups lived in the plains around Barquisimeto near the Sub- Andean Timoteans in the Venezuelan Andes; and the Ciboney were a Marginal
peoples of the Antilles.
These tribes unquestionably represent retarded groups, peoples who remained in dry plains, where farming was not suitable, or in isolated places, where the Circum-Caribbean and Tropical Forest cultures did not reach
them.
They have
in
common
the absence of the technological and sociorather than the presence
religious features of the

of
more advanced peoples
any characteristic complexes.

TRIBES OF
THE ORINOCO BASIN

The Yaruro
All these tribes were hunters, fishers, and gatherers.
maize but have now given it up. There were no permanent villages the Guaiqueri and Guamontey lived in movable grass-covered houses the Guahiho simply sleep under trees or portable mats or in hollow trees, and the Yaruro in temporary palm-covered
formerly cultivated a
little
;
;
shelters.
The Guahiho sociopolitical who hunt and make war under the
unit
is
the band of about 30 persons,
leadership of a headman.
life.
They
are
described as nomads, leading a gypsylike
The Yaruro
social unit is
the extended matrilocal family, but there are also
exogamous
moieties.
In warfare
it is
possible that the pre-Conquest Guahiho took slaves to use
was no cannibalism. Religion is virtually unknown. Yaruro mythology holds that the moon goddess, who is the sun's wife, Yaruro shamans is the creator, and there is a story of a culture hero. seem to get their power from the moon, which helps them cure sickness.
in trade, but there
In their performances they smoke cigars, drink chicha, and take a narcotic
root.
times poisoned).
Hunting devices include bows and arrows (which the Guahiho someThe Yaruro use disguises, harpoon arrows, fish arrows,
Vol. 4]

The
fire.
41
and fishhooks.
Yaruro over a
Guaiqueri, Guamontey, and the tribes around Bar-
quisimeto used to cook in skin-lined earth ovens, and the Guahibo and
The
last
two
tribes use
wooden mortars.
The Yaruro
salt.
have pots but rarely
boil
food in them.
None
of these tribes uses
Few
present.
of the Circum-Caribbean and Tropical Forest technologies are
The Guahibo and Yaruro make woven baskets, but there is no The only recorded textile manufacture is hammocks, and these are netted of palm fibers. Pottery is made by the GuaJtibo and Yaruro, that of the former being "beautifully" decorated. The Guahibo make decorated calabash containers. The Guahibo use carrying baskets and dugout canoes, the Yaruro the
loom weaving.
carrying net and
rafts.
Clothing
is
limited to the
men's breechclout and women's girdles.
Guahibo men's penis cover and the Yaruro The Guahibo have body paint but
no ornaments
the Yai'uro, labrets, arm and leg bands, and necklaces. The Guahibo, Yaruro, and the tribes of Barquisimeto have the hammock the Gumqueri and Guamontey used to sleep on skins on the ground. The Guahibo use rattles, flutes, and panpipes, and they take parica snuff for magical purposes and when going to war.
; ;
THE CIBONEY OF THE ANTILLES

The
little-known and
now
extinct Ciboney occupied the Guaicayarima
Peninsula of Haiti and at one time the greater part of Cuba.
thought to have come to the Antilles from Florida.
They are They represented a
marginal survival of very primitive hunters and gatherers, and they are
known mainly through
archeology.
These people depended primarily upon sea foods, lived in caves or temporary shelters, and practiced primary and secondary earth burial and
cremation.
They used
clubs, various shell artifacts, chipped-flint daggers,
clubs, stones
(thrown with slings?), breechclouts, and shell ornaments. There is no record of their basketry and weaving, but they lacked farming, houses, pottery, metallurgy, metates, zemis, and other traits characteristic of the Arazvak and did only a little work in ground or polished stone, which was manifest especially in stone mortars, axes, and balls. The bow
is
reported but
may
be post-Conquest.
Part
1.
Central American Cultures
CENTRAL AMERICAN CULTURES: AN INTRODUCTION^

By Frederick Johnson
Central America
the Atrato and
may
be defined culturally as the region extending from
San Juan River Valleys in Colombia nearly to the western boundary of Honduras (map 1). It has a fundamental unity in what may
be a basic cultural tradition or cultural substructure.
limit of culture
ica.
This basic culture
has a distinctly South American cast, and the region marks the northern
complexes which were probably derived from South Amer-
The
region has, however, been exposed to influences from the north-
ern, that
is,
diffusion
Meso-American cultures. The continuing stream of cultural from both the north and south has produced a strong overlay of
the
foreign elements which gives
many
local cultures a superficial similarity to
those of neighboring regions.
These tend
to obscure the basic cultures.
GEOGRAPHY
The
culture area of Central
graphical province.^
America is not coterminous with a geoAmerica includes several portions of a larger Central
northern terminus of the Andes, the eastern
geographic region which extends north to the "Great Scarp" of Oaxaca,
Mexico, and south
to the
slopes of the Atrato River Valley.
This region
is
part of the Antillean
Mountain System and is distinct from tlfe South America. The Antillean System comprises a series of east-west trending crustal folds, which have given rise to the present river valleys and ridges of northern Honduras and central Nicaragua. A major vulcanism of Pleistocene and Recent date has modified the topography, particularly of the western termini of these earlier mountains, and a series of
volcanoes welded into a
great arc of volcanoes, of lower altitude, begins with the Cordillera de Tala
great Cordilleras of North and
number of gigantic pedestals are distributed in a arc between Tehuantepec and Costa Rica. A smaller, sigmoid-shaped
This introduction incorporates data furnished by Stone, KirchhofF, Strong, Stout, and Lothrop. The archeological and ethnological subdivisions do not always coincide with geographical divisions, Cultural and geographical terminology has although they are designated by geographical names.
been correlated so far as possible, but discrepancies remain.
43
44
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
manca in Costa Rica and continues eastward, following the Cordillera de San Bias and the Serrania del Darien in Panama. The vulcanism closed
a portal connecting the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific,
cluded in the Nicaraguan Lowland.
now
the area in-
Other changes in level and the deposition of volcanic materials formed the Isthmus of Rivas, cutting off from the sea the basins of Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua. The consequent rise of the levels of the lakes turned the drainage into the San Juan River Valley, leading to the Caribbean Sea. (Cf. esp. Ricketson, 1940 Schuchert,
;
1935.)
Along the Caribbean coast. Lowlands of varying width have been These are flood plains, alluvial fans or areas of little or no slope, which have been built up by the deposition of materials eroded from the Uplands. The Lowlands bordering the Pacific the Pacific Borderlands are less extensive, being composed largely of deposits of volcanic material and recent alluvium.
formed.
The orogeny of the region has been one of the principal factors in the development of a number of areas which can be classified according to
their
topography and other general features.
The mountain masses
divide
areas affected by the
warm
moist winds of the Caribbean from those de-
pendent upon the winter winds and summer monsoons characteristic of

the Pacific
Ocean
in these latitudes.
This general condition
is
partially
obscured by a complication of factors which have not yet been thoroughly studied. The climate of different areas and even of restricted localities is
influenced by the topography, particularly the orientation of the mountains
with respect to prevailing winds.
Even
this characteristic is subject to
exceptions, the nature of which varies in the different areas.
The Caribbean
coast and the
into the Caribbean Sea differ greatly

specialized environment.
Uplands of Central America which drain from other areas because of the highly
is
This area
covered with a dense tropical forest.

to
The moist winds from the Caribbean bring a rainfall of 100 a year. Some areas have even more precipitation. The
season
is
200 inches
so-called dry
really a period of less rain.
Depending upon circumstances,
especially
upon the
orientation of the slopes toward the prevailing winds,
the rainfall varies slightly in different areas but has a negligible effect on
the significant features of the environment.
PANAMA
Darien.
gap
in the
Darien
is
the area between the Atrato River Valley and the
Canal.
backbone of the Isthmus of Panama, the site of the Panama The two ranges that comprise the central structure of Darien lie
close to the Caribbean coast
and the western shore
of the
Golfo de Uraba.
The
southeasterly extremity turns inland to form the western side of the
lower reaches of the Atrato River.
The southern end
of the Serrania del
Vol. 4]
CENTRAL AMERICAN CULTURES JOHNSON

lost in
45
Darien becomes
of Colombia,
lie
a plain.
West
of this, paralleling the Pacific coast
the hills which are the northern extremity of the Cordillera
de Choco.
The southern and western
slopes of the
two ranges are drained by the
westerly flowing Rio Chepo, also called Rio Bayano, and the Rio Chucuna-
que-Tuira, which empty into the Golfo de San Miguel.

of these
The watersheds
two
relatively large systems
comprise the major part of the area
of the region. plains.
The valleys The Atrato River

relief.
are of low relief ;.they have been described as

Valley, draining into the Golfo de Uraba,
is
wide and also of low

the south
Toward
the south, above the headwaters of
the Atrato, the character of the relief continues, but the gradient dips to
and the San Juan River runs southward to enter the Pacific at Punta Charambira in Colombia. Darien is covered, for the most part, by several types of tropical forest. Onshore winds bring moisture from the warm Caribbean resulting in a The northern slopes rainfall varying between 100 and 200 inches a year. of the mountains and most of the interior valleys are covered with a dense Dry and wet seasons follow in regular succession over tropical forest. the entire area, but they are much more marked in the drier area bordering the Pacific coast, where ofifshore winds blow part of the year. In the latter area the distribution of the tropical forest is irregular, but the vegeta-
tion
is
lush,
owing
to large quantities of water caught in the poor drainage.
West of Darien an expanse of savanna borders and extends as far as the mountains of Chiriqui, Panama. The environment of this area is similar to all lands occupying the Pacific side of Centr^ America. The climate is largely determined by accidents of location with respect to winter winds and summer monsoons, which bring out clearly marked dry and wet seasons. With the exception of local areas where the topography and other features aflFect the rainfall, these savannas and the Pacific coast in general support areas of semideciduous or scrub forest, between which grasslands flourish. The climate, though
the Pacific
hot, is favorable,
levels.
Western Panama.
and the inhabitants could
live
above bare subsistence
Between the Lowlands of the coast and the higher parts of the Uplands an area of hills and low ridges which topographically are part of the mountain systems. The environment of this little-known zone is very
lies
complex, but
ized fauna
it
appears to be analogous to that of the savannas.

flora
The
cool
nights, the occasional rains during the dry season,
and
make
it
hospitable to
and possibly the specialhuman occupancy at least some

;
sections have, in the past, supported a relatively large population.
The Isthmian Tropical

the
Forest.
This area extends

in
westward from
clearly
Panama
Canal, a very arbitrary boundary, to the Nicaraguan Lowland.
It includes the Caribbean watershed which, by the divide separating it from the Pacific
653334
Panama,
is
bounded
slopes.
The
inland boundary
48
46
in

Costa Rica
is
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
very irregular and hard to
fix.
It follows the limits of
the Caribbean drainage, excepting
some areas on the upper reaches
of
some
of the larger rivers.
The area is divisible into a Coastal Lowland zone and an Upland zone. The Coastal Lowland is largely a poorly drained alluvial plain, much of it
swampland, especially along the shore, behind the barrier beaches and along the meandering and irregularly flooding rivers. Except for occasional intrepid travelers, the Panamanian Lowland has not been explored since the Spaniards lost interest in the area. A section of the Lowland, west of the Laguna de Chiriqui, sometimes called the Talamanca Plain, has been reclaimed.
rier
beaches and to form sand bars blocking the river mouths.

is
Strong onshore winds cause heavy surf to beat against the barNavigation
hazardous
if
by canoe
not impossible on the sea, but water travel

in the
is
possible in the
Laguna de Chiriqui and
lower reaches of the rivers.
With the exception of sections of Costa Rica, very little is known of the Upland zone. This area is marked by steep slopes and deep valleys in
which swift rivers flow through rocky channels. In general, the climate of the Uplands is healthier than that of the Lowlands.
Discussion and interpretation of the significance of the population pattern of the Isthmian Tropical Forest began in the 16th century, but the
characteristics
and
necessities of life are
still
poorly understood.
At
the
time of the Spanish conquest, when the aborigines did not have
it
steel tools,
seems almost certain that very large areas of it had been cleared, and As a it appears to have been inhabited by a relatively large population. population were located rule the headquarters of the several divisions of the
in the
Uplands.
Furthermore, there are vague suggestions of seasonal
migrations of at least a portion of the population between the coastal

lands and the Uplands.
Lowmore
After the Conquest, the characteristics of the oc-
cupancy of
this area
changed.
The
population became smaller and
sedentary, and
much
of the cleared land reverted to impenetrable jungle.
For
several reasons, not the least of
which was the forbidding environ-
ment, the Spaniards concentrated their attention only upon the ports of entry and the lines of communication to the Pacific watershed, where, from
their point of view, life
until a
was
easier.
From
the time of
its
abandonment
very few years ago, the Tropical Forest had been neglected by Europeans and remained an area in which refugee tribes could exist unmolested
by their erstwhile conquerors.
THE SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS

The mountains between the Province of Chiriqui and the Nicaraguan Lowlands may be divided into a number of subareas. Southern Costa Rica. This subarea includes the Cordillera de Talamanca and its eastward extension into the Province of Chiriqui, the Cordillera Brunquena, and the various basins and lowlands which lie within the
Vol. 4]
CENTRAL AMERICAN CULTURESJOHNSON
47
mountain system and which border the Pacific coast. The most important basin is a structural depression drained by the Rio Diquis. The northern portion of this basin, called the Valle General, is drained by the Rio GenThe Terraba eral and the Rio Cabagua, tributaries of the Rio Diquis.
Plain occupies the southern and eastern portion of this depression bordering the Cordillera Brunquena, through which the Rio Diquis has cut a
narrow canyon. To the south lies the Peninsula of Osa, a hilly region running in a southeasterly direction to form the Golfo Dulce. The peninsula is nearly cut off from the mainland by a low swampy area. The north shore of the Golfo Dulce is hilly and the slopes rise abruptly from the coast. To the east, however, lies an area of Lowland savanna and swampland, which extends eastward along the Pacific coast of Panama.
The
short valley of the Rio Goto and
its
tributaries opens onto these
lands and meanders across
them
to its
mouth on
the Golfo Dulce.
LowThe
Lowland
is
interrupted by the hills surrounding the Pico Burica and the
low ridge running south to Punta Burica.
Central Costa Rica. This is an area of relatively high altitude. Northand San Jose, four great volcanic cones, varying in altitude from 9,120 to 11,220 feet (2,779 to 3,409 m.), stand in a row, their bases merged into a massive volcanic pedestal. Between these and the mountains to the south lies the intermontane basin known as the Meseta Central. This basin, lying at an altitude between* 2,000 and 4,000 feet (about 650 to
east of Cartago
1,300 m.),
is
complex
in structure
is
and
its
surface
is
distinctly hilly.
The
southeastern part of the Meseta

part of the Meseta Central
drained by the Rio Raventazon, which
empties into the Caribbean north of Puerto Limon.

is
The northwestern
Golfo de Nicoya a
ica,
little
drained by the Rio Grande, which enters the southeast of Puntarenas. The Cordillera Volcan-
extending in a northeasterly direction from the Meseta Central, gradually decreases in altitude until, in Nicaragua, it forms only a hilly belt
between Lake Nicaragua and the
Pacific.
canica,
This area lies to the south of the Cordillera Volfrom which it is separated by the relatively wide and low valley of the Rio Tempisque, which empties into the head of the Golfo de Nicoya. The Peninsula de Nicoya is a range of hills to the south of this valley, running in a southeasterly direction to form the Golfo de Nicoya. The western margin of the area, fronting the Pacific, is composed of a low
The Nicoya Area.
range of
hills. all
The
climate of
ingly complex.
Over most
the southern or Costa Rica Highland area is exceedof the region the influences of the Pacific
season, but the differences between these
Ocean cause a dry and a wet
seasons are not always extreme.
Certain regions, particularly along the
northern and eastern boundaries, are affected by trade winds from the Caribbean. Climate also varies with altitude and with the orientation of slopes in relation to prevailing winds and the sun. One slope of a valley
48

receive abundant rains, while a nearby slope
falls
is
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
may
infertile because little
or no rain
upon
it.
The General
Valley, the Terraba Plain, and the
Meseta Central are well-watered, fertile areas. The Lowland areas bordering the coast are very wet, having meandering rivers and most of them being poorly drained. Some of them are covered with mangrove swamps. The semideciduous and scrub forests of the Uplands give way to areas of
lush vegetation in the wetter sections of the Lowlands.^
THE NICARAGUAN HIGHLANDS

This region
lies
north of the Nicaraguan Lowland.
It is closely related,
is
geologically, to the
Guatemalan Highlands, though not so high, and
composed
of a volcanic plateau with the highest elevations in the south.
The
steep escarpment of the plateau faces toward the
Lempa River
Valley
and continues southward bordering the Golfo de Fonseca and the northeastern side of the Nicaraguan Lowland. The east-west pattern of the folded and faulted structure of the mountains is obscured by
of El Salvador
volcanic deposits in the south, but the older structure

north.
is
revealed in the
The
easterly pointing spurs dip beneath the sea along the north
coast of Honduras.
The Bay
Islands are, presumably, peaks of these
submerged ranges. The Highlands are characterized by steep-sided mountains rising above high intermontane basins and plateaus. The climate and vegetation patterns of the Northern Highlands are complex chiefly because extreme ranges of altitude are combined with a wide variation in the orientation of the slopes in relation to the prevailing winds and the sun. *Tn valleys and basins or on mountain slopes which are protected from the rain-bearing winds, the oak-pine forests, characteristic of the tierra templada and the tierra fria, may descend as low as 2,000 feet (about 650 m.). No parts of the country are high enough to be
above tree
line
;
but there are extensive savannas in relatively high places,
such as those east of Tegucigalpa" (James, 1942, p. 689). In the eastern sections of the Nicaraguan Highlands, where the warm, moist winds from
the Caribbean are forced to rise over the eastern slopes, the rainfall
is
very
heavy and the forests are exceptionally thick. On the lower slopes of the mountains there is a drier belt, but the rainfall is sufficient to support a tropical rain forest. At high altitudes in Nicaragua the rainfall is more moderate and the temperature lower, permitting the growth of the oak and pine forests. These highlands mark the southernmost distribution of
North American species
of pines.
THE NICARAGUAN LOWLAND

This is a structural depression which runs in a northeasterly direction from the Caribbean Sea. The Tropical Forest extends up it nearly to San Carlos, where Lake Nicaragua empties into the Rio San Juan, The forest
For a brief description of the environment,
cf.
James, 1942.
Vol. 4]
49
also covers sections of the valleys of tributaries of the

ly
San Juan, particularthose which drain the southern watershed of the Lowland. The north-
ern side of the Lowland has a drier climate, perhaps because the orientation
of the adjoining slopes produces local "rain shadows."
THE EASTERN COASTAL PLAIN

This area in Nicaragua
It is
it.
is
the largest lowland plain in Central America.
an
alluvial plain,
poorly drained by the meandering rivers which cross

it
Huge
portions of
are swampland unfit for
human
habitation.
The
people build their villages on natural levees bordering the rivers or upon
the low rises near the coastal lagoons.
of
The
coast has a complicated series
sand bars and barrier beaches, behind which there are extensive lagoons.
latter fostered the
The
development of a partially maritime existence among

slopes, facing the Caribbean, support the
the coast dwellers.
The Upland
heaviest tropical forest in Central America.

the people
This did not, however, prevent

in great
from inhabiting the river valleys
numbers.
THE NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN

This
is
a fringe of
Lowland
in
Honduras which
skirts the spurs of the

valleys.
It re-
mountains and extends for varying distances up the river

ceives great quantities of moisture
tropical forest.
from the Caribbean and supports a
It is probable, however, that less rain falls here than elsewhere on the Caribbean coast. These Lowlands are composed of alluvial deposits washed off the slopes or deposited at the mouths of the rivers. Though of limited extent, they are usually poorly drained and dotted with swamps. The adjacent Uplands also support a tropical forest, which extends inland to a very irregular line where the "Caribbean" and "Northern Highland" environments meet. For reasons not yet well known, the tropical forest occurs also in some of the northerly and higher sections of
the
Honduran
Plateau.
TRIBAL DIVISIONS AND HISTORY*

THE CUNA-CHOCO
At
DIVISION^
the time of the Conquest the Darien region
was inhabited by
tribes
speaking dialects belonging to two languages which the Spaniards named
Coiba and Cueva. The meaning of these names in terms of existing dialects
or tribes
is
may now be
tant.
not clear perhaps Coiba was a larger linguistic category. Cueva extinct, having been spoken by a tribe which is no longer ex;
On
the other hand, elements of
Cueva may be present

tribal
in the dialect
spoken by the modern San Bias Cuna.
The Choco Group.
The designation Choco, as a
name, does not
occur in the early literature, though Oviedo y Valdes (1851-55, vol. 4,

*
The locations of the Central American tribes are shown on map 2. The data on the Cuna and Choc6 are briefed from a manuscript submitted by D. B.
Stout.
50
p.
SOUTH AilBRICAN INDIANS

121) mentions a chief
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
to a province in 1575
named Coquo, and the name Choco was applied (Wassen, 1935, p. 42). Beginning with Balboa in 1511, the Conquistadors made a series of
explorations through various parts of the Choco area. In most cases they were driven back by the Choco, who were to be feared because of their
poisonous weapons and perhaps also for their cannibalism. Successful entry of the country was not accomplished by Europeans until 1654, when
missionaries established themselves there.
their
work was
carried on for a time by neophytes.

in fact,
have been a peaceful people;

described as
and Choco during the 19th century they were

until 1687,
They remained
Latterly, the
more
docile
and
less jealous of their
independence than the
neighboring Cuna.
The Choco have remained aloof from the influences of the Europeans. They have never been employed away from their homeland in large numbers, nor have they engaged in trade of commercial proportions. Negroes were introduced into the area very early and they have mixed with some
of the Choco.
These Negroes have replaced the Indians along the lower
courses of the rivers.
The Choco of modern times are composed of three groups: (1) The Northern or true Choco, (2) the Southern Choco, and (3) the Catio. The Northern Choco appear to be the most populous of the three. They dwell
on the lower courses of the rivers flowing into the Golfo de San Miguel and along the rivers of the Pacific coast of Colombia. There is a concentration of this group on the Rio Baudo and on the Rio Saija. The Southern Choco are concentrated about the Rio San Juan, particularly on the Rio Docordo and on the Rio Micay. The Catio dwell in the eastern parts of the Atrato River valley. The Cuna Group. The Cuna are divided into two sections. The main-
Cuna inhabit the headwaters of the rivers on the Pacific slope of eastern Panama, several small settlements in the lower Atrato Valley, and the eastern shore of the Golfo de Uraba. The San Bias Cuna inhabit the small islands along the Caribbean coast between the Golfo de San Bias and Cabo Tiburon. Throughout the historic period the area occupied by the Cuna has been steadily shrinking. The land vacated in the south and about the Golfo de Uraba has been taken up by Negroes and Choco. European and Negro contact began to affect the Cuna culture in 1540, ^nd many Indians were enslaved. To escape this some of the Cuna retreated up the river valleys. Meanwhile bands of escaped Negro slaves settled on the borders of Cuna territory, where their descendents may still
land
be found.
turies,
Contact with Europeans was continued during the 17th and 18th cenwhen English and French pirates were based on the Cuna islands.
significance also
is
Of
the Scotch Darien Colony and the French Colony

at
which existed between 1690 and 1757
Concepcion.
After the treaty
5 EA
AC
fXT/IMIf/ATCO
Vte TftC
SPMKHKOS ARfiiyeo
90'
_L_
(Face p.
50)
Map 2. The
native tribes of Central America.
(Prepared by Frederick Johnson.)

(Face p. 50)
Vol. 4

Cuna
lived at peace with the Spaniards.
51
of 1790 the
the
Subsequent to 1821
government of New Granada accepted in principle their independence. About the middle of the 19th century an extensive trade in tortoise shell, ipecac, vegetable ivory, and rubber developed. At the present time trade flourishes though it is largely restricted to coconuts. Formerly, Cuna men shipped aboard the English and American ships, which came
at irregular intervals.
Now, however,
at Colon,
companies established
a regular trade is maintained by and the Cuna men have gradually given
up the sea to work on the mainland.
No
were
missions were established

finally established
17th and 19th centuries.
among the mainland Cuna between the In 1907 Catholic and Protestant missionaries
which were
ainong the San Bias Cuna. They opened schools, augmented by government-supported schools. Some of the pupils have continued their schooling in Panama City and Colon. This educational activity was interrupted in 1925 when one faction of the San Bias Cuna, encouraged and guided by an American, staged a revolution and attempted to form an independent government. Since then the reservation boundaries and laws, first established in 1915, have been clarified. The Panamanian Government has reservation offices at two islands, but the San Bias Cuna have title to the island and a strip of the coast. They possess the power to withhold from outsiders permission to buy, settle, or establish businesses on their island.
later
THE TALAMANCA
DIVISION
"
The Guaymi Group.
The term Guayini was

Laguna de
first
loosely applied to
the people living in the vicinity of the
Chiriqui.
By 1578
the
people inhabiting the Miranda Valley on the Rio Cricamola were identified as the Guaymi tribe, and soon after it was noted that they also inhabited
the area to the east as far as the Rio Calovebora.
southern, or Pacific, slopes of the Cordillera were not identified as

until 1631,
The Indians on the Guaymi
when this term was applied to Indians living in Guabala and A more definite record of Guaymi living in the environs of the village of Chiriqui was made in 1638. During the 16th century small groups of Gunymi broke off from the main tribe and moved westward to various locations along the Caribbean
San
Felix.
slopes of the mountains.

of time with other tribes,
e. g.,
These groups were allied for varying lengths the Terraha. During the first part of the
moved as many groups of Guaymi as they could Panama. Later, other tribes were moved from conquer to southwestern moved the Tropical Forest area to the Pacific coast, and the Guaymi
17th century the Spaniards
1932 and 1933. The information about the Gvayml was obtained by Frederick Johnson during were carried on under the The two expeditions to Panami and much of the subsequent research information presented here ts briefed auspices of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University. The Museum. an unfinished manuscript and is published by courtesy of the
from
52
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
eastward into the central part of the coastal Lowlands of Chiriqui. Since this time the Guaymi have been, in fact still are, withdrawing into regions
as remote as possible
from European settlements. Recent studies have tended to emphasize the opinion of former students
that the
Guaymi
inhabited the savanna area at the time of the Conquest.

this,
There
is
no proof of
because the tribes inhabiting the savannas candetail.

is
not to be classified in such
in the savannas, but there
The
distribution of
Several different languages were spoken no proof that any one of these was Gxiaymi. Guaymi on the savannas, based on vocabularies ob-
tained since the beginning of the 19th century,

location of descendants of
may
well represent only the

to the
Guaymi who were moved

It is
many
mission
towns during the 16th and 17th centuries.

as they possessed a
probable that some of the
people indigenous to the savannas spoke languages related to Guaymi, just
number of culture traits common to the whole region. The present-day Guaymi are composed of the Guaymi proper and a mixture of numerous groups who have fled from European domination. The
people occupy most of the northern and sections of the southern slopes of
the Cordillera, particularly of the Serrania de Tabasara.
In general the
if
Guaymi do not frequent

do, they do not occupy
the coastal regions in large numbers or,

of time.
indefinite, for this
they
them for long periods

of the
The modern boundaries
Guaymi are
group
is
surrounded by peoples of mixed blood who are under more direct control of the Panamanian Government. In general the Guaymi are found be-
tween the Panama-Costa Rica boundary and the longitude of Santa Fe, Province of Veraguas. Mixed but unclassifiable groups, some of whom acknowledge their aboriginal descent, are found scattered about Chiriqui and Veraguas, particularly on the Asuero Peninsula.
Pinart's (1885, p. 438) identification of subtribes of the
stantially correct.
Guaymi
is
sub-
It is likely that these subtribes are the
remnants of
aboriginal sociopolitical divisions.
The Move have their headquarters in the Miranda Valley and on the Rio Cricamola. They also live on the Caribbean slopes of the mountains between the Laguna de Chiriqui and the Rio Belen. Scattered members of this group may be found in the Highlands of Chiriqui and on the Pacific slopes of the Serrania de Tabasara. The Murire live in the eastern sections of the Serrania de Tabasara and are said to inhabit sections of the Caribbean coast and Upland as far east
as the Rio
Code
del Norte.
Strongly Hispanicized remnants
live in the
eastern sections of the Pacific watershed.
In the west, the Murire and
Move
group
either occupy neighboring localities or else representatives of

live
one
among the others. The Muoi have practically disappeared as a unit if present information can be trusted. At one time they lived about Chorcha and along the Rio
Vol. 4]
53
Fonseca in the Province of Chiriqui, a location to which they may have

migrated after 1600.
The Talamanca group.

closely allied to the
The
Dorasque.
In
contrast to
guistic classifications this tribe, politically
and
socially,
some linwas apparently

This relation-
Changuena
at the time of the Conquest.
ship
may
be followed through the incomplete records into the latter part
In the 16th century the Dorasque were living between the Changuena and the Guaymi. Boundaries mentioned are the Rio Guarano and the Rio Cricamola. Following the conquest the Dorasque
of the 19th century.
joined the Changuena in order to combat the Spaniards and to protect
themselves from the raids of the Mosquito and the English buccaneers.
The
attacks of the latter are said to have resulted in a retreat into Terraba
territory
the combined Terraba
home
of
and an amalgamation or at least a federation with them. Finally, and Dorasque-Changuena retreated to the former the Changuena. After this the movements of the Dorasque are
obscure until the very last records of them.
The Dorasque,
allied
with
some Cltanguena, were to be found south of Cerro Horqueta, on the Rio Chiriqui and in the environs of Caldera, Potrero de Vargas, Dolega, and possibly Guabala. Dolega was an ancient mission of the Dorasque. It is doubtful if any true Dorasque are alive today.
The Changuena.
the Rio Robalo,
This
tribe
was
said by the early Spaniards to be
located in the mountainous region southwest of Almirante Bay, along
and about the headwaters of the Rios Changuena, Bun, and Puan. Andrade (1709) says that they numbered about 5,000. A few Changuena were reported living in their native region by Gabb In 1900, a few families, said to be "Chelibas" and closely ( 1875, p. 486) related to the Changuena, were living to the north of the Volcan de Chiriqui on the headwaters of the Changuinola River. Other Changuena
.
to
to the Pacific coast with the Terraba and Dorasque. They are said have settled in regions northeast of Burica and the Golfo Dulce, They are now extinct or inextricably mixed with the Bribri, Terraba, and
moved
Guaymi.
The Terraba.
The Terraba
lived in the
Lowlands and lower Uplands
between the Rios Sixaola and Changuinola. They also occupied some of the islands at the mouth of the Laguna de Chiriqui. The Tojar, either a subtribe or a name synonymous with the Terraba, lived on the island
Tojar as late as 1763. The Terraba, particularly a subgroup called the Quequexque, were said to occupy lands adjacent to Guaymi territory.
of
Terraba were removed to a mission in southeastern Costa Rica, now the village of Terraba. Other groups migrated in company with the Dorasque and Changuena.
Some
of the
^The Boruca.Dovis Stone (1943) correctly notes that the modem Boruca are probably composed of a mixture of tribes indigenous to the
54
SOUTH AAIERICAN INDIANS
IB.A.E. Bull. 143
Terraba Plain and neighboring regions. Probably, also, the tribe includes increments from tribes moved into the region in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The
early information
is
equivocal.
The Boruca may be

Quepo.
the
descendants of the Coto,
who were enemies
of the
On
the other
hand, the Boruca,

Burica,
may have
first identified as a tribe living in the environs of Pico counted the Quepo and Coto as subtribes. This latter
alignment
to
is used here because the earliest information which has come hand implies some such political organization. The language of the Boruca has been classified with that of the Dorasque and CJtmiguena. That of the Quepo has been linked, at least by implication, with the Guetar language. The data prevent the construction of any satisfactory conclu(Peralta, 1901, p. 130; Lehmann, 1920, vol. 1, p. 201 Stone, 1943.) sion.
;
The
Brihri.
The
origin of the
name
Bribri
it
is
obscure.
It first
appears
in the literature of the 19th century,
and
may have been
derived from
some equivalent form. In 1709 it was suggested that the 7,000 removed to Boruca, but nothing concerning the outcome of lis proposal has come to light. Nothing is known of their early home. Gal b ( 1875, p. 486) places the Brihri on the east side of the Rio Coen, wh re they occupied all the Lari, Uren, and Zhorquin River Valleys. Th( same author says that the term Biceita was not known as a tribal name in 1875. Peralta (1890, p. 70) says that the Rio Sixaola flows, from its sources to the sea, through the territories of Cabecares and
Viceita or
Viceitas could be
t
Viceitas.
The Cabecar.
ments.
It is
It is impossible to identify this tribe in the earlier
docu-
probable that, like the Bribri, they were closely related to
some authors claim that their language was disLehmann, 1920). The first definite record of their location was made by Gabb (1875, p. 486), who says that the Cabecar lived between the frontiers of civilization and the western banks of the
the Guetar, although
tinctive (Pinart, 1900;
Rio Coen.
The Central Costa Rica group. The named for a chief, Huetar, who lived to the
Herradura.
Guetar.
The
Guetar were
north and east of Punta de
In addition to Huetar himself, the records mention four other chiefs who controlled political divisions of varying sizes and imporThese chiefs were named Garabito, Guarco, Pacaca, and Asseri. tance.
The
actual political system

possible,
and
its
divisions are obscure
and puzzling.
though believed by some to be doubtful, that there was a It is strong intertribal organization even before the Conquest. The territory ruled over by the chiefs mentioned above extended from the eastern shore of the southern section of the Golfo de Nicoya across Costa Rica to the
Caribbean.
ing from
the Caribbean coast the Guetar inhabited the area extendthe vicinity of Port Limon northward to the region about the
On
mouth
of the
Pacuare River.
Vol. 4]
55
The Northern Costa Rica group. The Voto. "These Indians occupied the valleys of the San Carlos, Pocosal and Saraqui Rivers. To the south they extended to the Cordillera Central, and probably across these mountains into the Province of Alajuela" (Lothrop, 1926 b, p. 16).
The Voto were a
chieftain
separate tribe, but they were tributary to the Guetar
Garabito.
Doris
Stone
(correspondence),
following
in
Gabb
(1875), says that the Voto "continue today as the
Rama
Nicaragua."
Remnant groups may have been absorbed by the Rama. At the present writing, however, the only way to distinguish the two tribes is through
detailed linguistic analysis,
and
until this has
been accomplished Gabb's
statement must remain tentative.
The Suerre.
The
Suerre lived on the Atlantic coast of Costa Rica
behind the Laguna de Tortuguero and around the mouths of the Rios
Raventazon and Pacuare.

this tribe,
Four
chieftains
were said
them.
but nothing
is
known concerning
to be members of They were named
Suerre, Chiuppa, Camachire, and Cocori.
The
Guetar, Voto, and Suerre tribes were conquered very early, and
members of other tribes, particularly from southern Costa Rica, were moved into their villages. The languages of the three tribes were closely related to those spoken in southern and eastern Costa Rica. The known characteristics of their culture indicate the same close relationship with These three tribes had, however, little if any the tribes to the south. formal relationship with their neighbors. The existing records have been summarized by Lothrop (1926 b), the principal source of the preceding
notes.
The
Corobtci.
The
Corobici take their
name from
a chieftain en-
countered by Gil Gonzalez Davila.

lived along the southern shores of
In early Spanish times the Corobici
Lake Nicaragua between the Rio Frio
and the Cordillera Volcanica. Some claim they inhabited the Solentiname Islands in Lake Nicaragua; others say that the people on these islands were a branch of the Rama. Probably the Corobici occupied a tongue of territory extending westward across the Cordillera de Tilleran and through the valley of the Rio Tenorio to the northern shore of the Golfo de Nicoya. As the Spaniards conquered the country the Corobici retreated to the
plains about
San
Carlos.
Later, as Guatuso, they occupied the inaccessible
region about the headwaters of the Rio Frio and perhaps also the valleys of the Rios Zapote, Guacalito, and Cucaracha to the west (Rivet, 1924,
681). Apparently separate enclaves, which may have been either indigenous or fugitive groups, were to be found in the region between Bagaces and Esparata. About the middle of the 18th century these groups raided and plundered the countryside, but they were driven back to the
p.
north across the Cordillera.
Between that time and about 1860 the Guatuso lived in comparative seclusion in the upper sections of the Rio Frio Valley. Recent exploration and conquest of the valley has resulted
56

Guatuso.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
in the decimation of the
Some were
captured and sold as
slaves in Nicaragua.
(Lothrop, 1926, b; Conzemius, 1930; Fernandez,
1889, pp. 622-640.)

in
At
the present time remnants of the Guatuso live
upper sections of the Rio Frio.
Some
students do not agree with the location and implied relationships
given above.
Lines (1938 a) states that the Guatuso were originally Guetar and that, because they were neighbors of the "Chontal" and "Chorotega," their "race" has become very mixed. Conzemius (1930, p. 105) implies that the Corobici are different from the Guatuso, and he believes that the latter are descendants of the people
and El Garabita.
who live in Aranjuez These two towns and the descendants from the original inhabitants are now believed to be Guetar. A note by Conzemius to the efifect that some Guatuso on the Rio Frio are actually Rama Indians may well be due either to recent undocumented wanderings of the latter or to
variations in the interpretation of linguistic data.
The
early data cannot
be interpreted in this way.
to the effect that the Corobici inhabited the
Doris Stone (correspondence) quotes the statement by Oviedo y Valdes Chara and Pocosi Islands in
is
the Golfo de Nicoya, and she
led to suspect that the

is
Nicoya Peninsula
was once Corobici
territory.
This suspicion
it is
not based upon records

In
made during
this case,
the Conquest or later, for
recorded that this territory was
occupied by the Orotina during and subsequent to the 16th century-.
Oviedo's statement refers only to the islands.
The
delimitation
of the habitat of the prehistoric Corobici
depends upon the discovery, on
the peninsula and elsewhere, of cultural material which

as the product of Corobici industry.
may
be identified
The Rama.
The records
indicate that the
Rama
probably lived on the
Caribbean coast of Nicaragua between Bluefields and the Rio San Juan. Some authors believe that their southern border lay at the Rio Punta
by no means certain. is on Rama Key in the Laguna de Bluefields. A few scattered settlements are found between Conzemius (1930, p. 94) says that the this island and Punta Gorda.
Gorda.
location of the northern
The
boundary
is
At
the present time the principal settlement of
Rama
language
is
spoken by about 270 persons.

of the
The former western boundary

of the hinterland to the north.
p.
Rama
is
indeed vague.
They
1853
a,
appear to have inhabited the San Juan River Valley and probably sections
The Melchora
(Squier, 1852, p. 79
94
f),
a group of unknown origin, were probably
Rama
living in the
middle reaches of the Rio San Juan. Vague suggestions of the existence of political units justifies the assumption that the Rama were confined to
the area east of
Lake Nicaragua.
if
There
is
the possibility that
Roma
families, or small enclaves of this tribe,
have lived among the Guatuso since
the middle of the 18th century,
not before.
cf.
(For arguments identifying

Conzemius, 1930.)
Rama groups
in northwestern Costa Rica,
Vol. 4]

THE CARIBBEAN DIVISION
:
57
EAST COAST'
The information from

colonists of this region
is
the accounts of the first conquerors
and the few

equivocal.
exceedingly small in quantity, and

it is
it is
Some
references employ the term "Chontal," but
impossible to
know
whether these refer to enclaves of "foreign" origin or whether this term was applied by early writers to the ancestors of the present population. The Lowlands and the lower Uplands of the hinterland were inhabited by peoples now called the Mosquito and Sumo. Unfortunately, the records
made previous
peoples
is
to the
end
of the 17th century supply information for but
a small section of the Mosquito coast.

practically nonexistent.
Early information about the inland
The Mosquito coast was discovered by Columbus on his fourth voyage. Between that time and the middle of the 17th century the country was only occasionally visited by Europeans. The coast became a refuge for the English buccaneers who, after the middle of the 17th century, established themselves at
Cabo Gracias a
its
Dios.
The ensuing
alliance
between
the English
and Indians resulted

expense of
in the
expansion of the territory of the

Effective raids,
far
local tribe at the
aboriginal neighbors.
particularly against Spanish settlements,
were made along the coast as
south as the Laguna de Chiriqui.

aboriginal culture
As
a consequence of this alliance the
was profoundly modified.

under the jurisdiction
of
By 1688
made
the English
the buccaneers were masters of the Mosquito coast and they

it
the Mosquito chief governor general of
Government
at
Jamaica.
Before long the English established
a protectorate over the coast and even sent troops there in 1744.
Spain
protested this action, and following the treaty of 1786 England evacuated
the territory.
in the region.
Spain was, however, unable to establish effective control
In 1821 the English protectorate was renewed. The Mosquito Chief was crowned King in 1825, and it was claimed that his territory extended from Cabo Gracias a Dios to the Laguna de Chiriqui. Later the southern boundary was relocated at the Rio San Juan. The Mosquito King ruled until 1860 when, through the intervention of the United States, the English ceded part of their territory to Honduras and the remainder to Nicaragua. A section lying between the Rio Hueso and the Rio Rama, extending inland to longitude 84 15' N., was set aside as a reservation governed by the natives under Nicaraguan sovereignty. The population of this reservation was composed for the most part of English-speaking "Creoles," the mixed descendants of Jamaican Negroes and Mosquito and some Rama
Indians.
The majority
of the aboriginal
difficulties
After a long series of
groups lived outside the reserve. Nicaraguan Government, in 1894, the

Data from
' The following information is a rearrangement of data submitted by Kirchhofl. manuscripts by Doris Stone and Frederick Johnson have been added.
58

it
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
took possession of the reservation incorporating
into the republic as the
Department
of Zelaya,
now
the Department of Bluefields,
The Mosquito group. The account of the fourth voyage of Columbus and the few 17th century descriptions of the Mosquito coast are difficult to evaluate in terms of the more adequate later descriptions. It is probable that Mosquito were living between Cabo Gracias a Dios and the Rio
Wawa. Either the inhabitants of much of the coast to the south were unknown or else early descriptions of them have been lost. The first satisfactory record was made by Exquemelin in 1672. He found them
Cabo Gracias a Dios and the Contemporary writers (e. g., Raveneau de Lussan, 1689; "M. W." in 1699 [1752]) mention the wreck of a slave ship, in 1641, which freed about 200 Negroes. These took refuge among the Mosquito at Cabo Gracias a Dios, and, as has been emphasized by many writers down to the present day, they were largely responsible for the primary introduction of African traits into the culture of the Mosquito coast.
divided into
at
two
subtribes, one located at
other
"Mostique"
(Sandy Bay?).
Some 150
occupied
the Rio
all
years after Exquemelin's observations (1672) the Mosquito
important river basins between Cabo Gracias a Dios and
San Juan.
They had
also disrupted the distribution of the fugitive
to settle in the Lowland regions between San Juan and the Laguna de Chiriqui. By the beginning of the 19th century bands or subtribes of Mosquito were identifiable. Today 5 of these, with a population of about 15,000, are known. These appear as dis-
populations
the
who had attempted
tinct political units, but their
languages
may
differ only slightly.
Attempts
to point out differences in their ethnology (cf. esp.
Conzemius, 1932) are
significant, but further detailed study in the field is necessary before they
may
be fully accepted.
Inevitably,
most
of the
Mosquito have mixed with Negroes.
Latterly,
mixtures between the Indian-Negro-European populations and the MosThe strongest mixture of Negro blood has quito have been frequent.
among the Baldam and Cabo. The Baldam were first known about Sandy Bay, but a part of the group has migrated to the Laguna de las Perlas. The Cabo live along the coast between Sandy Bay and the Rio Grande. The Mam moved to the Rio Patuca, absorbing some of the indigenous Paya and driving the remainder to the west. The
been observed IVanki remained in the valley of the Rio
Wanks
and, according to Conze-
mius, they are moving up the river. By 1932 they had reached the town The Tawira live a short distance from the Coast, between of Bocay, Sandy Bay and the Rio Grande. The Mam and Wanki call the Mosquito living south of Cabo Gracias a Dios "Tawira" (heavy-haired). The Caho and Baldam call themselves "True Mosquito." The Sumo group. Sumo is a generic name given by the Mosquito to a number of tribes speaking a language closely related to Mosquito. They
Vol. 4]
59
now number between
3,000 and 4,000 people, and they occupy the lower Uplands and upper sections of the river valleys west of the Caribbean coast in Honduras and Nicaragua. Almost nothing in the 16th-centurv documents can be construed as a description of the Sumo, and, as a matter
of
fact, little was known of them until the very last of the 17th century. Beginning with the 18th century, the increasing amount of information,
principally
from
travelers' accounts, defines 10 subtribes of
which 6 are
now
either extinct or
combined with other groups.
Honduras along the middle These are slowly being absorbed by the Mosquito. Other members of the Twahka have migrated to Nicaragua, where they live in the lower reaches of the Rios Waspuk, Lakus (Lecus?), Wawa, Cuculaya, Hamaco, and even Prinzapolca and Rio Grande. The closest linguistic relatives of the Twalika are the Panamaka, who prefer to call themselves "Twahka" (= True Sumo).
live in five villages located in
Some Twahka
reaches of the Rio Patuca.
The Panamaka
live
along the tributaries of the
Wanks
River.
Relatively
pure groups have been found on the Rios Bocay, Pis Pis, and Kwabul ( ?). Two groups of Panamaca have moved to the upper reaches of the Rio
Prinsapolca and the Rio Grande.
Twahka.
The Bawahka were expelled from the Rios Wawa and Cuculaya by They live today on the Rio Banbana.
Ulva, the southernmost
the
today along the upper reaches It is likely that other unreof the Rio Grande and the Rio Escondido. corded enclaves are still extant. Early knowledge of this tribe in eastern Nicaragua is scanty. They were probably neighbors of the Rama, occupylive
The
Sumo,
ing a stripe of territory between Lake Nicaragua and the coast.
They
also
occupied sections of southern Jinotega and were distributed to the west
along the northern slopes of the Nicaraguan Lowland, extending through Honduras into eastern El Salvador (Ponce, 1873, vol. 1 Squier, 1860 a).
;
They occupied
tega,
the western parts of their territory in
company with Choro-
Nahuatlan, and possibly even Lenca, Mafagalpa, and other groups.

to continuous
Owing
wars with the Mosquito, the Kukra have only

still
recently been exterminated as a subtribe, but individuals
live in their
native haunts,
The Yosco the Panamanca and

polca, a region
about the Laguna de Bluefields and on the Corn Islands. lived on the Rio Tuma in territory which was invaded by
i.
e.,
Ulva.
Tradition has
it
that the
because they were sodomites.
The Prinsu
lived
Yosco were killed off on the lower Rio Prinsa-
now
inhabited by the Tawira.
The Tunla, speaking
dialect resembling Bawahka, were a mixture of Prinsu and Tawira. The Boa formerly lived on the upper Rio Kcwaska (?), and the Silam and the Ku inhabited the valley of the Rio Waspuk.
It is believed
T.
by some that the Yosco language differed from other
Sumo
dialects (cf.
Mason,
A.. 1940; Johnson, 1940).
60

THE CARIBBEAN
DIVISION
:
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
NORTH COAST
(1941, etc.) advances the
is
North Coast group. The Paya. Stone

idea that the term "Taia" recorded by
the
the
Columbus
an early spelling
of
modern term Paya.
Tlie territory of the Paya, she believes, lay between
Aguan River
to the
Valley and the Wanks River and extended southward Olancho and Jamastran Valleys. The date of the establishment of
It is possible that there
these boundaries corresponds with the settlement of the country following
the Conquest.
was a southward
drift of the
Paya,
who
took refuge in the interior from the Spanish attacks on the coast.
Possibly the interior boundaries were modified by this movement.

conservative interpretations locate the early
the
More
Paya along
the coast between
Patrum and Wanks Rivers. Conzemius (1927-28) lists the towns of El Carbon and El Dulce Nombre (Culmi), saying that 250 to 300 Paya Indians may be found in each. Also, 30 Paya live in El Payal, on the Paulaya River, and 40 Indians live in Puskira, located on the Plantain River 15 km, (about 10 miles) from the coast. Stone (1941) accepts Squier's statement that the Seco on the Tinto River were a band of Paya. If these are the Seco mentioned by Young (1842) they should be located on the Rio Sico (Seco), a tributary of the Rio Negro (also called Tinto) in northeastern Honduras. The descendants of the Seco of the Rio Sico are to be found in the neighborhood of El Carbon (Conzemius, 1927-28). Stone (1941) also says that Conzemius believes that these people the Towka were probably Paya. were Sumo, as their name suggests. The identification of the original inhabitants of Catacamas is difficult. Stone believes that they were Paya, and Conzemius says that they may have been Sumo. In 1921 there were a few more than 600 Paya (Conzemius, 1927-28). At the end of the 18th century Ramon de Anguiano estimated that there were 10,000 to 12,000 Paya. This estimate seems to be greatly exaggerated. Sapper (1899) estimated 825. Kirchhoff believes that Fray Espino was referring to Paya when he said, in 1674, that he settled 6,000 It is probable that Espino was referring to Jicaque. in 7 villages.
The
Jicaque.
Stone
(cf. esp.
of the documents,
thrown new
light
1941) has, through recent interpretations upon the "Jicaque Area." She has
that
emphasized the possibility that the term Jicaque is of Nahuatlan origin and it was used as one of the "terminos provinciales," as were such terms
as Chontal, Pupuluca, and, to a
more
limited extent perhaps,
Lenca and
In her opinion Jicaque was applied to peoples speaking languages and having cultural traditions which differ from the present-day Jicaque.
Paya.
This opinion depends largely upon the interpretation of Vazquez (171416),
from
whom
later writers
drew much of
their material.
In later times the term Jicaque was used by anthropologists to designate

the language spoken by the inhabitants of Yoro, southern Atlantida, and
Cortes.
Because of
difficulties
with tribal terminology
it
is still
impos-
Vol. 4]

now
61
sible to trace the history of the people
called Jicaque back into proto-
However, Von Hagen (1943) has attempted to identify earlier groups. He locates more recently extinct groups and completely Hispanicized remnants in the Sierra de Omoa, the Ulua-Chamelicon Valley, and in the Departments of Yoro and Atlantida. He also accepts 18th- and 19th-century identifications of the Jicaque de Palmar and the Jicaque de Yoro. The Jicaque tribe, which he names Torr.upan, left the town of Yoro in 1865 and moved to their present location on the Montafia
historic times.
de
la Flor.
THE NORTHERN HIGHLAND
DIVISION
the
The Matagalpa group and

galpa
is
tribe.
Information concerning
Mata-
limited.
They spoke a language related to Ulva and Sumo.

them
is
At
the present time knowledge of
confined almost exclusively to their
language.
in
The
early information indicates that the language
was spoken
northwestern Nicaragua and southwestern Honduras.

soon after the Conquest in northeastern El Salvador.
An
enclave
speaking a language related to Matagalpa, usually called Cacaopera, was

identified
Remnants,
EI
strongly Hispanicized, have been reported near Cacaopera
in eastern
have been located along the Nicaraguanaround the Pantasma Valley, near Esteli in Nicaragua (Stone, correspondence) and at Lislique. Another group has been located near the town of Matagalpa. The Lenca group.^ The term Lenca first appears in the chronicle of Padre Francisco Vazquez (171416), who uses the reports of a Franciscan
Salvador.
Other
groups
Honduran
frontier,
Padre Espino, to recount the conquest of the Honduran Province of Teguzgalpa (Tegucigalpa). Vazquez designates certain Indians as members of the Lenca nation, e.g., Paraka, but at the same time includes the Jicague as speaking the Lenca tongue. He makes the following significant the Lenca Indians of confused language, and statement, however; ". treacherous character and inconstant" (Vazquez, 171416, lib. 5, trat. 1, cap. 7, p. 447). Squier (1858) was the first to apply this term to the Indians in southwestern Honduras, particularly those around Quajiquiro,
friar,
. .
Department of La Paz, and in Intibuca. The language of from the idiom of the Paraka and other people who are We must, therefore, accept Lenca still found in parts of eastern Honduras. as a general term to cover a number of different peoples and dialects, both those of definite interrelationship and those which may have only remote
in the present
these people differs
any connection with one another. Words ending in "-ique," "-quin," "-guara," and "-gua" are Lenca (Squier, 1908; Lehmann, 1920). The former distribution of the Lenca can be traced fairly accurately by the place names on the present-day maps of Honduras and El Salvador. At the present time we designate as Lenca
if
*
This section was written by Doris Stone.
65333448

62
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
the Indians inhabiting the mountainous regions of the Departments of
La
Paz, Intibuca, southern and southeastern Gracias in Honduras, and
the northeastern portion of the Republic of El Salvador.^"
Tribal divisions, population, and distribution.

small sloping cavities of the hillsides and in the
The
Lenca seek high

narrov\r valleys.
country and isolated peaks and hillocks, cultivating their cornfields in the
Upland
Each community
is
formed by a separate
tribe, often
with a slight difference
in dialect (Squier, 1858; also personal observation of the writer).
To-
day, unfortunately, the language has almost entirely disappeared, surviving
only
among
the elders in the
villages in the
Lenca area receive
more remote towns, e. g., Quajiquiro. The their names from the tribes inhabiting
statistics,
them.
La
Paz, according to the

:
Honduran Government
:
has 18,589
chief pure-
pure-blooded Indians
8,861 males and 9,728 females.
The
Indian towns in La Paz are Gualazara, Muyen, Guascupuscua, Chinacla, Ato Viejo, Santa Elena, Mata Palo, Pitahayas, Barrancarai, Aguanqueterique, Quajiquiro, Sabana Larga, Tepanguare, Lepaguare, Ranteca,
Chichicaste,
Guaspopolo,
Guidinmani, Chiderique,
Orovila,
Sigamani,
Choacapa, Inchulile, Guanga, Guascotoro, Pule, Upa, Apacilina, Gruiracaray, Suyate,
Kukinca, and Yarula.

live in
Opatoro, Cacaoterique, Puringla, and Cabanas (formerly Similaton)
have also a large Indian population, although some Hondurans

the townships.
Intibuca has 32,707 Indians: 15,669 males and 17,083 females.
The
pure-Indian towns are: Semane, Chogola, Malguare,

cotoro,
cai,
La
Silimani, Guas-
Monquecagua, Quiaterique, Misiure, Oloas, Siquire, Yace, Chupu-
Segua, Cangual, Jagua, Cacauchagua, Cacahuatal, Masaya, Cotala, Yamaranguila, Jiquinlata, Coloraringua, El Talquekzal, Kiragiiira,
Guatateca, Cosongra, Cirisma, and Dolores, the former Yolula,
the town,
increasing.
Intibuca,
to be
has
Honduran
inhabitants,
this,
and
their
number seems
In addition to
is
a portion of the community, called La

street
Esperanza,
life
completely Honduran, which quite naturally influences the

side.
of
the
indigenous
is
the
dividing
line
between
to
the two towns.
Many
of the
Indians from Intibuca have

Gracias, however,
moved
Yamaranguila
to be
more
to themselves.
Gracias has a total of 5,659 Indians.
was
is
at one
time very heavily populated by Spaniards.
The Departmento
a meeting
ground for the Chorti from Copan and Ocotepeque, with the remnants of what were possibly the ancient Pipil, who are still found around Ocotepeque. Only the southeastern part of the Department is occupied by Lenca, the exact number of whom is not known. In this section some
named Poton who inhabited southeastern El That they were a discrete unit seems certain. Their language has been identified as Maya, Ulva, Nahuatlan, and Lenca by different authors, but Frederick Johnson. as yet no satisfactory decision can be made.
(1873),
M Ponce
among
others,
describes a tribe
Salvador.
The
identity of this group is not clear.
Vol. 4]

towns can be classed as Lenca,
e. g.,
63
of the
Cerquin, Congolon, Tixila,
Gualcixe, and Guanajulque.
In El Salvador most of the towns on the northeastern frontier have
some Lenca
inhabitants,
THE MESO-AMERICAN
DIVISION
^^
There have been at least four migrations from the north into Central America of peoples known as Meso- Americans (KirchhofT, 1943). To these may be added the possibility of a less extensive but significant tendency of the Lenca to push southward. The consequences of the migrations were that when one group replaced another in a restricted area repercussions were felt over the length and breadth of the land. Although the first of these movements began during the middle of the Christian Era, they were continuing at the time of the Spanish Conquest. The tribes herein discussed were thus in a state of flux, and so, to a lesser degree perhaps, were their indigenous neighbors. The mapping of the tribes in this division is particularly difficult. Discussions of their location are many and few agree (cf. Lehmann, 1920; Johnson, 1940; Stone, 1940 b, 1941). As these Meso- American immigrants carved living space for themselves out of lands formerly
owned by
indigenous peoples, their territory inevitably changed with the fortunes of

their conflict with indigenous tribes.
first
The
scene of this struggle,

:
when
viewed by the Spaniards, was inevitably a complicated one Peoples speaking several languages and possessing different cultural traditions were trying to exist as local entities, though occupying neighboring towns
scattered over the countryside without regard for linear boundaries.
The
"aboriginal" population had been fragmented through the conquests by
waves of people with
different cultural heritages.

is
The
on
present location of a few of the remnants of these peoples

2.
shown
map
Most
of these tribes are extinct, at least as units identifiable
with those recorded in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Remnants have
taken refuge in regions on the fringes of the modern population, which These remnants are strongly Hispanicized is relatively heavy in this area.
and, to some extent, mixed with other Indian populations, which were moved into the region during early Colonial resettlement programs or
which were attracted to it because of economic motives, the region recently having been almost completely Europeanized. The Chorotega group. The tribes of this group, named with terms which probably designated dialects, were the descendants of the first definitely identifiable migration from the north. Their language is related to that spoken by the Otomi, Popoloca, Masateca, and Chmpanec of
Mexico.
de Fonseca.
"This
Choluteca was spoken along the northern shores of the Golfo Mangue was spoken in the area between lake Managua
Stone and Frederick Johnson.
section combines data contributed by Doris
64
and the
ing
Pacific.
tB.A.E. Bull. 143
Stone (correspondence) has identified an enclave speakits
Mangue
near Quepos in Costa Rica, but
"tribal" identity is not
Nagrmidan and Dirian are two enclaves speaking some form of Mangue; they are named after chiefs. The Orotina occupied the Nicoya area, extending westward to Lake Nicaragua. They also were discovered
revealed.
on the north shore

language was
of the Golfo
de Nicoya west of Puntarenas.

tribe,
The Maribio group.

first
The second migration ended when a
whose
Maribio and later named Subtiaba, settled in the area about Leon in Guatemala. After the Conquest the Subtiaba were reduced to a few survivors living to the east of their 16th-century home.
called
Squier obtained a vocabulary from Subtiaba remnants living about the
town
of Subtiaba.
The Maribichicoa were a group which
split off
from
the Subtiaba during a famine which occurred before the Conquest.
The Nahuatlan group.
The
third and fourth migrations to this area
were composed of peoples speaking several forms of Nahuatlan. These people brought with them some of the historical and other traditions of their parent nation and the penchant for incorporating their contemporary history into their extensive folklore.
The
earliest of these
migrations
brought the Nicarao who, by the end of the 11th century, had settled on
the Isthmus of Rivas.
Of
the other enclaves, the time of arrival can be
determined only in the case of those groups which arrived just before
the Spanish Conquest.
1586,
The Nahuatlato lived on Punta Conseguina until when they were moved to the towns of El Vie jo and Chinandega.
Rio San Juan.
The
Desagicadero, apparently a commercial colony, lived on the delta
of the
The
identity of the
Bagace
is
not certain, but
apparently some people spoke Nahuatlan near that town.
The
Sigua,
with members of the Terraba and other tribes, occupied the Island of
To jar and
part of the delta of the
Changuena River.
Other small groups
speaking Aztec or Pipil but lacking specific names have been identified
in various parts of
is
Honduras and Nicaragua.
Their approximate location
indicated on the map.
Classification of Tribes in Central America

Division
Group
Tribe
Subtribes and
r
<,
Synonyms
Northern or True Choco
Cholo, Empera, Emberak, Citara, Paparo,
Andagêda.
Choco
Cuna-Choco
Southern Choco
Catio f Mainland
Nonama, Noaname.
Cuna
r
Cunacuna.
Chucuna, Tulc, Mandinga, Bayano, Chepo, Chucunaque, Paya, Caiman.
Cuna
1 San
Bias Cuna
J 1
I
'
'
Vol. 4]

Group
Tribe
'
65
Synonyms
Division
Subtribes and
Murire, Muoi, Move,

Valiente, Culantro, Nuite, Norteno, Bukuete, Artieda, Chaliva. c.
["Northern Guaymi
(For Lehmann,
additions, 1920, and
'
Guaymi
others.)
Southern Guaymi
Protohistoric and early historic enclaves located in the savanna area. (Cf. Lothrop,
1937.)
r
'
Dorasque
Dorace, Dorado, Irabalo, Chiriluo, Suasimi, Chumulu, Dolega, Thorasque.
Changuena
J Changuina, Chaliba
I
f
I
Shelaba.
Terraba
Tojar, Techi, Tirub, Tirribi, Techbi, Tichbi, Depso, Norteno, Quequexque, Terrebe, Brururau.
Burica,
Talamanca
r
Talamanaca
Boruca
-I
L
'
Brunka, Quepo, Burucaca, Turucaca, Goto.
Blancos, Valientes, Biseita, Veceita, Biceyta, Abicetava,
Bribri
Talamanca, Urinama,
Tariaca, Pocosi, Lari,
Uren.
{Cavecara, Coen,
Cabecar
Chirripo, Tucurriqui,
Estrella.
Central Costa
Rica
Guetar
<
l
Guarco, Garabito, Pacaca, Asseri, Huetar, Brusela (?).

Barba.
rVoto
Northern Costa Rica
Suerre
Corobici
T
Chiuppa, Camachire,
Cocori.
( ?)
J Guatuso, Los Tices

Melchora.
Rama
1
the basis of scanty linguistic evidence. Equally acceptable data indicate that this tribe originally had political if not closer relationships based with their other neighbors. The arrangement here does not deny the validity of classifications
Some
authors classify the Dorasque with the
Guaymi on
on other types of data. These terms are also used as synonyms for the Sigua, a colony speaking Nahuatlan.
66
Division

Group
Tribe
r
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Subtribes and
Synonyms
Mosquito (early name

for tribe)
1
I-
Meskito, Missko, Moscos, Miskito, Moustiques, Moustiquais, Muskitoe, Mustic, Sambo.

Cueta.
Mosquito
Mam
Wanki
Baldam
Baymuna.
Kabo
Tawira
Sumu, Smu, Simu, Zumu, Soomoo, Soumou, Soomu, Smoo, Smou,
L
'
Sumo
Simou.
Taga, Tagua, Taguaca, Tahua, Teguaca, Teuko, Tao, Touco, Thuaco, Tuaco, Toca, Towka, Toaka, Tauzzka, Tauachka, Tukaca, Towcka, Tauca, Towa, Tuaca, Twaxka, Twa'ka, Tocka, Tawasca, Tuaca, Tucoa, Laku, Coco, Wasabane, Pispi.
Twahka
Caribbean LowEast. land

:
Panamaca
{Panamaga, Ponamaka,
Pnamaka.
Bawahka
"Ulwa, Ulua, Culoua, Ulawa, Ulba, Uluwa, Vulva, Vulwa, Vulua, Wulua, Woolwa,
Gaula.
Ulva'
Kukra
(extinct)
Kukara, Kokora, Cookra, Cukra, Kokra, Cucura, 1 Cookera, Cockerack, Cackera. I

f
Yosko
(extinct)
Yusku, Yusko.
rinzu, Prinzo, Prinzoo, p rinsoo.
Prmsu (extmct)
{Tungla,
Tungola,
TonTonga,
gula, Toongla,
Tumbla, Tumba.
.
Boa
(extinct)
Poa, Pua.
tribe.
It is possible that the
Ulva should be
classified as a
group as well as a
Vol. 4]

Group
Tribe
Subtribes and
67
Synonyms
Division
Pay a
Caribbean
land
LowNorth coast
.
Poya, Foyer, Poyai, Popya, Pawyer, Pahaya, Seco.

Xicague, Cicaque, Hicaque, Ikake, Taguaca,
.
Jicaque
Taupane (?), Torrupan.
f Matagalpa
Cacaopera
Northern Highlands.
l^Lenca
'
Chorotega
Choluteca
Mangue
Orotifia
Nagrandan, Dirian.
Nicoya, Orosi.
Meso- American.
Maribio
r
Subtiaba Maribichicoa
Ts.T-,!,..û^ J LNahuatlan ....j Deg^gâdero L Bagace
Nicarao Nahuatlato
Sigua
Pipil
Cigua, Segua, Qiichagua, Shelaba.
Aztec
*
The organization of
it
classified as tribes
known
the Lenca is not understood. Peoples inhabiting different towns could be and named after the towns. However, until the relationship of these towns is seems better not to list them here.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Avila, [1524]
Alba, ., 1928; Andagoya, 1865; Anderson, 1914; Andrade, 1709; Angulo, 1862; Bancroft, 1874-76, 1883-90; Bard, 1885; Berckenhagen, 1894; Berendt,
; ;
1876
Blessing, 1899
Bonilla,
J.,
1702
Brinton, 1895
Captain General of Guatemala,
1742; Cardenas Palomino, 1684; Carrion, 1648; Ceballos, 1610; Col. Doc. Ined. Amer.,
1864-84; Col. Doc. Ined. de Colombia, 1891-94; Conzemius, 1921, 1927-28, 1928, 1929,
Criado de
Coronado, 1564; Costa Rica-Panama Arbitration Documents, 1913; Dampier, 1699; Davidson, 1935; Diego y Gutierrez [1534] Edwards, 1823; Espinosa, 1514, 1516, 1519; Exquemelin, 1678 (1893); Fernandez, 1881-1907, 1889 Fernandez Ferraz, 1892 Fernandez Guardia and Fernandez Ferraz,
1930,
1932;
Castilla, 1575;
Gabb, 1874, 1875; Gagini, 1917; Garret y Arlovi, 1711; Gonzalez y Gutierrez, [1540]; Habel, 1878; Hackett, 1916; Harrower, 1925; Haya Fernandez. 1719; Heath, 1913, 1927; Irias, 1853; James, 1942; Johnson, 1940; Juan and Ulloa,
1892; Flores, 1611
;
1748; Kirchhoff, 1943; Lade, 1744; de Laet, 1640; Landecho and San Millan, 1559; Lara, 1912; Lehmann, 1915, 1920; Lines, 1938 a; Lothrop, 1926 b, 1937, 1942; Lutz,
1922
MacNiel, 1886; Maldonado, 1662; Margil, 1703; Mason,
J. A.,
1940; Matamoros,
1675; "M. W.," 1752; Oviedo y Valdes, 1851-55; Pavon, 1578; Pector, 1888-89; Peralta, 1883, 1890, 1892, 1901; Pirn and Seeman, 1869; Pinart, 1885, 1887 a, 1887 b, 1900; Pinedo, 1709; Pittier de Fabrega, 1895, 1898, 1903, 1938
1873; Prince, 1913
a,
a,
1938
b,
1941
Ponce,
1913 b; Quiroga, 1535; Raveneau de Lussan, 1689; Rebullida,

;
1698; Requejo Salcedo, 1908 (1842)
Ribera, 1571; Ricketson, 1940; de Rivera, 1569;
68
Rivet, 1911,
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
1924; Royal Cedula, 1521, 1740; Ruiz de Campos, 1631; Saenz, 1675, 1676; Salinas y de la Cerda, 1651; Sandoval, 1638, San Francisco y Rios, 1703; San Jose, 1697; San Jose and Rebullida, 1699; Sapper, 1899; Schuchert, 1935; Seeman, 1853; Semano, 1536; Skinner, 1920; Sojo, 1605; Squier, 1852, 1853 a, 1856, 1858, 1859, 1860 a, 1860 b, 1908; Stewart, 1942; Stone, 1940 a, 1940 b, 1941, 1942, 1943; Strong,
Urcullu,
1935; Strong, Kidder and Paul, 1938; Termer, 1914; Thomas and Swanton, 1911; 1763; Vazquez, 1714-16; Villacorta Calderon, 1942; Von Hagen, 1943;
Wassen, 1935
Young,
1842.
The Archeology
of Central
America
THE ARCHEOLOGY OF CENTRAL AMERICA; AN INTRODUCTION

By Wm, Duncan Strong
The geographic
position of Central America, Hnking as
it
does the two
great western continents
(map
1), gives the area a great importance

in
to the student of native peoples
and cultural movements
pre-Columbian
these
later
America.
History and ethnology furnish
much
data on
processes, but only archeology can reveal the earlier population

tural interchanges that occurred during the as yet
and
cul-
uncounted millennia
It is
from the
first
human
occupation until the time of the Conquest.

scratched the surface of what
unfortunate, therefore, for present purposes that scientific archeology in

the area has until
now merely
field.
is
obviously
a rich and promising
Archeological materials from the various countries in Central America

are abundant, but unfortunately the bulk of these are the result of treasure-
hunting or chance discovery and lack

in
scientific
documentation.
Nowhere
the
isthmian
region
has archeological research uncovered cultural
materials of demonstrable antiquity.
When we
consider the very limited
amount
of truly scientific exploration

is
and stratigraphic excavation yet
accomplished in the region this

associated
hardly surprising.
The occurrence
of
human and
bison tracks in consolidated lava deposits in Nica-
ragua, however, strongly suggests that early cultural materials will be
found here when more work

time scale too
little
is
is
accomplished.
At
the other end of the
yet
known regarding
the actual association of
aboriginal cultural materials and documented historic or protohistoric

sites.
historic
ilar
Lothrop has presented some evidence of this sort linking the and prehistoric in Panama, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, and sim-
beginnings have been
made
in
Honduras.
However, the
historic
approach must be emphasized far more than it has before the findings of archeology can assume their full significance in association with the relatively rich record of history
and ethnology.
There follow
brief articles
on the present status
of archeology in the
various provinces of
Panama by Lothrop, who
has been closely associated
69
70
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
With recent work in this area.

very
little
In regard to Costa Rica and Nicaragua
has been published since the monumental summary, "Pottery
and Nicaragua," by Lothrop (1926 b), which appeared two As a result, these two countries are here treated together by Strong in what is little more than a digest of Lothrop's two volumes with certain new findings added. Honduras has been the scene of certain stratigraphic excavations in recent years and is, therefore, summarized
of Costa Rica
decades ago.
by Strong in a separate
article.
Finally, a general article
on Central
American archeology by Stone presents materials and an individual interpretation resulting from recent surveys in most of these countries. It would be of great value to include a section concerning the archeology of the northern border of Central America as viewed from South America, notably including EI Salvador and Guatemala, but this has not proved possible. There has been a great deal of recent exploration and excavation in these countries, particularly
of this material has yet
by the Carnegie
Institution, but little
appeared
in print.
The
interpenetration of north-
ern and southern cultural influences in Central plex and variable in direction.
logical a
millennia of native occupation prior to the Conquest
America during the was naturally com-
From an
archeological standpoint the
territory included in the present Republic of
Honduras seems today as
northern .boundary for direct South American culture thrusts as
any that might be chosen. However, the scientific findings and publications of tomorrow may well revise this judgment on numerous time levels.
THE ARCHEOLOGY OF HONDURAS

By Wm. Duncan Strong
INTRODUCTION
The archeology of Honduras (see map 3) is perhaps even less generally known than that of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, since it has never been made the subject of a general monograph such as that of Lothrop (1926 b,
vols.
1,
2).
On
the other hand, northwestern
Honduras has
in recent
Hence, years been the scene of several careful stratigraphic excavations. relative time and cultural succession is not the all-important factor of
quite so obscure here as
it is
in southern Central
America.
This
factor,
knowlcoupled with the extremely spotty nature of present archeological necessitates a less generalized treatment than edge concerning Honduras,
was
possible in Costa Rica
careful analysis of
and Nicaragua and permits a somewhat more the nature of certain northern and southern pre-
very important historic cultural thrusts as they intermingled along this

cultures borderland between predominantly South American and northern
and peoples.
For purposes
of
convenience
we
shall consider three rather arbitrary
regions in Honduras.
These
are partially geographic
and
partially cul-
by the haptural in nature, their choice being determined quite as much data as by ecological factors. hazard distribution of available archeological
Bay These tentative regions are (1) the northeast coast including the central and southwestern Islands, (2) the Ulua-Yojoa region, and (3) extension Honduras. Of these, the northeast coast is geographically an (map 3), and the second of the Eastern Coastal Plain in Nicaragua most centering around the Ulua River and Lake Yojoa, comprises
region,
of
northwestern Honduras.
The
third "region," central

is
and southwestern
Honduras, while geographically self-explanatory, its southnatural nor a cultural unit. From present inadequate surveys predominantly Maya and Pipil, western portion would seem to have been surveys, whereas central Honduras, on the basis of even less satisfactory the earlier cultures in seems to have been dominated by the Lenca. Of
central
obviously neither a
only and southwestern Honduras we as yet know nothing. The concern the famous Maya detailed archeological reports on this region
city of
Copan.
it
Since
is
Maya
civiHzation
is
so obviously of
more northerly
provenience
discussed here primarily in regard to the manner in
71
72
which
it
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
impinges on the other Honduran cultures, historic and prehistoric.
In the Ulua-Yojoa region

or central Honduras.
we have
considerable and significant evidence
in this regard, but so far, little such evidence is available for southwestern
Since treatment of such major manifestations of
Maya
culture, as are represented at
Copan and adjacent Maya
sites,
logically
do not
fall
within the scope of a South American handbook, the
reader will be referred to other sources in this regard.
Each
of the three "regions" of
rately in the following discussion
Then such
ethnic correlations as
Honduras will first be considered sepaand the major sources will be indicated. seem justified will be mentioned. Suball
sequently, the close relationships that exist between
three regions will
be outlined and wider comparisons made.

styles are better
Owing
to be
to the fact that ceramic
known than
other cultural materials and therefore seem
historically
more
significant, they
may seem
unduly stressed.
This
state of affairs,
however, merely indicates the early pioneer stage so far
attained concerning the archeology of Honduras.
THE NORTHEAST COAST REGION

EVIRONMENT
The
northeast coast of Honduras
is
a swamp, savanna, and mountain
area drained by the Aguan, Sico, and Paulaya (which unite to form the
Black) and Patuca Rivers.

to this area
(See map 3.) To assign southern limits on archeological grounds is as yet impossible. For present purposes, however, we shall arbitrarily consider these as being formed
in the west, and the northern rim of the valleys Guayape and Guampu Rivers (which together form the Patuca) in the east. On the Caribbean this northeast coast region in the same arbitrary manner can be considered as terminating on the west near the mouth of the Ulua River, and to the east at Cape Gracias a Dios on the modem Nicaraguan border. Present archeological knowledge of all this area is largely based upon reports resulting from hurried survey trips rather than on extensive excavations. The major sources on the northeast coast are
by the Cordillera de Pijol

of the
Spinden (1925), Strong (1935), and Stone (1941).

SITES
AND REMAINS
sites
Mound
are
groups.
The larger
mound
marked by notable
assemblages.
on the northeast coast of Honduras These may be either irregular
or formally laid out around rectangular courts.
They
consist of earth,
rough stone, or both. posed of boulders or stone rubble. One large habitation area in the Bay Islands, the "Eighty Acre" site, consists of a large number of low refuse or house mounds, whereas the Plan Grande site on the island of Bonacca
In some cases earth mounds have outer walls com-
(Face p. 72)
Map
3.
The archeology of Central America,

(For Playa de
los
(Prepared with data furnished by W. D. Strong and Doris Stone.)

las
Muertos, read Las Flores; for Las Flores, read Playa de
Muertos.)
(Face p.
72)
Vol. 4]
ARCHEOLOGY OF HONDURAS STRONG
73
m, %f%
O'
MOOCRN House
MOUND 5
MOUND
îp,^^
^^.^>,
80UL0e \ WAIL
\
"'*i,
^-'
tMCT kHO
rmun
M^'"''"'?,
MOUNDS
MOIOtlTM^^^,^-
'.'.
|MOUH0
rX^Nw^H
</
,;>!>
* 5
MOUND 3
."
j.0'SMAll
.*
HOUMO
4"
"
.T
Figure 1. Sketch map of the Plan Grande site, Bonacca, Bay Islands, Honduras, (After Strong, 1935, fig. 35.)
74
is
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
a vast enclosure bounded by a boulder wall around irregular earth

(fig. 1).
mounds
Inside the wall at Plan
Grande are
also large rectanguis
lar foundations
made
p.
of low erect stone slabs, and there
also a large
irregular alignment of erect
(Strong, 1935,
131).
and fallen monolithic slabs of great size The "Eighty Acre" site was apparently a town,
whereas Plan Grande suggests a ceremonial center.
On
the adjacent mainland, in the vicinity of Trujillo, Stone (1941, p.
47) mentions an interesting

certain
mound complex
mounds, and
apparently closely related to
Bay
Island cultural manifestations.
These
sites
are
shell heaps, long, flat, habitation
circular ceremonial
marked by mounds.
Unfortunately, data on the careful excavations of Junius Bird at one of

these sites have not yet been published.
To
the north, in the
Aguan
Valley, Stone (1942, p. 380) describes
worked
stone, the other of
two types of mounds, one of unBoth types occur earth with stone facings.
This
last
in irregular
groupings and the earth mounds are the larger.
mound
the
type Stone assigns to the historic Su\a.- Jicaque.
To
the south, on
Tonjagua River near San Esteban, she describes a

This
site
large, stone temple-
mound ascended by a
smaller mounds.
7-foot stairway of large stones, surrounded
she assigns to the historic Paya.
by Spinden
(1925) reports numerous circular or oval village sites with moats and, Bonito farm, mentions an oval, boulder enclosure containing a large temple-mound ascended by rough, stone-slab steps. Strong (1935, p.
at
160) has described a number of similar
sites
from the pine-forest area
between the Olancho Valley and the north coast. These sites are marked by large earth mounds arranged to form rectangular enclosures. Long stone causeways or paved roads often lead from such sites to the nearest
stream, and impressive but uncarved monoliths occur at several of them. On the headwaters of the Bonito River is a rather unique ruin with
well-made stone walls consisting of three large rooms.

contains five large stone altars (Strong, 1935, p. 161;
The
cf.
center
room
Stone, 1941,
There are many earth and boulder mounds in the vicinity. The p. 52). most easterly site so far described from the northeast coast region is at the junction of the Guampu and the Patuca Rivers (Strong, 1934 a; 1935, p. 161). This ruin, at Wanquibila, consists of a complex arrangement of great earth mounds, some 100 yards (100 m.) long and 30 feet
(about 10 m.) high, around a series of plazas. The earth mounds have burned-clay cores. The easterly occurrence of such great earth mounds
arranged around plazas is important since similar sites occur in eastern Costa Rica (Costa Rica and Nicaragua, p. 131). The great intervening area between northeastern Honduras and Costa Rica is too little known
to
whether this distribution is continuous. Canals. ^The reported occurrence of artificial canals around Guaytell
moreto Lagoon has been mentioned. separating Helena Island from Roatan
similar canal is reported as
in the
Bay Islands (Strong,
1935.
Vol. 4]
75
Figure
2.
Incised
design
on
erect
stone
northeastern Honduras.
at ceremonial site on Claura (After Spinden, 1925, fig. 4.)
River
76
p.

74).
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
In neither case are present data adequate to determine the exact

artificial
nature or function of such presumably
Roads. Stone-paved roads on the Bay Islands (Strong, 1935, p. 140) and similar roads connecting mounds and streams at northern mainland
sites
waterways.
have also been mentioned.
Stone monuments.
Stone
monuments
are scarce on the northeast
coast with the exception of clusters of large, erect monolithic slabs such
as those which occur at Plan
Grande (fig. 1). These menhir-like monuments (occasionally phallic) seem most characteristic of the area as a
whole, although at times attempts at decoration occur.
p.
Spinden (1925, 539) discovered a plinth of this type on the northern mainland decorated with an elaborate incised design (fig. 2). The design is of particular interest since it depicts the widely distributed, overlapping-fanged monster,
the head of which
gesting the "alter ego" motif.
surmounted by another creature (or headdress) sugA small steatite figure from an oflfertory spring on Bonacca Island is likewise surmounted by the figure of an
is
animal
that
(fig.
5,
right).
This use of the "alter ego" motif
is
similar to
at
employed in Nicaragua. Petroglyphs. Petroglyphs similar to those in eastern Nicaragua occur several sites on the northeast coast of Honduras.
sist of
and burials. Hilltop offertories on the Bay Islands conmasses of broken pottery and contain numerous other specimens (Strong, 1935, pp. 142-143). Probably .burials also occur in such sites,
Offertories
is
but the evidence in this regard

pot
(pi.
not clear.
Bay Island Polychrome
5, c)
containing what appears to be a priest's outfit of some
487 carved green stone, shell, and copper ornaments (Strong, 1935, 53) occurred in one such site on Roatan Island. On offertory in a mineral spring on Bonacca Island (Strong, 1935, p. 123) and another in a hot spring in the Black River Valley (Stone, 1941, p. 28) seem quite similar. Spinden (1925) has described offertories on the northeast mainland where great stone tables, carved stone bowls, and metates
p.
occur
(pi.
1,
top).
and extended burials have been burials with some traces of cremation occur in the Bay Islands (pi. 1, bottom) and probably on the mainland as well. Burials likewise occur in caves, house mounds, and probably in connection with hilltop and other offertories. Further exploration and careful excavation are needed to define clearly the relative importance and exact nature of all these aboriginal manifestations.
the northeast coast both flexed
On
reported in shell heaps.
Urn and
skull
CERAMICS
Introductory note. In regard to ceramic styles on the northeast on the Bay Islands have been described by Strong and on the mainland by Stone (1941). Monochrome pottery (1935)
coast, certain of those
Vol. 4]
ARCHEOLOGY OP HONDURAS STRONG
77
these ceramics can be considered as belonging to

as the
seems to be the most abundant ware in the region, and the majority of what is here designated
North Coast AppUque

I
style.
Recent comparison of the ceramic
groups that
formerly designated as Bay Island Plain and Elaborate
Monochrome (Strong, 1935), and Stone (1941) as Bay Island ware or "Paya" pottery, with those Highland Costa Rican types included by Lothrop (1926 b, vol. 2) within his Highland Applique Wares (p. 135) convinces me that these are all basically the same. For this reason the term North Coast Applique style for the Honduras variant seems fitting, since it points out the basic similarity to Highland Applique but allows for slight local differentiations. The designations "style" and "type" are employed in the present section, since this permits the use of the term "ware" for wider categories, such as monochrome versus bichrome, etc., which is not the case in discussing Costa Rica and Nicaragua (p. 126), where
Lothrop's terminology
is
followed.
style.
North Coast Applique

:
style ceramics
can, at present, be divided into three types

type, so designated since the type
(a)
Bay
Island
Monochrome
;
was
first
defined here (Strong, 1935)
(b) Ulua Marble Vaselike type (an

(c) Simple Painted type.
awkward term
but descriptive)
and
Other types will doubtless be distinguished, but North Coast Applique style ceramics, as a group, are predominantly monochrome, the surface ranging from rough unslipped to slipped and polished, the color from brown to red, and decoration being achieved by means of both applique and incision.
for the present these will suffice.
Bay
Island
Monochrome
and
fig.
type.
The
Bay
Island
Monochrome
type
(pis. 2, 3, o-c/,
3) contains numerous forms, including rounded
e
Figure
3.
North
/
Coast
9
Bay
Islands,
f>
Applique style vessel forms, (After Strong, 1935, fig. 38.)
Honduras.
65333448
78
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
vessels with necks of varying height, cyUndrical vessels with annular
and
ves-
tripod bases, and shoe-shaped, boat-shaped, and effigy vessels.
Some
sels lack handles, but a wide variety of handles and modeled lugs occurs. Tripod legs are common, often elaborated in the form of human or animal heads, but legs seem generally shorter than is the case with Costa Rican Tripod Ware. Many small, ornate but crudely made vessels were ap-
parently constructed primarily for ceremonial deposition (Strong, 1935,

pis. 7,
8).
type.
Ulua Marble Vaselike

is
The second type

flat
of vessel (pi. 5, d, e),
generally cylindrical, with an annular or
base.
The
pots are deco-
rated by incision and
some applique, including ornate
animalistic lugs.
Rim and
base are often decorated with incised step or scroll designs, and
Figure 4. Bold Geometric style, San Marcos type pottery, Bay Islands, Honduras. (White: red, brown, or orange; hatching: dark brown or dull black). (After
Strong, 1935,
fig.
11.)
Vol. 4]
79
the
complex central design centers around a grotesquely conventionalized face surrounded by interlocking scrolls. The resemblance between these pottery vessels and the well-known, and exquisite, marble vases of the Ulua Valley is very striking (pi. 5, compare d, e, f). It is generally believed that pottery vessels of this type were made in imitation of the marble vases, but recently
Stone (1941,
p.
vessels are the original prototype.
29) has suggested that the pottery Since this type of North Coast Ap-
plique style ceramics occurs in other associations in the

the
Ulua-Yojoa region
problem
will be discussed later.
Simple Painted type.

is
While the bulk
of
North Coast Applique pottery
one limited type has simple painting in addition to basic decoration by applique and incision (pi. 3, e, j). This type seems so close to the Simple Painted Wares of Highland Costa Rica that it has here been similarly designated, the Simple Painted type. The type is less
monochrome,
at least
adequately defined even than the above.

pieces that blend with certain
In
all
probability
it
contains
polychrome
styles.
Form,
texture,
and
basic decoration, however, all indicate that the Simple Painted type or
types pertain to the larger. North Coast Applique style rather than to any
of the
polychrome
to occur in
seems
styles. In general. North Coast Applique style pottery somewhat variant forms throughout the entire northeast
coast region as here defined.
The
style.
exact boundaries of this distribution,
and the
finer type distinctions,
remain to be determined.
Bay
Island
Polychrome
The most
distinctive northeast coast
polychrome style is that here designated as Bay Island Polychrome (formerly called Bay Island Polychrome I by Strong, 1935). The type is as yet poorly defined but appears to center on the Bay Islands and on the
adjacent mainland, around and back from Guaymoreto Lagoon.
map
slip
pi.
3, p.
72).
It is a thin
(See polychrome ware characterized by an orange
1).
with complex designs in red and black (for color, see Strong, 1935, cream-white slip is sometimes employed with black and red
designs.
(fig.
5) are
The slip and paint appear to be rather easily eroded. Forms much the same as in North Coast Applique, but a pear-shaped
vessel with
fiat, annular, or tripod base seems to predominate (pi. 5, c). Adequate examples are not available for complete design analysis, but these appear to be complex and florid. The main distinguishable design is a plumed deity or monster, perhaps the plumed serpent, with a foreshortened body (pi. 5, c). The main body design seems to be repeated in even more conventionalized form on the rim band and, probably, by the modeled lugs. It is a highly conventionalized art and suggests indirect Mexican or Chorotegan influence. Not only vessel forms but also modeled lugs are often identical with examples in the North Coast Applique
style.
For
this reason,
and also because no

it
utilitarian vessels in
Bay
the
Island Polychrome style have been noted;

style represents
seems probable
that
a ceremonial aspect added to the more widespread mono-
80

tradition.
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
chrome Applique ceramic
We
shall discuss the
probable sig-
nificance of this in a later section.
Other styles and types.

Yojoa
called
The other polychrome

is
styles so far distin-
guished on the northeast coast seem more representative of the Uluaregion.
One
of these
the
II,
Ulua Bold Geometric style (formerly Strong, 1935), which occurs on the
Bay
and
Islands and on the mainland.
The examples
of Bold Geometric
(fig.
style so far noted in the

pi. 3, g, h,)
Bay
Islands and on the adjacent mainland
seem to be of the later or San Marcos type on the Ulua River, which is characterized by the predominance of textile and geoAnother polychrome style represented in casual finds metric designs. from the Bay Islands (Strong, 1935, pi. 18, a, c, e) and the north coast suggests the Ulua-Mayoid style, and most of these seem to belong to the Finally, a few sherds of Plumbate later or Las Flores type (pi. 6, j~n).
%\GQl\\e
^
Figure
5.
Bay
Island Polychrome vessel forms and carved steatite image,

Islands,
Bay
Honduras.
(After Strong, 1935,
fig.
37.)
Bay Island Polychrome and Applique, were found on Barburata Island (Strong, 1935, p. 117). These ceramic styles and types will be discussed in connection with the Ulua-Yojoa region. considerable variety of other pottery objects occur on the northeast
ware, in association with
coast
these include grotesque applique figurines, figurines on stools,

realistic
crude
pottery stamps.
human faces, modeled whistles, and cylindrical and flat The majority of these are figured by Strong (1935).
Vol. 4J
81
Ceramic stratigraphy.
out that
So
far
no
clear stratification of ceramic types
has been reported from the northeast coast.
Strong (1935,
p.
145) pointed
and the more elaborate North Coast Applique were related and believed that both overlay the plainer monochrome pottery deposits in at least one Bay Island offertory site. This evidence is entirely observational and is not closely enough controlled to His incorrect assumption that, accept without further verification. stylistically, the Bold Geometric (Bay Island Polychrome II) style represented a degeneration from Bay Island Polychrome I and is therefore presumably later has already been corrected (Strong, Kidder, and Paul,
turn now to a brief consideration of other 1938, pp. 119-120). classes of artifacts in the northeast coast region.
We
NONCERAMIC ARTIFACTS
The nonceramic
described in
culture of the
detail
Bay
Islands, so far as
some
elsewhere (Strong, 1935).
known, has been For the remainder
of the northeast coast region such data are scattered but, in general, indi-
cate a rather close relationship to the
Bay
Islands.
Metals.
Metalwork seems
to be rare in this region but does occur.
Copper bells, including some cast to represent a feline face (pi. 4, bottom), were included in a votive cache within a Bay Island Polychrome vase (pi. 5, c) on Roatan Island, and a few other objects of copper including Gold or other metal copper celts have been found (Strong, 1935).
objects have not been reported.
Ground
stone.
Ground-stone
A
objects, so far reported, include
many
carvings of a green stone (Strong, 1935; Stone, 1941). Though a few of these are of true jadeite the majority are of softer materials such as These include a variety of human heads often elaborately plumed talc.
and feUne faces

with a votive
(pi. 4, fop).
large
pi.
number
of these, in association
celt
mentioned
hilltop
fig.
(Strong, 1935, 12), were found in the previously on Roatan Island. According to Stone offertory
(1941, p. 47,
39), such carvings, including ax-gods (or votive celts)
and very large cylindrical beads, are particularly common in sites around Guaymoreto Lagoon on the mainland adjacent to the Bay Islands. As previously noted, both Bay Island Polychrome and Bold Geometric style
ceramics occur in this area.
Stone (1941, p. 52) points out various resemblances such as the common occurrence of votive celts of greenstone in this small section of Honduras and in the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa
Rica.
of the
Bay
Island Polychrome ceramics are also
Nicoya Polychrome Ware, and and the adjacent Honduras mainland were, in cultures of less directly influenced by the Mexicanized or Chorotegan should be carefully considered in western Nicaragua and Costa Rica
future studies.
the possibility that the
somewhat reminiscent Bay Islands some manner, more or
This
is
of particular interest since, generally, the pre-
82
[B.A.B. BuU. 143
Figure
6.
Bay
Island
Polychrome
fig.
pottery,
Bay
Islands,
Honduras.
(White:
orange-red; black: black; hatching: purplish red; cross-hatching: darker red.)
(After Strong, 1935,
21.)
Vol. 4]

Honduras seem more
83
closely
historic cultures of the northeast coast of
related to the
Highland than to the Pacific regions
to the south.
coast, simple
work on the northeast marble bowls occur (Strong, 1935, p. 127), but the more elaborate type of Ulua marble vase has not been reported despite the fact that a very similar ceramic type occurs (p. 78 and pi. 5, d, e). The
return to a consideration of ground-stone
To
most characteristic stone bowl in this region is cylindrical, with or without legs, and with sculptured lugs and decorative bands in relief. These vessels often occur in votive caches (pi. 1, top). Such bowls are beautifully made and are often decorated with textile motifs. There is doubtless
some
cultural connection
between
this type
and the Ulua Marble vases

1,
of similar form, as well as
with similar stone vase types in Costa Rica.

tables occur (pi.
As
in
Highland Costa Rica, large stone
top), as do
three-legged forms suggesting giant metates.
characteristic
metate
form on the northeast coast has three squared legs and a flat, ungrooved working surface surmounted by a bird, mammal, or conventionalized reptilian head. Legless mealing stones are common. MuUers are usually cylindrical, and a few giant specimens with anthropomorphic carving in relief have been found. As in Highland Costa Rica, stone pot-rests with legs and incised decoration have been reported from the Bay Islands (Strong, 1935, p. 108). Other polished stone artifacts include celts ranging from large to small size (the latter often of greenstone),
T-shaped axes (which are sometimes perforated), a variety of mace heads (including star and mammiform types from the Bay Islands which are identical with specimens from Nicoya), grooved bark-beaters of both the cylindrical-handled and ovoid types, and a wide variety of carved and plain pendants and beads (all types illustrated. Strong, 1935).
Chipped stone.
Chipped-stone
(See
artifacts are not so
common
or striking
and D. Popenoe, 1931, fig. 1.) They have been reported so far mainly from the Bay Islands. The finest specimens are beautifully chipped knives, of honey-colored stone, from
as the above but do occur.
W.
the
Bay
Islands
(Strong, 1935,
pi.
16).
They suggest
fig.
sacrificial use.
Ovoid obsidian points from the same

arrow points occur
1931,
fig. 1 ).
islands
may have been used

15).
either
as knives or for projectile points (Strong, 1935,

at Lancetilla
Small notched
on the mainland (W. and D. Popenoe,

Crudely chipped
Prismatic flakes of obsidian seem to be a widely distributed
and ancient type of knife in prehistoric Honduras. T-shaped axes are rather abundant also.
Miscellaneous.
Other
classes of artifacts
known from
the northeast
shells, pre-
coast include both shell-
and bonework.
Perforated conch
sumably used as trumpets, occur commonly at coastal sites. In association with the votive cache on Roatan Island, a six-pointed star and other pendants, labrets, danglers (of Oliva porphyria) and beads of shell were
found (Strong, 1935,
pi.
15).
Perforated animal teeth, some with decora-
84
tive
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
carving, and various fragmentary bone implements constitute the
only
that,
known
artifacts of this material.
From
the above
list it is
obvious
the
list
while perishable materials are rare in northeast coast

artifacts is
still
sites,
of nonceramic
considerable.
As
indicated in the next
section, this does not
seem
to be true of
most
sites in
Ulua-Yojoa
region.
Figure 7. Sketch map of the lower Ulua and Chamelecon Rivers, Honduras. (After Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, fig. 5.)
Vol. 4]
85
THE ULUA-YOJOA REGION

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH
As
of
discussed here this region can be regarded as representing a sampling

Intensive archeological work, however, has
northwestern Honduras.
con,
few sites on the lower Ulna, Chameleand Comayagua Rivers and around the northern end of Lake Yojoa. Surveys around the southern and western borders of this northwestern
so far been
at only a
accompUshed
district (Yde, 1938) indicate that the majority of larger sites there are predominantly Mayoid. Such sites are not considered here. However,
it
must be remembered
that, to date, the
northwestern region of Honduras
as a whole has been barely sampled by scientific archeologists, although

it
has long been and continues to be a collector's paradise.
For
this
reason the following outline must be regarded as exploratory rather than

definitive in outlining apparent culture sequences in
an obviously rich by
and complex
the
area.
The
region was
first called
to scientific attention
work
isolated
Gordon (1898). The early Playa de los Muertos culture was and defined by Popenoe (1934), and her work was followed up
of
by the stratigraphic excavations of the Smithsonian Institution-Harvard

University Expedition of 1936.
(See Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938.)
Stone (1941) has excavated at Travesia and has surveyed much of the area. Yde (1938) has also surveyed the region, and his report includes
a good bibliographic and site index up to 1937.
are to be derived primarily from
Culture-sequence data
Popenoe (1934) and Strong, Kidder,
and Paul (1938).

SITES
AND REMAINS
Mound groups and

of the in
associated features. The prehistoric structures Ulua- Yojoa area are similar to those of the northeast coast but
cases are larger
of
and more elaborate. In the Ulua Valley are a most of which are more or less formally arranged around plazas (Gordon, 1898, fig. 3). The mounds are usually of earth, often with burned-clay cores and sometimes capped or surrounded by rough stones. Some stone stairs, causeways, and encircling walls occur. Cut stonework and carving seems to be rather rare except at sites of
many
number
mound
sites
probably Mayoid
sites
affiliations
(Yde, 1938).
No
definitive
work
in
mound
has been accomplished except at Travesia (Stone, 1941), where stuccoed terraces, steps, altars, and courts have been uncovered. One of
these terraces, believed to be a temple,
was marked by the occurrence

site
of crudely carved anthropomorphic designs on rock slabs (Stone, 1941,

p.
61).
Outlying "cache" mounds near the
contained masses of
similar site
pottery of
mixed
at
styles
and
types.
somewhat
on the
Chamelecon
earth
Naco
also has stucco-covered small pyramids
and long
mounds arranged around
courts (Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938).
86
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
A ball court and stuccoed-house floors of various colors are also of interest
at
Earlier sites on the Ulua and is an historic Nahuatl site. immediate tributaries are refuse heaps, or burial grounds exposed its by the cutting of the river and locally called Playas de los Muertos,
Naco, which
"Beaches
of the
Dead."
Kidder, and Paul (1938)

located at
Gordon (1898), Popenoe (1934), and Strong, all worked in these deeply sedimented sites.
Adjacent to Lake Yojoa one large, formally arranged mound group is Los Naranjos (Yde, 1938; Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938), and many groups of low burial and habitation mounds occur in groups
Vol. 4]

lake.
87
around the
mounds, prior to the extensive looting of polychrome pottery. A canal, or earth causeway, 5 kilometers long, leading from the Rio Blanco to the Lake, is an unusual and interesting feature here (fig. 8, and Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938). Stone monuments. Large stone sculpture is not abundant in the Ulua-Yojoa region. Gordon figures a crude anthropomorphic statue from near the Ulua (fig. 12, c), and several sculptures have been described from near Los Naranjos on Lake Yojoa (Yde, 1938; Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, pi. 16). The most striking of these include a conventionalized serpent head of Mayoid type, a crudely realistic human torso with folded arms, a large apelike head which may belong to the body, and a cylindrical statue suggesting a giant roller pestle with a crude human figure in low relief and a columnar base. The last three statues are not Mayoid in style and suggest Nicaraguan or Costa Rican
burial
The
recent years,
were
rich in beautiful
affiliations.
Burial places.
Along the Ulua, Chamelicon, and Comayagua Rivers

and more recent prehistoric
burial grounds,
the occurrence of both ancient

originally covered
by sedimentation and later exposed by river erosion, has been mentioned. The earliest of these cemeteries so far excavated (Popenoe, 1934) pertains to the Playa de los Muertos culture and conLater burial grounds of the tained both flexed and unflexed burials. polychrome pottery period excavated at Las Flores, the upper stratum at the Playa de los Muertos site, and Santa Rita, on the Ulua and lower
Comayagua Rivers, contained badly preserved extended and some bundle burials. The burial mounds of the polychrome pottery period at Lake Yojoa are composed of black humous soil, and no skeletal parts were recovered except a few fragments of dental enamel.
esting but lack scientific detail or later confirmation.
Earlier records of
burials uncovered in this general region (Strong, 1935, p. 151) are inter-
Much more
specific
information on ancient methods of disposing of the dead, as well as concerning the physical types represented at various periods, can be
obtained in the Ulua-Yojoa area, but the present published record
too inadequate for any generalizations to be drawn.
is
CERAMICS
Introductory note. In regard to the complex ceramics of the UluaYojoa region, the present discussion will be largely limited to those pottery styles and types which have been more or less stratigraphically placed. It is unfortunate that the final report on the 1936 Smithsonian InstitutionHarvard University expedition incorporating the materials secured by Gordon (1898), Popenoe, et al., is not available. However, the major
stratigraphic
have been outlined in a preliminary report (Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938), and an attempt will here be made
groupings
88
to define
styles
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
and illustrate, briefly, but perhaps more specifically, the ceramic and types so far defined in the region under discussion,
style.
Naco
and
On the Contact, or early

Naco
is
historic, level the
ceramic com-
plex revealed at
very distinctive.
Both
historic documentation
material
European materials indicate that aboriginal a late Nahuatl occupation. For present purposes we can designate this entire ceramic complex as the Naco style,
direct association with
from
this site pertains to
since the present sample
is
inadequate for
final subdivision into types.

slip
The most
striking
Naco ware has a white
with painted geometric
and curvilinear decorations on both surfaces in black and red (pi. 6, cD-g). Plumed figures are apparently represented in some cases. Tripod bowls
with a unique, four-pointed foot are characteristic.
of unpainted
small proportion
and a few painted sherds have either heavily incised or raised geometric designs on the inner surface (Strong, Kidder, and Paul, Textile-marked sherds also occur. These will probably 1938, pi. 4). form the basis for quite distinctive types. As is true at all other sites in Honduras, plain, utilitarian ware is far more abundant than decorated ware at Naco.
Concerning the sequence and association of the rich polychrome pottery styles of the Ulua-Comayagua Valleys we have the pioneer work of Gordon (1898), the careful stratigraphic excavations of the Smithsonian Institution-Harvard University expedition of 1936 (Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938), and the later work of Stone (1941) at Travesia. The preliminary establishment of styles and types in a sequential series rests mainly on two sites, Las Flores on the Ulua River and Santa Rita on the lower Comayagua River. The details of stratification and methods employed are given elsewhere (Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938), but it may be stated that a 5.4-meter (about 18 feet) refuse deposit at Las Flores yielded prehistoric but relatively late polychrome ceramic types, whereas a similar deposit at Santa Rita revealed materials similar to Las Flores in the upper level but also had several continuous lower levels marked by somewhat earlier
but closely related ceramic types.
level at
Ulua-Comayagua polychrome sequences.
still
lower, discontinuous cultural
Santa Rita yielded a quite different and earlier ceramic style, Ulua Bichrome, which will be discussed later. Considering the Las Flores-Santa Rita excavations as one overlapping unit, we can say that
strains or decorative styles persist throughout the
two major ceramic

accumulation.
entire period represented by the 33- to 39-foot
One
of these
major
styles has
(10 to 12 m.) refuse been designated as Ulua
Mayoid (pi. 8) and, as the name indicates, is obviously of Mayan and The other major style has been designated as northern inspiration.
Ulua-Bold Geometric (pi. 7) and probably finds it closest analogues to Each of these the south and east in northern and central Honduras. styles can be more or less arbitrarily split into at least two types: tb^
Vol. 4

into the
89
Rita type (lower and earlier)
Las Flores type (upper and later) and the Santa the Ulua-Bold Geometric into the San Marcos type (upper and later) and the Comayagua type (lower and
;
UIua-Mayoid
earlier).
In the following description only the most salient characteristics of

each style and selected type can be mentioned.
that, since
It
must be remembered
both styles occur intermingled throughout the same deposits,

all
they were in
probability
ethnically composite, population.

of
made by one, apparently culturally and Under such circumstances a blending
occurs.
is expectable and However, objective classification of these rich materials into the styles and types, representing the poles around which likenesses appear to cluster, reveals a remarkable stylistic dichotomy which un-
ceramic traditions in numerous individual pieces
doubtedly has ethnological significance.
Ulua-Mayoid
and complex.
style.
The Ulua-Mayoid
style as a single unit is rich
Exclusive of the plain, utilitarian types, which are abundant
but cannot be discussed here, the Ulua-Mayoid style
is characterized by polychrome painting, rich design, modeling, use of molds, and engraving or incising. The most characteristic decorated form is a straight-walled, cylindrical vase with elaborate, polychrome designs.
style (pi. 6, ;"-) is characterized
Ulua-Mayoid by red, black, white, or purple designs on a bufif, orange, or red slip. These designs are complex, conventional, and at times rather crude. The over-all occurrence and flamboyancy of design in this type create a somewhat florid impression. The designs often seem to represent monstrous masks (pi. 6, ;") or reptilian forms, and rim bands with skeuomorphic glyphs occur. The Las Flores type of straight-walled vase is relatively thick and usually has hollow cylindrical or rectangular tripod feet and two projecting monkey-head lugs (Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, pi. 5, /, g.) Designs are sometimes outlined with incisions as well as painting, and both incised and well-carved designs occur (pi. 6, m, and Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, pi. 5,
type.
Las Flores
The Las
Flores, or later, type of the
h, d, k,
n).
In addition to the cylindrical vases there
is
a considerable
latter
variety of forms including small bowls and low jars.
These
forms
often include single pieces decorated with various degrees of blending
between the Mayoid and the Bold Geometric decorative
traditions.
Santa Rita
style is
(pi.
Santa Rita type, of the Ulua-Mayoid similar to the above but is finer in composition and decoration
type.
earlier or
The
8).
Designs in red, black, white, purple, and (rarely) blue occur
on white, black, and orange backgrounds. Though certain of these are very complex (pi. 8, e) the majority are more realistic (pi. 8, a, b, d) than in the Las Flores type. Seated or standing priestly and "dancing"
figures (pi.
S>,
a,
b) are of
the "processional"
Maya
type.
common occurrence. Some are definitely of The Santa Rita type vertical-walled vase
90
is
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
usually of thinner and of harder \vare than the Las Floras type.
flat
It
commonly has a
bottom with no lugs
(pi. 8, a, b,
d).
Flat plates
on high tripod legs

Santa Rita type.
(pi. 8, e, j),
elaborate modeled forms (pi. 8, c), and
a considerable range of smaller jar and vase forms also occur in the
Mayoid carved
6,
pottery.
Mayoid
sculptured and incised pottery
(pi.
m)
occurs in the lowest levels at Las Flores and in the upper levels
at Santa Rita, and at both sites this carved subtype is in direct association with the Ulua Marble Vaselike ceramic type previously described (p. 78) as occurring in the northeast coast region. (Compare pi. 5, d, e, with
Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, pi. 6, d-j.) This association of Mayoid carved wares with Ulua Marble Vaselike vessels and sherds is significant
and
offers
some objective
basis to Stone's belief (p. 101) that
Maya work-
manship, as well as
of the
local artistic inspiration,

style.
Ulua Marble Vase
too broad to place exactly
was involved in the creation At present our ceramic classification is the Ulua Marble Vaselike ceramic type other
to say that it seems to form a link or cross tie between the upper (Las Flores) and lower (Santa Rita) levels (and ceramic types) of both the Ulua-Mayoid and Ulua-Bold Geometric styles in the Ulua district. (Cf. Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, p. 51.)
than
Ulua-Bold Geometric
whole,
is
style.
The
Ulua-Bold Geometric
style, as a
Ulua-Mayoid style. The two styles, however, occur associated in the same sites, and various writers have erroneously attempted to arrange them in an evolutionary sequence. (See Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, pp. 119-120.) Just as the verticalwalled vase best typifies the Ulua-Mayoid style, so a large-mouthed swollen-bodied olla with two vertical handles having monkey-head lugs (pi. 7, a, b, d, e) is the most characteristic Ulua-Bold Geometric style
quite distinctive from the
form.
In regard to colors, a clear yellow to orange-red
slip
decorated with
interlocking textile, geometric, and conventionalized animal designs in
red and black

7, c, f)
is most common. Handled bottles (pi. 3, g), tripod and open bowls, as well as other forms also occur.
(pi.
San Marcos
Geometric
type
type.
style is
The later, or San Marcos type, of the Ulua Bold named after a site in the Olancho District where the
7, a,
was
early segregated as an isolated unit (pi.
and Strong, 1934
b, fig.
San Marcos type of UluaBold Geometric occurs in the upper levels, intermingled, and sometimes blended, with Las Flores type ceramics of Ulua-Mayoid tradition. The typical San Marcos type monkey-handled vessel (pi. 7, a, b) is large and is often characterized by a broad band of interlocking textile design
54).
At Las Flores and Santa
Rita, the
below the rim

red and black.
(pis. 6, i; 7, a).
Body designs
are usually geometric in
Samples of San Marcos type pottery from Olancho and the northeast coast seem somewhat brighter in color than those from (Cf. pis. 7, a, with 7, b, c.) the Ulua-Yojoa region.
Vol. 4]
ARCHEOLOGY OP HONDURAS STRONG
91
Conmyagua type. The earlier, or Comayagua, type of Ulua-Bold Geometric occurs in the lower levels at Santa Rita. It is very similar in form to the San Marcos type, but the characteristic monkey-handled
and other vessels are somewhat smaller, thinner, and harder in composition. Geometric and textile designs occur on bowls, low vases, and largehandled vessels, but the most characteristic design on the Comayagua
type consists of distinctive conventionalized birds, bats, and other animals
(pi. 7, d, e). These unusual elongated designs often occur on both the body and the neck band of the vessel (pi. 7, d). Colors in the Comayagua type consist of bright yellow to orange backgrounds with striking black and red designs. In the lower levels at Santa Rita the Comayagua type of Ulua-Bold Geometric occurs in close association, and occasionally
blends, with Santa Rita type ceramics of the

tion.
Such, briefly,
region.
is
the
Ulua-Mayoid style or tradi somewhat complex but sociologically significant

ceramic wares as at present
association of polychrome
known
in the
Ulua
Ulua-Yojoa polychrome comparison.

Ulua
but
is
The
picture
sketched
styles
in
above regarding the association of polychrome ceramic

apparently repeated in
on the equally interesting but somewhat con-
densed form for the Lake Yojoa
district.
Lake Yojoa
sites are
shallower
beautiful
may
be as old as or older than those on the Ulua.

classification than are those
The
ceramic collections so far collected from Lake Yojoa are in even greater
need of thorough
from the Ulua.
sufficient associational
data are
now
available (Strong, Kidder,
However, and Paul,
1938) to indicate that Lake Yojoa polychrome wares, like those of the Ulua, are grouped around at least two major stylistic poles and that
these styles are associated together in time and place and occasionally
blend on individual pieces.

distinctive in cultural
For
all that,
the
and artistic here termed the Yojoa-Mayoid (pi.

(pi.
inspiration.
9, c-j)
two major styles are strikingly These major styles are and the Yojoa Bold Animalistic
and
also in individual
10, Or-d).
They occur
together in rather shallow refuse deposits

p. 76, et seq.)
(Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938,

burial offerings in
split into earlier
low mounds
(pi. 9,
and later types. and often identical, with the Ulua-Mayoid, although the ware It is obviously of Maya inspiration. itself seems technically inferior. However, the decision whether the Ulua- and Yojoa-Mayoid styles should be grouped together must await adequate classification. The second style, Yojoa-Bold Animalistic, is characterized by the use of elaborate, conThe Yojoa-Bold ventionalized zoomorphic and geometric designs. from the Ulua-Bold Geometric Animalistic is seemingly quite distinctive
similar,
style but
tion.
So far they have not been Yojoa-Mayoid style pottery is very

e^h).
would seem
to
have been derived from a related
artistic tradi-
This
common
stylistic basis is particularly striking in
comparing
conventionalized Yojoa bird and zoomorphic designs with those on
Coma-
92
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
yagua type vessels from the Ulua (pis. 7, d, e; 10, a-d). The YojoaBold Animalistic style blends more closely with the Mayoid style than on the Ulua, but the origin of the animalistic style itself would seem to be non-Mayoid. Bold Animalistic designs often occur on, or in, open bowls, but monkey-handled ollas as well as tripod vessels with conventionalized designs similar to Ulua-Bold Geometric vessels also occur in the mixed Lake Yojoa polychrome deposits (pi. 10, e, f). The intermingling, in time and place, that occurs between the two major styles, Mayoid and Bold Animalistic, is strikingly illustrated (pi. 9, e^h, and Strong, 1937, figs. 75, 77) in the contents of one Lake Yojoa grave that contains one fine Mayoid processional vessel (pi. 9, /), one Bold Animaland a third style istic vessel with geometric neck designs (pi. 9, g) (pi. 9, h), closely related to the last, designated as Naranjos I by Stone
,
(1941.
fig.
75).
at
Thus, segregation of styles according to burial contents

confirms the
deposits.
Lake Yojoa
stylistic associations also specifically established in the refuse
but
Space is lacking to amplify this necessarily complex discussion, seems clearly indicated that during the period characterized by ornate polychrome pottery in both the Ulua and Yojoa regions two quite disit
tinctive ceramic decorative styles
were contemporaneously
in
vogue among
the
same populations.
still
Both
styles persisted together, intermingling in
part but
distinctive,
over a considerable period of time.
One
of these
traditions
was
definitely northern
it
we
can only say at present that
and Mayoid. In regard to the other was not Mayoid, may well have been
local,
and perhaps had southern
afifiliations.
still further parallel in ceramic and stylistic associations between Yojoa polychrome deposits and those of the Ulua is the common occurrence in both of Ulua Marble Vaselike vessels in association with
the
Mayoid carved or sculptured

tional
vessels (pi. 10, g,h).
Much
careful distribu-
and stratigraphic as well as grave segregation work remains to be accomplished before we can delimit these complex and frequently hybridized styles in space and time and objectively subdivide them into an
adequate number of types.
that
Stone's work (1941) at Travesia indicates Yojoa Bold Animalistic type vessels occur at Ulua sites, apparently in direct association with Mayoid and Bold Geometric style pottery. However, the excavation data presented, demonstrating the association
between various structures
at
Travesia and between these and the wide
range of ceramic styles and types encountered, leave
much
85,
to be desired.
e,
Veiy
early ceramic types
(Stone, 1941,
of later
p. 57,
fig.
b,
j), quite
mounds, are discussed as if they possibly included in the were actually contemporary with polychrome wares demonstrably later
fill
at other sites.
As subsequent
discussion (p. 117) points out, this seems
highly improbable.
Vol. 4]
93
Various pottery objects.

and both
flat
wide variety of modeled human and
animal figures, modeled whistles, molds, handled incensarios, candelarios,
and
roller stamps, all
made from
pottery, occur in refuse
deposits and graves characterized by the
Ulua and Yojoa polychrome

fig.
pottery styles (Gordon, 1898; Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938,

Stone, 1941).
there
is
7;
The majority
of these are of
monochrome
;,
pottery, but
no doubt as to
their association with the
polychrome horizons.
k), and, while
Earlier forms than these do occur (pis. II, n, r; 12,
some
of these are fairly distinctive, even they have not yet been analyzed
carefully
enough
to be safely classified unless their exact provenience is
known.
As
for the riot of modeled
and molded
figurines
and similar
objects associated with the polychrome wares, not even a preliminary

classification has yet
been attempted. For this reason attention is called and the promising problems they present. A condensed discussion here of such complex and as yet unclassified materials, however, would have little value.
to their occurrence
Early horizons. Turning now to the ceramic complexes or styles which can be objectively demonstrated as preceding the polychrome wares of the Ulua- Yojoa region in time, we have three which belong to what Thompson (1943) has termed the Formative Period in Middle American prehistory. None of these ceramic styles is fully known and none has as However, their major characteristics and yet been carefully classified.
relative age are quite clear,
and these may be
briefly outlined.
Ulua Bichrome. The first of these has been tentatively designated as Ulua Bichrome (Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, pp. 61-62, fig. 6 and pi. 9). The provenience of this material is clear; it lay below and was separated by a sterile sand layer from the lowest polychrome levels (Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, fig. 6). Two Ulua Mayoid sherds of the finest Santa Rita type which occurred above the sterile sand layer capping the Ulua Bichrome deposits have been illustrated elsewhere (Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, pi. 9, t). However, owing to the depth
and its flooding by the rising river, the available sample Bichrome pottery is small. All sherds from this deep horizon of Ulua are monochrome or bichrome, and polychrome sherds are totally lacking. Aside from the coarse utilitarian ware, which has not yet been analyzed, One type, the Ulua Bichrome ceramic materials are highly distinctive. slip decorated with faded red or black linear designs having an orange The decoration on this type (pi. 11, g), is apparently Usulutan Ware. negative painting because of the brighter slip and dull, closely resembles
of this excavation
faded designs.
Some
of the pieces
may prove
to be negative-painted
flat
when
and
carefully studied.
One
seem
coarse sherd from a

slip.
tripod vessel has
crisscross red lines on a dull white

red, slipped sherds
The majority
of the thin, orange

vessels
to
come from small flat-bottomed
having small, solid, tripod or tetrapod feet.

65333448
8
The occurrence
of rocker-
94
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
\\\^X\V
'
-oil
M^B
Vol. 4]
stamp decoration is of interest (pi. 11, b). Everted lips with broad on the upper surface (pi. 11, d, n), swollen, comma-shaped lips, and a few simple painted designs are among the specific characteristics which link the present small sampling of Ulua Bichrome with the Playa
incisions
de los Muertos ceramic

artifact type
style. Aside from pottery, the only other clay from the Ulua Bichrome horizon was a vertical stamp with
(pi. 11, i).
geometric design
Muertos style. As previously Muertos horizon in Honduras was first isolated

Playa de
los
stated, the
Playa de
los
in a series of
deep burials
FiciUKE 10.
Vessel forms of the Playa de los Muertos style, Ulua River, Honduras. (After Popenoe, 1934, and Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, fig. 17.)
96
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
by Dorothy H, Popenoe (1934),

near the same
los
site
Gordon's mixed collections secured
include a considerable
number
pi. 7,
of complete Playa de
Muertos pottery
vessels (Gordon, 1898,
n-u, and possibly a-c,
deepest excavation had reached this burial These include the majority of unbroken vessels he figures. However, a detailed analysis of Gordon's materials has not yet been attempted. In 1936 the Smithsonian Institution-Harvard University exd, e, h, i), indicating that his
horizon.
pedition's excavation at
Farm
11 (Playa de los Muertos,
fig.
7) revealed
a strikingly clear, discontinuous stratification, with Ulua Polychrome
Period refuse and burials above, and Playa de los Muertos culture refuse and occupation levels below, the two cultural horizons being separated by 2 meters of sterile yellow clay (fig. 9). Stone (1941, pp. 56-57) obscures a very clear situation when she confuses this clean-cut major stratification between two distinct cultural horizons with Popenoe's remarks concerning possible slight diflferences in the Playa de los Muertos burials alone. The ceramics from the Playa de los Muertos living levels and burials are rather complex, and only a bare outline of their major characteristics can be given here. As was the case in regard to the Ulua Bichrome horizon at Santa Rita, the deep Playa de los Muertos horizon at Farm 11 did not yield a single polychrome sherd. Vessel forms (figs. 10, 11) in the Playa de los Muertos style include straight-walled, but irregular, vases with flat bottoms lower, open bowls of composite silhouette round-bottomed pots with constricted orifices and necks ranging from direct lips to tall, flaring spouts (Strong, 1937, fig. 76, upper left) similar pots with single spouts (including human and animal effigy vessels), and open bowls with thick lips, comma-shaped in cross section. The great bulk of the ware is of monochrome type, and five subtypes
;
;
have been distinguished
( 1 )
Unslipped, rough, bricky-red to sooty gray,
(2) slipped and polished orange-red to brown, (3) dark gray to black,
highly polished ware, (4) slate-gray to buff, highly polished ware, and
(5) ware with a chalky, white wash.
The
second, or painted, type
is
rare but forms a definite ingredient of the Playa de los Muertos style.
Irregular areas are painted with red, red and black, and red and
colors,
buflf
sometimes outlined by incisions, while a few sherds have blotchy white designs on both inner and outer surfaces. Opposed to this rare and haphazard decoration with paint, decoration by polishing, broad incising,
and modeling
is
very
common and
is
competently executed.
lips.
In-
cision with broad lines occurs
on necks, bodies, and everted

eflfigies
Model-
ing on vessels includes

(fig.
11, b; pi. 5, a)
human and animal and the human hand

filleting
of
some complexity
Paneling, the use
details
in relief.
of
flanges,
and some
also
occur.
Further
are given
elsewhere (Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, pp. 73-75), but a complete and distinctive study of all available Playa de los Muertos materials has
not yet been made.
It is
obviously an important and early
style,
char-
Vol. 4]
97
Figure
11. Vessel forms of the Playa de los Muertos style, Ulua River, Honduras. (After Popenoe, 1934, and Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, fig. 18.)
98
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
acterized by competent polished
and incised decoration, as well as a
little
rather amateurish and, apparently, experimental
work
in simple painting.
to
Aside from pottery, the clay figurines known actually

(pi.
have come from
deposits of the Playa de los Muertos cultures are particularly interesting

12,
j,
k;
fig.
11, t).
All these are hand-modeled, but both a solid,
naturalistic,
and unslipped form (pi. 12, k) and a hollow, conventionalized, slipped and polished form (pi. 12, /) were recovered from the refuse dePopenoe's burials yielded both an elaborate naturalistic
(fig.
(fig. 11, f)
pi.
posits.
and a cruder conventionalized form

d,
f,
11, i).
Gordon (1898,
10,
g) figures three of the solid, seated,
and naturalistic forms, as well as
may belong to the Playa de los Muertos horizon. It is obvious that a variety of figurine types is represented in the Playa de los
others which
Muertos cultural horizon, as is even more true of the later, more complex Ulua-Yojoa polychrome horizons. Since the figurine forms are so complex in both horizons and those of neither group have been either carefully
studied or classified,
it is
extremely hazardous to speak of a "Playa de
los
Muertos type"
(1941,
fig.
it,
of figurine heads of unstated provenience as Stone does
45).
Likewise, the theory that this ancient culture, or integral
units of
survived "until quite late" times in the Ulua Valley (Stone,
1941, p. 57) must be based on

yet appeared to support
it.
more
closely controlled evidence than has
The Playa de
tion based
doubt that
los Muertos culture awaits adequate definition and descripupon further study and skilled excavation, but there can be no it is one of the very early and formative ceramic cultures of Mid-
dle America.
Yojoa "Monochrome" style. The third early culture revealed in Honduras was discovered at Los Naranjos near Lake Yojoa (Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, pp. 111-125, figs. 31, 32). Two excavations carried through the upper layers containing Yojoa polychrome cultural materials penetrated through a meter of sterile yellow clay and gravel into a deeper and hitherto unknown cultural horizon. This horizon has been barely tested, since time was then lacking to explore it thoroughly. The pottery sample from this early level has been tentatively designated as the Yojoa "Monochrome" style, since the bulk of the material is of this type. However, a very few two-color sherds are present, and this tentative name for the style should probably be changed when this cultural horizon has been more thoroughly explored. The Yojoa "Monochrome" ware is seemingly very crude and simple (pi. 11, n^t) and is crumbly in texture, and some of the sherds appear to be waterworn. Rim sherds show a
lips. Some of these are swollen, and both and slightly flaring rims are present. The majority of basal sherds are from small, flat-bottomed vessels. No spouts, handles, lugs, or feet are present in the available collection (about 700 sherds). Only 12 sherds show traces of slip or paint. The others range in color from dull buff,
majority of low, slightly flaring
vertical
Vol. 4]
99
through dull red, to a grayish black. Despite the obvious erosion on many sherds, the majority do not appear to have been slipped or painted. The painted sherds include eight that have faded red or pinkish slip (pi. 11, g), two with a dull white slip or wash, and two that have definite areas painted
Three figurine fragments (pi. unslipped clay and are apparently hand-modeled. These bear some resemblance to the cruder Playa de los Muertos type of
11,
a dull red and black on the inner surface.
n-r) are of
solid,
figurine.
If the present
sample
is
at all adequate, this, tlie oldest
known
Lake Yojoa pottery style, appears to be the most primitive ceramic type yet encountered in Honduras, and possibly in all Central America. Techfew sherds are painted, we should designate this ware as Yojoa Bichrome. However, the great majority of sherds are unpainted, and all of them are definitely inferior in texture and finish to either the Playa de los Muertos style or the Santa Rita Bichrome style. For this reason it has been tentatively designated as Yojoa "Monochrome" subject to change when an adequate sample is at hand for classification. No very obvious relationship, other than the prevalence of monochrome, small, flat-bottomed vessels, exists between Yojoa "Monochrome" ceramics and the Ulua Bichrome style and even less between the former and the Playa de los Muertos style. This is very puzzling, since local people have dug up typical, spouted, incised and painted, Playa de los Muertos vessels (pi. 5, a, b) at this same site. The occurrence of these two obviously early styles, as well as the rich Yojoa polychrome styles in the upper levels, at Los Naranjos makes this site one of very great promise in regard to the possibility of determining the nature and sequence of a number of prehistoric cultures in Honduras. This promise is enhanced by the fact that, unlike the deeply sedimented archeological horizons on the northern river banks, these similar early horizons at Lake Yojoa seem to be relatively
nically, since a
quite shallow.
NONCERAMIC ARTIFACTS
Concerning nonceramic artifacts from the Ulua- Yojoa region the outThis can be partially accounted is the paucity of the record. for on the grounds that the majority of pieces reaching our museums have
standing fact
been collector's items, such selection being

archeologists until rather recent times.
in vogue even among scientific However, the results of recent ex-
cavations where every artifact has been preserved are not strikingly different.
University expedition in 1936 revealed very

sites
In this regard the work of the Smithsonian Institution-Harvard little nonceramic material from
relatively
on the Ulua and Comayagua but
more from
sites
Yojoa.
The
reasons for such local differences are not clear.
near Lake There follows
a synoptic discussion of such materials mentioned in the literature. This could undoubtedly be amplified were it possible to include a study of all
museum
collections
from
this region.
100
Metal.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
seems to have been uncommon in the Uluaand the few pieces on record seem to be mainly the result of trade in late periods. At Las Flores, one barbless, copper fishhook was the only metal object encountered in the entire season's work on the Ulua and at Lake Yojoa (Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, p. 41). A report that gold objects had been found in burial mounds at Lake Yojoa (Stone, 1934 a) seems to have no foundation in fact. Blackiston (1910) reported a great cache of copper bells (similar to those from the Bay Islands, pi. 9) from a cave near the Chamelicon River. According to Spinden these probably formed part of a Toltec trader's outfit. Steinmay er (1932) gives an analysis of one copper celt from the Ulua. Spinden states also (1925, p. 54) that one of two Ulua marble vases uncovered
Metalworking
Yojoa
region,
near Santa
in to
Ana
contained a Costa Rican gold amulet of the type traded

late period.
little
Chichen Itza in a
From
the sporadic nature of the

in the
record there seems to be
doubt that trade in metallic objects
Ulua- Yojoa region was late and relatively unimportant. As regards metalworking the evidence is equally meager. Las Casas (see Strong, 1935,
pi.
11) speaJcs of the native traders encountered by
Columbus
in the
Bay
34)
Islands as having "small copper hatchets to cut
medals, [as well as] crucibles to melt the

they were thus employed.
wood and copper." Gordon
bells
and some
fig.
(1898,
illustrates "crucible-like objects of clay," but there is
no evidence that
fishhook with
The occurrence of one copper
a burial at Las Flores indicates that copper was used in the later poly-
chrome period.
However,
until contradictory evidence is at hand, metal-
working, or even extensive trade in metals, does not seem to have been
characteristic of the
Ulua- Yojoa region.

vases.
Ground
stone.
Marble
In
ground stone the carved marble

(pi. 5, /).
vases of the Ulua are justly outstanding
sented on such vases has been analyzed by

of these vases has been reported
(1938) and need not be discussed in detail by archeologists (Spinden, 1925; Stein-
The art style repreGordon (1898) and Stone here. The finding of several
mayer, 1932; Stone, 1938, p. 39), but in each case the data concerning the exact provenience and association of such discoveries are tantalizingly
vague.
Spinden's statement that a Costa Rican gold amulet of late type
occurred in one of these vessels has previously been mentioned.

efifort
Every was made by the Smithsonian Institution-Harvard University expe-
dition in 1936 to secure even a fragment of such a vase in situ so that
none were encountered. Lacking adequate data on the marble vases themselves, one is forced to fall back upon known occurrences of the Ulua Marble Vaselike ceramic type (pp. 78-79), which is indubitably closely related to the Ulua marble vase in style (pi. 5, d-j). The possible range in time represented by this
the type could be positively correlated with the ceramic sequence, but
interesting ceramic type
is
indicated in figure 15 (p. 113).
This ceramic
Vol. 4]
101
type on the Ulua occurs overlapping the Las Flores and the Santa Rita
its earliest and latest extensions in time are uncerThroughout its known occurrence on the Ulua it seems to be closely associated with Mayoid sculptured and carved pottery. As previously stated, this does suggest that the fullblown Ulua Marble vase style was the result of a fusion of two art styles, the one Mayoid, and the other the one that was responsible for the Bold Geometric tradition in Ulua
polychrome periods, but
tain.
ceramics.
Since the great majority of Ulua Marble Vaselike vessels are so standardized, they suggest cheaper copies of rare objects rather than originals,
or prototypes, as Stone (1941, p. 29) has recently suggested.
Spinden
(1925, p. 540) derives the two-handled, cylindrical, and decorated stone

bowls, characteristic of northeastern
Honduras
(pi.
1,
top),
from the
Maya
pottery vase of this type, whereas Stone (1938, p. 10) believes that
the pottery form
stone vessels.
may well have been derived from the more southerly The pottery sequence at Las Flores and Santa Rita tends
Mayoid type
type,
to support Stone's view, since two-handled, tripod vases of
are late here and associated with the

the early
Ulua Marble Vaselike
whereas
Mayoid
cylindrical vases at
is
Santa Rita are flat-bottomed and
without lugs, as
also true in early periods in the great
Maya
it
cities.
Unfortunately, the northeastern Honduras and Costa Rican type of double-
banded stone bowl has not yet received any careful study, but
probable that
it
seems
is
a southerly form of which the delicate, annular-based
Ulua marble vase is merely a highly specialized and very important type. The fact that it was so often copied in pottery, which is distributed beyond
the range of the marble vases themselves, bears this out.
Until further evidence comes to hand the Ulua Marble vase seems best
explained as representing a localized, and relatively
late, artistic
climax
in the Ulua region. It would seem to have been derived from an older, southern, stone bowl-working tradition, locally combined on the Ulua with
a delicacy of execution which

artists of
static
of its
feline
been borrowed from associated form and design remained relatively over a considerable period, as demonstrated by the known time range pottery imitations, suggests that this vase form and its elaborated
may well have

That
its
Mayan
extraction.
and
scroll motifs
had the very highest ceremonial importance
in all
northern Honduras.
Metates, titanos, pestles.
The
flat,
undecorated, three-legged metate
seems
to
have been the characteristic form in the Ulua-Yojoa region.

sites
At
Lake Yojoa,
of the
polychrome pottery period had three-legged

Flat, ovoid
metates, the majority of which had a broad grinding groove.

lapstones were
gular.
common
there.
Manos
are usually cylindrical or rectanat
conical stone pestle
was found
Las Flores.
Three shallow
In the
bed-rock mortars at Los Naranjos on Lake Yojoa seem unique.
102
older

"Monochrome" horizon
at
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Lake Yojoa rectagular manos with
bat-
tered ends and fragments of sandstone grinders occurred.
polished artifact types in the region
Miscellaneous objects of ground stone. The recorded range of other is not large. From Ulua sites of the
it
polychrome pottery period

knife (Santa Rita).
includes rectangular bark beaters, large and

flat,
small celts (including those of greenstone), and a square,
polished
From Lake Yojoa

;
sites of the
same period came
large and small celts (including those of and other greenstone); cylindrical and ovoid bark-beaters; an ovoid wedge, or chisel, of greenstone; small round stone balls; and jadeite and brown stone beads. Jadeite and greenstone carved faces and plaques have been collected on the Ulua and at Lake Yojoa, apparently from the polychrome horizon, but there are no good records for such discoveries. (See W. and D. Popenoe, 1931, fig. 6.) In the Old Playa de los Muertos refuse deposits polishing stones and jadeite beads were recovered, and Popenoe (1934) found celts, a rough stone knife, and jadeite amulets, pendants, and beads with burials of this culture. These have not yet been described in any detail. This lack of detailed information on work in jadeite and allied materials, from either the polychrome or the Playa de los Muertos deposits, is extremely unfortunate since it prevents any comparison of earlier and later forms.
jadeite
double-ended hammerstones
Chipped stone. Work in chipped, or flaked, stone in the Ulua- Yojoa is even more scantily represented than are ground-stone forms. The prismatic flake knife of obsidian occurs in historic Naco and practically
region
all
other earlier
sites.
cache of these knives with needle-sharp points

drills
occurred with a burial at Las Flores, as did T-shaped obsidian
and
very crudely retouched stone

posits
flakes.
In the Lake Yojoa polychrome de-
were obsidian and quartzite side scrapers, prismatic obsidian knives, and one planoconvex, obsidian dart point with a tapering stem. The Playa de los Muertos horizon yielded prismatic obsidian knives and retouched
obsidian flakes, while the
obsidian flakes and one
"Monochrome" horizon
side-scraper.
in other materials
sites,
at
Lake Yojoa contained

less
flint
Miscellaneous.
Flores,
Work
was even
abundant;
Las ground-down animal ribs at Santa Rita, and necklaces of shell beads with Playa de los Muertos burials (Popenoe, 1934). Even though the above summary includes only a small proportion of the nonceramic materials so far recovered, but not recorded, from the Ulua- Yojoa region, the list is still strikingly limited. On the Bay Islands, and adjacent mainland, oflfertory caches seem to have yielded the largest range of artifact types, but if such occur in the Ulua- Yojoa region they
a perforated bone at
perforated conch shells occur at Ulua
have not yet been reported. It is undoubtedly significant that rich refuse deposits such as those at Las Flores, Santa Rita, Playa de los Muertos, and the Yojoa burial and habitation mounds yield abundant ceramic but
Vol. 4]
ARCHEOLOGY OF HONDURAS STEONG
103
very few other artifact types.
Conditions of preservation in this humid
jungle country are notably bad, and stone materials are rather scarce; hence, the most probable explanation is that outside of pottery and a iew
stone artifacts, the material culture of these advanced peoples
was
largely
based on the use of wood,
fiber,
bone, and
shell, of
which
all
but the smallest
traces have disappeared. The textile-marked pottery at Naco, like the abundant spindle whorls occurring there and, more rarely, in polychrome period sites, all bears out the record of history that this was an advanced center for the textile arts. Further evidence of this sort must be carefully sought for if the full record of a series of very important Middle American
cultures
is to
become
clear.
CENTRAL AND SOUTHWESTERN HONDURAS

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH
Concerning the archeology of
exception of the great
this large
and important region
it is
imthe
in-
possible at the present time to write any systematic account.
With
Maya
city of
Copan, with which we are only
directly concerned in this
summary, there has not been one
piece of sys-
tematic excavation
work
in the entire area.
The few
archeological surveys
so far attempted have covered only a small portion of the area.
For
this
reason a brief synopsis of certain observations and a consideration of cer-
For present purposes we Copan and the upper Chamelicon River Valley; (b) the Comayagua Valley; (c) the Tegucigalpa area; (d) the Olancho Valley; and (e) the Pacific or Fonesca Bay area.
tain
major problems
in the region
must
suffice.
will subdivide the region into the following subareas: (a)
Copan and the upper Chamelicon River

sites
Valley.
number of
on the upper and lower Chamelicon River have been described by Yde (1938), Strong, Kidder, and Paul (1938), and others. Those on the lower river, around and above Naco, appear to be Mayan, and the majority of stone carvings from sites on the upper Chamelicon, such as La Florida and El Puente, are undoubtedly Mayan (Yde, 1938). The same is true
in regard to Paraiso,
siderable
number
a; Yde, 1938, p.
Florida
in the
(fig. 12,
on an affluent of the Motagua River, as well as a conon the upper Copan River. (See map, fig. 24, Aside from one distinctive stone carving from La 49.) b) no non-Afayan remains have so far been encountered
of sites
this rich area.
very limited archeological surveys so far attempted in

stone sculpture.
itself
Non-Mayan
site of
Copan
Whether the Mayan occupation of the was preceded by that of another and earlier culture
seems to be a disputed question. The vast majority of the stone carving and construction work at this great site is undoubtedly Mayan, but certain stone carvings and ceramic types encountered in the older horizons of the city may pertain to an earlier occupation. Since these and similar evidence
104
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
of cultural interpenetration
have a direct bearing on the problem of culture
sequence in Honduras, they must be briefly considered, although any detailed discussion of
Copan or other Mayan
sites is
beyond the scope of the
present summary.
Among
definitely
the
numerous stone
(fig.
statues in southwestern
Honduras
that are
Mayan
in inspiration there are several
cultural affiliations
12).
non-Mayoid, were found built at Copan and presumably antedate the Mayan occupation at that site (fig. 12, d; Lothrop, 1921, fig. 70, d, e). Lothrop believes that these two statues, one of which has since disappeared, are stylistically related to both Nicaraguan and Guatemalan Highland statues of non-Mayan origin. The same is thought to be true regarding an "alter ego" statue at La Florida
(fig.
which seem to have other Two of these, thought by Lothrop to be into the foundations of stelae (5 and 4)
12,
b) and the crude anthropomorph from the
figured by Gordon.
feline figure
or a
(fig.
tall
pedestal
Ulua (fig, 12, c) from Octopeque

"peg-
Province in southwestern Honduras

lands.
12, a) is also similar to
based" statues from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the Guatemalan High-
Richardson
(1940, p. 410)
at
doubts the suggested relationship

the Nicaragua-La Florida
( 1 )
between the substelae statues

motif in the
Copan with
:
There is no "alter ego" on a pedestal, column, or pillar; (3) they have necklaces, clothing, and feather ornaments, which are more characteristic of Mayan than Nicaraguan sculpture; (4) the neck appendage on one Copan statue differs from such appendages found in Nicaragua (5) they are merely delineated on a boulder and not entirely sculptured out and (6) the figure from stela 4 is of local Copan stone. He believes, however, that the two statues in question are far removed from
type of sculptures for the following reasons
Copan
statues; (2) they are not
Copan and may well be related to the "crude and he suggests that they might belong to an early non-Maya^ horizon represented by the early occurrence of Usulutan ware at Copan. This opens interesting possibilities, since at Kaminaljuyii, in the Guatemalan Highland, rather similar "crude" statues, are said to be associated with what has been termed "Archaic" pottery (Richardson,
the traditional
Mayan
style at
group"
at Kaminaljuyii;
1940, p. 399).
Ceramic correlations
zvith
Formative Maya.
Unfortunately, the pubCopan and southern
lished data concerning the sequence of ceramic styles at
Maya
sites
are as yet far from adequate,
Vaillant's earlier correlation
(1927) of ceramic styles and dated stelae is not adequately illustrated and should be brought up to date. Various interesting suggestions made by Longyear (1940, 1942) are based on first-hand study of both older and recent ceramic collections from Copan and other Mayan sites, but his pubgested pottery correlations between
and generalized. However, the following sugPeten and Southern Maya seem plausible and have a direct bearing on the sequence and probable dating of
lished articles are very brief
Vol. 4J
105
Figure 12. Honduras stone sculptures, a. Jaguar on pillar, Department of Ocotepeque (height 4 ft. 2 in. (1.28 m.)). b, Human figure, La Florida, Department of Copan (height 2 ft. 8 in. (0.80 m.)). c. Stone statue, Ulua River, d, Human figure, Copan site, from foundations of stela 4 (height, approximately 4 ft. (1.22 m.)). e, Other side of b. (After Richardson, 1940, figs. 35-37; c, after Gordon, 1898, fig. 4.)
106

These
will
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
prehistoric cultures in Honduras.
become more applicable
to
the
Honduras area when the
full
sequence of cultures in Highland Guate-
in print. However, the Peten data are more accessible moment. According to Longyear (1942, p. 391), the most primitive-appearing ceramics in the southern Maya area are the Yojoa "Monochrome" deposits. (See p. 98.) This, as yet little known, ceramic type does not exactly correspond with any of the Vtten-Maya prepolychrome styles. The presence of crude, hand-molded figurines and the discovery of other traits may eventually link it with the Mamom phase in the north and the Playa de los Muertos in the south, or it may prove to be earlier than either. The Playa de los Muertos style, with its broad, incised designs, singlecolor painting, and solid figurines, apparently links up with the Mamom phase to the north (Smith, 1940, p. 249). There are some general resemblances between Playa de los Muertos monochrome vessels and the incised,
at the
mala has appeared
fluted or plain, bottle-necked vessels associated with cremations
found
last
is
in
caverns about 4 miles from Copan (Gordon, 1896, 1898). This of pottery has not been reported from the main Copan ruins. It
ently early, but
it is
type
appar-
too
little
known
at present to be safely classified.

is
The Ulua Bichrome
style
(including Usulutan ware)
stylistically
linked with deep deposits at Cerro Zapote in El Salvador (Lothrop, 1927
a) which also contain Usulutan ware.

the batik process
Longyear (1942) suggests that employed on ceramics of the second or Chicanel phase in the Peten at Uaxactiin may also be temporally and stylistically related to the Cerro Zapote and Ulua Bichrome ceramic styles.
Thus, these two prepolychrome phases
similar
in
western Honduras, the Playa
de los Muertos and the Ulua Bichrome, are apparently related to two
Chicanel.
Maya (or proto-Ma^-a) phases in the Peten, the Mamom, and As Longyear states (1942, p. 393), "Any dating for these early
A. D. 435 in the
levels is necessarily tentative, but since 9.0.0.0.0. or
Goodman-Martinez-Thompson correlation, is given for the upper limit of the Chicanel [Thompson, 1939, p. 240] we can take this date at present
prepolychrome horizon in the south also." given A. D. 300 as the closing date More Formative or Mamom-Chicanel phases in the Peten. In any event, for the actual dates as applied to this borderland area are to be considered as apas signifying the close of the
recently
Thompson (1943) has
proximations at best.
Ceramic correlations with Classic Maya. In regard to the later polychrome styles in western Honduras, apparent correlations with PetenMaya sequence exist, but there are bad gaps in the present record. Tzakol-phase ceramic characteristics are said to be rare, but they do occur at Copan (Longyear, 1942, p. 393), whereas both Santa Rita and Las
Flores type Ulua-Mayoid style characteristics are apparently lacking in
such horizons at Copan.
The Tepeu phase
in the
Peten finds representa-
Vol. 4]

at
107
tive
forms both
type pottery.
A
lips,
Copan and apparently in the Ulua-Mayoid Santa Rita characteristic Tepeu form is a flat-based, thin-walled,
cylindrical vase decorated with
human
figures
and glyph bands, and with-
previously indicated (p. 89), this type of vase is characteristic of the earlier Santa Rita type ceramics in the Ulua-Mayoid series. As Longyear (1942, p. 393) suggests, the
out thickened
tripod feet, or lugs.
As
temporal positions of the (earlier) thin-walled and (later) thick-walled vases actually overlap in western Honduras, but the former occurs only in
Ulua-Mayoid style. According to Longyear ( 1942, pp. 393-394), the Tepeu phase, in the Pet en, lasts from 9.10.0.0.0 (A. D. 633) until 10.8.0.0.0 (A. D. 987), and this span of time may well include the Tepeu forms at Copan and the Santa Rita ceramic type on the Ulua River. Another occurrence, recently reported from Copan (Longyear, 1940, pp. 269-270), is the discovery of Teotihuacan (II-IV) types of pottery in association with "fairly early Copan horizons." These are apparently trade wares from Kaminaljuyu in the Guatemala Highlands. In time, this intrusion apparently more or less coincides v/ith the Tzakol-Tepeu phases, tentatively dated above. Thompson (1943, p. 122) dates these Mexican influences in Kaminaljuyu as circa A. D. 350650. Heretofore, Mexican influence in Honduras and El Salvador was believed to have begun with the Toltec, who, traditionally, migrated southward from the 10th to the 12th centuries, follov/ing the breakup of the Toltec Empire. The fact that Teotihuacan-Mexican influences were present in Copan at least several centuries prior to these traditional dates must be borne in mind when the complex problems involving various Mexican versus Mayan influences in contemporary and later Honduras cultures are considered. As Longyear (1942, p. 395) also points out, a known terminal point in the Mexican occupation of Honduras is marked by the Naco style pottery at that site (p. 88), which is dated as just subsequent to A. D.
the early Santa Rita ceramic type of the
1500 by
its
demonstrated association with Spanish Colonial pottery.

of ceramic correlations.
Summary
necessarily
To
summarize
this
important but
complex and incomplete treatment of the known relationship between Honduras and northern, i.e., Mayan and Mexican, ceramic styles, The two prepolychrome horizons, the following outline seems tenable: Play a de los Muertos and Ulua Bichrome (Usulutan) in western Honduras, correspond in certain general characteristics to two similar early
horizons,
Mamom
is
and Chicanel,
in the Peten.
The
earliest date for these
horizons
from about A. D. 300 Between these and the later polychrome horizons in western to 435. Honduras there is at present a complete break, which is not the case in This is due to the fact that the Tzakol phase in the Peten the Peten. (A. D. 435 to 633) is almost entirely unaccounted for in western Honduras, either at Copan or on the Ulua. The next, or Tepeu phase, in the
speculative, but the latest appears to be
Peten (A. D. 633 to 987)
is
apparently represented at Copan (Longyear,
108
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
1942, p. 393), and possibly on the Ulua, by the Santa Rita type of the
Ulua-Mayoid
style.
However, the
fact that
generally seems to be rare or lacking at
Ulua-Mayoid style pottery Copan and that Copan style cera-
mics are generally lacking on the Ulua but that both styles occur together in El Salvador (Longyear, 1940, p. 270) presents a puzzling problem which more adequate data regarding Copan and stratigraphic excavations
in
El Salvador seem most likely to solve.
Nevertheless, despite the present
inadequacy of the record at Copan, and in the remainder of northwestern Honduras, wide cultural correlations of considerable depth are already
clearly apparent.
These important matters will be discussed further we must return to a brief survey prehistoric central and southwestern Honduras.
the conclusion of this section, but here
in of
the
Comayagua Valley. Humuya River Basin,
In the Comayagua Valley, or more

only the
site of
technically,
Tenampua on a
hill crest
south-
town of Comayagua has been at all carefully explored. Despite the surveys of Squier (1853 b, 1869), Lothrop (1927 b), Popenoe (1928, 1936), and Yde (1938), there is still considerable disagreement as to the
east of the
exact plan of the

13),
site.
Popenoe,
shows 99
structures,
who gives the most complete map (fig. whereas Squier counted over 400 mounds (Yde,
apparently a hilltop fortress and, possibly,
1938, p. 22).
Tenampua was
a religious shrine.
artificial
Despite a limited water supply, Popenoe notes three
reservoirs or water holes; the abundance of worn-out metates
suggests occupation during considerable periods of time.

strongly fortified by stone walls, as well as by nature
(fig.
The
site
is
13), and the surface of the mountain top is covered with numerous terraces and rough mounds. The latter fall into three main groups, which are formalized in arrangement. Yde (1938, p. 22) on the basis of Popenoe's map (fig. 13) believes that the site was erected during at least two periods of construction. The mounds are of earth paved with stones, or of rough rocks paved with slabs. Crude stone stairways ascend the terraces and certain mounds. Two long mounds with slanting inner walls faced with stone slabs 3}i feet ( 1 m. ) in height form a ball court. According to Yde ( 1938,
pp. 19-21), this has a stucco floor.
Certain rocks at the site are inscribed
with simple geometric patterns.
Strange to say, the ceramic complex from this important site has never been described. Squier (1869) figures a remarkable painted vessel from here, with handles and legs suggesting twisted cords. It contained chalcedony beads and a pottery whistle. A few sherds of polychrome ware collected by Squier are now in the American Museum of Natural History. They do not conform to any Honduran
is familar. Popenoe figures another whose polychrome bird design somewhat suggests Other the Yojoa Bold Animalistic style previously described (p. 91).
ceramic type with which the author

tripod vessel
(fig.
14)
elaborately painted, tripod bowls, as well as incised pottery, are mentioned
by Squier
1869)
He
also noted
much broken
pottery and burned
human
Plate
1. Ceremonial cache and urn and skull burials, Honduras. Top: Ceremonial deposits of stone bowls, metates, and tables near Plantain River, northeastern Honduras. (After Spinden, 1925, fig. 1.) Bottom: Urn and skull burials. Bay Islands, Honduras. (After Strong, 1935, pi. 2.)
Plate 2. North Coast Applique
style vessels, northeastern Honduras. Stone, 1941, figs. 13-15.)
(After
^
Plate
style; e-f,
a-d, North Coast Appliqu6 North Coast AppUqu6 style, Simple Painted type; g-h, Bold Geo(After Stone, 1941, figs. 16 and 11.) metric style, probably San Marcos type.
3.
Northeast Coast Honduras pottery types,
^^rw^,
Plate
4. Stone and metalwork, Bay Islands, Honduras. Top: Small green stone anthropomorphic carvings. (Scale: Upper left specimen lyi in. (3 cm ) wide.) Bottom: Modeled copper bells. (Scale: Lower left specimen 1% in. (2.7 cm.) high.) (After Strong, 1935, pis. 11 and 10.)
â
oj
\;Z)
a is"
2
'S
^
J3 -^
>
M
05
-
.Ht3 eq c
c3
a>
T3
-^
O 2 ^. S c3 > a> C
"J
11
92 OS
E
e
Si
>?
CO
^
i2
rti
tt
o
Ah
^
>>
(^
M
<!
"^
>>
to
>,
O
l>^
^
CO 03
00
-I
"
lO
S O
03
.
,
;z;
cK
PL,
Plate
6. Honduras pottery styles and types, a-g, Naco style; h, i, Bold Geometric style, San Marcos type; j-n, Ulua Mayoid style, Las Flores type; m, Mayoid carved subtype. (After Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, pis.
5.)
3 and
Plate
central Honduras);
Bold Geometric style pottery, a, San Marcos type (San Marcos, b, c, probably San Marcos type; d, e, f, Santa Rita type. (From Santa Rita, Ulua River, Honduras.)
7.
Plate
8.
Ulua Polychrome vessels, Mayoid

Honduras.)
style,
Santa Rita type, Santa Rita,

pi. 8.)
(After Strong, Kidder,
and Paul, 1938,
Plate
style; e-h,
Yojoa Polychrome vessels, Lake Yojoa, Honduras, a-d, Mayoid group of vessels from a single grave at La Ceiba, Lake Yojoa, Polychrome Period; e, uncertain style; /, Mayoid style; g, Bold Animalistic style; {e-h on different scale than others.) h, Bold Animalistic style, Naranjos I type,
9.
(After Strong, Kidder,
and Paul, 1938,
pi. 12;
and Strong, 1937,
fig.
75.)
;î
.ia^*^
c/
Plate
10. Yojoa Polychrome and other vessels, Lake Yojoa, Honduras, a-d, Bold Animalistic style; e-f. Bold Geometric style; g. Crude Ulua Marble Vaselike type; h, Mayoid carved subtype. (After Strong, Kidder, and Paul,
1938, pis. 13
and
14./
^ #
V
aK.'^^.^*"*^
mm
T'W
/
o
cm.
Plate 11. Early ceramic

level,
Honduras, a-m, Ulua Bichrome from deepest Yojoa Monochrome, Los Naranjos. (After Strong. Kidder, and Paul, 1938, pis. 9 and 15.)
types,
Santa Rita;
n-t,
Plate
12.
Playa de los Muertos style sherds and figurines, Honduras. Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, pis. 10 and 11.)
(After
Vol. 4]

at the site.
is
109
and animal bones

of
comprehensive and objective description

Plain stone metates, with
at the site.
Tenampua ceramics
legs,
very badly needed.
and without
and broken ovoid muUers are abundant
Popenoe uncovered an elaborately carved stone metate of openwork Nicoyan or Costa Rican type. Small stone balls and obsidian lance points complete the reported artifact inventory from this important site. Popenoe
the (1936, pp. 560, 571) suggests that Tenampua may be identified with fortress of Guaxeregin destroyed by Montejo, but Yde (1938, p. 21) denies this possibility on geographic grounds. No post-Contact materials
Lenca
have been reported from the
site.
main
structures
653334
and
9
artifact types at
Both Popenoe and Yde agree that the Tenampua do not appear to be Mayan
48
110
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
or Mexican in character but rather show strong Nicaraguan and Costa
Rican influences.
However, the true
significance of this superficially wellit
known
site will
not become clear until
has been the scene of more inten-
FiGURE
14.
Pottery vessel
red,
from Tenampua, Honduras. and dark brown. (After Popenoe,
Decoration in cream, brick

1936,
fig.
2.)
sive excavations,
accompanied by adequate ceramic and other
artifact type
analyses.
few
Concerning the various mound groups and similar sites, as well as a artifacts all briefly mentioned as occurring in or near the town of Comayagua, at Yarumela, at the north and south ends of the Comayagua
Valley,
and around the town
of Siguatepeque, the reader
is
referred to
that the
to their
Yde
(1938, pp. 11-27).
local Indians,
Long ago Squier (1859) pointed out presumably Lenca, still made annual pilgrimages
town Comayagua, and mentions at least five such ruins within a league (about 3.5 km.) of the town. None of the important Contact sites have yet been identified nor described. Pottery from such sites would presumably be Lenca. Here is a promising lead to the historic approach in Honduras archeology which remains to be developed. Until more exploration and scientific excavation have been accomplished in this part of central Honduras the nature of prehistoric southern and northern cultural interpenetrations, now becoming obvious slightly to the north, will remain obscure so far as concerns one of the most immediate sources of
immediately pre-Conquest village
of
sites in the vicinity of the historic
southern elements.
Tegucigalpa area.
In the valley
is
of the
upper Choluteca River,
in that
part called Rio Grande,
located the city of Tegucigalpa, the
modern
capital of the Republic of
that of Tegucigalpa
is
Honduras. Unlike the Comayagua Valley, surrounded by high mountains on all sides, and
Vol. 4]

it
111
It is at present
apparently
was
thinly occupied in
pre-Columbian times.
a center for mining activities, but apparently the native peoples of the
region, like those of northwestern Honduras, were little interested in gold and silver. In any event, no ruins or mound sites have yet been reported^ from this pleasant and fertile valley, and the few artifacts described in print as coming from here offer little tangible information (Yde, 1938,
pp. &-10).
Passing toward the Olancho Valley, Wells (1857,
p.
244)
of
describes and figures
some
sort of natural or artificial structure

1
made
blocks of stone on a hilltop
league north beyond the crossing of the
Guampu River on
the Talanga road.
Neither the drawing nor the deactually encountered.
scription conveys a clear picture of
what was
exist,
Re-
cent investigations in this vicinity have not verified Wells's account.

vestiges of such a structure
No
nor does it appear likely that there was a building (personal communication from Doris Z. Stone.).
now
Olancho Valley.
The Olancho Valley, another gold-producing

of conflicts
in the south.
region,
was early the scene north and Pedrarias

of large
between the followers of Cortez in the

Unfortunately,
we know
b, p.
little
of the
archeology of this important central area except that there are a number
mound groups
in the valley
(Strong, 1934
sites
47; 1935, pp.
159-160).
consists of
There are several mound

a great
on the Olancho and Guayape
Rivers, in the vicinity of Juticalpa.
enormous area. mounds, but some are large, ranging from 30 to 40 feet (10 to 13 m.) in height. One of them is covered with large granite slabs, many of which formerly stood erect. The largest, about 12 feet (4 m.) high, had recently (before 1933) been knocked down by lightning. Broken pottery The most striking pottery is of Bold Geometric is abundant at the site. Both monkey-handled ollas and large tripod vessels of composite style. silhouette occur. The latter have hollow feet, modeled to represent alligator or other reptile heads, which contain rattles. Colors consist of a dull yellow or a brighter orange slip with red and black designs, which are either geometric, textilelike, or, occasionally, symbolic and vaguely suggesting aberrant Mayoid, Mexican, or Chorotegan motifs. In addition.
One of these, called Dos Quebradas, number of earth and stone mounds covering an The majority of these are small, suggesting house
North Coast Applique pottery
of the less elaborate
forms occurs
at
the
site.
pottery earplug, a small celt of greenstone, and the obsidian
flake knives
were also found.
the
At San Marcos, on the Guayape River, are large earth mounds with same ceramic types. The Bold Geometric Ware available from San Marcos forms one stylistic unit that has here been designated as the San Marcos type of Ulua Bold Geometric (p. 90 and pi. 7, a). North Coast Applique pottery of simple form also occurs at San Marcos and is the
1
of
this
Stone has conducted recent investigations in this region, locating numerous ruins. work will eventually be published by Peabody Museum, Harvard University.
report
112
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
only style present at other earth-mound groups noted in Olancho. Other types of artifacts are rare on the surface of these sites. Excavation at
San Marcos, or elsewhere

but
it is
in the
Olancho region, was very

sites of
superficial,
obviously a promising and important area.

in
The apparent absence
Olancho Valley
Mayoid forms, and
the predominance of the Bold Geometric style, throw a faint but promis-
ing gleam of light on the probable source of this Bold Geometric element
in the
Ulua-Yojoa mixed
region
deposits.
Careful excavations in this promising
central
cultural
should give vitally needed information concerning the
relationships that existed in prehistoric times between northwestern Nicaragua, the northeast coast regions of Honduras, and the
Maya
borderlands
along the Ulua

frontiers.
River,
Lake Yojoa, and the El

to close
Salvador-Guatemala
Pacific or
Fonseca Bay area.
It
seems anticlimactic
our
dis-
cussion of central and southwestern
paragraph on the Pacific
Honduras with only a brief quoted or Fonseca Bay area, which should, by reason
of its geographic position, be the
key to the prehistoric interrelationship between Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. However, as the work of Rivas is unavailable at the time of writing, we can quote only the
following:
"A young German

in
photographer, Fritz Wellerman, living
in Tegucigalpa,
has collected a number of small stone figures from Zacate
Fonseca Bay, and Prof. Pedro Rivas of Tegucigalpa observed large idols, pottery, and mounds on the same island; in his 'Monografia de la Isla Tigre y Puerto de Amapala'
[Rivas, 1934, p. 26] he describes a 4
Grande Island
km. long and 2 km. wide zone
where these
(Yde, 1938, pp. 18-19). Thus we conclude our incomplete survey of the very incompletely known, but highly imartifacts occur"
portant, archeological region of central
and southwestern Honduras.
ETHNIC CORRELATIONS IN HONDURAS

THE POTTERY TIME CHART
As was
the case in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, ceramic wares or styles
prove to be the most effective links between the historic and the prehistoric periods in
Honduras.
Other
traits of material culture
may
later
prove to have equal or even greater value, but at present inadequate

excavation prevents detailed structural comparisons, and the remaining
inventory of comparable artifact types does not approach pottery decoration as a sensitive index of cultural change
this reason a
and ethnic affiliation. For diagrammatic chart has been prepared of known Honduras
ceramic styles and types, with a tentative estimate of their probable duration (fig. 15).
This chart includes the northeast coast and Ulua-Yojoa regions.

does not include the Copan {Mayan) sequence, since
full
It
data are not
Vol. 4]
113
now available, nor does it cover central and southwestern Honduras, since no adequate scientific data are available from these regions. Sequence of styles and types in figure 15 rests primarily on demonstrable, stratigraphic sequences in the Ulua-Yojoa region (Strong, Kidder, and Paul,
114
which

directly, or indirectly, lead
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
up to
historic tribes or ethnic groups.
The
earlier,
discontinuous, ceramic horizons dated prior to A. D. 500

final section.
will be
mentioned again in the
A CONSIDERATION OF CERAMIC STYLES
Naco style. The Naco style (fig. 15) is definitely historic and of Mexican origin. It occurs at a documented site in direct association with European porcelain sherds. The style seems to be late prehistoric in Mexico and evidently pertains to the latest Mexican or Nahuatl intrusion into Honduras. Whether this occupation should be called Aztec, Pipil, or Nahuatl remains to be determined. Similar Mexican groups are known to have been located near Trujillo, in Olancho, near Comayagua, and in Chapagua and Papayeca on the northeast coast (Stone, 1941, pp. 15-16).
None
of these sites,
located or described.
Central America
is
nor the ceramics associated with them, have yet been The problem of Mexican intrusions into southern extremely complex. Thompson (1943, p. 122) points
three rather than two main periods of Mexican migration. In any event, Naco style ceramics and the associated cultural complex at Naco clearly mark a terminal point in the last in-
out that there
may have been
it has a post- 1500 date. Island Polychrome style. Considering the ceramic styles in order, one can say little concerning the Bay Island Polychrome style (fig. 15) except that it is apparently late. The extremely conventionalized and florid decoration accords more closely with the later Las Flores type
trusion since
Bay
of the ever,
Ulua Mayoid than it does with the earlier Santa Rita type. Bay Island Polychrome is a distinctive style despite the fact
Howthat
its
forms blend with those of the North Coast Applique style. It is also rather unusual in being associated with Plumbate ware. In Mexico,
vessel
Thompson
(1943, p.
128)
states
that three
centuries
intervened be-
tween the disappearance of the Plumbate export trade and the Conquest. Whether this was so in Honduras we do not know. No Contact material has been found with Bay Island Polychrome, although it is associated with metalwork which appears to be late in this part of Honduras. This fact, and the apparent relationship between Bay Island Polychrome and
North Coast Applique, suggest that the basic ethnic

former
will eventually
affiliations of
the
prove to be similar
if
not identical with those of
the latter.
The
particular cultural intrusion, however, that led to the
polychrome style remains to be determined. North Coast Applique style ceramics have been extended into the historic period on somewhat shaky grounds Stone (1941, p. 20) has attempted to demonstrate that the (fig. 15). Northeast Coast Applique style pottery occurs in historic Paya sites. Near the old town of San Esteban Toyazua, established as a Paya mission in 1807, 284 years after the Conquest, Stone found abundant pottery
development of
this localized
style.
Vol. 4]
115
of this style.
No
Contact materials, however, are reported, and the case

still
for historic identification
rests
on the
fact that

It
ceramics occur in most parts of the recorded territory of the Paya.

is
highly probable that the
Paya did make pottery
of this style, but this

yet.
cannot be regarded as indisputably demonstrated as
However,
in
the case of the neighboring Jicaque, at Cangelica and Subirana, Stone
(1942, p. 380, fig. 43) did find ceramics, including some of a generalized North Coast Applique style, in reputedly Jicaque sites associated with glass beads. It is on this slender but tangible bit of evidence that I have here extended the North Coast Applique style into the historic period The style, as represented in these protohistoric finds, had (fig. 15). apparently degenerated from its earlier prehistoric elaboration in the Paya country (Stone, 1941) and on the Bay Islands (Strong, 1935), but enough incision, applique work, and modeling on monochrome ware remain to link safely these various manifestations.
We have previously mentioned the close relationship that exists between Highland Applique in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, and the North Coast Applique style in Honduras. In both north and south the applique style occurs in territories occupied almost exclusively by Chibchan, or probably
Chibchan-speaking peoples, and there
peoples in the north.
as in the south,
is
a high probability that the style
pertained to the Guetar in the south and the Paya, Jicaque, and related
As
(fig.
to the age of this ceramic style in the north,

It
we have
as yet no direct evidences.
has been assigned
a terminal date here
15) owing to the fact that the North Coast
Ulua Marble Vaselike ceramic type which, on the Ulua River, stratigraphically overlaps the two Ulua-Mayoid style How much earlier this types. Las Flores and Santa Rita (fig. 15). or other types of the North Coast Applique style may have been made This is an important problem, in Honduras remains to be determined. since it involves the probable time of a major Chibchan, or a related southern Central American thrust from the south into the north.
Applique
style contains the
Ulua-Mayoid
pis. 6,
style.
In
regard to the Ulua-Mayoid style
(fig.
15
j-n; 7) there
is
a distinct possibility that the latest Las Flores
type persisted into early historic times, but
we have
as yet no tangible
proof of
its
this.
The
ethnic linkage of the style with the
Maya
rests
on
clear relationship to
known Mayan
styles in the north rather
than on
any direct historic evidence, although Ma^'an-speaking peoples are known to have occupied this northwestern region in historic times. (See linguistic map, p. 50.) The sequence and characteristics of the two types included in this style. Las Flores and Santa Rita, and their apparent tenuous connections at Copan, have already been discussed. Perhaps the outstanding thing about this definitely Mayan style on the Ulua, and again in the Lake Yojoa district, is the fact that it does not occur by itself, as is the case in most Maya sites to the north, but is often found in direct associa-
116
[B.A.E, Bull. 143
tion with other styles, Bold Geometric
and Bold Animalistic
(fig.
15
and
pis.
7, 9),
which do not seem

its
to be at all
Mayan
in inspiration.
This, coupled with the fact that neither type of the Ulua-Mayoid style
occurs at
Copan during
the
earlier "great period" of the dated stelae,
Ulua River and Lake Yojoa populations Ulua and Yojoa Mayoid pottery, as well as that of Bold Geometric and Bold Animalistic styles, were mixed, part Maya and part
leads one to conclude that the
that
made
alien.
This leads to a consideration of the

sites.
latter styles as well as the
probable ethnic composition of this alien, or non-Mayoid, element at
such mixed Ulua- Yojoa
Non-Mayan
ceramic
styles of the Ulua- Yojoa region.
elements in these interesting
composite
sites
non-Mayan Ulua River, on the
The
Lake Yojoa, are as follows: The Bold Geometric style (including the earlier Comayagua and the later San Marcos types), the Bold Animalistic style, and the Ulua Marble Vaselike type of the North Coast
and
at
Applique style. The Bold Geometric style does not occur, so far as known, in predominantly Mayan territory, but it does occur, either isolated or associated with North Coast Applique style ceramics, in the Olancho district of central Honduras (see p. Ill), on the Bay Islands, and on the adjacent mainland. The Olancho region is in the heart of historic Lenca country, the Bay Islands were probably Paya territory, and the adjacent mainland is Paya and Jicaque country. (See linguistic map, In protohistoric sites in the Yoro district, presumably Jicaque, p. 50.) typical Bold Geometric style handles with raised, monkey-head lugs (Stone, 1941, figs. 42, /; 43, k') occur in association with North Coast Applique style ceramics. The Ulua Marble Vaselike pottery type to pertain to the Lenca, Jicaque, Paya, and related peoples east of the occurs on the Bay Islands and the adjacent mainland, in historic Paya territory. Thus, this general northeastern ceramic complex including Bold Geometric and North Coast Applique styles and types would appear Ulua. The exact affiliations of the Yojoa Bold Animalistic style are not so clear, since the style occurs in El Salvador under as yet unknown circumstances, but in Honduras it centers in Lenca territory and is apparently related to the Bold Geometric style, which again occurs isolated Thus, the non-Mayoid ceramic element in the mixed in Lenca territory. Ulua- Yojoa polychrome sites would, therefore, appear to be predominantly Lenca and Jicaque, with possibly some Paya ingredients (Ulua Marble
Vaselike type ceramics).
This
is
the general southern or easterly ceramic
complex which met, occasionally blended with, but also for a considerable
period existed side by side with, the
Mayan
ceramic tradition along
its
southern borders in the Ulua- Yojoa region.
The
It
sociological basis for this state of affairs can only be surmised.

logical,
seems
however, to postulate that
as Jicaque groups,
Mayan and Lencan, as well had intermarried and formed numerous composite
Vol. 4]
117
In such communities at Lake Yojoa. two schools of pottery-makers had in each case largely maintained their group artistic traditions over a considerable period despite parallel changes in both traditions through time and some blending in the less typical ceramic forms. The record in the ground fully justifies such an interpretation, but much more extensive work in structures, as well as in refuse heaps and burial deposits, is needed before full light can be thrown on this extremely interesting case of peaceful cultural inter-
communities along the Ulua and

the
action between peoples of apparently quite differently derived cultural

traditions.
It
is
tempting to visualize a period after the "fall" of the

at
"Old Maya Empire"

their great
to the
stoneworking tradition and

east,
north and
Maya, abandoning pushed in small groups accepting extended hospitality from the various
the scattering
stela cult,
Copan when
alien peoples of their southern .borderland.
That something
of this sort
occurred seems quite possible, but since neither the exact nature of the
"fall of
Copan" nor the

it
full details
of this interesting cultural amalgama-
tion to the north are as yet clear, such speculations are premature.
In
any event,
is
obvious that cultural interrelationships along this border
area were not only complex but also extremely interesting from both
the historical
and the
sociological viewpoint.
Discussion.
efforts of
In
regard to the attempt to establish definite historic
correlations between sites,
ceramic complexes, and historic
tribes,
the
Stone (1941, 1942) are highly praiseworthy.
However, the
extremely complex cultural interactions in aboriginal northwestern

duras, as well as the
Hon-
many
obscurities of early post-Conquest history,

task.
make
this a very
difficult
and meticulous
Thus, the postulated
correlations between the historic
Paya and
the North Coast Applique
is
ceramic style (Stone, 1941), while highly probable in a general sense, still not historically established. Furthermore, it is misleading to attempt to limit the identification of such a widespread ceramic style
many linguistic groups, or subgroups, such as the Paya, which appear to have been associated with it. Similarly, in regard
to only one of the
where the historic correlation (like that at Naco) is based on an actual association with Contact materials, the limited ceramic sample seems to contain at least two definite styles, the North Coast Applique and the Bold Geometric.
to the Jicaque,
In the case of the Lenca linguistic groups the situation promises to

be even more complex.
relations
While no absolute historic Lenca ceramic corhave yet been established, there is a high probability that the Bold Geometric ceramic style, the Bold Animalistic style, possibly the
style
(in the north),
and certain of the ceramic

designations,
styles
encountered at
Tenampua are all Lenca. Such linguistic
particularly in regions of high culture, apply to a
wide variety of cultural
118
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
groups which have specialized in certain areas and also developed over
a long period of time.
From
late
the archeological standpoint each historic
datum point which can
be established with reasonable certainty, such as that at Naco for the
a very definite gain.
and Subirana for the obscure Jicaque, is Such correlations must, however, be carefully interpreted in terms of the larger cultural wholes and realities of which they are a part. Above all, they must be considered in terms of scientifically demonstrated temporal relationship. An example of such disregard is the obviously erroneous statement that certain Ulua Bichrome incised and rocker-stamped sherds should be classified as historic "Sulaat Cangelica
p. 379, fig.
Nahuatl and
Jicaque" (Stone, 1942,
31), despite the fact that while simple

&, and and Usulutan ware are strictly Honduras and do not occur at all
incision occurs in practically all horizons, rocker-stamping (pi, 11,
Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938,

in the "S\x\a.- Jicaque" sample.
pi, 9,
e)
limited to this one early horizon in
Similarly, the point already raised re-
garding the assertion that the Playa de los Muertos ceramic type persisted
until "quite late
during the Indian occupation of the Sula-Ulua" (Stone,

based on uncontrolled evidence which,
if
1941, p. 57)
is
accepted,
would
refute the findings of two carefully controlled stratigraphic excavations
with these earliest
(Popenoe, 1934; Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938). However, in dealing known Ulua Bichrome and Playa de los Muertos
fig,
horizons in Honduras (see
15), or with the possibly earlier

circa A, D,
Yojoa
"Monochrome"
see
fig,
horizon,
we have
reached a point where the nonconformity
of the temporal sequence in 15)
Honduras (between
600 and 300,
indicates that further attempts at
any
direct historic cor-
relations are as yet unjustified,
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
The
earlier statement that
to
the western boundary region of
modern
Honduras seemed
logical
mark
a meeting point between northern and southern

at present inadequate in both
prehistoric cultures seems justified in the light of present-day archeo-
knowledge.
Such knowledge
is
space and time coverage, but what objective data

ing interplay of cultural forces in this area.
we have
reveal a fascinatat
Along the Ulua River
Lake Yojoa, and
in all probability
south through El Salvador,
Maya
cultures of the later polychrome pottery periods are seen to meet and
These southern cultural elements were apparently carried by such native groups as the Lenca, Jicaque, and Paya, although the Paya seem more closely identified with an applique monochrome pottery tradition which is apparently derived from, or basic to, the Highland region in Costa Rica, The sources of the polychrome pottery styles associated with this southern or Honduras cultural element, i.e., Bay Island, Polychrome, Bold
intermingle with those from the south.
Vol. 4]
119
Geometric, and Bold Animalistic, are as yet uncertain.
They occur
by themselves and isolated from Mayan or Mexican styles in northern and central Honduras, but they may originally have been derived from Chorotegan or Mexican culture centers in western Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Until we have objective excavation data from the great archeological blank
now formed by
south-central Honduras, El Salvador, and
practically all
Nicaragua, the answers to such questions can only be

similar
guessed
unanswered question involves the exact relationMayan ceramic styles on the Ulua, at Lake Yojoa, at Copan, and in El Salvador, as well as their respective The answer to these relationship to the earlier or Formative Period. questions may be found in El Salvador, but further excavation and publiConcerning the cation are vitally needed in the other regions as well. various Mexican intrusions into Honduras and southern Central America our only objective data at present are a few such terminal points as Naco. Until more is known about the relative time and nature of such Mexican invasions we cannot hope to understand the role played by the MesoAmerican cultures in Central America either in the western Nicaraguan and Costa Rican culture centers, nor in its wider peripheral manifestations.
at.
ship that existed between the various
With
the possible exception of Copan, there
is at
present in Honduras
a complete break in continuity between the polychrome pottery horizons
and what may be termed the Formative cultures of northern Middle America. In Honduras these include the Ulua Bichrome, the Playa
de los Muertos, and, probably, the Yojoa
last,
"Monochrome"
fig.
horizons.
The
contraiy to an earlier estimate
(compare
15
with Relative
Chronological Chart, Strong, 1943, p. 42),

but
it
may
be the oldest of the three,
is
too
little
known
at present to
even suggest wider correlations.
There are, however, already clear indications of relationship between the Ulua Bichrome and the Playa de los Muertos horizons on the one hand and the Mamom-Chicanel {Maya or proto-ikfaya) phase in the Peten area on the other. When more information is available concerning the comparable early periods in the intervening Guatemala Highland area,
the nature and direction of these relationships should be clearer.
ever, to the south of
Howcul-
Honduras no evidences
of
any comparable early

cultures
ture horizon are yet

central Peru.
known
until
one reaches the Coast of northern and
Here the Early Ancon-Supe, or Chavinoid,

in
seem
quite similar in cultural content and probable age to the Playa de los
Muertos horizon
correlations
Honduras.
tive Chronological Chart.)
How
it is
may prove
to be
(See Strong, 1943, pp. 31-33 and Relasignificant such spatially distant cultural too early to say. It seems obvious, how-
and deep excavations in strategic sites in the intervening regions of southern Central America and northern South America should go far toward solving this and other important problems which no amount
ever, that careful of speculation or specimen-collecting can
hope
to touch.
120

BIBLIOGRAPHY
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Blakiston, 1910; Gordon, 1896, 1898; Kidder (see Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938) Longyear, 1940, 1942; Lothrop, 1921, 1926 b, 1927 a, 1927 b; Paul (see Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938) Popenoe, D, 1928, 1934, 1936 Popenoe, W. and D., 1931 Richardson, 1940; Rivas, 1934; Smith, 1940; Spinden, 1925; Squier, 1853 b, 1859,
;
; ;
1869;
Steinmayer, 1932; Stone, 1934
a,
1938,
1941,
1942; Strong, 1934
a,
1934
b,
1935, 1937, 1943; Strong, Kidder,
and Paul, 1938; Thompson,
1939, 1943; Vaillant.
1927; Wells, 1857; Yde, 1938.
THE ARCHEOLOGY OF COSTA RICA AND NICARAGUA

By Wm. Duncan Strong
INTRODUCTION
most obvious or gentrue of most of Central America, only the been distinguished in Costa eralized archeological provinces have as yet map 3.) To date, demonstrated culture se-
As
is
Rica and Nicaragua. (See quences are unknown; hence,
impossible further to subdivide these existed during successive periods prior to larger areas into those which For present purposes we shall, therefore, take Lothrop's the Conquest I, p. xxv), the Pacific two main archeological areas (1926 b, vol. 1. fig. and add to these another region that region and the Highland region, Coastal Plain. In general, the Pacific is even less known, the Eastern
it is
has designated region, as considered here, includes what Johnson (p. 44) also the Nicoya Peninsula, which, as the Pacific Borderlands. It includes
included with the from a strictly geographic standpoint, can also be detailed information is available Southern Highland area. Too little archeologically with the Highto tell whether the Boruca area belongs purposes it is included with the land or the Pacific region. For present
latter.
archeologically In regard to the Pacific region it is known to be yet received little systematic rich, but, with one exception, it has as is fairly well known, excavation. The Highland region in Costa Rica
since
it
includes the thickly inhabited "Meseta central."
However, as
Lothrop pointed out in 1926, we Pacific or the Highland published scientific excavation work in either the strange state of affairs is still true. region. Unfortunately, in 1946, this archeological standAs regards the Eastern Coast Plain, which from the Lowland, this vast jungle area point apparently includes the Nicaraguan scientifically; hence, very little can be said still largely unexplored
is
have to thank Hartman for the only
about
it.
The names and
of locations, as well as a brief sketch of the history
American tribes, have already Costa Rican, Nicaraguan, and other Central of native culture types in been presented (pp. 49-64). The distribution of the Conquest is disCosta Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, etc., at the time Here 185-193 ) cussed at considerable length in a subsequent section (pp. remains our treatment to a description of the archeological
.
we
shall confine
121
122
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
themselves, making use of tribal names only in the few cases where the
association between ethnological
and archeological materials or horizons Such exact correlations are highly to be desired but are lamentably rare in Central America. On the other hand, numerous correlations between historic tribes and archeological remains have been suggested, and certain of these will be mentioned subsequently, taking care to distinguish the few proved ethnoarcheological associations from those that seem probable or merely possible. Since the admirable archeological summary of Costa Rica and Nicaragua by Lothrop (1926 b, vols. 1, 2) has not yet been superseded, this work forms the basis of much of the present outline and should be consulted for further details, particularly concerning ceramics, lists of sites, and
has been demonstrated on a sound historical basis.
general bibliography.
findings
The
present account adds certain
more
recent
and
interpretations.
THE PACIFIC REGION

Surface structures.
The
prehistoric structures of Costa Rica
and
Nicaragua are not particularly striking. In the Pacific region flat-topped mounds of earth and stone occur, often surmounted or surrounded by There are no records or evidences of temples on such stone statues.
courtyards.
According to historic accounts, mounds stood in the temple The irregular arrangement of mounds and statues in the Pacific region is indicated by an example from Zapatero Island, Nicaragua (fig. 16). Mounds of stone that are presumably domiciliary reach a size of 200 feet (60 m.) in length, 60 feet (18 m.) in width, and 10 Small, low mounds of earth and stone are more feet (3 m.) in height. common. Many of these are apparently raised house sites. Small circular mounds 20 to 40 feet (6 to 12 m.) in diameter were also used for burial and, in some cases, a short stone column with or without carving surmounted the mound. On Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua burial mounds are surrounded by a ring formed of stone slabs set on
mounds.
Refuse heaps, often of large size and considerable depth such as A number of these appear to be rich that at Filadelfia, are reported. (See should offer excellent stratigraphic possibilities. in potsherds and
end.
Lothrop, 1926
b,
vol. 2, List of sites, p.
421
et
seq.).
Shell
mounds
Stone
occur at several places on the coast of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
"dump
heaps" or "quarries"
in
at
and metates are reported

quarry or workshop
marked by incomplete stone statues, seats, the Terraba Plain, and an extensive flint
Tablon, Nicaragua.
stone statues of the Pacific region are well
Stone statues.
The
known and
occur both with mounds and in isolation. They range roughly from 4 to 12 feet (1.2 to 3.6 m.) in height and represent human beings,
animals, or both (pi. 13 and lake region are
fig.
17).
Examples from the Nicaraguan

Stone statues of the Pacific
among
the most striking.
fttnta dti Sdfat*
H. .v''"^
m
-JV.
K.
- /
M
R ' '"^ J -^"îi^
?
s.
PiiiiCa
iilas flyurmM
a.
Figure 16. Mounds on Zapatero Island, Nicaragua.
(After Bovallius, 1886.)
Vol. 4]
COSTA RICA-NICARAGUA ARCHEOLOGY STRONG
123
Figure
with
17.
Stone
c,
sculptures
from Costa Rica and Nicaragua,
a,
Human
figure,
Copelito, Nicaragua
"alter
ego"
d.
(height approximately 5 ft. (1.50 m.)). b. Human figure motif, Nacasola, Costa Rica (height approximately 8 ft.
(2.40 m.)).
(1.50 m.)).
(1.37 m.)).
5
ft.
Human figure, El Silencio, Nicaragua (height approximately 5 ft. Human figure from Copelito (height approximately 4 ft. 6 m. e. Human figure, La Libertad, Nicaragua (height approximately
(After Richardson. 1940,
figs. 39,
in.
(1.63 m.)).
38;
&,
after Cabrera,
1924.)
124
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
region usually have a columnar base, often with a simple capital on which
the
figure
rests.
guardian-spirit motif,
One common is a human

figure
is
type,
suggesting the
"alter
ego"
or
figure seated or standing, carrying on
the shoulders or over the head an alligator or other animal.
Sometimes
Other
the head of the
human
enclosed in the jaws of this animal.
Characteristically, in the lake region this animal
head
is
huge.
types of
have
by a
type
been
on the breast or held in the hand, tenons on top of the head, or have the lower part of the face covered mask suggesting the bill of a duck or other bird. Recently a unique of columnar human statue with elaborate low relief carving has reported from the western slopes of the Cordillera east of Lakes
figures have gorgets
human
Managua and Nicaragua (Richardson,

(Stone, this volume, pp. 1/3-174) cruder
Plain are described.
1940).
In a subsequent article
statues (often
human and animal
with peg bases) and small groups of large stone balls from the Terraba
In addition to the large statues and realistically
a wide variety of elaborately carved jade and
carved
human
figures,
Large numbers of these have from graves on the Nicoya Peninsula (fig. 21). (See been recovered Hartman, 1901, 1907.)
other stone celt-shaped pendants occurs.
Regarding the
stylistic
and temporal
affiliations,
particularly of the
little
larger statues, there has been
much
discussion but as yet
(compare Lothrop, 1926

416.)
of
b, vol. 1, p.
93, with Richardson, 1940, pp.
agreement 412-
The styles more southerly
are highly distinctive and seem of local or perhaps

origin,
but whether certain types are ancient and
underlie
Maya
horizons to the north, as Lothrop believes they do, or
are late and possibly associated with post-Conquest materials, as Richard-
son believes possible, must await systematic excavation and correlation in the area. Certainly the majority of larger statues in the Pacific region
seem very
distinct
from Mayan, Nahuatl, or other northern forms and
suggest South American rather than northern relationships.

relationship of the
The
stylistic
numerous petroglyphs carved on boulders with designs ranging from simple and realistic to complex and highly conventionalized figures also remains to be determined by more comprehensive study.
Burial. Burial methods in the Pacific region of Costa Rica and Nicaragua include the use of urns, cremation, and inhumation. Three boot-shaped, circular, and boat-shaped. Both types of urns were used articulated and disarticulated bodies occur in urns as well as the ashes Urn burials are reported from many coastal sites of cremated bodies. (see Lothrop, 1926 b, vol. 1, p. 97). Inhumation, often in mounds, was
:
practiced in
in Nicoya.
all
parts of the Nicaragua region and

is
was almost universal
Preservation of osseous material
very bad, but where de-
termination
An
of
is possible secondary or bundle burials seem most common. example of unmarked grave arrangements at the well-known site Las Guacas on the Nicoya Peninsula is characteristic (fig. 18). At
Vol. 4]
125
^ I
^f^
3
fe
Bagaces in Costa Rica and other more northerly sites graves are marked by four stone coUimns at the corners. This corresponds to a grave type found in the Chiriqui^ region.
'
Chiriqui
is
Chiriqui tribe, which
used here as the designation of an archeological area and does not refer may or may not have left the archeological remains in the region.
10
to the
653334
48
126
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Ceramics.According to Lothrop ( 1926 b, vol. 1, p. 105) , the ceramics of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, despite borrowing and blending on the borders, form a unit when compared to pottery from the Maya and Lenca
areas to the north or the Chiriqui region to the south.
finer, particularly the
Certainly the
polychrome, vessels from this region are distinctive,
work in Honduras and in southwestern Costa Rica indicates monochrome wares of Chiriqui, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and northwestern Honduras have many characteristics in common. Lothrop's
but recent
that the detailed study (1926 b, vols.
1,
2)
is
largely based
on museum
collections,
and recent
to the
is
field
work
indicates that here selection of finer, showier pieces
has led to undue emphasis on polychrome and elaborate pieces as opposed
much more abundant monochrome and

(this
simpler vessel types.

it
This
must be remembered that Stone is particularly referring to southwestern Costa Rica, whereas the most abundant polychrome pottery seems to come from Nicoya and western Nicaragua. Lothrop's analysis of Costa Rican and Nicaraguan pottery is still the most complete available hence, with the above warnings pointed out, it will be very briefly outlined here. For full description, analysis, and illustration, the reader is referred to Lothrop's beautifully
;
pointed out by Stone
volume), but
illustrated volumes.
The two main ceramic divisions in the Pacific region comprise the Polychrome and Monochrome Wares. The most important Polychrome group has been designated Nicoya Polychrome. (For a synoptic presentation of ceramic groups, see fig. 19.) Nicoya Polychrome Ware has been found from the Nicoya Peninsula to Fonseca Bay but is especially typical of southwestern Nicaragua and northwestern Costa Rica. As is true
of other groups, briefly
mentioned here,
it
includes
types which await
more
detailed classification.
Common
numerous styles and Nicoya Poly-
chrome vessels are egg or pear-shaped jars, set on annular bases or tripod legs, and tripod bowls supported by animal-head legs. Animal effigy jars are also common. The finest vessels are elaborate and brightly painted.
Painted designs are of various colors outlined in black.
It is
the per-
haps unwarranted impression of the present writer that the use of a white or light background color is particularly striking on many pieces.
Designs appear to be geometric and when analyzed usually prove to be
Modeled vessels represent the turkey, macaw, monkey, armadillo, and human head. Painted animals include man, jaguar, plumed serpent, 2-headed dragon, monkey, crab scorpion, and alligator. Under-slip Incised Ware is a second Polychrome group. The design here has been incised prior to application of the slip through which it is
conventionalized animals.
jaguar,
visible.
In addition, this ware
is
decorated with painted designs in Nicoya
Polychrome style. Motifs include the earth monster, feathered serpent and its derivatives, as well as simple geometric forms. In 1926 the known
ff^.
Vol. 4]
COSTA RICA-NICAEAGUA ARCHEOLOGY STRONG
127
distribution of this
ware extended from the Nicoya Peninsula to Lake Nicaragua, and similar types were reported from near Veracruz in Mexico. The third main Polychrome group is Luna Ware, reported from north-
ern Guanacaste (Costa Rica) to north-central Nicaragua but appearing creamy-white slip on to center on the islands of Lake Nicaragua.
which patterns are painted in thin-line technique is its most striking Bowls supported by annular bases or tripod legs are characteristic. almost the only forms represented. Designs are almost entirely derived
from those on Nicoya Polychrome Ware. Life motifs are more limited and until analyzed appear to be purely geometric. Intermediate between the Polychrome and Monochrome groups are three wares which are decorated chiefly by incising. The first, Managua ware, is limited in distribution almost entirely to the district between
the
two great Nicaraguan rimmed bowl supported by
lakes.
Its
characteristic
shape
is
a flaring
solid tripod legs.
Painted designs are either
plumed serpent or apparently allied bird designs. The incised designs, Nanoften found on bowl floors, suggest Astec "pepper grater" bowls. daime Ware has a distinct red slip but is allied with the Polychrome Wares by its modeled and painted decorations. One Nandaime type It is has bulbous tripod legs and incised designs on the vessel floor. reported from central Guanacaste north along the Pacific probably to Fonseca Bay. Nicoya Black-line Ware seems to be found mainly in It may have a red or white slip, or no slip at all. central Guanacaste. Modeled forms are those of the Monochrome Ware series, and painted designs are either distinctive or are taken from the Polychrome group. The Monochrome Wares are distinctive in regard to shape, color, and methods of decoration. Of the seven in this group the first four Chocoare named from the color late, Black, Orange-Brown, and Red Wares Their decorations are modeled and incised. White paint of their slips.
is
often rubbed into the incised design.

life
Incised designs are usually
geometric though some
forms occur.
Motifs are built up through
combinations of geometric units.
Effigy vessels are very
common, and
modeled heads and other features are applied to the outer walls in the same fashion as in the Polychrome Wares. Life forms include the human figure, alligator (and alligator "god"), great horned owl, monkey, turtle, jaguar, armadillo, and snake (rare). The other three Monochrome Wares are designated Palmar, Modeled Palmar Ware is a local ceramic group disAlligator, and Zapatero. tinguished by simple patterns made with a broad incised line. This design
is
emphasized by touches of red paint.
Modeled Alligator Ware

is
is
made
of coarse unslipped clay.

alligator.
There
is
usually a cover on which
a modeled
The
sides of the cover
and the base are adorned with lumps
representing alligator scutes.
Zapatero
It,
Ware
includes large burial urns

of coarse clay, but the
and smaller
related forms.
too, is
composed
128
outer surface
lines
is
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
usually polished and often decorated with broad red

distinctive types.
and small modeled figures of

if
Most
not
all
of the Pacific region ceramic
wares are represented by
a variety of other pottery artifacts, of which figurines and whistles are
most abundant. These in many cases are synonymous. Nicoya Polychrome figurines are particularly interesting, since they represent a seated spread-legged type with "coft"ee-bean eyes." Lothrop takes issue with Spinden on the grounds that this apparently late type could hardly be directly related to those of the Archaic or Middle Cultures of the Valley Nicoya Polychrome figurines are mold-made. Those of of Mexico. other wares are apparently both of mold-made and hand-modeled types. Figurines seated on elaborate stools are an interesting form. Zapatero Ware figurine forms, notably a howling dog and an old person with a
container on her back (Lothrop, 1926
related to
b, vol.
2, p.
273), are obviously

rattles,
Ulua River specimens

fig. 7, c, g, h,
in
Honduras (compare Strong, Kidder,

Pottery drums, clay
miniature
all
and Paul, 1938,

vessels,
r).
painted and incised spindle whorls and cylindrical stamps
occur.
Clay labrets are abundant.
Similar forms of jade are found
on the Nicoya Peninsula, but the Chiriqui gold type appears to be lacking. Two possible snuff tubes are on record, but tobacco pipes seem to be
lacking.
Since
we
lack temporal or other significant classifications for
these interesting ceramic forms they need only be mentioned here.
For
258-
further details the reader
is
referred to Lothrop (1926
b, vol. 2, pp.
282) and Hartman (1907).

In regard to the apparent great predominance of
in the
Monochrome Wares
is
southern portion of the Pacific region, the reader

p.
referred to
p.
a subsequent article (this volume,
187; also Stone, 1943,
80).
As
indicated previously, the center of distribution of most of the Polychrome
Wares would seem
and lake areas of Nicoya and western Nicaragua. Obviously, the decorative styles and techniques of many of these wares or types merge, but only many careful distributional and stratigraphic studies can hope to work out their exact spatial and temporal relationship one to another. Such studies still remain to be accomplished
to be the coastal
in the field.
abundant
Metallurgy and jade work. Work in the Pacific region. Goldwork

its
in metal does not

is
seem
to be
rare and
to be of the simpler Chiriqui forms.
Jade,
when found appears on the other hand, if we
use the term in

as
broadest sense, seems to have been used extensively,
indicated
Peninsula.
by the findings of Hartman and others on the Nicoya Lehmann (1910) among others, has suggested that in certain
in the
areas of Middle America predominant interest in jade or greenstone
seems to preclude an interest
working
of gold.
flint
Stonework.
ries
In regard
to
stonework, despite the account of

said to have
quaras
where the Indians of Subtiaba are
made arrowheads
Vol. 4]
COSTA RICA-NICAKAGUA ARCHEOLOGY STRONG

1890 (Lothrop, 1926
b, vol. 2, p.
pi.
129
are recorded.
435), very few chipped artifacts No. 7) figures one large, stemmed 32, (1907, The most elaborate of the ground-stone artifact types is the cerepoint. monial metate from the Nicoya region (pi. 13, /, g). This is characterized by three legs in contrast to the 4-legged form of the Highland and Chiriqui regions. Hartman notes that the Nicoyan metates have
late as
Hartman
either triangular or circular legs.
Both types are elaborately decorated,
the former with a projecting animal head and geometric patterns; the
latter is usually larger
and has animal decorative patterns.

is
Manos, or
grinding stones, are larger than the width of the metate. grinding stone, with an ornamental handle,
20, left).
A stirrup-shaped
The
full
function of these very elaborate metates
an interesting form (fig. is unknown.
Figure 20. Costa Rican stonework. Left Stirrup pestle. Right Stone stand, Las Mercedes (diameter o stand, 6 in. (15.2 cm.)). (After Lothrop, 1926 b, figs. 16 and 259.)
:
Quite possibly they were used as seats. Simple legless forms were probably used for ordinary household purposes on the Pacific, as seems to
have been the case in the Highlands.
The
elaborate, legged metate type,
representing a decorative peak for the Americas in this regard, occurs
south in the Chiriqui region and north into central and eastern Honduras.
a,
Maces or club heads of stone are very typical in Nicoya graves (pi. 14, Hartman classifies these as having human, mammal, and bird b).
heads; as representing two-legged monsters or alligators; or as round

or star-shaped.
The
latter forms, including
mammiform
heads, have a
wide distribution both to the north and south.

is
of stone are of two types (pi. 14, d, e). One of these grooved around the edges for attaching a handle, and ridged on the two flat surfaces. The other is cylindrical, with the enlarged end ridged and the smaller end serving as a handle. The disk type, as Lothrop
Bark beaters
a
flat disk,
130
points out,
is
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
widely distributed, occurring in various parts of Mexico,
Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Colombia.

(Strong, 1935,
tribes
pi. 16,
Both types occur
in
Honduras
k-m).
In Mexico and in Honduras certain primitive
now
use a hardwood club similar to the cylindrical stone form.
Polished celts of amygdaloid and oval shape occur, and chipped double-
bladed as well as T-shaped chipped axes are

lithic,
common
f,
(pi. 14,
h).
Mono-
ground-stone, double-bladed axes
(pi. 14,
g) occur in the Nicara-
guan lake region but seem more abundant on the
east coast of that country.
As
previously mentioned, jade amulets, particularly celt-shaped pen-
dants, are very characteristic of the
Nicoya region.
(See
fig.
21; also
Figure
21.
^Jade
pendants, Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica.
(After Lothrop, 1921.)
Hartman, 1907.)
larger celts.
Many
of the smaller amulets
have been sawed
off
from
Objects of true jadeite or nephrite are actually rare com-
pared to those made of similar but softer minerals. Circular stone disks, Identical possibly gorgets, are common grave finds (pi. 14, c).
objects of slate have been found in
mounds
in northeastern
Honduras.
all
Some
stone
atlatl
pegs, similar to those from northwestern South America,

(fig.
are found in Nicoya
22).
The
elaboration and range of
these
Figure
22.
Costa
Zyi
(Length of center specimen, Rica stone spear-thrower pegs. (After Hartman, 1907.) in. (5.4 cm.)).
Vol. 4]
COSTA RICA-NICARAGUa ARCHEOLOGY STRONG
131
various carved stone artifact types in the Pacific region are well shown
by Hartnian (1907). There is an obvious relationship between the designs on the smaller carved artifacts, on the larger stone statues, and on various pottery vessels, but, lacking true time perspective based on stratigraphy, the historic sequences remain to be worked out.
THE HIGHLAND REGION

For present purposes the term Highland region is used geographically somewhat larger and looser sense than the same term is employed by Lothrop. This was also true in regard to the Pacific region. (See sketch map, Lothrop, 1926 b, vol. 1, fig. 1, p. xxv). Lothrop distinguishes several subareas in the Highland region (1926 b, vol. 2, p. 285) and points out that the large area west of San Jose is still largely unknown. Logically, this would be the region archeologically transitional between the central and eastern Highlands and Nicoya. For the known Highin a
land region he sees such a close relationship with prehistoric Chiriqui

archeological materials as to suggest Chiriqui origins for the Highland
culture later modified by northern influences.
Since the Guetar peoples
are historically the only
known
inhabitants of what Lothrop defines as
the Highland region, he states that "the archeological remains

sarily be attributed to
must necesthem" (1926 b, vol. 2, p. 285). Such an inclusive statement is obviously open to criticism, since this could be true only if the Guetar had always ,been there or if no evidences of ancestral or earlier alien groups had ever been encountered. That no such temporal or ethnic distinctions have yet been made, in an area through which early migrations of necessity must have passed, clearly indicates how small our archeological knowledge of the region actually is. This being the case, we shall not attempt here to define either major or minor archeological area boundaries but shall limit the discussion to those major characteristics which at present seem to characterize the Highland region as a whole and tend to distinguish it from the Pacific region.
prehistoric structures of the Highlands are
most characteristic mounds. In the central valleys these are rubbish heaps of irregular shape, but on the Atlantic slope they are grouped so as to enclose courts or series of courts. An example of such aligned sti-uctures at Las Mercedes in Costa Rica is given here The upper figure (fig. 26) shows smaller burial mounds (sur(fig. 26). face and cross section) located near the main group of structures. The latter (fig. 26, lower) center around a circular mound 100 feet (30 m.) in diameter and 20 feet (6.5 m.) in height. This mound consisted of a Hartman found evicircular wall of river boulders filled in with earth. dence that large stone statues found nearby had once stood on the upper rim of the central mound. In western Nicaragua statues usually occur around the base of mounds. European articles were also found in typical
in the Pacific region, the
Surface structures.
As
132
graves at this
to
IB.A.E. Bull. 143
In addition site, suggesting that at least part of it was late. Hartman, Alanson Skinner excavated at Las Mercedes (Lothrop, 1926 b, vol. 2, pp. 451-467) and a large part of the Minor Keith col(See Mason, 1946.) At several Highlection was also secured here. land sites occur circles of stones filled with debris ranging up to a diameter of 70 feet (21 m.). These are believed to be habitation mounds,
although burials also occur in them (Lothrop, 1926
b, vol. 2, pi. ccii).
Statues.
Large
stone statues of Lake Nicaragua type are reported
from the eastern shore of that lake, extending southward into the Highland region across the Rio San Juan as far as the vicinity of Puerto Limon. The "alter ego" motif, when it occurs in Costa Rica, is usually indicated by a small, complete animal or the head of the human figure (pi. 15, b), (Compare fig. although large animal heads in this position do occur.
example from Guanacaste.) The stone statutes from the Chontales region east of Lake Nicaragua, previously mentioned, seem likewise to be characterized by small complete animal figures surmounting the human Chacmool type statues, characterized by a recumbent figure with head.
17, b,
a bowl inset in the stomach, occur rarely in western Nicaragua and across Mexico is believed to be the center to the Atlantic coast of Costa Rica.
of distribution of the
Chacmool type (Richardson, 1940,

figures of stone appear to be the
15, a-c).
(pi.
p.
403).
Smaller, realistic
human
most abundant
celt-
type of stone statuary
Available literature suggests that
such figures are as characteristic of the Highland region as small,

shaped,
human amulets
are of certain parts of the Pacific region, but this

it is
may
,be illusory.
If true
of interest, since celt-shaped
are rather
common
This
in northeast Honduras, whereas

is
human amulets human figures of

Highland than
stone are not.

tures of
curious, since in general the northern coastal culto bear a closer resemblance to the
Honduras seem
to the Pacific cultures of Costa Rica
and Nicaragua.
Lothrop distinguishes three types

Highlands
(pi. 15).
of small
human
stone figures in the
The
first
consists of standing figures usually grasp-
ing an object in each hand.
Often a human head
is
held,
sometimes
style is
with a head in one hand and an ax in the other.

repeated in the goldwork
usually about half
(pi. 17, a).
This general
of a
A second consists
is
life size,
cut squarely across the neck.
human head, These may be

Similar
larger replicas of the decapitated heads held by standing figures.
heads occur in pottery.
The
third
a seated
human
figure with the
arms resting on the knees and placed across the body. Often such figures are blowing a whistle or eating. These are usually only a few inches
high, but specimens 2 feet (60 cm.) in height have been found.
r(:semble the
They
Mexican seated stone

all
figures
known
as "Indios tristes."
Stone statuary of
gold, deserve far
sizes in
Costa Rica and equally objects made of

received.
more comprehensive study than they have yet
Vol. 4]
133
Mason's study of the stonework in the Minor Keith Collection improves our knowledge of stone sculpture in Costa Rica. Burial. Rectangular stone cists were commonly used for disposal of
the dead in the Highland

types.
flat
region.
Hartman
distinguishes four
is
main
Characteristic of the Cartago Valley
a cist built entirely of are usually oval in

the Atlantic slope
stone slabs.
In the vicinity of San Jose
cists
form, built of river boulders, and have no roof.

large cists occur in
On
but
flat
stone slabs
which river boulders are used for walls and floors, form the roof. The fourth type, found on the westcists
ern side of the Cartago Valley, consists of

stone slabs used like bricks.
are also reported by
cist burials
made
of small, square-cut
cists
Rectangular graves and globular stone

the
Hartman from
same mound
at Santiago.
usually occur in mounds, or in stone circles
These apparently marking

with burials
hut rings.
Sometimes as many as three
tiers of cists occur,
Figure
23.
Costa
Rican carved stone

wide.)
slabs.
(Specimen
at left, 19 in.
(48.4 cm.)
(After Lothrop, 1926
b, fig. 179.)
134
touching.
cists.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
"
Where
it
Valley,
This crowding apparently leads occasionally to odd-shaped burials are very crowded and cists small, as in the Cartago is presumed that secondary burials occur. Elsewhere, as on
the Atlantic slope, extended burials are said to be
more common.
is
As
was true
in the Pacific region, preservation of
bones
very bad, and
the proportion of direct inhumations to cist burials cannot be determined.
The majority
cists
of the objects described in sequel
come from graves and

of the small stone
or from their vicinity.
This
is
also true of
many
figures previously mentioned.
Particularly characteristic of the Highland
region are large, thin, elaborately carved stone slabs

tions
on the sides of these are

situ,
it
such as monkeys or birds,
found one of these in at Anita Grande, and

as grave markers.
(fig. 23). Decoraand often there are animals, carved in the round on the tops. Skinner standing erect in the middle of a cemetery
in
low
relief
is
quite possible that these ornate slabs served

their stylistic similarity to deco-
Lothrop points out
from Manabi in Ecuador. The suggested resemblance to carved stonework from Chavin de Huantar in Peru does not seem to the present writer to be so close as in the case of the Manabi examples. Ceramics. In regard to ceramics from the Highland region, Lothrop states (1926 b, vol. 2, p. 293) that in almost every ware examined one finds strong traces of the virile art of Chiriqui to the south. Certain Highland ware designations, such as Red-line, Lost Color, Maroon, Tripod, and Handled, have previously been used to designate Chiriqui pottery groups. The Highland wares so designated pertain to the same class of pottery as in Chiriqui, modified but slightly by a different locale. Lothrop regrets the lack of data from the intervening provinces of Talamanca and Boruca in comparing the respective fictile and other arts of Highland Costa Rica and Chiriqui. However, this gap is here partly filled by Stone's paper (this volume, p. 170 f.), which in part deals with these areas. Stone corroborates the close relationship between Costa Rican and Chiriqui ceramics indicated by Lothrop. In the territory lying east of Nicoya and extending to the Atlantic slope, northern and southern extensions not being indicated, which Lothrop (1926 b. vol. 2, pp. 295-389) terms the Highland region, four main ceramic groups are distinguished. These include (1) Polychrome Wares, (2) Simple Painted Wares, (3) Monochrome Wares, and (4) Applique Wares. (See fig. 24.) The Highland Polychrome Ware represents a relatively small group, not comparable in amount or importance with Nicoya and other Polychrome Wares from the Pacific region. Lothrop further points out that the majority of Highland Polychrome designs and shapes are borrowed from the Pacific region, although considerable local modification exists. Elsewhere in the present volume (p. 172) Stone states that many of the painted pottery pieces from Boruca and Talamanca have forms characteristic of the Monochrome Wares.
rated slabs
Vol. 4]
135
These observations again emphasize the fact that the elaborate Polychrome Wares seem to center not only in the Pacific region, but particularly in Nicoya and western Nicaragua.
The Simple Painted Wares

Black-line,
include Red-line, Yellow-line, White-line,
and Lost Color Wares.
The
first
four are characterized by

slip.
designs painted in the respective color upon a red or, rarely, a cream
Geometric patterns are common, some of these being derived from the Chiriqui alligator motif. A tripod bowl supported by animal heads is the most distinctive form, but each ware contains various forms apparently
taken over from the Applique Wares.
Lost Color, or Negative Painted,
Ware
usual
is
decorated with light designs against a darker background.
The
wax
process appears to have been employed on this type of vessel.
Designs are geometric, curvilinear, and zoomorphic.

is
Lost Color
little
Ware
more
true
is
not abundant in the Highland region and appears to be
than a specialized extension of a

of
all
common
Chiriqui technique.
As
Highland Wares,
its
relative age is undetermined, but its
forms
are generally those of the above.
to Lothrop.
Highland Monochrome Wares according These are: Maroon Incised (related to Lost Color Ware and marked by incised patterns on vessels with a maroon slip), Chocolate (apparently derived from its Pacific region prototype), Red-lip (lip red with unslipped band below on which painted, modeled, or incised decoration occurs; related to Nicoya Black-line group), and Red, characterized by a red slip, its forms falling into two divisions, one connected with the Pacific region, the other differing from Stone Cist Ware only in clay and slip.
There are
five subdivisions of
are apparently the most typical and abundant Highland region. These are the Curridabat, Tripod, Stone Cist, and Handled Wares. As a rule, the Applique Ware vessels are of coarse,
of the
gritty paste, usually burnished rather than slipped.
The four Applique Wares
Decoration consists
primarily of the application of buttons or ribbons of clay to the outside

of the vessel, but this does not exclude painting, incising,
and modeling.
vessel and, in
All four types of decoration sometimes occur on the

certain subtypes, applique decoration
is
same
absent.
The
dividing line be-
tween these wares
is
often obscure, and they blend into one another in
no
apparent succession.
The
dividing line between Stone Cist and Handled
Wares
is
particularly obscure.
There are two groups of Curridabat Ware; one is distinguished by one or more small ridges encircling the neck or shoulder the other con;
sists of
is
smaller vessels with painted instead of raised designs.
Decoration
scutes),
applique
(most common; apparently representing
alligator
modeled, incised, and painted.

referred to Lothrop (1926
All the forms are simple.
In regard to
is
subtypes, occasional provenience, and wider distributions the reader

b, vol. 2,
pp. 332-355).
136
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Tripod Ware consists of vessels which are set on tall tripod legs and have modeled animals upon them. The vessels are often elaborately decorated and tend toward the grotesque. Modeling is very common, but a few painted forms occur. At Curridabat, in Costa Rica, the type site for ware of that name, Hartman (1907) found broken Tripod Ware vessels at depths of 2 to 4 feet (0.6 to 1.2 m.) underground, and at 4 to 7 feet (1.2 to 2.1 m.) he encountered numerous upright Curridabat jars. He observes that these two wares formed 90 percent of the pottery at this site. Tripod Ware has a wide distribution marked by local variations. It is particularly characteristic of northeastern Honduras.
either represent animals or
legs
Ware is composed of globular jars, often set on short tripod and decorated with applique animal forms, ribbons (often punctured), or buttons. Modeled forms include the alligator, man, tree, frog, and snake. The paste is sandy the color normally brick red burnishing is more common than slipping; and specimens are very friable. This general type is also widely distributed. It is very characteristic of northeastern Honduras.
Stone Cist
;
;
Handled Ware
rately,
is
similar in composition to the above but
is less
elabo-
Handles are large and include single, paired vertical, and paired horizontal forms. This ware is closely related to its Chiriqui name-giver. As Lothrop indicates, the basis
one might say grotesquely, decorated.
of classification of this ware, like
many
of the others, is not entirely sat-
isfactory and awaits revision based on

stratigraphic, excavations.
more
extensive, as well as intensive
Like the
Pacific, the
Highland region has various ceramic forms which
tery objects other than vessels.
It also has a number of potHollow cylindrical pot stands, sometimes with Atlantean supports, are common. Often the upper ring is surmounted by small faces (fig. 20, right). These objects of either pottery or stone were presumably used to support round-bottomed vessels which are the
do not
fit
into present pottery classifications.
usual type.
lar to
Incense burners of
Honduran and Mexican
Red Ware with modeled handles are simiforms. The handles often represent an
alligator or serpent.
in stone, also occur.

district.
Large pottery heads of several types, similar to those Nearly all on record came from the Las Mercedes
Figurines are
figures are
much
less
;
common
common
than in the Pacific region.

type with painted geometric
Human
most common
standing figures in costume and pensive
figures seated on stools occur.
designs belongs to the class of Chiriqui Alligator

seated, sometimes
Ware.
legs.
on
stools,
and usually have spread
These are usually Canoe- or boat-
shaped vessels containing

tion, dogs, jaguars, .birds,
human
paddlers are a distinctive type. In addi-
and composite or double animals are represented.

or animalistic in form, pertain to various ceramic
Whistles, usually
human
wares.
or even sealed are less
form of tripod legs, incense-burner handles, Gourd-form rattles are represented. Pottery drums common than in the Pacific region but do occur. Some of these
Rattles occur in the
pots.
a
to
llJ
C/)
<
UJ
<
03
D
q:
I u o z
g
_j Q0.
c
bD
<
o
H 03 P O
rol. 4]

Ware.
137
are of Highland Polychrome
Cylindrical pottery stamps are also
found in the Highlands.
Metallurgy. ^Though excellent examples of jade or allied stone carving have been found in the Highland region graves, goldwork is apparently more common. Most of this exquisitely worked material has been dug up by treasure hunters, and much of it has been melted down. However, large collections are to be found in Costa Rican and other museums. Unfortunately, no comprehensive studies of Costa Rican goldwork are available and little can be said about it here. Many forms in goldwork are the same as those in Highland ceramics or in stonework. The techniques employed seem generally to be the same as those used in the Chiriqui area.
Human figures holding trophy heads

gators, frogs,
or other objects, mammals, birds, alliand bells are all represented. (See pi. 17, a.) The entire problem of metalwork in Costa Rica and the rest of Central America calls for much more study than it has yet received. On general grounds, however, we can state that the Highland region links up with the Chiriqui area in yielding considerable amounts of stylistically similar goldwork. The Pacific region, however, with the possible exception of the Boruca region, seems largely to lack metalwork, or to yield merely a few simple and presumably borrowed forms. Stonework. Considering work in stone, again we have no data on chipping techniques, but various ground-stone objects are excellently made. The Highland metate differs from the Nicoya form in being oblong instead of rectangular and having three legs instead of four. It also has a ridge around the edge of the grinding plate necessitating a short handstone or mano. Often the Highland metate is formed like an animal, particularly the jaguar, having the head at one end and the tail curled and attached to a leg to form a handle (fig. 25). It is so closely related in form and style to the metate of the Chiriqui area that there are no clear rules to distinguish between the two. As in Nicoya, very elaborate forms occur (pi. 15, d), complex in execution and rich in forgotten mythological sym-
FiGURE
25.
Metate
from Cartago, Costa Rica.
(After Lothrop, 1926
b, fig.
181.)
138
boHsm.
rather

The animal-form metate occurs as common in northeastern Honduras.
far south as
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Ecuador and
is
In the Highlands, as in the Pacific region,

positively
it is
impossible to distinguish
between certain elaborate mortuary metates and probable seats or stools. However, one Highland form definitely suggests a seat. This type consists of a round plate encircled by a ridge and supported on a tall,
openwork
pedestal.
Decoration
consists
of
pierced
slits,
triangles,
diamonds, or Atlantean figures.
Similar forms occur in pottery and

;
wood
which cannot be successfully used as a grinding surface hence the use of such objects for seats seems probable. This pedestal-type seat, or stand, A similar is distributed throughout the Highland and Chiriqui regions. made of pottery and form without the plate is identical with the pot stands apparently performed the same function. Stone bowls, some of which resemble pottery forms and are elaborately carved, also occur in the Highland region. The polished ax of the Highland region is usually diamondshaped in cross section, and this type is common also in the Chiriqui region. Another type is chipped and not polished. A double-bitted, chipped ax form occurs, but the monolithic ax is not reported.
THE EASTERN COASTAL PLAIN

This, the third region mentioned in the present brief archeological
survey of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, contains topographic variations (see Introduction, p. 121) but may be considered as generally coterminous with
part of the Atlantic Plain and
all
the Nicaraguan Lowland.
It
comprises
a huge triangular, area extending from the Talamanca Plain in Costa Rica
north along the Caribbean into Honduras and, widening rapidly to the
northwest, to the eastern base of the Cordillera in northern Costa Rica
and central Nicaragua.
rolling foothills eastward to the
This vast jungle-covered area, extending from swampy Mosquito coast, is not very well
is
known from
standpoint.
the geographic and
almost
unknown from
the archeological
Despite the fact that the region includes over half of the
combined area of Costa Rica and Nicaragua and forms an essential archeological link between Honduras and the Highland region on the south and the Pacific region on the west, very little can be said at present concerning
its
archeology.
For
this reason only
a brief summary of previ-
ously published materials (Strong, 1935, pp. 166-167) is given here. Le Baron gives a plan of a small ceremonial site on the Prinzapolca
River consisting of three rude monoliths set up to form a triangle, which One monolith had a crude face incised at the top is paved with rocks.
and others had simple circular or geometric petroglyphs. No artifacts were found. On the Rama River, which enters the Caribbean near Monkey Point, Spinden (1925) notes the occurrence of small mounds conPainted and modeled ware, including tripod taining abundant pottery. bowls, figurines, whistles, etc., were found here. Cookra Hill, near the
Vol. 4]
139
south end of Pearl Lagoon, formerly had ancient graves from which gold
amulets, a marble
artifacts
mace head
of
have been removed.
Near
Nicoyan type, abundant pottery, and other Bluefields occur large and interesting
,jjJ^y.^;tft..O'.<WVffft,^^
'V
'
'
.'v,-î,\îit":*-'i
'//.y./- :,;/. .-'^'yy'
F-'f
--^^^^g^.
^^-^^î-*;'
Figure
26.
Burial
mound and
general
map
of Las Mercedes, Costa Rica.

1901.)
(After
Hartman,
140
shell heaps.

Pottery from these
is
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
usually unslipped but
is
elaborately
and containing rattles, suggests a local variant of Costa Rican pottery (Tripod Ware). A small stone figure of a man and two interesting types of monolithic axes, figured by Lothrop (see pi. 14, /, g), come from here. Spinden calls attention to stone bowls with projecting heads, tripod supports, and a band of interlaced decoration, which come from this area. (See Honduras, pi. 1, top.) The well-made metates with animal heads from eastern Nicaragua form a link between (Highland) Costa Rica and northern Honduras. Spinden also states that small pots with plastic decoration and gold figurines are said to have been found in the Pis Pis mining district. He observed many elaborate petroglyphs near falls and rapids on these eastern rivers. At the junction of the Yasica and Tuma Rivers, within the wet belt and in the vicinity of mounds, he found two carvings of the Lake Nicaragua type. One of these depicted a man with an allimodeled.
type, with tripod feet decorated with faces
One
gator clinging to his back.
From the surveys made by Spinden it thus appears that eastern Nicaragua forms a cultural link between the Highland region of Costa Rica
to the south,
Too
little is
yet on record, however, to attempt a
and the Bay Islands and the Honduran coast to the north. more detailed comparison
of types.
ETHNIC CORRELATIONS IN COSTA RICA AND NICARAGUA

Exact correlations between archeological manifestations and documented historic sites or ruins formerly occupied by specific tribes are as yet unknown in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Whether available documentation and adequate archeological remains at historic sites exist cannot be determined until more serious attempts in that direction have been made. However, western Nicaragua, particularly the lake region, as well as various parts of Costa Rica seems very promising in this regard. This is indicated by the fact that rather close territorial correlations have already been demonstrated, particularly by Lothrop, between certain ceramic wares and the historic territories of certain distinct linguistic and ethnic groups. Such generalized correlations should not be pushed too far, but when objectively arrived at they do have rather strong inferential
value.
Needless to say, these will be greatly strengthened when
( 1
have been carefully worked and (2) when demonsimpliste "one to strable sequence or time order can be established. one" correlation between the ethnic group known to have occupied a
specific historic sites
specific region at the
time of the Conquest and
all,
or a great majority,
must always be subject to suspicion. This is particularly true in the more favorable parts of an isthmian area where both linguistic distributions and history indicate that numerous migrations have occurred. However, until painstaking excavation brings
of the archeological remains in that region
Plate 13. Stone statue and

Island, Nicaragua.
(After Bovallius,
1901.)
/,
g,
a, b, d, e, From seats. Central America, c, 1886, and Squier, 1852.)
Mexico. (After Seler, (After Holmes, 1908.)
Zapatero Comitdn, From Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica.
Plate
14. Stone artifacts from Costa Rica and Nicaragua, a, b, Club heads, Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; c, disk, Costa Rica; d, e, bark beaters, Filadelfia, Costa Rica; f-h, axes. (Length of/, 12.5 in. (31.5 cm.); length of g, 8
in.
(20.2cm.);heightof
/i,
Tin. (17.8 cm.).)
(After Lothrop, 1926 b, pis. 10-12.)
^^
Plate
15.
Stone carvings, Costa Rica,

14 and
10.5 in.
a,
c,
Figures from Las

cm.).)
of
b,
Mercedes.
Statue,
d,
(Respective heights,
(35.5
and 26.5
Ceremonial metate, San Isidro de Guadaloupe. (Lengtli (After Lothrop, 1926 b, pis. 205, 138, and 140.) (62.5 cm.).)
top 24.5
in.
j'&
Plate
jar,
16.
Nicoya
in.
Polychrome, Costa Rica and Nicaragua,

(Height, 11.5
in.
a,
b.
Macaw
effigy
Bolson, Costa Rica.

(Height, 9
in.
c,
(29.2 cm.).)
From
Filadelfia,
Costa Rica.
(Diameter, 9
red, orange,
(23 cm.).)
d,
From Ometepe
(23 cm.).)
Bowl
interior, crab
Island, Nicaragua. motif in light red, dark
and black on white. (Diameter, 5.5 in. (14 cm.).) e, Plmned serpent motif jar, Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica, in red and black on yellow. (Height, 10.5 in. (26.7 cm.).) /, Plumed serpent decoration from tripod
Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica,
in red
interior,
and black on orange.
eter, 5.5 in. (14 cm.).)
(After Lothrop, 1926 b, pis. 14, 23, 30, 71, 46
(Diamand 47.)
,..-__^
Plate 18. Central American pottery types, a, b, Black-Line ware, Las Mercedes and Anita Grande, Costa Rica. (Diameters, approximately 9 and 6 in. (23 and 15 cm.).) c, Curridabat ware, Costa Rica. (Diameter, approximately 4 in. (10 cm.).) d, Luna ware, Nicaragua. (Width, 4.5 in. (11.4 cm.).)
e,
g,
Lost-Color pattern, Las Mercedes. /, Yellow-Line ware. Las Mercedes. Red-Line ware. Las Mercedes. (Diameter, 6.5 in. (16.5 cm.).) h, Tripod ware, Las Mercedes. (Height, approximately 6 in. (15.2 cm.).) i, Highland Polychrome ware, Costa Rica. (Height, 4.5 in. (11.4 cm.).) (After Lothrop,
1926
b, pis. 159, 171, fig. 93, pis. 161, 157, fig. 192, pis. 175, 143.)
Vol. 4]
14i
is ax
true time perspective, the establishment of such gross correlations

least
a promising
first step.
tribution of
striking of these correlations is that existing between the disNicoya Polychrome Wares and peoples of Chorotegan (the Chiapanecan of Thomas and Swanton, 1911) and Nahuatl speech. Ter-
The most
ritorially this
double distribution includes the Peninsula of Nicoya, the
Isthmus of Rivas, the west coast of Nicaragua, the islands of Lake Nicaragua, and parts of southern Salvador, As Lothrop (1926 b, vols. 1, 2)
demonstrates in considerable
detail,
Nicoya Polychrome pottery
is
not
only the most elaborate painted ware in Costa Rica and Nicaragua but also
Mayan and later what he considers to be older Mayan motifs in Nicoya Polychrome leads him to the belief that the Chorotegan groups, longer in residence, were responsible for the bulk of this ceramic ware, whereas the later Nicarao and other Nahautl (Mexican) peoples adopted it and introduced later northern motifs into Nicoya Polychrome but did not develop a distinguishable subtype of their own. Since linguistic considerations indicate northern origins for both Chorotegan and Nahuatl peoples, while history and legend give the Chorotegan temporal priority in
is
characterized by design and technical elements of older

origin.
Mexican
The presence
of
this region,
Lothrop's correlation agrees with the available evidence.
On
similar distributional
and
territorial
grounds,
Chocolate Ware,
Alligator
Black Ware, Orange-Brown Ware, perhaps
Red Ware, and
Ware may
Another and design and has been found almost entirely within the boundaries of one Chorotegan tribe, the Mangue. Nandaime Ware has been found from Guanacaste in Costa Rica to Nandaime in Nicaragua and probably extends north to Fonseca Bay. Beware, Managua,
is
also be largely assigned to the Chorotegan peoples.
limited in shape
cause this distribution includes the Subtiaba as well as the Chorotegans,
Lothrop believes Nandaime

groups.
Ware was made by

is
people of both linguistic
Lothrop
sites in
Lehmann (1910) and Nicoya Blackline Ware, since it commonly occurs at Coribici (Chibchan) territory and also in Orotina {Chorotegan)
Similar dual authorship
suggested by
in regard to
territory as well.
tribes
East of the Nicaraguan lakes the territory of the Ulvan and the known distribution of Luna and Zapatero Wares more or
less coincide.
Luna Ware, through
its
association with large boot-shaped

objects, is apparently
burial urns in
protohistoric.
which were found post-Caucasian

According to Lothrop,
is
this coincidence
between Ulvan ocstates that
cupation and the above wares
strong for
Luna Ware, but he
Zapatero
Ware
cannot be so definitely delimited.
All the foregoing ceramic and tribal correlations refer to the Pacific
region.
In regard to the Highland region
we have
previously (p. 131)

all
quoted and criticized Lothrop's somewhat wholesale assignment of
the
known
archeological materials to the historic Guetar {Chibchan).
Stone
653334
48
11
142

some
[B.A.B. BuU. 143
(1943, p. 75) points out
of the difficulties encountered in assigning
prehistoric remains to specific historic tribes in Costa Rica,
known
historic occupation of the entire southern
However, the and eastern Highland
region by tribes pertaining to the Chibchan linguistic stock does establish

at least a priority in their favor.
The marked
concentration of large statues
of so-called "Chorotegan type" within the area mainly occupied by Choro-
tegan peoples, particularly in the Nicaraguan lake region, offers some

justification for this
nominal linkage.
As
previously stressed, however,
the styles of these large

tribution
monuments
are so variable and their present dis-
and
relative age are so uncertain that this
problem must be
left
open.
Certainly the concentration of jade (greenstone)
work on
amulets,
etc., in Nicoya and adjacent areas historically occupied by the Orotina and other Chorotegan, as well as Mexican, peoples suggests a partial correlation. Similarly, the fact that goldwork is equally characteristic in the Highland region and in Chiriqui, where only Chibchan tribes are known to have lived in historic times, tends to link goldworking with peoples of this linguistic stock, the major affiliations of which are with northern South America. All the above correlations have some degree of probability and indicate very important leads. However, the final assignment of technical trends, ceramic wares, monumental styles, and all other archeological complexes in Costa Rica and Nicaragua to historic tribes, prehistoric groups, and relative temporal position in both the Pacific and Highland regions must await far more careful and extensive excavation work than either of
these areas has yet received.
As
for the Eastern Coastal Plain,
it still
re-
mains an almost complete archeological terra incognita.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hartman, 1901, 1907; Johnson, 1940; Kidder (see Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938) Le Baron, 1912 Lehmann, 1910 Lines, 1938 b Lothrop, 1926 b Mason, 1945 Paul
; ; ;
;
and Paul, 1938) Richardson, 1940 Spinden, 1925 Stone, 1943 Strong, 1935; Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938; Swanton (see Thomas and Swanton,
(see Strong, Kidder,
;
;
1911)
Thomas and Swanton,
1911.
THE ARCHEOLOGY OF PANAMA
By Samuel K. Lothrop
INTRODUCTION
For many years the primitive
and
it
inhabitants of
Panama were known
only
through archeological remains discovered in the Province of Chiriqui,
was generally supposed
that a
more or
less
uniform culture extended

at present
throughout the Isthmian region.

to light
Since 1930, however, evidence has come

this picture,
which radically changes
and
we
can dis-
tinguish four or
more
cultures in
Panama.
In spite of the small area they
occupied, each culture

features
was radically distinct from the others, although were sometimes borrowed, as might be expected among neighbors. From continental South America to the west the principal culture areas are named Darien, Code, Veraguas, and Chiriqui (map 4). Several regions in Panama are archeologically still unknown, and it is definitely possible
that other cultures
may
be discovered.
with early historical accounts.
by Panamanian archeology is in accord These indicate that a fairly uniform speech, physical type, material culture, and social organization once extended throughout Darien from South America to a point beyond the Canal. The town of Chame, which still exists, is given as the limit of Darien culture From Chame to the west both speech and physical in the 16th century. varied greatly. It is constantly stated in Spanish documents that type neighboring aboriginal settlements could communicate with each other only through interpreters. Unfortunately, no ancient vocabularies have come down to us, and so we cannot know the extent of linguistic variation. Today the few surviving Indians speak Guaymi, a Chibchan dialect. Regarding physical type, various 16th-century observers point out that there was great variation in skin color and in stature. At least two accounts exist of the natives of Escoria, who were both taller and more
cultural diversity disclosed
The
heavily bearded than the Spaniards.
We can say nothing about the beards,

who
but excavations in
Code have
revealed the presence of individuals
must have stood over 6
m.) in life. suggestion of cultural diversity with wide implications arises from the description of a native ball court (juego de pelota). This definitely
feet (1.9
was not
of the
Mexican or Central American
type, for
it
was compared
143
144
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
Vol. 4]
ARCHEOLOGY OF PANAMA LOTHROP

Arawak
ball courts seen
145
to the
by the Spaniards in the West Indies, which

consider the question of antiquity, be-
differ radically
from those
is
of the mainland.
Any
discussion of
Panama must
the most obvious route to South America and because cause passed through the isthmian region, even if he did not man must have
Panama
remote past. It has been suggested that a crudely chipped celt found by Linne on the Atlantic coast may be of great antiquity. This seems improbable, because chipped celts or chipped and partly polished celts were manufactured both in Panama and Costa
permanently
settle there, in the
Rica until the time of the Spanish Conquest.

that
It is fair to state, therefore,
no proved trace of man

nearer to
in the far past has yet
been found in Panama
Panama than Nicaragua. may be regarded as historic that is to say, they were flourishing when the Spaniards came. Evidence obtained from excavations in Code suggests that Code culture was blooming at least two centuries before the Conquest. The complexity of the oldest known
or, in fact,
The
cultures to be described
remains, dating only from the early 14th century,
is
such that a fairly
long past must be postulated.
This
is
especially true of the intricate
sym-
bolism shown in pottery designs.
The
prototypes, however, remain to
be found.
DARIEN
The term Darien
research in this area
applies geographically to the portion of
Panama
lying between the Canal
and continental South America.
Archeological
commenced in 1522 when Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes, later the royal historian, opened "certain sepulchers which were inside a hut," with the hope of finding gold. Present knowledge of archeological remains, however, is based largely on the work of S. Linne (1929), who conducted excavations on both coasts of the
Isthmus.
The Darien
first
seen by the Spanish explorers was very diflFerent from
advanced agricultural practices, had been cut down. Descriptions exist of huge and beautiful houses, giant canoes inlaid with motherin short, a scale of material culture much more advanced than of-pearl
the Darien that exists today.
to
Owing
much
of the now-prevalent jungle evidently
the surviving archeological remains indicate.

cultural complexity, however,
suggestion of ancient
comes from the mythology and ritual of the present Cuna Indians, ably studied by Nordenskiold (1938), Ruben Nele, and Perez Kantule. (See also, this volume, p. 257.) Burial custom. History and archeology alike indicate considerable Oviedo y Valdes, (1851-55), variety in the burial customs of Darien. the best historical authority, states that burial was a rite reserved for the nobility as well as for such wives, retainers, and captives as were selected The living destined for the to accompany their lords to another world.
146
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
grave either took poison voluntarily, were buried alive while stupified by
intoxication, or
were
killed in
some
unspecified manner.
Bodies of the
common
people were abandoned to the beasts and birds.
In Darien it was customary among certain ruling families to bury the wives and servants in the ground but to desiccate and preserve the body
of the chief.
To
this
end the body was dried out by means of surround-
ing
fires.
It
then was disposed of in one of two ways.
Some
families
maintained a special house or room where their ancestors were seated in

order along the walls.
In other instances the bodies were wrapped in
mantles and placed in hammocks.
Linne (1929) points out that the
Cueva today place the dead in hammocks slung in pits, which subsequently are filled with earth, and he has published a map showing the distribution of various types of mummification.
Linne's excavations revealed the presence of secondary urn burials on

the Atlantic coast of Darien
Pacific.
and
of
inhumations in deep graves on the

Decoration consists of
Tall annular bases are
Ceramics.
modeling,
typical.
The pottery
in general is coarse.
(pi.
filleting,
and incising
19, c-e).
Sufficient material is not available for close comparisons, but
the pottery
may
be described as definitely Isthmian in character with
stylistic links
both to the south and north.
On
the Pearl Islands, Linne discovered typical Darien pottery asso-
ciated with
associated with rectangular house
polychrome pottery of Code style He demonstrated by microscopic studies that both were manufactured locally and suggested that the polychrome ware was produced by Indians transferred from the mainland
round house
sites
and
also
sites.
after the Conquest.
Stratigraphic studies in
Stone objects.
Objects
of stone are not
Code endorse this opinion. common in Darien. The

not been found east of
Celts usually are small
elaborate metates typical of western
Panama have
the Canal, but small mortars occur (pi. 20, h).
and are polished
(pi. 20, a).
COCLE
The
It is
aboriginal culture which takes
occupies the Pacific watershed of
name from the Province of Code Panama to the southwest of the Canal.
its
including the Provinces of Herrera and
found chiefly in Code Province and the adjacent Asuero Peninsula, Los Santos. This well-watered
is
region in large part today consists of open plains and

raising, but to the south
dedicated to cattle
and west the land
rugged.
divide.
To
the north
lies
and increasingly more the little-known Cordillera and the continental

is hilly
Archeological remains in the area here outlined are better under-
stood from a technical point of view than are those from other parts of
because
Panama because detailed records of excavation have been published and much material with accurately recorded provenience exists.
Vol. 4]

first
147
in 1515
The Spaniards
reached
it
Code and
the
Asuero Peninsula
and continually raided
for several years thereafter because the natives
possessed gold in greater quantity than hitherto had been encountered in the New World. The discovery of even greater wealth in Mexico and
western South America, however, soon attracted the stream of adventurers to
those
regions,
leaving this part
of
desuetude from which

dians
it is
only today emerging.
Panama in an isolated The few surviving In-
live in the high mountains. remains exist today above ground of the old Indian settlements except occasional lines of stone columns, the function of which is still unknown. Refuse beds, however, have been disclosed in the banks of rivers
now
No
to indicate the sites of primitive villages.
Many
of these contain burials
accompanied by funeral furniture in great quantity.
Burial customs.
Burial
in the ground, as in
Darien (q.v.), was a
right confined to chiefs, the nobility,
and
their wives
and
retainers.
In
1519 the Spaniards discovered and described the body of the Cacique Parita prepared for burial in sumptuous array, including gold ornaments
which weighed 355 pounds. The most famous burial ground, today known as Sitio Conte, is situated on the Rio Grande de Code. Here scores of graves have been opened and carefully plotted and their contents recorded. These graves are of
several types, one of
these, the
which evidently represents the burial of chiefs. In main occupant was seated on a stone slab, on which his body
fire,
seemed
to
have been desiccated by

(fig.
surrounded by the extended bodies

the bodies, funeral offerings
of his retainers
27).
Above and around
and jewelry were piled in great abundance. Over 200 pottery vessels were found in several graves. Excavation of these graves presented a difficult technical problem. In many cases the funeral offerings were several layers deep and had been trampled into a compacted mass before the grave was closed. At times graves were reopened and the contents pushed aside to make room for
more
bodies.
Frequently, in digging a grave, an older burial
was
en-
countered. This might be robbed for the benefit of the new burial or it might be cut through and the contents scattered, and so the deeper burial
actually
is the more recent. The contents of the grave more frequently found types
are so complex that

of objects.
we can merely
list
the
Tools and implements include
metates, sharpening and grinding stones, polishing stones, crudely chipped
stone blades, bone points, stingray points, bone spear throwers, stone
shaft straighteners, drills, mirrors,
and
chisels of gold or stone.
Two
wedge-
types of celts are characteristic of the locality.
One
28).
is
pear-shaped with
other
is
a polished blade and roughly chipped poll
(fig.
The
shaped and polished
all
over
(pi. 20, c).
Stone
artifacts
with the excep-
tion of jewelry are crudely
made.
148
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
Figure 27.-Cocle grave plan. Skeleton 12. the owner of the grave, has fallen from a seated position, (After Lothrop.
1937. fig. 31.)
Vol. 4]
ARCHEOLOGY OF PANAMALOTHROP
149
Figure
28.
Code
stone
ax
(^
actual size).
(After Lothrop, 1937,
fig.
53.)
Ceramics.
Pottery, found
many
(figs.
in abundance, is
complex
in character, for
not only are there
distinct wares, but the designs are intricate
and
vary with period
29-36).
Several ceramic shapes are typical only
of Code. Among these are slightly curved plates about 12 inches (30 cm.) in diameter, deeper and smaller bowls with flaring walls, and carafes
with globular or angular bodies and

sels are
tall,
flaring necks.
Occasionally ves-
decorated with
filleting
or incising and suggest the pottery of
Chiriqui or Darien, but the vast majority of vessels are purely local in
character.
Most of the pottery was coated with varnish, perhaps copal, which disappears when re-exposed to the air and light. The outstanding pottery ware of Code is the polychrome (figs. 30-35). Colors include black, brown, dark red, light red, purple (which sometimes verges on blue or gray), and green. The designs typically depict various monstrous beasts which combine aspects of several animals. Attempts at
naturalism either in painting or modeling are rare. Also typical are beautifully executed scroll patterns, of
Ornaments.
the pottery.
We
Jewelry and ornaments are scarcely
which there are a bewildering number. less complex than may mention headbands and hats of gold. Shirts were
(pi. 20,
adorned with golden disks with beaten designs
d), running
up
to
12 inches (30 cm.) in diameter, or with sets of smaller golden disks.
In
WHITE
BLACK
BROWN
^B^Boaaai PURPLE
DARK RED
Figure
^^M LIGHT RED

29.
Color key
for
Code
pottery.
150
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Figure
30.
Early
Polychrome, Code.
Tray showing crocodile-headed bird motifs

fig.
(approximately
actual size).
7.)
Figure
31.
An
Yi actual size).
(Approximately Early Polychrome spouted effigy vessel, Code. (After Lothrop, 1942, fig. 123.)
Vol. 4]
151
c
Figure
{}/%
d
Plate
interiors,
a,
32.
Early
;
Polychrome, Code.
h,
Herringbone Pattern
;
actual size)
crocodile-headed bird pattern
(%6
"S"
actual size)
scrolls
c,
conven-
tionalized bird
and
turtle motifs
(%o
actual size)
d,
(He
actual size).
figs. 15, 83, 50, 33.)
152
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Figure 33.Early polychrome, Code.

i^).
(Approximate
figs.
sizes
116,
54.
?4.
54.
H, and
108,
11,
and
98.)
Vol. 4]
153
Figure
34.
^Late
(J4 actual size).
Polychrome, Code. Fish and claw motifs from a pedestal (After Lothrop, 1942, fig. 144.)
plat-
154
[B.A.B. Bull. X43
Figure 35
-Late
(Approximate sizes: carafes, Polychrome, Code. %). (After Lothrop, 1942, figs. 10, 176, and 174.)
bowls,
Vol. 4]
155
Figure
36.
Miscellaneous
Code
;
pottery
types,
a,
Black-line
geometric
ware
actual (approximately Ys actual size) b, c, red-line bowls (approximately (After Lothrop, actual size). size) d, Late smoked ware (approximately
;
1942, figs. 237, 251,
and 332.)
the nose, rings of gold, serpentine, or opal were inserted
(fig. 37, h, c).
Ears were decorated either with long rods

spoolHke ornaments of gold
(fig.
is
of gold or stone or with large
38;
3 m.
pi. 20, ^).
Necklaces were of hollow
golden beads (one necklace
(10 feet) in circumference) or of
boars' tusks, sharks' teeth, dogs' teeth, serpentine, agate, shell, or bone.
were gold rings, and for wrists bracelets of gold, agate, Sometimes the forearms were encased in cuffs of gold, and there were golden greaves for the legs. There are many forms of pendants, shaped like men, birds, crocodiles, monkeys, etc., which may be of gold,
fingers there
For
or bone.
agate, serpentine, whale-tooth ivory, or bone (pi. 20,
a,
b;
figs,
37, a; 39).
This
is
but an incomplete
list
with no attempt to describe the infinite
variety of forms.
Peculiar to Cocle are composite pendants

material.
made
of gold
and some other
Among
these combinations are ivory, pottery or resin figures
with overlays of sheet gold, and also various animals with heads of cast
gold and bodies of emerald
sheet gold are found
(fig.
40), agate, or quartz.
Many
objects of
which once were overlays on now rotted wooden
forms.
15fi
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
Figure
b, c,
37.
Code
ivory and goldwork.
a.
Ivory representation of crocodile god;

figs.
gold nose clips (actual size).
162 and 121.)
FiGtniE 38.
Cocle
ear ornament.
At
right
is
cross section of method of joining

figs.
(actual size).
128 and 127.)
Plate
from Darlen, Panama, a, Stone celt, Puturgandi (much Stone mortar, Pearl Islands (much reduced), c, Pottery vessel from La Gloria (approximately yi actual size), d, Vessel from Puerto Pinas, Rio Juan Domingo (approximately Yn actual size), e, Vessel from Garachine, Santa Barbara (much reduced). (After Linne, 1929, figs. 2, 40, 45, 12, 29.;
19.
Artifacts
b,
reduced),
Plate
Ys
20.
Artifacts
actual size),
^3
b,
(approximately (approximately
ji
from Code, Panama, a, Agate pendant (approximately Gold pendant (approximately % size.) c, Stone celts actual size), d, Gold disk representing the crocodile god actual size.) e, Gold-covered ear ornament (approximately
pi. 3, figs. 56, 90, 124.)
actual
size.)
Vol. 4]
157
Figure
39.
Code
gold pendants,
a,
Curly-tailed
monkey;
figs.
h,
crocodile;
155,
c,
woman.
(All actual size.)

653334
l70,
148.)
48
12
158
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Figure 40. Gold and emerald pendants, a, Gold setting; b, emerald from setting; c, emerald in cross section, showing systems of drilling. (All actual size.) (After Lothrop, 1937, figs. 181 and 180.)
Metallurgy. From a metallurgical point of view the artifacts of are most closely related to those of the western Isthmus (Chiriqui and Veraguas) and Colombia. The chief metallurgical processes are casting, hammering, welding, soldering, and gilding. Many objects were hollow-cast over a clay core by the cire-perdue method, which makes pos-
Code
sible the creation of elaborate filigree
work.
Gilding was chiefly by the
mise-en-couleur process.
silver present as
Alloys are combinations of gold and copper with

of the pieces
Relatively pure copper obwhich now appear to be copper actually contain some gold and originally were gilded. Ornaments made by cold-hammering are relatively more numerous than in any region except the former Inca Empire. Trade. The Code area was unusually active in trade, and the Coclesano maintained commercial relations with distant lands. For instance, agate, which came to Code apparently from northern Colombia, was manufactured in products of Code style and then shipped toward Central America. Code pendants of agate have been found not only in Veraguas and Chiriqui but as far away as Oaxaca in Mexico. Code received objects of gold from the Sinu and Quimbaya regions in Colombia, emeralds from Colombia or more probably Ecuador, Gold pendants from Code, on the other hand, have turned up in Yucatan. This trade activity in part explains the basis of Code art. Beyond that, however, are stylistic traditions from farther away, from the Amazon Basin and Peril. These must have blended with a cultural current from
jects are found, but
an impurity (tumbaga).
most
Vol. 4]
159
the north, responsible chiefly for the introduction of polychrome pottery.
Cultural links cannot be explained in greater detail without further elucidat-
ing the problem of cultural origins.
Antiquity.
Code culture evidently

all
is
not of great age.
The remains
This
now known
statement
is
probably
date within two centuries of the Conquest.
based partly on trade contacts with other areas and partly on

of graves as
internal evidence, such as the rate of accumulation of refuse, stratification,
and the chronological interrelationship

Collections.
University
Indian,
demonstrated by the
identification of individual pottery styles.
Large
collections
;
Museum, Harvard University
the
from Code may be seen in the Peabody Museo Nacional de Panama ; and the
Smaller collections exist in the
Museum
(Philadelphia).
American Museum
of Natural History; the

;
Heye Foundation and
the
Museum of the American Peabody Museum, Yale University.
VERAGUAS
which fronts on both oceans, has a width of the Pacific. Flanking this area are the vigorous cultures of Code and Chiriqui. In the intervening territory one might expect a blending of the two, but this is not the case. On the conof Veraguas,
little
The Province
more than 50 miles facing
trary, in southern
Veraguas there flourished a
radically distinct culture,
extending an
unknown
distance into the interior.
No
village sites or re-
fuse beds have been discovered as yet, but
many
graves have been opened
and rifled, largely for the benefit of the tourist trade. Burial customs. ^Veraguas graves usually are located high up on the mountain ridges. Their presence is indicated by a slight depression in the ground, at the edge of which a few small boulders were sometimes placed. Excavation reveals a tubular grave shaft, a meter or more in diameter, exThe shaft usually is not tending to a depth of 3 to 7 m. ( 10 to 23 feet) verticle ,but slopes slightly. At the bottom there is a chamber, made either by enlarging the grave shaft or by digging a short horizontal tunnel. On the floor of the grave is a bed of river boulders on which the body evidently
lay in
tion of the
an extended position. No skeletal remains are found, but the posibody is sometimes outlined by objects placed around it, rarely present in large numbers. The grave shaft is filled with the earth excavated from it or sometimes with stones. The type of grave here described has no counterpart in Central America
or the Isthmian region, but
it
corresponds closely to the deep-shaft graves

of
found
in
Colombia.
Stone objects.
or Chiriqui.
line
Artifacts of stone generally are unlike those

shaped
like
Code
Celts, for instance, are
an elongated
bell in out-
and are diamond-shaped
in cross section.
Small chipped blades with Metates are rectan3-legged metates some-
a tang form an equilateral triangle in cross section.
gular or oval and have three or four legs.
The
times have a carved panel suspended below the grinding surface, a curious
160

vicinity of
effigies
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
form found also in the

metates
may
be jaguar
San Jose de Costa Rica. Four-legged with protruding head and tail, similar to a
type found in Chiriqui and Costa Rica, but the Veraguas specimens are very much larger and relatively thinner than those found in other regions.
Ceramics. The pottery very rarely is painted, wîth the exception of which obviously were imported from Code or from the Asuero Peninsula. It is improbable that the inhabitants of Veraguas did not know how to fire colors, as their close neighbors were adepts. Evidently they preferred, or had inherited, the tradition of adorning pottery vessels by incising and filleting. Several pottery shapes apparently were developed locally. Among these are globular jars with huge, flaring strap handles. A curious and common variant is a vessel with a flat base and top constructed to resemble the upper half of the vessels just described. Another characteristic type is shaped
vessels
like a small barrel placed horizontally
with a
tall
tubular neck protuding
There are a number of effigy bowls with double walls (gutter rims), a feature also found at Santarem in the Amazon Valley and, very rarely, in Peruvian pottery of Inca style. Tripod legs are not uncommon, but, unlike those found in other areas, they usually consist of looped
from
its side.
ribbons of clay.
The relationship between Veraguas pottery and that of may be summarized as follows Trade took place to the
:
adjacent areas
south and east

first
for at least
two centuries before the Spanish Conquest.
At
Veraguas
purchased from Code, but later Veraguas exported pottery as well as

acquired
it.
On
the other hand, there
is
little
evidence that Veraguas
traded pottery with Chiriqui, but the potters of the later region sometimes
copied Veraguas types in the local clay.
Veraguas
did,
however, export
objects of metal to Chiriqui in large quantity.
Metallurgy.
reached
assurance.
Veraguas metalwork with authenticated provenience has

in
museums
such quantity that
it
may
be discussed with some

the region
that the
It consists largely of cast
pendants representing birds, frogs,

is
fishes, jaguars,
and men.
stylistic peculiarity of
bells.
protruding eyes often are tiny
In
Code
cast objects usually
were
hollow or had a day core.
In Veraguas, however, hollow-casting was not

Metallurgical
objects are of tumbaga, a gold-copper
is
practiced and the artifacts invariably have an open back.

analysis indicates that almost
alloy.
all
Frequently the gold content
so reduced that the metal has
cleaned, however, a gilded surby the mise-en-couleur process. Analysis reveals also that the native gold of Veraguas differs from that of Code because it contains a higher content of silver as an impurity. Collections. Comprehensive collections of Veraguas archeological material exist only in the Museo Nacional de Panama and the Peabody Museum (Harvard University). There is a small but authenticated metal
oxydized and appears to be copper.
When
face appears, originally obtained
collection in the University
Museum
(Philadelphia).
Vol. 4]
CHIRIQUI
161
The Province
of Chiriqui has given its
name
to
an ancient culture that
flourished in western
Panama and
the southern half of Costa Rica.
Boun-
daries cannot be defined with precision, but in general the present political division
between the Provinces
of
Veraguas and Chiriqui corresponds
to the southeastern archeological frontier.
To
the north this culture ex-
tends through the central Cordillera of Costa Rica as far as El General.
Archeological remains from Chiriqui exist in great abundance owing to
was discovered in the ancient graves nearly a century During the period of greatest exploitation in the 1860's, it is reported that gold ornaments to the value of 10,000 annually were melted down by the Bank of England.
the fact that gold
ago.
No
technical archeologist has
Chiriqui in situ.
articles published
made detailed studies of the remains of Hence our knowledge of this culture is based on popular
studies of
many years ago and on the detailed and well-illustrated museum collections published by Holmes (1888) and MacCurdy
(1911).
a
paper by Osgood (1935)

basis and, so far as
is
reclassifies the
ceramic remains on
more modern
possible, correlates
them with
vari-
ous types of graves.
No
evidence of Chiriqui culture exists above ground, except a few pic(fig.
tographs, vaguely South American in style
41), and stone columns
which mark the
sites of graves.
Figure
41.
Pictograph,
Chiriqui country.
The piedra
pintal at Caldera.
(After
Holmes, 1888.)
Burial customs. The popular literature of the 19th century, reviewed by MacCurdy, indicates that two principal types of tombs are found in Chiriqui rounded or rectangular in outline, both with rough stone walls (fig. 42). There was no distinct floor, and the tombs were covered either by a layer of river boulders or by flat slabs. Several variant forms may
:
be defined which, at present, are not of archeological significance.

that they normally contained a single body, interred a
Skeletal
remains usually have disintegrated, but the size of the graves suggests
the ground level.
In type,
vaguely compared to
meter or two below and depth the Chiriqui graves may be the so-called Guetar burials in northern and northsize,
162
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
eastern Costa Rica, but they are totally unlike the deep graves of Veraguas
or the multiple burials of Code.

Artifacts are not found in quantity with individual Chiriqui burials,
and
so the great
number
that have
come
to light is the result of
opening
many
thousands of graves.
Perishable materials, such as
wood
or bone, have
Figure 42. Chiriqui grave types. Top: Oval. Bottom: Quadrangular, showing surface pack of river stones and positions of grave artifacts. (After Holmes, 1888, figs. 1 and 2.)
Vol. 4]

and the surviving objects are
163
totally disappeared,
of stone, pottery, or
metal.
Stone objects.
Veraguas.
Celts
polls
Stone
tools consist of a few^ simple forms.
There are
small chipped blades, triangular in cross section
a form
also typical of
may
be pear-shaped in outline, with polished blades and

in
roughened
a type also found

all
Code.
In addition, there are celts
with a flaring blade, polished
over.
Stone chisels have narrow blades

representing a jaguar.
and
thick,
roughened handles.
eflfigies
Metates, or grinding stones, usually are
The grinding
surface
is
either rectangular or oval,
and often
it
is
sur-
rounded by a small raised flange. In addition, there are circular grinding stones (sometimes called stools) supported by Atlantean figures or latticed columns. These forms, illustrated in figs. 43 and 44, are equally
Figure
b,
43. Chiriqui stone metates. a, Jaguar metate with rectangular top; jaguar metate with guilloche ornamentation. (Size: y2 and J4 actual, respectively.) (After MacCurdy, 1911, figs. 26, 28.)
FiGxmE
44.
Cliinqui
stone metates or stools.
(After MacCurdy, 1911,
pi. 4.)
164
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Figure
b,
figs.
45.
Chiriqui
stone
statues,
a.
The "Panama Venus" (%

(]î
actual size)
crude
human image from
Bugarita
actual size).
40a and 38.)
typical of the Guctar area to the north in Costa Rica but, with
some ex-
ceptions in Veraguas, do not occur to the east and south of Chiriqui.
Small stone statues, usually crudely carved, also

(fig.
recall the
Guetar area
45).
These include jade pendants from the Nicoya Peninsula Costa Rica as well as agate beads and animal effigies,
and northern Colombia.
Stone jewelry in Chiriqui consists largely of objects obtained by trade. in northwestern

typical of
Code
Vôl.
4]
165
Figure 46.-Chiriqui pottery
types,
a-c.
size); d. lost-color or negative painted (54 actual size). (After MacCurdy.
Armadillo ware
{a,
i/..
and &
'23 )
ware
(H
actual size
Wtrlrwl "'"
1911. fig. 85 pis 6 jl.
and
actual
166
Ceramics.
thousands.
walls.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Pottery vessels from the graves
of Chiriqui exist
by the
In general, they are small and globular with relatively thick
These and pointed or bulbous and mammiform, both shapes being typical of Central America. There are also tall, elongated tripods, a type with affinities both in Central and South America. Holmes distinguishes 11 and MacCurdy 14 distinct pottery wares. The so-called Polychrome ware of both these classifications consists in fact of trade pieces from Code and the Asuero Peninsula, representing a culture not known at the time these authors wrote. The other wares may be divided into two groups, one being purely local in style, the other closely
Jars have no basal support, but bowls often have tripod legs.
conical
may be
related to the Guetar pottery of northern Costa Rica.
Typical of the local groups
is
guished by delicately rounded outlines

fined to
Armadillo ware, a thin buff ware distin(fig. 46, a-c). Decoration is con-
modeled relief on the neck, shoulders, or tripod legs. There also an important pottery type decorated by negative painting (fig. 46, d). Except for the technique of adornment, this group shows little resemblance to the well-developed negative painting of northeastern South America,
is
but slight links
may
be noted with the negative painting of the Guetar area.
The
so-called Alligator
ware
of
polychrome, painted in black and red on a white
Holmes and MacCurdy is really a local slip. The name comes

ele-
from the fact that most the designs represent crocodiles or stylized ments derived from the crocodile (fig. 47).
Figure
figs.
47.
Chiriqui
J/3
pottery.
Alligator ware,
;
a,
Vessel
with alligator motifs
(approximately
actual size)
b,
alligator design.
235 and 208.)
Among
the Chiriqui pottery types with Guetar affiliations are Red-line

(fig.
ware, White-line ware, Handled ware. Tripod ware
46, e),
Maroon
is
ware, and Chocolate ware.

close that
it is
The
resemblance between the two areas
so
often
difficult to tell
the provenience of individual vessels
unaccompanied by
field data.
Evidently the two cultures share in part a

is
common
base, but not
enough evidence
available to discuss the question
of origins.
Vol. 4]
167
Typical of the Chiriqui area are small pottery figurines with polychrome
decoration.
These often are hollow animal
effigies
with a whistle incor-
porated in them.
Metal objects.
of the
Chiriqui
This
is
is
metal objects almost invariably are cast,

all
apparently of gold.
about
in
that can be said at present, in spite
numerous specimens
museums and
is
private collections.
The
reason for this caution
that recent excavations have
shown
that a large
part of the so-called Chiriqui gold
the product of trade with Veraguas.
Until the local Chiriqui styles can be determined and their metallic content
analysed, therefore, intelligent discussion
is
not possible.
have mentioned trade between Chiriqui and other regions, which include the Nicoya Peninsula and Guetar area in Costa Rica, as well as Veraguas, the Asuero Peninsula, and Code in Panama.
Correlation with chronological studies
indicates that the culture of Chiriqui
Antiquity.
We
made
at the Sitio
Conte
in
Code
was contemporaneous at least in part, and flourished for two centuries or more before the Spanish Conquest. Collections. Major collections from Chiriqui are housed in the folAmerican Museum of Natural History, Brooklyn lowing museums Museum, Museum of the American Indian (Heye Foundation), Museo Nacional de Panama, Peabody Museum (Harvard University), Peabody
Museum
(Yale University), University
Museum
(Philadelphia), United
States National
Museum.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bancroft, 1882, 1883-90; Holmes, 1887, 1888; Linne, 1929; Lotlirop, 1919,
1942; MacCurdy, 1911; Mason,
J.
1937,
A.,
1942;
Nordenskiold, 1938; Osgood, 1935;
Oviedo y Valdes, 1851-55
Verrill, 1927.
THE BASIC CULTURES OF CENTRAL AMERICA

By Doris Stone
INTRODUCTION*
Central America, the land link of the two American continents, presents
some
of the
most comphcated pro,blems
in
New World
archeology.
In
western Central America, nearest Mexico, archeologists have, for the most
part, concerned themselves with the outstanding features of this region,
the great
Mayan and Mexican ruins. The other problems of the Central American area as a whole, and particularly eastern Central America, nearest the South American Continent, have scarcely been touched by archeological investigation. These problems are concerned with what appear to be the basic local cultures which are evident throughout Central America. Evidences of these essentially Central American cultures are found in relatively unmixed state with regard to outside influences, and they are also found blended with Mayan and Mexican complexes. The present discussion is an attempt to describe and place in their proper geographical and Cultures and cultural setting these basic cultures of Central America. archeological sites dominantly Mayan or Mexican are outside of the scope of this treatment and of the Handbook however, they are referred to in those instances where their presence has a cultural and historical bearing upon the fuller exposition of the other Central American problems.
;
THE BASIC CENTRAL AMERICAN CULTURES AND THE Q-COMPLEX

The
concept of a basic Central American culture, or cultures,
level of
Its implications are in
is for-
mulated upon the general horticultural-ceramic

velopment.
early peopling of Central
New World
de-
no way connected with the presumed
America or with a hypothetical cultural level American hunting and gathering horizons found in other parts of the New World. It is based, specifically, upon a ceramicstonework complex, which is manifested in varying intensity, from southern Mexico to Costa Rica. Lothrop has called attention to a series of stone sculptures of non-Maya affiliations which may be considered as a component of a basic Central American complex (Lothrop, 1921, pp. 311319 1926 a, pp. 163-171 1926 b, vol. 2, pp. 400-404 1940, p. 420).
equivalent to the early
;
>
Refer
to
map
3 for sites discussed in this paper.
169
170
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
In 1928 Lothrop and Vaillant (Vaillant, 1930, p. 81) grouped these carving together with a number of ceramic elements, and temporarily designated the agglomeration as the "Q-complex." The Qtraits of stone
complex
1.
traits as ultimately listed

vessels.
by Vaillant (1934,
p.
90) are these:
Spouted
2.
3. 4.
Effigy vessels, either modeled or with filleted features and extremities.
Shoe-form
vessels.
filleting,
Vessels decorated by
modeling, incision, or polishing to the virtual
exclusion of painting.
5. 6.
7.
8.
9.
Tetrapod supports. Elongated tripod legs. High annular bases (occasionally pot stands). Usulutan ware.
Slipped hand-made figurines. Crude stone monuments.
10. 11. 12.
Negative painting.
Shallow spouted trays.
With two
exceptions^ the Q-traits are
all
elements which can justifiably
be considered as part of an old Central American culture stratum.

following discussion
it
In the
will be seen that they recur
throughout Central
America.
ciated
The Q-complex, however, must

site to site.
not be considered as representnot a complex.
ing a particular tribe or culture, for the same 12 traits are not found asso-
from
In this sense
it is
Rather, these
features represent a
region and, for
number of ideas common to the Central American the. most part, having an early inception in the culture
In
line
history of the region.
with this
last, it
should be noted that a
number
Q-elements were discovered at Playa de los Muertos in the Sula-Ulua Plain of northwestern Honduras (Vaillant, 1934, pp. 87-97;
of
underlying typical
Popenoe, 1934, pp. 61-85). This Playa de los Muertos culture was found Mayan ceramics (Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938).
COSTA RICA
CERAMICS
salient archeological fact
concerning Costa Rica
is
that a fundamental
monochrome ceramic
style extends
throughout the whole area.
Lothrop
called attention to this
when he observed
the similarity between Guetar
(Meseta Central) and Chiriqui ceramics (Lothrop, 1926 b, vol. 2, p. 293), At the time he wrote little was known of the intervening section of Talamanca and Boruca, which last includes the General Plateau and the Terraba Plain.
is
It is
our contention that the similarity referred to by Lothrop
not the result of Chiriqui influence or contact but of a fundamental

Negative painting
is
is picked up again in and 2; 1933, footnote 2, p. 51). Its presence in eastern Costa Rica is the result of South American or Mexican influence or trade. (See also Shallow spouted trays are rare in non-Mayan, non-Mexican regions, and Kidder II, 1940.) are not considered here as an essential Central American trait.
absent in western Costa Rica and in Nicaragua and

1
the Pipil area of Salvador (Lothrop, 1926 b, vols.
Vol. 4]
CENTRAL AMERICAN CULTURES STONE

this entire area
It is
171
in spite
sameness of the pottery of
which has persisted
of individual or localized changes.
necessary to examine this basic
monochrome pottery complex, and

ciated with this ceramic division.
later to consider other elements asso-
The
manner
characteristics of this important

it
monochrome
style,
and the
re-
gions wherein
occurs most frequently, can be outlined in the following
Spouted vessels Found throughout the monochrome ware (pi. 22, j, from the Nicoya Peninsula). Effigy vessels Found throughout Costa Rica, but especially in the Highland and Guetar section and tlie General Plateau (pi. 22, c and /, from the Nicoya Peninsula, and pi. 23, a, from Buenos Aires, Valle General, Boriica region). Shoe vessels Although they seem to extend all over Costa Rica, they are less common than the other types. (See Lothrop, 1926 b, vol. 2, pp. 254, 256, and
: :
pi. 123, d,f; also pi. 22,/.) Vessels decorated by filleting, modeling, incision, applique, and punctate patterns These are usual and extend all over Costa Rica (pi. 21, h, c, from the Guetar, e from Bortica, and pi. 22, a and e, from the Boriica and the Suerre areas,
:
respectively).
Elongated tripod legs

21, e).
Very usual
:
all
over, particularly in the
Boruca area
(pi.
bases and pot stands Found throughout (pi. 24, i-k, from the Guetar and Suerre regions). Vessel supports in the form of animal and human heads Very frequent among the Guetar; less so in the Boruca section where, when they occur, they are generally a modified form of animal and very rarely a human head (pi. 21, h, from the Guetar, and pi. 21, d, from the Boruca region also pi. 24, h, from the
: ;
Annular
Guetar)
Subglobular vessels usually without, but sometimes with three legs or with ring bases (e.g., see Lothrop, 1926 b, vol. 2; pp. 346-350; also pi. 22, a and e.)
:
Common
throughout.
traits listed
Six of the ceramic

vessel supports in the
tion in Central
above are Q-elements, while the seventh,
form of animal or human heads, has a wide distribuAmerica and might well be included as a Q-characteristic. The eighth, subglobular vessels, may perhaps more rightly be considered along with the shoe vessels, as they often appear closely connected and
one
p.
may
be an outgrowth of the other (Lothrop, 1926

cf.
b, vol. 2, fig.
236,
and f). Of the other five ceramic traits listed by Vaillant as part of the O-complex, only one, the tetrapod vessel, can be considered with the monochrome pottery. In the Costa Rican area tetrapodal supports are rare and when present are more usual on animal figurines (see Lothrop, 1926 b, vol. 2, fig. 270, p. 374) or on clay (See pi. 25, h and c, from the counterparts of the four-legged metate.
349; and
pi.
22,
a,
c,
e,
Guetar.^
With the exception of some polychrome wares encountered in the Costa Rican Highlands, which Lothrop considers as an off-shoot of Nicoya Polychrome ware (Lothrop, 1926 b, vol. 2, p. 295), there is only one
172

is
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
Other example of polychrome pottery which

in origin.
essentially
non-Chorotegan
basic type
This
is
the obvious adaptation of the
monochrome
to reappear in a
and 24, i, both from the Guetar area.) Excellent examples of this are shown by Lothrop (1926 b, vol. 2, pi. 142, fig. h fig. 194, &, p. 308 and pi. 142, fig. a). In fact, the whole class of pottery known as "Red-line ware" is a painted
(See
pis. 21, b,
; ;
polychrome form,
adaptation of the fundamental
monochrome
style.
and figurine whistle are found both as monochrome and polychrome specimens in Costa Rica (see pi. 24, n-r; p and q are from Goto and Boruca regions; the rest are from the Meseta Central or Guetar area) and should be included in a consideration of basic Central American ceramics. Probably in no region of the New World is there greater diversity of the subject portrayed by the figurine whistle as within Central America. Figurine whistles in zoomorphic shapes have a wide
figurine
The
distribution although
figure.
more limited in spread than those with the human human, generally female, figure with opened legs and a ten-
dency to a broad flattened head (see, e.g., pi. 24, l-q; Lothrop, 1926 b, vol. 2, pi. 125) is the most prevalent type. This shape occurs with slight
differences, or localizations of style, throughout the Central
American
area.
STONE SEATS AND METATES
The
first
objects in stone to be considered are forms
whose exact use

These objects Both groups are
has not been determined but which as a matter of convenience have been
classed under the broad terms of "seats"
and "metates."
are of two types, one with three and one with four legs.
common on
the mainland, whereas the four-legged variety is very rare on the Nicoyan Peninsula.^ The tetrapod metates or seats are frequently in the form of a jaguar with the tail curved and attached to a hind leg, thus serving as a handle. These are very common in the Boruca and the Guetar regions (pi. 26, h, from the Guetar area; also Lines, 1939, fig. 9, p. 12), although they are found throughout the Costa Rican mainland. Four-legged metates without the jaguar head and tail are found in greater numbers in the Guetar area around the San Juan Plain and in the Meseta Central. These, as is true of all the Costa Rican stonework, range in size from the very large
to the minute.
characteristic of this class of metate is a raised border
or edge around the bowl or seat.

vol. 2, pi. 141.)
(See
fig.
26, h; also Lothrop, 1926 b,
The
three-legged group has the wider distribution, extending through-
out Central America.

slablike legs cut in
In Costa Rica there are two divisions, those from

Typical of Nicoya are
(Lines,
seat with protruding edges
was
a
the mainland and those from Nicoya Peninsula.
openwork and a
The everyday grinding
stone throughout mainland Costa Rica
heavy stone slab without
legs or decoration
(Hartman, 1901).
Vol. 4]

figs.
173
speci-
1939,
26, 27, pp. 20-21

at times
and
pi.
26,
/,
g,
and
;).
The mainland
mens are
very elaborate with complicated carvings on narrow

fig. 1, p. 9,
legs (Lines, 1935,
13) and often like the tetraaround the seat or grinding The similarity of the tripod mainland type metate to those from plate. Chiriqui has been noted by Lothrop and also by Mason (Lothrop, 1926 b, vol. 2, p. 290; 1937, pp. 95-96; Mason, J. A., 1945, pp. 52-53).
and
fig. 3, p.
pod metates, with a
slightly raised border
STONE FIGURES
Crude stone monuments in the sense of large monoliths rudely carved in human form are strangely lacking on the Costa Rican mainland but appear on the Nicoya Peninsula (Richardson, 1940, fig. 39, b, p. 413).
Smaller figures of a type related to monolithic images, such as have been
found in the neighboring territories of Panama and Nicaragua (for Panama, see Verrill, 1927, figs. 17, 18; for Nicaragua, see Richardson,
1940,
fig.
39,
a, c),
do occur
in the
Boruca area
(pi. 27, b),

all
while various
types of stone figures, both large and small, are found

(pis.
over Costa Rica

3;
pi. 12,
27-29; also Hartman, 1901,

3;
pi.
pi. 3, figs. 1,
3;
pi. 11, figs. 2,
figs, 2,
15, fig. 1).
Anthropomorphic and zoomorphic monoliths
have a massive, blocklike appearance, even when well executed. The salient characteristic, however, is a tenon or peg which is unsculptured
and was apparently designed to be stuck into the earth as a supporting base to stand the figure erect (Lines, 1935, fig. 9, p. 25; fig. 11, c, from
El Palmar; Stone, 1943; for Nicaragua, see Lothrop, 1926
433,
b, vol. 2, p.
San Pedro
is
del
Lobago).
Sometimes with figures
of four legs the
tenon
absent.
characteristic of
Another feature
many
of these
animal images
is
human human
There are also figures with a snake or a snake's head hanging from the mouth This is characteristic of many figures from the Guetar area, (pi. 27, h.) although it is also present in the Boruca region. A different group of stone figures, which likewise have what might be
face suspended
from the tongue.
(See
pi. 29, g.)
classed as a tenon or peg-base, consists of the jadeite pendants or ax-gods
quantities
which occur from the Valle General through the Guetar area and in on the Nicoya Peninsula. The base of these jadeite pieces may
is
be only a retention of the original "ax-god" form, but their distribution

similar to that of the tenon-based monoliths.
late
It is possible that these
pendants are a relatively

also
development.
Certain of the pendant figures
have a snake coming from or connected with the mouth.

bases.'*
Some
pen-
dant figures in the Rio Jimenez section of the Guetar territory do not
have pronounced ax-god

*
The presence
of these jadeite pendants in the Valle General has been noted by the writer at the
site of
Pejevalle;
illustrates
Hartman (1901) shows examples from the Guetar area; and Hartman (1907) many from the Nicoya Peninsula. (For discussion of the "ax-god" type of figure, see
Stone, 1941.)
653334
48
13
174

STONE DUMPS
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Stone
dump
heaps, or perhaps better
named
"quarries," have been re-
ported in the Terraba Basin in southeastern Costa Rica (Stone, 1943)
and
at Las Mercedes on the San Juan Plain (Hartman, 1901). have yet been noted on the Nicoya Peninsula.
None
STONE BALLS
Smooth stone
balls,
ranging from
to 7 feet (0.35 to 2.4 m.) in dia(pi.
meter, have been found in the Terraba Plain
30; Stone, 1943).
In
the Valle General the largest ball yet encountered has a diameter of 4
feet (1.4
site in the hills by the PaThere are four stone balls at the There site, two at the north and two at the south of an area 1 km. long. In the Meseta Central, part of are many graves within this kilometer. the Guetar area, balls 2 feet (0.7 m.) in diameter have been reported (Stone, 1943). As yet no large balls have been found on the Nicoya Peninsula. Smaller balls were found by Hartman (1901, pi. 4, figs. 6, 7) on the north coast, but those of small size are not considered here. Hartman (1901, p. 42) also calls attention to some large balls from Siquirres.
m.).
This
is
one that came from a
cuare, a branch of the General River.
He
does not give the diameter of these, however.
PETROGLYPHS
Small rocks and boulders
left in
the natural form but with incised de-
signs are found throughout Costa Rica (pi. 31, bottom).
Generally the
patterns are curvilinear, but sometimes simple animal figures or even at-
tempts at
human
figures appear.
They
are
all
simple line drawings, almost
childlike in conception.
We
can trace these petroglyphs from the eastern
frontier of Costa Rica near Piedra de Candela,

eral
westward through the Gen-
or Boruca region to the Nicaraguan
frontier.^
BURIALS
Burials of different kinds are found in Costa Rica, with no one type
occuring independently of the others.
Cremation
is
most
typical, the ashes
being placed within an urn.
large
number
of graves, both urn burials
and deep graves, are marked by a stone
shaft or column.
In northern
"The following is a list of sites from where such stones have been reported: Piedra de Candela, Piedra Pintada near Java Creek, Rio Volcan (Lothrop, 1926 b, vol. 2, p. 445), Rivas, Palmares, Quisara (pi. 31, bottom), Quebrada Grande (Lothrop, 1926 b, vol. 2, p. 443), Santa Maria de Dota (ibid., p. 445), Cuerici near La Muerte (ibid., p. 444), La Division (ibid., p. 443); in the Meseta Central at Alajuelita, Santa Domingo de Roble, Juan Vifias, Orosi (Hartman, 1901, p. 186, fig. 479), Agua Caliente (ibid., p. 189, fig. 482), the San Juan Plain (Hartman, 1901, pi. IS, figs. 2, 3); and on or near the Nicoya Peninsula at Liberia (Lothrop, 1926 b, vol. 2, p. 427), Hacienda de Mogica (ibid., p. 428), Pasondito (ibid.), Lofieros (ibid.), Hacienda de GuachipiUn and Hacienda de Guayacanal and Rio Colorado (ibid., p. 425).
Vol. 4]
175
Costa Rica stone-cist graves are found in quantity, although they occur in
other parts of the republic.
of burial forms,
The Nicoya Peninsula has

.burials^ to
a greater variety
from shell-mound
urn
97),
burials,
mound
burials,
and inhumations (Lothrop, 1926
b, vol. 1, p.
NICARAGUA
CERAMICS
In the Nicaraguan area certain ceramic types, which fundamentally belong in the
modified.
monochrome group
as noted in Costa Rica, appear only slightly
Spouted vessels, effigy vessels (pi. 23, b, from Ometepe Island) and vessels whose decoration is characterized by filleting, applique, modeling, incising, and punctate designs are found throughout the Pacific area (pi, 22, d, from Muymuy, a site near the boundary of the two departments Matagalpa and Chontales; Lothrop, 1926 b, vol, 2, pp. 387-388). These "basic Central American" elements persist, despite what may be Mexican influences, and are noted particularly in the Black ware, Red ware, Zapatero ware, and certain types of orange-brown ware (ibid,, pi. 193). The same traits, but even less touched by other cultures, with the exception of spouted vessels which have not yet been reported, occur on the Caribbean side, in country which is historically associated with the Rama (Spinden, 1925), In fact, the monochrome ware typical of Costa Rica is so much a part of the archeology of the Nicaraguan east coast that Strong (1935, p, 167) has suggested that this section formed a cultural link between the northern coast of Honduras and Costa Rica. Shoe-form vessels are found in quantity in the area around Lake Nicaragua, particularly on Zapatero Island (Lothrop, 1926 b, vol, 2,
pp.
254-257), Elongated tripod legs occur in the Pacific area, but the examples known
to the writer are for the of the
most part polychrome and contain, as does most polychrome ceramics of southern Nicaragua, too many Mexican elements to permit any clear discussion of relationship. On the other hand, tripod legs ornamented with faces, similar to tripod legs from Costa Rica, are found on the Caribbean coast where Mexican influence was less strong (Spinden, 1925), while efiigy heads as vessel supports are prevalent (pi,
24, e)
from Muymuy, Annular bases are also common, but, as is true of most of the ceramics from the Pacific region, the specimens available are generally polychrome and Mexicanoid (Lothrop, 1926 b, vol, 1, fig. 61, p. 162). Likewise, subglobular vessels with and without three legs, or with a ring base, are very
prevalent in the Pacific area (Lothrop, 1926 b, vol.
As
2, p. 235). Costa Rica, known examples of tetrapod vessels are rare. Figurines and figurine whistles continue from Costa Rica north and
in
westward (Lothrop, 1926
b, vol. 2, fig. 149, p.

shell
260;
burials.
pi.
125, h-j;
fig.
150,
c,
At Culebra Bay
there are a
number of
mounds with
176
p.
tB.A.E. Bull. 143
261). The form of the human figurine with stylized flattened head and a tendency to opened legs persists, despite speciaHzations or locaHzed distinction.'^
The
is
figurine whistle appears in a variety of subjects, certain

is easily
ones having a distribution which

ular forms
traceable.
a bird whistle.
The human
273
;
figurines
fig.
One of the most popfrom Zapatero Island

fig.
(Lothrop, 1926
as they are
b, vol. 2, fig. 165, p.

is
167, a;
167, b; although
not from Zapatero Island,
in the
same
style) are particularly important
are generally monochrome.

Rica.)
more crudely executed than the Nicoya polychrome type and (Compare these with pi. 24, n, from Costa
illustrate,
Spinden (1925) reports, but does not
figurines
and
whistles from the Caribbean region in territory associated with the
Rama.
He
notes that they were found in connection with ceramic types considered
here as part of the basic Central American complex.
METATES
The stone complex continues into Nicaragua, where certain elements appear to have been more strongly developed than in Costa Rica. Although
much has been
written on Costa Rican metates, very
little is
known about The
those in the Nicaraguan area, despite the tendency of archeologists to connect the Atlantic coast of both countries (Kidder II, 1940, p. 454).
grinding stone generally cited

1852, vol.
1, p.
is
the three-legged Nicoya variety (Squier,
272, pictures one from Leon).
Spinden (1925) reports
Costa Rican style metates from the Caribbean region.
STONE FIGURES
stone trait in Nicaragua, however, is found in the peg These take the form of large stone figures representing human beings and are of two types, the Chontales group (Richardson, 1940, pp. 412-414) and what may be called the alter-ego group (Richardson, 1940, pp. 405-408; Kidder II, 1940, pp. 452-453), or representations of human beings with animals on their backs, and at times with a human head within their jaws. The Chontales style is found on the eastern border of Lake Nicaragua in the vicinity of Subtiaba around Leon (Squier, 1852, vol. 1) and, in particular, on many of the islands of Lake Nicaragua, especially Zapatero Island (Squier, 1852, vol. 2). Both types appear on the Caribbean coast (Spinden, 1925 Strong, 1935, p. 167).
statues.
;
The outstanding
STONE DUMPS
vol. 2, p.
(ibid., p.
'
"Workshops" have been reported from Corlobalo (Lothrop, 1926 b, 424), Cerro Tablon (ibid., p. 435), and San Pedro del Lobago
433), in Nicaragua.
figurines referred to above with those in the
Compare
same volume on
pi.
128, or
Luna ware
figurines.
Vol. 4]

STONE BALLS
177
Smooth Stone
balls
have not yet been reported from Nicaragua.
PETROGLYPHS
Petroglyphs cut on rocks or boulders, or rock walls, have been noted throughout the Pacific region of Nicaragua. (For exact locations, see
Squier, 1852, vol. 2, pp. 21-26,
pi. 8, figs. 12,
fig. 19,
pp. 65-66; Lothrop, 1926 b, vol.
1,
13
vol. 2, pp. 421, 423, 426, 428, 429,
431-435.)
They con-
tinue on the north coast at Prinzapolca, at the confluence of the Yasica and
Tuma
Rivers (Spinden, 1925), and near Doris farm at El Gallo on the
Rio Grande de Matagalpa.
BURIALS
of the reports concerning aboriginal interments in Nicaragua mention urn burials in the Pacific section (Lothrop, 1926 b, vol. 2,
pp. 421-437), while the Caribbean side remains archeologically
The majority
unknown.
Stone-walled graves have been reported by Bransford (1881, p. 60), however, on Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua, which may have been associated with the Corobici.
Graves marked by stone

this section
shafts,
although rare, are found in the western
section (Strong, 1935, p. 163), while
mound
burials appear throughout
but with less frequency on the eastern coast.
HONDURAS
CERAMICS
The
general
monochrome ceramic complex
as
it
appears in eastern
focus
Central America continues into Honduras, where

territory,
its
was
the
Paya
1941).
which includes, of course, the Bay Islands (Strong, 1935; Stone, Throughout the Paya region the pottery characteristics noted in
in
Costa Rica persist, apparently untouched by the obvious Mexicanization
Nicaraguan wares. In the Sula-Ulua and in the immediate vicinity, there may have been a Paya colony, for the same traits are found as those within the which can be seen
of the
many
Plain, at a site called Melchior,
Paya region. These monochrome wares extend southward into the Comayagua ValThe ceramics of the Sulaley, where they occur but with less frequency. Jicaque region as known consist of a related monochrome, incised ware
(Stone, 1942).
the
In the Sula-Ulua Valley a bichrome type has been given

Paul, 1938, p. 123;
pi. 9,
name Ulua bichrome (Strong, Kidder, and

fig.
except
t).
is also an ancient non-Mexican culture somefrom the monochrome complex already discussed in relation
In this same section there
what
distinct
178
to Costa

Rica and Nicaragua and belonging to more or
style.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
less the
same time
period as the Ulua bichrome

ture and pottery complex.^
This
is
the Playa de los Muertos cul-
The Playa de los Muertos ware is technically monochrome wares of the Caribbean area of Costa Rica and Nicaragua but manifests certain of the same basic forms and styles.
superior to the
namely, spouted forms, effigy form, shoe-form vessels, and
fluted, incised,
and modeled ware (Gordon, 1896,
7 Popenoe, 1934). There is a peculiar type of effigy vessel associated with Playa de los Muertos. This is a fat, rounded figure with a single large loop handle (Popenoe, 1934, fig. 12,
pi.
;
p.
75; Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938,
fig. 18, h,
and
pi. 15, fig.
a).
Generally considered to be as old as Playa de los Muertos pottery, Usulutan ware, a bichrome group so far found in greatest quantity in
eastern El Salvador (Lothrop, 1927
found in Honduras
sembles but
2, p.
is
also.
a, pp. 175-177; 1933, pp. 47-53), is Usulutan ware, the decoration of which re-
not negative painting (Lothrop, 1933, particularly footnote

in
Honduras from the Sula-Ulua Valley southward, including Olancho, Comayagua, and Tegucigalpa, all Lenca or part Lenca country. Usulutan ware evidences so many of the traits found in the Playa de los Muertos pattern that it has been suggested that this ware may have formed a part of Playa de los Muertos bichrome ceramics (Strong,
51),
is
found
Kidder, and Paul, 1938, pp. 74-75).

Certain elements of the Central American complex of the Paya, and at
the
same time
certain traits found in quantity in western Central
America
and the
Pacific area of Nicaragua,
and
less frequently in
Costa Rica, are
almost entirely absent in Paya territory.
The
elongated tripod leg, for
example,
but
is
is
rarely found in the Sula-Ulua Plain.
an important feature of Paya ceramics (Stone, 1941, fig. 36) Spouted vessels, on the other
hand, are not
common
in
Paya
territory but appear frequently in the Sula-
Ulua region, where they are chiefly associated with the Playa de los Muertos culture (pi. 22, h, from Yoro, SvXdi-Jkaque territory, and pi. 22, I, from Lake Yojoa). Both monochrome (pi. 22, i) and polychrome (pi. 23, Spouted and effigy vessels extend into c) effigy ware is also common. ware of definite Maya type and continue through the Comayagua Plateau
southward to the Salvadorean border.
Interestingly enough, shoe vessels are found in the
Paya
region, in the
Playa de los Muertos deposits, and in the Comayagua-Lake Yojoa region, where they are found in remote and almost hidden locations, such as caves or old graves high in the hillsides. (See pi. 22, g, from Siguatepeque and
;
Yde, 1938, pp. 26-27, e.g., mentions a shoe-form vessel with a turkey head and wings which comes from a cave by Siguatepeque. This is now in the
Tulane University
Museum
in
New
Orleans.)
8 As a class, Playa de los Muertos pottery has generally been referred to as monochrome, but Strong, Kidder, and Paul (1938, pi. 10) discern a Playa de los Muertos bichrome.
Vol. 4]
179
Tetrapod vessels are very rare in Paya country (Stone, 1941, fig. 33, f) but are found to some extent in the Sula-Ulua Plain, in the upper Chamelecon Valley (Yde, 1938, fig. 25, p. 50), and in the ComayaguaYojoa region (ibid., pp. 70-71) and are very common in the Lenca area of southwestern Honduras (pi. 25, /, from Marcala).
e,
Effigy-head vessel supports, both painted and occasionally unpainted,

are characteristic of southern Honduras, appearing in the Departments of
El Paraiso near Danli, in Choluteca at

(Ponce, 1873, vol.
1, p.
La
Ola, a historical Ulva site
339) at Santa Inez Creek near El Zamorano in
the Yeguare Valley, in the Comayagua area (pi. 24, c, d, and g), and in the Lenca region of southwestern Honduras always as animal, never as human, heads (pi. 24, j, from Intibuca, and pi. 25, f). The flatheaded, partially opened-leg figurine of the monochrome group appears, as would be expected, in Paya territory. Examples similar to the Zapatero Island figurines noted in Nicaragua (Lothrop, 1926 b, vol. 2, fig. 165, h, c, p. 273) have been found in the Guaymoreto Lagoon section of
the Honduran north coast (Stone, 1934 b, pp. 130-131). The specimen shown on plate 24, m, from S\i\a.-Jicaque country in the Department of
Yoro, Honduras,
type
is fairly
is
better executed but
is
also reminiscent of certain

158,
c,
Nicaraguan figures (Lothrop, 1926
b, vol. 2, fig.
p.
267).
This
numerous
in
both the SvXSi-Jicaque region and in the mixed
culture zone of the Sula-Ulua Plain.
In the Lenca area of Gracias, Honduras, and El Salvador, the figurine head is of more importance than the body, which either does not appear (pi. 24, I, from Intibuca) or has dwindled in size even beyond that of the Snhi-Jicaque figure referred to
above.
The figurine whistle of the monochrome class noted in Costa Rica and Nicaragua occurs also in the Paya area (Spinden, 1925 Strong, 1935, pi. 27, figs. Or-c) and in the Sula-Ulua-Comayagua region and has been reported from Olancho.
;
Within the Playa de

don, 1896,
los
Muertos ceramic pattern
is
a distinctive type
of figurine which, although often suggesting the extended-leg figure

pi. 10, figs, d,
is
(Gor-
whole object
g), has a natural-shaped head. Besides this, the executed with a skill and a lack of formalization as a rule
unknown
the
in Central
American
art.
This type
is
limited to a relatively
small area in Honduras, extending
from the Sula-Ulua Valley through
the
Comayagua region. Figurine whistles or figurine subjects other than human beings do not appear to have been associated with Playa de los
culture.
Muertos
However,
jadeite ax-gods are associated.
STONE SEATS AND METATES

Three-legged seats and metates of definite Costa Rican
34) and occur, as in the former region, in a variety of
style,
some even
fig.
with a slightly raised edge, are typical of the Paya area (Stone, 1941,
sizes,
from the
180

They appear
in the
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
miniature to the overlarge.
Sula-Ulua Valley at
fig.
Melchoir
(pi. 26,
c-e) by Palenque Hill (Stone, 1941,
99, p. 96), in
the Jamastran Valley near the Nicaraguan frontier, and occasionally in the
Comayagua
area.
No tetrapod
specimens have as yet come to the attention
of the writer.
STONE FIGURES
Animal
figures with
peg bases have been found in southwestern Honfig.
duras (Richardson, 1940,
36, a) but not as yet in the other sections.
However, the same technique of carving, the same stylization, with exception of the base, is evident on the animal representations in stone from the Paya area, and in the Ulua Valley near Santa Barbara. (Compare Stone, 1941, figs. 28, 34, c and /, and pi. 29, e, from Santa Barbara, with pi. 29, d, from El Palmar in Boruca country.) Human figures with peg bases occur in the Sula-Ulua Valley (Gordon, 1896, fig. 4, p. 12), at Los Naranjos at Lake Yojoa. (See Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, pi. 16, fig 1 fig. 3 might have been a peg-base statue before it was broken. The interesting feature of this image is the position of the hands (Stone, 1934 a, pp. 125-126; Lothrop, 1921, fig. 69, b, and p. 314) compare with pi. 27, Images with peg bases, although of a h, from El Palmar, Costa Rica.) different stylization, are found also in the Copan section (Richardson,
;
1940,
fig.
From
and peg
35, c, p. 404). southern Honduras, including the islands in the Bay of Fonseca,
Mangue (that is, from Nacaome and Perspire) from La Ola in Choluteca, comes still another type of figure (pi. 28, a^c, f-g, and ;'). This extends in a degenerate form north to Tegucigalpa (pi. 28, k) and has already been noted in the Boruca area of Costa Rica (pi. 28, i, from La Ola, Terraba Plain, Boruca region). This is similar to the statue illustrated by Gordon from the Sula-Ulua
the territory of the historic
of the Ulva,
Valley.
The
type often has a sharp spiny ridge or ridges
down
the back
(pi. 28, o'),
a feature of a group of Costa Rican stone images which have

(pi. 29, c,
from Guapiles, Guetar territory; Honduras have been found at San Jose de Colinas in the Department of Santa Barbara (Yde, 1938, fig. 19, p. 40) and near Naco in the Chamelecon Valley (pi. 28, h). Occasionally a second human head instead of a peg is used (turn pi. 28, /, upside down). In Gracias, and near San Lorenzo by the Bay of Fonseca, "sukia" figures identical with those of the Guetar region of Costa Rica have been found (pi. 29, a, from San Lorenzo, and pi. 29, b, from Gracias). This style of statue does not have a peg base.
been termed "sukia" figures
Lines, 1938 a).
Statues related to those from southern
Jadeite ax-gods also are
common
in
Paya
territory (Stone, 1941,
fig.
39) and are found to a lesser extent in the Sula-Ulua and Comayagua areas and in the vicinity of the city of Tegucigalpa (personal observation
of the writer).
Vol. 4j
181
STONE DUMPS The only examples of stonework shops or deposits have been from Paya country (Spinden, 1925, e.g., fig. 1). STONE BALLS
reported
In Honduras, stone balls larger than the ordinary ball used in the bola have been found in Tenampua in Comayagua (Popenoe, 1936, pp. 569570), at Travesia in the Sula-Ulua Plain (Stone, 1941, p. 94), and at
San Jose de Colinas

p.
in the
Santa Barbara region (Yde, 1938,
fig.
19,
40).
PETROGLYPHS
Petroglyphs of the type encountered in Costa Rica are scattered over
Honduras.
of
They
River (Spinden, 1925,

at
Guaymaca, at Los Gallianos the Goascoran valley (Squier, 1908, p. 299), in the immediate vicinity of the city of Tegucigalpa toward the southeast, at Nueva Armenia by the upper reaches of the Nacaome River, and at Cerquin in Gracias (pi. Much of this region was occupied by the Lenca. 31, a).
BURIALS
Burials are of various types.
the
Stone-cist graves are rare but occur in
in caves
Paya country, for example on the Plantain They are found also in Olancho outside Tenampua in Comayagua (Popenoe, 1936, pi. 4, fig. 2), near Yarumela likewise in Comayagua, at Aramecina in
are found in
fig.
2).
Paya
area.
Here
also are
fig. 6, p.
what may be urn burials both

23).
and
outside (Stone, 1941,
Some
of these are
cremated remains.
In the
(pi.
Urn and
skull burials occur
on the Bay Islands (Strong, 1935).
Sula-Ulua Plain, at Melchoir, stone shafts marking graves occur
32).
There are similar shafts on the Bay Islands (Strong, 1935, p. 135), although it is not known whether burials are located beneath them. A report of cave burial likewise comes from the Bay Islands (Strong, 1935, In the Sula-Ulua Plain, in the SulsL-Jicaque territory, up the p. 32). Sulaco River, and in part of the Comayagua area burials seem to have been in mounds; but in the region of Lake Yojoa, in addition to mound burials, bodies were placed in the crevices of large rocks on the islands in the lake. In the Comayagua region also, and in all the Lenca country There is as of southwestern Honduras, caves were used for burials. yet no report on the burial types from southeastern Honduras.
EL SALVADOR
CERAMICS
The monochrome-stone complex
is
stronger in eastern, or the ancient
province of Chaparrastique, than in western El Salvador.
However, the
182

is
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
spread of basic elements

elongated tripod leg,
noticeable throughout.
Only one
trait,
an
seems to have disappeared or never reached the

east.
Salvadorean area, while the others persist, particularly in the
As
in Nicaragua, the ceramics of
El Salvador which
may
be seen in the
collections are usually polychrome.
These show, however, a combination
or a persistence of
the painted ceramics
monochrome
is
traits.
An
important inclusion
among
Usulutan ware, most common in eastern, although found in both eastern and western. El Salvador. Spouted, effigy, and shoe-form vessels and vessels with annular bases are very frequent in the east. (See Spinden, 1915, fig. 61, pp. 458, 482; Lothrop, 1927 a, fig. 24, /. The vessel shown in fig. 24, /, is similar to one from the Gnetar section, which is now in the Museo Nacional in Costa Rica. See also fig. 18, e-g, and material collected by John Longyear III,
Peabody Museum, Harvard University.) Modeled, incised, and punctate patterns are also prevalent. As in the Lenca territory, tetrapod vessels are common, extending throughout eastern and western El Salvador (pi. 25, a). Effigy supports on vessels, both polychrome and monochrome, are found in El Salvador (material collected by John Longyear III, Peabody Museum, Harvard University). Many supports portray human heads and are as a whole similar to those in Costa Rica. The animal-head legs are as a rule conventionalized, as in the Lenca area of Honduras, and have small snoutlike bases, sloping foreheads, and two holes or indentations for eyes. Sometimes they are so formalized that the eyes are omitted. The
indented or sloping forehead
is
a characteristic of L^nca-area pot
legs.
Loop handles with
raised heads are typical of the
common
in eastern
El Salvador.
Lenca region and are Also numerous are monkey-head lugs,

(pi. 24, a).
likewise characteristic of the
Lenca area
Figurines in eastern El Salvador are found in a variety of styles, which

include Playa de los Muertos, bird and animal representations related to
the Sula-Ulua region as well as to Nicaragua
and Costa Rica, and a verfig. 1,
sion of the conventionalized flatheaded type so prevalent in eastern Central

p.
America.
(See Lothrop, 1927
a, fig.
23, p. 209; Stone, 1941,

fig.
13.
Compare Lothrop, 1926
b, vol. 2,
with Stone and Turnbull, 1941, pi. 8, fig. g, with Stone, 1941, fig. 1, l-k, from eastern El Salvador.)
from Nicaragua, from the Sula-Ulua Plain, and

157,
a,
In
fact,
Loth-
rop (1927
influence.
a,
p.
211) attributes the flatheaded figurine to Chorotcgan

that,
We
have seen
with the exception of a possible enclave

in the north, basically Central
of Maribio
(Lehmann, 1920, 2:647-649)

this area.
American nations inhabited

this figurine type
It is
not surprising, then, to find
extending into the eastern Salvadorean region.

is
Cuscatlan, or western El Salvador,
more
closely
bound with Guatestratified
mala than the section
east of the
Lempa
River.
Here, at Cerro Zapote,
San
Jacinto, El Salvador,
Lothrop and Larde y Larin found
Vol. 4]
183
remains, in the lowest level of which were figurines reminiscent of red-
ware figurines from Costa Rica (Lothrop, 1927

vessels (ibid., p. 176).
a, p.
175) and tetrapod
STONE METATES
The
stone complex continues also into El Salvador.

is
Curiously enough,
the usual metate, particularly in the east,
a four-legged variety, somefig,
times with an extended animal head (Lothrop, 1927 b,
8, p.
31).
Around Quelepa,
III,
rectangular stones without legs but with a deeply hol-
lowed grinding basin have been found.
(Information from John Longyear Peabody Museum, Harvard University.) Such grinding stones are common in Costa Rica in the Talamanca and Boruca sections.
STONE FIGURES
Spinden (1915,
in stone,
p. 459, fig. 63, p.
460) has noted that animals portrayed
although rare, are heavy and massive and that the
human
figures
are sculptured with the
arms and
legs in relief against the body.
We
have
followed this method of carving and representation north and west from
southeastern Costa Rica.
figure of a
Lothrop (1927
is
b, fig. 7, p.
man which
he notes
common
30) publishes a stone type in the coastal region.

in the
This
Rica.
is
identical to figures
is
from the Lenca area
Department of
Gracias in Honduras and
reminiscent of the "sukia" figures of Costa
(Cf. with pi. 29.) Quantities of small jadeite ax-gods with peg bases occur in eastern El
Salvador.
(Information from John Longyear

b, p.
III,
Peabody Museum,
Harvard University; also see Lothrop, 1927
33.)
PETROGLYPHS
Petroglyphs are found in northeastern El Salvador, and caves with
pictographs are reported (Spinden, 1915, p. 450).
STONE DUMPS
Stone
dump
heaps or quarries have not been reported from this area.
STONE BALLS
Stone balls have not been reported.
BURIALS
Little has
been reported on burial customs

.burial
in
El Salvador.
The
writer
has heard of them.
caves in the northeastern section but has never seen
In the western half of the republic,
Maya and Mexican methods
of
burial are prevalent.
184
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
GUATEMALA
CERAMICS
As might
be expected, there are certain centers where non-Maya, nonin
Mexican traits are predominant monochrome ware with a definite
Guatemala and where there occurs a
relationship to that which has been traced
throughout Central America. This monochrome ware at times underlies polychrome Maya horizons and at times is associated with them. The
centers
known
at present for this basic style are
the Peten (Vaillant, 1930, pp. 79-80),
Chama
in the
Uaxactun and Holmul in Alta Verapaz (Butler,
(Wauchope, 1941, pp. 211-231, particularly 229-231) and Salcaja in the Highlands, Chukumuk and neighboring pp. sites around Lake Atitlan (Lothrop, 1933), and the Fincas Arevalo and Miraflores near Guatemala City (Lothrop, 1926 a). Usulutan ware is
generally associated with this
1940, pp. 250-267), Zacualpa
monochrome
where
style,
it
and Lothrop (1933,

:
p.
48) has
caja,
listed the following locations
has been noted
Chukumuk,
Xikomuk, the Fincas Arevalo and Miraflores, Semetabaj, Zacualpa, Saland the Departments of Sacatepequez and Alta Verapaz, This list includes practically every known site at which the monochrome complex
occurs.
Following more exactly the locations of the various monochrome ceramic types,
79-50), at
we find spouted vessels at Holmul (Vaillant, 1930, fig. 6, pp. Chama in period HI (Butler, 1940, p. 262), at Chukumuk
ware (Lothrop, 1933,
p.
associated with Usulutan

(Vaillant, 1930, p. 81).
47), and at Salcaja
Effigy vessels, tetrapod supports, and vessels decorated by filleting,
modeling, incising, and punctating (applique patterns are not so
common)
occur at most of the
sites
Subglobular pots are

(Lothrop, 1933,
similar to
figs.
named above. common, particularly
in the
Lake Atitlan region
13, e; 20, b).
Shoe-form vessels are rare but have been reported from Chipal, a site Chama in the Alta Verapaz (Butler, 1940, p. 262), Saculeu (Wauchope, 1941, p. 224), and Zacualpa (ibid., p. 229). According to most reports the shoe-form vessels are late. Ring bases and pot stands are fairly common.
Effigy-head vessel supports, although having a general distribution,
appear more frequently in Zacualpa than in the other

1941).
sites
(Wauchope,
Figurines and figurine whistles in the Guatemala area are rare and
are marked for the most part by outside influences.
are
Flatheaded figurines
unknown
to the writer.
Lothrop
is
illustrates certain other types
from
Chuitinamit, one of which

position of the legs
figures
is
a figurine whistle in
human
form.
The
reminiscent of certain Salvadorean and Sula-Ulua

style seen
and may perhaps be an adaptation of the monochrome

(See Lothrop, 1933,
fig.
throughout Central America.
61, h, p. 96.)
Vol. 4]

METATES AND STONE SEATS
185
and a portion
86,
fig.
Metates of southern Central American type are rare. One stone seat of another were found at Chuitinamit (Lothrop, 1933, p.
53).
These are actually seats and not grinding stones, differing from those seen in eastern Central America, although Strong mentions what may be miniature stone seats in the Bay Islands of Honslightly
duras (Strong, 1935,
p.
131).
PETROGLYPHS
Petroglyphs on rocks and boulders have been reported from the lake (Lothrop, 1933). The pattern, however, is not the typical scroll
in
district
and crude curvilinear design noted

America. There
tures of the
is
the
other
regions
of
Central
a possibility, of course, that the more complicated culthe Pipil
Maya and
may have
influenced the style of these
rock carvings.
STONE FIGURES
The most marked development

seems to have been the peg statues.
of
the stone
complex
in
Guatemala
They have,
generally speaking, the
American Lake Atitlan region (Lothrop, 1933, fig. 10, h, p. 27; fig. 63, h, c, p. 99; fig. 64, p. 100), and outside of Guatemala City at Finca Arevalo (Lothrop, 1926 a). In the Peabody Museum, Harvard University, is a peg or tenon statue from the Guatemalan Highlands (pi. 27, i). There is very little difference between this statue and the Borvca peg figures.
distribution as the other objects associated with the Central
same
basic cultures, occurring principally in the
OTHER FEATURES
Stone
is
dump
heaps and balls are not reported in Guatemala, and there
only one mention of stone-cist graves.
This
is
at
Zaculeu (Saculeu),
and
their relationship to the stone-cist graves of the other regions of

is
Central America
in the
not definable at present (Hartman, 1901, p. 192).
As
Sula-Ulua Valley of Honduras, there seems to have been no special

It is interesting,
form of interment.
however, that
at least
one body has
been found placed under boulders as on the islands in Lake Yojoa, Honduras (Lothrop, 1933).
SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION

to present what is considered to be the America as disclosed by the archeological evidence. In doing this it has been necessary also to show how those cultural features of the region, which are here considered basic Central
An
attempt has been
made here
basic cultural matrix of Central
186
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
American, are related and intermingled with traits essentially Mayan or Mexican. Throughout Costa Rica we can follow this basic monochrome
ceramic-stone complex into southeastern Nicaragua up through Zapatero Island in Lake Nicaragua and, as far as our scant knowledge of the region
permits, through the Caribbean section into and through the
in
Paya
territory
Sula-Ulua Valley. This complex is technically and artistically simpler than the more complicated traits of the Maya and Mexican cultures. This eastern Central American region, outlined above, seems to have remained, for the greater part, un-Mexicanized and undisto the
Honduras
turbed by invasions from the north and west.

apparently has persisted with
little
Here
the basic culture
interruption.
On the Caribbean side the basic complex can be followed up the Segovia and Jamastran Valleys and across the divide south to the Pacific and north and west through the Choluteca Valley into eastern El Salvador and
southern Gracias.
Here many
of its traits persist almost
untouched by the
Farther
neighboring and relatively recently arrived Mexican peoples.
north in Honduras, in the Departments of Tegucigalpa, Comayagua,
La
Paz, Intibuca, and the northeastern portion of Copan, and in parts of the
Chamelecon Valley
stonework and
into the
vestiges of the spread of this
Sula-Ulua Valley, and even in Guatemala, are same complex, which is most obvious in the
in ceramic traits such as lugs, handles,
and an applique
technique especially noticeable on effigy vases.
On
the Pacific side of Central
America the aboriginal populations were
disturbed and in part conquered by peoples from the north, coming from
territory
now
belonging to Mexico.
Some
of these tribes, for example,
the Chorofega-Mangue, apparently arrived in Central America so far in

the past as to seem almost indigenous in this area
and were themselves
followed and intruded upon by the later migrations of the Subtiaba, the
Nahua or Nicarao, and the Aztec. Mixed with this spread of Mexican
influences
is
were certain
definitely
Maya
elements which, outside of what
generally accepted as
Maya
an earlier extension of Maya traits are found from Guatemala the through El Salvador and western Honduras (Lothrop, 1939), beyond the region of Lake Yojoa through the Comayagua Plateau and the Sulaco Valley, and in sketchy locations in the present Departments of Tegucigalpa,
territory,
may have been the Maya to the eastward.
results of trade or of
Choluteca, and El Paraiso in Honduras, the
Cua River, a branch of the Segovia River, in Nicaragua (Lehmann, 1910, p. 748), the area around Managua, Nicaragua (information from Francis Richardson, Carnegie
Institution of
Washington), and the Nicoya Peninsula

is
in
Costa Rica.
In
This
Maya
influence
particularly evident in the painted ceramics, es-
pecially in the pictorial designs
and
in the cylindrical vase form.
Hon-
duras in the Sula-Ulua and Comayagua Valleys, the headwaters of the Sulaco River, at Esquias, and in Costa Rica on the Nicoya Peninsula have
Vol. 4]
187
been found carved marble vases of a type which the writer considers to be
of
Maya workmanship but of a Paya-Maya inspiration From this it is evident that there were two cultural
(Stone, 1941).
centers in Central
America.
ing
The first is most clearly seen on the Caribbean coast, extendfrom the Paya area of Honduras through the Costa Rican mainland
into
and
eastern El Salvador and southern

hici of
South America, and south through the Ulva-Matagalpa of southHonduras and Nicaragua to the Corothe Nicoya Peninsula. The second is that of Highland peoples
such as the Lenca tribes of Honduras and El Salvador.

characterized by the
The
first is
monochrome ceramic-stone complex,

peoples.
first
referred to
above, while the second shows evidence of subsequent influence from the
Maya and
the
Mexican
The monochrome
ture center
tery
is
is,
ceramic-stone complex of the
or Caribbean cul-
perhaps, seen to best advantage in Costa Rica.
The
pot-
characterized by subglobular forms and annular bases.
Vessels
figurine
have short necks and zoomorphic handles.
flatheaded
human
of pottery should also be included in the Caribbean group, although a
variety of subjects served as models for the figurine or figurine whistle
within this area. The applique patterns, so much a part of what has been termed Red Line ware and Stone Cist ware, have a universal distribution throughout Costa Rica.
In southeastern Costa Rica these types

is
are less
common; even
there,
however, the principal ceramic type
subglobular bowl with raised and often appliqued figures as ornamentation.
Lothrop
relates this type, along with elongated tripod vessels,
which
are an important feature of
Boruca region ceramics,

its
to the Chiriqui
(Lothrop, 1926
b, vol. 2, p.
412; Stone, 1941, 1943).
The monochrome
counterpart in a
applique ware of the Boruca and Guetar country has

similar style found in the
Paya region
of northeastern
Honduras; and
the Sn\a.-Jicaque
applique pottery also continues in a modified form

pp. 31-34, figs. 12,
fig.
among
and, less frequently, in Lenca territory and Guatemala (Lothrop, 1933,

e, g; 13, f; 15, a, and pp. 47-53; Stone, 1942, p. 382, In these latter regions and on the Pacific side applique pottery
43).
is
blended with polychrome pottery but persists in keeping certain of

that this
its
monochrome or applique characteristics.^^ At present it seems reasonably clear
monochrome ceramic
complex reached its highest development in the Central American Caribbean region, and no other culture has been found to underlie it as far as the Ulua Valley.
The
roots of the second culture center

of Central
and southern portions

This flatheaded figurine America (Lothrop, 1926 b, '"
were chiefly in the western America and in part coincide with the
America and northern South
fig.
style is concentrated in eastern Central

vol. 2, figs.
148, 166;
Arango C, 1929,
4).
The
distribution of appliqu^
ware
includes, outside of the Central
American
area.
Highland
Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru in South America (Lothrop, 1926 b, vol. 2, p. 409). It occurs also in less complicated forms in the Antilles (Rouse, 1939, pp. 110-113; pis. 1-S) and in simple forms in Venezuela (Lothrop, 1926 b, vol. 2, p. 410).
188
spread of the
closely
teristic

monochrome complex.
together.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
As
a result both complexes were
bound
of
Many
of the elements that appear as charac-
both centers seem to have been transmitted through the
Su\a.- Jicaque,
who
not only were closely allied both culturally and geo-
graphically with the
Pay a but
also stretched far into
(Stone,
1941, 1942).
Characteristic of both
SvXdi- Jicaque
Lenca territory and Lenca

into
ceramics are lugs with raised animal heads.
These can be divided
two
classes.
One
has a head so formalized, or perhaps so degenerated,

for eyes,
as to appear only a raised nubbin on the lugs (pi. 21,

often with
a, from Marcala), and occasionally with merely two small indentations in a triangular-shaped button (Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, pi. 14, fig. d; also pi. 25, e, from Siquatepeque). The other class has protruding well-formed heads generally of monkeys (pi. 24, a; also Yde, 1938, fig. 46, p. 72). Both types depend largely on the use of paint
two holes
to perfect the facial details, but the second style is never

paint,
found without whereas the first often appears as monochrome ware. Another important feature of the ceramics from these areas is the efifigy head of
an animal on or as the vessel support. This, especially in ^\x\2i-Jicaque pottery, is often merely suggested by an indentation at the knee of the pot leg. The use of the whole head and also the use of indentation is, however, a characteristic Lenca style.
The
43.)
patterns of
Chukumuk brown ware
in
Guatemala are reminiscent

fig. 12,
of
S\i\2i-Jicaque ceramics.
(Cf. Lothrop, 1933,
with Stone, 1942,
fig.
Lothrop has already pointed out that the subglobular vessel with Chukumuk, Guatemala, has been found also at the Fincas Arevalo and Miraflores, at Zacualpa, and at Salcaja and all are comparatively early. He suggests that this is South American influence^^ into northern Central America (Lothrop, 1933, p. 33). In fact, continual attention is called to the Costa Rican-Nicaraguan influence noted at many of the Guatemalan sites (Lothrop, 1933, pp. 44-45, 47-48). The Playa de los Muertos types.with which should be associated Usulutan ware, emphasize further the blending of cultures. Many figurines in the Boruca area of Costa Rica, for example, are portrayed in positions similar to certain Playa de los Muertos figures. (Cf. Popenoe, 1934, fig. Playa de los Muertos as a ceramic style extends 12, p. 75, with pi. 24, p.)
tripod legs, such as occurs at
;
through the Sula-Ulua Plain, through the Comayagua Valley into eastern
El Salvador, and in part, minus figurines, into Guatemala.^^
In the Lenca territory certain
the Central
traits
stand out and are traceable through
American
area.
Tetrapod vessels are characteristic of Lenca

Central American centers,
1 The
the Caribbean
present author prefers to attribute this influence to the two and the Highland, and not with South America.
similar to Playa de los
fig.
Muertos are common in Colombia (Arango C, 1929, vol. 1, and particularly in Perii (Strong, 1925, pi. 48). The same pottery types have an analogy in Uaxactun, Guatemala (Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938, p. 122), and in the Chukumuk ware from the Guatemalan lake district (ibid., pp. 122-123).
fig.
" Vessels
11; vol. 2,
1)
Plate
21. Tripod styles from Costa Rica and Honduras, a, From Marcala, Honduras, Lenca Territory; b, c, from Guetar area, Costa Rica; d, e, from the Boruca region, Costa Rica, {b, c, Courtesy National Museum, San Jos6, Costa Rica; others, courtesy Doris Stone.)
Plate
a, San Isidro, General Coniayagua Valley, Honduras; c, /, j, Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; d, Muymuy, Matagalpa area, Nicaragua; e, Guetar area, Costa Rica; g, Siguatepeque, Honduras; h, Yoro, Sula-Jicaque country, Hon(c, e, f, j, Courtesy National Museum, duras; i, Lake Yojoa, Honduras, San Jose, Costa Rica; others, courtesy Doris Stone.)
22.
Some basic Central American ceramic types,

h,
Valley, Boruca region;
'!T%i\i' ff'î
C
Plate
23.
d
b,
Effigy
vessels from Central America,
Valley, Boruca region, Costa Rica;
views of a vessel Courtesy Doris Stone;
a, Buenos Aires, General Ometepe Island, Nicaragua; c, d, two from Las Vegas, Comayagua Valley, Honduras, (a, b,
c,
d,
courtesy Federico Lunardi.)
%
J
-5.J51IWii,.H ^
m
n
I
r
Plate 24.-Central American pot
a, c d legs, lugs, stands, figurines Mu>Gizetor area, Costa Rica^ e. L.nca territory Hondura. Intibuca Z,
Q^K
Comavagua
XBuy.
Valley, Honduras;
b, i-fc, n, o, r,
La, Nicaragua; /, Rica Honduras; p, Co<a region, Costa j, Yoro, IZ-Jicaciue territory, National Museum. San Jos6. (i-fc. n. r, Courtesy r;gion. Costa Rica. B^rJca Costa Rica; others, courtesy Doris Stone.)
SaZpa
Plate
25. Central American ceramic types, a, El Salvador; h, c, Guetar area, Costa Rica; d, Lake Yojoa, Hondviras; e, Siguatepeque, Honduras; /, Marcala, Lenca territory, Honduras. (6, c, Courtesy National Museum, San Jose, Costa Rica; others, courtesy Doris Stone.)
Plate
26.
Stone
seats or metates from Central America.
/,
g,
i,
Nicoya
Peninsula, Costa Rica; c-e, Melchoir, Sula-Ulua Valley, Honduras; ft, Guetar area, Costa Rica, {f-i. Courtesy National Museum, San Jos6, Costa Rica;
others, courtesy Doris Stone.)
Plate
Stone peg figures from Costa Rica and Guatemala, a-g, Terraba Boruca area, Costa Rica; h, Guetar region, Costa Rica; i, Guatemala Highlands, {i, Courtesy Peabody Museum, Harvard University; others,
27.
Plain,
courtesy Doris Stone.)
>^-^
'
J
figures
'^
Plate 28. Stone peg
Island, Ulva territory,
from Costa Rica and Guatemala, a-c, Gueguensi Honduras; d, e, i, Terraba Plain, Boruca region, Costa Honduras; h, Naco, Rica- / Sacate Grande Island, Honduras; g, Nacaome, HonSan Lorenzo, Honduras; k, Humuya Creek, Tegucigalpa, Honduras; j,
duras.
(Courtesy Doris Stone.)
Plate 29 -Stone sukia and animal figures from Costa Rica and Honduras a, ban Lorenzo, Honduras; b, Department of Gracias, Honduras, Lenca territory;
c,
Kica;
galpa,
auetar area, Costa Rica; d, Santa Barbara, Honduras.
f,
(6,
g,
Honduras; others, courtesy Doris Stone.)
Terraba Plain, Boruca area, Costa Courtesy National Museum, Teguci-
Plate
30.
Stone balls
in the
Terraba Plain.
The Boruca
region, Costa Rica.
(Courtesy Doris Stone
Plate
31. Petroglyphs, Honduras and Costa Rica. Top: Cerquin, Gracias, Lenca area, Honduras. Bottom: Quisara, General Vallej-, Boruca area, Costa Rica. (Courtesy Doris Stone.)
Plate
32.
Stone
grave
markers
from
Honduras.
The Sula-Ulua
(Courtesy Doris Stone.)
Vol. 4]

numbers
into
189
pottery (pi. 25, /) and continue in

originally
what may have been
Xinca country, such as Atitlan, as well as in other sections of Guatemala, where they occur frequently in Usulutan ware (Lothrop, 1933, It has been suggested that tetrapod vessels, annular bases, and pot p. 49). stands are South American in origin (Thompson, 1936, 140-141, p. 16). The concentration of tetrapod vessels in the Lenca area and their gradual diminution toward eastern Central America argue against this thesis, however, and place the tetrapod vessel within the Highland culture center.
The annular base and pot stand occur too

to
frequently in Central America
permit the ready acceptance of a South American origin, although they

Painted fine-line decoration and a formalized painted or even slightly on the vessel side (fig. 25, d, from Lake Yojoa, and
belong both with the Caribbean and with the Highland groups.
raised eye or face

pi.
25, e; also see Stone, 1941) are other Lenca area traits which are found in Ulva-Matagalpa territory and continue eastward through Nicaragua, e.g., Nandaime Ware (Lothrop, 1926 h, vol. 1 pp. 217-22). Fine;
line
monkey
to
vessels,
with extended monkey-head handles and with raised

less the
animal heads as legs, also follow more or
same
distribution
and
seem
have their center in the Lenca area of Honduras and northeastern El Salvador. At the same time they show influences from the Paya region of the Honduras north coast (Stone, 1941).
ceramic types from Cerro Zapote, in western El Salvador, a region that at one time may have been Xinca or even Lenca, evidence a close relationship to the ceramics of eastern El Salvador, namely the
earliest
The
Departments
well as the
of
Usulutan and San Miguel (Lothrop, 1933,
p.
59), which
The Xinca as Lenca were a Central American group who apparently developed their culture within the region of Central America and served as a channel for diffusion between the cultures of Central America and those of the Maya and their Mexican neighbors.
are principally Lenca, although in part Ulva, territory.
The
carrying of culture traits by the Lenca
is
apparent not only in
the north of Central
America but
also in the southern area.
from the
territory of the Corobici,
Remains which originally seems to have in-
cluded southwestern Costa Rica and the region of Lake Nicaragua, evidences this same blending of traits associated with both the Caribbean and Highland centers. The Lenca seemingly formed a link connecting the Xinca and the Pacific side of Central America. In regard to stonework the distribution of metates in Central America
presents an interesting but confusing problem.
just
It is difficult to
determine
what objects should be called metates and what should be classed as seats. Aside from this, stones which were obviously used for grinding purposes are common all over the Costa Rican mainland. These are nothing more than large rocks with hollow portions which served as a bowl and without even a sign of legs or of adornment. In southern
653334
48
14
190
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
or eastern Costa Rica, exclusive of the Nicoyan Peninsula, the prevalent

type of metate or seat, other than the grinding stones mentioned above,
was the four-legged
variety.
This type extended as we have seen

e.g.,
is
all
over the mainland, but in the North Coast area,

the Highland region, the four-legged type
legged.
Mercedes, and in
found along with the three-
In Nicoya, although four-legged metates occur, the usual grind-
The three-legged class continues throughout Nicaragua and the Paya area of Honduras into the Comayagua Valley, and over into Guatemala, where, interestingly enough, in the area which is definitely Maya, the metate with legs is generally replaced by metates
ing stone has three legs.
legs.^^ This last type is not the unworked crude grinding stone found in Costa Rica but is the grinding portion of the legged metate without the supports (Stromsvick, 1935). The four-legged metate appears again in quantity in eastern El Salvador, where the three-legged
without
variety
It is
is
practically nonexistent.
reasonable to suggest from this survey that the 3-legged metate
was preferred by the Caribbean group. The 4-legged grinding stone was apparently confined to the Pacific side. Whether this tetrapod variety belongs fundamentally
with the Highland centers or whether
it
originally developed in the Caribbean centers cannot be determined until
further archelogical
work
is
done, particularly in Ulva country, such as
Choluteca in Honduras and the adjoining region in Nicaragua.
Concerning the peg statues, these stone figures are characteristically They have been linked Central American and apparently non-Mayan.
with the Chorotega (Lothrop, 1926
the Pipil
b, vol. 1
;
p.
93) and tentatively with

investigators have sug-
(Thompson, 1941, pp. 52-56).
Some
gested a South American origin (Richardson, 1940, pp. 414-416; Kidder

II,
1940, pp. 452-453).
Figures on pedestals, pegs, or columns, however,
extend throughout the Central American area, and their presence in the
Costa Rican Highlands and Boruca region, where the culture appears to
have been more unified and

of
less affected
by foreign influences, suggests
equally the possibility of a Central
peg
figures, e.g., those of the Chontales
American origin. The various types group (Richardson, 1940, pp.

p. 12, fig.
412-416), of the Ulua-Yojoa area (Gordon, 1896,

Kidder, and Paul, 1938,
statues of the
pi. 16, fig.
4; Strong,
1), of southwestern
Honduras and the
Guatemalan Highlands (Richardson, 1940, p. 406), and of the smaller Boruca area in Costa Rica and the Ulva area in southern Honduras and eastern Salvador, though dififering in details of technique and dress are nonetheless tenon or peg statues. Some of these from Boruca territory, as we have seen, are identical with those of the Ulua
region.
^' Tetrapod metates have been found in Maya country in the Chultunes of Labna, but this appears to be the exception rather than the rule (Gordon, 1896, p. 19).
Vol. 4]

apparently
is
191
The peg
intended as an unseen support in the earth.
The
fun-
differences in the pegs, from a blunt roundness to an elongated shaft,
we
consider localized stylizations which developed from a

idea.
common
damental
The
entire statue
was usually an
or buildings.
architectural feature to
be used in association with

It is
mounds
also highly probable that
many
of the large peg statues were rela-
by Mexican people or at least' directly influenced by (For discussion of the time element in connection with these statues, see Richardson, 1940, pp. 412-415 Kidder II, 1940, pp. 452-454.) In the Nicaraguan lake area in particular, where Mexican traits were predominant, it is reasonable to accept the view that many of these figures
tively late, executed
them.
were Mexicanized,
e.g.,
vol. 1, pi. 7, figs, a-c,
the birdman class pointed out by Lothrop (1926 and Thompson, 1941, pp. 48-49).
b,
Stones or boulders with incised designs, often with scrolls similar to

the curved
monkey
tails
on many of the polychrome vessels

in
in the Sula-
Ulua and Comayagua Valleys

of
Honduras and
Lenca area
in the Pacific region of
Nicaragua, occur throughout Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and the Paya region
Honduras and are found
also in the
of
Honduras and north-
eastern El Salvador.
district are
In Guatemala the petroglyphs that exist in the lake
more
elaborate and
developed cultures or
may be the result may have no relationship to
of influence of higher
the petroglyphs found
American ceramics and stonework. In the cave of Labna, however, Central American types are intermingled with a few Maya motives (Gordon, 1896). In the Antilles and in northern South America the Central American type is common (Lothrop, 1926 b, 1 :94). There is as yet no clue to the significance of these petroglyphs, but their spread covers the greater part of the Central American area as
in connection with basic Central
well as the regions to the south
and the north outlined above.
At present
petroglyphs in Central America cannot be assigned to any particular

culture center.
Maya and Mexican occupied where Maya or Mexican influence predominated, but are not so common in the other zones. In Costa Rica urn burial is most prevalent, but on the north coast stone-cist graves are also numerous. In Nicaragua, Honduras, and eastern EI Salvador, non-Mayan, non-Mexican burials are generally In urns or in caves.^^ Although what might be called a form of urn burial (Lothrop, 1933, p. 22) and cave burial (e.g., at Lanquin in the Alta Verapaz) has been found in Guatemala, there Is too much chance
Raised burial mounds are found in the
regions, or
of other cultures such as

ject
Maya and
Pipil being represented,
and the sub-
must wait further
investigation.
in Costa Rica.
"
Geologically,
few caves exist
192

SPECULATIONS
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
Certain ceramic forms and other cultural traits which we feel may well have been originally developed in Central America by people of that region have been considered as elements of a basic Central American culture.
Two
ture
centers of influence
pattern,
may be
localized within the so-called basic cul-
Highland groups or centers. The Caribbean center seems to have had the wider extension in Central America. This greater distribution of the Caribbean type may indicate
the
Caribbean and
that
it
was a more potent
influence than the Highland culture type.
On
influences of the Highland culture center may have been obscured by the impact and intermingling of strong Maya and Mexican characteristics, thereby creating the impression that the Caribbean
the
other hand,
type was a "purer" and

It is significant that
more vigorous
strain in Central America.
many
of the fundamental ceramic traits of these
American culture occur in northern South The same is true of the petroglyphs discussed as a part of the basic Central American complex. Carvings of a similar style are common in both northern South America and the Antilles. Stone stools likewise extend into northern South America, but the metate as found in Central America reaches its highest development in the Caribbean center and disappears as one progresses southward. In South America the alter-ego motive occurs in Peru and in the San Agustin Valley in Colombia (Sarmiento, 1941, pp. 14, 18). Among the San Agustin monuments are several with a serpentlike form tending from the mouth and held to the chest of a human figure (ibid., p. 16). In addition there is also a raised, slablike headdress which is reminiscent of the Ulva and of certain figures of the Boruca and the Guetar regions. Many of these massive monuments rest on a very small peg or pedestal base.
of
two centers
Central
America, Ecuador, and Peru.
The
relative time position of a great
many
of these
South American
parallels to the basic Central
American
traits is
not known.
Where
it is
known, however, it is usually early. The early position of these traits in South America checks, roughly, with the relatively early time position of the datable, pre-Maya, Playa de los Muertos culture of Honduras. The Playa de los Muertos complex shows a greater similarity to an early Peruvian horizon than any other ceramic unit in Central America.
It is not reasonable to suppose that ancient Peruvians or other northern South Americans would have traversed the area of eastern Central America northward to the Sula-Ulua and there to have left as a distinct culture
so
many
of their traits
It
when elsewhere
in Central
America there are only
seems more reasonable that the Playa de los Muertos group is a part of, and a specialization out of, an early, widespread interAmerican cultural horizon. The general cultural uniformity in eastern
scattered items.
Central America suggests that this early widespread horizon, of which
Vol. 4]

American basic cultures were a
part, continued
193
through to the
the Central
under relatively static conditions as regards culture change. Such a hypothesis, however, should not overlook the fact that undoubtedly more recent South American traits came into Central America as the result of trade, or, perhaps, migratory groups. We have not concerned ourselves with these elements in the above discussion, in order to give a more definite idea of the characteristics which are possibly of Central American origin.
historic level
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arango C, 1929;
1885, 1887, 1895, 1901
Boyle, 1868; Bransford, 1881; Briceiio-Iragorry, 1928; Brinton,

;
Butler, 1940; Col. Doc. Ined.
Amer. y Oceania, 1864-84; Cortes,
1908; Fernandez, 1881-1907; Franco Inojosa and Gonzalez, 1936; Gabb, 1886; Gomara, 1749; Gordon, 1896; Hartman, 1901,
II,
1907; Johnson, 1940; Juarros, 1936; Kidder

1910,
b,
1940; Larde y Larin,

a,
1940;
b,
Lehmann,
a,
1920; Lines, 1935, 1938
a,
1939;
Lothrop, 1921, 1926
1926
;
1927
1927
1933, 1937, 1939, 1940; Martyr, 1511;

;
Mason,
Oviedo y Valdes, 1851-55 Peralta, 1883, 1901 Pittier de J. A., 1940, 1945 Fabrega, 1904; Ponce, 1873; Popenoe, 1934, 1936; Popenoe, W., and Orton, 1921; Radin, 1919; Richardson, 1940; Rouse, 1939; Roys, 1932; Sapir, 1937; Sapper, 1897 a,
;
1907; Sarmiento, 1941; Schuchert, 1935; Schuller, 1928; Spinden, 1915, 1925; Squier,
1852, 1860 1941,
a,
1908; Steward, 1929; Stoll, 1938; Stone, 1934

;
a,
1934
;
b,
1940
a,
1940
b,
Stone and Turnbull, 1941 Stromsvick, 1935 Strong, 1925, 1935. 1940; Strong, Kidder, and Paul, 1938; Thomas and Swanton, 1911; Thompson, 1936, 1941'; Torquemada, 1723; Vaillant, 1930, 1934, 1940; Vasquez, 1714-16; Verrill, 1927;
1942, 1943
;
Wauchope, 1941
Yde, 1938.
The Post-Conquest Ethnologry of Central America
THE POST-CONQUEST ETHNOLOGY OF CENTRAL AMERICA: AN INTRODUCTION

Previous to the arrival of the Spaniards the culture of the Indians of

Central America had been modified by the infiltration both of isolated
culture traits and of complete complexes.
It is
probable that some of

that
is,
these modifications were forced
upon the region by conquests,
by armies or at least by powerful bands of people. This influence was not overwhelming, however, for, regardless of its extent, the innovations were American in character and could be assimilated without disrupting
the major trends of local developments.
dififerent,
The Spanish Conquest was

system.
being carried on by means of an unprecedented military organi-
zation and involving a radically
new economic
Furthermore,
its
expressed intent was to mold the aboriginal culture into a form that could
be dominated and controlled by Europeans.
Under Spanish
digenous
traits
influence a
mixed culture developed, consisting
of in-
which the Indians could not or would not give up, together with a number of traits of foreign origin. Some of the latter were sought by the aborigines, for example, metal tools and other articles, which
replaced the aboriginal ones as fast as the supply permitted.
Many
and and animals, particularly pigs and chickens, were quickly adopted. Some features, including social and religious concepts, were forced upon the Indians. The process of mixing and adjustment was not the same everywhere, however each tribe reacted in its own peculiar manner, and the various Spanish leaders utilized different approaches. Moreover, some Indian groups submitted to Spanish domination more readily than others. The immediate result was a confusion, which is reflected, perhaps, by the contradictory information in the early documents. Once a relationship tolerable to both the Spaniards and Indians had been
domesticated
oranges,
crops,
especially
bananas,
sugarcane,
rice,
coffee,
established, the progress of acculturation proceeded with less difficulty.
However,
maintain
in spite of
400 years of European aggression, some
tribes
still
many
of the features of their aboriginal cultural tradition.
As
the contact between the Indians, Mestizos,
and Whites
of Central
America
195
196

will
[B.A.B. BuU, 143
becomes more intense, these features

acculturational changes are
be further modified; in
fact,
now
taking place with an impressive rapidity.
The most
striking influence
on the Indian culture

little
is
that
from the
Spaniards, but Negro elements, to which too

paid, are also present.
attention has been
In the early mid-16th century, African slaves
and organized communities as discrete which promptly established intimate contacts with the Indians. The possible effects of the Negroes upon aboriginal culture should not be minimized. Another source of cultural influence came from the Carib Indians who, in the 18th century, were transported in considerable numbers to the Bay Islands and subsequently migrated to the mainland. They are probably responsible for some Central American culture traits which have been labeled "West Indian." It is necessary, however, to distinguish between West Indian traits that were brought by the Carib and those that may have reached Central America before 1700.
Spaniards
enclaves,
escaped from the
The
role
which geographic factors played
in the
development of Central
American culture was vital, but unfortunately it has not been studied. Each cultural division has a few traits of restricted distribution which are obviously conditioned by the environment. It was probably in part for environmental reasons that the route of invasion taken by Meso-American tribes paralleled the Pacific coast and crossed sections of the Highlands. The few colonies which the Meso-Americans sent into the Tropical Forests were mere outposts, some of which succumbed to the environment,
while others, probably under environmental influence, adopted the indige-
nous culture.
The colonies which retained their Meso-American features were evidently not established long enough before the Conquest for local environmental and cultural influences to have changed them.
Environment was, however, only one
the distribution of aboriginal culture.
of
many
factors responsible for
Exclusive of the Northern Highis
land and Meso-American Divisions, each culture in Central America

distributed over the Tropical Forests, the Pacific Borderlands,
Highlands.
where.
Social
and
political
and the organization are much the same every-
It is
these cultures, especially
among
the tribes of Darien, the
Talamanca Division, and the tribes of the northern and eastern coastal regions of Honduras and Nicaragua, which have a majority of traits of South American origin and which seem least affected by the differences They differ from one another only in detail. in environment. The Spanish Conquest completely disrupted the trend of aboriginal During the past 400 years some tribes have become extinct and events. new tribes have developed out of the remnants of former organizations. (Cf. map 5, for the period 1700Their territory has changed greatly. It seems possible that geographic factors have become more 1900.) important than at any previous time. When the Spaniards landed they had to plunge into the Tropical Forest, an environment which they did
r~^
(0,
"52
Map
5.
The contemporary tribes of Central America.
(I'reparwJ by Frederick Johnaon.)
Vol. 4]
POST-CONQUEST ETHNOLOGY JOHNSON
197
They attempted to subdue the region but they Through military action and political intrigue they were able to conquer some tribes and to obliterate others, but there always remained aboriginal nuclei on the flank of their lines of communinot understand very well.
were not wholly
successful.
cation through the Forests to the Highlands
and the
Pacific Borderlands.
In these
latter areas the
Spaniards found themselves more at home, and,

of
in spite of
temporary setbacks, the expeditions sent west

of ports of entry
Panama
City
and south
on the Caribbean were
successful.
After conquering the Highlands and the Pacific Borderlands, the Spanish
conquistadors transferred their interest from the Tropical Forest to the
riches of
Mexico and Peru, making
certain only that areas around the
ports of entry and lines of communication were safe

the aborigines.
from any threat from

Forest was virtually
ignored,
The remainder partially because it was

tribes
of
the Tropical
useless to them.
The remnant Indian
groups were thereafter able to preserve their isolation in the Tropical

Forest.
Some
had not moved from
their native haunts, but
many
others had been shifted about because of the military campaigns and the
colonizing policies of the Spaniards.
Despite the vagaries of history, which

still
resulted in contacts of varying intensity with Europeans, these tribes
exist as cultural and, to a limited extent, as political entities in the Tropical
Forest. The very small refugee enclaves and the partially Hispanicized Lenca now inhabit the more remote regions of the Highlands, but the bulk of the population which retains an Indian culture is found in the Tropical Forest and along its inland fringes.
It is
obvious that the preceding hypothetical and speculative observa-
tions oversimplify a
complex development
in a region
where
all
features
are highly variable.
Nevertheless, such a statement serves to combine
possible interpretations of previous sections with the description of specific
culture traits included in the present section.
Before this statement can
be greatly improved
we need more
accurate and
more comprehensive
geographic studies and also more detailed studies of the native and mixed
populations of Central America.
into their territory.
This
latter includes further research
In the following descriptions an attempt has been

possibilities of
made
to indicate the
such a study.
Where
feasible, the descriptions of

If this
16th-
were and for all areas, the course of acculturation over the past 400 years would be more clearly brought out. Even as it is, what
done
is
century culture are separated from modern observations.

in
more
detail
often called the degeneration of culture
is
quite apparent.
Native industries have been choked out by the influx of European goods, which were often better suited than native objects for certain purposes.
The
sion,
native ceramic industry, once a significant outlet for artistic expres-
produces only utilitarian wares, and thesp are
now made
in insufifi-
198
cient quantity to

meet the demand.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Only
rarely are ceremonial vessels
made, and even more rarely are wares decorated.

industry
Similarly, the weaving
now produces
only distinctly utilitarian fabrics, in contrast to
the textiles, particularly those

iards admired.
of tribes
made on
the Pacific coast, which the Span-
is no longer practiced, even by the descendants which had been most expert. Other industries have similarly declined, and only items of definite utility value are now made. In some cases, even the latter are no longer identical with the aboriginal ones,
Metallurgy
by Europeans. and distribution of the population have affected the manner of living. Village or community life has taken on certain aspects of European tradition. Communal houses have been broken up. Singlefamily houses are now more common, and there is a tendency toward the
for they include innovations introduced
The changes
in size
reduction in
number
of
house types.
be the most
The
"el" roofed house with or

type.
without walls
may now
common
social
These developments
all
have had far-reaching

tribes.
effects
upon the
customs of practically
The
zeal of the missionaries has destroyed
religion, but the

It
more conservative groups
retain
much of the ancient many aboriginal features.
would be
interesting to discover
how many
Christian and African con-
cepts have been incorporated into these Indian religions
the
number and character
of the Indian beliefs
and to determine which have been adopted
by the Church.
The
study.
present survey and tentative comparisons of early and
modern
future
culture traits bring to light several hypotheses which merit
much
The
aboriginal cultures of the
Pacific Borderlands have been
practically obliterated,
by a culture which
however,
is
is
and those of the Highlands have been superseded largely of Spanish origin. Of extreme interest,
aboriginal features are
still
the strongly Hispanicized culture of such tribes as the Lenca.
In these a great
many
recognizable.
In the
culture
Tropical Forests the Indians have become restricted to isolated regions,
but their culture appears to retain

traits first
much
that
is
aboriginal.
The
recorded after the Conquest reveal a number of local cultural
divisions, but data collected during the past
50 years suggest greater

is
homogeneity.
The
striking fact of the Tropical Forest people
that
since the Conquest their culture has been simplified or decultured, rather
than Hispanicized.
the class
aboriginal traits have disappeared
During the past 400 years the more sophisticated art, some industries, special costumes, system which supported a leisure class of nobles, and such are
;
gone.
The
surviving culture
is
largely that concerned with subsistence
and
utilitarian pursuits, but
even these have been modified by Spanish
influence.
THE MESO-AMERICAN
DIVISION^
INTRODUCTION
satisfactory description of this Division
is
prevented by the contra-
dictory and fragmentary nature of the data.
The
Central American
culture traits which appear to have originated to the north and west of
the eastern boundary of
Guatemala^ cannot, for various reasons, be
ascribed with certainty to the tribes which have been identified.
Ferdinand Columbus and other early explorers of the coasts of Honand Nicaragua describe clothing, ornaments, body decoration, weapons, and such which are Meso-American in character, but it is questionable whether the Paya, Jicaque, Sumo, and Mosquito possessed
duras them.
Actually these traits
of immigrants
may have occurred only among the enclaves who came from the lands to the north and west. Or they who
subsequently lost them.
may have
American
diffused into these regions and been adopted by the ancestors
of the present tribes,
Records of Mesoorigin
traits in the scattered localities in
Central America which were
not, as far as
we know,
inhabited by tribes of
Meso-American
are difficult to evaluate. or they
These
traits
may have come through
diffusion
may have been
actually carried in by small groups of travelers
or traders.
The data on identifiable tribes can be treated with more confidence. Three groups of tribes living in Central America at the Conquest have, through their characteristically Mexican dialects, traditions, and culture elements, been identified as immigrants from Mexico (maps 2 and 5). On the basis of traditional history, tribes of the Nahuatlan Group have been identified either with the T oltec-Chichhnec speaking the Nahuatl language, or with the Asfcc, speaking Nahuatl (Mason, J. A., 1940; Johnson, 1940) It is probable that the Toltec-Ckichhnec tribes left Mexico during the 12th-century revolutions and migrations. The Aztec, on the other hand, appeared in Central America in the 15th and 16th centuries, having been sent out from Mexico on trading and colonizing expeditions. The history of the Maribio and Chorotcga Groups is controversial if not obscure. The languages and some culture traits are closely related to those of Mexico. It has been postulated that these two groups of tribes
,
.
1 9
For a
definition of
Meso- America,
cf.
Kirchhoff, 1943.
Kirchhoff (1943) includes the Lenca in his Meso-American area. In the Handbook the Lenca are included in Central America, because they have many features which are common to the Central American region. The existence and significance of traits suggesting relationships to the
north and west have not been emphasized.
199
200

Many
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
represent earlier migrations to the region.
of the traits of recent
"Mexican" origin may, however, have developed in South America and spread northward, so that the Meso- Americans borrowed certain traits
before they disseminated them.
After examining the historical data and making first-hand

tions himself,
field
observa-
Lothrop (1940, p. 427), commenting on the culture of the Nahuatlan Group, exclusive of the Nicarao, says that, "they had abandoned anything recognizable as Mexican except their religion and speech and, in western Nicaragua and northwestern Costa Rica, some rare polychrome
pottery patterns.
Instead they adopted the
manner
of living practiced
by
Chorotegan and Talamancan tribes, probably as a In other words, the southward drift of the result of intermarriage. Nahua [Nahuatlan] from the 12th to 16th centuries did not, so far as we know, influence South American culture and by its nature could not
their neighbors,
be expected to do so,"
to the
To a lesser extent Chorotegan and Maribio Groups.
this statement applies also
An
account of the culture of the Meso- American Groups

of the different tribes.
is
hampered
by the lack of knowledge
With few
exceptions,
available data pertain to the Chorotega
and the Nicarao. Oviedo y Valdes (1851-55), by far the best source, segregated some of his descriptions into these two divisions but all too frequently used the term "Nicaraguan."
This term
may have
originated from Nicarao, but certain cultural items
appear to have been Chorotegan or, perhaps, ascribable to other tribes. There is virtually no information on Maribio culture and on most of
the Nahuatlan settlements.
CULTURE
SUBSISTENCE ACTIVITIES
Agriculture was highly developed
among
all
these tribes.
The
slash-
and-burn type common to the region must have been universally employed. The most important of the many crops were maize, cacao, and tobacco. Hunting and fishing supplied important additions to the diet.
VILLAGES
AND HOUSES
Possibly the tree
Houses
of the
common
people were thatch-roofed.
houses found on islands and along rivers were also those of the common people. The early writers devoted considerable attention to the "palaces"
of the kings
and nobles.
These were composed of several

all
varieties of
rectangular houses each with a special use and
arranged about a recstructurally similar to
tangular plaza.
Some had
porticos.
Temples were
houses. Both temples and palaces were often built upon low earth mounds. Towns consisted of temples and palaces scattered about the countryside,
each surrounded by houses apparently laid out along streets. Little or nothing is said about the location of the houses of the common people.
Vol. 4]
MESO-AMERICAN DIVISIONJOHNSON
DRESS
201
AND ORNAMENTS
tunics of
cloth
Nicarao
clouts
men wore sleeveless made of a long strip of

legs.
woven cotton cloth and breechwound about the body and passed
between the
Sandals were made of deer hide and tied on with straps.
Women
wore
skirts reaching to the knees.
Women
of high
rank wore
ankle-length skirts and "neck-cloths" which covered their breasts.
The
costume of Orotina
men was
very similar to that of the Nicarao, but the
former tied a thread to the prepuce.

belt
Orotina
women were
said to
elaborately decorated breechclout, the ends of which passed over a
wear an narrow
and hung down to form small aprons front and back. According to Oviedo y Valdes, the Nicarao and the Chorotega took
great care of their hair.

in
it.
They decorated
it
in
many ways and wore combs

said to pierce their tongues
A
ears
man
shaved his head
in various fashions to indicate his social
position and his success in battle.
Men were
and
ears,
their
and some were said to scarify (?) the penis. and wore quantities of necklaces, some
Women also pierced

of
gold beads and
medallions.
Body
painting and tattooing were
common.
The
followers
of
the
caciques bore identifying marks.
Elaborate body painting was used on
ceremonial occasions.
Cranial deformation was
common.
TRANSPORTATION
Dugout canoes were used, and a type of raft is described. Paddles were made by fastening large pearl-oyster shells or pieces of board to the ends
of a shaft.
MANUFACTURES
Weaving.
tiles,
Textiles were made by

and palm
fibers.
all tribes.
Thread was spun from

their threads with
cotton, agave,
The
Spaniards greatly prized these tex-
particularly those
made by
the Orotina,
who dyed
purple obtained from a shellfish {Purpura patula).
Mats and hammocks
were woven
of threads
made from
the coarser fibers.
Ceramics.
One of the greatest industries was pottery making, which

Oviedo mentions
particularly
the explorers and travelers praised highly.
the black ware
made on Chira
Island in the Golfo de Nicoya.
Metallurgy. Goldworking is mentioned, but it may not have been a major industry among the peoples of "foreign origin," i.e., the MesoAmericans.
The
industry
is
more completely described
for tribes of the
Tala^manca Division.
Early records and subsequent archeological work
indicate that a center of the industry
may have been

rate there
in the
in
western
Panama
and southwestern Costa Rica.

in objects
At any
and also
was an extensive trade

materials.
made
in this region
raw
202

SOCIAL
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
Social organization
and marriage.
status,
The
social organization of the
people in Nicaragua was characterized by three hereditary classes,
A
The
person could improve his

priests,
however, by acquiring wealth.
who were
usually nobles, were in a class
more or
less
lot
selves.
"Slaves were usually prisoners of war, and their

toil,
one, for, after a period of
they were often sacrificed to
by themwas a hard the gods and
eaten" (Lothrop, 1926 b, p, 47).
According
to
Oviedo y Valdes (1851-55,
bk. 42, ch. 1), marriage
among
marry
the Nicarao might be arranged in several ways.

the Aztec custom.
The
first is
reminiscent of
to
The
fathers of the couple
which wished
agreed to the union and the man's father gave a large banquet.
The
marriage ceremony was performed by the cacique,

of the left
who
joined the fingers
hands of the couple by slipping a
little
sheath over them.

fire
The
was
couple then sat in silence beside a small ceremonial
until
it
"consumed," when the marriage was considered sealed. Feasting and Theoretically, a woman the presentation of gifts were then in order.
should remain a virgin until married, and the bridegroom was permitted
to reject a
woman who was

this to
not a virgin.
In a second form of marriage a prostitute might acquire a husband.
Oviedo implies
(1926
b, p.
59) believes that

and,
have been characteristic of the Nicarao, but Lothrop it may have been a Chorotega custom, which
If
perhaps was adopted by the Nicarao.

prostitute
an unmarried
woman became
wealth,
despite
supporting her progeny, acquired
she
might build and furnish a house on land obtained from her father and her consorts. She then chose one of her consorts for a husband, and after a marriage feast the couple lived together as man and wife. This feast was
sometimes prolonged by the eating of the corpses of the rejected who, having helped provide the house, had committed suicide.
suitors,
Nobles were permitted to have one wife and several female slaves. Bigamy is not defined, but it was punished by expropriation of property
and
exile.
An
adultress
was beaten and returned
to her father,
who
claimed her property.
The woman was
disgraced; the
man was
beaten
by the husband but not otherwise penalized. There were a number of general rules, which were possibly Nicarao customs, though some may have been Chorotega practices. Marriage was
permitted with anyone except a
member
of
one's immediately family.
Intrafamily marriage was encouraged on the grounds that it strengthened man convicted of rape had to ransom himself from the family ties.
girl's
family or become
its
slave.
When
a slave had relations with his
owner's daughter, both lovers were buried alive. The position of women seems to have been good. They exercised considerable authority in the
house, having the power to punish their husbands and to
make them
pro-
Vol. 4]
MESO-AMERICAN DIVISION JOHNSON

many household
and
sell
203
vide food and perform

of the
tasks.
One
of the principal duties
women was
to barter
the goods, usually in the markets.

sjjecifically.
Chorotega customs have not been described

gynous.
Nicarao.
The common
people were apparently monogamous, but the upper classes might be poly-
Orotina caciques had the right of jus primae notis.
Prostitution
was a recognized
institution
among
the Chorotega and
Also, there were recognized periods of sex license, particularly
during certain ceremonies.

Political organization.
There were two types
of
government among
these tribes, but the information does not permit a description of the type
found in each
tribe.
democratic form, perhaps characteristic of the
Chorotega, has been described, particularly by Oviedo y Valdes (1851-55, council of old men was selected by popular vote. It chose bk. 42, ch. 1 )
.
supreme head a "captain general," who acted as chief, particularly in war. If he were killed in battle another chief was chosen. Apparently the council had considerable power, for it could kill the chief it had elected and choose another. This system was so strong that the Spaniards had to abolish it. They dissolved the councils and established repartimientos governed by appointed caciques, thus creating a sort of feudalism which
for
its
they could control.
by Oviedo y Valdes Lothrop (1926 b, p. 48) summarizes this (1851-55, At the head of the state was the cacique (called teyte by the Nicarao), who probably came by his office through a hereditary-elective system. In addition, there was a council (monexicos) composed of various elders (guegues), who were elected for a term of four moons. The cacique
is
feudal form of government

bk. 42, ch. 12).
also described
theoretically could not act unless supported
by the council, which could

officials,
summoned it. The council appointed various presumably from their own number, and these were paid for their
not meet unless he
in maize, cacao, or mantles.
services
The laws of the Chorotega and Nicarao, reported mainly by Oviedo y Valdes (1851-55, bk. 42, ch. 3), concerned adjustments made personally between an offended person and the criminal. This legal system, as Lothrop (1926 b, p. 63) says, was on a different basis from that of the Astcc,
among whom
its
"there existed a complicated system of tribunals, each with
particular composition
and
jurisdiction,
and the right
of appeal to a
higher court was acknowledged."
ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION
Chorotega and Nicarao commerce centered in the markets. Each town had a market in which all commodities, even slaves, were traded. A special official enforced all its regulations. Cacao was employed as money in the markets as well as outside them, and maize and cotton were also
bases of exchange.
Men were
forbidden to enter the market of their
native towns, for these were run by the
women and
boys.
Strangers,
however, could enter them to trade.
204
SOUTH AftlERICAN INDIANS

WARFARE
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
These
tribes
were continually
at war,
and the art

in
of
warfare was highly
developed, particularly
among
the Chorotega and Nicarao.
The young
men were
carefully trained
and organized
companies which stood
regular watch and were constantly ready for battle.
The
principal cause
of war, said Oviedo y Valdes (1851-55, bk. 42, ch. 3), was boundary disputes, but the desire to obtain slaves for sacrifice probably also was a motive.
War was
declared through a messenger,

b, p.
who
followed standard procedure
(Lothrop, 1926
50).
Usually the cacique did not accompany the
army, a war leader being appointed by the council or by the cacique with
the approval of the council.
CANNIBALISM
Although of ceremonial origin, it aphad become highly developed, and that slaves were bred in captivity for consumption just as any other domestic animal might be also there is evidence that raids were conducted in hope of plunder and high living in the form of human flesh" (Lothrop,
pears that the taste for
"Cannibalism was widespread.
human
;
flesh
1926
b, p.
35).
ESTHETIC AND RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Two
still
known
Chorotega and Nicarao games are described. One, voladores, is in Mexico. The other was a sort of seesaw, two men swinging
from the end of a beam which revolved upon a horizontal pole, supported on two crotched uprights. (Cf. illustrations in Oviedo y Valdes, 1851-55
;
also Lothrop,
1926
b, p. 53.)
Many
beverages, some highly intoxicating, were used.
Coca mixed
with lime was chewed, particularly by the Nicarao.
RELIGION
AND MYTHOLOGY
Religious practices were marked by several types of human sacrifice and various observances to celebrate different cults. The Nicarao and the Chorotega had a number of gods, each with distinctive attributes. Priests formed a special caste and officiated at the ceremonies held at the temples. Ceremonies to the various gods celebrated the cacao harvest, the holy days Various types of in the calendar, and such occasions as birth and death. witchcraft and divination were practiced. The mythology of these tribes centered about the gods. There was a creation myth, various beliefs concerning the soul and death, and explanations of several natural events.
(Cf. Lothrop,
1926
b, for
an excellent
discussion of religion.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Johnson, 1940; Kirchhoff, 1943
Valdes, 1851-55.
;
Lothrop, 1926
b,
1940,
Mason,
J. A.,
1940; Oviedo y
THE NORTHERN HIGHLAND TRIBES

By Doris Stone
THE LENCA
INTRODUCTION
The
question of the classification of the Lenca language
It
is
is
very im-
portant.
known
largely
through inadequate data published by
Squier (1858) and Membreiio (1897).

it
According to
different authors,
is affiliated
is
related to South or North American languages or
with
unidentified languages, such as the Xinca.

that
it is
unrelated to any
known
linguistic
Some students have postulated family. (For a more detailed
Mason, J. A., 1940; Johnson, 1940; Stone, 1941; and article on languages in Handbook, Vol. 5.) The Lenca area (maps 2 and 5) is marked by a significant variation in dialect, physical type, and political, social, and economic organization. Each township has characteristics which set it off from its neighbors. This heterogeneity obscures the position of the Lenca in relation to the
discussion, see
rest of Central
America.
The Lenca
are being slowly acculturated and absorbed by people of
Mestizo descent.
to
There
is,
however, some conservatism which seeks to
preserve the aboriginal culture, thus increasing the difficulty of adjustment
their
example of the desire of groups to maintain Formerly is found among the Guajiquiro. famed as warriors, they now seek employment in the army or the police
changing conditions.
An
former cultural habits
force.
CULTURE
milpa.
Farming. The life of The male members

end
of a
the
modern Lenca
village centers
of a family generally spend 5 or
around the 6 days a week

to the
in a straw hut built near the field.

village at the
They return bringing food

principal crops,
week.
The
many
of them of
European
origin, are maize,
tains, "chatos"
wheat (which is threshed with flails), planand fig-bananas, cacao, a little coffee, varieties of gourds,
(black beans are preferred in
sugarcane, vegetable pear, squash, beans
this section, but various types are planted), a little tobacco, yuca,
chili
and
peppers.
653334
In certain places, such as Marcala and Santa Elena, oranges

15
48
205
206

Around
the
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
are an important crop.

in quantities.
town of Intibuca peaches are grown

(For land
In parts of El Salvador peanuts are cultivated.
tenure and working, see pp. 212-213; and for agricultural ceremonialism, p. 215.)
Lenca is the palm. and suyate palms and the early sprouts of the pacaya palm (Chamaedorea sp.) are favorites. Blackberries, wild guayabos, granadillas, and other fruits are eaten in the season. Hunting. All Highland Indians hunt, either singly or in pairs occasionally larger groups hunt deer. Sometimes dogs are used for pursuing deer and jaguars. Generally, however, a man depends only on his bow and arrow. Songbirds are caught in cane traps. Fishing. The Lenca are not ardent fishermen. Expeditions to poison fish are organized by the town leader, but women are not permitted to participate. A river is dammed with stones, and a cane net or funnel is placed in an opening of this dam, its mouth facing upstream. The poisonous barbasco vine is broken into lengths and thrown into the water. The stunned and dead fish come to the surface and are carried by the
chief noncultivated food of the
Wild
foods.
The
The
hearts of the royal
current into the trap.

catch according to the
The
leader,
or his representative, divides the
amount of work performed by each individual. Domestic animals. Dogs, chickens, and a few pigs, ducks, and turkeys are the usual possessions. Very rarely the Indian owns a horse and a cow, and sometimes the town owns a few head of cattle. In Intibuca particularly, goats and some sheep are raised.
Food preparation.
Generally
Very
feet,
food
is
boiled in pots placed on a

is
hearth built of three stones.

metates have three short
rarely a clay oven
found outside
the house, either incorporated in the house wall or built separately.
New
but the highly prized old metates brought

five
legs.
from ancient
length.
sites
have four and even
simply boulders having a slightly concave surface.
Some metates are The manos vary in

and beans.
hold sacred.
Salt
is
The most important foods

believed to
are maize,
salt,
chili,
still
come from the
sun, which the
Lenca
Chilis
are supposed to give strength and to act as a purgative and a stimulant.
Whenever
tortillas
a Lenca departs on a journey he carries chilis mixed with
or tamales.
is
it was wrapped in a tortilla or in a flat maize cake. Essential be to every meal are tortillas and rounded tamales (also called totapostes), which are made of maize or of maize and chili, wrapped in shucks, and roasted in the ashes of the hearth. Steamed whole ears of roasted maize and beans are staples. These are supplemented by yuca, bananas, plantains, squash, and the other produce of the farm and forest. Boiled or raw eggs are eaten, and on rare occasions fowl is wrapped in banana leaves and
Food
eaten from calabashes or from the vessel in which
cooked.
It
may

Vol. 4]
NORTHERN HIGHLAND TRIBES STONE

Meat and
fish
207
boiled or roasted in the ashes.

strips, dried
are generally cut into
and smoked.
husk are carefully from one season In sections of the Department of Intibuca, maize kernels to another. are kept in a perpendicular, hollowed log, which is covered with a thick
storage.
in the
Food
Selected ears of ripe maize

room.
piled to the ceiling in a corner of a
These
last
cloth.
VILLAGES
AND HOUSES
any modern Honduran town. A "cabildo," wooden fence and gate around the porch, often serves both as the "commandancia" and the house of the local authority. All Lenca towns have churches. The typical Lenca village house is made of adobe and has a roof thatched
The
villages are laid out as

is
which
usually distinguishable by the
with straw or grass

are
or,
rarely, covered with tiles.
Infrequently, walls
made
of
wooden
are built of
The most modern houses in the larger towns adobe and have tile roofs. The average dwelling has one
slabs.
is
room, with a front porch that
open on the sides but covered by an

(fig.
extension of the roof supported by three vertical wooden posts
48).
Figure
48.
Lenca house.
208
Often, especially

when
the roof
is tile,
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
two additional wooden posts are
placed at corners of the house in the adobe and at the inner edge of
the extension over the porch.
In certain settlements, for example, Santa

is
Elena, there
is
a porch at the rear, which
sometimes used as a kitchen.
The houses
are generally very low (a
mounted man can reach the edge
of the roof).
plastered with
vertically
The foundation of the adobe house is a low stone wall mud. The wall consists of cane or wooden poles set
this
These vertical poles are laced with and plastered with mud, which generally contains some gravel. Some of the wooden or cane supports protrude on the outside. In making the roof, dried grass or straw is tied to a framefoundation.
horizontal poles or cane
upon
work of cane or
floor
poles.
Dirt floors are usual, except that the porch

cobblestones.
is
may be covered with Household furniture.

room; elsewhere
In the colder regions the hearth

is
in the center
of the
it
in a corner or
by a side
wall.
Beds or
wooden frames interlaced with vines and hung from the ceiling by vines. They serve many purposes. The wealthy Indians make frame beds of woven vines supported on sticks and covered with
shelves are
of
skins.
made
In most houses the family sleeps on the floor around the

sticks,
fire.
Calabashes are hung on forked

tied to the shelves.
which are stuck in the walls or

Frequently, a
On
the floor are the metate, a small pile of firewood,
the maize granary, and very occasionally a stool.

cross
is
wooden
attached on the outside of the house to the wall or roof to keep
off the evil spirits.
DRESS
AND ORNAMENTS
About 1925,
in the villages
Clothing.
of Chinacla
Lenca dress
is
highly variable.
and Guajiquiro, Department of La Paz, the women had one type of costume for daily use and another for ceremonial occasions. The latter was given to a bride-to-be by her future husband who purchased it in Guatemala, generally in Esquipulas. It consisted of a white huipil, a blue skirt with white or red lines forming large squares, and a red It was worn with a quantity of coin and bead or multicolored belt.
necklaces
(M.
Bonilla, ms.).
is
This costume
no longer worn.
The modern
dress everywhere
is
generally an Indian version of the 19th-century Spanish Colonial style.
In the Departments of
distinctive local style.
La Paz and
Intibuca
many
villages
still
retain their
Trade with El Salvador has stimulated continual
changes, however, so that there exists

of dress.
skirts
much
local
freedom in the
details
In Guajiquiro, for example, the
women wear
wide, gay colored
with contrasting vertical rows of colored cloth, which are repeated on the blouse. They grease their hair and wear a multitude of silver rings and bead necklaces, often with coins. The men wear dark jackets and pants and, whenever they can afford it, felt hats. On feast days

Vol. 4]

plaits of junco,
209
some add
a palm-leaf
fiber, as
hatbands, and varicolored
ribbons and feathers
(M.
Bonilla, ms.).
FiGtTRE 49.
Lenca woman's
dress,
Santa Elena.
The
for red
dress of Opatoro
women
is
always very bright, with a preference
and yellow. The blouse has a series of vertical bands of contrasting colors coming in two lines and reaching from the upper part of the breast to the waist, where they almost meet. This gives the effect of a bodice, the intervening space between the two lines being filled with horizontal bands also of contrasting colors. A yokelike collar, about 3 or 4 inches (7.5 to 10 cm.) wide, of the same color as the blouse encircles the garment, leaving a space between the beginning of the breast and the neck. The dress continues upward and ends in a narrow band a little above the start of the throat, giving to the whole the appearance of an old-fashioned guimpe. The artificial guimpe has vertical bands of contrasting colors. The sleeves are three-quarters length with two horizontal, colored bands below the elbow and a sort of drooping flounce for a cuff. The skirt is wide, with colored bands at the top of a bottom flounce. The Opatoro women wear their hair in long braids, into which are plaited many gay-colored ribbons, and stick a number of combs set with cheap glass stones in their hair. These combs are bought in El Salvador by the men. The men use pants and shirts of drill, both of the same
210
color
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
at their belt.
and generally with a narrow blue stripe. They carry a machete The Santa Elena women wear the kind of dress shown in figure 49. The skirt is rolled at the waist and is worn higher in the front
than in the back.
in the rear.
The blouse has a small peplum, almost like a bustle The Yarula dress is fairly similar to that of Santa Elena, The
skirt has
differing only in a small detail at the neck
trusion like a dickey.
which ends in a narrow protwo rows of inverted V's on the
bottom.
All Lenca
women
are very fond of silver rings, usually
made
oi
melted coins, quantities of necklaces of beads and coins, and charms, both
the typical church scapulas and those they
thread.
make themselves
of gay-colored
These charms supposedly have power to ward off evil. On their heads they wear bright silk shawls, in the manner of the non-Indian women. On special occasions they put a man's hat decorated with a
of ribbon
band
on top of
this shawl.
Sandals differ slightly throughout the region.

has a strap between the fourth and the big
across the toes are frequently seen.
toe.
The most common style However, horizontal straps type which comes from Marcala
and Santa Elena (pi. 33, top) has an outer rim as well as buckles all around the foot. This type is not usual in the more isolated communities.
TRANSPORTATION
Trails.
True Lenca country
is
very wild and grand, with steep rugged
mountains, the highest in Honduras.

crests with their
The
trails
follow the mountain
numerous outcroppings
of limestone
bedrock and
tall
less
frequently of volcanic tuffs.
The protruding
travel in the
limestone rock,
pines,
and scarce underbrush make

quickly.
wet season very
difficult, for
the large rock layers tend to be slippery, and the land washes
away
The
trails
throughout the Lenca country are cut into the out-
croppings in such a manner as to permit the passage of

It is
men and
animals.
impossible to
know
if
these were in use before the Spanish Conquest,

trails,
but they are found on the modern Lenca

for beasts of burden.
even on those not intended

in
Carrying devices.
bag
(pi. 33,
In the Lenca area both sexes carry objects

is
a net
bottom), which
supported by a tumpline or swung over
one shoulder.
loaded with
The
size of the
bag varies according

of
to need.
Babies are
carried on the back in a shawl.
Commonly, a woman
it,
carries a net bag
wood
and,
on top
a child in a shawl.
Sometimes large
hide sacks are carried by the men.
The Lenca travel on foot. In the more isolated sections the laboring men, who make long journeys laden like beasts of burden, practice the
old custom of tying stones to their toes in order to enlarge their feet.
is
It
believed that large feet improve their grip on the rough and steep
trails.
Rarely the Lenca ride horseback using saddles made of a single piece of
Vol. 4]
211
leather and wooden stirrups copied from the 16th-century Spanish types. The few horses which belong to the Indians are not broken to the bit but
are ridden with a rope halter.
MANUFACTURES
Basketry.
wild cane.
Baskets
are
made
e.g.,
of pine needles
and of
cafia brava, a
Certain villages,
Chinacla, are famous for their baskets.
There is no shape or size peculiar to the Lenca. Many baskets are copied from gourds others are smaller and have either separate covers or covers attached to the handles. Sometimes the baskets are colored, the cane being dyed before weaving. Cochineal, achiote, and indigo are the principal tints employed. These are found either wild in the forest or, especially cochineal, are brought from El Salvador. Some of the Lenca make
;
hats of leaves, generally of the suyate palm, cut into strips, braided and
sewed together.
Weaving and cordage.

net bags
The Lenca are
said to have
woven
cloth in
the past century, but today the industry has disappeared.
Cordage
for
and such
is
made from
the fiber of the suyate palm, pinuela, and
maguey.
sons
The
fibers are
spun with wooden whorls operated by two perNetting needles are made of bamthe
is
who
stand 10 to 30 yards apart.
boo, wood, or palm.
Rope
is
made from
same material as the thread,

for ropes used in house
the suyate palm-leaf fiber being in most

construction.
demand
Rope
also
Skin preparation.
animals.
the dress of
the skins of wild In the past century, jaguar, watusso, and deer skins served as
made of twisted hide. The Lenca have always used

Today
skins are frequently
many men.
worn
as an apron
or are used for blankets or bedding.
In certain isolated villages they are

shirt.
slung over the shoulders as a cloak or

well as of
Skins of wild animals as

in the sun.
cows are scraped, then stretched and dried

is
No
curing agent
used.
Pottery. The women make coiled pottery. The favorite shape is a rounded jug or bulge-bowl with two handles. Modern painted pottery is not of aboriginal origin. A few vessels are colored, either solidly or half one color, half natural. The paint is of foreign manufacture and comes from El Salvador or Tegucigalpa. Pots are fired in kilns built into the earth and rising only slightly above the surface. The vessels are covered with large slablike broken pieces of baked clay and are fueled with wood.
Gourds. Gourds of certain types are not only eaten but are utilized as water jugs, as models for baskets, and even as masks for dances. For a water jug the gourd is cleaned through a perforation in the top, and
most
of the seeds
and pulp are extracted.

it,
Pebbles or earth with pebbles

it is
are then put inside
and, after drying in the sun,
shaken so that the
stones and earth rub the sides clean.
212
Fire making.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
striking together two white or hard on dry cotton, which is carried in a short hollowed stick or on dried leaves and pine needles. Candles are made from the wild waxplant {Myrica cerijera), a common
is
Fire
made by
stones so that the sparks
fall
forest weed.
placed in
The berries are crushed and wooden molds with a fiber wick.
boiled,
and the residue
is
Starch.
A yuca starch
is
is
used by the Indians for medical purposes,

fine
such as plasters, and
sold to non-Indian towns for stiflfening clothes.
The
root
is
peeled,
ground very
it is
on the metate, and sun-dried on a
hollowed plank or log until
gummy.
of palm wood.
Weapons.
short.
to 11
The long bow
is
The arrows
to
are relatively
"Killing" arrows have an iron point,
3^
4^
inches (about
"Stunning" arrows have rounded cork-shaped wooden butts reinforced with iron bands and very small protruding iron knobs The primary arrow release is used. Quivers are narrow at the ends.
cm.) long.
hide cylinders.
SOCIAL, POLITICAL,
AND ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION

its
Formerly, each Lenca community maintained

ship to other towns
integrity in its relation-
endogamous. The cacique and the This council was com(casicasgo) controlled the village land. council posed of the cacique, the curandero (called in many places inteligente), the priest or soothsayer (called hechicero, "witch"), and the town elders.
and was
strictly
involving the town. When an intertown problem arose the council of each town met and clarified its position, after which the two councils met together to settle the matter. If no agreement could be reached, the towns went to war. In 1888 disputes concerning the location of the town boundaries of Santa Elena (the ancient
It officiated in all disputes
The councils of the Jocoara), Opatoro, Poloros, and Arambala arose. towns could not reach an agreement and war ensued. The Honduran Government intervened, and now these and nearly all other towns have
their
own legal title to land. The town, though modified by European

still
influences,
is
practically the
only vestige of the ancient tribal organization.

cacique
inherits his office
;
In certain towns the
in others
its
he
is elected.
The
village,
not
the individual,
ment.
owns the land, but In some villages the local

;
distribution varies with each settle-
authorities, such as the alcalde
and the
jefe politico, give the allotments

alcalde; in a few, the cacique;
in others, the village elders with the
land
is
communal,
that
is,
it
is
and in still others, as in Guajiquiro, the worked by the town without dividing it
into separate portions.
In the cases of communal farming the cacique distributes the produce of the town. What is not consumed locally is saved for trade, which the
Plate
33.
Lenca manufactures.
Top: Santa Elena and Marcala type sandals. Bottom: Net carrying bag. (Courtesy Doris Stone.)
Plate
34. Lenca Indians. Top: Typical Intibucd fences. Bottom: Wearing a gourd mask at dance of festival of the patron saint of the town. (Courtesy Doris Stone.)
Vol. 4]

The amount
the
of land given to a person of land one
is
213
counted
in
cacique controls.
tareas
approximately
amount
man
can work in a day.
Four to eight tareas per man is the usual allotment. When the soil grows poor the Indian complains to the authorities and proves that he needs another piece. The land is cultivated by the individual with the help of his sons. In some places, as around Opatoro, laborers are assigned to
work with him. The structure of

beyond recognition.
the aboriginal class system has been modified almost
There appears
still
to be
an upper and a lower

of the
class
The
first
includes the cacique, his immediate family, and the council
bers and their families.
The lower
class is
composed
memlaborers, who
seem
to take
no part
in the
running of the village
affairs.
Personal property excludes land, but consists of one's house and its In general, a widow retains her husband's property and deeds it over to the son when he is 18 years old, though she may
contents and livestock.
retain the house.
If there are
If there is
oldest brother.
to the nearest
no sons, the property goes to the deceased's no brother, the council assigns the property
be killed by her husband, but the Criminals are forced by the council to
male
is
relative.
A woman
man
who commits
adultery
may
involved
not punished.
food.
work 2 or 3 days without
CANNIBALISM
Cannibalism was rarely practiced by the Lenca.
heart of an
acquired.
On
rare occasions the
eaten in order that the enemy's valor might be Such practices are now forbidden by the Honduran authorities.
enemy was
LIFE CYCLE
Childbirth.
Lenca
childbirth
involves
little
ceremony.
A woman
delivers her child into a bed of leaves
on the
floor of the house, using a
stooping position during delivery. She may give birth alone, cutting the cord with a bamboo or steel knife and burning it, or her husband may cut the cord. In cases of prolonged labor, her husband or another woman
may burn
zahumeria.
certain leaves
under her.
This simple ceremony
is
called
Very
infrequently today the old custom of providing the

is
newborn with
a "nagual"
practiced.
The maternal grandmother
presents the baby
with an animal, such as a snake, frog, or toad, and with chicha, maize,
beans, and other foodstuffs.
religious object
The "nagual" is, or was, an important quasiwhich the child always kept, even taking it to bed.
extraordinarily strong eyes,
fetus.
Pregnant
that
is,
their
women are believed to possess own combined with those of the
They
are not allowed
214

human
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
to witness the birth of either
beings or animals, for these eyes are
reputed to
kill
the newborn.
Marriage.
Girls
marry when they are between 12 and 14 years

and
18.
of
age, boys between 14
Marriages are usually prearranged by the parents of the couple, although there is no set rule. When the boy does
the courting, he throws pebbles at his prospective sweetheart
when
she
is
washing clothes by a stream or bathing and leaves a load of wood in front of her house. If the girl and her family approve the match, they bring
the
wood
into the house.
At
the age of puberty the boy lives with his
family-in-law-to-be for several months or longer, while the girl lives with
the boy's family.
If the
parents approve of the boy and
girl,
the latter
returns to her parents' house and lives with the boy.
Should
this period
of trial marrage turn out satisfactorily, it may be terminated and the marriage made permanent by a feast and merrymaking. Otherwise both
parties are free to separate
and choose other mates.

girl's
Usually the newly
married couple stays with the

lishing a
family for
or 2 years before estab-
home for themselves. The Lenca are polygynous, and a family head may have three or four wives. When a man is through with a woman he may arrange for her to live with her children in a separate
house, but he
is
responsible for her food.

dies his
Death. and singing
the house moaning and quantities of chicha are drunk for 9 days. Formerly, the deceased was placed on one of the hanging beds or shelves throughout the merrymaking, but the law now requires burial on the day of death. Feasting, drinking, and sometimes music may, however, go on for the full 9 days.
for
1
When a man
day.
widow walks around
A feast is held,
Masks and dances.

are not.
Calabash masks are

e.g., in
painted, but
wooden masks
added
is
The
latter are
very simply carved, and
human
teeth are
to
them.
Occasionally they are named,
Intibuca one
mask
called
Mayor." All masks are used in ceremonial dances, which are performed by the councilmen, generally at the festival of the patron saint Sons learn the dance steps from their of the town (pi. 34, bottom). The hechicero is in charge of the ritual which accompanies the fathers.
'*Capitan
Marcelina Bonilla (ms.) describes a dance at Santa Elena in which the men wore feathered caps over their painted calabash masks and a shirt and pants with a cow's tail sewed to them. cotton clothes (manta)
dancing.
The dancers
circled, the steps
being interspersed with
much knee
bending.
In another dance of the same village a large lancelike stick is thrown into the air and caught with much dexterity, mimicking, and contortion. In
some dances, such
as those in Intibuca, flags are carried, as well as
tall
bastions of the church with small silver crosses on the ends.
Vol. 4]
215
Musical instruments. Lenca drums are of wood with hide heads, which are tuned with quills. Bamboo flutes have three or four stops. Rattles are made of gourds attached to a stick.
Alcoholic beverages.
is
Chicha, an intoxicating drink made from maize,

ritualistic.
supposedly purifying and

ferment.
The
is
kernels are boiled with water
and brown sugar

left to
in a clay pot,
which
then covered with a cloth and
The excrement
is
of goats or sheep
wrapped
in a rag
may
be
added
after fermentation has
begun
in order to strengthen its flavor.
This
custom, however,
slowly disappearing.
In parts of El Salvador chicha
may
be flavored with peanuts, and in Honduras with pineapple peelings.
RELIGION
Many
beliefs.
Lenca, although nominally Catholic,
still
retain certain aboriginal
Sacred mountains and
hills,
considered as holy places in pre-
Conquest times, now have wooden crosses on their summits. The Lenca still have a profound respect, or even adoration, for the sun. Their life, which depends on agriculture, is marked by periodical offerings to the seasons or to the crops. Planting and harvesting ceremonies are celebrated throughout the Lenca area. When it is time to clear the land, chicha is drunk, copal is burned to the four directions, and straw or corn-shuck crosses are put in the centers of the fields. At sowing time chicha is drunk, copal is burned, and bonfires are built outside the fields. Drunkenness is explained by the belief that chicha purified the soul and
expels bad thoughts.
planting.
The
soul
is
thus purified for the sacred business of
Throughout the Lenca country men abstain from sexual intercourse at this time. They stay at the milpas, and women live in the towns. When maize is in the silk, copal is burned and chicha is drunk. At this
time also the
women
are forbidden to visit the milpa, for
it is
feared that
they might contaminate the crops.
When the fields are harvested and it is time to divide the produce, masked men dance around the piles of grain to the music of drums, rattles, and whistles. Offers of food are made to the sun. The hechicero is in change of this ceremony. At this time he promises the cacique to defend
the council.
Highland Indians make a yearly pilgrimage on April 24, San Caspar, the patron of Taubelve, to Taubelve in the relatively low hills south of Lake Yojoa. There is not much doubt that this Taubelve is supposed to mean in visit has its roots in pre-Conquest days. Lenca "House of the Tiger" (Squier, 1858). Here many years ago a cache of what may have been pre-Colombian copper bells was discovered in a cave. The Lenca go to mass at the nearby church of La Mision and
of these
Many
the day of
then visit the cave, where they hold their

spirits within.
own
secret
communion with
the
and
fields
4 days at Taubelve, sleeping or wherever they can and drinking great quantities
to
They remain 2
in the roads of chicha.
216
In
all

Lenca communities the most sacred day
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
of the year
is
that of the
Often the saint is carried on a visit to the patron of a friendly neighboring town. Such excursions are always the
occasion for heavy chicha drinking by both sexes, for dancing by the under the leadership of the hechicero, and usually for feasting.
patron saint of the village.
men
SHAMANISM AND MEDICINE

The shaman
the
life
(inteligente or curandero) occupies
an important place in
of the village.
He
is
charged with the curing of the sick through
both ritual means and the application of practical remedies.
When
he
has a patient to be cured he offers white chickens and copal at the crosses
on the sacred
hilltops, after
which he returns to the
ailing person
and gives
him
certain curative drinks.
Formerly some soothsayers were women. They prophesied the future by throwing different-colored beans from calabashes as one would throw
dice.
Certain general cures are usually given by the inteligente, but others
may
is
be prepared by anyone.
massaged, pulled,
For indigestion every portion of the body and stretched. For fevers the patient is wrapped in
or a cure called ruda
as
is
much
cloth as possible to produce sweating,
administered.
Certain leaves are heated and rubbed on the sick person.
many
Excrement, burned to a powder, is sometimes taken internally. Of the plants and herbs used as medicine by the Lenca, the most popular
ones are listed below
Hoja del aire {Bryophyllum pinnatunt). The leaves are boiled and taken for colic. Malba and pavana. The leaves of these low bushes are covered with oil and placed
on afflicted parts in order to reduce inflammation. Tuna, or nopal. The leaves of this member of the cactus family are rubbed with oil or grease, heated, and then used as a plaster for cases of colic. Siguapate. The leaves of tliis bush ara placed on the forehead to cure headache. Pasote and ipacina. A tea made of the leaves of this plant combined with manzanilla and a variety of mint is used as a vermifuge. Grama, maize milk, and canafistola (Cassia sp.). Teas made of these are used
kidney trouble.
to cure
Sauco (usually Salix

willow
is set in
chilensis).
An
infusion of the leaves and flowers of this
the sun for 2 days
and used
to cure coughs.
MYTHOLOGY
Herrera y Tordesillas (1730,
tale is vol.
still
named Comicahual. The but the name of the deity has been modified
told
3) recorded a legend of a goddess around Puringla and Guajiquiro,

to Comitzahual.
In certain communities, such as Opatoro, the belief is held that people can change themselves into animals and back again into people. The
inhabitants claim that this has actually happened to a
woman from
this
Vol. 4]

They say she turned
217
infuriated, kicked her
herself into a pig, and the whole town, and beat her, as a pig, until she was black and blue. The pig ran into the forest and changed back to the woman, who was found the next day in her house, bruised from head to foot.
village.
LORE AND LEARNING
of
Ordinary products are measured by baskets, which carry the equivalent 4 pounds. This is the standard medium in the interior of Honduras,
and the Lenca do not use any other measure. Time is measured by the amount necessary to accomplish a certain task (tarea) and is stated in terms of tareas and fractions thereof. Space is measured by the distance
that can be covered in a day's walk, but the Spanish measure, vara (32 inches), is also used in certain places for smaller distances.
The year
is
divided into 54
moons and has 336
days.
soil,
It is
divided into
the seasons of sowing, harvesting, preparing the
the time of the

of these periods
in the
appearance of the young corn, the blossoming,

has
its
etc.
Each
own meaning and
is
often celebrated
by ceremonies held
fields.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bancroft, 1890, vol. 3; M. Bonilla, ms. Herrera y Tordesillas, 1730; Johnson, Lehmann, 1920; Lothrop, 1939; Mason, J. A., 1940; 1940; Juarros 1808-18 (1936) Membreno, 1897; Milla y Vidaurre, 1879-1919; Palacio (in Squier, 1860 a) Pedraza (in Col. Doc. Ined., 1898-1900) Ponce, 1873 Relacion Breve y Verdadero
; ;
(see
Alonso de San Juan, 1873)
1859, 1860 a, 1869, 1870; Stoll, 1938; Stone, 1940 b, 1941;
Relaciones de Yucatan, 1898-1900; Squier, 1858, Torquemada, 1615 (1723) ;
Vasquez, 1714-16.
THE CARIBBEAN LOWLAND TRIBES: THE MOSQUITO, SUMO, PAYA, AND JICAQUE
By Paul Kirchhoff
INTRODUCTION
The modern Paya and Jicaque
not
all
enclaves in the Caribbean Lowlands
may
be the descendants of the people so

5).
named by
the
first
explorers
first dis-
(maps 2 and
It is possible that the culture of the
people
covered on the coast was similar to that from which the present-day
Mosquito and Sumo culture has evolved, although the north coast probably had culture traits that differed significantly from those of the MosIt is impossible to describe the post-Conquest changes quito and Sumo. It seems reasonably certain, howof the culture of the Paya and Jicaque. ever, that during the past 400 years the east coast people and the people now known as the Paya and Jicaque have converged culturally. We can,
then, describe these peoples as a unit, although hypothetically their cul-
tures have developed out of the ruins of a
more complex
aboriginal
background.
Less important but significant features of the culture

to the contact with the Black Carib Indians,
may be ascribed who were brought to the
Bay Islands in 1796 and whose descendants have settled on the mainland. The importance of the early Negro influence has already been noted.
CULTURE
tribes.
A type of slash-and-burn agriculture is employed by all Every season the men clear new farmlands and burn the slash. Planting and cultivating is done with a digging stick. This is woman's work, except among the Jicaque (Von Hagen, 1943), and the women
Farming.
also harvest the crops.
Some
;
fields
have combinations of crops, such as
maize, beans, and peanuts

the tubers.
others are reserved for single crops, especially
list
of agricultural products
may
be found below.
tribes.
Sweet manioc,
Jicaque.
an important Mosquito crop, is grown by all ably introduced by the Carib, is important
Bitter manioc, prob-
to
some Paya and
219
220
Maize
is
SOUTH AJMERICAN INDIANS
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
believed to be unimportant except in the higher lands,
e.g.,
among
it
the Ulva.
The Jicaque grow

latter
it
as a commercial crop but do not use
extensively as food.
Pineapples are important to the Paya.
Chili peppers
insect,
and opuntia, the
used for raising cochineal, a dye-producing

is
appear to be recent introductions.
Plants introduced by the Europeans
vary in importance, but plantain

the region.
of the diet.
now one
all
of the
most basic foods
of
Quantities of wild foods of
kinds form an important part

to many tribes but The bow has not been
Hunting.
The bow and arrow was once important

Slings, traps,
has been partially or wholly replaced by the gun.

reported from the Corn Islands.
for hunting.
Spears or javelins were formerly used

prinicipally for birds.
and snares were used
For the blowgun, see page 224.

List of Foods
Grown by the People
in
the Caribbean Lowlands
American origin
Sweet manioc.
Bitter manioc.
Avocado. Guava. Chirimoya.

Zapote.
Maize.
Pejivalle (pejibaye) palm.
Coconut.
Usi.
Ficus.
Sweetpotato.
Eddoe
(tania).
Gourd. Pumpkin. Squash.

Chayote.
Yam.
Opuntia.
Peanuts.
Foreign Origin
Rice.
Tomato. Bean (red and black).

Pineapple.
Sugarcane.
Coflfee.
Tobacco.
Cotton.
Mango.
Breadfruit Tamarind.
Citrus fruits.
Plantain.
Achiote (Bixa orellana).

Cacao.
Pataste.
Papaya.
Banana.
is
Hunting
exclusively a male occupation.
Communal hunts
lasting
and hunting by torchlight have been reported. Dogs are used frequently to chase the game. Hunters may imitate the calls of animals, sometimes using bone whistles. Fishing. Women fish with hooks, which were originally made of bone. Men fish in groups of varying sizes. Fish are shot with the bow and
several days
arrow, speared with single- or multipronged spears, taken with traps

of various types, or frightened so that they are used at night to attract the
fish.
jump
into canoes.
Torches
Fish are poisoned by parties of
men.
in
not join such expeditions {Jicaque).
and men whose wives are pregnant or menstruating canRotenone-bearing plants are crushed the water above a weir from which the stupefied fish are removed.
Women
Vol. 4]
CARIBBEAN LOWLAND TRIBESKIRCHHOFF

floats attached are
221
Harpoons with
used for large
fish
the latter being taken in the lagoons
and
at sea.
and for manatees, Harpoons with long
retrieving lines but without floats are used for sea turtles.
lasso
The Sumo
young crocodiles. Domesticated animals. No early source mentions dogs, but they are now common. Pigs, sheep, goats, cattle, horses, and cats have been introduced. The people tame a great variety of wild birds and several species of mammals. The latter are even suckled by the women. Species
of native bees are kept in hives near the houses.
Food preparation.
Meat and
in
fish
oil.
Food may be
boiled,
sometime^ in coconut milk.
are broiled or roasted in hot ashes, and fish
may
be fried
coconut
The Paya
fry green pineapple.
Salt
is
used as a condisalt
ment but
are
rarely as a preservative.
Sauces of red peppers, lime, and
made by
the Mosquito.
tute for other food.
The Paya use chili as a sauce or as a substiTamales are made of manioc. Maize dough, some-
times soured (Mosquito), is wrapped in leaves and baked. This and manioc dough may be made into tortillas, an item introduced into the region only in recent years. Manioc is made into bread, which is baked in the open fire.
tains,
Numerous beverages are made of liana sap, maize, honey, green planand the like. Some of these are made of a sour paste, which is diluted
it is
with water before
eaten.
Such food
is
usually carried while traveling.
Alcoholic beverages are prepared in canoes (Mosquito) or log troughs
(Paya) and stored in earthenware pots.
Fermentation
is
hastened in
various ways, notably by chewing uncooked or cooked maize or manioc
and spitting it into the mixture. Preserving and storage of food.

is
Fish
is
dried in the sun and meat
dried on a three-legged babracot.
The Mosquito make
a mixture of
green bananas and pejibaye palm nuts which

or longer.
It
may
be kept for 6 months
can be made into a beverage or baked as bread.

it
The
and
Sumo
preserve boiled maize by steeping

it.
in lye to
remove the
hull
then burying
The Sumo
also
make up
large parcels of maize or
peeled bananas, which are placed in running water until partially fer-
mented, then dried in the sun.

shallow water.
Live turtles are kept in stockades in
VILLAGES
AND HOUSES
Formerly, communal
Mosquito
villages (pi. 35,
bottom) had between 100 and 500 inhabitants.
Sumo
villages
appear to have been much smaller.
houses, called "palenques," had compartments for each family.

;
Some
were about 40 by 80 feet (about 12.5 by 25 m.) smaller communal houses were built by the Mosquito. Sumo houses had an elaborately carved central post. House plans were rectangular, the ends being rounded, elliptical (Paya), or circular (Mosquito of Honduras). At the present
6S3334
48
16
222
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
The
time rectangular houses with a hip roof used by single families are steep roof, thatched with palm leaves, was supported on posts.
built.
All
houses have walls about 4 feet (1.3 m.) high.
Lofts for storing food
and for sleeping are made by laying split bamboo sticks across the beams. Household furniture consists of mattresses of bark or deerskin, platform beds (Paya and Northern Sumo), sitting hammocks, wooden chests, three- or four-legged stools, and a notched-post ladder. Fires are built of three logs on slightly raised mud platforms inside the houses. Stored near these are cooking pots, bamboo tongs used to remove food from the fire, gourd containers and colanders, wooden spoons, ladles, and sections of bamboo used to haul water and to store beverages.
DRESS
AND ORNAMENTS
fabric, but
it is
Bark
cloth
was formerly the most common
now
being
replaced by cotton cloth, usually obtained by trade.
Native cotton cloth
was used largely for ceremonial and festive occasions. The Mosquito made blankets and clothing of palm fiber. The male costume consists of a breechclout and poncho. The latter
is
tied
under the arms and secured around the waist with a
belt.
Every-
one went barefoot, but occasionally Paya
men wore
tapir-hide sandals
and Mosquito men moccasinlike footgear.

wrap-around, bark-cloth
skirt,
Women
wore a knee-length,
but the upper part of their bodies was nude.
Children went nude until they were 8 or 10 years old,

a breechclout {Sumo, Mosquito, Paya).
when
they adopted
Sumo
It
chiefs used a long tunic
and a
sash, apparently
made
of cotton.
was dyed and embroidered

still
with crane feathers.
These costumes, or modifications of them, are

but commercial cloth
adopted.
is
worn by the more conservative tribes, more common and European styles are being
becoming
a lock at
Men
cut their hair short, but occasionally elder
tied their crown {Mosquito). In about was oiled or greased at present they cut it short with bangs over the forehead. A crude comb was made of sticks tied together. Women cut the front hair in bangs allowing the rest to hang
the back of the
men left 1850 the Sumo
hair into a queue, which
freely.
The men
attached feathers to their hair but
women
decorated
and colored bands. At time of mourning the hair Both sexes devote considerable attention to their hair. is cut off short. Nose pins and lip and ear ornaments of gold or turtle shell were worn. The Mosquito hung shell or brass plates from the lower lip. Conical or bell-shaped lip or chin ornaments were worn by the Kukra. Wooden On festive occasions the plugs worn in the ear lobes were common. Mosquito and Sumo wore either a cotton headband decorated with feathers or a cap made of bamboo decorated with feathers and with long, painted, bark-cloth streamers. The Mosquito hung metal or shell plaques and
theirs with flowers
ornaments made
of
bone and feathers about their necks.
Sumo women
Vol. 4]
223
wore tight cotton bands below the knees and above the ankles. Today woven bands of glass beads are worn around the neck, wrists, and ankles.
Straw hats are decorated with feathers and jaguar teeth (Mosquito, Paya). Black paint is smeared over the body by the men (Sumo, Mosquito. Paya) as a decoration and for protection from insects. Geometrical designs are drawn in red paint, mainly by the women. The Sumo, Mosquito, and Paya tattooed geometrical designs upon the face, arms, and breast. The Sumo men made ornamental scars on their faces and chipped their All Sumo tribes except the Baivihka practiced head deformation. teeth. During infancy a folding flap of wood at the top of the cradle was tied firmly to the crown of the head.
TRANSPORTATION
Loads are carried with a band passing over the head (women) or Children are carried on the back in a blanket, points of which are tied in front. the The country has hunting trails but no roads. Most travel is done Rafts in dugout canoes propelled with poles and broad-bladed paddles. down-river traffic. Large keeled canoes, often equipped are used for
across the chest (men).
with a
sail,
are used at sea.
MANUFACTURES
Basketry.
storage bins.
Crude baskets, mainly of wickerwork, are made

Bark and
silk
chiefly for
grass fiber bags are very
common.
Bark
fiber is used also to make tumplines, hammocks, and such. Bark cloth. Bark cloth is beaten out of ficus-tree bark with a grooved wooden mallet. Weaving. Cotton is spun on a spindle, which has a whorl and is rotated in a gourd. Coarse-textured but soft cotton cloth is woven on a two-beam loom. Thread was formerly dyed and designs were woven in Sometimes feathers, particularly a fringe of white Muscovy the cloth.
duck down, were incorporated
into the fabric.
Ceramics. Pottery making has been described only from the Sumo and Paya, although pottery was formerly made by all tribes. Women model small vessels out of a lump of clay but build up large ones with coils. They polish them with a pebble, dry them for several days, and fire them
in the open.
Pottery types include jars about 4 feet (1.3 m.) high, various
All
types of jugs, water jars, small bowls, griddles, and tobacco pipes.
vessels have a
Metates are still used by the Paya and Sumo, and they have recently been adopted by the Jicaque, but the Mosquito are said no longer to use them. Metates are flat-topped boulders, which only rarely have a trimmed surface. Manos are round pebbles.
convex base. Miscellaneous manufactures.

224
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
Both the Paya and the Northern Sumo occasionally use elaborately carved metates and well-made manos obtained at ancient ruins. The Mosquito made large wooden mortars and single-ended or, more rarely, doubleended pestles. Tools used for working wood and for fashioning many miscellaneous
articles
knives
richly
made of fish teeth, turtle shells, or stone and bamboo. Three-legged wooden stools were formerly carved, often having a bird or animal head. Spoons, ladles, cradles,
were:
Scrapers
made
of split
and the
like are also
made
of
wood.
Gourds are often engraved with
simple geometrical designs
(pi. 36,
bottom).
Weapons.
1.6
m.) long, Paya specimens 6
Mosquito, Sumo, and Jicaque bows are 4 to 5 feet (1.3 to feet (2 m.) long. They taper toward the
Killing arrows have a cane
flint,
ends and are rectangular in cross section.

shaft and
fishbone,
were being replaced by iron ones as early as 1678 (Exquemelin, 1678). Arrows are not feathered. According to Exquemelin, the arrows used about the Laguna de Bluefields (Kukra) were 6 to 8 feet (2 to 2.6 m.) long with a flint tip and a wooden hook (possibly some type of barb?). Some arrows were weighted with Stunning arrows have blunt knobs made of hard wood or pebbles.
teeth
palm-wood foreshaft. and shark and alligator
Points of
obsidian, turtle shell,
beeswax.
The Ulva and Paya make blowgtms, possibly only toys, from a reed 18 These shoot wax pellets. The blowgun is, even among Hispanicized Jicaque, an effective weapon. It is bored from a branch of a certain tree, and clay pellets are carefully made by means of a gage (Von Hagen, 1943, pp. 50-52). The Mosquito and Sumo probinches (45 cm.) long.
ably used the blowgun, but present information
is
not precise.
Arrow poison
says that this
has been reported from some Mosquito tribes.

the juice of
Bancroft
was made from
Hippomane
mancinella.
Con-
zemius did not observe

that the secretions
this tree in the territory but
mentions the possibility
from a frog (Dendrobates tinctorius) may have been used. The former poison is used by the Carib, and both types are used by the Cuna and Choco.
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
known of the aboriginal organization of these tribes. Both and shamans had great power. Local governments now control the villages, but during the Conquest these tribes were organized for war Chiefs were elected by the elderly men and their power in various ways. supreme. The office was not hereditary, but among the Mosquito was a nephew or son-in-law of a chief might succeed him. The whole Mosquito tribe, under British guidance, was united and ruled by a "king" who carried as insignia a staff and a gold or silver breastplate.
Little is
chiefs
Vol. 4J

the Mosquito and
if
225
is
Among
Sumo
man who
has been wronged

If
con-
sidered a coward
the offended
suicide.
he does not avenge himself.
revenge
fails,
both
creditor
man and the perpetrator of the offense are supposed to commit when caught, must return double the amount stolen. A may help himself to his debtor's property, or he may destroy the
thief,
property of a third person, in which case the debtor must pay the damage
(Mosquito).
of her lover,
An
adulterous wife
is
beaten and forced to reveal the
name
and
his
who is fined. A murderer is killed, unless he commits memory is dishonored. There is, however, no dishonor in
suicide,
poison-
ing an enemy, the method employed for most murders.
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
man and woman may

common.
agree to marry, or, more rarely, the

her consent.
girl's
parents
may make marriage arrangements without

Cross-cousin marriage
is
Child
betrothals are
frequent, but marriage
between parallel-cousins and closer relations is forbidden. Mosquito and Sumo chiefs and shamans have several wives, and the Paya of Rio Platano
and Rio Paulaya practice polygyny, as do the Jicaque. Before marriage a man must pass through various ordeals, pay the bride's family an agreed sum, and prepare a field for his prospective wife. The wedding is a simple ceremony. The levirate and sororate are practiced, and the many possible exceptions to this rule are adjusted by payments. A man may abandon his wife if she is barren. Divorce is accomplished by
means of payments
to the families of offended parties.
The
woman
always keeps the children.
Among numerous
relationship taboos
are the important mother-in-law taboo and the prohibition on a man's
speaking to his sister-in-law and to other close female relatives by marriage.

LIFE CYCLE
Childbirth.
the
The Paya and Mosquito build
special confinement huts
Sumo
partition off a corner of the house.
During parturition the
mother is aided by another woman who cuts the cord with a piece of bamboo. The afterbirth and umbilical cord are buried. Among the Paya a midwife is regarded by parents and child as a blood relative. This belief is said to have originated among the Mosquito and diffused to the Sumo and Paya. The second of twins and deformed children are killed Some female children were killed at birth. {Mosquito and Sumo)
.
Sumo and Mosquito women bathe immediately after bearing Paya women on the third day. Sumo women take a steam bath
no
special structure; in other tribes they bathe in the river.
child,
but use
ends a period of ritual impurity.
This bath Mosquito women, however, are con-
sidered impure for one or two weeks.
Women
is
also observe a special diet.
The
return of the mother to the house
celebrated with a ceremony.
226

tribes, this
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Among some
ceremony
is
repeated at a later date.
The Sumo
are said to have practiced circumcision.
The couvade
is
general.
Individual names are derived from some peculiarity or mannerism. Such names were not used to address a person, especially older people. Puberty. Puberty ceremonies consist of tests, the details of which vary from tribe to tribe. Sumo boys receive serious military training at puberty. Menstruating women are considered to be impure and are confined to a corner of the house (Sumo) or to a special hut (Mosquito and Paya). They are cleansed by bathing or, among the Sumo, by a steam bath. Death. Death is thought to be due to sorcery or to the machinations People about to die are abandoned in the bush, or they of evil spirits.
may even
be
killed.
If a person dies in a village
it
has to be abandoned.
The dead are usually buried in the dwelling, which is abandoned (Paya), The corpse is placed in a coffin or, among some tribes, in a special hut. made of a canoe wrapped in bark cloth. Personal belongings, food, and
a dog are placed in the grave.
Among
the Mosquito, corpses
were some-
times sewed in a mat and placed upright in a grave, facing the east.
Slaves, servants,
and sometimes a shaman were
killed
and buried with
Mosquito
chiefs.
Early reports of the mummification of chiefs appear to
be exceptional and
may
refer to other tribes.
Clay and gold masks of

cut their hair
chiefs are reported from one locality, probably
The dead were mourned

short, wept,
in
many ways.
Sumo. The relatives
and
fasted.
mourning
ritual included attempts at suicide,
which friends prevented. The women sang songs in praise of the dead. Anniversary ceremonies, held at varying intervals, were intended to appease evil spirits and to aid the soul on its long journey to the hereafter.
who was responsible for About a year after death the Mosquito hold an elaborate anniversary ceremony, in which face masks and other paraphernalia are employed. The Sumo have similar ceremonies which differ in detail. Formerly, a Mosquito woman exhumed the bones of her husband and carried them in a bag for a year, subsequently hanging them in the house. She might not remarry for 2 years.
Shamans invoke
the soul in order to discover
the death and to ascertain future needs.
According to
Von Hagen
a curious mixture of Christianity
(1943), Jicaque death and burial customs are and their own beliefs. After some pre-
liminary mourning the body, clothed in the garments in which the person
wrapped in cloth or bark cloth and buried in the cemetery. A wooden cross is put at the foot of the grave, and a pot through which a hole is punched is laid at the head. The cemetery is an enclosure on a
died, is
small
hilltop,
which
is
walled
off,
as are Spanish cemeteries.
WARFARE
Most
of the information concerning warfare pertains to the Mosquito,
who were
highly organized for this purpose.
Undoubtedly much
of this
Vol. 4]
227
an elaboration of aboriginal customs, encouraged by the English. Early Sumo, Paya, and Jicaque developed similar but perhaps less complicated organizations in order to resist the Spanish Conis
records indicate that the
quest.
Probably they too had waged war previous to the 16th century,
but available data do not permit identification of aboriginal customs.
Among the Mosquito and Sumo all men were potential warriors. They were arranged according to military ranks, which were distinguished by feather insignia. The warriors, particularly of the Sumo, were subject to
severe tests including dietary restrictions, and they celebrated various
ceremonies.
Women
were not permitted
to attend these ceremonies,
and
the warriors were not supposed to have any relations with
women. Before
a battle shamans were consulted.

attacked the
slaves to the
The warriors, painted black, usually The Mosquito took prisoners to be sold as Whites. The Sumo killed as many of the enemy as possible.
enemy
at night.
They mutilated
the corpses
and wore the teeth and

to
fingernails as trophies.
Some
of the
Sumo
reputedly ate the roasted flesh of their enemies in order
to inflict further insult
upon them and
make
sure that they were com-
pletely destroyed,
Dances and music.

tion,
All ceremonies are the time

On
for
much
intoxicain
dancing, and singing.

singly.
frequent occasions the Mosquito sing
groups or
There are many kinds of dances, some of them specially for women and others for particular ceremonies. There are two types of drums a goblet-shaped drum used in funeral and memorial ceremonies and a drum of European origin which is used in some of the ceremonies and, perhaps, as a signal drum. Conch-shell trumpets and reed or bone flutes with one to four stops are blown. Sumo and Mosquito shamans use flutes 6 feet (2 m.) long. The musical bow, with or without a gourd
:
sounding box,
is
played by women.
Gourd
rattles are also used.
RELIGION
The Sumo, Mosquito, and Paya believe in a deity, called "Our Father," who lives in the sky. He is little interested in mankind, is too far removed to be approached by humans, and has little influence upon human afifairs The sun, moon, and stars, especially the Pleiades, are considered to be supernatural beings. They figure in the mythology and are of some significance in the religious philosophy.
Solar and lunar eclipses, thunder,
wind, the rainbow, and other celestial phenomena are explained by myths.
agents of the major deities. myth recounts the activities of two brothers who made the animals out of maize cobs. People are believed to have been made from rays of the sun. The Paya believe that their god sowed men in the
last three are the
The
A Stimo creation
228
same way
god of
are
that

manioc
is
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
planted.
Some
of the tribes recount a

deities
deities,
is
myth of a
great flood.
evil.
The Jicaque
No
two benevolent offerings are made to the "good"

believe in
and a female
but attempts
all
made
to placate the "evil" one, a female
who
responsible for
misfortune and
the soul
who
causes death.
The Sumo and Mosquito and possibly the Paya believe that after death makes its way eastward over a difficult route to a nether world of plenty and happiness. The description of the route traveled and the
performed by the survivors of the deceased to aid the progress of his on this road differ from tribe to tribe. Under certain conditions the
acts
soul
soul
may remain about the house of the deceased and even occupy his former belongings, including domestic animals. For this reason these
The Sumo, Mosquito, and Paya
believe that the world
hills,
is
things must be destroyed.
populated with
innumerable
spirits.
These haunt
caves, deep pools of water,
and
other places, and they are responsible for most misfortunes including sickness and death.
spirits, to
A large
part of the
work of shamans
is
to placate these
drive them out of sick people, and otherwise to destroy them.

is
Protection from the bad spirits
afforded by amulets and charms.
SHAMANISM
Most Sumo and Mosquito settlements have a shaman, who may take whose chief duty is to cure the sick. Shamans possess some spiritual power, but very little is known of the various rituals
part in secular affairs but
through which
it
is
acquired.
Sons and sometimes sons-in-law may

in detail
succeed a shaman.
Curing varies
according to the individual

into a trance in
shaman and the

afflicted
spirits addressed.
shaman goes
which
he contacts the spirits and, in one

person.
way
or another, drives them out of the
Curing
rituals also include songs, dances,
and the use

diseases
of painted sticks, carved figures,
and other paraphernalia.
Some
are cured by the imposition of diets, the prohibition of sexual intercourse,
and other
tions,
restrictions.
Complicated diseases or village-wide epidemics
and ceremonial treatment. Infecand diseases such as malaria are cured by both shamans and laymen, the latter using infusions of herbs and a large number of native medicines. Steam baths followed by a cold plunge are also employed. Baths in hot springs and partial burial in hot sand are common practices,
are isolated and receive special medical
snake
bites,
especially
knives
among the Sumo. When surgery is necessary a shaman employs made of obsidian, flint, bone, and such. Ashes, tobacco, wax, and
also prophesy the future or determine the route hunters
resin are used as antiseptics.
A
harm
shaman may
to
should take in order to find game.
come
to people.
By conjuring, a shaman may cause shaman may be retained by a person to
eliminate an enemy.
Plate 35. Sumo and Mosquito Indians, Nicaragua. Top: Sutno man. Bottom: Natural Mosquito village, Pearl Lagoon. (Courtesy American Museum of
History.)
-iut
.:fi':<-|.
j;.;..4:-.;.a:
CUT
gourd Plate 36. Sumo manufactures. Top: Beadwork. Bottom: Decorated (Courtesy American Museum of Natural History.) bowls.
Vol. 4]
CARIBBEAN LOWLAND TRIBES KIRCHHOFF

MYTHOLOGY
229
The literature, reported mainly from the Mosquito and Sumo, includes many songs. An extensive folklore includes stories of the chase, of fishing, and of war. Quasi-historical tales speak of mysterious tribes who
the
preceded the present inhabitants in the region.

that the former
migration legend says

the Isthmus of
home
of the
Mosquito and
Sumo was on
Rivas.
of the
The Sumo
version of a creation legend recounts the
common
origin
Mosquito and Sumo. LORE AND LEARNING
Rules of etiquette are elaborate even in everyday life. Time may be measured by the number of knots on a string or by pebbles placed in a gourd. The year was formerly divided into 13 months, the last of which was occasionally dropped in order to keep the months in adjustment with The Mosquito and Sumo employ a vigesimal numerical the seasons.
system.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Conzemius, 1932; Exquemelin, 1678;
Von Hagen,
1943.
THE CARIBBEAN LOWLAND TRIBES THE TALAMANCA DIVISION
INTRODUCTION
Some
tribes of the
Talamanca Division became extinct and the remain-
der were modified by post-Conquest events, but the contemporary remnants are Hneal descendants of the tribes that occupied the area at the
Conquest (maps 2 and 5). Their culture may be considered as a unit, and early records may be compared with accounts made in modern times. The following description of the culture of the Talamanca Division originates largely in studies of two tribes, the Guaymi (Johnson, field notes; Pinart, 1885, 1887 a, 1887 b, 1900; Peralta, 1890) and the Bribri
(Gabb, 1875; Skinner, 1920).
The
culture of the closely allied central
and northern Costa Rican Groups, though very inadequately known, differs from that of the Bribri only on some details. Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century data are assembled from miscellaneous observations of numerous tribes. Fragments of more recent information have been collected from remnants of several other tribes the Cabecar, Changuena, Dorasque, Terraba, Guatuso, Rama, and others. The Guaymi are divided into Northern tribes and Southern tribes. The former live in the Tropical Forest, and certain fundamental traits were superficially modified by it so as to contrast with the Southern tribes living in the Uplands of the Pacific coast. Other differences, though appearing in minor details, appear to be more deeply rooted.
;
CULTURE
Farming.
Descriptions by Columbus and other early explorers

Aboriginal crops are
still
indi-
cate that agriculture in the Tropical Forest
than at present.
rice, plantains,
was once more extensive staple foods, except where

(Cf.
list
and pigeon peas are grown

plants,
in large quantities.
below.)
In the Tropical Forest hunting supplies nearly as
much food
as farming.
Wild
though more important in the Tropical Forest,
are collected by
all tribes.
is
Among
the
modern
tribes, particularly the

(pi. 37, top).
Southern Guaymi, farming
extremely important
231
232

List of Foods
[B.A.E. Bull. 143

*
Most Commonly Grown by the GuaymI

:
Plants of American origin Maize (Zea mays) Several

:
varieties of both flint and dent. Beans (Phaseolns vulgaris) Nine variants of this species were collected 1932-33, seven of which were bush beans and two runner beans. Lima beans (Phaseolns hmatus) Five variants were collected. Yuca, or sweet manioc (Manihot utilissima var. aipi).
: :
in
Papaya (Carica papaya).

Alligator pear, or avocado {Persea americana).
Gourds
Vine and
tree
gourds of several
varieties.
Both edible gourds and
those used for receptacles are grown.
Camote, or sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas).
Cacao (Theobroma cacao).

Pejibaye (pejivalle) palm or peach palm (Giiilielma gasipaes)
Plants of foreign origin

Plantain
:
Several varieties.
Several varieties.
:
Banana
Pigeon peas (Cajanus cajan) East Indian in origin, sometimes called "dahl." Introduced first into Africa and brought to America with the slave trade
(pi. 37,
bottom).
:
Gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) Large "water bottles" are made of this gourd Probably of African origin but now grown generally in the American Tropics. Name (Dioscorea alata or D. batatas). Rice A variety of Upland rice. Hotoes A tuber, identity not known.
:
Sugarcane.
A
the
type of slash-and-burn agriculture
is
universally employed.
Among
Guaymi, crops requiring different lengths of time to mature are planted at the same time in one or more plots, and harvesting continues
on each plot over a period of several years. Each family owns a number of plots and clears new ones every year, so that planting, harvesting,
and fallow periods

simple ceremonies.
rotate.
Clearing the fields and burning the slash are done by the
men
with
Male relatives and friends gather to drink chicha They sing songs and the owner enat the house of the owner of fields. courages them to work hard and to be happy. The Brihri are said to dance to drums before clearing the fields, but the Guaymi dance only
after the field has been cleared.
The Guaymi women do

do
this
the planting, but
among
other tribes the
men
work.
All tribes use a digging stick several feet long, sharpened
to a chisellike
that these implements
Skinner (1920) suggests edge (Gabb, 1875, p. 515). may have once been used as clubs, perhaps being
He says that the the quarterstaffs mentioned in the early literature. Brihri called the stick "macana," which he recognizes as a possible equivalent to the Nahtuitl "macuahuitl."
The term
is
used generally in South
America for a
1
flat
wooden
club.
This
list,
Talamanca Division.
obtained from the Guaymi in 1932-33, includes most foods grown by all tribes in the Some crops are not grown by certain tribes because of local condition*.
Vol. 4]
CARIBBEAN LOWLAND TRIBES JOHNSON
233
Salt
the Tropical Forest from the

salt
was an important commodity obtained in trade by the people of Boruca and other tribes which owned natural
pans.
Hunting.
their trails
;
Game
is
killed
it is
by stalking or by ambushing animals along
frequently
driven by small black dogs.
are
still
the important weapons, but a few Indians

scarcely
Bows and arrows own guns. The blowof
gun
is
known
to the
Southern Guaymi, none

it,
whom
use
it,
but Tropical Forest tribes hunt with

the dart (p. 243).
using a clay pellet rather than
Traps are not adequately described.

traps,
The Guaymi make
baited
box
sometimes strong enough

trails,
to catch large cats.
Snares, sharpened
and other types of traps are known. With the recent increase of economic difficulties, trails are sometimes guarded with bows and arrows and even guns to discourage theft and to prevent the unstakes in
controlled
movement
whether
illegal
of undesirable people in the region.

this practice is aboriginal or not.
to discover
It was impossible The practice has
been declared
by most
of the tribal
councils but had not been
stopped in 1933.
Bees are not kept by these

delicacy,
tribes,
but wild honey
is
considered a special
The Guaymi
Fishing.
and the larvae from the hives are eaten with a special relish. give most of the honey to the women and young babies but
it
occasionally use
in
making
chicha.
that nets and fishhooks were used on the coast of Veraguas. People were also said to have lined up along the banks of a stream in order to frighten the fish and make them jump against mats set vertically in canoes. During the dry season the Southern Guaymi catch small fish with The brooks may be temporarily dammed with stones and their hands.
to catch fish
Ferdinand Columbus says
grass
and the small fish driven into nets, which are fastened to hoops held in gaps in the dams. Small fish are also caught with spears made with sharpened pieces of wire 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45 cm.) long During the rainy set into the end of a cane about 10 feet (3 m.) long. season fish, lying in shallow water, are caught with similar but stouter
spears.
People in the Tropical Forest shoot

multiple-pointed arrow.
points with
fish
with the
bow and
tribes.
single- or
The
latter
has at least three prongs.
Single
many
barbs are reported from various
During the dry season the Southern Guaymi use a baited

38, bottom) operated
fish trap (pi.

fish nibble
by a
man
sitting
behind a blind.
When
the bait, causing dried leaves attached to a limber stick to rustle, he closes
the gate.
conical trap, about 2 feet (60 cm.) in diameter at the open

feet (1.5
end and about 5

the brooks rise
m.) long
(pi. 38, top), is
used in seasons when

trap
is
and
fall
with some regularity.
The
placed in
234
an opening
at the

downstream apex
of a
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
V-shaped dam.
Some dams
zigzag across a stream so as to accommodate several traps.
There are early references to a few domestamed tapirs, and wild peccaries (zahinos, Tayassu tajacu) are mentioned by Ceballos (1610). People in the Tropical Forest now have dogs, a few cattle, and poultry. They also keep tame parrots and small native mammals. Many Soutliern Giiaymi families have cattle and a few horses, the introduction of which, about 1900, caused and is still causing rather extensive changes in the economy. An added stimulus to cattle raising came during the first World War, when a scarcity of grazing land developed
ticated
Domesticated animals.
animals.
Dogs,
in the Republic of
Panama.
Now
a few corrals are maintained, and such
things as lassoes, whips, and saddles are used
when
they can be obtained
from the Panamanians. It has been necessary to fence cultivated land and to make other adjustments. Some folklore connected with ranching has been added to native traditions, and a set of laws and other social
regulations governing range areas, inheritance, cattle stealing and such
are being developed in the tribal councils.
Food
prepai'ation.
is
Most
may
foods are boiled.
Meat, when not eaten

eaten fresh or
immediately,
salted
and smoked.
Maize
is
hulled in a mortar, boiled,
and then ground on a metate.

allowed to ferment.
It
The
resulting
mush may be
be formed into cakes, wrapped in husks,
and steamed.
VILLAGES AND HOUSES

In the early chronicles the habitations of the Talamanca Group are
called "palenques," but
no
detail is available.
palenque was, apparently,
a large dwelling, perhaps a group of dwellings, usually fortified by means

of a stockade.
The term has been

in
applied also to unfortified hamlets
of several houses.
the
Villages were located on the islands at the

river valleys
Laguna de Chiriqui and
mouth of some distance from the
coast.
Modern houses
ties.
Early descriptions of house furnishings are singularly absent. in the Tropical Forest are grouped in small communi-
Sometimes the houses are close together, but frequently they are Southern Guaymi being one-quarter mile to several miles apart. Most families have a single house, but large ones may occupy two houses, in which case the second usually serves as kitchen and as the
scattered, those of the
home
of the older people.
Among
own
the Southern
Guaymi one man
or the family he represents
may
is
several house sites, even though they use but one.

is
Each
site
recognized as a separate parcel of land and

the male line.
to the
inherited, usually through
The
distribution of house sites bears
no
last
spacial relation
farmland owned by a family.
Modern houses
about 5 years.
Vol. 4]
CARIBBEAN LOWLAND TRIBESJOHNSON

are seldom repaired
;
235
They
site
instead, a
new house
is built
upon an unused
and the family abandons the old house.
The Guaymi build three types of houses; rectangular, square, and The square and round round. None of these has a specialized use. tribes. The rectangular houses are more common among the Northern
Figure
50.
Fundamental
framework of Southern Guaymi hip-roofed house.
house, having a hip roof,
is built almost exclusively by the Southern Guaymi. The framework is illustrated in plate 39, bottom, and figures 50 and 51. Grass is used as thatch by the Southern Guaymi and split palm fronds by the peoples in the Tropical Forest, the fronds being sewn to
Figure
51.
Framework
of Southern Guaynii hip-roofed house with rafters added.
236
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
rods attached to the rafters.

secure the thatch.
In exposed places crotched sticks

(pi.
may
help
Outside walls
39,
top)
are
made
of vertical
poles lashed to the primary horizontal framework.

side
Lofts are
made
in-
the houses by lashing
horizontal
poles
to
the upper,
secondary
framework.
The square and round

tribes, are believed to
houses, characteristic of
all
the Tropical Forest

is
be the older types.

(pi.
The
construction of these
similar to that illustrated
39).
The
apices of the pyramidal and

pots,
e.g.,
conical roofs are covered with large
open-mouthed
walls.
broken
iron pots.
Most Gimymi houses have
Various semipermanent shelters

windbreaks
(pi. 40,
top) provide additional living
space or temporary shelter from the elements while traveling.
Simple
may
be the only shelter used for several weeks at a time.
The modern palenques built by the Brihri and, apparently, by the Cahecar and Terraba are circular or square in plan or, more rarely, have
straight sides
very large.
to the
and rounded ends. The older ones are said to have been The houses are conical or pyramidal, the roof coming down ground. The construction is of poles bound with vines (Gabb,
1875, p. 514; Skinner, 1920).
These houses are
distinctive in
having
pots to waterproof the apices of the roofs and a shedlike entry to prevent
the rain
from coming
in the single door.
notes that
many
families
may
property and cooking
fire.
Angulo (1862, pp. 153-154) same house, each with its separate Other sources note that these houses were
live in the
if
inhabited by groups of related families.
Today
there are very few
any
of these palenques in use.
Modern
Bribri houses are rectangular or oval in plan, with a hip roof and no
Cabecar houses are now simply a shed roof, sloping in one and open at the front and sides. Terraba houses are "el" roofs raised on short poles and 6pen all around below the eaves. Guetar villages consisted of a few communal houses. The Suerre house was "shaped like an egg, in length about 45 paces, and 9 in breadth. It was encircled with reed, covered with palm branches remarkably well interlaced there were also a few other houses but of a common sort" (Lothrop, 1926 b, p. 23, quoting Benzoni). Guatuso houses were scat->
vertical walls.
direction
tered over a considerable area.
"The houses are
low, consisting of a roof
pitching both v/ays from a ridge pole, and resting on very short but very
thick posts.
ends and sides, under the eaves" (Gabb, 1875,

built
open at the Tree houses were by the aboriginal occupants of the region, according to Padre Zapada
This
is
is
thatched with palm leaf and

p.
entirely
485).
(Bancroft, 1883-90, vol. 8, p. 755).
Household furniture.
walls.
The
Giiaymi build platform beds along the
on the floor in addition to using Benches consisting of two horizontal poles or of a split log run around the walls. Stools are made of a single block of wood and
Other
tribes pile plantain leaves
platform beds.

Vol. 4]

(fig. 52,
237
a)
are rectangular, with a V-shaped hollow as the seat
(Gnaymi)
or are carved with two or four legs.
Skinner (1920, pp. 52, 55) says that
frequently the Brihri carved these stools to represent tortoises.
Ham-
mocks, used for lounging but rarely for sleeping, are hung about the
houses.
a
Figure
52.
o
furnishings,
;
Guaymi household
V-shaped seat
a,
Wooden bench
pestle.
with
concave
h,
c,
wooden mortar and
The
center of the floor of a

is
Guaymi house
;
is
usually occupied by a large
log trough in which chicha
Troughs are hewn into several forms Some are canoe-shaped with pointed ends some have square ends others have a lip or flange on the ends. The sides are simply the surface from
made.
;
which the bark has been peeled.

Grain
such.
is
stored in house lofts in cylindrical bins of bark, in baskets and
The
Bribri are said occasionally to build outdoor granaries.

is
Mis-
cellaneous property
and sometimes
in
hung about the houses in string bags and gourds Bows, blowguns, and arrows are hung in baskets.
Sometimes, particularly in the Tropical
crude racks or stuck in the thatch.
Forest, poultry and even swine are confined in pens inside the house.
The
is
fireplace is inside the house, usually opposite the door, if the

its
house
walled, and
vicinity
jars,
is
cluttered with culinary acticles, such as metates
and large chicha

Metates, however,
floors about
the latter propped
up with
sticks
and
stones.
may
be in a separate shelter.
Bribri houses
may have
;
feet
(1.2 m.)
these cover only part of the area of the house.
from the ground (Skinner, 1920, p. 48) Floors and lofts are
reached by a short notched-log ladder.

6S333448
17
238

CLOTHING AND ORNAMENTS
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
The
cloth,
aboriginal man's costume

feet (2
some 6
the body.
It
was a breechclout, a narrow strip of bark m.) long, passed between the legs and wound around was usually supported by a belt. The women wore the
breechclout and a knee-length, wrap-around skirt.
Both sexes frequently wore nothing above the waist, but in most tribes they might use a short jacket "so scant that it shows the entire breast." Near Herradura the people were said to wear bark-cloth mantles having a hole in the center for the head. Men and women occasionally wore, either with or without a skirt, a "blanket which covered the head and fell to the feet" (Tcrraha, Boruca). Girdles (Changnena and the Tropical Forest of Costa Rica) and feather-decorated aprons (Gitaymi) are mentioned but not described. Some bark-cloth garments were decorated with painted designs. Feathers attached to the head in an undescribed manner are mentioned by the
earliest explorers.
At
the present time the
more conservative people wear
the breechclout
about their houses and cover their shoulders with strips of cloth or rarely
with short, shirtlike jackets.
Sometimes the bark-cloth breechclout

b, p.
is
covered by a second one of cotton cloth (Pittier de Fabrega, 1938
11).
A poncholike shirt,
the head,
is
consisting of a wide strip of bark cloth with a hole for
worn by both men and women.

belt.
This
is
tied
under each arm
with a piece of string or a

until puberty,
In
all tribes
boys go practically naked

shirts
but girls are clothed
when
they are very young.
At
the present time the less conservative

1
Guaymi men wear
made
with a neckband about
inch (2.5 cm.) high and cut to open at the back.
The bosoms
of the shirts are frequently outlined with strips of applique
and are often decorated with geometrical designs in applique (pi. 45, top, right). Rawhide sandals are sometimes worn. These are attached to the foot by means of a lace running between the first and second toe and over the instep to a second lace attached to the heel and tied around the ankle. Straw hats, a recent innovation, are made exclusively by the men.
Straw
is
braided into
plaits,
and the
plait is
sewn
in a spiral
beginning at
the center of the crown.
The hat is shaped as The modern Guaymi women wear a cotton
it is
sewn.
or bark-cloth breechclout
supported by a belt and a dress with sleeves and an extremely full skirt. The dress reaches from the neck to the ground (pi. 46, top, right, and bottom, left) and is slit in front nearly to the waist or has a round neckopening.
more
rarely,
Applique decorations are frequently added about the neck and, around the lower part of the skirt. The women's costume is
completed with quantities of bead necklaces and strings of teeth and shells. Guaymi ceremonial costumes are simply elaborations of ordinary clothes.
The men's
outside of the trouser legs

:
have elaborate applique designs on the bosoms; the Various types of is also decorated (fig. 53). a conical cap of fiber or bark cloth (pis. 45 and headdresses are worn
shirts

Vol. 4J
239
46)
to
straw hats, commonly decorated with a circlet of feathers attached

circlets
the crown, which corresponds to the
of
brilliant
feathers
formerly worn; and sometimes a square piece of cloth folded diagonally
wear an elaborate bead collar Women's ceremonial clothing differs from their (pi. 45, bottom, right). ordinary attire in the great amount of applique decoration and in the use
and wrapped about the head.
also
of quantities of necklaces.
It often includes
Men
straw hats.
xz:^
CZD'
Figure
53.
E23'
designs.
Giuxymi
applique
clothing
From
trouser
legs
of
men's
ceremonial costumes.
For the
balseria
and the secret ceremonies Guaymi men carry on
their
bells.
backs stuffed animals decorated with beaded collars, ribbons, and
The
(pi.
front
paws
rest
on the shoulders and the head
sticks straight
up
45).
Some
people
still
wear headdresses of feathers
set vertically into a tape
which extends from temple to temple (Gabb, 1875, p. 19; Skinner, 1920, Some headdresses are made of bands of decop. 80, and illustrations). rated cloth. Beaded collars and necklaces are also worn.
Chiefs and other
identifying insignia.
officials
formerly wore special ornaments, apparently Most frequently mentioned at the time of the Con-
quest were gold ornaments, which
now
are extremely rare.
Chiefs also
carried a decorated staff (Gabb, 1875, p. 520; Skinner, 1920, p. 89).
to
In the 16th and I7th centuries all the people of the region were said have gold ornaments hung about the neck or fastened to the clothing or to the arms and legs. These were described as zoomorphic figures,
plates,
such as eagles, lizards, toads, and spiders, and mirrors, golden medals, and plaques. Necklaces of various types were also very common.
240

men
tied a
[B.A.E. BuU. 14
In the vicinity of Cartago the

the prepuce.
few threads
of cotton about
The people
which a deer
of mixed ancestry living in the eastern section of the
Pacific slopes, west of the

skull with
Panama
is
Canal,
make a
bark-cloth
mask
in
horns
frequently incorporated.
These are
used in ceremonies connected with Catholic holy days, which are observed in former mission towns. This custom is rapidly dying out.
Men
clip the
cut their hair off just above the nape of the neck or sometimes
back and sides up to a line near the top of the ears.

Occasionally the hair
is
They wear
bangs.
allowed to grow long, either hanging
loosely or being plaited,

of the head.
the top of
bound with bark cloth, and coiled at the back and is tied with a ribbon about the head, or it is divided into two plaits or rolled up at the
Women's
hair hangs freely
back of the neck.
According to Ferdinand Columbus, "The people [probably Guaymi] were all painted on the face and body in divers colors, white, black and
red."
Urcullu (1763,
p.
same source mentions bone nose and

with feathers.
the
488) describes scarification or tattooing. The lip plugs and an earplug decorated
Pinart (1887 b, p. 119) says that the Dorasque scarified body with sharp pieces of stone and also painted the body. The Guetar and the Guatuso also decorated themselves with paint. Gabb
(1875,
p.
519) says that the Bribri painted their faces with parallelograms
Painting has died out.
paint their faces at
all
or squares and that the Terraba formerly tattooed small patterns on the
faces
and arms.
Guaymi men
times, but
women
rarely
do so
except during ceremonies.
man
has his
own
set of geometrical motifs
and applies them in any combination that suits his caprices. The Southern Guaymi do not now paint their bodies. Some of the Guaymi, usually younger men, mutilate their teeth, a custom that probably was recently adopted. The corners of the upper and lower incisors are chipped off, usually to produce a sharp wedgeshaped point or what could be described as "needle" teeth. This custom is most common among the mixed Panamanian-Indian groups and among the Guaymi who have been in closest contact with the Panamanians. It is not characteristic of the conservative Guaymi and has not been reported among the Talamanca Group. The custom may be of African origin
(Stewart, 1942).
TRANSPORTATION
Loads are carried in net bags or bundles equipped with a tumpline. Horses and, more rarely, bulls and steers are used as pack animals. Dugout canoes are used where possible on the ocean and along the
quieter, lower reaches of the rivers.
They
are paddled in the aboriginal
manner, but some have a small
sail
and a fixed rudder.
Small dugouts
Vol. 4]
241
are used on the rivers.
During high water the mountain people, who
rarely have canoes^, use logs or makeshift rafts to cross the rivers.
MANUFACTURES
Basketry.
work twill. some 2 feet
splints are woven in an octagonal openBaskets vary from cup size to 3 feet (0.9 m.) high and (0.6 m.) in diameter.
For baskets, rough
Cordage. All string is made either from majagua, a bast fiber, or from pita, a fiber obtained from cactus leaves. Both fibers are twisted by rolling them on the thigh.
Netting.
Hammocks
and numerous bags
(pi.
41) are made with a

fig.
technique called "coiled netting."
(Cf. Lothrop, 1937,
82, p. 111.)
Innumerable variations of
this technique are possible
at the discretion of each individual.
and are employed The bags are decorated by employing
The finest and most highly decorated bags are made of by Guaymi women, who work several colored threads into complicated geometrical designs by means of the simplest stitch.
dyed
string.
pita fiber
Weaving.
pean
cloth.
Native woven
cloth
is
being supplanted by modern Eurofor their cloth.
The Guetar were formerly famous
Gabb
(1875) describes a two-bar loom used by the Bribri men who wove locally grown cotton. Skinner (1920) visited the same people and found that
weaving had disappeared, though he collected some old pieces of native cloth. Among the Southern Guaymi, in 1933, there was but one woman in several hundred families who knew how to weave. She used a twobar loom (pi. 40, bottom) and wove with thread spun from wild tree cotton on a drop-spindle which had a disk-shaped wooden whorl.
for the
Ceramics. Pottery is made by all tribes, but details are available only Guaymi. Large, pointed or round-bottomed jars with restricted
necks are general, but other types have been reported only for the
Guaymi.
pottery
is
The most
said to use slips
conservative and inaccessible Guaymi groups are and other methods of decorations, but most of their unadorned. Pottery is made by only a few women in each
local group.
kneaded with the hands and is fine grained clean sand lump of prepared clay is molded to a cup or dish shape A is added. rolls of clay about 15 inches (38 cm.) long and less than 1 inch and (2.5 cm.) in diameter are added to its edge as concentric rings to form the body of the vessel. The rolls are pinched together with the fingers and smoothed with the hands and with pieces of gourd. Necks of jars, rims, lug-handles, and such are added in much the same way (pi. 42, top).
Pottery clay
is
;
small
Large wooden troughs found in many Guaymi houses have been called canoes (e.g., Pinart, The natives distinguish between canoes and these troughs, which are not seaworthy. On It is possible that a canoe might the coast, where canoes are used, the Guaymi also have troughs. be used as a trough when an exceptionally large quantity of chicha is to be made.
1
Peralta).

242

is
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
After the jars have dried for a few hours the surface
rubbed smooth
with a wet
a fire
is
tool.
Several days later vessels are set on the ground and
There are six fundamental forms of vessels 54), some of them similar to the products of the modern Panamanian industry and others possibly resembling the basic forms of the more highly decorated prehistoric pottery.
built
about them.
(pis. 42,
bottom; 43, top;
fig.
J/i/e
/Op
Side
Figure
54.
Guaymi
pottery.
Pottery ocarinas resemble gourd ocarinas, being round or egg-shaped
with a protruding mouthpiece.

side of the center line
line.
;
Some have two
stops arranged on each
others have two or rarely three stops on the center

is
variant, usually smaller than the first two,
pear-shaped with
two tubular stops
rising above the surface of the ocarina about half an

line.
inch (1.3 cm.), one on each side of the center

Vol. 4]
243
m.) long, less than 1 inch an inch (1.2 cm.) thick. The best bowstrings are made of pita fiber. Arrows are made of cane and are 4 to 5 feet (1.3 to 1.7 m.) long. Stunning arrows, used for small game, have blunt, knobbed heads made of deer antler, hardwood, or cow horn (Skinner, 1920) set into the larger end of the cane, bound with cord, and sometimes covered with pitch. Killing arrows are tipped with a piece of hardwood which has a rudimentary tang and is set in a deep notch of a wooden foreshaft. Only one reference to poisoned arrows has come These were said to have been used in battle by the Boruca. to light. Gabb (1875, p. 516) describes a blowgun, or pellet gun, bored from one piece of wood, fitted with a double sight, and covered with pitch. "The are carried in a little net, with them missies are clay balls. These are two bone implements. One, simply a straight, heavy piece of bone
to 5 feet (1.3 to 1.7
Weapons.
Bows are 4
and about
(2.5 cm.) wide,
half
used to drive a
other
is
ball
out of the tube by
its
weight, in case of sticking.

is
The
with
similar in appearance, but the end
worked
into a
round
pit
sharp edges, for trimming the balls to the proper size and shape."
Woodworking. Woodworking is confined to hewing with machetes and small adzes and finishing with smaller tools and with certain kinds of leaves which are used as sandpaper. Guaymi wooden articles are illustrated in figure 52.
Bribri articles are illustrated by Skinner (1920).

cutting tools are
Stone industry.
time.
No
The grinding
surfaces of
made of stone at the present manos and metates are flattened and preWhetstones are cut from deposits
pared by pecking with another stone.

of soft sandstone or volcanic rock.
These are said

kind of rock
where a special These pipes vary from the simple elbow variety, undecorated except for a small conical point at the bottom of the Other varieties are bowl, to those carved with conventionalized faces. decorated with small round lugs near the rim of the bowl, or rarely, with
the people living in a locality
is
The Guaymi possess some to be made by

obtainable.
stone tobacco pipes, which they highly prize.
incised geometrical designs (fig. 55).
L
Figure
55.
Guaymi
stone tobacco pipes.

244
Fire making.
of the
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
Fire was formerly made with
the hand-twirled
fires,
drill,
the tinder being cotton or shredded bark.
Ceremonial
particularly
Talamanca Group, are still lighted in this way. Fire is also made by striking a machete against a stone and catching the sparks on tinder, but no special strike-a-lights are used. Fire is seldom allowed to go out, being kept smoldering in punky wood or punky fiber hung in a protected
place.
Firebrands are carried
when
traveling.
Beadwork.
woven
Necklaces
rare at present.
bone beads and perforated teeth are very Beads of European origin are strung into necklaces and
of
into collars.
The Guaymi make
collars with designs of various

(fig.
colors, the
beads being strung on pita fiber thread
56).
Figure
56.
Guaymi
technique in making beadwork collars.
ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION
The majority
have
selves with
families,
of the
Guaymi produce a surplus
of food, but some people
insufficient land or other resources,
such as labor, to supply them-
enough to eat. In addition, there are orphans, disinherited and certain unfortunate individuals who are paupers. Such
people are largely absorbed as agricultural labor.
Guaymi economy depends upon agriculture, but remnants of what may have been an aboriginal system of trade between the Tropical Forest and the Savanna may be observed in operation. In addition, commodities of European origin, such as cattle, clothing, machetes, fishhooks, sugar, and
have to be obtained from the Panamanians. This money and methods of exchange which are apparently completely foreign to their tradition. In spite of nearly 400 years of dealing with Europeans, the Guaymi do not yet underto
some extent
salt,
necessity has forced the people to adopt
stand the use of money. The less conservative groups, who have vague and usually erroneous ideas of European practices of exchange, obtain
Vol. 4]

origin
245
articles of
ing
European more or less the
and trade them

even
in the
Guaymi
country, followin
aboriginal barter system.
This procedure results
the utmost confusion.
A deal,
if initially
of the simplest sort, usually
becomes hopelessly complicated and ends up, sometimes after several years, in the council, where the governor makes an arbitrary and not always
popular solution.
The
nomic
off the
influx of cattle, particularly since 1914, has interrupted the ecolife to
some
extent.
The
principle effect has been to take the
land for a portion of the year, leaving
more work
it
for the
men women
to do.
In some cases
this results in
hardship for
reduces the normal
supply of food.
Cattle are so precious that they are rarely slaughtered
and thus do not replace the agricultural losses. Wealth is usually measured in terms of the productivity of one's land and the number of one's cattle. It is expressed not only directly but in terms of what the crops, particularly the surplus, can buy. Thus, a wealthy man may be the head of a family having a well-equipped house or he may be the owner of a large supply of some commodity such as cloth
or
salt.
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
The whole
social
structure of the
Guaymi
is
Present rules are often contradictory and result in
now being modified. much disagreement

is
among
this
the people.
The fundamental Guaymi
unit
the family, which
consists of a
man, one or more wives, and their children. Occasionally unit includes the first wife's mother and father and sometimes the
parents of other wives.
man
usually formally marries his
first wife.
He may marry or purchase subsequent wives. Divorces are illegal frequent. A woman may leave her husband for another man, but
latter
but
the
v/hich appears to be
must pay the husband. exogamous, but the
The Guaymi have a clanlike organization

details are
unknown.
All tribes
are polygynous.
Descent among the Guaymi is reckoned through the female line, but property may be inherited through both the male and female lines. As a
and other property are held in the names of the men and boys. Women own a little land, many cattle, and all the household goods. Claims arising from this complicated system, which at present does not work well, are adjusted by the tribal council upon the order of
rule, land, cattle,
the governor.
Pittier
lineal
de Fabrega (1895) notes that the Bribri had exogamous matriBribri man purchased moieties, which were divided into clans.
his wives.
extremely scarce, but it sugInheritance was apparently gests that analogous systems were in vogue. similar to the Guaymi system (Gabb, 1875, p. 496). At the time of the
Information from other tribes
is
Conquest the Guetar were divided into three classes
nobles,
commoners,
246
and

slaves, the last being
sacrificed.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
women and
boys captured in war.
Captive
men
were
Evidence from the early documents and from some more recent sources
indicates that these tribes existed
under a number
of feudal governments.
There were probably
at least three feudal states
the
Guaynii, the Tala-
manca Group, and the Guetar. During the wars with the Spaniards each government was rapidly welded into a strong unit. When these were broken up by the Conquest, realignments were attempted. At the present time these systems have broken down, and most of the surviving tribes
are governed by heads of local groups.
The
Each
titular
head
of the
Guaymi
local
lives in the
still
Miranda Valley and
rules
only by reputation.
The
governors
have considerable authority.
usually inherits his position, being, theoretically, the oldest surviving

first
son of the
marriage.
governor rules over clanlike divisions.

ofifice,
authority depends upon the prestige of his

extent,
upon the support of a loosely influential members of the group. The social and political organization
transition.
His some organized council made up of

his ability, and, to
of the
Guaymi
is
in
a state of
The
people on the fringes of Indian territory are becoming
and heed some of the orders
Panamanian towns and districts Panamanian officials, especially those that are to their advantage. The infusion of Panamanian ideas is breaking down former ideas of family relationships and the inheritance of property. The resulting complication often becomes intolerable, and a Guaymi family group may break up and join the Panamanians or it may move farther back into the mountains and in turn upset the local social, political, and economic situation there. The position of some governors
closely associated with the neighboring
of the
is
not an enviable one.
Among
only in
the Bribri and related tribes the situation seems to differ
detail.
The
Bribri conquered the Terraba after a
war
at the
beginning of the 19th century (Gabb, 1875, pp.

chiefs
488-489), and the Bribri
now
control the Terraba chieftaincy.
In addition, the Bribri are
the political superiors of the Cabecar, and the Bribri dialect has survived
at the
expense of the other
dialects.
The
full
powers
of Bribri chieftain-
ship rest in a single family, which does not observe unilinear succession
but selects
its
most
eligible
member
to succeed a deceased chief.
The
chieftaincy carries
some
social prestige, but the authority
depends upon
gained control
support of the Costa Rican Government, which has

of
it.
now
Vol. 4]

WARFARE
247
All the tribes were
more or
less warlike.
The
early sources emphasize
the idea that the wars were for the purpose of obtaining captives for
sacrifice (particularly in central
and northern Costa Rica).

difficulties
It is
probable
that
economic,
political,
and
territorial
The Spaniards had
considerable difficulty in
were involved. conquering some of these

also
quickly formed alliances against the
environment but also because the tribes common enemy. They were, however, sometimes able to play one tribe against another. Nothing is known of the way in which the Gtiaymi organized for war. The Bribri, Cabecar,
tribes not only because of the
and Terraha, among others, had war chiefs who were usually elected and who exercised absolute power over the tribe. The warriors belonged to a special class and were frequently given special burials.
LIFE CYCLE
Childbirth.
During
pregnancy the
women
of
most
little
of these tribes
practice simple sympathetic

to the expected child.
magic
in order to impart desired attributes
woman
gives birth in a
house
built for
some distance from the dwelling. She is assisted by her mother or by some elderly midwife. The umbilical cord is cut with a special bamboo knife. As soon as the child is born it is washed, the placenta is buried, and both mother and infant are ceremonially washed
the purpose at
in a river.
The woman
returns to the house but
she has been purified by a shaman,

details of this purification
may not enter it until who blows smoke all over her. The ceremony differ among various tribes. (Cf.
etc.)
is
Pinart, 1885, p. 444; Gabb, 1875, p. 494; Pittier de Fabrega, 1938 b,

p.
23; Angulo, 1862, pp. 153-154;
The
only naming ceremony reported

it
that of the
Guaymi, who usually

is
combine
the
with some other
affair,
such as clearing the land, which
attended by a
number
of people.
it.
The
child's father
swings
it
it
through
smoke
of a fire
and names
Other men
also
swing
through the
smoke.
Names
so given are used until the puberty ceremony,
when
new names
"clarido,"
is
are given.
Boys' puberty.
secret puberty ceremony, called in Spanish the
celebrated by the Guaymi.
Certain male
members of a
local
group instruct the boys, while designated The leaders paint their bodies and appear
to paint their faces, and, in
women
in
act as aids or servants.
masks.
The boys
are taught
some
sections, their teeth are chipped.
They
receive
an
official
but secret name, and, following the ceremony, they
may take their first wives. Death customs. There
are conflicting and confusing accounts of customs connected with death and the disposal of the dead. It is probable that each tribe buried in various ways, the method depending upon the

248

The Southern Guaymi bury
57).
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
deceased's social position.
after the corpse
has hung in the house during a few days of mourning and ceremonial
observances
(pi.
44;
fig.
The dead
are not exhumed.
Pinart
Figure
was
which and 3 are bejuco hoops which were laid over crosses located by black dots, a, b, and c indicate the location of small holes in which chicha in two small iron pots and articles such as mirrors, combs, a bit of face paint, etc. were buried, b, Sketch
57.
Guaymi
burial,
a,
oriented with the head of the corpse to the west.
Diagram of mound constructed over Numbers 1,
burial
2,
of gate or exit
lashed.
The
constructed
made of two upright balsa poles to which a loop of bejuco was was located on the eastern edge of the cemetery. This was Everyone at the burial services while the grave was being filled.
gate
passed through this exit at the end of the ceremony.
(1885, pp. 445-446) says that the
Guaymi (probably
the
Northern
flesh
tribes)
wrap
ofif,
the corpse and leave
it
in
a special place until the
has rotted
In-
when
the bones are collected
and buried with great ceremony.

in the houses.
humation and
tribes.
varieties of secondary burial are reported for several other
The remains
the Cuetar
are put in the ground or hung embalmed bodies are put in mortuary
Among
buildings.
All funeral
ceremonies are long and complicated.
Vol. 4]

249
Musical instruments.
The
Gnaymi make
conch-shell trumpets by
grinding off part of the whorl and molding a mouthpiece of pitch.
Cow-
horn trumpets made of the horns of longhorn cattle or of several sections of short horns stuck together with pitch and equipped with a wooden mouthpiece are now replacing these. Whistles or endflutes with three and four stops are made of bone, wood, and reeds. Each whistle is made to play a certain tune composed by its maker. Double-reed whistles with no stops are also made. Pottery ocarinas have been described (p. 242), Ocarinas are also made of gourds or are molded of pitch. Rarely, turtle shells are suspended from the shoulders by a string and played by rubbing the hand over the
edge of the
shell.
few drums are made by the present-day Northern Guaymi. Some have double heads tightened over a hollow log by means of hoops and lashings others have no hoops. These drums are beaten with the hand or with two sticks. Bribri drums are made of a tapered hollow log and
;
have a single head (Gabb, 1875, p. 517; Skinner, 1920). The Bribri make an instrument of armadillo skin, which is rubbed with a beanlike seed. Gourd rattles and a xylophonelike instrument made
by hollowing a chunk of wood are also mentioned. Alcoholic beverages. Many beverages or chichas are made, most of them fermented and some intoxicating. Most commonly, maize is used. It is partially ground on a metate or simply crushed in a mortar, and
it
may
or
may
not be cooked before
it is
poured into a trough

its
to ferment.
is
type of chicha, highly desired because of
alcoholic content,
made
of maize,
a trough.
of which is partially chewed by the Other beverages may be made of yuca or of combinations of Such beverages were first described by the various kinds of fruits. conquistadors, and one account mentions a drink made from a tree of It was said to resemble turpentine and to have the "copal" species.
spat into
much
women and
been used also to embalm the dead Narcotics. In discussing Ferdinand Columbus's descriptions of the
natives
(Guaymi f) encountered on
the north coast of Veraguas, Lothrop
(1937, p. 17) notes that in the land of the Cacique Urira the people were accustomed to chew a dried herb mixed with some sort of powder
and suggests that
this refers either to tobacco
chewing or
to coca chewing.
RELIGION
Early accounts of religious

of priests
activities are confined to passing
mention
these
who were usually men cured the sick,
also secular officials.
By means
of ceremonies
prophesied the future, and such.
250
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Modern references describe the remnants of religious concepts which must have had considerable influence upon everyday life. The Guaymi
now
speak of a
God with
attributes similar to the Christian God.
They
also have
shamans and sorcerers who prophesy the future and placate

spirits.
various evil
Ritual
is
now
restricted to very private ceremonies
held at night.
Other ceremonies also have a certain
religious background.
Accounts of the Bribri describe a formal priesthood usually made up by a single priest chosen from the Cabecar tribe. In addition, a certain group of laymen is officially recognized as sorcerers and shamans. The Guetar had an organized priesthood, and they sacrificed human beings at every moon and at burial feasts. The people have a well-developed theology which includes a Supreme
of Bribri but ruled
Being and a multitude of lesser deities, both benevolent and malevolent. The bad spirits must be constantly placated in order to ward oflf sickness, death, and all kinds of misfortune. They are exorcised by the religious
officials in
various ways.
These
of both
tribes
have concepts of various degrees

beings and inanimate objects.
of spiritual cleanliness
human
An
object which has not
been used for some time

cleansed before
it is
may become serviceable. Some
unclean and must be spiritually

degrees of uncleanliness are condetails, of.
ceived to be of a serious nature.

p.
(For further
Gabb, 1875,
188, pp. 503-504; Pittier de Fabrega, 1938 b, pp.
16-19; Skinner,
1920, pp. 46-47.)
CEREMONIES
Only the more important

past centuries are
of the
many ceremonies
reported during the
now
celebrated.
All these have a religious background,
and
all
characteristically involve varying
degrees of drunkenness and
brawling.
Some
are primarily of a social nature, such as the
Guaymi
men and women dance in a circle to a The dancing may last for single song that everyone sings interminably. several days. Upon occasion this ceremony is considered to be a memorial
"chicheria," during which the
to the deceased rather than a social gathering.
One
of the important
It is
Guaymi ceremonies
is
called in
Spanish the
"balseria."
connected with agriculture, particularly the planting of
crops, but no clear statement of the details has yet been obtained.
Out-
wardly, the ceremony
is
a large social gathering in which there
is
formalized competition between regional and relationship groups.
some These
groups are perhaps extended families, possibly even clans, each of which occupies a certain region and owns a number of the ceremonial grounds.
The
balserias are held at a different location each year. A group of the Northern Guaymi occupies a special place on the program of the ceremony. In the principal activity, which lasts one day, two groups throw balsa-wood sticks at each other (pis. 46 and 47). These contestants
Vol. 4]
251
belong in different classes, which are determined by either a family relationship or by region.
In some instances
men may wager
property and
even their wives upon the outcome of the "stick play."
For
descriptions of ceremonies
among
the Bribri, see
Gabb (1875),
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1937; Peralta, 1890; Pinart, 1885, 1887
Angulo, 1862; Bancroft, 1883-90; Ceballos, 1610; Gabb, 1875; Lothrop, 1926 b, a, 1887 b, 1900; Pittier de Fabrega, 1895,
1938 b; Skinner, 1920; Stewart, 1942; Urcullu, 1763.
^'^
Plate
37. Guaymi farming and foodstuffs. Top: Fenced farmland on which yuca and pigeon peas are raised. Bottom: Pigeon peas being dried in the sun.
(Courtesy Fredericli; Johnson.)
Plate 38. Guaymi fish traps. Top: Abandoned trap and stone dam. Trap in working order. (Courtesy Frederick Johnson.)
Bottom:
Plate
39. Hip-roofed house

Framework.
of the Guaymi. Top: Completed. (Courtesy Frederick Johnson.)
Bottom:
Plate
40 Guaymi
shelter
and loom
weaving.
Top:
Flat-roofed
shelter.
Bottom: Beating erick Johnson.)
down woof with sword batten
in weaving.
(Courtesy Fred-
Plate
41.
Valienti
(Guaymi
?)
bags,
Panama.
(Courtesy American
Museum
of
Natural History.)
Plate
42.
Guaymi
pottery
making.
firing.
Bottom: Small jar before
Top: Adding clay ring'to form (Courtesy Frederick Johnson.)
rim.
Plate
43.
Guaymi
utensils,^ Top:
shape of mortar.
Large pottery jar. Bottom: (Courtesy Frederick Johnson.)
Uncommon
Plate 45. Guaymi men
in
ceremonial costumes.
(Courtesy Frederick Johnson.)
Plate
{left):
46.
Guaymi
ceremony.
Man Women in
ceremonies and ceremonial dress. Top: {left) Balseria Top {right) and bottom Bottom {right): Man in ceremonial dress. ceremonial dress.
pointing pole at his opponent.
(Courtesy Frederick Johnson.)
Plate
Guaymi balseria ceremony. Top: Man throwing pole at his oppo(Courtesy Bottom: Rack of balsa poles prepared for balseria ceremony. Frederick Johnson.)
47.
nent.
Plate
48.
Guaymi man.
Wearing "working" or everyday

Frederick Johnson.)
clothes.
(Courtesy
THE TRIBES WEST AND SOUTH OF THE PANAMA CANAL^

By Samuel K. Lothrop
INTRODUCTION
west and south of the Panama Canal appear to have been fundamentally similar culturally to those of the Talamanca Division, but
The
tribes
16th-century data reveal certain differences that warrant their separate
treatment (maps 2 and 5).
Conquest of the Panamanian Savannas (Espinosa, 1514, 1516, 1519; cf. also Oviedo y Valdes, 1851-55), Spanish writers made clear statements that the region was inhabited by peoples speaking languages which were mutually unintelligible. Some must have
Beginning with the
first
That the indigenous populaend of the century, and that as early as 1600 enclaves of people speaking Guaymi and other dialects were moved into the area by the Spanish administrators, are reasons for seriously questioning whether the tribal identities of recent groups and
spoken Chibchan; others perhaps did not.
tion
was
practically obliterated before the
of neighboring enclaves are
any indication
of the affinities of the population
of the 16th century.
In view of certain characteristics of their culture,
these people are tentatively considered as a larger unit in a general
Guaymi
group.
CULTURE
Apparently the food supply was plentiful and the people cultivated and
preserved maize, peppers, manioc, sweetpotatoes, calabashes and gourds,
and possibly squashes and other plants. Meat, preserved by smoking, was supplied by hunting deer, peccaries, iguana and other lizards, sea turtles, curassows, ducks, and small mammals. Game and fish were taken with nets made of various kinds of fiber The game was driven by dogs into these nets or or of hide thongs. sometimes into pits. During the dry season the grass was occasionally fired and a great number of animals were driven down upon a line of hunters armed with darts or bows and arrows. Birds were shot over
1
more complete summary of these data may be found
in
Lothrop (1937).
6S3334
253
18
48
254
[B.A.E. Bnll. 143
decoys or caught in nets.
Fish occupied an important place in the
diet,
and
shellfish
were
eaten.
of food.
was not used in cooking but a lump was licked between mouthfuls It was an article of commerce. Chicha. a beer made of maize or fruit juices, was the principal drink.
Salt
VILLAGES
AND HOUSES
named
after the prin-
The
people lived in towns which the Europeans
cipal chiefs or caciques.
Some
built
of the
towns had as many as 1,500 people.

fortified.
They were compactly

fences,
and often
The
log palisades or
which usually sprouted and grew into high dense hedges, were
said to be intended to keep out wild animals, but the Spaniards found
effective barriers to military operations.
them
roof.
Oviedo y Valdes reports round houses with vertical walls and a conical Chiefs' houses were of great size and were divided into many
Espinosa
states that
rooms.
he fed his expeditionary force for 4 months
on the provisions discovered

stores included the
in the residence of the Chieftain Nata.
These
fowl.
smoked carcasses
of
300 deer, dried
fish,
and
Houses were furnished with hammocks or low benches which were used as beds. The beds were made up with cotton blankets or possibly sheets
of bark cloth.
Baskets with
lids,
a great variety of pottery, gourds, metates,

of the
and possibly wooden log mortars were part

house.
equipment of every
CLOTHING AND ORNAMENTS

It is
probable that the
caciques and other influential
common people went naked or nearly so. The men were dressed in cotton cloaks studded
a cotton skirt or apron, reaching
with gold plaques.

to the
list
Archeological evidence adds small decorated aprons
of garments.
The women wore
at least to the knees.
Information from eastern
Panama
suggests that
possibly longer skirts were
worn by women
of the
of rank.
Except for the bearded warriors

ever)rwhere removed
tattooed himself.
device,
all
town
hair.
of Escoria, both sexes
the facial and
body
Everyone painted and
Tattooing indicated rank, and each chief had his

his subjects.
own
which was likewise used by

slaves.
marks for
Outstanding
articles
of
There were also special personal adornment were
various types of jewelry and precious stones, helmets of gold, greaves,

circlets, feather
headdresses, nose plugs, stone, bone, and gold ear spools
of several types, necklaces, and pendants of metal, stone, and carved bone.
Apparently some of these ornaments were worn only by persons

as both insignia and identifying ornaments.
.of
rank
Vol. 4
SOUTHWEST PANAMANEAN TRIBES LOTHROP

MANUFACTURES
255
All industries were well developed, and the people had a plentiful supply
wooden tools and ornaments, pottery, and such. Metalworking was very highly developed, and many techniques of casting, plating, soldering, and cold-hammering were known and used in making
of cloth, baskets, carved
the most intricate ornaments.
Fire was made with three sticks, two of which were lashed together and placed on the ground. The point of the third stick or drill was set in the notch between the two and rotated between the palm of the hand.
SOCIAL
The supreme and Escoria, exercised despotic authority and They were surlived in great luxury with many wives and retainers. rounded by a nobility, who won their titles in battle or inherited them if they dedicated themselves to war. These men had subjects and property
Native communities were divided into four social classes.
chiefs, such as Parita, Nata,
of their
their
own, often living

chief.
in their separate villages, subject to the call of
head
Of
the
common
people
little is
known
except that they
were allowed to marry into the nobility. Slaves were prisoners of war. Their faces were either branded or tatooed, and a front tooth was often extracted. In spite of its complexity this society seems to have been less developed than the most advanced cultures in South America and MesoAmerica.
WARFARE
War
tion,
was a recognized
all
activity of
a large portion of the male popula-
Weapons were bows and spears. Statements that the arrows were not poisonous are direct and precise. Spear throwers to project darts are recorded from Darien (Oviedo y Valdes, 1851-55) but curiously not from
and
the towns supported a permanent army.
darts,
and arrows,
the Savanna.
As
they occur in the protohistoric graves,
it
is
possible
that the 16th-century Indians

in the gold figures
knew and used them.
Clubs are illustrated

specific
from the region, but the Spaniards make no
reference to them.
BALL GAME
These Indians had a native ball court ( juego de pelota) which, however, was not of Mexican or Central American type, for it was compared to the Arawak ball courts seen by the Spaniards in the West Indies, In Panama a type which diflFers radically from those of the mainland. the ball court was reported from the base of the Asuero Peninsula, in the land governed by Cacique Jabraba.
,
definitely
256

CEREMONIAL LIFE
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Of
ritual associated
with such functions as birth, puberty, marriage,
divorce, dances, games, war,

detailed account has
and
religion
little
can be said except that no

the
come down
together
to us.
The complex symbolism found on

the
archeological
objects
with
meager observations
of
Spaniards, however, suggests a rich development.
BURIAL
No
come
descriptions of the disposal of the corpses of

to light.
Burial in the ground was a right which
common people have may have been

In 1519 the
confined to the chiefs, nobility, and their wives and retainers.
Spaniards discovered and described the body of the Cacique Parita prepared for burial in sumptuous array, including gold orniments which weighed 355 pounds. The most famous burial ground, today known as
Sitio Conte, is situated
important
this
men
in protohistoric times
on the Rio Grande de Code. Here the graves of have been exhumed. ( See Lothrop,
volume,
p. 147.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Espinosa, 1514, 1516, 1519; Oviedo y Valdes, 1851-55; Lothrop, 1937.
THE CUNAi
By David
B.
Stout
CULTURE
Farming. Agriculture, almost exclusively men's work among the San Bias Cuna, is carried on by slash-and-bum methods in which a dibble is used. The modern crops grown are bananas, plantain, corn, rice, yams,
sweet manioc,^ sweetpotatoes, sugarcane, peppers, tobacco, and pineapples.
In addition, coconut, cacao, orange, lime, mango, papaya, avocado, and
and bushes are tended. Hunting. Hunting, now a distinctly secondary activity and not engaged in by all the men, was once the object of expeditions composed of men and some women, who traveled in search of game for varying lengths
coffee trees
of time.
Peccaries are hunted by individuals or by the surround method, are occasionally built near the fields to catch tapirs.
and
pitfalls
Other
quarry consists of agoutis, iguanas, squirrels, two species of monkeys,

deer,
aid.
and several species
of birds.
The weapons employed
are
Dogs are sometimes used as a hunting bows and arrows, blowguns, spears, and
shotguns.
Fishing. Fishing is done with nets, spears, bows and pronged arrows, and weirs and harpoons, the last probably borrowed from the Negroes. Decoys are used in catching the sea turtles in stationary nets (fig. 58).
Figure
58.
Cuna
sea turtle
decoy.
(Approximate length 32 cm.

fig.
(12J/2
in.)).
(After Nordenskiold, 1938,
31.)
See maps 2 and
5.
The
cultural data here refer to the
modem Cuna
unless an earlier period
is indicated.
Poisonous manioc was reported for the Cuna in the late 17th century but without details of the
in pressing the poison
method used
from
it.
257
258
[B.A.E. Bull. 14S
Dogs, pigs, chickens, and cats are the only Pigs and chickens are kept more for trade purposes than as a direct source of food. Some individuals keep captive
domesticated animals.
birds
and monkeys for
pets.
Food preparation.
Bananas,
plantains, sugarcane, fish, corn,
and
rice
are the principal items.
Fish, bananas, and plantains are usually boiled,
separately or together, as a mush, which

juice.
is
is seasoned with salt and lime Bananas, plantains, and the tuberous foods are also baked. Meat
if
roasted or,
there
is is
a surplus, smoked.
Fish also
is
smoked.
One
composed of sugarcane juice, roasted corn meal, cacao, and water; another, of mashed plantains or bananas, cacao, and water. These gruels form the usual breakfast and serve as snacks during the day and around nightfall. The principal meal of the day is taken in the early afternoon, when the boiled, roasted, or smoked foods are
eaten.
unfermented beverage
VILLAGES
AND HOUSES
The San Bias Cuna

of houses along one or
live in
more
streets.
compact villages composed of regular rows The Mainland Cuna live in sm;iller
villages along the riverbanks.
The houses
are rectangular with thatched
and palm-wood slat or cane walls. Most are built directly on the ground, though some at the eastern end of the Cuna territory are raised on piles. Many contain a loft reached by a notched-log ladder. Every dwelling has a smaller cook house, constructed either separately or as an extension of the main house. Interior furnishings of the dwellings include hammocks, low, 1 -piece wooden seats (pi. 49, a, b), looms, and a storage platform. Temporary partitions are constructed for ceremonial purposes, and permanent ones are found in the dwellings of the shamans. The central feature of the cook house is a 3-log fireplace, around which are kept the cooking utensils.
roofs
DRESS
AND ORNAMENTS
Conquest consisted of penis cover of shell, reed, or gold and, for the women, a cloth skirt extending to the knees or ankles. Late in the 17th century the men were described as wearing the penis cover and also a loose cloth garment containing neck
Clothing.
at the time of the
Clothing
and arm
holes.
since about 1870,
and women
This was put on over the head. Since then, particularly men have adopted European-style shirts and trousers, have added a trade-cloth blouse (pi. 49, d, g) made with
applique techniques of intricate design.
Of
the feather girdles or aprons
and feather-decorated crowns of the late 17th century, only the latter are These are composed of a basketry band with four upright still in use. They are worn by the tufts of feathers and a brim of shorter feathers.
ceremonial leaders
(pi. 50,
a)
Vol. 4]
THE CUNA STOUT
259
Tattooing and painting. Tattooing, now no longer practiced, once was used to indicate status. Slaves were tattooed with a property mark. Face and body painting late in the 17th century was described as a woman's art. It was elaborate and included the use of red, yellow, and blue pigments. Warriors painted their faces red. Now only a few simple All the dots and lines are worn by women on their noses and faces. Cufui paint red spots on their palms, soles, and cheeks. Miscellaneous ornaments. TheCuna used nose and ear ornaments, breast pendants, gold cuffs, greaves, headdresses, and helmets. None of these have been found archeologically in the Cuna or Cueva area, though it seems very likely that they were similar in design to those found at Code (Lothrop, 1937). The men's large gold nose plates and ear plates
and the women's gold nose rings described late in the 17th century survive in part in the nose rings and disk-shaped ear pendants worn by women Likewise, the many-stranded necklaces of animal of the present time. teeth (including those of the jaguar) and shells described for the same period are still used, but on a much smaller scale. They have been largely replaced with heav}^ necklaces of coins and glass beads and are now worn only by the women. In recent years the women have taken to wearing constricting rows of beads around the ankles, above the calf, around the
wrist,
and
just
below the elbow.
TRANSPORTATION
Canoes.
The San Bias Cuna oceangoing dugout, equipped with

is
jib
and
triangular mainsail,
a post-Columbian development of the aboriginal narrow dugout with platform ends. This latter type is still used by long, some San Bias individuals when ascending the rivers of the mainland
and
is
universal
among
the Mainland
Cuna groups.
It is propelled
with
crutch-handled paddles and with poles.
Carrying devices.
Articles are transported
in large baskets slung
on
the back with a tumpline.
Also, balanced loads are placed on opposite
ends of a fore-and-aft carrying pole, which rests on the shoulder.

poles are occasionally used in pairs.
Such
MANUFACTURES
Bark
cloth.
Bark
cloth,
though known
to the
Cuna, seems never to
have been used extensively.
Weaving and cordage.

combined with cotton.
type of loom.
Until
are
still
recently one of the
major feminine
occupations has been the manufacture of cordage from several bast fibers
Cotton cloth
is
Hammocks
woven on the vertical {"Arawak") woven but now almost exclusively

fire
with trade string.
Basketry.
containers.
Basketry
techniques are used in making
fans, trays,
telescoping envelopes, and
many
sizes of hemispherical
and
cylindrical
The weaves employed
are twilling and wickerwork, often
260
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
with one series of elements colored black (pi. 49, /). technique has also been reported but is seldom used.
coiled basketry
Gourds and calabashes.

ornaments.
Containers made
gourds
is
of calabashes are
employed
as food dishes, cups, and water vessels and for storage of clothing and
The
orifice of storage
closed with a smaller inverted

articles
calabash held in place with strings.
These calabash
were formerly
painted in several colors.
Ceramics. Nothing is known of the aboriginal pottery of the Cuna, and no archeological specimens can be definitely assigned to this tribe. At present pottery techniques are used only in making anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines and braziers (pi. 49, c, e) used in the various ceremonies and in conjunction with medicine chants. This pottery is coiled it is coarse and unevenly fired. The Cuna obtain large pottery chicha jars by trade from Colombia. Rubber. It is very doubtful whether the aboriginal Cuna ever used
;
rubber.
Metallurgy.
Nothing
No
is
known
of the techniques
employed
in
making
present-
the gold ornaments described in the 16th
and 17th
centuries.
The
day gold ornaments are obtained from traders.
Stone objects.
objects are
holds possess a simple stone metate and

the old village sites or cemeteries.
made of stone, though many housemano which have been found on

latter
Weapons.
Bows and arrows are used, the

If the
unfeathered and hav-
ing a blunt, single or composite point.
Spears and, recently, single-barrel

to be ancestral to the
it
shotguns are also used.
Cueva are taken
Cuna,
then the spear thrower was also once a major weapon, though
has not
been described for the Cuna area since early in the 16th century (Oviedo
y Valdes, 1851-55,
vol. 3, pt. 29, ch. 26, pp.
127, 129).
The blowgun
the Cuna, but
the
with poisoned darts does not appear to be aboriginal

rather to have diffused to
historic period.
among
them from the neighboring Choco during
SOCIAL

bilateral
The
kinship system
is
and
descriptive, with
added age
re-
finements.
Marriage
is
now
almost exclusively monogamous, though polygynous
marriages are allowed.
The
early accounts frequently noted that polygyny
was usual among the leading men. There is very little intermarriage between the Mainland and the San Bias Cuna, but within each of these
subdivisions marrying in or out of the village or island
is
determined
less
by
definite
endogamous or exogamous
rules than
by convenience and
;
In all cases marriage residence is matrilocal thus each house contains a household composed of one or more conjugal family
other circumstances.
units related by marriage to a lineage of
women.
Vol. 4]
THE CUNA STOUT
261
oldest male in each household is its head, and younger men who have married his daughters or granddaughters are subject to his authority. Any tendencies to tyranny in this system are counterbalanced, however, by the fact that no payment is made in contracting a marriage and no
The
penalties are levied
if
divorce occurs.
The
wife of the household head
exercises a small degree of authority over the other
and grandaughters
the sons-in-law.
ând
Upon
women daughters through her husband considerable authority over the death of the household head the oldest of his
if
sons-in-law succeeds to authority

roof.
the several families remain under one
However, being free from service to their father-in-law, some or all families may set up separate establishments, usually in the same village.
Should a man's wife die, he is free to leave his father-in-law's household and remarry elsewhere. Until he is remarried he usually spends the
father's household. The house itself is inherited in Croplands and personal possessions are inherited from parents to children and between siblings but never between spouses.
interim in his
own
the female line.
The
organization of the Cueva and other Darien tribes
was described
in the 16th century as strongly stratified, the classes being chiefs, nobles,
commoners, and
slaves. This system has long since been altered, and today there are two loosely defined strata, between which there is considerable mobility. These strata are differentiated largely by degree of
economic possessions and, among the San Bias Cuna, by degrees of conservatism and adherence to the older customs. Political power is now
vested in village chiefs,
chief
is
who
are elected by the

chiefs
men
of the village.
Each
village.
assisted
who The
act as his
and by several sherifflike messengers, agents, and official greeters for the
by two second
officials
chief presides over meetings held every several nights,
when he
many references to the mythology and These serve as precepts for proper behavior or allegorical parallels drawn with reference to misdemeanors occurring in the village. Other village officials are the adviser, a treasurer, and several
chants a sermon which contains
legendary history.
men in charge of ceremonial preparations. The island villages of the San Bias Cuna
political parties,
are
members
is
of either of
each headed by a high chief,
who
selected
two from among

an-
the village chiefs.
Upon
death of such a high chief the
office shifts to
other island with the election of his successor.

villages are also affiliated with these
Some
of the
Mainland Cuna
All this political
two
political parties.
organization has
it,
its
roots in aboriginal practices, though
some aspects of
such as the treasurer and perhaps the sherifflike

least intensified
added or at
sions.
officials, have been through contact with the early Spanish mis-
LIFE CYCLE
Childbirth.
Birth takes place within an improvised enclosure

men and
children are excluded.
in the
assists
house, from which
midwife
262
the laboring mother,
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
and the child is born into a water-filled canoe placed in which the mother lies. Outside of the enclosure a shaman sings the childbirth chants and supplies various medicines to
beneath the
hammock
the midwife according to her reports of progress.
In addition to several
in
food taboos observed by both husband and wife during pregnancy, the
couvade
is
in force
for 3 days after birth.
Albino children have,
the past, often been killed at birth.
Albinos,
who
constitute
about 0.7 percent of the Ctina population,
are not permitted to intermarry, and

finding mates
many
of
them have
difficulty in
among
the
brown members
of the tribe.
They are looked
upon as weak and incapable
of the full duties of adulthood, although
they are thought to be more intelligent and to possess the power of driving
away, with a small bow and arrow, the demons that devour the sun or
moon during
eclipses.
Puberty ceremonies.
for girls there are two.
girl is
There are no puberty ceremonies for boys, but

At
the
first,
held at the onset of puberty, the
placed in an enclosure for 4 days, during which her female relatives
and
is
their
women
friends pour great quantities of water over her, her hair

is
bobbed, and she
several
weeks
to be
painted black. Chicha is brewed during the next drunk ceremonially with rum when a dance is held
held a year or
in her honor.
The second ceremony,

a debut, for
It is
it
more
girl is
after puberty,
is
is
actually
serves as formal notice that the girl
now
marriageable.
a 4-day ceremony, during which the

is
kept in an enclosure and
For this ceremony her parents accumulate large and the materials for making several large jars of The ceremony itself is composed of many episodes, chief of chicha. which are those devoted to making the rattles and flageolets and other ceremonial equipment, such as painted balsa-wood planks (fig. 59), which
her hair
cropped.
quantities of food
Figure
1938,
59.
Cuna
12.)
painted balsa planks, which serve as

ft.
mnemonic devices for
leaders
in girls'
fig.
second ceremony (length 1.26 m. (4
1J4 i"-))-
(After Nordenskiold.
Vol. 4]
THE CUNA STOUT

mnemonic
devices for the ceremonial chanters.
263
serve as
The
entire cere-
under the direction of a leader whose position is achieved after years of training and assisting in ceremonies. It is his duty to sing the long chants relating to the origin of the debut ceremony. While doing
mony
is
so he lies in a hammock suspended The ceremony ends with a dance.
in the center of the ceremonial house.
items occupy very prominent positions in this and the puberty ceremony: long cigars and the braziers (pi. 49, c, e) in which cacao
Two
beans are burned.
The
braziers are kept in constant use and are tended
ceremony is punctuated with chicha drinking and with use of the cigars, which are placed with the lit end in the mouth and blown so that the smoke passes over the face of the various leaders and their assistants. This use of cigars was first described in the 17th century (Wafer, 1903, pp. 102-103).
by
assistants.
Each
step of the
is sewn up in a hammock. day and a night. A chant by a special chanter is often sung to insure safe journey to heaven. On the second day the body is carried to the cemetery on the mainland and is there mourned over all day in the case of the San Bias Cuna while two men dig the grave. Then the hammock is slung on two stakes
Burial customs.
At
death the deceased
Close relatives and friends
mourn
for a
in the grave, personal possessions are placed
with the body, and the

top.
grave
is filled in.
Food,
utensils,
and furniture are placed on
WARFARE
Little is
early period.
of
known of the warfare of the Cuna The chiefs and nobles were the
or their ancestors in the
warriors and one object
waging war was evidently to take slaves. One middle- 17th-century source (Requejo Salcedo, 1908, p. 128) credits the Cuna with the practice of killing enemy males whose blood was believed to be drunk by the sun. A special title was accorded men who had killed 20 such victims. A late- 17th-century account describes a war house in the center of each village. This was strongly built to withstand siege, for it had loopholes in the walls. That the Cuna were a warlike people is attested by the fact that neighboring groups, such as the Choc 6 and Catio, have a number of legends recounting skirmishes with the Cuna and by the numerous
records pertaining to
Cuna
alliances with
French and English pirates
during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Art.
Present-day
art
is
almost entirely limited to the basketry designs,
the fetishes carved by the men, the
mnemonic
picture writings,
and the
elaborate multicolored applique designs on the
women's
blouses.
264
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Games.
activities.
There are no organized competitive team games, and the play

an imitation of adult
of the children evidently has always been largely
Dances.
There
girls.
are ritual dances, most of which are imitations of
animals, performed by individuals or small groups as episodes of the two
ceremonies for
which anyone may participate are No singing or instrumental music accompanies the former type, but the ceremonial leader sometimes plays his flute or other men may play panpipes for the group dances.
Group dances
in
held at the end of ceremonies.
log
Musical instruments. The 16th-century sources ascribe large hollowdrums and smaller skin-headed drums to the Cueva and others of Darien, and late in the 17th century the Cuiia were described as having bamboo drums. All these have dropped out of the culture since then.
Instruments
(fig.
still
retained are calabash rattles with deer-bone handles
60, d), panpipes, simple

air duct
end-blown
(fig.
flutes
(fig.
60, c), flutes with

quill
an attached
is
made
of a
bamboo tube
to
which a
mouthpiece
fastened with a black
wax
60, a), sets of single pipes of varying
lengths played individually

necklaces,
(fig.
(fig.
60, b), bird-bone plug-flutes
worn as
styles,
60, e),
bone
(pi.
50, b).
and Most of
flutes
made
of
an armadillo skull and bird
these instruments are
made
in
two
one for individual playing and the other in pairs of different pitch which are played in duet. Much of the music played on these wind instruments
is
antiphonal.
Alcoholic beverages. Chicha, one of the central features of the girls' ceremonies, is made from fermented maize or plantains mixed with sugarcane juice. It is made and drunk only at ceremonies but is greatly Both sexes become quite intoxicated, and the women take enjoyed. considerable pains to revive their drunken husbands by swinging them
in a
hammock and
sprinkling water on them.
RELIGION
Everything in nature and
spirit or soul.
all
AND SHAMANISM
people are believed to have an indwelling

beings are spoken of in both the singular
illness.
Souls of
It is the
human
and the
plural.
abduction of one's soul that causes
Upon
all
death the soul journeys to the afterworld.
second attribute of
animate things
is
life
principle,
which leaves upon death.
Some persons
also ascribe this quality to certain inanimate objects, such as water, metal,
and rocks.
evil spirits
It is
thought to have departed when these things boil away,
rust, or are broken.
third attribute assigned to
humans, animals, and
and demons is a power which manifests itself in sexual potency, braveness, and industriousness and which can be increased or decreased
with medicines.
Finally, all
humans
are thought to possess a varying
number
of predilections, faculties, abilities,
and
talents
which are localized
THE CUNA STOUT
265
Figure
quill,
60.
b,
Cutia musical instruments,
a,
Flute with attached air duct of bird

sets,
One
of a set of single pipes, played in
one to a person,
1938,
c,
Simple
10.)
end-blown
d,
flute
used
in
ceremonies.
e,
(After
Nordenskiold,
fig.
Rattle used in girls' ceremonies,

figs.
(After Izikowitz, 1935,

1938,
fig.
Necklace of plug-flutes made of a bird bone. (After Nordenskiold, 44 and 219.) /, Panpipes.
11.)
266
in
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
the brain and which can be increased or decreased with medicines.

is
Individual differences in skills and the sexual division of labor

alized
ration-
on the basis of this fourth attribute. The union of God and God's wife is the source of
their attributes.
all
things.
third
deity, female in character, is in
charge of the formation of
human
fetuses
and endowing them with
These
deities are
never suppli-
cated but are only addressed as creators in the various chants.
God
Death
is is
omnipotent and omniscient, unforgiving, and stern of character.

predestined.
It is still
uncertain to what degree these conceptions of

fetishes,
God
and the supernatural world, the wooden and Huguenot

to
beliefs.
and the
beliefs in pre-
destination and punishment for sin are syncretisms of aboriginal. Catholic,
The design
of the fetishes
may
possibly be ascribed
Negro influence. The world is thought
of as a plane beneath
which there are eight layers

of heaven.
of the
underworld and above which there are eight layers

is
The
fourth layer of the underworld
the abode of the chiefs of the evil spirits,
and
it is
through
this layer that the souls of
dead persons journey on their
it for albinos and for There are special places for people who have died from various causes (Requejo Salcedo, 1908, pp. 132-133). The sky is thought of as hemispherical and is pierced at one point. Through this hole a legendary shaman once crawled and consequently became bald. The cosmography also includes a sun ship and moon ship which traverse the sky daily carrying certain evil spirits and demons. Shamanism. Shamans are of three sorts. The first and most numerous, to which both sexes may belong, are those who have learned the chants and medicines for curing specific illnesses. In most cases curing involves the recovery of the patient's soul, which has been abducted. The recovery is effected by means of a wooden fetish (pi. 51, a-e), the soul of which is addressed in a chant and instructed to retrieve the patient's soul from the evil spirit. These fetishes are named according to the kind of wood from which they are carved. Different illnesses are cured by The design of the fetishes is incidental, though stereospecific woods. typed. Pepper pods and cacao beans are burned in braziers during the chants. The shamans often use mnemonic picture writings to assist them in learning the chants. Many also carry a staff surmounted with a fetish
way to heaven. brown Indians.
Heaven now has
special places in
figure (pi. 50, r).
The second
epidemic
is
type of shaman
is
much
less
numerous and
specializes in
curing whole villages stricken by epidemics.
The
evil spirit
causing the
exorcised in a ceremony lasting for 8 days.
man
chants instructions to the souls of
many
large
The medicine wooden fetishes (pi.

is
51, /, g).
Braziers and long cigars are also used.
The
third type of
shaman
is
born to his
if
status.
He
usually a
man,
though a
woman may
attain this status
the proper signs (including a
Vol. 4
THE CUNA STOUT
267
is
caul) are present at her birth.
In any case, a long course of training
necessary to validate this position.
It is also possible to vitiate these
powers
in a child
by administering certain medicine.

virith
The
abilities of this
third type center about their close rapport
the supernatural world,
particularly the evil spirits, enabling these persons to prognosticate, to

find lost or stolen objects,
and
to diagnose illnesses with
much
greater
accuracy than the lesser shamans.

natural world
is
Their essential link with the super-
the fetishes used either in
dreams or while awake.
Nearly
all
medicinal and magical practices are beneficial.

first
The few
so doing
sorcerers in the population are either of the
or third type of shaman,
who overdevelop
their abilities
and
talents with medicines.

spirits.
By
they become unwitting agents of the evil
Evil spirits are everywhere in nature, and they cause all misfortunes. However, under some conditions the shamans may learn some cures from
them.
They
are, like everything else in the world, the creation of
and serve as His agents of punishment as well as acting on their

accord.
God own
MYTHOLOGY
The mythology, aside from the stories chronicling the creation by God, tells of how God destroyed the world by fire, darkness, and flood because the people sinned. The flood occurred 800 years ago, and after it there appeared a great personage who came to earth on a plate of gold and taught the people how to behave, what to name things, and how to use them. He was followed by a number of disciples who spread his
teachings, and who, in turn, were followed by 10 great shamans, one of them a woman. These shamans had great powers over the elements. They investigated the underworld and heavens and discovered many medicines. These exploits grade into accounts of legendary chiefs and heroes who led the Cuna in their wars with the Spaniards and who led whole villages of the San Bias Cuna down from the mountains and out
onto the islands.
Combined with the myths are a number

involved.
of tales in
which animals are
One
of these recounts the felling of the
World Tree
at the
behest of one of the principal culture heroes.

cut
it
The people attempted
to
down, but each time they left it After two such attempts the culture hero bade his brother to kill the frog, whereupon the tree was felled and from its top came fresh and salt water, croplands, plants, reptiles, mammals, fishes, and birds. Other animal tales involve pairs of adversaries, one of whom wins out
night.
a giant frog healed the cut over-
through trickery.
LORE AND LEARNING
chants,
Knowledge of the medicines and medicine chants, the girls* ceremony and the mythology is in the care of the various types of medicine
268
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
men and
the ceremonial leaders. It is all passed on to their pupils during long courses of training for which the pupils pay in labor or goods.
Familiarity with this body of knowledge brings considerable prestige and
is
prerequisite to being elected chief or second chief.
The
picture writings
(pi.
52) in which some of the mythological motifs are recorded and which
serve as
mnemonic devices
for the medicine
and ceremony chants may

are
be a survival from aboriginal times.

colored crayons on paper.
Nowadays they
They
are not standardized, for most
made with men

stand for
cannot read another man's picture writings.
Some symbols
words or names of plants, animals, or objects. The medicines, most of which are made from plants or stones mixed with water, are administered internally or by bathing in them. They are usually based on a sympathetic or imitative principle They are prescribed and sold by the shamans and are used in connection with the curing chants or at intervals after such chants. Surgery is not In the 17th century, venesection bows were used (Wafer, practiced.
lines of the chants, others for single
whole
1903, p. 54), but this practice has disappeared.
The numerical system

for each unit
is
is
decimal-vigesimal, there being a separate

1,
name
which
up
;
to 10, then 10 plus
10 plus
2, etc.,
up
to 20,
(human). Thereafter, units and lO's plus units are 20 40 is reckoned as two 20's, etc. The present-day numerical system has undoubtedly been expanded through the necessity for counting large numbers of coconuts. In measuring small spaces, hand span, arm
"tule"
suffixed to
named
length, etc., are used.

of
Croplands are estimated in terms of the number

will hold.
banana plants they
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lothrop, 1937
Andagoya, 1865; Gasso, 1910-14; Krieger, 1926; Lehmann, 1920; Linne, 1929; Nordenskiold, 1928 a, 1928 b, 1938 Oviedo y Valdes, 1851-55 Requejo Salcedo. 1908; Stout, MS. Wafer, 1903; Wassen, 1934, 1937, 1938, 1940 a. 1940 b.
;
Plate
49.
Cuna
artifacts,
a,
b,
Wooden
seats,
d,
g,
Women's applique
(After Krieger, 1926, pis. 4 and 26.) c, e, Pottery braziers used in ceremonies (height of e, approximately 16 cm. (6}^ in.).) (After Nordenskiold,
blouses.
1938, figs. 13 and 14.) /, Basket with one series cf elements colored black with a wax (height, approximately 22 cm. (8î in.).) (After Nordenskiold, 1928 a, pi. 145.)
.^,^^****'^*'^%^,
Plate
50.
Cuna ceremonial
in.)).
objects,
a,
Leader's feather headdress (height,
90 cm. (35J4
staff
fig.
and bird bones.

(drawing at
29.)
(After Wassen, 1938, pi. 1.) 6, Flute of armadillo skull Shaman's tutelary (After Izikowitz, 1935, fig. 134.) c,
left, 1
m.
(3 ft. 3 in.) in height).
fT^"
\'
Ofi
Plate
a-e, Fetishes used to recover souls (re32 cm. (12}^ in.), 22 cm. (8^^ in.), 24 cm. (9K in.), 30 cm. (11% in.)). (After Nordenskiold, 1938, figs. 25 and 26.) /, g, Fetishes used in mass curing ceremony or village exorcism (respective
51.
Cuna wooden
fetishes,
spective heights: 22 cm. (8^^
in.),
heights: 1.63
m.
(4 ft.
7H
in.)
and
1.73
m.
(4
ft.
11^
in.)).
(After Wass6n.
1938,
fig.
26.)
m
16
15 14
13
AG
12
11
10
td
17
18
@
19
20 2
21
t-l:
22
#0
23
24
_:20
27
28
t)
42
41
'il^.^,^^
34
o d-
31
40
39
38
37
36,
33
32
30
29
43
44
45
40
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
50
57
58
"^
"1
73
72
71
70
09
08
07
00
05
64
03
02
01
0(1
59
76
77 78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
SO
87
88
89
90
f^
103
#
102
101
(i
100
1
'99
t
97 95
d #
92
91
-
98
94
93
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
lU
112
121
120
119
118
117
116
115
114
113
~#~
122
% %
123
124
^
125
126
127 128
129
130
131
132 133
134
Plate
a shaman.
Section of a manuscript made by beginning of a fever-curing chant in which certain stones are the curing agent. (After Nordenskiold, 1938, pi. 7.)
52.
Cuna
mnemonic
picture writing.
It illustrates the
Plate 1 m.
53.
Choco
artifacts,
a,
Pottery roof-apex cap (height, approximately

pi. 96.)
h,
(3 ft. 3 in.)).
(After Nordenskiold, 1928 a,
Shaman's crown
Wooden c, (After Krieger, 1926, pi. 23.) basketry. stamp for applying body paints (height, approximately 26 cm. (10}i in.)). (After (After Nordenskiold, 1928 a, fig. 35.) d, e, Painted bark cloth.
of painted
wood and
Kreiger, 1926,
pi.
19.)
/,
g,
Shaman's
fetish staff
fig.
(/,
incomplete;
g,
length,
47 cm. (18H
in.)).
(After Wass6n, 1940 a,
I.)
Plate 54. Choco
artifacts,
o,
Single-headed drum,
b,
Double-headed drum.
approximately c, Incised calabash (diameter, (After Krieger, 1926, pi. 7.) d, Wickerwork Nordenskiold, 1928 a, fig. 22.) 35 cm (133/4 in)). (After Twilled baskets (height basket (height, approximately 15 cm. (6 in.)), e, f, (After Wass6n, 1935, figs. 19, 20.) in.)). each, approximately 13 cm. (5)4
of
Plate 55. Choco
artifacts,
a,
Curing hut (height, approximately
m.
(3 ft.
(After Nordenskiold, 1928 a, pi. 52.) 3 in.)). h, Shaman's wooden model ships with spirits aboard (length, approximately 50 cm. (19^ in.)). (After Wass^n, 1935, fig. 34.) c, Painted slats of wood used in curing ceremonies
(length,
fig.
approximately 40 cm.
(15%
in.)).
(After
Nordenskiold,
1928
a.
53.)
THE CHOCQi
By David
B.
Stout
CULTURE
importance of agriculture and hunting and fishing varies
live.
The
ture
is
relative
with the environment in which the several Choco groups

limited to food crops
Agricul-
plaintains, bananas, sweet manioc, sugar-
cane, maize,
and several
fruit trees.
No
tobacco or cotton
is
grown.
Deer, peccaries, armadillos, agoutis, monkeys, and several species of birds are hunted with the bow and arrow and blowgun, and fish are caught
with nets, spears, bows and arrows, and poisons.
Domestic animals are dogs,
pigs, chickens,
and ducks.
VILLAGES AND HOUSES

Dwellings are erected on piles and are scattered along the rivers.
These houses are round and lack walls. The apex of the roof is often surmounted with a clay vessel (pi. 53, a). Several platforms for sleepHammocks are used ing and storage are raised above the floor level. only for children. Adults sleep on a pallet of bark cloth with their heads on wooden pillows. Other furniture includes 1 -piece wooden seats (fig. 61) and mosquito nets.
Figure
61.
Choco wooden
seats
and headrests.
(Approximately
fig.
actual size.)
(After Wassen, 1935,

*
10.)
earlier period is indicated.
See map
6.
The
48
cultural data refer to the present
day unless an
6S3334
19
269
270

DRESS
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
AND ORNAMENTS
skirt
Women
a string.
wear a wrap-around
On
occasion
men
also
men, a loincloth held in place with wear broad glass-bead girdles, crossed
;
sashes of glass beads on their chest, necklaces of teeth or silver beads,

silver earplugs (fig. 62, c), ear pendants,
and sometimes
of the
silver cuffs
and
headbands.
Silver
nose ornaments are only occasionally worn now,
though once they were
common adornment
necklaces of teeth but few or no silver ornaments.

62, a) or with red
(fig.
men. Women wear Both sexes wear
flowers in their hair on festive occasions and frequently paint themselves
with solid colors
(fig.
with a 3- or 4-tined wooden fork
62, b)
and dark blue designs applied and with carved wooden
Figure 62. Choco body ornamentation, a, Body painting design b, wooden forks c. wooden earplugs covered with silver for applying body paints (^ actual size) (After Wassen, 1935, figs. IS, 14.) iVi actual size).
;
;
Vol. 4]
THE CHOCO STOUT

(pi. 53, c).
271
Stamps
nies the
Feather ornaments are not used. During ceremoNorthern Choco and Catio men wear woven crowns decorated
(pi. 53, b).
with upstanding, painted strips of wood
TRANSPORTATION
Most
seeking
traveling
is
done in long, narrow dugout canoes which have

considerably within their territory,
platform ends.
The Choco move about
new
sites for their fields
or performing obligations incurred by
marriage between distantly located families.

ans, travel great distances, even visiting the
Men, particularly the shamCayapa in Ecuador.
MANUFACTURES
Bark
cloth.
Until
e,
recently,
grooved mallet
(pi. 53, d, e)
is
bark cloth was beaten out of bark with a and decorated with painted designs.
Basketry.
ties
Basketry
j)
of
many
types and designs, most of

(pi. 54,
it
being of
twilled (pi. 54,
and wicker technique
d), though coiled varie-
are also made (fig. 63) Weaving. Weaving has
not been reported from the Choco during the
past several hundred years.
Figure
63. Choco coiled basket. Technical detail at right. (Basket is slightly enlarged; detail approximately 3 times actual size.) (After Wassen, 1935, fig. 22.)
272
Calabashes.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
and realistic designs, are used for storage and as dishes (pi. 54, c) Ceramics. Coiled pottery is made in a variety of shapes, often of anthropomorphic or zoomorphic design (figs. 64 and 65). Metallurgy. Some of the silver ornaments are cold-hammered from
silver
Calabashes, frequently decorated with obtained from coins or from Weapons. Bows and arrows are used. The
traders.
incised geometric
latter are
unfeathered
and
are
fitted
with single or multiple points or with blunt heads.

of
Blowguns
made
two grooved
strips of
with a
is
sight.
The poison
darts
wood wound with bast fiber and fitted are carried in a bamboo quiver to which
light, fluffy fiber to
:
attached a calabash stuffed with
be twisted on the
dart shaft.
Two
poisons are used
( 1 )
a vegetable poison, with a spe-
FiGURE
64.
ChocS
pottery.
fig.
66.)
Figure
65.
Choco
pottery.
(After Wassen,
1935,
fig
Vol. 4]
THE CHOCO STOUT
273
cific
cardiac effect, the first to be reported for the New World^; and (2) an animal poison, made by heating the exudation of the skin of a certain species of frog, which evidently paralyzes the respiratory muscles (Wassen, 1935. pp. 90-108).
SOCIAL

this
All three groups of Choco appear to be exogamous, though to what
exogamy, there is also obligatory which may be clans. Playful fighting between father-in-law and prospective son-in-law and between bride and groom appears to be the extent of marriage ceremonies. Marriage residence, ideally patrilocal, actually is alternately patrilocal and matrilocal, for women have ownership rights in some of the agricultural plots consequently they and their husbands periodically Thus each return to the woman's parents' house to work her land. household, composed of several conjugal family units, has a constantly shifting membership. Monogamy prevails but polygyny is permitted. The oldest male in a household is regarded as its head and spokesman and may even direct community activities. There appears never to have been permanent chiefs wielding political power over large numbers or over large areas. The war leaders of former times seem to hava been
extent
is
not known.
Aside from
exogamy
in reference to patrilineal lineages
simply temporary leaders chosen for their prowess.

LIFE CYCLE
Childbirth.
present.
Childbirth
takes place in the forest.
Men may
not be
ceremony surrounds it among the Northern and Southern Choco, though the Catio mother takes a series of four baths Some days after birth the beginning the fourth day after parturition. A year or so after birth a ceremony is child is painted entirely black. held in which the shaman procures a guardian spirit for the child and
particular
No
gives
it
a doll in which the spirit Hves
(fig. 66, c,
d).
Puberty.
There
menstruation girls
a short stick.
no puberty ceremony for boys. At their first are secluded in the house. They must observe food
is
taboos and must not scratch their heads with their fingers but instead use
Death. Burial practices have not been described for the Northern and Southern Choco, but the Catio place their dead in a horizontal chamber reached by a vertical hole in the earth (Severino de Santa Teresa, 1924,
p.
113).

Art.
of
Much of Choco
art is religious or magical in nature, for the bulk
it
occurs in the pottery and numerous
wooden
objects used in the

The
latter contains
The South American curare
poisons differ from the poison of the ChocS.
a glucoside as its active ingredient.
274
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
various ceremonies. The elaborate designs painted on the body a) are used particularly at ceremonies. Some of the sculptured
fetishes are very similar to those of the Cuna.
(fig.
62,
wooden
tops,
Games and toys. Games

wooden
dolls, bull-roarers,
and toys include simple tops, musical and buzz disks (fig. 66, b-f).
<
a
Figure dd.Choco
6, bull
e
artifacts,
a,
Tutelary figure (length,

;
1.6
m. (4
ft.
11^ in));
roarer (length, 32 cm. (12/2 in.)) spirits (1/6 actual size); e, buzz-disk;
g,
c, d,
children's dolls containing tutelary
quipu the
size).
/, musical top (both J4 actual size); closely spaced knots represent knives, the others hatchets {}i actual (After Wassen, 1935, figs. 33, 12, 11, and 35.)
Vol. 4]
THE CHOCO STOUT
275
blown
single(pi.
Musical
instruments include panpipes, end-
flutes,
simple pipes blown individually by several
men
at once,
and double-headed skin drums, and canoe-shaped wooden gongs 56, left) suspended at one end and beaten with two short clubs.
Drinks and narcotics. Chicha is used in the ceremonies. A drug, made probably from Datura sanguinea, is used to induce dreams (Wassen, 1935, pp. 101-102).
RELIGION
The
religion
embraces a godlike culture hero,

little
who
is,
however, not
supplicated and has
concern with the daily affairs of the people.

evil spirits.
There are also a great many good and

thought to have two souls
earth.
are the souls of the good and bad persons

;
Some of these spirits who have died. Everyone is
one goes
to
heaven and the other remains on
Shamanism.
55,
Shamans are important
in the religious
life.
They pass
(pi.
through a period of training, during which they make wooden ships

b)
on which are placed numerous sculptured figures representing
These are quite similar to the Cima sun and moon ships. They acquire a helping or guardian spirit which dwells in a fetish-staff. The shamans cure the sick and practice various types of witchcraft.
various spirits.
Sick persons are believed to be possessed by evil

to be cured is placed a).
in
spirits.
patient
55,
little
hut made of wooden
slats
(pi.
Representations of the
slats
evil spirits are

(pi.
painted on his back and on

exorcises the evil
fetish-staff.
wooden
spirits
hung nearby
55, c).
The shaman
with the aid of chants and the spirit dwelling in his
During these incantations, as well as those used when a tutelary spirit is obtained for the infants, chicha stored in zoomorphic and anthropomorphic jars is drunk. An important episode in the ceremonies is the
consecration of the chicha by the shaman.
The
chicha drinking does not,
however, have the character of a drinking bout.
MYTHOLOGY
The Choc 6 and Cuna have a creation myth in which the World Tree cut down. The tree is the source of much in the world. There are myths and legends recounting Choc 6 skirmishes with the Cuna (Wassen, 1935, pp. 122-123, 125-128), in which mention is made that the Choco
is
once had thorny palisades around their houses.

several legends pertaining to the time the
In addition, there are
Spaniards, and one
tale,
in
some
fighting with tribes to
Choco were enslaved by the which balsa rafts are mentioned, recounts the south (Wassen, 1935, pp. 142-145).
276

LORE AND LEARNING
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Simple quipus are used to keep count of days and months and for
recording quantities of small objects
(fig. 66,
g).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Krickeberg, 1922; Krieger, 1926; Lehmann, 1920; Nordenskiold, 1928 Severino de Santa Teresa, 1924; Wassen, 1933, 1935, 1940 b.
a,
1929;
THE CAYAPA AND COLORADO

By John Murra
INTRODUCTION
The Cayapa and
the Colorado are the last surviving Indian groups in
Ecuador (maps 1 and 6). Once an area Ecuador is now inhabited jay a Spanish-speaking population of mixed Indian, Negro, and white ancestry, known as montuvios. The Cayapa and Colorado have precariously managed to hang on to their jungle homes. Speaking closely related if mutually unintelligible languages of the Barhacoan division of the Chibchan family, they represent the southernmost extension of that major division. Comparative studies with other Chibchan-s^tdkmg groups in Highland and eastern Colombia, with Qzi^'c/zMo-speaking Indians in Highland Ecuador, and with various Montana groups should prove of considerthe lush western lowlands of
of extensive Indian occupation, western
able culture-historical interest.
THE CAYAPA
The Cayapa
an area of
are a riverain people inhabiting the lowlands of north-
western Ecuador. Sprinkled through the jungles of Esmeraldas Province,

difficult
colonization
and
control, they
managed
Only
in
for centuries
to avoid the enslavement suffered by their Highland neighbors or the
ethnic annihilation
of most Coast aborigines.
the past
few
decades have their settlements been pushed back into the
hills
by SpanishII
speaking montuvio and Negro homesteaders.
World War
require-
and other tropical commodities have accelerated this process of displacement and acculturation. The Cayapa River and its afifluents, from the mouth of the Anzole to the foot of the Andes, are the main area of Cayapa settlement. Barrett (1925) found three concentration spots: Punta Venado, Sapayo Grande, and San Miguel, corresponding to three political, tribal divisions, which might since have shifted or amalgamated. In addition, small groups of Cayapa, in various degrees of acculturation, are found in the Santiago Valley and along the coast into Colombia. Estimates of their numbers vary but hover around a mean of 2,000. The chief source and authority on the Cayapa remains S. A, Barrett's monograph (1925). Barrett visited them in 1908-9, long enough to bring
ments
in
balsa wood, rubber,
277
278
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
back an exhaustive account of their subsistence pattern and material culture as well as considerable data
on
religion
ing to
modern
interests, the report is

is
it
weak
in life-cycle data
and ceremonial life. Accordand economics,
siderations.
influences.
and a serious drawback Moreover,
the almost complete lack of comparative condescribes a culture with

it
marked European
Nevertheless, at this writing,
remains one of our most
complete accounts of an aboriginal South American group.

ing
titles in
The remain-
the bibliography refer to linguistic treatises, hearsay accounts,

of hurried travelers.
and phantasies
The
inaccessibility of their habitat facilitated the

it
Cayapa's survival into

visiting their
the 20th century, but
also prevented
most chroniclers from
naked and painted Indians living along the Patia River in large houses on tall poles and wearing gold ornaments might refer to the Cayapa or to some other Chibchan people. Jijon y Caamano (1940-45, vol. 2) has reproduced fragments from an unpublished Cabello Balboa chronicle discussing the people of Esmeraldas Province during the
land. Early references to
16th century.
Among the peoples
figuring prominently in Cabello Balboa's
report are the Nigua, an Indian group inhabiting traditional

territory.
Cayapa
Jijon y Caamafio's suggestion (1940-45, vol. 2) that the Nigua and Cayapa are one people seems tentatively acceptable.
Both peoples claimed

though
vasions.
it is
to
have descended from the Andean Highlands,

is
unclear
if
they were refugees from the Inca or Spanish in-
As
reported by Barrett, this tradition
very strong even now,
four centuries after the Conquest, permeating various divergent activities

of the Cayapa,
who
date
many
techniques and artifacts in terms of pre- or
post-migration practices.
In 1907 Beuchat and Rivet had pointed to topo-
nymic and archeological similarities between Esmeraldas Province and the Cara country in the Highlands. Later work by Jijon y Caamaiio (1912, 1919, 1940-45, vol. 2) has strengthened the case for Chibchan affiliation of the Cara language and given a measure of confirmation to native tradition.
CULTURE
Agriculture
is
the
main occupation
of the Cayapa, although fishing

is
and
hunting supply a large percentage of their food. Each house
surrounded
by clearings and fields, and additional clearings are customarily made away from the river, in the bush. Most families have fields of plantains, banabacco, maize, yams,
and sweet manioc (yuca) in addition, cotton, toand pineapples are frequently cultivated. Many wild plants are encouraged through weeding and other care. Plantains (pi. 60, bottom, right) form the staple food of the Cayapa, and each family will have several acres planted to this perennially ripening fruit. Bananas are fed to the hogs and cover an acreage almost as large
nas, sugarcane, coca,
;
Vol. 4]
THE CAYAPA AND COLORADOMURRA
279
as that of the plantain.

tillery,
Almost every family owns its cane mill and diswhich are supplied by the omnipresent canefields. With all this emphasis on agriculture, the Cayapa are, nevertheless, a
jungle people, skilled hunters of

peccaries, armadillos,
many
species of rodents, deer, felines,
and birds. Life at the riverside encourages and is encouraged by dependence on fish, crustaceans, shellfish, and crocodile eggs. Under aboriginal conditions the Cayapa were probably never hungry. Hogs and chickens are now kept everywhere. Dogs are not conspicuously reported.
Food
is
mostly boiled, though frequently meat will be broiled or baked.
Surpluses are dried and smoked.

HOUSES AND VILLAGES
Though maps
traditionally locate
Capaya
"villages," these are nothing
but agglomerations of three or four houses and a church.

priests visit the Cayapa.
stand empty most of the year and are used only at holidays
The houses when the
The
by
is
actual habitations of the people are spread through the jungle,

(pi. 57,
always at riversides
fields
top) and usually isolated from one another
or even uncleared stretches.
The houses
,
stand on high poles 6
ground and are reached by removable ladders. The roof (pi. 57, center) and the rectangular house is virtually unenclosed. Sometimes the house floor is separated into two parts, one for cooking, the other for sleeping and eating. One chief had a large house (pi. 57, bottom) which could seat 40 people and which had more than two "rooms." The furniture is scanty: hammocks are used for sitting and sleeping, and wooden seats are sometimes found. An attempt by Barrett to correlate these seats with the famous stone seats of Manabi (Handbook, vol. 2, p. 780) seems very inconclusive. In addition to permanent houses, small temporary ranchos are sometimes built when people are far from home. The houses in the "village" it rests on are standard structures, but the church follows Spanish ways the ground and has walls.
to 12 feet off the
thatched with palm leaves
CLOTHING AND ADORNMENT
Although Cayapa tradition records a period when the people wore

blankets and even ponchos, today their clothes are scanty (pi. 59, bottom).
The men wear
a tight, small, white garment,
made
like
bathing trunks, and
a thin gaudy shirt of calico, with short and very tight sleeves.
On
festive
occasions vests of European cut and manufacture are frequently donned
over the
shirt,
Women
belt.
and so are felt fedoras. wear a long skirt of native
cloth, girded
with a narrow fringed
As
in the Highlands, several skirts of different weights are
some-
times worn.
Head, shoulders, and chest are usually
left bare.
280

all until
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
they are 6 or 8. and flowing by the women but is clipped above the ears by the men. Both sexes wear necklaces and wristbands of glass and porcelain beads, coins, seeds, and beetle wings. Only women wear earrings.
Children wear no clothes at

hair
is
The
worn
loose, long,
The traditional Chibcha custom of frequently painting body and face is found among the Cayapa. Red, yellow, and black are used, and the designs are very numerous.
insists that there is
Barrett reproduces
many
of the motifs and
no
special significance attached to
any
of them, nor is
there any age, sex, or property correlation.
TRANSPORTATION
Watercraft. A large part of every Cayapa' s life is spent on the water and traveling. Canoes are built with great skill and care. They can withstand not only fluvial but also maritime travel and are routinely
fishing
sold in the "civilized" coast towns.
They
are dugouts, usually 10 to 12
yards long but sometimes
much
larger.
Balsa-wood logs are sometimes
used as outriggers.
MANUFACTURES
Details of
Cayapa manufactures are contained
in Barrett's
work, which
describes and illustrates finished products and minutely discusses the tech-
niques of preparation.
fall
Woodworking includes house building, making deadand carving seats and children's dolls. Weaving and basketry. The women weave cotton cloth on a narrow native loom, and the men do the sewing. The men also weave the fishing nets and hammocks. Barrett's discussion of Cayapa basketry is outstanding. The Cayapa make many kinds of baskets, mats, and fans of bark and
traps,
Woodworking.
of various roots.
Pottery.
storage.
Pottery
is
crude and undecorated.
It is
used particularly for
Tradition claims that in their old Highland habitat the Cayapa
made
mics.
better pottery but that calabashes have since largely replaced cera-
Stonework and metalwork.
Stonework
Although
it.
is
limited to the metates
used in grinding corn and plantains.

the contemporary Cayapa practiced
in aboriginal times
is
Lowthat
land Ecuador was a famous area of metallurgy, there
no evidence
Weapons. The weapon most widely used today is the muzzle-loading The blowgun was important in the past, but today its use is restricted to boys, who shoot poison darts while playing at hunting. Hardwood lances are being given up, and the bow and arrow is said not to be
shotgun.
mentioned in Cayapa
tradition.
The
steel
machete
is
ubiquitous.
Vol. 4]

ECONOMICS
281
The Cayapa economic unit is the virtually self-sufficient, one-family household. Land is owned and worked familially, and there is as much
land to be had as the family can clear.
If
any special rules govern
dis-
tribution and inheritance, they are not reported by our sources. Also, there
men will few provisions for interhousehold cooperation hills, but all other achelp a neighbor bring down a tree trunk from the
seem
to be very
:
tivities
are evidently left to individual enterprise.

all
This self-sufficiency does not apply to
spheres of activity.
and
trip
rifles
are essential in jungle
life,
and most families
make
at
Machetes least one
a year to the coast for trading and social purposes.
In the small
Ecuadorean and Colombian towns they find a ready market for rubber, tagua nuts, and other forest products. Cocoa is grown specifically for this There is also a limited market for some of their manufactures: trade. In exchange, the Cayapa want canoes, mats, fans, and other basketry. axes, machetes, shotguns, fishhooks, fish spears, and copper metal goods tubing for their distilleries. But they also like beads and mirrors, pearls, In recent years machine-made muslins and vests, and old derby hats.
:
calicoes
have been edging out native-made
cloth.
The Cayapa
are not yet incorporated in Ecuadorean economy.
Their
need for metal goods and trinkets has not yet forced them to work on plantations or in placer gold mines. Their own supply of rum has helped them avoid debts contracted for alcohol, and they have usually retreated
into the forest
when
their self-sufficiency has been

last
menaced.
It is
im-
probable that this selective acculturation can

SOCIAL
very long.
AND
Though there is no and composition, it appears to be an extended family including normally no more than 10 to 12 people. Chief Antonio Napa's house at Punta Venado could seat some 40-odd people at a feast, but it was unique in size, and the Napa household according to Basurco <1894) had only 8 to 10 members. Barrett (1925) presents a detailed chart of kinship terms used by the
The
basic
Cayapa
social unit is the household.
definite indication as to size
unfortunately know nothing about the behavior that goes Cayapa. with the terms or about marriage rules. On the face of it the system is a collateral relatives are separated from lineal ones but are "lineal" one
We
not differentiated
among
themselves.
both paternal and maternal ones.

is
All terms are highly descriptive.
Thus, the term for uncle applies to There
complete.
no evidence of reciprocal use of terms, but Barrett's chart is not really The system is quite unique and interesting. The lineal and descriptive nature of the kinship system emphasizes the There is no clan organization. bilateral character of the Cayapa family. The extended family household is the truly basic social unit. There is
282
some evidence of
bias does not

patrilocality,
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
which might be
reflected in the closer group-
ing of terms for fraternal nephews and great-nephews.
But the patrilineal Within the family, men do all the fishing and hunting, the women all the food gathering, cooking, child rearing, and weaving. Men always do the sewing. Women make baskets, mats, and all the pottery. The two sexes cooperate in agriculture, the men clearing the fields, their wives tending the crops and harvesting. They also cooperate in the distillation of rum and the paddling of canoes while on trips. Politically, the Cayapa tribe is divided into three parts Punta Venado, Sapayo Grande, and San Miguel. Each has its chief (gobernador) and a full complement of Spanish-titled officials: secretario, teniente politico, alcalde, comisario, capitan, and sargento. The governor carries a cane of black chonta wood with a silver head symbolizing his authority. Barrett feels that in most cases Spanish nomenclature was imposed on seem very strong.
:
aboriginal positions.
All offices are hereditary in the patrilineal
line,
but the
new job
holder needs the confirmation of the priest.
The main
duties of this leadership deal with the enforcement of law
and order and

is
the dispensation of justice.
None
of these positions is a full-time duty,
and there
no material
compensation for exercising them.
The
chief has the largest house along
the river, where he holds court and supervises punishments.
He
is
quite
responsive to public opinion and enjoys considerable prestige.
WARFARE
The Cayapa
neighbors.
pride themselves on their peaceable relations with their
Tradition records no war since the mythological Indios
Bravos were defeated and driven from the country. guns were used principally for war.
Lances and blow-
LIFE CYCLE
There are few restrictions placed on the mother at childHeimann's (1931-32) report of the couvade is specifically contradicted by Barrett. Godparents baptize the infant, who takes their name. Children are never punished, and even the universal annual ceremonial whipping omits the young. Extremely friendly relations between siblings seem to be the rule. When very young, both boys and girls begin to help in adult activities or to engage in them playfully with diminutive Canoeing, farming, and baby tending are all mastered before the tools.
Childbirth.
birth.
child
is
10 years old.
Puberty and marriage.

sex.
He
suggests that courtship was
chief marries
them
at
succession in political
no puberty rites for either young people. The a feast, where they are lectured and whipped. Like office, marriage must be confirmed by the priest.
find
left
Barrett could
to the
Vol. 4]
283
not considered to be a natural phenomenon but is dead attributed to the presence of malevolent spirits in the body. though man's soul hovers around his house, which is usually abandoned,
Death.
^Death
is
it
may
be dismantled and sold.

it is
Catholic-style cemetery near the church.
are usually given away, but

clearings.
The corpse is buried in a coffin in a The dead man's possessions not known who inherits his fields and
ESTHETIC AND RECREATIONAL ACTrVITIES
Art.
in the
The
great range of designs used by the Cayapa in their face and
body painting has already been mentioned.

geometric figures used to
There
is
a similar variety
ornament
their canoes.
There are no
design names, nor is there any apparent significance in their variation. Animals are sometimes painted on canoes destined for the market, but only geometric designs satisfy the native consumer.
women's skirts, differs from canoe and body painting in its emphasis on realistic motifs. Men, mammals, reptiles, birds, fishes, and parts thereof are frequently woven into the Interestingly enough, in both design and execution this ornacloth. mentation resembles very closely the decoration used by Highland Indians
Textile decoration, particularly on
on their
belts (fajas).
Calabash dishes frequently have an incised design below the rim. Canoe paddles and wooden seats are sometimes ornamented with carved
images, and children usually play with carved
wooden dolls. Music and dancing. Holidays, weddings, and other feasts are accompanied by much dancing and drinking. As elsewhere along the coast, the European marimba is widely used, as are panpipes, flutes, drums, and
rattles.
in popularity.
In recent years the Highland San Juan dance has been gaining Also of immediate Highland provenience may be the small
European wooden harp with palm-fiber strings. Toys. Children's activities are usually imitative of adult pursuits. Complete sets of diminutive artifacts are made for the children. Blowguns are given the boys. Only dolls and tops seem to be specifically
children's toys.
product, are both
occasions.
There
is
no evidence of the use

its
of narcotics.
distilled
Guarapo, the fermented juice of sugarcane, and rum,
by-
made
and liberally drunk by the people at appropriate
RELIGION
Native Cayapa religion has blended with

tices.
many Roman
Catholic prac-
Baptism, marriage, and
political office
priest.
mas are
Masses are told for the souls of celebrated whenever the priest
must be confirmed by the the dead, and Easter and Christhappens to visit the community.
284
But the soul
encourage
riage
its
is
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
believed to linger after death, and the methods used to
departure are strictly aboriginal.
young
couple's mar-
may
not be consummated until solemnized by the visiting padre,
but the admonitions of the village chief to both bride and groom reinforce the authority of native jurisdiction. The annual Easter whipping of the
whole community
to be
is
also native.
Barrett could find no clear-cut creatixDn story.
The
universe
is
believed
made up
of three
superimposed worlds, with human
life
centered
on the middle one. Men share this middle world with many spirits, some malevolent and other benevolent, all of whom are busy affecting human happiness and goals. Sometimes the spirits must be exorcised, as when they cause illness.
For
this a
shaman
is called,
and, with the cooperation of neighbors, he
singing, smoking, and sprinkling. The shaman also may suck out the cause of illness. Almost anyone can become a shaman by undergoing intensive training and acquiring a set of spirit helpers. There seems to be no "predestination" for this career, though Barrett was apparently unable to get enough information on this point. Like the chief, the shaman is not a full-time
drives out the spirits
amid much
professional.
Because of his magic control of

force for evil as well as for good.
ally death.
spirit
It is
powers, the shaman can be a
he
who
causes illness and eventu-
There
is
a great deal of similarity between the behavior and
the paraphernalia of the

cine
Cayapa shaman and
that of the
Highland medi-
man.
THE COLORADO
The
Colorado,
or,
as
they prefer to
call
themselves,
Tsatchela or
Tatchila Indians, share with the Cayapa the distinction of being the last
surviving aboriginal group in the Lowlands of western Ecuador.
The
ways
two groups know about each other and even occasionally

of life are quite distinct.
visit
back and
forth; but they speak mutually unintelligible languages, and their
In contrast to the Cayapa, the Colorado are rapidly disappearing.
Their territory and their numbers have been shrinking constantly, and
one can easily foresee the time when the group will become extinct. They have not been able to withdraw before the pressure of "civilization," and they have been incorporated to a large degree into the Highland plantation system known as concertaje. The area they occupy on the upper reaches
of several afifluents of the
Esmeraldas and Daule Rivers
in the
western
part of Pichincha Province has been an area of heavy colonization in recent decades. During World War II an all-weather road was opened which increased the area's accessibility to colonization from the Highlands.
Plate
57.
Center: Unfinished house
Cayapa houses and village. showing roof

(After Barrett, 1925.)
structure.
Top: Typical dwelling along river. Bottom: Chief's house at
Sapayo Grande.
Plate
58 Colorado
houses, early 20th century.

pp. 192, 190.)
(After Rivet,
1905,
opp.
Plate
59.
Colorado and Cayapa Indians.
Top: Colorado, early 20th century.
Bottom: Cayapa, same period.

1925, p. 23.)
(After Rivet, 1905, opp. p. 186,
and Barrett,
Plate
Top {hfl}: Colorado man, 60. Colorado and Cayapa Indians. Top (right): Tsatchela (Colorado) man wearing silver 20th century. ornament. Bottom (left): Tsatchela (Colorado) men playing marimba. tom (right): Cayapa harvest of plantains. (After Rivet, 1905, opp. p. after Von Hagen, 1939, pis. 7, 10; and after Barrett, 1925, pi. 60.)
early
nose
Bot178;
Vol. 4]
THE CAYAPA AND COLORADO MURRA
285
los Colorados and San Miguel are the two centers There are only about 300 Colorado left today. There of Colorado life. ii> some evidence that their numbers were much larger in the past and that their territory extended considerably farther south along the Daule One of Buchwald's (1924) informants mentioned Babahoyo as Valley.
Santo Domingo de
the southern limit of the tribe's wanderings.
Tradition brings the Colorado from the Highlands.

dialect of the
Barhacoan division
of the
They speak a Chihchan family and are pre-
sumably related to the Cara, a Highland Chihchan group. Jijon y Caamaiio (1940-45, vol. 2) has identified them with the Campaces who, according to 16th-century chroniclers, inhabited the Daule Valley. This identification is quite suggestive. According to Cabello Balboa, they were a
warlike people, lacking chiefs and being very idolatrous.
Cieza de Leon
preferred hunt-
(1932) described a group of

ing
to
hill
people (Serranos)
who
blackened their teeth.
frontooccipital skull deformation, and These people have also been suggested as the ancestors of the Colorado, the last two practices being common to both. Whatever their ancestors or their location at the time of the Conquest, the Colorado were met in about their present location by the Jesuits toward the end of the 17th century. In the 18th century they took part in a rebellion along with several other Lowland groups. The opening of the 19th century found them 3,000 strong in about their present location. They were numerous enough then to support a full-time priest. In recent decades they have been visited and described by two ethnologists and one naturalist (Rivet, 1905; Karsten, 1924; Von Hagen, 1939). While none of these descriptions or even the three combined give an adequate account of Colorado life, they are enough to stimulate our
agriculture,
practiced
interest in this small but ethnologically significant population.
CULTURE
The Colorado
fields,
are a forest people, but their hunting and fishing interests
are backed by a well-developed agriculture.
Houses are surrounded with
and each household clears and plants several more fields in the jungle. Here, as in the Cayapa country, the plantain is the staple crop, and each family has a few thousand trees. Yuca, yams, peppers, and cacao also grow in the immediate neighborhood of the house. The more
distant fields are planted to maize, rice, manioc, sugarcane, pineapples,
oranges, and lemons, as well as to medicinal plants and fish poison.
Fishing
larly
is
intensively practiced with nets, traps,
and hooks, but particu-
with barbasco, a native plant, the roots of which contain a drug which stupefies the fish, after which they float and may be easily collected.
Hunting
is
not very productive in this long-inhabited area, but deer,

48
653334
20
286
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
gun
monkeys, and agoutis are frequently bagged. The muzzle-loading shotis now the chief hunting weapon. At the opening of the century
Rivet
still
saw
several
blowguns
in use.
Clay pellets (not darts) were
used in these weapons.

Pigs, chickens, guinea pigs,
and dogs are the domestic animals.
The diet of the Colorado reflects the fact that their area now has far less game than that of the Cayapa. It is chiefly vegetal, plantains in their many varieties being the staple, with rice, yuca, and maize supplementing the menu. Food is steamed, boiled, and broiled.
HOUSES AND VILLAGES
Like the Cayapa, the Colorado have no real

the abandoned house of the priest
village,
villages.
The church and
mark
the theoretical location of the
but the Indians live dispersed through the forest, each house
separated from the next by clearings or even by jungle.
Colorado houses are not mounted on poles, but architecturally they are
otherwise of a general Chibcha type.
They
are really large barns, without
walls, covered with a palm-thatched roof supported
by chonta posts
(pi.
58).
Frequently the house has two sections, one of which, being used
for sleeping,
is sometimes walled in. People sleep on balsa-wood beds which stand a foot off the ground. A circular enclosure is usually pro-
vided near the house for the pigs.

In 1810, Colorado
men
are reported to have

also
worn the
short, tight
"swimming trunks" or drawers worn
century by the Cayapa. later they were wearing a cotton cloth with blue and white stripes wrapped around their hips and reaching to their knees (pi. 59, top). A red cotton
belt
kept the cloth in place.
Their shoulder garment, a small square of

(1825)
visit.
cotton cloth, remained the same since Stevenson's
This
diminutive poncho covered only the shoulders and chest, not the arms
or stomach.
Men's hair
males keep
it
is
cut at ear length, parted, and
combed sideways.
Adult
in place
by wearing
in
it
a crown of white cotton thread
In Stevenson's time they wore a silver lace fillet. (pi. 60, top, left). Various Ecuadorean Highland and Coast tribes wore such hair decoration at the time of the Conquest. Until today men wear silver bracelets, which
have to be bought
occasions.
in Quito.
A nose plug of wood
is
worn under ordinary

on
festive
circumstances and an ornate one of silver
(pi. 60, top, right)
changes seem to have occurred in women's fashions since Stevenson's visit in 1810. Women still wear a long wrap-around skirt made of the same material as men's skirts. Chest and arms remain bare, although
No
Vol. 4]
287
many men now wear

and
a colored calico shawl thrown over their shoulders
tied in front at the neck.
The hair is allowed to grow long and is worn parted in the middle and thrown back over the shoulders. Many rows of glass-bead necklaces are worn, replacing and sometimes coexisting with earlier adornment, which included sheaths of vanilla beans, seeds, armadillo tails, and other forest products. Bracelets and ankle beads are also frequently worn. The Colorado ("red" in Spanish) receive their name from the profusion of red paint with which they cover their bodies at all times. The paint is applied from head to foot, the hair receiving a particularly liberal application. Although the Cayapa and many other groups in the mountains paint their bodies and faces, none carry it to the extreme of the Colorado. This group believes that contacts with forest and stream and their spirits
require the magical protection of red paint.
jungle, the practice
is
logical
enough.
As all life is spent in the The pigment comes from the seed
on
festive
of cultivated achiote or bixa.
Women paint only their faces, and,

made on
occasions, both sexes use black-line drawings

special ornamentation.
this red base for
Frontooccipital skull deformation
Teeth are also darkened with a black pigment. is not now practiced, but in 1903
Rivet could
still
see
numerous individuals so adorned.

MANUFACTURES
of
The opening of roads to the Highlands has accelerated the introduction many articles which are replacing native manufactures. Nevertheless the Colorado still weave baskets and mats, make large pottery vessels in
which to ferment cane juice, and weave the cotton cloth used in both men's and women's skirts. Pottery pipes are also made, but most containers are No native metallurgy is practiced, and the native weapons, of calabash. blowguns and bows, have been replaced by the muzzle-loader. Hollow treetrunk mortars are used for pounding plantains and maize, and a sugarcane press
is
owned by most
families.
The Colorado do not
build canoes.
ECONOMICS
Our
sources neglected data on economic
phenomena beyond immediate

but what obligations this
is
subsistence.
Some
interhousehold cooperative effort was apparently infields,
volved in the clearing and preparation of

in turn created
its
remain unknown.
self-sufficient.
Fish poisoning
a group activity, and
products are divided equally
among
participants.
Otherwise, each
household seems
In recent decades there has been a growing emphasis on production for the market. Rubber, balsa wood, jaguar skins, and other forest products
find a steady market, while cacao has
been grown for some time even In exchange, the Colorado want
though
it is
not consumed by the
people.
288
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
machetes, shotguns, axes, fishhooks, combs, beads, bracelets, cabuya fiber
and recently shawls and cotton yarn for women. According to Buchwald (1924), arrow poison was much in demand in the old days, and Colorado crossed the Andes to obtain it from the Canelo living in the
for nets,
eastern lowlands.
Store bread
is
it
considered a delicacy, and a trip to Quito
did not seem too far to go for
in Rivet's time.
The coming of Ecuadorean colonization in the 20th century created a need for labor which the Colorado have been induced to supply. Plantaand sugarcane have utilized the Indian's need for and liquor to attach him permanently to the hacienda labor force and maintain him in debt. Nor has there been any attempt to protect the Indian lands which are now incorporated in Ecuations of cacao, rubber,
store goods, ornaments,
dorean holdings.
to his creditors.
An
Indian attached to a plantation
is
known here
work
a
as in
the Highlands as a concierto and
owes
as
much
as IS days of
month
SOCIAL
AND
The household
economic one.
is
the basic social unit as well as the almost self-sufficient
We
have mentioned above the few data available on
inter-
household cooperation.
were not studied by our observers, We know that a male child inherits his father's surname and a girl that of her mother. But we do not know the extent of the exogamous unit nor any further restrictions on marriage partners. Wiener (1882) states that orphans could choose anybody for a mate. Men and women cooperate extensively in cultivation and harvesting as
Social relations within the household
who
spent only a very short time in the area.
well as in the transportation of various products to market.
In addition,
and make nets, while women cook, tend the and the domestic animals, and weave. The two sexes eat sepaThe small size of the present-day Colorado community has obliterated any political organization that might have existed earlier. In 1903 Rivet found a gobernador who exercised much the same authority as the Cayapa governor he performed marriages and insured the preservation of law, order, and morality. In 1936 Von Hagen found that leadership had shifted to the shaman, who now exercised authority, civil and spiritual alike. This shift of authority, if it be real and not due to faulty observation, would make an interesting subject of further study. In the town of Santo Domingo de los Colorados, which is now an Ecuadorean town and is not inhabited by any Colorado, the Federal Government maintains a teniente politico whose duties are manifold and vague.
men
clear the fields, hunt, fish,
offspring
They do
not include the protection of the Indian or his land.
Vol. 4 J

LIFE CYCLE
289
Childbirth.
Colorado
is
women
take childbearing easily, lying
down
only at delivery and returning to their duties the next day.
Both parents
observe a few food taboos for several days until the navel of the child has
healed.
infant.
There
set
of godparents for each child, and they baptize the

frequently act as godparents in
The hacienda owners

still
modern
times.
Children grow up in a very permissive environment.

3-year-old
nursing.
Rivet saw a
Puberty and marriage. Boys undergo a nose-piercing rite at 10 or The shaman perforates the nose from septum to right nostril and eventually introduces a permanent wooden nose plug in the aperture. At this time the boy begins to paint his body and face, as well
12 years of age.
as to wear the cotton-fiber "crown" in his hair.
He
also drinks
first
nepe
(a narcotic with medicinal and magical properties) for the

observers record no puberty ceremonies for
girls.
time.
Our
Marriage takes place soon after puberty for girls, somewhat later for Von Hagen "gathered" that the swain had to help his potential father-in-law, but we have no details on the extent or importance of this
boys.
bride service, which

is
is
important elsewhere
is
South America.
Marriage
It is
now
performed by the shaman but was once the "governor's" job.

his silver nose plug instead of the
is,
an occasion for a great feast with much drinking, music, and dancing. The
man wears
wooden one
for this occasion.
The marriage
nevertheless, not considered final until confirmed by the
Dominican padre who sometimes visits the settlement. Death. At death the body is clothed in the best finery.
The
relatives
guard the body for a day, weeping, crying, drinking, and, according to Weiner, even dancing. Special games with rubber balls or burning balsa
wood
are played at burial feasts to help the mourners stay awake.
This
will prevent the spirits that cause disease
survivors.
and death from molesting the Similar deathbed games are played by Highland Indians.
is
The body
is lifted off
buried in a shroud under the house floor.
The dead man
ground on several short poles and has a platform covering him. He thus does not touch earth either above or below. A string is tied around the deceased's neck and connected with the roof of the house.
the
The belief is that this string will facilitate the departure of the soul. At this point the house is abandoned, the relatives leaving only a candle and some food. At full moon the oldest relative might come back and
gingerly touch the string.
the soul
is
When
it is
rotten
enough
to break at the touch,
gone.
According
to Karsten,
who
visited the Colorado in 1917,
the dead are not buried in the house but outside in the forest.
small
so,
rancho
is
erected over the

is
tomb and
the string attached as above.
Even
the house
abandoned.
290

[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Art.
With
the increased use of objects of foreign manufacture, Colo-
rado art work has been seriously reduced.
Cotton cloth
is
woven
in blue
and white without any particular ornamentation. Most of the jewelry comes from the outside. Music and dances. Colorado music and musical instruments have been affected by both the Lowland Negro and the Highland Spanish and Quechua influences. The two-man marimba is widely used (pi. 60, bottom, Flutes, balsa-wood left), along with the Highland three-string violin. drums, and rattles are also used. The dances today are of Highland in-
spiration.
of sugarcane juice
The Colorado prepare several fermented drinks
and mashed banana, manioc, or maize. Guarapo and malakachisa are both made of cane juice and are considered indispensable at feasts and holidays. The Colorado do not distil their own rum and have come to depend on outside sources for it. This dependence has been the chief mechanism of the extension to the area of Highland debt slavery.
local vine (Banisteriopsis caapi).
it is
In addition, the Colorado use nepe (cayapi), the narcotic infusion of a Its effects include mild stupefaction, and
used in curing and ceremonial
life.
RELIGION
Colorado culture, shows three different influences: aboriginal Chibcha, Highland Quechua, and Spanish Catholicism. The last is most pronounced in formal observances.
Religious
life,
like other aspects of
The Colorado community can no
longer afford the services of a full-
time priest as they could in 1810. Nevertheless, the attachment of the people to Catholic ritual and observances is very great. No baptism or
marriage
the
is
definitive until the native
Dominican
time
at
priest
who
visits the
community.
ceremony has been confirmed by Masses for the souls of

all
the dead, prayer meetings, and the circulation of images

this
take place at
enormous
expense to the Indians,
Nevertheless, Catholic beliefs and ceremonies have not obliterated native
notions about the supernatural.
The
soul of the dead might go to heaven,
but
it
does so along the string attached to the roof from the dead man's
in
neck.
Cotopaxi and Chimborazo, the two snow-covered volcanoes high up
the Andes, play an important role in the native creation story, just as they
do among Highland Indians. There are many spirits, some benevolent and others revengeful and malicious, who roam the earth. The latter can cause disease and thunder, and they multiply jaguars and the venomous snakes. Shamans are neces-
Vol. 4]
291
sary to handle these spirits and to invoke the counteroffensive of the
benevolent ones.
The shaman,
particularly in recent times,
is
a very powerful man.
The
reputation of Colorado shamans has spread even to the Highlands, and
they frequently are brought up to ply their trade.
Nor
is
their clientele
always Indian.
Curing
craft,
is
the
main
activity of the
shaman.
Diseases are due to witch-
sharp chonta spines being sent into the sick man's body.
is
The
native
narcotic, nepe,
of
drunk by both curer and patient, and, after much drinking brandy, beating of rattles and drums, and dancing in a trance, the chonta
is
spine causing the ailment
extracted for
all to see.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barrett, 1925 ; Basurco, 1894; Beuchat and Rivet, 1907 (also see Rivet and Beuchat, 1910); Buchwald, 1908, 1918, 1924; Cabello Balboa, MS. (see Jijon y Caamaiio, 1940-45, vol. 2) Cieza de Leon, 1932; Heimann, 1931-32; Jijon y Caamano, 1912, 1919, 1940-45, vol. 2; Karsten, 1924; Rivet, 1905 (also see Beuchat and Rivet, 1907;
;
Verneau and Rivet, 1912-22) Rivet and Beuchat, 1910; Seler, 1885, 1902; Stevenson, 1825; Verneau and Rivet, 1912-22; Von Hagen, 1939 Wiener, 1882; Wilczynski, 1888.
; ;
ANTHROPOLOGICAL NEEDS AND POSSIBILITIES IN CENTRAL AMERICA
By Wm. Duncan Strong and Frederick Johnson
In evaluating the present status of anthropological knowledge concerning Central America

it is
impossible not to repeat the fact that the present
corpus of material
is
utterly
uneven and inadequate.^
This deplorable and,
in considerable part,
unnecessary condition cannot be overemphasized.
There
is
little
advantage to be gained in lamenting the large amount of

It is
cultural materials in the area that have been lost forever through the
ravages of time, looting, and indifference in recording.

to point out that there
still
of
more value
remains in the region a great amount of such
materials that can be revealed and integrated
whenever Central American

its
anthropology
is
made
is
the subject of coordinated and persistent research.
Since the region

cultures of both
not only scientifically important in
own
right, but
also holds the key to
much
of
our potential understanding of adjacent

it is
North and South America,
desirable that the reasons
for the present sorry state of anthropological

ica
knowledge in Central Amerbe analyzed and the condition remedied so far and so soon as may be
review of the foregoing articles will show that one of the greatest
possible.
A
data.
obstacles to integration in regard to

civilization is the
If,
any study of native Central American extreme unevenness of the anthropological and historical
it is
as
is
the case in only a very few instances, an adequate archeo-
logical
sequence has been established,
usually found that the historic,
ethnological,
and
linguistic materials^ available at present are confused
is most specific, or ethnology fairly found that the only available prehistoric data it consist of speculations based on selected art objects dug up by looters and Finally, any attempt to correlate the products of men's hands collectors.
and inadequate.
adequate,
Where
history
will often be
and minds with the human beings who created them, whether
in prehistoric
or historic times, meets with complete failure at the start, for practically
no anthropometric material on either the living or the dead is now availIt can fairly be asked, therefore, whether this sad state of affairs able.
For other analyses, see Kroeber, 1939, p. 109, and Strong, 1940, pp. 377-385. The deplorable and misleading condition of historical linguistic studies in Central America has been stressed elsewhere; see Strong, op. cit., and Kroeber, 1940, pp. 463-470.
1 '
293
294
is
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
entirely
due to the impossibility of gathering such data because of
its
nonexistence or destruction, or whether the scientist

to
may
not be equally
is
blame for not securing much that
is still
available while there
time.
In regard to the historic approach to Central American problems it seems highly probable that much archive material is extant which has
not yet been utilized.
data previously
It
is
significant
that
every
new
archeological
advance, as at Code, has drawn forth considerable amounts of historical
unknown
or unappreciated.
This lack of knowledge or
appreciation of obscure but available historical documents particularly
marks most modern North American

ordinary
field archeologist
investigators
who, with a few

Since the
shining exceptions, are not very familiar with such materials.

also a competent archival historian, this points
is
or ethnologist can hardly be expected to be
up another
issue.
That
the fact that there
is
a great need for up-to-date compilations and
revisions of such historic materials. Those available for Central America go back several generations to Squier, Bancroft, Brinton, and others, and even these are too little used by modern field men. Lothrop's brief sum-
mary (1926 b)
of the
ethnography of Costa Rica and Nicaragua
at the
time of the Conquest and Beals' similar ethnography of northern Mexico

(1932), based largely on the sources used by Bancroft in his somewhat
hit-or-miss compilations, are shining exceptions.
able
on the ethnographic
level and, as
work is archeology commences

Beals'
It is essential,
invaluin that
region, will be equally important in that regard.
not only
for anthropology but also for history
and the
social sciences in Central
America, that the continuity of the

in the historian,
human
record in this area be presented
most complete form possible. Here the work of anthropologist, and sociologist blends and each is dependent on the other. It would appear that no such unity of effort has yet been achieved.
In regard to ethnology, this lack
the period of
first contact,
is
well illustrated by the fact that in
the previous articles information from the 16th and early 17th centuries,
has barely been touched upon except in the
area lying between the

of the information
Panama Canal and southern Nicaragua.
Most
brought to light
on the extremely important Meso-American tribes was by Squier, with some additions by Lothrop. Additional
searches will undoubtedly reveal additional information.
Modern
studies
still
are very few and often out of date and incomplete.

to rely on
We
are forced
Gabb (1875), Pinart (1885),

Conzemius (1932,
et al. for
southeastern Costa
Rica, and on
etc.) for the
descriptions of various tribes in
Mosquito and Sumo. The Nicaragua and Honduras are, perforce,
based on Squier's researches (1858, etc.). Additions to such data may be found in a number of other descriptions, all of which are incomplete
and sometimes not to be trusted. The principal problem of the moment is to obtain sound information concerning both the ancient and modern inhabitants of the region. Before satisfactory interpretations for any
Vol. 4]
ANTHKOPOLOGICAL NEEDS STRONG AND JOHNSON
295
anthropological purpose can be made, experienced investigators must be

sent into the region
and given the opportunity
to
work out
the details
which we must have. One of the most perplexing of the ethnographic problems is the full understanding of modern Indian culture and also the presumably indigenous culture traits which are found in the modern, outwardly Spanish, civilizations.
Early European descriptions provide glimpses of highly In some cases, such as in

Similarly,
organized indigenous civilizations.
Panama and
of
Costa Rica,
evolution
of
it
is
possible to block out several important phases of the

certain
present-day culture.
features
the
Hispanization of the Meso-American tribes and, to a lesser extent, some

of the peoples in the interior of
Honduras and Nicaragua are known. For
example. Stone's discussion of the Lenca (p. 61) emphasizes the intermediate position which this large and important group has occupied for
These people were in direct contact with the highly and with the curious combination of advanced Maya and "primitive" cultures which appears to be characteristic of peoples to
a lengthy period.
developed
civilization
the south.
The
history of the tribes in the Caribbean
Lowland can hardly
In this region the impact of European cultures has apparently had the most unfortunate results, for here there are indications of sometimes extreme degeneration. Even so, it is certain that they have not be written.
always been such

well adapted to
in fact,
it is
possible that civilizations of a high order,
life
in the Tropical Forest,
once existed.
Adequate archefield.
ology
is
essential here as elsewhere.
The significance of the foregoing remarks From a purely anthropological point of view
conditions which prevailed.
essential to the solution of
ranges over a wide

there
is
interest in culture
history and in purely theoretical studies of culture development under
In addition, such anthropological data are
modern
political, social,
economic, and geo-
graphic problems.
The expansion
of transportation facilities, the im-
provement of communication, and the development of natural resources

have brought or very soon will bring the modern world into intimate
contact with even the most conservative and isolated groups of Central
American Indians.
The
effect of this
upon these people and other
less
conservative groups will be most profound.
Anthropological studies
which provide not only analyses of present conditions but of the events which led up to these are essential. Surveys of the incomplete data suggest, for example, that the background and point of view of people whose culture is rooted in South America is vastly different from those of Meso-American tradition. Further, the different environments of
various sections of Central America condition the
various ways.
It is essential to
human
existence in
dif-
understand the relationship between
ferent kinds of aboriginal culture as well as the
modern
cultures descended
from them and the several environments.
296
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
A final note is concerned with the European background. The Spanish, EngHsh, and other nations which imposed their culture upon aboriginal Central America utilized various approaches. In addition, these approaches varied through the years.
In tracing the evolution of culture
from the time of the Conquest to the present, the character of the relationship between the European and the aborigine is of great significance. There are no Indian groups in existence, so far as known, that have not
experienced the consequences of the impact of European culture.
social organization has
The
been modified, religious concepts have changed,
and many features connected with technology and economics have been adapted to the changing conditions. The character of this change and its effect upon ideas of people differed with the particular history of each region. Knowledge of this is fundamental to an understanding of the present-day culture, be it in an isolated Indian village or in the largest of the Central American cities.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Beals,
1932; Conzemius, 1932, etc.; Gabb, 1875; Kroeber, 1939, 1940; Lothrop,
Pinart, 1885
;
1926 b
Squier, 1858, etc.
Strong, 1940.
Part
The Cultures of Northwest South America 2. SUB-ANDEAN TRIBES OF THE CAUCA VALLEY
By Gregorio Hernandez de Alba
INTRODUCTION
The Sub-Andean cultural area extends from the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Occidental (long. 2 40' west of the Bogota meridian) to the
western slopes of the Cordillera Central (long. 1 west of the Bogota
meridian) and from the region of Cali in the south
(lat.
320' N.) to the
Sierra de Abibe and the headwaters of the Sinii and San Jorge Rivers in the north (about lat. 720' N.). The Cauca River, earlier called the Rio
Grande de Santa Marta, crosses this zone. It emerges from the deep broad valley in the region of Armenia and flows northward alternately through deep canyons and narrow valleys, with a multitude of tributary rivers descending from Cordilleras enclosing this zone. In addition to the Cauca and its tributaries, this territory, with its narrow valleys and steep slopes, is drained by the Nechi River and its afifluent, the Force, which flow toward the northeast, the Rio Sucio running northwest, the Murri, which joins the Atrato River in the west, and the Samana and Nare Rivers, both tributaries of the Magdalena River to the east. An exception must be made of the region which today is embraced by the Department of Valle del Cauca and the Departments of Caldas and Antioquia, which complete this zone. This region is predominantly mountainous with small mesas, terraces, hills, peaks, slopes, and depressions which so complicate the topography that an author of the ancient State of Antioquia stated, "The mountains form an almost indefinable ensemble, the description of which, even with a compass in hand, would require much time and study to be done satisfactorily" (Uribe Angel, 1885). From the perpetual snows on the summits of peaks, such as Ruiz in the Cordillera
Central (5,590 m., 18,339.9 feet), to the hot climates, there is every gradation of temperature from 5 to 6 C. (41 to 43 F.) on the Mesa de
at 3,170 m. (10,400.2 feet) above sea level, to 27 C. (80.60 F.) low valleys, as at Zaragoza, 205 m. (672.57 feet) altitude. The altitude and mean temperature of the territories occupied by the peoples mentioned subsequently vary from south to north as follows: Cali, 1,046 (71.60 F.) Buga, 1,001 m. (3,284.08 feet) m. (3.431.78 feet) and 22
Herveo
in the
297
298

;
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
and 24" C. (75.20 F.) Cartago, 979 m. (3,211.93 feet) and 2V (75.20 F.) Anserma, 1,790 m. (5,872.7 feet) and 17 C. (62.60 F.) Nueva Caramanta, 2,107 m. (6,932.67 feet) and 17 C. (62.60 F.) (64.40 F.) Concordia, 1,900 Arma, 2,210 m. (6,922.6 feet) and 18 m. (6,233.6 feet) and 19 C. (66.20 F.) Ebejico, 720 m. (2,362.2 feet) and 23 C. (73.40 F.) Antioquia, 572 m. (1,876.66 feet) and 27 C (80.60 F.) Buritica, 1,650 m. (5,413.4 feet) and 20 C. (68 F.) Canasgordas, 1,490 m. (4,888.4 feet) and 20 C. (68 F.) and Ituango, 1,530 m. (5,019.7 feet) and 21 C. (69.80 F.).^ Typical of the Tropics, the natural flora and fauna vary with altitude and climate. The presence, absence, and nature of many cultural features, such as dress, habitations, sources of food, and food preparation, are conditioned
; ;
by the natural environment.

predominates
;
general
Sub-Andean
culture, however,
it
is
adapted to a region with a temperate climate (mean
temperature of 18 C. or 64.40 F.), a broken terrain, considerable rainfall, and forests. The altitudinal variations in natural resources of flora and fauna have been outlined previously by the author (Handbook, vol. 2, pp. 916-918). Foods obtained through farming, gathering, and hunting will be mentioned subsequently. At the beginning of the 16th century a large number of peoples inhabited According to the incomplete and biased accounts which the this region. first chroniclers wrote of their contacts and wars with the Spaniards, they were similar to one another in some respects and different in others, and they constituted a mosaic of different nations and even of different languages. Uribe Angel (1885, pt. 3, ch. 2), who first undertook to classify the more than 50 nations of native peoples listed by the chroniclers as inhabitants of the present Departments of Antioquia and Caldas, reduced Catio, Nutahe, and Tahami. These are not them to three main groups necessarily cultural divisions. Jijon y Caamano (1936-38), using Robledo's information, describes the peoples of Nori, Caramanta, and Cartama as having a uniform language and dress, and classes the language of the Carrapa and Picara with Quimbaya. Following Cieza de Leon (1932, pt. 1), who states that the Pozo and Arma had the same language, Jijon y Urabd and Catio Caamaiio gives the following linguistic groupings: (Choc 6 family) Arma and Pozo; Quimbaya, Carrapa, Picara, and Paucura; Chance and ChocS of the Pacific Coast. He groups as culturally similar the Nutave, Tahami, Cenufana, Murgia, Ancerma, Gorron, and Buga. The Caramanta understood the language of the Encerma, which
: ;
was
Jamundi, Timba,
from the languages of the other provinces. The Lile Yolo, etc., belonged, with Cuna and Barbae oa, to a group of Chibchan languages (Jijon y Caamano, 1936-38, vol. 2, app. pp. *111*112, *184, *189). Rivet 1943, pp. 55-87), using a hnguistic argument
different
^The
(1943).
geographical data are from Uribe Angel (1885), Arenas Paz (1922), and
Hermano
Justo
Vol. 4]
CAUCA VALLEY TRIBESHERNANDEZ DE ALBA
299
but taking into account the extension in the Cauca region of the custom of
deforming the arms and legs with ligaments, sees four groups in the Cauca Valley that belong to the Choco language, which he classes in the Carib family. From these he excludes the Lile, Gorron, and Chanco of the broad valley and the Dabeiha and Catio of the mountains to the north. In the present article we shall use the few available cultural data in an attempt to ascertain the tribes and subtribes which have the culture elements characteristic of the Sub-Andean area. This must be considered merely as a preliminary and tentative essay, as it was prepared in a very few weeks at the request of the editor of the Handbook and is intended only to sketch briefly the salient traits of certain tribes which it had previously been impossible to cover in the Handbook.
HISTORY
After 1501, when Rodrigo de Bastidas discovered the coast of Cartagena and Alonso de Ojeda arrived at the Gulf of Uraba, the conquistadors attempted repeatedly to penetrate to "tierra adentro." They were lured by the discovery of mines whence had come the quantities of gold which they found worn as ornaments by the living Indians of Darien or Cenii, whom they killed for their riches, or which was obtained from the graves of dead Indians. But instead of the coveted gold these expeditions found mainly hardship, caused sometimes by poisoned arrows but more often, as in the case of the expedition of Pedro de Heredia in 1534, brought on by the cold and impenetrable country they had reached above Zaragoza and Remedios in the Department of Antioquia. The greed for gold outweighed the death of soldiers, however, and Alonso de Heredia repeated
the attempt in 1535, reaching Ayapel, near the Cauca.
In 1536, the con-
quistador
Don Pedro went up

left
the Darien River to seek his fortune.
The
San Sebastian de Uraba with a large company and, passing through the difficult hills of Abibe, reached the Cauca Valley, where he fought the cacique Nutibara and returned defeated. Simultaneously with these attempts to penetrate the country from north to south, Spanish incursions were made from south to north. They started in 1535 from Quito under the commands of Sebastian de Belalcazar, Pedro de Afiasco, and Captain Juan de Ampudia. Anasco and Ampudia passed through Popayan, crossed the Jamundi River, and arrived in Gorron territory, where they founded Villa de Ampudia. They went on through the region of the Lile, where they met Belalcazar early in 1536. Call was founded in Lile territory in 1537 by Captain Miguel Munoz,
next year Francisco Cesar
after
which Villa de Ampudia was gradually abandoned. the beginning the coast and interior competed in the discovery of the lands between the Atlantic and Peru, and both accomplished These expeditions are the main source of information on the tribes it.
Thus from
they found between the Magdalena, Cauca, and Atrato Rivers.
They
300
founded the

first cities
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
and the gold sands, they and the importation of African slaves, which resulted in the extension of the Negro population, and they laid the foundation for the riches of the present Departments of Caldas and Antioquia. From antiquity the chroniclers of the Conquest couched the details as in the following from Castellanos (1847)
so as to exploit the land
initiated the extinction of the Indian
:
In canyons, rivers, waterholes
And wherever one

Is
seeks,
manifest sources of gold
To delight the avaricious breast, And the diligence of the miners

Finds the washing-trough well
filled.*
The
principal object of the settlements in the territory of Antioquia
was the exploitation of mines. The most important of the cities of the Conquest was "Real de Minas de Santa Fe" or Santa Fe de Antioquia, which was described by Cieza de Leon (1932) as follows: "There are very rich mines near this city in the Rio Grande de Santa Marta which flows near it. In summer, the Negroes and Indians take vast riches from This remark reveals that from the beginning of colonization its beaches." the Spaniards established Negro slaves in the mines, for already the Indians had been largely exterminated and the few remnants had migrated
the wilderness of the mountains to escape subjugation through the encomienda and the "mita," which had forced them to work in mines far from their tribal lands. Vicente Restrepo (1937) has written an important study on the historic role of mining in this territory.
to
Another industry, and one which greatly endangers archeology, is the search for graves rich in gold ornaments. This originated in Conquest
times,
chiefs.
when
the Spaniards forced the Indians to reveal the graves of their

energetically put
. . .
"They
dead, opening the sepulchres
all hands to work They found them so
at disinterring the
rich that they took
out
thirty
thousand
pesos,
twenty
thousand,
twelve
thousand,
pt. 3,
six
thousand, and
down
to fifty, the least find"
(Simon, 1882-92,
Pri-
mera
Noticia, ch. 21).
This industry, which continues in vogue among

is
the people of Antioquia and
called "guaqueria,"
removes pieces of gold
from the ancient sepulchers without regard
for the less precious objects,
the skeletal material, or data essential to archeological investigations.
In the present Department of Valle del Cauca, which was so densely populated at the Conquest that Castellanos said that "in more than 30
leagues of road there
'
is
someone every step
of the
way"
(in Acosta, 1901,
Porque quebradas,
rfos, vertederos
y cualquiera lugar que se catea, manifiestan aurfferos veneres,
con que
avaro pecho se recrea, de los mineros saca bien provedia la batea.

el
la solicitud
Vol. 4]
301
ch. 9, p. 114), the native population disappeared culturally,
survivors of the cruel Spanish epic are

blood, giving rise to the Mestizo
and the few mixed with European or African
and the mulatto or zambo, which forms mass of the population of the Department. In Caldas and Antioquia, as well as in the neighboring territory of the Choco to the west, a few groups of natives more or less pure in race and culture, or else much acculturated, have succeeded in surviving the persecution and despoliation. But it must be noted that before the arrival of the Whites, wars and cannibalism had annihiliated some peoples, of which Tulio Ospina cites an example "The meseta oriental, Rionegro, Concepcion, etc., had been depopulated by attacks of the cannibal Nutabes." Robledo states: "On through the sierra there are many depopulated towns, wide roads, and ditches made by hand, and seats of great populations all already destroyed." Robledo continued to the pueblo of Tami, "And here the chief came out peacefully. From him, the Captain endeavored to obtain information about the land and about those ancient structures which he had been finding in the Province of Aburra. The former replied that once there had been a great population and that the people of the Provinces of Nutabe and Urezo, where the Senor was, had destroyed
the
:
those very ancient things."
(Ospina, 1905, pp. 145-164.)

in post-Conquest times is the following
souls, the equivalent
An
note:
example of the depopulation
"The
native population of
more than 600,000
of 120,000 Indian laborers
(fighters
and miners), in the middle of the

Fifty years
16th century, were entrusted to the cruel encomenderos.

later there
remained only 1,500" (Ospina, 1918, pp. 413-414, from the Relacion of the visit of the Oidor Herrera Campuzano in 1616). The
census of the same territory for 1778 gives 49,445 inhabitants for
to Ospina's investigations.
all
the Province of Antioquia, of which 10 percent were slaves, according
In 1581 there were the following settlements:

la Vieja,
Arma, Caramanta, Antioquia
Santa Fe de Antioquia, San Juan
de Rodas, Valdivia, Caceres, San Jeronimo del Monte, Zaragoza, and Remedios (Uribe Angel, 1885, p. 761). In the middle of the 19th century the few Indians of the territory were located in Caramanta, Murri,
Chontaduro, Juntas, Musinga, Urama Grande, Uramita, Pital, Rioverde, and Monos, the greater part toward the northwest and in the Districts of Urrao, Frontino, and Cafiasgordas (Uribe Angel, 1885, p. 520). Later the penetration of Whites and Mestizos had dislocated the Indian element farther toward the jungles of the Choco and the Atrato Rivers, or up toward the Sinu River and its tributaries (Laura de Santa Catalina, 1936, The territory today occupied by the Department of Caldas first p. 136).
had
to
typical
Spanish pueblos or municipios at Santa
Ana
de los Caballeros
According Lopez de Velasco (1916), Santa Ana de Anzerma had 30 Indian villages with 5,000 tributaries and more than 1,000 Negroes to mine the
de Anserma (1539), Cartago (1540), and Victoria (1553).
653334
48
21
302
gold.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Anna had 27 Indian villages with 17,000 tributaries. The Indians became fewer daily. Today, Garcia (1937, pp. 228-236) gives a total of
10,294 Indians in the census of 1918, 2.4 percent of the total population,
these Indians being in the Municipios of Riosucio, Quinchia, Guatica,
Mistrato, and Pueblorrico.
He
writes,
"The
native family sows secret
lives in
work on the farms, and Lacking money, he pays with his work. But his nomadism at least prevents his debts becoming hereditary. Not mixing with other ethnic elements, he preserves his customs and language.
places between the bushes, gives his share of
permanent migration.
Hunting and fishing entice him to the valleys of the Suarraga, Taiba, Amurrupa, Guarato, San Juan and Chami Rivers." Of the many native gold ornaments taken by guaqueros, or treasure hunters, some pieces from this territory have been preserved intact in museums, such as the London Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the American
Museum
of
Natural History in
American Indian, Heye Foundation,

in Philadelphia, and, in
New York, the Museum of the New York, the University Museum
Colombia, in the Museo Arqueologico Nacional.
Today, the Museo de Oro del Banco de la Republica de Colombia is assembling private collections, especially from Medellin and Manizales, and
now
has a collection which for both size and importance

in Spain.
is
unequaled,
surpassing the so-called "treasure of the Quimbayas" in the
Museo de
is
Madrid
The
that
only scientific archeological research carried out in this region

in
done
Gorron
territory west of
Buga by Henry Wassen
in 1935,
by the author in 1937, and
in Valle del
Cauca by Wendell C. Bennett
and James A. Ford

Luis
Zupia, in 1942.
for the Institute of

in the
Andean Research
in 1941-42.
Duque Gomez worked
Department
of Caldas, especially at
For a long time the name Quimbaya has been used genwhich produced the greater part of the and ceramics taken from graves in Antioquia, Caldas, and the goldwork
erally to designate the civilization
Various authors have studied Quimbaya archeology, the most outstanding being Restrepo Tirado (1929) and Posada Arango (See also Handbook, vol. 2, pp. 838-841.) (1875).
region of Quindio.
to establish typology, distributions,
There is need and to identify the Sub-Andean cultures archeologically so as to verify or modify the very inadequate ethnological picture, which has been reconstructed from fragmentary data in old chronicles or gleaned from strongly acculturated modern peoples.
of this
The archeology
zone presents
many
problems.
and
cultural sequences
TRIBES OF THE UPPER CAUCA RIVER

TRIBAL LOCATIONS
The Jamundi (Xamundi)

the
lived
Cauca below Popayan, and
in the territory
on the Xamundi River, which enters toward the Cordillera
Vol. 4]

They adjoined
the Aguale,
303
Occidental.
who
are not precisely located by
the historians but
who
Cieza affirmed had the same customs as their
neighbors,
lived the
i.e., the Lile. North of these tribes, toward the Mar del Sur, Timha, who spoke the same language as the people of Valle Lile
and "the small valleys

1936-38, vol.
2,
of the Cordillera Occidental" (Jijon

;
y Caamano.
.
app. p. *185
Cieza de Leon, 1932, ch. 28,
p.
94)
Closer to
the valley lived the Atunceta, adjoining the Lile.
were occupants of the Valley of Lile or Lili to the west of Cali (which took its name and corrupted it) and of surrounding territory extending northward to the Gorron and eastward to the Gnambia and Buga. The Gorron lived on the slopes of the Cordillera toward the valley, north of Lile. Their territory extended through the mountains to adjoin the Barbacoa; to the
latter
The
northeast
it
reached to the Chanco,

it
and to the east from the Buga.
who separated them from the Ancerma; was bounded by the Cauca River, which divided them
words
Linguistic studies are very deficient, being based on a very few
Because of cultural similarities, the Gorron are placed with the Buga, Chanco, and Ancerma, and the Lile, Timha, and Jamundi are put in the Chibchan family (Rivet,
Spanish.
the
transmitted through a foreign tongue,
1943 Jijon y Caamano, 1936-38, vol. 2, app. p. *189) According to Gorron and Chanco spoke the same language as the Chocd.
;
.
this,
CULTURE
which was greatly favored by the local had plantations of maize and manioc, and many fruit trees, including bananas, guayavas, guamas, granadillas, zapotes, papayas, starapples (caimitos), vocados, and guanabanas (Guillen Chaparro, 1889), as well as palms, called "pixivaes" by the chroniclers, which were very useful for both food and drink. The extensive use of fruits is shown by the way in which the Indians around Cali, especially the women, brought them by the basketful to the expeditionaries of Ampudia. The Gorron cultivated much maize and, like the Lile, hunted deer, guadaquinajes, and birds native to the region. But they were outstanding as fishermen, and they received their name from the cry by which they announced to their new customers, the Spaniards, that they had fish to sell. They lived in the mountains but came down to the banks of the Cauca to fish and at the same time to cultivate small parcels of land. Their fisheries were in front of Buga, where they constructed a special pond which yielded quantities of fish each summer when it became dry. Concerning food preparation we know only that the Lile roasted or boiled maize (Pascual de Andagoya, in Jijon y Caamano, 1936-1938, 2: 55) and that the Gorron smoked their fish, having no salt in which to pretribes practiced farming,
These
environment.
The
Lile
serve
it
(Cieza de Leon, 1932, ch. 26, pp. 79-81).
304

VILLAGES
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
AND HOUSES
were large, high, circular in ground plan, walled with thick, and covered with broad grass. The dwelling of a chief, according to Cieza, had a door in the center and four tall windows inside, running across it, were benches on which were trophy corpses of slain enemies. The villages were "large and beautiful," with the houses placed near one another.
Lile houses
erect poles,
;
The
tribes living in the Cordillera,
toward Buenaventura, made smaller
houses, covered with palm leaves and enclosed with thick poles.
One
author, however, claims that the Lile had palisades or forts in the sierra,
where they remained part of the year, and temporary houses for fishing in the plains. Gorron houses were like those just described, and the villages were large, the houses being in groups of 10 or 15, tables always in the sierras. Inside the house there was always a storage place for
dried
fish.
Among
household objects must be mentioned tables (the trophy corpses

tables), stone metates for grinding maize, and, in dwell-
were seated on
ings of principal men, gold plates.
The only noteworthy engineering work is the artificial lake which the Gorron constructed to raise fish (Sardilla, 1891-94, vol. 2, p. 392).
CLOTHES AND ADORNMENT
The
Lile
wore a small apron
in
front and another hanging behind,

belt.
those of the
women
being of cotton and hung from a
The Gorron
"maures,"
wore cotton
01
clothes, of very beautiful appearance.
Men wore
in
breechclouts, and
is
women
heavy blankets 3 varas long and 2 wide (a
vara
80 cm. or about 32 inches). The Chanco dressed only
"maures"
made
cotton.
of "crushed" tree bark, probably bark cloth, but not of
woven
it
These were
of gold
vara long and 2 palms wide.

with
The neighbors
fillets
of the Lile gathered up the hair and adorned

shell
and with bone or
beads (chaquiras).
crescentic gold nose ornaments, or "caricuries."
They wore Ear ornaments made of

call
rings of twisted gold, fine necklaces with gold figures, and "long strands
of
small
white and colored bone beads which they

of jewels
'chaquira'."
Chaquiras were an item of women's adornment.
The Gorron used
the
same kinds
and ornaments.
TRANSPORTATION
is broad and were able to travel on water by canoes, some of which Cieza noted 5 leagues from Xamundi. They also used the curious method of straddling a bamboo trunk, carrying their loads of objects and
As
the Cauca River in the country of the Lile and Gorron
tranquil, these Indians
provisions in a basket on their heads, and even spinning while crossing
Vol. 4]
CAtJCA VALLEY
TRIBES HERNANDEZ DE ALBA
305
the river, as observed near Cali.

in the sierra
The Lile, or closely related groups living toward Buenaventura, were employed by the conquistadors and colonists to carry cargo and passengers on their shoulders between Cali and this port on the Pacific. To transport the Spaniards, they used
chairs
made
of branches, probably Utters.
the Indians that, according to Cieza,

Cali,
So difficult was this trip for "when they arrive near the city of
where they entered the plains, they were footsore and walked with them nothing," for "all they gained and all the encomenderos gave these miserable ones they had ciarried with them"
great pain, which profited
(Cieza de Leon, 1932, ch. 29).
MANUFACTURES
Spinning and weaving.
The Chanco made breachclouts
of bark cloth,
but the Lile and Gorron practiced weaving.
The women spun
the thread,
even while crossing a river with cargo on their heads.
This custom of
performing some task while going from one place to another persists
among the modern rural who spin as they walk.
peoples of Colombia, especially
among women,
Cotton was woven for blankets and "maures," or breechclouts.

blankets were 3 varas (2.4 m., or 8
ft.)
Some
ft.,
long and 2 varas (1.6 m., or 5
in.) wide.
All these tribes
made
three-ply cords
made cordage. To wrap funeral bundles the Gorron more than 200 brazas (fathoms) long (Cieza de
is
Leon, 1932, ch. 26).
Ceramics.
Pottery
human
scarcely mentioned
among
these tribes, but
it is
known
archeologically.
There are
and
is
characteristic types
faces as adornos,
and
features, such
as the use of
figures
and particularly the
well-known "caricuri," which
in the
form
of a twisted nail with en-
larged extremities (Bennett, 1944, and Ford, 1944).
Metallurgy.
called
The Gorron and Lile as well as the other
tribes of this
area worked gold, either pure or alloyed with copper, the latter being
by the chroniclers, "low gold" ("oro bajo").
of personal adornment, described above,

chiefs or principal
men had
gold plates
They made objects among them "caricuris," and the among their household utensils.
Stonework.
Historical
sources mention polished stone knives and
stone metates for grinding maize.

the use of stone axes
In addition, archeology has revealed

;
and celts ( Wassen, 1936, pp. 30-67 and Ford, 1944; Hernandez de Alba, 1938).
Bennett, 1944,
hides, but the Lile
Preparation of skins. There is no mention of the preparation of and Gorron flayed the corpses of slain enemies and stuffed the skins with wood ashes, the potash of which preserved them
for
some
time.
30G

SOCIAL
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
AND
Lile
territory
was divided
into
six
"cacicados"
or
subtribes,
each
governed by its own chief (cacique), who had little power, as Cieza remarks "they counted for little with the Indians".^ There seems, however, to
have been some
tribal organization or federation
under a single
head, for Petecuy was, at the time of the discovery, the most powerful
chief.
There was an aristocratic class, the members of which received tribute from their subjects and were buried in a special grave. Inheritance, at
least in this class,
passed to the son of the principal wife, a fact which
also indicates polygyny.
Economic
wife.
activities.
Chiefs
received tribute from their subjects, a
prerogative which passed to the son, perhaps the oldest, of the principal
The
chiefs likewise contracted with the Colonial Spaniards to have

Cali, their subjects
goods transported from the coast to

task.
performing
this
The Gorron
smoked
from
fish
carried
oil
on more organized commerce, trading dried,

of dried fish taken in
sell
and
Cali.
extracted from these fish with the peoples of the
Province of
their special
They stored surpluses pond at Buga to eat or

LIFE CYCLE
summer
during the rainy season.
Nothing
rites
is
known of customs
pertaining to childbirth, and initiation
are not mentioned.

at least
Polygyny was practiced,

class.
by the
chiefs.
Chiefs always married
their nieces, or, sometimes, their sisters, suggesting
endogamy of a
"woman."
ruling
sexually inverted
man was
derisively called a
The
Lile treated sick people with baths and with herbs, the curative
qualities of
which they knew
well.
Chiefs were interred in their
own
houses, in large, deep graves; food, weapons, and gold ornaments were
placed with the corpse.
precious ornaments, wrapped him in

tied
The Gorron adorned a deceased person with his many cotton blankets, which were
with bast cord, and buried him.
In great wars with their neighbors, these tribes fought with darts,
lances,
and macanas, or thick wooden
clubs,
and defended themselves with
painted
wooden
shields.
They flayed their enemies, stuffed their skins with wood ashes, and modeled wax features on the skulls. They put weapons in their hands and exhibited them in their houses. Even detached hands and feet were
'
"Eran tenidos en poco de
los indios.'
Vol. 4j
CAUCA VALLEY TRIBES HERNANDEZ DE ALBA

The
Lile
307
kept as trophies.
to
ornament
their houses,
and Gorron made great use of such trophies and they even kept intestines stuffed with ashes.
The
place of honor was inside, over the door. CannibaUsm was also practiced, for after flaying the corpses they ate the flesh, a ritual that was carried out in a special house. In the village
of
Petecuy the Spaniards found a hut with a "great quantity" of pieces
of corpses, heads, and bones.
women went
trophies.
So developed was the spirit of warfare among these tribes that Gorron to war with their men, carrying arms, fighting, and taking
Art forms are known only from specimens of ceramics and gold work. There is no record of music, musical instruments, or dance forms. A social game or contest was practiced by the Lile as an annual mourning ceremony. Thirty to fifty persons from each of two villages would assemble, each group under the leadership of its chief. After eating and drinking in a common feast the groups would confront each other and fight by hurling darts, which they wârded off with shields. Many would emerge wounded and some were killed, but this did not cause enmity between the two villages (Pascual de Andagoya, in Jijon y Caamaiio, 1936A similar contest was held by the Pdes of the Cordillera 38, vol. 2, doc. 2) Central (Hernandez de Alba, Handbook, vol. 2, p. 952).
.
Cieza found no
tribes.
idols, temples,
or special places of worship
among
these
There were, however, priests or shamans, who communicated with the divinities, which the historians called "demons." The shamans practiced divination, witchcraft, and magic, for purposes both of protection and
of vengeance.
Soon after the Conquest these Indians, who were treated as people who were "simple and without malice," became Catholics, adopted European shirts, and were wholly assimilated.
TRIBES OF THE NORTH COLOMBIA HIGHLANDS

The ethnology
dalena, Cauca,
first
of the peoples
who
occupied the territory which, at the
time of the Conquest, was called "between the three rivers"
and Atrato Rivers
the
will
be treated in three divisions.

of the
MagThe
includes the tribes of the right
bank
Cauca River, the Qiiimbaya,
Carrapa, Picara, Paucura, Pozo, and Anna.

several tribes
The second
division includes
from the Anccnna to the Abibe, between the left bank of the Cauca River and Atrato River, which was formerly called the San Juan River and the Rio Grande del Darien. The third comprises the Abtirrd (Avurrd), Nutabe, Urezo, Tahami, and Yamici of the Province of Aburra.
308
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Almost without exception these tribes speak dialects of the Choco language (Jijon y Caamafio, 1936-38, vol. 2; Rivet, 1943). In 1551, Asensio (1921) made the same claim, without naming the language, when he stated, "They have their own language, although it is somewhat different
among the Indians Fe de Antioquia."
of Cartago,
Encerma, Arma, Charamanta, Sante

provinces, tribes, or groups
We have assembled ethnographic data on 21

of Indians
who
lived in this portion of the
Sub- Andean area.
There are
many
ethnological references for
some
tribes,
but very few for those which
were seldom visited by the conquistadors. Agriculture, hunting, simple huts, and ceramics were common to all these Indians. In all, 43 culture elements are mentioned in the sources: agriculture, hunting, fishing,
domesticated animals, pile dwellings, communal houses, hammocks, roads,
irrigation ditches, bridges, fences,
woven
blankets, bark-cloth garments,
gold mining, goldworking, featherwork, body painting, basketry, marriage
with consanguineous relatives, polygyny, slavery, intertribal trade, villages,

isolated dwellings, desiccation of corpses, cremation, arrows, darts, lances,
macanas or clubs, slings, spear throwers, stone missiles, harpoons, and deadfalls or pitfalls used as weapons, war ^banners, stone knives, cannibalism, coca, human trophies, shamans, temples, and
spears,
boiling water
idols.
Pozo 16, and the Picara and Quimbaya 16 plus 2 peculiar to themselves, cremation of corpses and the use of shields made of their own hair. The Ancerma had 25, the Toro 5, the Caramanta 13, the Buriticd
these elements, the
25, the
Of
Arma had
Paucura, 11.
The Carrapa had 9 and
the
and Antiochia 19, the Evegico 11, and the Catio 18. The most common elements were agriculture, hunting, woven blankets, goldwork, cannibalism, human trophies, body painting, arrows, lances, and macanas. The least common were fishing, pile dwellings, hammocks, barkcloth garments, feather ornaments, corpses dried over a fire, cremation,
shields, pitfalls
used in warfare, and domesticated animals.
On
the basis
of such limited material, the characteristics of the cultures are sketched

in the following pages.
TRIBES EAST OF
THE CAUCA RIVER
TRIBAL LOCATIONS
The Quimbaya
lived
high peaks of the Cordillera to the east.
between the Cauca River to the west and the According to Restrepo Tirado
(1929), they were bounded on the north and south, respectively, by the Tacurumbi and Zegues Rivers, but Jijon y Caamano (1936-38, vol. 2) gives On the north they their boundaries as the Chinchina and Paila Rivers. adjoined the Carrapa and the Pozo, the latter being nearer the Cauca River. North of the Carrapa lived the Arbi and Picara; the latter dwelt west of the former and were eastern neighbors of the Pozo. The Pozo extended
Vol. 4]
309
west of the Cauca River, east to the territory of the Pic ora and Carrapa, and north to that of the Paucura. The Paucura lived in the Pacora River
Basin, south of the Arma. The Arma were located "from the cordillera which separates the Pueblanco and Piedra Rivers, both tributaries of the Arma, to the basin of the Pacora River, from the cordillera central" (Jijon y Caamafio, 1936-38, vol. 2). The Cenufana (Genu jama, Cenufara) lived
to the north of the
Arma,
CULTURE
All these tribes were good cultivators of maize, sweet manioc, and beans
{Phaseolus vulgaris).
wild
They grew various
fruits, especially
palms called
(es-
"pixivaes" or "pijivaes," and pitahayas and paltas, but they also collected
fruits.
They
raised cotton
(Gossypium arboreum) and coca

rabbits
pecially the
Arma and Quimbaya).

{Sylvilagus fulves-
The animals most commonly hunted were

cens),
deer
(Odocoileus virginianus columbicus), and guadaquinajes.
The
sources do not mention fishing, but
especially
it must have been practiced, by the peoples along the Cauca and other large rivers.
HOUSES AND VILLAGES
Quimbaya, Picara, Paucura, and Poso houses were rectangular (Robledo, in Jijon
y Caamafio, 1936-38,
houses as small ones, made of cane.

round, with a circular ground plan.
thick canes
Cieza describes Quimbaya The P020 houses were large and They were protected by palisades of
vol. 2).
and had
elevated, mat-covered platforms
which served as watch-
towers and were also dedicated to
human
sacrifice.
Arma
thatch,
houses were large, with a circular plan, and the frame consisted
interiors
of large poles arched across
from the sides. They were covered with were divided into compartments by means of mats, providing accommodations for many occupants. The houses were fortified with palisades, or rows of verticle bamboo trunks, forming streets. In the center of each village was a platform or gallery provided with stairs. It was dedicated to sacrifices. The habitations of the Picara and Paucura had enclosures fenced with thick canes on which were kept
and the
trophy skulls.
we know only that these tribes had mats, which served and wall covers, hammocks (Quimbaya), pottery vessels, and metates without legs, with two legs at one end so as to tilt them, or with three or four legs. Goldwork was represented by spoons, small jars, and
Of
furniture,
as house
plates.

All these tribes used
(maures).
woven cotton garments, but only as breechdouts The Anna, however, also made breechdouts of bark doth.
310
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
The Qiiimbaya had head bands (monteras)

closely over the forehead with
of woven cotton, which fitted one or two quadrangular bands hanging
down
behind.
The Anna,
said Cieza,
went
to
war "dressed or armed with
gold from head to foot."
Personal adornment in
all
the tribes included gold crowns, nose orna-
The Quimbaya wore bands around the knees and anklets, both as ornaments and to constrict the legs. Common people cut their hair, but chiefs wore theirs long as evidence of status. Body hair was pulled out with special depilatory pincers of gold. The P020 and Anna, especially the chiefs, painted themselves, preferably with yellow, blue, and black on the face, and anointed their bodies with an odorous resin over which they painted red, bixa. These tribes also perforated the lower lip with spines and wore gold labrets through
ments, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets.
the holes.
called
The labrets hung down in such a manner that the Spaniards them "beards" (Robledo, in Jijon y Caamafio, 1936-38, vol. 2). For warfare, the Indians wore a feather headdress (Cieza de Leon, 1932). The Quimbaya and perhaps the Pozo deformed their skulls.
TRANSPORTATION
The Quimbaya made
bridges of creepers.
The Arnia constructed
large
roads which ran as far as the Province of Cenufana.
MANUFACTURES
Weaving and
other tribes produced finely
The Anna made bark and they and the woven cotton Basketry and pottery. In addition mats, frequently mentioned
cloth.
coth,
cloth.
to
in
the sources, these tribes
made
baskets for storing and transporting objects.
Their pots included vessels for ordinary use, large receptacles for holding
objects of gold, jars for boiling
salt,
and beautiful painted ware.
The
last
are not mentioned by the conquistadors, but archeological material shows

that they
were
finely polished
and were painted with negative designs or

vol. 2, p. 839.)
with
effigies.
(See Handbook,
was melted
was goldworking. The metal hammered, and beaten into sheets. It was mixed with dififerent proportions of copper, melted and cast, or else worked by repousse. Gold objects included spoons, knives, plates, and, in the words of the first Spaniards who saw these Indians, "flyingfish, eagles, guans, (For vampires, pincers, everything that is seen they had in jewels." illustrations of Quimbaya goldwork, see Handbook, vol. 2, pi. 170.) The Indians obtained the gold from placer sands or from mines, extractMetallurgy.
characteristic industry
in crucibles,
ing
it
from the
latter
with a short sharp-pointed
stick.
Salt working.
The industry
of extracting salt
perhaps expedited by the
availability of metal for
from saline water was making evaporating
Vol. 4]
311
vessels.
The Quimbaya, instead o using pottery vessels, as was common among many Colombian tribes, such as the Chibcha and Pdes, used copper
kettles.
When
it
the salt water began to thicken,

salt
"They removed
it
it
and
mixed
with more
water, and boiled
it
again until
it
began to
it
crystal-
lize into grains,
not a lump,
it
when they took
out and
it
made
into a loaf
and compressed
between cold ashes so that
came out very white"
(Simon, 1882-92).
The Arma
extracted salt and traded

SOCIAL
it
for gold.
AND rOUTICAL ORGANIZATION
Polygyny was practiced, especially by the headmen. Among the Carand Paucura, the chiefs married their sisters and nieces to perpetuate their aristocracy, though the Arma prohibited marriage with
rapa, Picara,
siblings.
The Arma
did not require that
women
be virgins at marriage.
Inheritance was from father to son and, lacking a son, to the sister's
son.
Among
the Carrapa,
if
the chief died without sons the principal wife

chief's
inherited his authority

sister's
and possessions, and when she died the
son inherited them, as elsewhere.

consisted of a confederacy of six subtribes, governed
The Quimbaya
respectively by the following chiefs:
Tucurrumba, or Tacoronvi, Yanva,
Zazaquavi, Via, and Pindana.
and vanquished the
The Carrapa chief was Irrua, who fought Quimbaya. Pimana was chief of the Picara. The
the Pozo, accorded their chief special treatfields,
Arma, from whom were derived
ment, the people building his house, working his
giving
him women,
and providing him with gold as an offering and a

LIFE CYCLE
tribute.
woman
bore her child unaided in a hammock, as shown by a repre-
sentation on a
river.
Quimbaya gold ornament.

confinement
is
Afterward, she bathed in the
No
diet or
reported.
Until they were 12 years old children were under the complete care of
the
mother and aided her

is
in her tasks.
After
this
age the boys were under
their father's care.
Nothing
known
of girls' or boys' puberty observances.
Sick people were treated by shamans, or witches, or,
among
the
Quim-
baya, they were cured with baths in the river and with herbs.
At
the death of a chief the
drinking intoxicating chicha,

buried at great depth.
Quimbaya spent a night of vigil, weeping, and singing. The following day the body
in a gold receptacle,
was burned and the ashes were placed
which was
In other cases, the deceased
was
clothed, provided
with food and weapons, and buried with his slaves and wives,
given a stupefying drink called "tonga" before being interred
Carrapa and Pozo buried a dead
man
in a
deep grave in his
who were The own house,

alive.
accompanied by food, drink, his possessions, and some women.
"
312
"

WAKFABE
[B.A.B. BuU. 143
among
were extremely warlike, and Arma subtribes even fought The main enemies of the Arma, however, were the Quimhaya, Putimd, Carrapa, and Pijao. The Picara fought the Pozo and Carrapa, and the Carrapa warred with the Picara and Quimhaya. The Poso engaged the Carrapa, Picara, and Paiicura. In these wars, as well as those against the White invaders, the Indians fought with darts, bows and arrows, spear throwers, slings, and flint knives. The knives were used to cut open and flay the dead for cannibalistic purposes. The Arma, Poso, and Carrapa carried banners of woven cotton decorated with stars and figures
These
tribes
themselves.
of gold.
The Quimhaya
carried shields
made
of their
own
is
hair, while
the
Arma
used a kind of protective armor of gold.
There
archeological
evidence that the
Quimhaya had helmets
of gold, as illustrated in the col-
lections of the British
Museum
in
London.
tie
Cannibalism must have been a feature of most of the warfare, for the
warriors often carried special ropes to
up
their prisoners
and
flint
knives to quarter the dead.
The Arma,
Picara, and Paucura kept their
prisoners in enclosures, where they were fattened until the tribe ate
them.
Cannibalistic ceremonies were accompanied by special festivities.
Of
the
Arma, Lopez de Velasco

husband
eats wife,
states
eats sister,
and father
(1916, pp. 193-208), "Brother eats son they fatten prisoners

;
and have festivities and dances when they consume the living, limb by limb," an opinion shared by Cieza (1932) and Robledo (in Jijon y Caamano, 1936-38, vol. 2). Although cannibalism of enemies cannot be doubted, it is wholly unlikely that endocannibalism was simultaneously practiced, and this statement illustrates the extravagant and indiscriminative claims often
made by
the early chroniclers.
These
tribes displayed trophies of their sacrificial victims.
The
Picara.
Paucura, and Poso placed trophy skulls on the tops of bamboo posts in
front of their houses.
The Poso
also kept skulls
and bones
inside their
houses and placed corpses on large poles to face the rising sun.
ESTHETIC AND RECREATIONAL ACnvrtlES
Art.
It
The highest expression of The Quimhaya had a
art
was manifest
in the selection of decorative motifs
the sculpture of the molds, or of the
was unquestionably in goldwork. and particularly in positives for making molds, which
though miniature, which a
figures.
line of
took the form of very perfect and
realistic,
Games.
special contest in
women
and another of men and boys faced each other. They assaulted each other with weapons, such as spear throwers, shouting "batatabati," meaning "Look, we are playing!" This usually resulted in several people being wounded or even killed. (Cf. this with the Pdes contest. Handbook, vol.
2, p.
952, and that of Lile, this volume, p. 307.)
Vol. 4]
313
Dancing, singing, and musical instruments. Singing and dancing were common, but the dances were not recorded, and only the songs used at a chief's death are described. These songs related to the chief's deeds and to his and his ancestors' exploits. Music accompanied attacks in warfare as well as peaceful songs and dances. Among instruments were membranophones, such as drums, and aerophones, such as cane flutes, pottery ocarinas, gold whistles, and
trumpets.
In the lower portions of the cane posts sustaining war trophies,
the Picara and Paucura made holes in which the wind made a sound. Narcotic and intoxicating beverages. These tribes cultivated coca and, therefore, must have used it as a narcotic. They made fermented chicha, which the Quimbaya and Carrapa served in gold cups. On solemn social or religious occasions, they became drunk on chicha.
RELIGION
AND SHAMANISM
Some
variation
is
evident in religion.
dedicated to the god
named Nabsacadas.
The Quimbaya had a temple Here, they made offerings of
bags of maize and of an unfermented maize drink (massato) to their gods,
which the Spaniards as usual called "demons." Inside the temple was a painted stool placed over a mat decorated with colors, and there was an oflfering of 14 cotton blankets. War captives were dedicated to the divinities, and, according to Robledo, one was sacrificed each day. The Quimbaya believed in metempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls, and in
resurrection after death. temples, worshiped the sun. They believed god could appear before them, and when sick they made offerings to him. The P020 made sacrifices to the gods before war expeditions. Their gods were represented by wooden idols, with human skulls, which had features modeled in wax. The idols were painted, decorated like chiefs, and kept in the houses. Every week the Picara and Paucura sacrificed two men to their gods. The sacrifices were made on platforms in the dwellings, and the victims were offered to the god. The Anna had mat-covered and well-ordered altars placed on high platforms in their dwellings. Here they made human sacrifices and burned fragrant incense
that their
in pottery censers before their idols.
The Carrapa, who had no
TRIBES OF
THE CAUCA-ATRATO REGION

TRIBAL LOCATIONS
From
south to north, between the left or western bank of the Cauca
River and the Atrato River, were the following tribes:
The Ancerma
{Anzerma, Anserma), who were called Umbra by the local Indians, extended westward to the territory of the Cima in the Cordillera Occidental, eastward to the Cartatama on the Cauca River and beyond the river
314
to

territory,
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Po30
also bordered
and northward to the Quinchia and Zopia. They were by the Tabuya and Guatica (Fernandez Piedrahita, 1881).
Toward
the Province of
Choco were the Toro.
{Soppia, Supia) were bounded on the south by the
Cartatama and, across the Cauca River, were the next tribe to the north and extended to Biiriticd country. On the south they must have adjoined the Ancerma, in part at least, for these tribes had formed an alhance. Their neighbors to the east were the Cartama. North of the Caramanta were the Burltica-Antiocha, who
abutted the Pequi on the east and the Evejico on the west.
The Quinchia and Zopia Ancerma and the by the Pozo. The Caramanta
The Nutibara,
Nore, and Guaca were identified with them. The Evejico (Hevegico) occupied the province surrounded by the Penco, Pequi, Porruto, and
Buriticd.
The Catio, located by Castellanos (1852) between the Nechi and Porce Rivers, adjoining the Province of Darien, were probably situated, as Uribe Angel (1885) has pointed out, "between the western bank of the Cauca, the course of the Atrato, the Atlantic coast, and the serrania
de Abibe."
The Guazusu,
of the Province of Arriba, lived between the Abibe and
The Abibe inhabited the mountains of that name, and extended north to the Genu, east to the Guazusu, and west to the Ghoco and Guna.
Urabd, adjoining the Antiocha (Antioquia).
NATIVE CULTURE
All these tribes occupied mountainous, temperate regions.

historians
The
early
noted that the
Ancerma were outstanding
farmers.
They
mention that the following plants were cultivated: Cotton, maize, aji (Gapsicum annuum), coca, root crops such as sweet manioc, sweetpotatoes (Ipomoca batatas), a saffron called "rumi" in Antiochia, and
kidney beans (Phaseolus vulgaris).
Common
fruits included
guayavas,
which were eaten cooked, quinces, guamas (Inga spp.), sour(Annona muricata), nisperos or medlar {Achras zapotilla), guabas, sop a palm called pixivaes or pijivaes from the palmito or heart of which they made a kind of bread and a drink, avocados (Persea americana), and pineapples {Ananas sativus). Animals hunted included the iguana, fresh-water turtle, deer {Odocoileus virginianus columbicus), peccary (puercos), otters (Lutra annectens), tapir {Tapirus roulinii) ant bear (Tremarctos ornatus majori), oppossum
palm
fruits
(Galuromys philander) rabbit (Sylvilagus fulvesc ens) partridge (Golinus sp., or Odontophorus sp.), turkeys (Penelope), turtle doves (Golumbidae), guans {Grax alcetor), and duck (Afias).
, ,
The Indians cooked

pepper
as
vegetables in
many ways, and used

fruits,
both
salt
and
in
condiments.
They
ate
sometimes cooked, and,
Vol. 4]

according to
Castellanos
315
in
Antiochia,
(1852),
they prepared maize
various ways, including a thick gruel,
now
characteristic of the Depart-
ments of Antioquia and Caldas, and
tortillas.
HOUSES AND VILLAGES
Houses were
built of
stockade of thick poles or canes.
wood, and most of them were fortified with a Dwellings built on platforms or piles,
which are characteristic of the Pacific coast, were also found here. In addition to pile dwellings, the Toro built houses in trees. Antiochia houses accommodated more than 200 persons and were reached by
ladders.
Catio houses had floors
more than four estados (an estado
is
1.85 yards)
above the ground, and they were enclosed by thick poles

roof. There were loopholes for shooting and heavy, loose pieces of wood that could be
which reached to the thatched

arrows
in case of attack,
dropped down as deadfalls. To store water, the Catio made gutters of half-bamboos, which collected rain and conducted it into large wooden
vessels or pottery jars.
The Ancerma used
floor
mats and elevated, mat-
covered beds.
Special temples
Nore, and Gnaca.

by bamboo
at
stairs.
were built by the Ancerma, Caramanta, Nutibara, Those of the Ancerma were built on hilltops, reached
The Ancerma and Caramanta had bamboo
enclosures
where they kept trophy skulls. Among the Antiochia there was a large village, divided into wards (barrios). The
the village entrances,
Toro, however, lacked villages, their houses being dispersed.

ENGINEERING WORKS
From Ancerma to Cali ran a native road. The Catio had roads leading up to their fortified houses these roads were protected with pitfalls. The Abibe built roads along the sides of their mountains, and they constructed bridges of vines that were anchored to trees and were floored with strong
;
cross poles.
Clothing was commonly made of woven cotton cloth. Ancerma men wore a breechclout (maure), which passed between the legs with the ends, front and back, hanging down over a band a palm wide made of thin shell beads (chaquiras) and gold. These breechclouts were adorned with paintings. Women wore painted blankets (mantas) hanging to their feet. Chiefs wore breechclouts and a large robe or blanket, called "nagua," which was decorated with paintings and circular and starshaped ornaments in gold leaf. The robe hung from the shoulders to the feet and was constricted at the waist with a belt. Chiefs' wives wore similar blankets. Caramanta men wore a breechclout supported by a cord
316
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
women wore a blanket covering them from the Such garments were common to the other tribes, except the Catio, who had more luxurious dress, similar to that of the Ancerma, and the Toro, who wore bark-cloth garments, called "amahaguas," similar to those of the Arma and Chanco. The hair was generally worn long, especially by chiefs among the Ancerma, Nutibara, Abibe, and Catio, but the last cut it short v/hen going to war. The Toro cut their hair short, plucking it out so as to form a
around the waist, and
breast to the feet.
crown, like that of the
friars,
hence their name, "Coronado."

feathers,
The An(cari-
cerma wore garlands and crowns of
nose ornaments
cories), four or five pairs of earrings, necklaces of beads (chaquiras)
with gold figurines, especially in the form of frogs (chiefs' necklaces
were entirely of gold), and ligatures made of strands of chaquiras below the knees. In addition, the chiefs wore their fingernails long and painted their faces in various designs and colors. The Buriticd and Catio also
painted themselves and like the Evegico, wore gold ornaments.
TRANSPORTATION
Among
the Ancerma, Nutibara, and Abibe, chiefs were carried in

of objects
hammocks or litters. Transportation human carrier over the mountainous

mentioned.
and merchandise was by
country, but devices used are not
MANUFACTURES
Ceramics.
The only mention of pottery Bark

is
is
food containers placed in
graves and water vessels.

taken from graves.
Ceramics are known principally from objects

cloth is accredited to the Toro.
Basketry and weaving.

basketry, the only mention
especially
belts,
Of
of matting, which was commonly used,

All tribes but the
by the Ancerma.
Cordage was generally made and served for

like.
hammock making,
necklace strings, and the
Toro wove cotton textiles, which they painted and made into clothing. Skin preparation. There was no skin preparation, except in making trophies of slain enemies, whose bodies were flayed and the skins stuffed
with ashes (see below).

the
Metallurgy was as important as among the tribes east of Cauca River, for the chroniclers speak of the abundance of gold. The chief of the Caramanta "took out what he wanted." The Buriticd mined gold with sharp sticks and smelted it with forges, furnaces, and crucibles. This industry was common to all the tribes, except the Guasuzu, who
Metallurgy.
obtained their gold through trade.

SOCIAL
AND POLrrrCAL
LIFE
Polygyny
is
reported for the Ancerma, Caramanta, Guasuzu, Nore,
and Guaca, Catio, and Nutibara. The Ancerma were also exogamous by
Vol. 4]
317
village.
An Ancerma
man,
first
especially a chief,
had as many wives as he

principal
could support, taking each, regardless of vi^hether she were a virgin,
without ceremony. The

wife.
to bear a son
was considered the
These women came from other villages, and, when they were five months pregnant, they returned to their native village, presumably to remain until the child was born. Among the Catio, who were reported to have as many as 20 wives, a wife was purchased through the offices
of a go-between.
In matrimonial relations the
man might make no
ad-
vances to his wife until she gave a special sign, but there was great
fidelity.
Adultery was severely punished, and a woman's husband and parents guarded her closely. The Zopia, on exceptional occasions, practiced some
form of marriage with close relatives. Among the Ancerma, possessions and authority were inherited by the eldest son, or if he had died, by the next son. Lacking sons, the daughters inherited. Succession among the Zopia and Nutihara passed to the oldest
son of the principal wife, and, in default of such a son, to the son of the
man's oldest
sister.
The
Catio present a curious case,
if
the sources are
interpreted correctly, for the slave
who had worked
longest for his master
inherited his master's goods, wives,

Political authority
was
in the
and sons. hands of chiefs, and
were several
chiefs in one tribe,
in some cases there showing an organization into subtribes.
Eight chiefs are mentioned for Ancerma territory:
Ocusca, Humbruza,
Fanfarrones, Guarma, Chatapa, Umbria, Riteron, and Ciricha.
Cauroma
and Zuzaburruco ruled the Antiochia. Nutibara was the main chief of the Nutihara and Ahihe but governed the latter through his brother, Quinuchi, Nabonuco was chief of the Nore and Guaca, and Zuzabunuco of the Evegico. The Catio had several chiefs, but their subtribes had formed a confederation, especially for warfare. Their main chief was Tone. Among the Guasusu a chief controlled about 10 houses, each house sheltering 8 to 10 families. Most of these chiefs, as among the Ancerma and Nutihara, enjoyed special privileges and etiquette. For example, they went forth carried in hammocks or litters, the latter decorated with plates and ornaments
chief of the Caranianta,
of gold.
was
The Ancerma punished

selling
thiefs
by making them slaves and eventually
them
to another tribe, presumably to compensate the robbed party
with the price received.
These
tribes also kept prisoners of
war
as slaves.
The Ancerma
sold
from the Caramanfa and Antiochia. Among the Nore and Guaca, slaves were married to tribal members so that their offspring might be sacrificed in cannibalistic feasts. The Catio made their slaves farm their
captives taken
lands or else ate them.
The Guasuzu
sold their slaves to the Antiochia, or
kept them to perform labor, and buried some of them with a chief
when
he died.
$53334-^8
22
318

ECONOMIC FEATURES
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Gold and slaves were the main objects of native trade. Slaves were from tribe to tribe, especially by the peoples practicing cannibalism, and were given in exchange for gold or food. Gold objects were the main item of exchange among Ancerma, who traded with the Poso, or who carried on intratribal trade at periodic markets ("tianqiiaz").
sold
The Antiochia traded mainly with

(peccaries?) and other things.
the
Nohava.
With
their gold the
Buriticd purchased foods, while the Evegico bought "cerdos monteses"
The Guasuzu exchanged
fine,
painted, cot-
ton cloth, which they manufactured, and slaves for gold objects, which
they did not make.
LIFE CYCLE
Observances at sacrifices, marriages, birth, initiation, and the like, though involving ceremonies and constituting the heart of the culture of each group, passed largely unnoticed by the chroniclers, who, however,
frequently mention practices at death because of the gold interred with
the deceased.
These
tribes
were evidently very
fertile,
for
Robledo observes that an

the body on a platform or
;
Ancerma woman had a child each year. At the death of a chief the Ancerma placed
grill
between two
fires until
the corpse had dried

hill
then they buried
it
either in a deep grave
on the top of a
or imder the floor of the house,
accompanied by food, ornaments, weapons, and some of the man's wives. Caramanta burial was like that of the Ancerma, except that they put the
body
east.
at the
The Nore and
door of the house in a deep hole with an opening toward the Giiaca wept many days for a chief and cut the
who were closest to him. The deceased was placed in a mound, with a paved floor and an opening to the east, and was wrapped in blankets, adorned with ornaments, equipped with his weapons, and accompanied by women and servants, who were buried alive. The Catio and Guasuzu buried in the same manner.
hair of the wives and those
WARFARE
Two
filled
features are of special interest:
the boiling water w'hich the

pitfalls
Antiochia hurled at their enemy from their pile dwellings, and the
with sharp stakes which the Catio and Evegico concealed in trails. Otherwise, the common weapons were darts, bows and arrows, lances,
spear throwers, slings, and macanas (clubs).
The Nore and Guaca fought among themselves and against the Buriticd and made slaves of their prisoners. The Evegico fought in ordered formations, and their main enemies were the Pequi. When the Spaniards slept or camped in Evegico houses, the Indians burned the houses afterward, possibly because of some magical belief. The Catio fought frequently
Vol. 4]
319
Ant lochia, hiring neighboring Indians to accompany their war and making slaves of their prisoners. They had forts, such as one called Nobobarco, on the summits of hills. So brave were these Indians that when the conquistadors brought a bulldog to tear one of them to pieces the Indian said, without fear or sign of pain, "Hurry, eat, eat."
against the
parties
The Ancerma made war

on
tall
trophies of
human
vermilion, and of arms, legs, and skins stuffed with ashes, and placed
bamboo
poles in their village plazas.
which they painted them The Caramanta, Antiochia,

skulls,
Nutihara, Nore, Guaca, and Catio exhibited their trophies over the doors
of their houses.
CANNIBALISM
Simon (1882-92) ascribes cannibalism to the Ancerma, but Lopez de Velasco (1916) denies it, and Robledo, whose word carries more weight as he was one of their conquerors, states that they practiced little canIndians were and that their practices corresponded to Simon's statement that "they held that those who ate the flesh or drank the blood of the vanquished would become superior to him." The Caramanta bought Indian slaves from the Ancerma in order to eat them. The Antiochia did likewise, and, according to Simon, they held their slaves over a special stone where they cut open their breasts and removed the fat to make torches to illuminate their mine tunnels. They Descobar {in ate the flesh of these victims and also sold it to others. Jijon y Caamano, 1936-38, vol. 2) claims that they fattened their sons perhaps referring to the sons of slaves and ate them during feasts. The Buriticd, Nutihara, Catio, and Abibe ate only their enemies. The Nore and Guaca ate the sons of slaves taken in war as well as captives and old male slaves.
nibalism but ate
animals.
It is possible that these
game
cannibalistic only
on
ritual occasions
On
the subject of art nothing can be added to the statements

p.
made
concerning the tribes east of the Cauca River (this volume,
307).
The Ancerma gathered with

chiefs,
their principal
men
in the houses of their
and for 3 or 4 days and nights danced, sang, and drank chicha were drunk; then they brawled, wounding and even killing each other. Chicha was generally used, being drunk as an intoxicant during communal religious and social feasts. To become drunk the Ancerma mixed an herb, called "tabaque," with chicha or with other
until they
drinks.
In addition to chicha the Nore and Guaca
made an
intoxicating
drink of certain roots.

RELIGION
AND SHAMANISM
The Ancerma had wooden

colors.
idols, the faces of
which were painted various
On
hill,
called
Buena Vista by
the Spaniards, they had a large
320
tB.A.E. Bull. 143
The main god Xixarama, and the sun and moon were his children. The sun and moon were supplicated for rain to water the crops. The Ancerma sent two virgins to a high hill, where Xixarama was thought to have intercourse with them.
sanctuary to which only the chiefs and priests had access.
called
was
The Ancerma
also
had
priests or shamans,
who cured by means
of
herbs as well as by passing their hands over the patient, massaging, sucking with the mouth, and blowing the supposed cause of the sickness into
When the sky darkened and rain threatened, they blew and upward, gesturing the rain away.
the air.
spit
The Caramanta
kept idols of
wood and
gold,
some
in their houses
and
others placed between
bamboo
posts at the entrances of their dwellings.
They had temples in which they sacrificed Indians, cutting out the heart and parading with it while executing "areytos" or dances. To obtain
water or sunshine necessary for their farming, they made
sacrifices.
was a "demon" cult. Old men spoke with and communicated their replies to the faithful. The demon or god of the Nutibara, called "Guaca," was represented as a jaguar. Its temple, a hut with the entrance facing east, was filled with gold offerings. The Nore and Guaca also had temples. The Evegico did not worship idols but had priests who spoke with the divinity. The Catio lacked temples, but worshiped two deities, Avira, the benevolent god the Spaniards were called "Aira," the son of God and Cunicuva, the evil god. They also worshiped the stars, had a legend of the flood, and believed that the souls of the dead were transformed into jaguars, pumas, and other animals. The Toro and Zopia were said to worship a "demon."
the Antiochia there
this divinity
Among
LOSE
AND LEARNING
These tribes had extensive knowledge of curative plants, and the Toro drank the juice of "bencenuco" against serpent bites.
Measures and weights were used by the Catio and Evegico
in trade.
The Antiochia used the balance beam, with gold weights. Simon and Castellanos claimed that the Catio had a form
which consisted of inscribing
their cotton blankets.
of writing,
their histories in hieroglyphics painted
on
(Cf. with the Cuna, this volume, p. 268.)
THE INDIANS IN
1880
Uribe Angel (1885, pp. 520-524) sketches the picture of the Indians
who, in 1880, survived in the northeastern part of the State of Antioquia, near the Province of Choco. Because of its climate and diseases, such as
malaria, this region
was infrequently penetrated by Whites.
The Indians
described by Uribe Angel must have been predominantly though not entirely Catio.
Vol. 4]

Indians practiced
little
321
agriculture, which was restricted to small and bananas. Hunting and fishing had assumed greater importance than formerly, and the Indians were provided with firearms and iron fishhooks. They slightly roasted maize and ground it, both for ordinary consumption and for a ration taken on trips. They became intoxicated frequently by drinking the traditional chicha, made of fermented ground maize, and modern aguardiente (hard liquor), and
plots of maize, sugarcane,
The
they used considerable tobacco.
Houses were still built on platforms. The Indians buried their dead under the house and abandoned it to build another some distance away. They were very clean, habitually bathing in the river each morning before
breakfast and again during the day.
They decorated themselves with
red (bixa), applied to the face, arms, and legs, and with drawings done
fruit called "jagua." They dressed "mahagua") and a mantle of commercial cloth worn as a cape. Around their necks they wore strings of beads (chaquiras), which included small glass beads and pieces of vanilla wood and sweet basil, which they called "yerba del buen querer" ("pleasing
in a blackish
pigment made from a

(corteza
in bark cloth
herb").
ported burdens while traveling.
performed domestic chores, cared for the children, and transMen cleared the forest for farm plots and hunted and fished, foraging with their blowguns, firearms, and
Women
fishhooks.
had an initiation feast, after which she married the first man A boy had to show his skill with his blowgun by shooting a maize grain thrown into the air. These Indians were ruled, according to the Colonial system, by a governor and a group of captains and judges, that is, by a cabildo or council
girl
she met.
of Indians.
The
native
religious
cult
had disintegrated, and the Indians had

still
acquired some Catholicism, though they

gavi and Antomia.
believed in the gods, Cala-
THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY CATIO

Between 1916 and 1922 an intelligent missionary, Mother Laura, made on several Indian groups, including those of the banks of the Rio Sucio and the Tugurido and Murri Rivers, those in Antado and Chimiado, and even some Catio in the jungles of the Sinu to which they had fled, pressed by modern colonists, from the mountains of Antioquia and Choco. The subsequent ethnographic data are taken from her account (Madre Laura de Santa Catalina, 1936). New linguistic data on the Catio are supplied by Fr. Pablo del Santisimo Sacramento (1936). These Indians still resist cultural change, clinging to their native customs and disliking to adopt modern clothing and rules. Distrust and suspicion
interesting observations
322
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
are their defense against foreigners, and they do not wish to submit to the
jurisdiction of
Colombian laws.
They
settle injuries
if
and wrongs by pay-
ments, after which disputants remain friends as

CULTURE
nothing had happened.
Each family has a small

bean called "vida."
parcel of land
on which
it
cultivates maize,
yuca
(sweet manioc), arracacha, mafafa, sugarcane, and a perennial species of
Groups assist each other in farming, singing to the rhythm of their work. The Catio gather a fragrant wild root, called "jaramali," which they greatly relish.
The skulls The Indians now raise pigs, chickens, and dogs. Fishing is very important. The Indians stay in caves on the riverbanks, where the men fish at night with
animals include deer, opossums, guagua, and rabbits.
of slain animals are
Game
hung from
the roof
beams
of the huts.
hooks, while during the day the women show great skill in catching by hand fish called "cuere cueriar" ("cuere" means "fish" in Catio) that live under rocks.
Meals consist of ground maize, roasted bananas which take the place and accompany all meals, roasted or broiled game in a state of decomposition, and boiled birds and fish, both of which are eaten bones, entrails, and all. They occasionally obtain beef, and, though little
of bread
acquainted with sweets, they use chocolate.
HOUSES
The
Catio
still
live in
huts elevated on platforms about 2 m, (6 feet)
above the ground and reached by a wooden ladder.

circular,
side,
These huts are
about 2.4 m. (8 feet) in diameter, and roofed with thatch. Inthere is a shelf holding calabash cups, pottery cooking pans, and ollas.
is
The
fireplace
in the center
and over
it
hang the
skulls of wild animals
and some bones.

Men wear
which
It is
is
usually
a breachclout (ambura) 1^^ varas (about 48 inches) long, made of linen and sometimes is decorated with bone beads
wear a cloth (jampuri) covering the genitals. ambura and is made of flowered, or striped, modern, commercial printed cloth in various colors, except green and yellow, which they do not like. Over these, both sexes wear a mantle about 4 m. (13 feet) long. Men wear theirs so that it somewhat covers the face,
(chaquiras).
also
Women
twice as long as the men's
and the end
falls
shoulders, with one end
behind to the ground. Women's are worn over the wrapped around behind so as to cover the left hip.
Everyone adorns
his
body with figures painted black or
red.
Women
Vol. 4]
323
their hair to fall over the shoulders and wear chaquira necklaces (ocama) which hang down to the breast. Young women wear roses around their necks and, if they can obtain it, a red scarf, which they all desire. Men have long hair hanging down behind, chaquira necklaces, and, if unmarried, a garland of roses. Chiefs wear a garland of leaves, and shamans (jaibana) one of feathers.
comb
MANUFACTURES
The modern
Cafio
make
pottery water jars, ollas, and plates, calabash
drinking cups, and a variety of baskets.
They
also
make blowguns
but
purchase firearms, machetes, and axes from the Whites.

SOCIAL LIFE
Marriage
riage the
is
very
brittle,
and woman's position
is inferior.
Upon mar-
woman
goes to the house of her husband or father-in-law to be-
faithful servant in farming, running the household, and carrying goods. She may be thrown out and replaced by another woman when the husband wishes, even if she has small children, merely because "he is tired of her." She may not take anything from the household with her. She accepts her fate, saying, "If you are a woman, what can you do ? It is the Indian law." A married woman may even be turned
come her husband's
out by her
own
father.
Children are cared for by their parents until they can shift for them-
and they are readily abandoned. The attitude toward children is shown by the common remark, "My son went away" or "My daughter left the hut. It was good of her." Few know much about their own parents, and they take whatever name they please. The Indians are being dispossessed of their lands by the Whites, as happened in Murri, where they had to yield lands to which they had held Every 6 months the men go to work in the title for more than 50 years.
selves,
harvest on the civilized, neighboring haciendas.
There
is
no more warfare.
SICKNESS AND DEATH
When a person becomes worse he

that
sick his relatives call a shaman (jaibana) abandoned in a corner of the house on the nothing can be done, and the family continues normal life.
is is
if
he
belief
At
death, the relatives sing sad songs.
They
place
many
specially
purchased mantles on the corpse, which they bury, afterward burning

the house.
"Tobo" or "moindii" leaves are placed
at the foot of the

it
ladders of other houses to prevent the soul from entering a place

for
it
likes,
would go into a house which lacked such leaves and remain there
forever.
324

[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Decorative art
is
influenced by the Indian's dislike of certain colors.
They not only

Laura that
yellow
;
lack native terms for
some
colors, but they assured
Madre
"it is
not easy for an Indian to distinguish green, blue and
they are all the same color." Drums, trumpets always worn suspended from the neck, and modern
stringed
instruments
or
small
guitars
comprise present-day musical
instruments.
The
Catio sing melancholy and soft songs in the native
language, especially
when drunk. Rhythmical singing to the tempo of work plays an important part in their communal farming labor. The Indians dance when they have gathered together and become
drunk, or on religious occasions.
Dancing
is
not done in pairs, but in
groups,
churches.
each
Indians
person
performing
individually,
even
in
the
modem
The
is
make
intoxicating chicha of maize, fermentation of which
started
also like
by the addition of some grains that have been chewed. modern hard liquor.
RELIGION
They
The god most
frequently worshiped and feared today
is
Antomia, who
Choco, but,
gives shamans their power.
The Indians
living in
Ure
believe that an-
other god, Caragabi, had married in Quibdo,
now
capital of
when
was unfaithful, he transformed her into a bird as punishment and went to the sky with a sister or sister-in-law of his mother. The origin myth of the creation and manner of living of the Indians is
his wife
given below.
SHAMANISM
Shamanism
of the Catio.
is
of great importance and virtually dominates the activities
few old Spanish elements may have entered the pattern. The shaman or witch (jaibana) has magical power, which Antomia gives him when his initiation is concluded. He is both feared and sought, as he may cause as well as cure disease. The confirmation of a shaman is celebrated with intoxicating drinks, The neophyte is while an older shaman performs the initiation rites.
put in a trance, and the master speaks in a low voice, then whistles three times to the god Antomia, and hangs a bunch of wooden figurines and a mirror, the insignia of the profession, around the neophyte's neck. When
young man awakens, the ceremony is completed. Henceforth, the new shaman may perform cures and ask payment for his services, usually one or more deer, or the equivalent. Both men and women may be shamans, and some persons are destined before birth to take up this profession. In such cases, a practicing shaman performs rites over the mother's belly, and from time to time after the
the
Vol. 4]
325
child
is
while the child
born nocturnal ceremonies are held with dances and drinking, is bathed in water of "anami," after which the master
sings and passes his magic stick over the child's body.
In case of sickness the shaman fasts during the evening, and that night he dreams what he must do.
Next morning he goes
to the patient
who
must be
objects.
purified of
all
contact with or influence by Catholic religious
He
blows tobacco smoke over the ailing place or over the whole
his idols (jai) over the body.
body and passes
He
has various
idols,
one
and one that is larger and more powerful than the others. He is aided by a young woman, who must have her teeth and fingernails painted to the end with "jampuri" and who wears bunches of herbs (anami) around her neck. The woman kills a chicken, boils it, and throws the cooking water into the river without spilling a drop lest the At the curing altar nine jai jai be annoyed and not complete the cure. hang from a pole to the left of the snake jai, or cross (a small tablet of white balsa wood painted with red and black zigzag lines). A small calabash cup of hard liquor is placed at the foot of each jai, and the cooked chicken is located so that its odor will please them and make them cure better. The shaman prays to each jai, which he takes down to wet the end of it in the liquor. He finishes off the liquor in each cup, then massages the patient with chewed tobacco, blows on the person's fingertips and crown, and rubs him with a narrow piece of new cloth. In the cup of liquor poured for the snake jai he places three iron nails and then puts one end of this jai in the patient's mouth and the other end against the mirror which every shaman carries around his neck. After this he gathers up the chicken and the liquor with the nails in it, and the female assistant casts them into the river, for these are left-overs of what the jai ate or drank, and the sickness adheres to them. A shaman has the power of causing disease, and only a more powerful shaman can cure it. He may make a child sick with his breath, causing an obstacle to become lodged in its throat. This causes death if another shaman does not cure it. The Indians distinguish natural death from In the latter case the identity of the evil that caused by witchcraft. sorcerer is ascertained by covering the face of the deceased with ashes, then washing them off when the face will resemble that of the witch. In addition to shamanism, curing is accomplished with various herbs. Chewed tobacco leaves are rubbed on the stomach for colic. For diarrhea and dysentery a large quantity of bees' honey is drunk.
for each sickness
MYTHOLOGY
The
following legend, collected by

native
Madre Laura de Santa

tales
Catalina,
of
combines
myth with
historical
and even has traces
Christian influence
326
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
great deal.
created the world, the Indians were people, not animals, and knew a But one Indian woman was deceived by the very poisonous serpent of the kind called birri, and married him, hiding the fact from her father. To conceal her serpent husband, the woman placed him under a tree and covered him with firewood she had brought for the house. When the wood was nearly used up, she brought more. After a while she gave birth to a serpent son. The serpent mother-in-law with many
species attended the birth to see her grandson.
When God
When the serpents had woman's father returned, and, smelling the odor of birri or of their excrement, he removed the firewood and found the serpent husband and the little serpent grandson underneath it. He understood what had happened. In a fury he whipped his daughter and killed the serpent and his grandson. At this, the serpent mother-in-law returned to revive her son, but the body turned into a soldier, called "Spaniard." Full of fury, the soldier made war on the Indians and drove them to the mountains. Then the Indians became fools and animals, and did not again turn into people. They would not become people again, because the serpent soldier would return and finish them.
gone, the Indian
members of her
Another stoty related that Dabeiba was formerly a cold land, but a shaman stood on an eminence on the right bank of the Rio Sucio and blew tobacco smoke over it, making it a warm country. Since then
Dabeiba has been unhealthy for children,
TRIBES OF
THE PROVINCE OF ABURRA

TRIBAL LOCATIONS
The province of the Ahurrd (Avurrd) was the territory between the Magdalena and Cauca Rivers, east of Cartama. The Nutahe and Ureso lived east of the Cauca River, between it and the Nechi River, The Tahami, who were related culturally to the Nutahe, occupied the same area. The Yamici were located between the Nechi and Force Rivers. Thus, all these tribes inhabited the northern portion of the Sub-Andean culture area and adjoined the culture area of Darien or Cenu, i.e., the North Colombia Lowlands.
CULTURE
Ethnographic information
yams, and cotton.
is
scant, but
it
shows that these
tribes prac-
ticed agriculture, cultivating maize, beans, sweet manioc, sweetpotatoes.
Among
animals hunted were peccaries, which ran
in large
herds
in
this territory.
The Yamici captured and

loaves of
salt, in
raised the
young
ones, which
they fattened, as the Ahurrd fattened mute dogs.
The Ahurrd made

south, whereas the
lizing or
the
same way
as the tribes farther
Yamici used
salt
water from springs, without crystalstorage places in their houses for

fish,
cooking
it.
The Ahurrd had
foods, such as maize and manioc,

it
and the Yamici preserved
making
into meal.
Vol. 4]

HOUSES, VILLAGES, AND OTHER STRUCTURES
327
These tribes built large houses. In the territory of the Nutabe and Ureso the Spaniards found large, ancient structures which had been destroyed.
The Aburrd made aqueducts for water and very wide roads. The Nutabe and Ureso also made wide straight roads, and, over the Cauca River, bridges of woven vines, three palms wide, with hand rails.
adorned themselves with and diadems of gold, all finely worked and well burnished or hammered. The Nutabe and Ureso dressed in white cotton cloth, ornamented with colors, and adorned themselves with plumes, gold crowns and armor, and red paint (bixa). The Aburrd clad themselves in a blanket, iy2 varas long and 1 vara wide (a,bout 48 by 32 inches), and the men held the penis up by means of a white or colored thread affixed to the belt and tied around the prepuce. They wore a crown of feathers, gathered the hair up on the head, had a nutria pelt hanging down the back, and painted themselves with bixa.
Yaiiiici
The
wore
virtually
nothing but
feathers, ornaments, breastplates,
MANUFACTURES
The Nutabe and Ureso were good weavers and

,
builders,
and the Yaskilled gold-
mici, like the tribes farther south,
were gold miners and
workers.
points, spear throwers, macanas, slings,
For hunting and warfare they used darts with fire-hardened paJm bows and arrows, stone axes, and
maces.
SOCIAL FEATURES
The Nutabe and Ureso
carried on trade with the Tahami, but the Ya-
mici fought with the people on their frontiers, the Patdngoro, Aburrd,
Guamoco, and even the Malebu
of
Mompox. The Yamici
enslaved their
prisoners but did not sacrifice or eat them.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1936-38, vol. 2) Arena Paz, 1922; Asensio, 1921; Bennett, 1944; Castellanos, 1847 (1852, 1874) Cieza de Leon, 1932; Cuervo (see Sardilla, 1891-94, vol. 2) Descobar {in Jijon y Caamano, 1936-38,
; ;
Acosta, 1901
Andagoya (m Jijon y Caamafio,

;
2); Fernandez Piedrahita, 1881; Ford, 1944; Garcia, 1937; Guillen Chaparro, 1889; Hermano Justo, 1943; Hernandez de Alba, 1938; Jijon y Caamano, 1936-38, vol. 2 Laura de Santa Catalina, 1936 Lopez de Velasco, 1916 Ospina, 1905, 1918 Pablo de Santisimo Sacramento, 1936; Posado Arango, 1875; Restrepo, 1937; Resvol.
;
; ;
trepo Tirado, 1929; Rivet, 1943; Robledo

see Sardilla, 1891-94, vol. 2)
;
(m
Sardilla, 1891-94, vol. 2;
Jijon y Caamano, 1936-38, vol. 2; also Simon, 1882-92; Uribe Angel,
1885; Wassen, 1936.
TRIBES OF THE
NORTH COLOMBIA LOWLANDS
INTRODUCTION
A
p.
group
of Tropical Forest tribes,
neighbors, the
Sub-Andean peoples
vol. 2, p.
which differed culturally from their of the Cauca River (this volume,
297) and of the mountains extending north to the Sierra Nevada de

867), occupied the tropical rain forests
Santa Marta (Handbook,
between the lower Magdalena River and the Atrato River. Their territory comprised nearly all the present Department of Bolivar and, in the extreme west, part of the Department of Antioquia in the region of the
Gulf of Uraba.
More
precisely, this area
was bounded on
the south by
the northernmost Sub- Andean tribes
(the Nore, Guaca, Evegico, and
Remedio), on the west by the Atrato River, formerly called the Darien, on the north by the Atlantic Ocean, once known as the Mar del Norte, and on the east by the Magdalena River. The country in general is composed
of low,
swampy
areas alternating with elevations that
mark
the extension
of the Cordillera Central,
and
its
climate
is
hot, about 27 to 30
C.
(80.6 to 86 F.).
Among
the tribes living in this area at the time of the Conquest were
the Calamari, Turhaco, Tolu, Urabd,

,
Genu (and
its
subtribes, the Fincenu,
Pancenu, Genufana) Utibara, Yapel, Mompox (Malebu), Tamalameque, Bonda, Buritacd, Pacabueye, Pemeo, Yamici, and Zendagua. These tribes
soon became extinct, and there
enumerated,
is
insufficient record of
them
to indicate
their cultural and political relationships to one another.
Of
the tribes just

;
we have
ethnographic data only on the
first
ten
the Bonda,
Buritacd, and others were not described.
Jijon y Caamaiio (1936-38, vol. 2) gives evidence that the Urabd Yapel, Genu, Fincenu, and Gatio spoke the same languages. As Gatio
belongs with Ghoco, so must those related to
it
(Jijon y Caamafio,
1936-38,
vol.
2; Rivet, 1943).
TRIBAL DIVISIONS AND LOCATIONS

The
Galamari, and several tribes culturally similar to them, occupied
the coast and small islands of the Atlantic from the
west to the Urabd,
who
lived
on the Gulf
of
Magdalena River Uraba (or Darien), and
The center of Galamari territory which was formerly called Calamari or Calamar, the native name for crabs, which were abundant on its beaches
south to the various
Genu
subtribes.
was the present
city of Cartagena,
329
330
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
(Peredo, 1919, pp. 450-480). Other tribes listed here were the Carex (on an island), Turbaco {Tiiruaco), Car on, Bahaire, Cos pique, Cocon, Caricocox (Coricocox), Matarapa, Zamha, Masaguapo, Guaspates,
Turipana, Mahates, Cipacua, Oca, Tubard, and Cornapacua (Castellanos,
1852, pp.
365^62; Simon, 1882-92).

states that all these people
were known as Mocana and that they claimed to have originated from groups that came by canoe along the
coast from
Simon
Maracapana and Caracas

fled
territory in Venezuela.
Next
to the
southwest, on the coast, were the Tolu
(Tulu), and then the Urabd.

to the Atrato
The Urabd had
from the Spaniards

(Zenu),
all
(Darien) River
(Cieza de Leon, 1932). Inland were the Cenu

follows
:
whom
the conquistadors divided as

;
Fincenu, occupying
the Sinu River Basin
Pancenu, the
region east, toward the San Jorge River; and Cenufana (Sennfana, Ccnil-
fama, Ceinefana, Cenufara, Cermefama), where Zaragoza and Remedies

are
now
situated, in the vicinity of the

of
Nechi River and

7, p.
its affluents, in
the
Department
1905).
Antioquia (Acosta, 1901, ch.
84;
Mesa
Jaramillo,
East of the Tolii lived the Yapel (Ayapel), and east of them the
as the Malibues (Malebues)
Mompox, more properly known 1921), and the Xegua and Tagua
right or southern
bollo, 1919).
(Asencio,
(Heredia, 1916, pp. 59-63). The Tamalameque, adjoining the Pacabueyes, lived east of the Ariguani, on the
bank
of the Cesare (Zezare, today Cesar) River
(Re-
HISTORY
Rodrigo de Bastidas reached the coast of this area in 1501, but the true in 1510 by Alonso de Ojeda, Nicuesa, and Juan de la Cosa, when Ojedo founded the first settlement, San Sebastian de Uraba, at the northeast extremity of the Gulf of Uraba. Some months later the Indians besieged and destroyed this town, and the Spaniards, under Nicuesa's direction, founded a second settlement, Santa Maria la Antiqua del Darien, on the Atrato River, but it suffered the same fate as the first. Twenty-three years later Heredia founded Cartagena at the Indian port of Calamari. This settlement was
Conquest was begun
destined to
become
the principal port of ingress
and supply for a large

road from Argen-
portion of South America, especially the Pacific countries, as there was
no other route across the continent north

tina to Chile.
of the great
Ojeda carried an edict that the Indians should become Christians and subjects of the King of Spain, because the Pope had given these Spaniards charge of their lands. This edict was read to the Indians, who did not
understand
it,
but those
who grasped
its
point replied "that one god
but
all right, as they did not wish to argue or to give up their religion, was necessary to be very frank about this stranger, the Holy Father, who gave away lands that were not his own and as for the King,
seemed
it
Vol. 4]
NORTH COLOMBIA LOWLAND TRIBES

little
331
they
he must be very poor, as he coveted, from such a distance, the

had, and very bold, as he threatened those he did not
1901, p. 20).
know" (Gomara,
The
result of the Indians' resistance in this region
decrease in numbers and their replacement ,by
was their progressive Negro slaves. In the
Province of Cartagena there were 83 towns in 1772, with 13,993 Christianized Indians, but a few years later only 7,000 or 8,000 Indians tributaries
proportion of Negro slaves in 1772

baco, which
remained in 100 repartimientos (Lopez de Velasco, 1915). The is illustrated by the section of Tur-
had 571 Indians and 537
slaves,
and by Tolu, with 1,093

encomiendas, each with
Indians and 260 slaves (Pifieres, 1917).

In 1542, Heredia gave his soldiers the
its
first
Indians and chiefs, in the Uraba regions
Chuchyraly,
At San
Queyva, El
Sebastian de
Tuerto, Carcate, and Olla (Heredia,
1915 b).
Uraba, 729 natives remained in 1772 (Peredo, 1919). The region of the objective of the Spaniards on the one hand and of the English, Dutch, and even French on the other. The famed riches of the region of Darien led to the formation in Scotland of the Darien
Uraba became
Company
arrived in
or the Scotch
November
1698.
Company, and the first immigrants or colonists The few who remained a year later were
vol. 2).
pushed out by the Spaniards (Arevalo, in Cuervo, 1891-94,
The
Indians of the town of Uraba continued to resist subjugation, taking up
arms against the neighboring people of Santa Maria la Antigua in 1724 and again in 1750. In 1750 the Governor, Don Joaquin Valcarcel de Miranda, counted 5,000 families of Indians (Cuervo, 1891-94, vol. 2, p. 373). In Cenu, the Sinu River section, there were 4,580 natives and 244 Negro
slaves in 1772 (Pineres, 1917).
Around San Nicolas
Indians, and at Cerete, formerly called Mocari,

cultivated their fields
to their native
there were 521 were 518 Indians, who

in addition
on the Sinu River and spoke Spanish
language (Peredo, 1919).
Soon
after the
Conquest some
slaves escaped
and established
their
own
village near
Mompox.
Here
they were served by the Indians, being
much
afraid of the Spaniards
(Andagoya, in Jijon y Caamano, 1936-38, vol. 2, doc. 2). At the time of writing his account, Lopez de Velasco (1915) stated that there were 2,000 Indian tributaries in 26 repartimientos around the main city of Santa Cruz
de
Mompox, which Heredia had

Tamalameque
founded.
que, founded in
territory,
Other cities were Tamalameand Chiriguana, but the former
did not survive.
The
most.
valor of these Indians
was
the trait that impressed the chroniclers
The Calamari were
described as astute, brave on land and sea,
clever in their maneuvers, and resourceful. The Urahd hated Criollos and colored people, whether Negroes, mulattoes, or zambos, because the conquistadors had used the Negroes from the very beginning in their wars against the Indians.
332
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
All the native peoples of the Colombian Atlantic
littoral,
except the
Cuna, Choco, and Goajiro, have disappeared culturally and been absorbed
racially.
Joaquin Acosta states
(1901), "Degradation, servitude, and
intermixture have destroyed the rest."
CULTURE
North Colombia Lov^rlands are distinguished from their Sub-Andean neighbors to the south in Antioquia and Caldas by lacking cannibalism and by using feather ornaments, poisoned weapons, and sleeping hammocks, but the interior tribes of this area share cannibalism, human trophies, and woven cotton garments with the Sub-Andean tribes. For 8 tribes studied, the historical sources mencoastal tribes of the
The
culturally
tion the occurrence of culture elements with the following frequencies*:
Agriculture, 6 times
;
hunting, 5
;
fishing, 5
;
woven
1
;
cloth, 5
feather or5
;
naments, 4 body painting, 2 temples, 4

3
;
bridges,
1
;
hammocks,
1
1
;
canoes,
mound
burial,
;
idols,
quivers,
balsa rafts,
relative,
shamanism, 3
prostitution,
1 1.
polygyny, 3
marriage with a consanguineous
sexual inverts, 1; poisoned arrow, 5; cannibalism, 2;
human
trophies,
These 22 elements were reported among the tribes (who, it must be remembered, were little studied by the historians) with the following
frequencies
:
Calamari, 14 ; Genu, 14
;
Urabd, 8
Tolu, 7
Yapel, 5
Mom-
pox, 4 ; Turbaco, 4
Tamalameque,
2.
All these tribes practiced farming, supplementing
it
with hunting and,

Castellanos
along the coast and in the rivers and swamps, with fishing.
(1852) mentions the following fruits: Caimitos (star apples, Ghrysophyllum cainito), guanabanas (soursop, Annona muricata), anones (sweetsop,
Annona squamosa) hobos (hog plum, Splondias lutea), guayabas (guava, Psidium), papayas (Papaya carica), mamones (genip, Melicocca hijuga), Simon lists (1882-92) the pineapples (Ananus sativus), and bananas.
,
following crops:
beans, and others.
Maize, sweet manioc
(yuca), sweetpotatoes, kidney

its fibers.
Cotton was cultivated for
The main Turbaco

Heredia (1916),
crops were maize, manioc, and cotton (Peredo, 1919).
saw many cultivated fields among the Indians and noted that those of the Tolu were especially large. The Genu had houses full of maize. Hunting yielded rabbits, guinea pigs, iguanas, peccaries, guaquiras, guaratinagas, various tortoises or turtles, and such birds as parrots (papagayos), catarnicas, perdices, wild turkeys (pavas), and guans (paujiles). The Urabd caught and raised young peccaries and when they were fat ate them. In addition to other wild animals, the Genu ate
caimans.
A
*
special food,
particularly of the
Turbaco, was manioc loaves or
tortillas, called
All
"cazabe."
The Tolu
ate bees' honey.
The Genu
espe-
CenH
subtribes are counted as CenA.
Vol. 4]
333
Cenujana, preserved meat smoked on babracots. As condiments Cenu used salt, which they manufactured locally, and aji (chili pepSimon (188292) accredits the Yapcl with using pepper to preper.)
cially the
the
serve
fish.
HOUSES AND VILLAGES

These peoples lived in large villages. Turhaco villages were enclosed by two or three fences of trees. The "court" of the female chief of the Cenu consisted of 20 houses, each surrounded by three or four small
was protected with a stockade. streets. Mompox and Tainalameque settlements were on the banks of the Magdalena River. The principal Tamalameque town was divided into three wards (barrios), each triangular in plan, with a central plaza and a strong defense. Houses were built of poles and thatch, but sometimes they were constructed of poles, mud, and grass, e. g., those of the Turhaco, which had two doors and were conical (beehive), the thatched roof reaching to the ground. The Cenu built a temple, more than 100 paces long, with its interior divided into three naves. It was probably rectangular, for Simon
storehouses or granaries.
village
The
Yapel villages had plazas and well-laid
(1882-92) likened
it
to
Spanish buildings.
the Calamari, Cenu, Tolu, Turhaco,
sleeping
hammock was used by

These
tribes used
and Urahd.
cooking pots, and the Calamari also had

Cenii used boxes ("habas") for storing
large jars for storing water.

articles of personal
The
adornment.
Outstanding structures were the Calamari wells and Urahd tombs. These tombs were enclosed in mounds, which w-ere paved with carefull} laid slabs. The vault inside was reached by descending stairs of welldressed stones (Garcia Carbonell, 1918). Across the Magdalena River,
the
Mompox
laid "bridges," consisting of vines
more than 150 fathoms
long (Heredia, 1916).
The
on the
their
lack of clothing
coast.
was
general,
owing
to the hot climate, especially
Calamari
men wore
a fringe of fine gold tubes covering

sandals
genitals.
This tribe was unusual in wearing deerskin
(abarcas) tied with cords.
painted cotton skirt
Turhaco and Tolu women wore a white or (manta) from the belt to the feet. Among the
Urahd,
snaillike
men
covered their genitals with a fringe of gold tubes or of ornaments (caracoles) attached to the belt, while women wore
a cotton manta covering them from the breast
down
and, sometimes,
also
another mantle over
it
for protection.
i.
Cenu women
wore cotton
mantas, "curiously worked,"
e.,
decorated with colored drawings.
As adornments,
all
particularly for warfare, feather
crowns were worn by
but the Magdalena River tribes.
Body
painting was practiced by the
Calamari and Yapel.

653334
Common
gold ornaments included diadems, pec-
48
23
334
toral plates
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
(chagualas), earrings, loop-shaped nose ornaments
(cara-
curis), finger rings,
and strings of bone beads (chaquiras) and gold beads which were worn around the neck, the arms, and the ankles.
TRANSPORTATION
These
paddles.
tribes traveled the rivers
and the ocean
in canoes propelled
by
The Cenu went down

1922).
the river in balsa canoes to the markets,

to return against the current
where they abandoned them, being unable

(Striffler, 1920,
Chiefs' litters are mentioned for the Cemi.
MANUFACTURES
Bark
cloth
River, and cotton weaving
made
textiles
they excelled
in this area, in contrast to the middle Cauca was the main industry. The coastal Indians mainly for trade with the Cenu and other inland tribes, and in manufacturing hammocks woven of cord.
was not made
springs, large water-storage jars.
Ceramic products included cooking vesels and, in the regions of few Containers were made also of cala-
bashes.
Other industries mentioned, though not practiced by all tribes, were manufacturing of dugout canoes, making poison for arrows and other projectiles, and the decoration of calabash cups with special
salting fish,
pitch or resin.
The
last
was a
specialty of the Urabd.
Goldwork gave Darien, or Cinu, such fame that a saying of early

Cartagena was, "Misfortune to Peru if they discover Cenu." The Fincenu were the main gold producers and outstanding goldsmiths.
SOCIAL

into villages or groups, each with a chief
These people were divided

(cacique) and subchiefs.
the
Among
those mentioned were: Chief Carex of
Calamari whose captains or subchiefs were Piorex and Curixix; Duhoa, chief of the Bahaire; Tocana, of the Masaguapo ; and Cambayo There were also dependencies. For example, the Oca of the Mahates.
were a dependency of the Cipacua, who were enemies of the Mahates. The Ttibara were governed by the chief Morotoava, and his nephew. Hare. Tolu divisions were each under minor chiefs, and each Urabd group or village had its chief. The Yapel had a principal chief named Ayapel. The chiefs of the two groups of Mompox living on opposite sides of the Magdalena River in 1541 were friends and relatives (Heredia, 1915 a).
three divisions of the
The
Cenu were united under
related rulers, for the prin-
cipal chiefs of the Fincenu,
Pancenu, and Cenufana were brothers.
The
following legend recounts the origin of this government
men.
There were three gods (demons) who, in ancient times, were the chiefs and head The principal one was Zenufana, who took the richest lands for his dominion while his sister ruled the lands of Finzenu. He was so fond of this sister that he
Vol. 4]
335
desired that
the
all his own vassals and those of the other two Zenu divisions accord her same reverence that he himself received. To this end he ordered that all the headmen of the other two Zenus be buried in the Zenu of his sister, with all the gold that
could be collected at the time of death, according to the custom, or at least that they be
placed in the cemetery of the great temple and house of the Devil which stood in this
Finzenu, where the Spaniards found
it; or, if
they wished to be buried not in this
assembled at the time might be buried in their stead in the cemetery, an unbreakable law that no one dared disobey. [Simon, 1882-92, vol. 4, pt. 1, ch. 19, p. 26.]
cemetery but
in their
it
own
lands, that they send one-half the gold
of death that
The main
village of the
Fincenu was governed by a female chief and

their backs
her husband, and she was more respected than the chiefs of the other two
Cenii subtribes.
to
She had female servants who carried her on

house was covered with grass,
her hammock, which was more beautiful than those of

floor of her
common
people,
and the
chief
like a tapestry.
chieftainness at the time of the discovery
was
called
"La Tota."
The The
His brother, of the Cenufana was Utibara, son of Anunaibe. Quinunchu, ruled the mountains of Abibe and his people paid him tribute in smelted gold, textiles, animals, etc. When he went to war or to visit his subjects, Utibara was accompanied by squads of Indians, who carried
him
in a gold-adorned litter.
Marriage among the Calamari was arranged by the couple's parents, the young man sending the young woman one hammock while she sent him two. The union was celebrated in the bridegroom's home by the couple's relatives and friends, who drank chicha from a calabash cup.
In a cup of chicha for his father-in-law, the young
of gold.
man had
to place grains
This ceremony was repeated three times daily for the next 15 days and at the birth of his first child. As the Calamari were polygynous, the feasts were held at each of a man's marriages. Premarital sexual freedom was allowed women, but both parties to adultery were
punished by death.
with their mothers.
Some
chroniclers, exaggerating the sexual license
permitted, claiin that fathers had relations with their daughters, and sons
The
cipal
marriage between a
in the family.
Urabd were polygynous, and they practiced who became his prinwife. With inheritance passing to their son goods were thus retained
aristocratic class of the
man and
his sister's daughter,
The Cenu were

he could support.
also polygynous,
and a man married as many wives as
TRADE
In their trading the coastal peoples specialized in textiles,
fish,
and
hammocks.
The Calamari, for example, traded these items with the Cenu for gold. The Cenu, especially the Cenufana, traded gold for salt, hammocks, textiles, and food. The Mompox acquired canoes from the Tolu
on the Cauca River and carried them 9 leagues to the Magdalena River. The Urabd traded salt, fish, and specially raised and fattened peccaries
336

and calabash
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
to the interior tribes,
vessels decorated with resin, their
specialty, to people in Cartagena.
The Tamalameque gathered with mem-
bers of other tribes in the plazas of their main centers to hold markets.
It
appears that some chiefs received tribute from their
own
subjects
This tribute consisted of gold, manufactured products, and plant and animal foods. The Spaniards used these tributes
as the basis for the
oi each
priests.
or from federated tribes.
much greater taxation, which they made the Indians encomienda and Church division pay to the encomenderos and
the
Among
Urabd the sons of the

were also
heirs.
principal wife
the remaining sons receiving nothing.

chiefs, the sons
Among
the Cenu,
were a man's heirs, who had female
BURIAL CUSTOMS
the Urabd many people assembled in the house of That night they drank chicha and lamented in the darkness, then buried the deceased with his weapons, cherished possessions, food, jars of chicha, and living women, for they believed in life after The graves are described above. Ccnu and Yapel graves, much death. sought by the conquistadors for the famed riches they contained, were marked by mounds, which the Spaniards called "mogotes." The body was placed facing, east in a deep hole and was accompanied by the dead man's weapons and ornaments, and by jars of chicha, maize, and stone
At a death among
of the deceased.
metates.
Several
women and
servants,
who had
first
been made drunk,
were interred with the deceased. The grave was covered with red earth, which the mourners brought from a distant place. The ceremony lasted as long as there was chicha to drink, so that the size of the mound depended on the available quantity of chicha. At the Fincenu temple site, where all the Cenu chiefs were traditionally buried, each grave was marked either by a specially planted tree with a gold bell hung from it or by an earth
mound.
WARFARE
The Calamari, Tamalameque,
quivers.
Tolu,
Twhaco, and Urabd used poisoned
darts or arrows, which they kept sheathed for their
own
protection in
Other
weapons
reported
were
lances,
spears,
harpoons,
macanas, and
The Cenu hurled gold (headed?) darts at the Spaniards. The Urabd bow was made of black palm wood and was a fathom or more long.
slings.
Probably none of these

exocannibalism
tribes,
except perhaps the Cenufana, practiced
(see below), and
with the Choco or Catio

flesh.
Simon probably confused the Urabd when he accredited them with eating human
In one battle
These Indians were valiant warriors, even the women.

an 18-year-old
girl
killed
eight Spaniards with her arrows.
Women
Vol. 4]
337
customarily went to war, some of them to pass weapons to their

others as regular soldiers.
men and
and
feasts,
The
latter
were young
girls or virgins,
they were privileged to participate in the drunken,
communal
carrying their bows and arrows,
arms, as Heredia observed
when the Indians were not able to carry among the Calamari and Turhaco. Fighting
in formations, orderly disposed in files.
was accompanied by
instruments.
cries
and the sound of trumpets and other musical
The Tolu fought
The Cenu
on a
litter
chief preceded his warriors into battle, carried by his subjects
decorated with gold, as
among
the ChibcJia of
Tunja and
Bogota.
CANNIBALISM
The Cenufana,
one chronicler.
of placing
or subjects of Utibara, ate

It is
human
corpses, according to
uncertain whether they consumed their

i.
own
dead,
but a suggestion of exocannibalism,
e.,
of enemies,
is
seen in the custom
human
trophies over the house doors.
Farther south, in the
Sub-Andean zone, this custom is associated with exocannibalism. The Urahd seem to have practiced endocannibalism, cooking their own dead on babracots and eating them (Simon, 1882-92).
Art work was practiced

textiles,
in connection with the decorative
ceramic designs, gold objects in
drawings on and anthropomorphic zoomorphic
forms, idols, and resin-decorated calabashes.
Musical instruments included drums, conch-shell trumpets (caracoles),

trumpets, and whistles.
Chicha,
made
of fermented maize or yuca,
was
in general use as
an
in-
toxicating drink.
RELIGION
AND SHAMANISM
The Calamari, Cenu, Cenufana, and Urahd had temples for their gods. The great temple of Fincenu accommodated 1,000 persons, and contained 24 tall wooden idols covered with gold leaf and crowned with a tiara. For each, a hammock hung from a stick served as a receptacle for offerings. Around the temple were the graves of important persons, each covered by a mound or marked by a tree from which hung a gold bell. Another temple, divided into three naves, had a highly decorated hammock suspended from a cross pole resting on four supports in human form, two men and two women. Above the hammock, in which the god was supposed to repose, were two boxes for offerings. The temple was guarded so that common people might not enter. The Fincenu believed that their g:od. or "demon" as the Spaniards called him, appeared to them and spoke with
the priest-shamans, who, like the present-day Goajiro shamans, were called
"piaches."
The most important
idols in
Cipacua and Cornapacua were a
peccary (puerco espin) and eight gold ducks.
The Indians
believed that
338
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
the god appeared in the form of animals, especially as a jaguar, which sug-
was so widespread in South America. and Calamari, shamans (mohanes) interpreted the gods' replies to the people, practiced magic, and cured the sick. Shamanism was inherited. Among the shaman's paraphernalia were pebbles kept in a pottery olla in the temple. To learn from the god, Buziraco, which herbs he should use to treat an illness, the shaman removed the pebbles from the olla. In one of the ceremonies, the shaman, accompanied by old men and women, entered the temple at night. The women threw their ornaments into the pottery vessel, which contained the pebjDles, tobacco leaves, and some water, while the shaman held a quantity of pulverized tobacco. He moved the pebbles in the water, and everyone looked and listened for the god in the water. Then the shaman took the tobacco powder in his mouth and blew it over everyone present, after which they did the same to him. Finally, the old women took their ornaments from the jar and carried the water away to purify their houses.
gests a jaguar cult like that which
Among
the Tolu
MYTHOLOGY
In addition to the myth of the origin of the three Cemi rulers (above),
the chroniclers recorded origin tales of the Calamari
and Tolu.
These
Indians were said to have come from a man, Mechion, and a woman,
Maneca.
The woman had
only one breast, where she concentrated her

tribes related that once there
milk with greater abundance and strength than in two and thus gave her
sons greater fortitude.
These
were giants in
their territory, people guilty of the heinous sin of being sexual inverts.
The giants associated with women only for the purpose of having children, and when these were girls the midwives killed them. The giants were Possibly finally killed by lightning (Simon, 1882-92, vol. 3, pt. 1, ch. 8). this legend was intended to explain the existence of sexual inversion, represented among the Calamari by the female warriors and by men who impersonated women and went from village to village selling their services
like the
ordinary prostitutes
among
them.
LORE AND LEARNING
The Calamari had a system

Heredia
. . .
of reckoning the time for planting and for

like.
harvesting maize, manioc, sweetpotatoes, and the

said,
Of
the
Mompox,
"they are smarter than the peoples of the other provinces
because they handle weights and measures" (Heredia, 1915 a).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1865)
Andagoya {in Jijon y Caamano, 1936-38, vol. 2; English version, Arevalo (in Cuervo [Sardilla], 1891-94, vol. 2) Asensio, 1921; Castellanes, 1852 (1874) Cieza de Leon, 1932; Garcia Carbonell, 1918; Gomara, 1749 (m Acosta, Heredia, 1915 a, 1915 b, 1916; Jijon y Caamano, 1936-38, vol. 2; Lopez de 1901)
Acosta, 1901;
;
Velasco, 1915;
Mesa
Jaramillo, 1905; Peredo, 1919; Pineres, 1917; Rebollo, 1919;
Rivet, 1943; Simon, 1882-92; Striffler, 1920, 1922.
PATANGORO AND AMANI
By Paul Kirch hoff
INTRODUCTION
In the dense forest of the eastern slope of the Cordillera Central, the
monotony of which is only very rarely broken by small patches of savanna, two remarkable tribes have been described by Pedro de Aguado (1916-17) on the basis of information given to him by men who conquered this region between 1557 and 1561. No later data are available on these tribes, who seem to have disappeared rapidly (map 6). The Patdngoro (Pantdgoro, Pantdgora, Palenque, Coroimdo) seem to have included the Zamand, Punchind, and Marquesote. The Amani evidently were a Patdngoro tribe that had been profoundly influenced by tribes of a different culture, probably those of the Cauca Valley. Aguado, our only source, states that they resembled the Patdngoro in those aspects of culture that he did not describe. At least two other tribes, the Panche and Muso (Muso), and the several subdivisions of the latter, may have resembled the Patdngoro in the same way as the Amani. Thus, the Patdngoro culture was the basic type, and the Amani, Panche, and Muso cultures represented special developments that were caused, at least in part, by outside influences. The culture of the Patdngoro, and, to a large
extent, that of the other three tribes, presents a striking contrast to that
of
all
other areas of western Colombia.
All these tribes are said to have spoken similar languages of the Chib-
chan family.
CULTURE
Farming.
Maize
was the most important
food, but sweet manioc,
auyama, beans, avocado pears, and guavas were also cultivated. In cultivating only two fruit trees these tribes were unique in western Colombia, where many different fruit trees were grown. The Patdngoro were also exceptional in caring little for chili peppers, and it seems that they did
not cultivate them, though the
Amani
did.
Twice every
year, in
December and
in
August,
men
cleared
new
patches
of forests felling the trees with stone axes
and burning the underbrush
339
340
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
and branches. A man's sisters (not his wives) sowed his fields, at least the maize and beans, using planting sticks. No piece of land was sown twice, for otherwise the weeds would kill the crops. The agricultural calendar was regulated by the movements of two constellations. A certain position of the Pleiades was interpreted as the constellation's having begun the planting season in Heaven, and men had to follow suit by cutting and burning trees. This first part of the task had to be finished before Castor and Pollux, sisters of the Pleiades, had reached the zenith at midnight, when they were thought to begin sowing, inviting the men's sisters to do the same. An alternative signal for the beginning of sowing was the arrival of certain migratory birds. During the second planting season, in August, every detail was guided by the blossoming and development of a certain tree.
Domesticated animals. The dog is not mentioned. Guans (paujies) and possibly other birds were taken from the nest and raised in the house.
forests inhabited
Hunting and fishing. The
by these
tribes
harbored
almost no animals or birds.

certain birds.
It is specifically stated that the

rats.
only meat eaten
by the Patdngoro was that of
The Marquesote
also ate
monkeys and
Fishing seems to have been important, at least in some parts of the area,
but no data are available on methods used.
No bread was prepared, either of maize or of Maize was eaten in the form of tamales or a sour dough made of maize flour mixed with manioc flour and consumed diluted in water, i. e., a food similar to the South Mexican and Guatemalan pozole, except for the addition of manioc flour. The more well-to-do carried lumps of this dough wrapped in leaves when they went to work in the fields. The two daily meals, one in the morning and the other in the evening, consisted of auyama leaves, wild amaranth and other unspecified "greens," and a few handfuls of maize flour all boiled together in a pot. Sometimes a few auyamas were added as a special feature. This dish was taken with maize and manioc beer. The only other dish mentioned is the leaves of certain unnamed wild plants, broiled between bigger leaves. The larger part of the maize and manioc harvested was consumed in
Food preparation.
manioc.
liquid state, as fermented drinks.
The Marquesote
Sa,lt
dried food,
e.g., fruit,
small
fish, birds, rats,
and monIt
keys, for preservation.
was unknown.
As
a substitute salty water
was drunk.
Chili
was
the
brought from springs in sections of giant bamboo.

little
pepper was
or hardly ever used by the Patdngoro but
was important among was the Amani.
Amani.
The only
der,
tribe in the area that ate

it,
human
flesh
boiled or barbecued
or, as a specialty, toasted
mixed
it
with
chili
pepper, and drank
it
in
and ground it into maize or manioc
They powbeer.
Vol. 4]
THE PATANGORO AND AMANI KIRCHHOFF

feet,
341
Hands,
of
human flesh, prepared the Amani villages.
and bowels were considered special delicacies. Large stores in any of these ways, were found in most of
HOUSES AND VILLAGES

Patdngoro villages were located in high
tribe, there
places.
In the villages of every
was a special building for ceremonies and festivals. Some Palenque villages had more than 50 houses, and those of the Amani had
an average of 80 or 90, built close together along regular streets. The villages of the Patdngoro, who were simpler folk than the Amani or Palenque, may have been smaller, and they are said not to have followed the
same orderly plan. The most distinctive feature
of
Palenque and Amani
villages
was a pali-
saded fortress ("palenque") of heavy logs, provided with loopholes.
The method
of house construction is not
known, but building materials
included bamboos (guadua), 7 feet (about 2 m.) long and as thick as a
man's thigh, and bihao
leaves.
is
The
only piece of furniture mentioned
the platform bed ("catre" or
"barbacoa").
DRESS
AND ORNAMENTS
if
some ugly scar wore an apron of loose strings of agave or cotton thread reaching almost to the ankles. At marriage they changed it for a small apron of cotton cloth; they always sat
went completely naked, but
it
Men
their bodies bore

girls
they covered
with a piece of skin.
Young
down
in
such a
way
that the
apron covered their private parts.
act of bravery they
For an were tonsured ( "coronado" ) Women wore the front portion of their hair, from the ears forward, loose, while the rest was woven with lianas into two braids wound around the head. Heads were deformed in such a way that the forehead was broadened. No ear, nose, or lip ornaments or other kind of bodily decoration are mentioned. Ornaments consisted of feather crowns, white bea,ds, and some apparently rare gold jewelry.
cut their hair at a level between the ears and shoulders.
,
Men
TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION

Liana bridges were used throughout the area.
tioned, possibly through a
Canoes are not men-
mere
oversight.
MANUFACTURES
Pottery was apparently made.
see
Gold was not worked.
For weapons,
Warfare below.
342

[B.A.B. BuU. 143
Each village seems to have been autonomous. Among the Patdngoro and Amani the village headman wa.s usually the oldest man with the
and the most outstanding personal qualities. Except during war the Patdngoro chief's authority was small. The Amani headman, who was elected by all the townspeople, had considerable authority. No exchange of goods whatever was carried on between villages or
largest family
/ribes,
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
Marriage.
erally
Among
all
tribes of the area, a
man
acquired a wife by
therefore, gen-
giving a sister to the brother of his bride-to-be.
man,
had as
many wives
as he
had
sisters.
In the case of several brothers
and
sisters, the oldest
brother allotted the sisters to his brothers, so that
they might exchange them for wives.
many
A man who had no brothers but might distribute some of them among close clansmen who had no sisters. If a girl had no brothers and her mother were a widow, she disposed of her sisters, but if a girl without brothers had lost her mother, her mother's brother or nearest male relative made the marriage
sisters
arrangements.
Most men had

wife or wives.
several wives,
who
often were sisters.
In any case
all
it
was
considered correct for a
man
to
have intercourse with
the sisters of his
The widow became
the wife of the dead man's brother or
closest relative, lest she be lost to his village
and return
to her
own.
Marriages were easily dissolved. The woman abandoned her husband whenever her brother or nearest clansman told her to. As a consequence,
who, being the abandoned husband's sister, Both women would take their chilthem. A husband could also discard his wife whenever he dren with wished, but at the same time he sent for his sister who had married his It is even said that at the death of one wife all others brother-in-law. would go home unless her brother could fill her place with another of his
her brother also
lost his wife,
likewise returned to her
own
village.
sisters.
A man's wives
quarrels.
all
lived together in one house without

slept every night
any jealousy or
The husband
it
with a different one.
When
was she who cooked for him; when he returned from the field or the warpath, she handed him a drink of maize beer, after which he went down to the river to bathe. Next, she covered his body with They then ate and retired. artistic designs. When a wife was visiting her mother, her husband was not allowed to
wife's turn came,
have intercourse with her in the mother's house but called her with certain
whistling sounds to join
him
if
in the fields.
son-in-law and mother-in-law were never permitted to look at each
other and had to look
away
they ever met by accident.
In some villages
Vol. 4]
THE PATANGORO AND AMANIKIRCHHOFF
343
there were special pathways
and roads where sons-in-law could be sure
of not encountering their mothers-in-law.
A woman
abstained from any intercourse during her menstruation and
while she was pregnant or

Patrilocal residence
was nursing a child. was the rule. A widow with daughters but without
sons would not permit her daughters' lovers to take the girls
their villages,
home
field.
to
though she allowed them to have intercourse near, though
not inside, her house.
These lovers had

to
to prepare her a
maize
Wives were expected

good.
liberty
Among
obey their husbands lest they be sent home for the Patdngoro, however, wives enjoyed great sexual
and were never restrained by their husbands, who always feared desertion. Amani wives had much less freedom. An adulterous wife was put into a dark room in the building where the wedding had taken place and kept there by special guards. Here, day after day, all men of the village who wished could have intercourse with her. If, after a specified time, she survived this treatment, she was starved to death. No husband could save his adulterous wife from this fate. If he should attempt to do so, he would lose his public standing and even risk being In any case he could not take another wife. killed by his own relatives. The adulterous woman's lover was also killed. Instead of burial, the couple's bodies were left at some frequented place outside the village to be eaten by carrion birds, and a conspicuous mark was left there which Here, at short intervals, a man specially would last a long time. appointed for the task delivered a long sermon before a big crowd includHe explained the crime and the ing even people from other towns. punishment commemorated at the place, dwelling on the shame brought on all of the delinquents' descendants, and admonished everyone to lead a clean and decent life, "something certainly never before heard of among
savage peoples," adds our chronicler.
Among
the
Amani an unmarried
girl
who gave
to
herself to a
man was
in the
condemned
to perpetual celibacy
and had
submit to the control of her

to
to
parents or close relatives.
The man was condemned
6 months
keep
it
communal ceremonial building, during which he had was not allowed to leave it for any reason.
In
all
clean and
these tribes
men sometimes exchanged
wives.
Among
first
the Patdngoro the wedding celebration lasted 7 days.

red,
On
the
day the bride-to-be painted her future husband black,
and other
During the first 6 nights the couple slept together without having intercourse, which was impossible because many boys and girls joined them every night. On the seventh night both were led to the bed, he by an old man of his clan and she by her brother; maize grains were placed al the head of the bed, and the bridegroom and bride threw them at each Planting-sticks were placed on both sides of the bed and weapons other.
colors.
344
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
hung up high to signify that the husband would provide his wife with food and shelter and defend his family. Among the Arnani 4 months had to pass between the preliminary agreement and the actual wedding. During this time the prospective
bridegroom and bride investigated each other's qualities. If both were satisfied, the wedding took place in the public building with all the husband's clansmen participating in the celebration. The young couple lived
for
some time
and
in this house,
where a man had the
special
assignment of
told
counseling the wife daily to be faithful to her husband, to serve him

willingly,
to rear their offspring properly.
The husband was
to treat his wife well
and not
to
have intercourse with her when she was
with
child.
into exogamous matrilineal clans. members of different clans were found together in the same villages. The rules of exogamy were strictly observed, but in the very rare cases when they were broken the guilty persons were killed with clubs and sticks, and it was believed that they would forever wander around without heads, suffering and doing
tribes
Clans.
All
were divided
patrilocal,
Because marriage was
penance.
Throughout life a man's relations with his sisters were closer or at any more permanent than those with his wives. It was a man's sister, not his wife, who constantly helped him in the field. The wife had only to prepare his meals, paint his body, and spend the night with him whenrate
ever her turn came, but sometimes she helped in the
fields.
When
husband
sister,
fell
ill,
especially for a long period, the wife returned with her
children to her brother's village, and her brother's wife, the sick man's
returned to her village.

all
In
these tribes certain
men posed
as
women and
lived with
men.
Their status seems to have been publicly accepted.
WARF'ARE
These were warlike and cruel tribes. Local groups, although connected by marriage bonds, were at continuous war with one another. Prisoners, including small children, were killed immediately. In fact, few prisoners were taken, for foreigners were killed at once. Children, even though still nursing, were taken to the corpses and given a little stick with which to touch the dead man's wounds so that they might become brave warriors. When a group of Indians met a beautiful woman from another village, they first raped her and then killed her, considering this an insult to her All who took part in such an assault thenceforth wore their relatives.
hair tonsured.
Weapons used
were poisoned,
in this area
clubs,
been only incidental.
were long bows and arrows, some of which and stone axes, but the use of axes in war may have Lances were noted only among the Palenque.
Vol. 4]
THE PATANGORO AND AMANl KIRCHHOFF

finely incised lines
it
345
The poisoned arrows bore

about 3 inches from the
tip,
so that
broke
off in the
was prepared by old women, who were

threw
all
tired
and had a small notch wound. The poison of living. The fumes of
Into a big vessel they
their poisonous concoction usually killed them.
the snakes they could find,
many
red ants, scorpions, spiders,
and other poisonous animals.

if
To
this they adiled
menstrual blood and,

of frogs for
they could be had, men's
testicles.
They kept a number

its
it
a few days in a vessel without food and then tied each by

stakes over a bowl
legs to four
exuded a poison which dripped into the bowl. They added this poison and the whitish juice of certain trees to the animals and other ingredients, which by now
and beat
it
with small sticks so that
had
and mixed the whole. Whenever this poison lost its added a little of the juice of the same trees and of manzanillo, which, among neighboring tribes (none of which used frogs, except the far-distant Choc 6), was the basic ingredient of their arrow or dart
putrified,
strength, they
poison.
and often individual houses, were protected by trenches 14 filled with pointed stakes, long and sharp enough to pierce a human body lengthwise. These trenches were carefully concealed with a covering of earth. Whether the stakes were poisoned is not clear. To lure the enemy, game was placed over these excavations sometimes the defenders were stationed behind them. The palenques or palisades, particularly those of the Amani, were
Villages,
feet
(4 m.) deep,
extremely strong and were built in almost inaccessible places.

able places there
At vulnerfeet (6
were two
palisades,
the outer more than 20
m.)
high, the inner 7 feet (2 m.) high, with the intervening space filled in The to the height of the latter, except for a trench 7 feet (2 m.) deep.
trench was
filled
with water, which was carried over extremely

distances.
difficult
mountain
trails
from considerable
In addition to the palisades
the easier slopes leading up to the fortification were protected with sharply
pointed stakes.
One
palenque,
supplies of
manned by 4,000 human flesh preserved
warriors and provisioned with ample

in different
it
by the Spaniards for 40 days before

only showered the attacking
was
taken.
ways, had to be besieged The defenders not

also
enemy with innumerable arrows but
threw large stones, great quantities of water, and burning torches down upon them. A special feature of some palenques was heavy wooden
trap doors.
fall
Heavy
logs, placed close to forest trails,
were arranged to
on anyone who touched a trip-cord

of feathers
tied across the trail.
and painted their faces and bodies. enemy were considered indispensable features of battle. One palenque had a special tower from which during the night a defender launched insult upon insult on the enemy outside.
Warriors wore crowns
Shouts, noises, and vituperations against the
346
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
On
and children
one occasion a group of young warriors accompanied by women tried to enter a Spanish encampment under the pretext of
Each man carried a giant bamboo in which he had a swordlike club and had a stone ax fastened to a string around his waist. The women and children carried smaller clubs hidden under bundles of bihao leaves.
delivering building materials.
LIFE CYCLE
There are no data on birth or puberty. In view of the fullness of data on other aspects of native life, this would seem to mean that these tribes had no puberty ceremonies. Death. A corpse was prepared for burial by the deceased's sisters and other clanswomen. The big toes and the legs above the knees were tied together. The whole body was painted with the most artistic designs; in addition to colors used on other occasions the Indians employed white and yellow, which were restricted to corpses. The body was adorned with white beads and a great number of feathers, and it was wrapped in a mat. The deceased was bemoaned and praised for a long time, then carried to the grave. Before burial an elder member of his family pierced the body three times with an arrow on the lower lip, on the shoulders close to the neck, and on the thighs, then left the arrow stuck between his belly and the mat. This was done to assure him good treatment in
the other world.
in a grave and cover the body with earth" does not seem to describe the deep-level graves typical of most western Colombian tribes.
brief reference to burial
The
"they bury him

RELIGION
Major
deities.
The Patangoro believed

worship him.
that a windlike being called
Am lived in the skies, but, in keeping with their general lack of formalized
religion, they did not
Regarding the sun and moon and andeities,
other deity called
Chusman
or Chanzan, two different opinions are said to
have existed.
only they and
According to one, the sun and moon were both
and
Am were in heaven.
Chusman was
a rather malignant deity
who, though evidently not living in heaven, sent terrible frightening and thunder and lightning. According to those who did not worship the sun and moon, Chusman lived with Am in the skies, was well disposed toward mankind, and expressed his will through
visions, diseases, famine,
shamans; he was also lord of the nether world. The afterworld. It was said that dead persons returning
to visit
their living relatives described the afterworld as a place of plenty
and
happiness.
The Indians were
so sure of
its
attractiveness that at different
times, including the period of the
Spanish Conquest, many of them
hanged themselves so as to go there
more
quickly.
Some
believed that
Vol. 4]
THE PATANGORO AND AMANIKIRCHHOFF

;
347
on the banks of the Magdalena River others imagined it to be in the west. The part of a man which went to the afterworld was an airlike substance called tip, similar to man but intangible, which resides in the heart and leaves it upon death. Magic and shamanism. If a boy of 5 or 6 had certain visions of human beings, birds, or other animals, he hurried to tell his mother his terrible experience. She would counsel him not to be afraid and to be prepared for further visions, for they meant that he had been chosen to be a shaman. To strengthen such a boy the mother would call other children It is not to beat him with sticks at certain hours and on certain days. stated how long such preparation lasted. At the end of it the boy was
it
lay in the east,
considered a full-fledged shaman.
If,
as only rarely happened, a long
time elapsed during which no boy received the visions necessary to be-
come a shaman, a
successor.
close relative of a
dead shaman was asked to be
his
The shaman cured wounds simply by washing them with warm water and putting his hand over them for head wounds the hair was parted and tied. In cases of wounds from poisoned weapons all the flesh afifected by the poison was cut away with a stone knife. For pains and diseases The shaman would the aflfected part was rubbed, sucked, and blown. draw blood from his gums and spit it out to demonstrate that the malady had been extracted. Among the Patangoro but not the Amani, if the patient died, his relatives killed the shaman. Shamans as well as ordinary people warded off rainstorms by blowing. Among the Amani, village "principales" and shamans would assemble in the ceremonial building and, seated on their stools, question one of the
;
shamans regarding war, weather, cases of adultery, the number of children The people would have, and the number of years they would live. special little window shaman answered from outside the house, through a or loophole, or from a structure built near the ceiling.
MYTHOLOGY
According
flood except
to the
one man, to whom a hollow bamboo, and a vessel.

hut to
live in.
Patangoro flood myth, everyone was drowned by the Am gave a stick wrapped up in a mat, From the stick he made himself a little When he awoke the first morning the bamboo had been
changed into a woman, who took the vessel and went for water. After this Am returned to heaven, and a horrible snake appeared to the couple telling them not to answer Am's calls lest they too be transformed into
snakes.
They followed
the snake's advice and as a result remained for-
ever naked and in need of
many
things.
The
possible Christian elements

;
may have been brought
into the story
by Rufo or Aguado
its
basic native
features can, however, easily be discerned.
348

LORE AND LEARNING
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
The numeral system seems

counted up to
10.
to
have been decimal, for the Indians

set of
Beyond
10,
however, they called everything "much."
The
tribes of this area
had developed a whole
combined whistling
sounds for long-distance communication. Antidotes agamst annual poison consisted, whenever possible, of certain
parts of the animal in question and, only
cases
when
this could rot
be
had, of herbs and bark.
All such remedies were taken internally
THE NORTHEASTERN EXTENSION OF ANDEAN CULTURE
By Alfred Metraux and Paul Kirch hoff^
INTRODUCTION
Although Chlhcha (Muisca) culture
is,
in spite of its obviously
character, curiously isolated geographically, cultures of a
Andean more or less
Andean or
northeast of
at
it
least
semi-Andean type continue toward the north and
for a considerable distance
(map
6).^
At
the time of the
European Conquest they extended
as far as the
mountain ranges con-
nected with, or easily accessible from, the

these mountain ranges, the chain of
Andean system. Exactly like Andean or semi-Andean cultures
bifurcated at
some distance northeast of the Muisca, one branch followAndes or Sierra de Merida, the other following the Sierra de Peri j a to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. At an earlier period Andean cultural influence must have reached even farther to the northeast, for archeology reveals it especially around Lake Valencia and in the plains south of the Venezuelan Andes, and ethnology shows that scattered Andean elements occurred within the eastern portion of the
ing the Venezuelan
Colombian-Venezuelan coast and even beyond
in
the Antilles,
The
Andean
future
culture elements encountered in the region around Medellin (the
old Province of
Aburra) appear
to be geographically isolated, although

in
archeological
investigations
the
area between
Bogota and
Medellin
to the
may
bridge this gap, adding thus a third, northwestern, branch

in higher altitudes, but there
two already mentioned.
Most of the tribes with this culture live are some tribes who have a large num.ber
in certain cases
with a culture that
is
Andean culture elements, markedly Andean or at least semiof
Andean
in type,
and who
live in the foothills or
even in the hot valleys

extremely
the
and plains within or close to high mountains. Information regarding most of the tribes
scanty.
of this area is
Some
tribes are included here not only because they occur within
the general area but also because they have a few elements
only elements recorded

1
is
often
tribes,
in
that are obviously
Andean.
Other
such
The
The
material on the Chaki
by Metraux; the Introduction and the information on the other on map 6 are principally those appearing
the text.
tribes are
*
by Kirchhoff.
tribes of this article appearing
Editor.
65 3 3 34
48
24
349
350
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
as the Lache, the tribes of the
tunately are better known, so that their inclusion in this area
Timotean family, and the Arhuaco, foris beyond doubt. These and probably other tribes, such as the Corbago, have not only characteristically Andean traits but also a cultural level comparable to that of many less advanced Andean tribes in Ecuador and Peru. However, the inhabitants of the region around San Cristobal the Zorca, Quenaga, Sunesua, and probably many others, and the Chake, as Jahn (1927, p. 80) calls the Highland tribes of the so-called Motilones group
in contrast to the
Mape
or lowland Motilones
are characterized not only
by considerably fewer Andean traits but also above all by a definitely lower cultural level. These peoples give the impression of having come
under Andean influence only relatively recently, for they still retain much non-Andean culture. Although the basic culture of this area, as manifested by the Chake, is found also among a number of other tribes around and to the east of Lake Maracaibo (see p. 469) in the territory of the Mape, the Chake and Mape probably do not have a sufficient number of specific traits in com-
mon
to
warrant their being grouped together as "Motilones."
In the 16th
century only the

cut hair").
Mape
were called "Motilones" (in Spanish, "those with
Since the disappearance of the other tribes of this region
the term
Indians,"
first
"Motilones" has become practically the equivalent of "wild The to the white settlers and then to anthropologists.
therefore,
is
name "Motilones,"
section
not used in this
article,
except in the
on history. The Mape in no sense belong to
this culture area, but at the
coming
of the Spaniards there existed a
number
of tribes in the region inhabited
today, and very probably then also, by the
Mape, whose
culture, to judge
by the scanty information at our disposal, was Andean or at least semiAndean (the Tayatomo, Corbago, and Araucana). Geographically these tribes link the Chake and other tribes to the north of them with the more southern members of this culture area, forming a chain broken only by
the
Mape.
The Arhuaco
ture
is on the the culture of the Colombian- Venezuelan coast are not missing), are
Nevada de Santa Marta, whose culwhole very markedly Andean (though resemblances with
tribes of the Sierra
treated elsewhere
(Handbook,
vol. 2, p.
868).
Some Andean elements have found their way to the Tairona and the Goajiro, who are respectively the northwestern and northeastern neighbors of the Arhuaco, but these tribes are strikingly different culturally
from each other and both are markedly non-Andean.
Enough Andean elements to give the local tribal cultures a distinctly Andean flavor are encountered in a curiously isolated region: the socalled Province of Aburra around Medellin in the upper Porce Valley
(this
volume,
p.
326).
Although the Porce and Cauca Valleys are con-
OUAlQUEft/
CAR/NfitSOTO
Map 6. The
KirchhofE native trijared with data furnished by Paul

(Face p. 350)
GiMiQueni
.cop*
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'Lolce
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'
C6NU
"my'
SUAMONTEY j
'
"
>
/;?
v^'^
^-^
Q.,
J^^^-C^"^
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I
r VAKUflO
4^x
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n^$-
l-^-^/CfC.
Mefa
P'yer
fir
ty t?l
10
1
ML/ZO
1^
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^^^^^
r
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^^ 2CZ
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^'
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ue
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Vol. 4]
NORTHEASTERN ANDEAN CULTURE
351
little
nected by an easy mountain pass, their cultures seem to have had

in
common.
The Andean elements found
in or near
ever, to be attributable to
an ethnic group different
Aburra seem, howfrom, and probably
exterminated by, the Indians encountered there by the Spaniards.

area are unknown.
most tribes in this Andes seem to have spoken related languages, this linguistic family being somewhat arbitrarily called Timote by Jahn (1927, p. 334). To judge by tribal and place names, the only linguistic data available, some of the tribes farther to the southwest possibly also belonged to this family, which to date must be considered as isolated. The Chake tribes, and probably some of their immediate neighbors to the south (Carate) and northwest {Coanao, Itoto, and Cariachil), belong to the Cariban family. Most Carib tribes living
linguistic affiliation
The
and even the language
of
The
peoples of the Venezuelan
form part of the neighboring culture areas The Arhuaco (e. g., the Carare, Opon, Bubure-Pemeno, and Kirikire). tribes belong to the Chibchan family. All the tribes treated in this chapter except the Chake disappeared long ago, although in the Venezuelan Andes they have left traces of their Their culture is known almost exculture among the local Mestizos. clusively through the accounts of the conquerors, as no missionaries worked among them. The most important sources are Oviedo y Valdes (1916-17), and Simon (1851-55), Castellanos (1874), Aguado
in this part of the continent
(1882-92).
HISTORY
The historical data referring to the Chake are not easily separated from those referring to the Mape, because these tribes have for some time past been lumped together as "Motilones." Between 1779 and 1792, both the "Chague" (i. e., Chake) and "Motilones" (i. e., Mape), in some cases together with the Sabril, Coyamo, and Aratomo (tribes that no more belonged to this area than the Mape), were collected by the Capuchins of the Provinces of Navarra and Cantabria in small settlements in the region of Peri j a and along the Catatumbo and Escalante Rivers. A census taken
in
1810 gives for these 10 missions a

above.
total of 1,190 Indians of the tribes
"Motilones" vocabulary, collected around 1738 by Father Francisco de Cartarroya but now lost, may have been taken
named
The
first
among
either the Chake or the Mape. Relations between the Whites and Motilones (apparently both Chake
and Mape) deteriorated completely

cruelly provoked.
From
then
maintained a hostile attitude

territory or settled nearby.
when the Indians were to the present many tribes have constantly and have attacked all who entered their
after 1836,
Several employees of the Caribbean Petroleum
which has many oil wells on the Venezuelan side of their territory, were killed by them. Since about 1915, however, relations between certain
Co.,
352
tribes
SOUTH AaiERICAN INDIANS
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
and the Whites have improved. The Capuchin missionaries at La Granja, on the Colombian side of the Sierra de Perija, have established friendly relations with many villages, and, on the Venezuelan side, members of the Tucuco tribe (who are Chake) come to work on farms near Machiques. When Dr. and Mrs. Bolinder (1937) crossed the Sierra de Perija from west to east in 1936-37 they were amiably received by several tribes. The Yasa (a Mape tribe) remain intractable, however, and are
feared by the other tribes of the region.
TRIBAL DIVISIONS
The
following six groups of tribes are provisionally included in this
culture area, largely because of their geographical location and because of
the similarity of tribal
cultural features only in the
and place names. Their inclusion few cases where data permit.
is
based on
both
(1)
The Lache on
the slopes of the
Nevado de Chita
differ
and culturally from the following groups. (2) The Tequia (Cercada) to the northeast of the Lache are practically unknown but were stated to differ both linguistically and culturally from their neighbors.
linguistically
(3)
The
Chitarera (Chitarero), including the Chindcota, lived in the
region of Pamplona.
The Cucuta and
the inhabitants of the towns of

all
Loma Verde (La Guazabara) and Zamia may

merely subdivisions of the Chitarera,
or in part have been
in the district
around Cucuta.
number of (4) tically unknown both

of tribes
tribes to the northeast of the Chitarera are praclinguistically
and
culturally, except for
some
cultural
data on the Chinato, Zorca,
Quenaga and
Sunesiia.
Among
this
group
were:
the the
Azua and Casahata;

Tdriba, Aborotd,
Toituna,
Gudsimo, Tonono, Sirgard, "Bar-
hillos,"
Simaraca, Tucape, Tamoco, and Tirapara; the Chucuri
and Cuite
the Burgna, on the
Burgua River Chinato and Lohatera, in the mountains northeast of San Cristhe
tobal,
,
and along the Zulia River the Capacho (Capncho) between the latter and the Chitarera; the Tdchira, Tote, and Toco, on the Tachira River the Tororo (Auyamas) in the lower Torbes Valley the Mocoipo, Guaramito, Peribeca, and Carapo; the Oriquena and Cacunubeca, in the upper Torbes Valley
,
the
Umuquena, on
the
Umuquena
River;
in the
the Venegara, Bocaquea, Babiriquena, Tucapuya, Nebica, Buriquero,
Mancueta, Buriimaquena, Huria, and "Piaches,"

Basin
Uribante
Vol. 4]
353
the Seburuco, around Seburuco; the Zorca, in the Santiago (today

the
San Cristobal) Valley;

Santo Valley, near Sar
Quenaga and Sunesua,
in the Espiritu
Cristobal
the Susaca, in the the
the
Corpus Cristi Valley, near San Cristobal Burba and the inhabitants of the town called Arcabuco (Corrales) Humugria and Cariqiiena, in La Grita Valley
;
the Queneniari (Quinimari)

the Guaraque,
around Guaraque the Cabaria and Mesoy.

(5)
and
linguistically
number
of tribes
grouped together
by Jahn
a,--
Timote
the "Bailadores" and
the "Estanques," Carigri,
Mucuti (Mocoti), on the Mucuties River: and Iricuye, on the Chama River from
Estanques to the beginning of the plains (the Giiaruri, said to be linguistic relatives of the last three tribes, are not likely to have belonged to this culture area, since they lived at the mouth of the
Chama River)
known
the Chiguard, on the slopes north of Lagunillas
ethnogra.phically un-
but important because of being mentioned in the traditions
of the ruling family of the Caquetio of Coro,
who
claimed to have
come from this region; the Jaji, Capds {Capds), Tucani, Escaguey, and Torondoy, on tht wooded slopes watered by the Capaz, Tucani, and Torondoy Rivers (the Torondoy, at least those who used blowguns as did the Pcmeu, on the southern shore of Lake Maracaibo, probably did not belont^
to this culture area)
;
the Torondoy, like the Chiguard, are
men
tioned in the traditions of a Caquetio group, far to the northeast, in

this case those of
Yaracuay;
the Quinaro,
(Jamuene), Orcase, and Case, around Lagunillas and on the Mesas de Caparu in the same neighborhood probably the Quirord;
including the Jamti
;
the Isnunibi, around Pueblo the
Nuevo
;
Miguri (Barbados), including the Tiguino, MucunS, Camucuay, and Mocochopo, around Acequias to the south of them the Macaria; the Mirripu, including the Mucujebe (Mucujepe), Mucumbi, and Mucuguay (Mocobay), on the Nuestra Seiiora River; in the same
neighborhood probably the Mocoabd;
the Tucuo, in the
Quebrada de Gonzalez
in the
same neighborhood
in the
the Guaiinaro ;
the Guaque, around Ejido and in the Pedregosa Valley
same
neighborhood the Curo;

the Tatui, around
Merida
354
the
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Cacute
Tabay (Tapay), around Tapay; in the same neighborhood the these two tribes may have been either the last of the lower
',
altitude tribes or the first of the higher altitude tribes.
the Caragud,
Mucuchay, Mucutubiri, Caparo, Aricagua, Michay,

upper Mucuchachi Basin
to
Ticoporo, and Curvati (Curbati), on the southern slopes, from
Canagua
in the
the upper Curvati
River; neighboring on them the Tiruaca, Moquino (Qino), and
Judigua (Judigiie)
the
Mucujun, including the Mocanarey and Mocaqueta, on the Alisares River; the Mucurubd, around Mucuruba; in the same neighborhood probably the Mucumano ; and the Mucuchi, including the Mocao, Misteque, Misintd, Mosnachoa, Musiquea (Misiquea) and Mucuchache, around Mucuchies; i. e.,
Mucujun or
all
these tribes on the upper

,
Chama River
;
the
Mucubaji (Carboneros) on the upper Santo Domingo River; the Aracay, on the Aracay River and the Pagiley (Pabuey) and
;
Pescahuey, on the upper Pagiiey River the Barinao, on the middle
Santo Domingo River
may
also
have belonged to
this culture area,
although around Barinas tribes of other culture areas are mentioned, e. g., the Jirajara and the Achagua (see pp. 469 and 399) the Tosto, including the Tost 6, Estiteque, Guandd, Misquichd, and
Niquitao, on the upper Bocono and
its
tributary, the Burate or
Oburate
to the
southwest of them, on the Tucupido, the Tucupi;
the Timote, including the Timote (and their subdivision, the
Esnu-
jaque), Miquimboy, Jajo,
Quindord, Chachopo, Mocotapo, and
Mucujurape, on the upper Motatan

the
Tirandd, including the Tirandd,

Misisi,
Chachu,
Estigiiati,
Curandd,
Bombd, Bujay, Tonojo, and

middle Motatan Rivers;
on the Jimenez, Castan, and
the Escuque, including the Escuque, Isnotu, Betijoque, Quibao, Poco,
and Mosquey, on the Poco River, and around Escuque, Betijoque, and Isnotu the Coromoclio, either to the north of them, or possibly
;
identical with
one or several of these tribes

Cabimbti,
the
Cuica,
including the Moitay, Siquisaye, Burbusay,
Chejende, Carache, and Cuica, around Monay, Burbusay, Carache,
and Cuicas
the
and
Umucaro (Humucaro, Umacaro), on the upper Tocuyo. A number of tribes in the northern part of the Cordillera Oriental (6)
and
its
northern continuation, the Sierra de Peri j a, the majority of them
belonging to the Cariban family

the Carafe, around
Ocana
Mene,
situated probably farther to the
the Tayatomo, not precisely located

the Corbago, in the Sierra de
south than the mountain range of that
name shown on modem
maps;
Vol. 4]

down
to the
355
the Xiriguand, on the slopes
Magdalena River
to south, the
the Araucana, to the northeast of the Corbago;
the
Chake group
of tribes, including,
from north
Sicacao,
Aguas
Yasa,
Blancas,
Cunagiiasata,
Tucuco,
Pariri,
Chake,
Macoita, and Macoa, on the eastern side of the Serrania de los Motilones, and the Socomha, Casacard, Milagru, Togaima, and
Tolima, on the western side of the Serrania de los Motilones
the
Coanao (Guanao),
Itoto,
and Cariachil,
in the
western
foothills
of the Serrania de Valledupar and on the upper Cesar

the "Coronndos," possibly identical with the "Coronados,"
i.
e.,
the
this
Burede, a subdivision of the Bubure (who do not belong to

culture area, but were neighbors of the Arhuaco,
who
are the
vol.
northwesternmost tribes with an Andean culture, Handbook,

2, p.
868).
p.
Grubb (1927,
58) calculates the total number of the modern Moti-
lones at about 5,000.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE Many Chake

to
are diminutive in stature, and they appear almost pygmoid,
judge by Bolinder's photographs (1937, p. 56). According to Booy's measurements, Macoa men average 5 feet 1 inch (1.55 m.)
height
;
De
in
women, 4
feet
8 inches
( 1
.42
m. )
CULTURE
Farming.
-This
area has two groups of cultivated plants:
those
characteristic of the surrounding
low country or Tropical Forest and higher altitudes of the Andes. Only the first group, which inthose of the cludes sweet manioc, sweetpotatoes, yams, maize, beans, auyama or uyame
{Curciibita pepo), gourds, malanga
roba, papaya, pineapple, tobacco, urucu,
tribes as the
Zorca and Chake.
(Xanthosoma sagittijolium) algarand cotton, was known to such The tribes of the Timotean family grow
,
these and fruit trees, such as the avocado, guava, guaimaro, star-apple,
spondias, pejivalle palm,
and pitahaya. Plants
of the
second group include
Ullucus tuberosus, Oxalis tuberosa, Solanmn tuberosum, ocumo, churi,

celery, aniana, icoraota,
area, the Chake, also cultivate plantains, a
and zapayo.^ The only surviving Indians of this few bananas, and some sugarcane, but their staples are manioc and maize. Farming techniques show the same contrast, although the dividing line is not so much that of altitude as of cultural level. The Chake have a semimigratory type of cultivation; they open large clearings along the wooded mountain slopes, today using axes traded or stolen from the
See Handbook,
vol. 2, p. S, for list of
Andean
cultivated plants.
356
Whites.
called

The Timotean
tribes
IB.A.K. Bull. 143
had permanent
fields,
often terraced,
and
tribe
for irrigation they employed either storage tanks or ditches.
The
"Los Estanques" had a tank or reservoir next to every house. The Miguri tribes in the valley called "Acequias" ("irrigation canals") and the Coronudo, to the northwest of the Chake, had ditches. The Timotean
tribes cut irrigation ditches
through hills and rocks and conducted the water onto terraces (catafos) that were 2 to 3 rods wide and had re-
taining stone walls.
These may
still
be seen.
It is
these terraces were
made only
soil erosion.
for irrigation or
not clear whether whether they were in-
tended also to check

It
would be expected that this higher Andean type of farming was in the hands of men, but our sources are silent on this point. Among the Chake men clear the field and plant; the women harvest. Among the Lache the women did the work in the fields.
The Chitarera stored maize in underground bins ("silos"), which in one village were so conspicuous that it was called the "Pueblo de los
Silos."
Hunting and fishing. The Chake are good hunters. They shoot game and birds from small blinds built on the ground or in trees. In certain localities fishing is particularly rewarding. The Indians shoot fish with bow and arrows, drug them, or seize them by hand in small ponds made by damming rivers. Food preparation. In the Venezuelan Andes the beans of the wild cacao tree were ground on a grinding stone and made into a drink called chorote. Chorote is made today. The "butter" which formed on the
top of cooled chocolate was, together with the beans, the most prized
religious offering.
The Chake usually roast meat on the babracot. These tribes eat maize on the cob or grind it on a slab with a stone mano (pi. 67, top), wrap the meal in leaves, and cook it. They pound manioc, mix it with water,
and heat it in a calabash placed among hot stones until it coagulates. Maize was used by the Timotean tribes to prepare an unfermented drink (mazato or masato) and a fermented drink (chicha). Only the (See p. 366; pi. 62, top, left.) latter is mentioned among the Chake. The tribes of the Venezuelan Andes had to import their salt from the lowlands near Aricagua. The Chake have no salt and shun condiments; today they use only a mixture of ashes and lemon juice. The Coanao
produced and traded
salt.
The Indians
two layers
living at
Lake Jurao
in the
Venezuelan Andes cut through
bottom to obtain chunks of sodium carbonate (jurao). They used it as a salt substitute on food, they mixed it with coca ( ?) in place of lime, and they made it into a paste which they
of deposits in the lake
They traded it to distant tribes, including the Maracaibo, the Tocuyo region, and the Venezuelan llanos.
licked.
peoples of Lake

Vol. 4]
357
Captive and domesticated animals.

houses the
In
enclosures close to their
Jamu
kept paugies(
?),
guans, turkeys, turtle doves, and several

pi.
other kinds of birds.
(See Macoa,
64, bottom, right,)
The
Chakk.
have no dogs today, and our sources do not mention dogs among other
tribes except the
Ahurrd, who had mute dogs.
HOUSES AND VILLAGES
The
distinction
between the two types of culture within
this area
both in cultural level and in the number of Andean traits (pp. 349-351) is seen clearly in the dwellings. Large towns are mentioned among the
Lache, the Timotean tribes, and the Corhago.

consisted of
The Lache town
of
Cocuy
some 800 stone-wall houses. The Venezuelan Andes were covered with a great number of settlements, and the Spaniards were astounded by the size of buildings and towns one
valleys and slopes of the
source says there were "as
many houses
as in
Rome"
and
by
their
orderly appearance, always with a temple in the center of town.
There
were few Corhago towns, but each was large, the principal settlement having about 800 houses. The Jamu settlements at Lagunillas were divided into quarters and were embellished by ornamental trees, in addiAt tion to the groves of fruit trees, and by enclosures full of birds. Estanques a water tank was found next to every house. The modern house has a circular ground plan and a wall of stones joined with clay, which, however, is of no structural importance as the roof rests directly upon a wooden framework. Chitarera, Zorca, and Chake settlements (pi. 61, top), and probably
those of the majority of the remaining tribes, are villages rather than
towns.
houses.
The
size of only
one Chitarera settlement
is
known
it
had 20
Subterranean storage rooms for maize were a conspicuous fea-
Zorca villages were composed of 8 to 10 or at most 20 houses, the walls of which were formed of vertical sticks with the interstices filled in with straw and The Chake villages visited by Bolinder (1925) conSpeletia leaves.
ture of the Chitarera village called "Pueblo de los Silos."
sisted of very
rudimentary structures
either simple lean-tos, supported
by a transverse bar resting on two vertical posts, or huts formed by double

and a small porch along the front. These protection against cold and rain. The huts were flimsy and gave floor was covered with ferns and small mats on which the Indians slept. The Chake lack hammocks and wooden benches. The absence of hammocks, nowhere mentioned, seems to be one of the negative characteristics
lean-tos with both ends closed
little
of this area.
The houses
surrounded
Cercados."
of Tequia chiefs were, like those of the Muisca chiefs,

palisades,
by
for
which
reason
they
were
called
"Los
The houses
of the
Timotean Indians called Los Valientes
were provided with loopholes.
358
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
Causeways, which are such a conspicuous feature in the archeology of

the plains south of the Venezuelan Andes, have also been reported from
Los
and described as similar to those Cuzco" were found by the Spaniards in the Province of Aburra. At intervals of about 2 leagues, they had wayside shelters filled with provisions and surrounded by fields. Although these causeways seem to have been in use at the time of the Conquest, being routes of trade with tribes farther east, they were evidently not built by the Indians encountered here by the Spaniards but by an earlier people, who had also left behind many ruined cities, apparently of stone. According to local tradition, these cities were destroyed by the Nutabe, a people of Colombian-Venezuelan coast culture, and by the inhabitants of the otherwise unknown "Province of Urezo."
Valientes.
of slabs
of the
Causeways built Muisca and "wider than
in
DRESS
AND ADORNMENT
Despite frequent lack of details there

of this area
was
distinctly
usually of cotton cloth,
is no doubt that dress in most Andean, being characterized by garments, that covered more than the sexual organs and in
some cases included a covering for the head, also of cotton. Lache dress is unknown, but warriors of this tribe are said to have fought "naked." The Chitarera wore "cotton blankets." From the Zorca to about where the boundary between the Venezuelan States of Merida and Trujillo crosses the Venezuelan Andes, women wore a tunic, described as a long, tight, sacklike garment, or they simply wrapped a blanket around the body and tied it over one shoulder. The blanket was gathered around the waist with a belt in such a way that the upper part hung over loosely and could be used to carry all kinds of objects. Both tunics and blankets were woven of agave fiber in the western portion of this region but were of cotton in the eastern. In contrast to women, men went naked, with the prepuce tied to a string worn around the waist. Among the Quenaga and Sunestia, however, men wore tunics of agave fiber, apparently identical with those worn by the women, except that they were provided with shoulder straps. Among some of the tribes in the valleys east of Merida, as far as the Timote, the men wore cotton tunics extending below the knees; in others, however, men perhaps went completely naked. Women in this region wore a big cotton blanket gathered at the waist with a belt and held together over the left shoulder with a wooden or golden pin, which often had a hollow head containing one or several tiny pebbles. Their arms and legs remained bare. Until the beginning of this century, Miicuchi women wore a dress composed of two such blankets, one white, the other with colored stripes they wore one over the other and fastened the upper one with a pin. An Andean type dress, described as a baglike garment which was painted, as among the Muisca, with leaf and curvilinear motifs, occurred eastward to Guanare River,
;
Vol. 4]

Venezuelan Andes,
i.
359
the Tucupi.
in the foothills of the
e.,
probably
among
Among
the Cuica,
who
are the northeasternmost Timoteans, the dress of
both sexes was non-Andean, being identical with that of some of their
neighbors of the adjoining culture area. Men went naked except for a gourd penis cover, while women wore only a multicolored cotton apron ("bayo") not wider than a hand. Here cotton blankets are mentioned only as religious offerings. The inhabitants of the town called "Las Tapas" (probably Tucani) made tight capes of interwoven palm leaves that covered a man from head to foot. These capes are seemingly an
isolated occurrence.
culture,
Following the other branch of this Northern Extension of Andean we find again that a number of tribes characteristically have
Tayatomo women wore one-piece tunics ground and were provided with cowls. Among the Corhago and Xiriguand both sexes wore painted blankets. In an unnamed tribe nearby cotton tunics painted with curvilinear and leaf motifs are mentioned. A Chake man wears a long cotton tunic decorated with brown stripes or ribbons, and on his head a cotton cap, a wide woven head band which the wealthy decorate with seeds (among the Macoa the extremities fall down the back), or a straw hat with a conical crown trimmed with bunches of feathers (pi. 63, bottom; pi. 64). Women use a small cotton loincloth, and in cold weather they throw a cotton mantle over their shoulders and tie it under the chin. Children and even young unmarried girls go very scantily dressed or else completely naked (pi. 65, top). Babies wear a long shirt which may be used to carry the child on the mother's back. The Coanao wore cotton blankets. For the inhabitants of the Province of Aburra we have conflicting reports, which may refer to two different ethnic groups, one of which may be either an ethnic remnant of the builders of the causeways found
complete and
Andean type
dress.
that reached to the
in this region or else people
who
inherited their culture.
One
authority
speaks of breachclouts, 1J4 yards long by 1 yard wide. The breachclout is characteristic of the Cauca Valley tribes across the mountains. Robledo
(1864), on the contrary, states that the

tied to a
hank
of red or white thread
custom, though not typically

above.)
men went naked, with the prepuce wound around the waist. This Andean, is found also among tribes which
(See
belong both culturally and geographically in the Andean area.
The most
frequent and usually the only personal adornment are neck-
laces of colored seeds
(the Chake use seeds of Abrus precatorius and Coix lacryma-jobi), jaguar and other animal teeth, tufts of small feathers, and, especially characteristic of this area, carved bone beads. In addition, the Timoteans use white and green stone beads (Jamu) and very thin shell disks (chaquiras). Whereas these tribes usually employed but one material at a time, such as stone, shell, or bone (e. g., the Jamu), the
360
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Chake seem to prefer a combination of several materials in one string, which they wear tightly (men) or loosely (women) around the neck, or over both shoulders and under the opposite arm. Mucubuy men wore many gourds tied to their waist, apparently as part of their war make-up. Breastplates of bone were worn by the Jamu. Very thin stone breastplates representing a highly stylized bird, possibly
an eagle with outthe Chake, but the
stretched wings, are frequently found archeologically in the Venezuelan
Andes.
Breastplates have not been reported
among
Coanao to their northwest wore eagle-shaped gold plates. Deformatory ornaments are only mentioned twice: bone nose ornaments in the Venezuelan Andes and golden earrings among the Coanao.
Their rarity
may
be one of the negative characteristics of this area.

is
Whereas bone
adornment
the most characteristic material used for personal
guanin) seems to have been but two known occurrences being in the Venezuelan Andes and among the Coanao. It is probable, though not certain, that the Timotean tribes did not manufacture the few golden objects they used. The Coanao are definitely known to have acquired theirs in exchange for salt, probably through some neighboring tribe, from the Tairona or the Pacahucy, both belonging to the Colombian- Venezuelan
in this area, gold (probably
rarely employed, the only
coastal culture area.
painting.
Red and black are the most common colors used for The Mucubuy painted their faces and bodies
which reason the Spaniards
called
face
and body
all
black
over,
them "Carboneros." The Macoa paint their faces with intricate designs of stripes and dots in black, brown, and scarlet (pis. 67, 68, 70, for example). The Colombian Chake use
for
urucu.
From
long.
the region of the Zorca to about Merida, the hair

it
was worn
around the head, which was covered with certain broad leaves. From Merida eastward the hair was cut at ear level. The Timote wore little pigtails close to the ears. Feather head-
The Zorca wound
dress has been reported only in this region.
Among
the
Macao both
sexes cut their hair short.

levels within the
who seem to represent one of the highest cultural Timotean family, wore beards and were consequently often called "Los Barbados." The "Barbillos," to judge by their Spanish nickname, may have done the same. A man with a painted mustache and beard was observed among the Macao.
The Miguri
tribes,
TRAVEL, TRANSPORTATION,
AND TRADE
No means
of the
of transportation
(pi. 63,
is
Chake
top;
pi.
64, bottom, left).
mentioned except the carrying ^baskets Babies were carried on
the back, in special slings (Venezuelan
Andes) or by means
of the long
Vol. 4]

wears (Chake).
361
(a rope
shirt the child
To
cross gorges the tarabita
bridge)
is
used today in the Venezuelan Andes and
may be
pre-Columbian.
Articles of trade were salt (Venezuelan Andes and Coanao) and jurao (Venezuelan Andes). Balls of cotton thread and strings of tiny shell
disks were used as media of exchange in the Venezuelan Andes.
MANUFACTURES
Division of labor. Little is known about this subject. Among the Lache the women worked in the fields. Among the Chake men build the huts, do basketry work, knit bags, clear the forest, plant and sow, and make their weapons and clay pipes, while women spin, weave, and
make
pots.
Textiles.
The Chake spin cotton threads with a drop spindle

into strings
rolling
(pi. 67,
bottom)
the thread passes through a ring hanging from the roof.
Agave
by These Indians make looped or netted bags identical to those of their Arhuaco neighbors, from whom they probably borrowed the technique and the ornamental motifs. Among the Chake, bags are knitted by men, not by women. To loop the cotton threads they use wooden needles withfibers are
made
them on the
thigh.
out a hole.
Cotton fabrics (tunics, loincloths, bands) are woven on the vertical loom (pi. 64, top, right; pi. 68, top). Basketry. The Chake are good basketmakers. Their carrying bags, satchels, telescope boxes, quivers, and fire fans are produced in the same twilled and hexagonal weaves as in the Guianas, but the specimens collected by Bolinder are plainer than those of the more eastern Cariban
tribes.
In our area the strands are not stained, but decorative effects
are achieved by alternating strips with the rough side out and the smooth
side out.
Ceramics.
To judge by the
rich archeological ceramics in the
Vene-
Our sources only rarely mention that the tribes of the Timotean family made vessels and other objects of clay, among them censers and idols. The tribes with comparatively few Andean traits and with a low cultural level
zuelan Andes, this area must have had good potters.
(p.
350) used gourds and calabashes to a far greater extent than clay
pots.
The
Chitarera even
received their
name from
their
extensive
use of calabashes as receptacles.

described as course or crude.
The
clay vessels of these tribes are
Those
of the Quettaga
and Simesua were
about three fingers thick at the rim and were used only for cooking.
All Chake pots characteristically have a pointed bottom and four ears.
They
are unpainted but sometimes are decorated with finger impressions.
Weapons.
number more or
^The
tribes of this area fall into
whether the bow

less
is
absent or
is
the
of tribes are intermediate.
two groups according to main or only weapon, though a The two groups seem to coincide
with the two types of cultures found here.
362

absent
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
The bow was

some Timotean
clubs
among
the Tequia and the Aburrd, both of
whom
used spear throwers, and, judged by somewhat inconclusive evidence,

tribes lacked
it.
For warfare,
tribes without
bows used
(the tribes around Merida), clubs and slings
(the Coromocho),
tribes of this
or lances, spears, and clubs (the Cuica).

area, including
The remaining
some of the Timotean
family, used the bow.
occurred mainly
among
the marginal southwestern peoples,
The bow who possibly

to use only
belonged to another culture (the so-called Valientes, the MucucJtachi, the

Aricagua, and the so-called Bailadores)
the
.
The Choke seem

left),
bow
(pi.
70, top, right
and bottom,
of this area
but the other tribes apor

lances.
parently,
always preferred clubs,

at
slings,
spears,
Among
and the Itoto and Cariachil at the other, bows are not mentioned, but it is not certain that they were Itoto and Cariachil warriors are described as carrying long lacking.
the
Lache
one extreme
lances.
linguistically
Blowguns occurred only among the marginal Torondoy who, though members of the Timote family, may not have belonged to
Shields were used from about Cucuta in the south to the Itoto and
this area culturally.
Cariachil in the north, being apparently absent

tribes
among
the Timotean
and the Chake. These weapons are rarely described. Clubs, always called "macanas" and often described as long, seem to have been of the cutting variety (sword-clubs). Those of the Lache were provided with a "bannerlike" adornment made of the feathers of guacamayas, parrots, etc., or of fine straw. In the Venezuelan Andes, where the use of wrist guards has been reported, bows are said to have been long, while those of the Corbago were so small that they were carried in the quiver, together with the arrows. Chake bows are of palm wood, with an elliptic or lozengeshaped cross section and a length of 1.2 to 1.5 m. (4 to 5 feet). Macoa
1.92 m. (6 feet 4 inches) in length. The Chake, like the Colombian- Venezuelan coast, frequently use their bow staves as clubs and can inflict heavy wounds with the sharp edges. The bow-
bows average
tribes of the
string
is
of vegetable fibers.
Only the Chinato are
said to have used
of the Colombian- Venezuelan coast.
arrow poison, a characteristic Chake arrows lack feathering. Ar-
rows have reed shafts into which are fitted points of various types, the most common now being a wooden foreshaft tipped with an iron blade The bindings form various designs named after (pi. 71, top, left). animals or designs like those on serpents. Hunting and fishing arrows are tipped with a barbed wooden rod, with two wooden rods, or with a wooden rod and four points diverging from its base. Harpoon arrows are also used for hunting game. Arrows are kept in a quiver, which
the
Chake make of basketry.
Vol. 4]
363
Shields used by warriors were, to judge by the terms used by our
sources (adarga and paves), oval or oblong, and large enough to cover
almost the whole body.

of bark.
The Corhago made them
either of deerskin or
Offensive weapons were bows, clubs, spears, and lances.
seems to have been characteristic of this area; and chiefs were unknown. Among the Lache there were fist fights between certain subdivisions ("parcialidades"), probably of a local character. These were usually accompanied by many casualties. Little is known of the nature of chieftainship, which probably differed considerably in the two types of tribes. In some tribes the chief evidently ruled over a whole valley, while in others he was simply the village headman. Thus in the region just west of Merida in the Venezuelan Andes chiefs were called cepo and apparently wielded considerable authority, while among the Zorca the local headman was usually the man with the biggest family and the largest fields. He had little authority and did not
Political fragmentation
tribal organization
intervene in disputes
killed,
among
his people, a thief being punished, often
by his victim.
is
There
advanced
selected
no evidence of
local
social
stratification,
even
among
the
more
tribes,
except that one reference states that war leaders were
from the
noblemen ("principalejos")
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
in the
Venezuelan
Andes.
Marriage.
Among the Zorca, parents betrothed

grew up and
first
their children at birth.

girl's parents,
The
children
slept together in the
house of the
first
having their
intercourse at the time of the girl's
menstruation.
house was
built for the
new couple and
the
wedding celebrated with
drinking, singing, and dancing.
wife apprehended in adultery remained with her husband and was
not punished, provided her brothers or nearest kin killed her lover.
Otherwise she was sent home to her parents or brothers, her offense
being considered a great disgrace.
Among
status
the Chake,
monogamy seems
(pi. 61,
to prevail.
Important Macoa
is
men
may have two wives

and
is
bottom), but the second has a far lower

Child betrothal
said to be
regarded as a servant.
common,
but marriage takes place only after puberty.
Among
by
the Zorca, parents are said to have been so domineered over
their children that the latter
had the right
to
punish them.
Homosexual
and
friends, the
relations.
The Lache,
in contrast to all the other tribes
of this area and almost certainly through the influence of their neighbors
Arawakan
Caquetio, publicly recognized male

if
homo-
sexuals,
whom
they married and buried as
they were
women.
Women
who
bore five male children consecutively were permitted to rear one as
a woman.
'364

WARFARE
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
The majority of the tribes of this area seem to have been warlike, chough some were more so than others. In the 16th century all the Indians encountered by the Spaniards attacked in orderly formation, with
(which caused the valley inhabited by the be named "La Grita"). To annoy and provoke the enemy, warriors in the Venezuelan Andes danced around with wild movements and made faces; hence came Spanish names such as "Los Locos" and "Los Bailadores." Near Cucuta (Loma Verde) we
inuch shouting and noise
Humugria and Cariquena
to
hear of warriors drinking chicha before going into
battle, just as in the
Colombian- Venezuelan coastal culture.

waists.
In the tribe called "Los Baila-
dores" the warriors carried into battle heavy ropes
wound around
unnamed
their
These were used
to tie prisoners.
tall
Pointed stakes hidden in

near Cucuta.
grass were used in an
village
and moats with drawbridges seem to have been adopted in the Venezuelan Andes during the wars against the Spaniards, when some tribes lived exclusively in fortified settlements. These were located in inaccessible places from which the inhabitants rolled big boulders down upon the attacking Spaniards. Whether any of these military techniques were known in pre- Colombian
Fortifications of palisades
days
is
uncertain.
LIFE CYCLE
Childbirth. Chake women give birth
in the forest
without assistance.
all
The baby
is
bathed, after which girls and

feast.
women
of
ages perform a
dance during a
slow, the
Only two men
assist,
one holding panpipes in one

is
hand and weapons
in the other.
After the dance, which
extremely
runs
men
shoot their arrows to the ground in front of them.

girl
Puberty. At the appearance of her first menses a Chake away but is pursued and caught by an old woman who shuts her
cabin, like those used
in a small
by hunters, where she remains for 10 days. She must turn her back to the opening, through which food is given to her, and she receives a drug which is supposed to stop the flow of blood. Burial customs. The Zorca placed their dead horizontally in grave? A deceased widower (or just big enough to accommodate the body. widow) was not allowed to wash himself nor touch any food with his hands for 10 months. Other people had to feed him; if he were alone
he had to
lift
the food to his
mouth with
his wrists.
In the Venezuelan Andes, to judge by archeological finds, the body was placed in a stone tomb (called to this day "mintoy," i. e., "cave"), closed with a stone slab. To prevent the corpse from touching the walls or roof Someit was either sealed (on a stool?) or placed squatting on its heels.
times the dead were buried in natural caves.
Maize, "roots" (probably
manioc), chicha, clay figures, and weapons (for
men) or a grinding
stone
Plate
61.
"Motilones"
University
(Macoa,
b.)
i.
e.,
Chake)
village life.
(Courtesy,
(After
Museum,
Philadelphia.)
Bottom:
Top: Village sicnr. Family group.
De Booy,
1918
Top {nght): Plate 62. "Motilones" Indians. Top {left): Making cliicha. Magdalena, Colombia. Group at Maraca. Boitom {left): Woman, Department of
(Courtesy Batista Venturello.)
Perija.
Center:
Chicha trough (hollowed
log)
of the
'Bottom (right):
range.
Temporary camp on Rio Negro at American Museum of Natural History.) (Courtesy
foot of
Penja
-r*>^
/.'y?
i^
Plate
hat,
63.
line carrying l:)asket
"Motilones" (Macoa, and gourd.
and carrying packs.
e., Chake) carrying devices. To]): riinii)Bottom: On the trail, wearing tunics, straw(Courtesy University Museum, Philadelphia.)
i.
Plate 64. "Motilones" (Macoa,

playing an
ax-flute.
Top
{right}:
tom
{left):
Tumpline basket.
Tov {left): Man Chake) Indians. e., i. Weaving. (After De Booy, 1918 b.) Bot(Courtesy Bottom (right): Man with parrot.
University
Museum,
Philadelphia.)
i
Plate
costumes. Top: Women and children, Cuhnnbia. (Courtesy Batista Venturello.) Bottom {left): Men from Rio Yasa. Garment of native-grown cotton. Bottom {right): Perija Mestizo man with haircut and costume typical of Sierra de Perija country, Venezuela. (Courtesy American Museum of Natural History.)
Go.
"Motilones"
Plate
66. "Motilones" weaving. Top: Cotton cloth on a vertical loom. Bottom: Twining a reed mat. (Courtesy University Museum, Philadelphia.) (After De Booy, 1918 b.)

for chicha.
i.
e.,
Chake)
(After
De Booy,
1918
b.)
crafts. Top: Grinding meal Bottom: Spinning cotton. (Courtesy
University
Museum,
Philadelphia.)
I'LviE
Chake) musical instruments and fireTop (right): Using a fire drill. a flute. making. Top {left): Man playing {right) after De Booy, Bottom: Blowing on the sparks to start the fire. (Top University Museum, Philadelphia.) 1918 b; others, Courtesy
tJS
"Motilones"
(Macoa,
i.
e.,
Plate
Bone platform used by the bones are dried in these platforms and then thrown into a cave. (Courtesy American Museum of Natural History.) Top (right): "Motilones" from Department of Magdalena, Colombia. Bottom (left): "Motilones" group from same region. (Courtesy Batista Venturello.) {Bottom {right): "Motilones" on log-bridge trail. (Courtesy American Museum of Natural History.)
69.
"Motilones" Indians.
Top
{left):
Perija, a "Motilones" subtribe.
Human

dressing child's hair.
(After
i.
e.,
De Booy, 1918
Bottom
Chake) Indians. Top {left): Woman Top (right) and Bottom [left): b.)
(right):
Men
with bows and
arrows.
elderly
woman.
(Courtesy
University
Museum,
Philadelphia.
^^"^
^t''"" (Macoa, i. e., Chake) Indians of the Sierra de Perija. ov ; Heft): \\arnor with arrows. Top {right): Old man plaving a musical bow and youth with panpipes. Botto^n {left): Burial practices, involving the disinterring of the remains of a chief. Bottom {right): Woman with a basket. (Courtesy Gerard Reichel-Dolmatoff.)
Vol. 4]
365
(for
women) were
placed close to the corpse, together with beads of a
reddish quartz, which are frequently found today in the graves, usually
in a pottery vessel.
In the houses of the Corbago the Spanish conquerors found heads,

arms, and legs
stufifed
with straw.
Since
war
trophies are
reported
nowhere
tribe.
in this area, these
remains
may have been
the deceased of this
The body
grass.
of a deceased Chake
is
kept for 2 days in his hut and then

placed on the floor and covered with
taken to an isolated cabin where
it is
left).)
(Formerly the corpse was deposited on a platform (pi. 69, top, Food, drinks, and the deceased's weapons are left by the corpse. After a month the Indians collect the bones and sew them up in a piece
of cloth. They carry the bundle to the dance ground while men shoot arrows into the air and women pelt each other with liana leaves. They drink and dance for 2 or 3 nights during which two of the deceased's
closest relatives
dance and play the

(pi. 71,
flute,
carrying the funerary bundle

is
on
their backs.
After the feast the bundle

bottom, left).*
suspended from the hut

for
roof for 2 or 3 years
If
are not available, pieces of
wood
are substituted.
some reason the bones These are painted with
red figures and bound together.

in the
Finally the bones are carried to a cave

the bones
it.
mountains.
Whoever has touched
may
is
not touch food

also prohibited
with his hands but must use leaves to handle
He
from going
to the fields, lest
he spoil the maize.

trumpets are mentioned among the Timotean family, and the Chake. The last also have side-blown cow-horn trumpets (post-Conquest), bone quenas or end flutes with a single stop (pi. 68, top, left), and panpipes (pi. 71, These Indians top, right) of eight tubes bound with a simple ligature. have a unique type of flute with a lateral air duct placed at right angle The projecting part of the mouthpiece is wound to the air chamber. around with cotton thread and the rest is covered by a large lump of
Shell
Ch'itarera, the tribes of the
wax
of
(Izikowitz, 1935, p. 375).

its
This contrivance gives

flute."
it
the appearance
1.1
an ax, hence
name, "the ax
Its length is
about
m. (3
feet
8 inches) and
its
diameter 5.5 cm. (2.2 inches)
(pi. 64, top, left; fig.
67).
Drums and
to the Chake.
*
rattles,
reported from the Venezuelan Andes, are
unknown
by Wavrin (1937, pp. 453-462). Tlie body is forced into a The mother or wife of the deceased weaves a special blanket in which to carry the bones. The woman who crushes the maize for the chicha consumed during the feast of the transport of the bones observes chastity. The march to the tomb is preceded by a ceremony in which two men play bone flutes while others dance. Women also dance or play panpipes. On the way back from the grave, men open a new path in the bush. The bones are kept in the hut only for two days and
Some
additional details are given
fetal position.
are then carried to an ossuary.
653334
48
25
366
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
FiGXJRE 67.
"Motilones"
ax-flute.
Cross section of head below.

fig.
(Redrawn from
Bolinder, 1917,
29, a, b.)
Dances.
Chakc dances follow a simple pattern

bow
or his
Men
dance in pairs,
each resting his
hand on
his partner's shoulder, while they
walk forward and backward, stamping the ground and singing a monotonous song.
Sports and games.

indulged in
favorite
fist fights,
The Lache
ball is
of different groups, probably local,

in
which usually resulted
many
Chake game boys shoot

In another game a
at each other with
casualties. In a arrows tipped with
corncobs.
caught in a kind of basket affixed to
the end of a pole.
String figures are also popular.
maize, which
Alcoholic beverages. The Chake prepare chicha with young fresh is ground and boiled, then mixed with old chicha to hasten
the fermentation.
They do not add

is
saliva to obtain this result.
particularly strong chicha
made
of crushed
maize wrapped in
leaves to
make
small bundles and cooked for about an hour.
The maize
pellets are then dried in the
sun until they develop a covering of fungus
through partial fermentation.

yuca, and sweetpotatoes.
tion
The day before
the feast the pellets are
placed in a hollow log, the "kanoa," together with crushed ripe bananas,
Water is poured on this mixture and fermentacommences immediately. (De Booy, 1918 b, p. 202; Wavrin, 1937,
p 456.) Stimulants.
groups use
it
Coca
was used by
still is
the
Timotcan
in the
tribes.
Some Chake
jellylike prepa-
today but only for medicinal purposes.
In the Venezuelan
Andes tobacco was and

ration called
consumed
form of a
know how
clay
They make cigars but prefer to smoke pipes, which consist of a bowl and a wooden stem and resemble those of stone which have
or chimo.
mo
The Chake
are passionate smokers.
to
been found
in the
Tairona region.
These pipes are manufactured
locally.
Vol. 4]

RELIGION
367
The Lache venerated

all
stones, believing that the
dead became stones, that
some future date they would turn into men again. They also considered shadows as "gods," which the sun gave to men and objects. The "House of the Sun" was an important religious center and burial place, not only for the Lache but also for many of the Chibcha (Muisca). It was built facing the rising sun on the eastern slope of the Andes, facing out over the plains. It was evidently visible from a great distance, especially when the sun was Inside were many reflected from the golden objects placed outside it. suspended strings of beads, sea shells, and chests of gold placed on racks. The location of the Lache "House of the Sun" and its place in Chibcha culture were similar to those of the Temple and Convent of the Virgin
stones had originally been men, and that at
Sun found to the east of the Chibcha, in the plains farther south Guayupe territory (see p. 385), and to the causeway which is said to have descended all the way from the Muisca town of Sogamoso to the eastern plains. The latter was built in commemoration of Bochica's disof the
in
appearance.
The
(ches),
tribes
of the Venezuelan
lived
Andes
believed in a supreme being
on the highest mountain peaks and in lakes. The temples that stood in the middle of every town were places of worship, although certain rituals seem to have been performed directly on mountaintops, in caves, etc. Idols were made of cotton thread, fired clay, wood, or stone. Offerings consisted of the heads, antlers, or bones of deer, balls of cotton thread, small cotton blankets, anthropomorphic figures of clay, wood, stone or cotton thread, strings of stone beads of
who
many
colors or of tiny shell disks, green stones, painted bones, salt, cacao
beans, cocoa butter which
was burned
in the
in tripod censers,
and the
flesh
of deer killed and burned within the temple.
The most famous temple

female deity called Icaque.
parts ("naves").
filled
Venezuelan Andes was devoted to a

it
Located in Escuque,
was a
place of pil-
grimage for people from far and wide.

It
The
building consisted of three
contained
many
figures
made
of cotton thread and

It also
with
oflferings of
full of
greenstone beads and tiny shell disks.
had boxes
bones, semiprecious stones, and a few pieces of guanin

walls of another temple
breastplates.
The
were covered with
skulls.
The
only persons permitted to enter this temple

well) were priests,
(and probably others as
who made
offerings
and communicated with a deity

If
from
whom
they learned about the future.
anyone
else entered
it
the
earth was expected to tremble and to swallow the trespasser.
The Jamu
lake.
sacrificed children to a
water god by throwing them into the
Before planting trees the Miguri celebrated a ceremony at night
called "the
coming down of the ches."
This included a mimicry of sow-
368
ing and harvesting.
in their left
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
In another ceremony the participants held a

in their right
rattle
hand and a whip
with which they beat each
other.
After a crushing defeat by the Spaniards the

tribe called
men and women
of the
individual
sighted,
Los Valientes committed mass suicide. This, as well as the suicide of many Aburrd men when the Spaniards were first
be connected with certain ideas regarding the hereafter
may
which were found here and there in northwestern South America. The religious system of the Chake still remains unknown except for a few practices. According to De Booy (1918 b, p. 208), the Macoa believe in a supernatural being
which they
angry."
call
Kioso.
When
it
thunders
they look up and say,
"God
is
Bolinder (1925, p. 237) speaks of duels fought during drinking bouts, when people castigate one another and visitors with bow staves.
After the maize harvest,

until the
men and women dance

the falling arrows.
in separate
groups
men
suddenly discharge their arrows toward the sky.
Often
noise,
the dancers are
wounded by
In order to dispel a
storm, the Indians threaten the clouds with their weapons,
make
dance, and drink.
Several taboos have been

for this reason
is
listed.
Fire and maize must be kept apart;

field
nobody may cross a maize
while smoking, and maize

killed, lest his
never roasted.
Nobody may
eat the
game he has
marks-
manship
deteriorate.
MYTHOLOGY
"Motilones" myths recorded by Wavrin (1937, pp. 600-603) come from the Chake or the Mape. At the beginning of the world there
either
murderous giants who were invulnerable. Finally, having committed incest and lost their power, they could be slain by men. Yuca was owned by Zamuro, the black vulture. It was stolen by the Vulture's son-in-law. Fire was owned by Toad and was stolen by Stars, who put it into several kinds of wood. Sun is a cannibal who attempts to devour a man whom Moon saves. Moon's arrows are snakes.
existed four
LORE AND LEARNING

In the Venezuelan Andes the year was divided into lunar months.
necessary, as in the case of the restrictions imposed
When
upon widows and
widowers, the months were counted by knots in a
string.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1918 b; Ernst, 1887
1917, 1925, 1937; Castellanos, 1874; De Booy, 1918 a, 1887 b; Febres Cordero, L., 1918; Grubb, 1927; Ibi, 1919 a, 1919 b; Izikowitz, 1937; Jahn, 1927; Nicholas, 1901; Oviedo y Valdes, 1851-55;
Aguado, 1916-17; Bolinder,

a,
Robledo, 1864; Simon, 1882-92; Wavrin, 1937.
THE GOAJIRO
By John M. Armstrong and Alfred Metraux
THE REGION
The Goajira
Peninsula, projecting as part of Colombia northward into
ihe Caribbean Sea, contains
an area
of about 5,000 square miles, bordered
on the east by the Gulf
The broad level plain known as Lower Goajira occupies the base of the peninsula, while the northern extremity is known as Upper Goajira and is characterized by three
of Venezuela.
distinct ranges of hills.
These hills have a maximum height of 2,600 feet (about 780 m.) and are separated from each other by two broad plains which run from sea to sea. The country is dry and infertile, the vegetation consisting of divi-divi, cactus, pricklypear,
Even
tion.
these are absent
and other xerophitic plants. where bare rock and stone slides preclude vegeta-
Rivers are almost nonexistent, the country being cut in all directions by shallow, dry, sandy water courses which drain off rain as it falls. In the south and west, on the treeless prairies or savannas, the land is more
hospitable.
Here the Indians do most
of their stock raising.
LOCATION AND HISTORY

The pastoral Goajiro who inhabit this peninsula (map 6) differ profoundly from the agricultural forest-dwelling Motilones and Arhnaco to
the south.
Juan de Castellanos,
the
first
in his "Elegias
(1874),
is
to allude to these Indians,
de los Varones Ilustres" though he calls them Cosina.
He
states that in his time,

It
about 1550, cattle were already abundant in

of pastoral life
the area.
seems that the adoption
by the Goajiro took
place soon after the Spanish settlement of that part of the continent.
The
was
name Goajiro was, however, already known in applied first by Pedro Simon (1882-92). The
(Nicholas, 1901) and Antonio Julian,
the 18th century.
the 16th century and

first reliable
ethnographic
la
information about the Goajiro goes back to Jose Nicolas de
Rosa
who
both visited these Indians in
Jahn (1927, pp. 119-136) has gathered the few data
concerning the Goajiro which he found in the early literature.
short
summary
of the first description of these Indians
is
given by Hernandez
de Alba (1936, pp. 8-12).
369
370

hostile
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
During the Colonial Period, the Goajiro were

iards.
toward the Span-
After 1830, however, as a result of better treatment from the Whites,
friendly.
traffic.
thanks in part to the efforts of Juan MacPherson, they become more Present authorities in the Goajiro region merely regulate frontier
ways of life have Except for the thin Catholic veneer, noticeable in baptismal rites and Spanish names, Goajiro social life seems to have been little affected by centuries of contact with Hispanic culture. Foreign inbeen unsuccessful.
fluence
textiles,
is
The attempts by
the Capuchin Fathers to alter their
more apparent
materially in iron implements, utensils, guns,
and ornaments.
All the domestic animals are of Spanish origin.
As
a result of tuberculosis, smallpox, and venereal disease, the Goajiro
are gradually dying out, and the population estimates found in the literature have
18.000.
become smaller and
smaller, the
most recent indicating a scant
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Goajiro are usually described as aggressive and untrustworthy, of medium or small stature (cf. J. A. Mason, 1926, pp. 39, 52), copper
colored, with jet-black hair, dark eyes rather obliquely set, a broad
and
blunt nose, and a large
mouth
(pi. 72,
bottom, right).
Within the
tribes
there are physical differences which seem to correspond with social status,
the lower classes being smaller and
more Indian
in appearance, while
those of higher rank are
more
often of a greater stature, with curlier hair
and larger noses.
LANGUAGE
to the Arawakan family. There is, howno good analysis of it. A grammar, "replete with errors" according to Simons, was published by Rafael Caledon in 1878. Various word lists have been published from time to time.
The Goajiro language belongs
ever,
CULTURE
Farming.
The Goajiro have a poor opinion of

it.
agriculture,
and only
is
the poorer sibs practice
The one
is
fertile
part of the peninsula
near
Punta Espada.
Here the land
well cultivated, and plantains, maguey,
onions, coca, sugarcane, and grain are grown.
Tobacco, bananas, maize,
gourds, manioc, sweetpotatoes, millet, beans, and watermelons also are raised. Those who own cattle grow only small patches of quick-maturing
corn for the purpose of making chicha beer.
Hunting, fishing, and gathering. Hunting, fishing, and gathering occupy a minor place. Deer, armadillos, land tortoises, and rabbits are
Vol. 4]
THE GOAJIROARMSTRONG AND METRAUX

The Goajiro who Hve near
371
the chief game.

fish
the coast sometimes catch
(with hook and Une), lobsters, moUusks, and crabs.
Cattle raising.
The Goajiro are primarily nomadic

feet
cattle raisers and,
consequently, depend upon the water supply.

the water
In the rainy season they

artificially,
seek natural depressions, which they sometimes enlarge
where
sea,
may
gather.
In case of drought they wander toward the (9 to 12 m.) deep are dug.
(pi.
where wells 30 to 40
left),
Besides cattle the Goajiro keep sheep, goats, horses

they go.
72, bottom,
mules, pigs, and domestic fowls, which they take with them wherever
An
estimate gives them 100,000 cattle, 200,000 sheep and goats,
As cattle are a measure them for food, but they utilize the milk or export the animals to Curasao and Aruba in exchange for textiles and corn. Each tribe has its own cattle brand, and the annual round-up and branding is an occasion for great festivities. Horse races and other sports take place, and large quantities of food and drink are
20,000 horses and mules, and 30,000 donkeys.
of wealth, the Indians are reluctant to kill
consumed. Food preparation.

milk products.
Goajiro
is
diet consists almost entirely of

killed
meat and
is
Goats and sheep are

of the
every day or two for meat,
and the milk

three obtained
skins.
cows
made
into butter
and cheese.
This diet
supplemented by yuca, cactus
fruit,
sugar, rice, and plantains, the last
from Colombian and Venezuelan traders in exchange for consumed is suspended from tall poles, and skins are pegged to the ground and salted in preparation for sale. Butter is made by stirring the cream with a fluted stick in a calabash or wooden bucket. To make cheese, rennet is added to skimmed milk in a trough, and the curds are put in a primitive wooden cheese press, which is weighted with a heavy rock.
Meat
that is not immediately
HOUSES AND VILLAGES

Although the Goajiro are
sibs
of a
common
origin, they are divided into
("castes" or "tribes"), each living within a rather limited area

p.
(Simons, 1885,
796).
The
sibs are split into local
groups, which
to
occupy extended villages or rancherias,

(ranchos) and 10 to 250 or more Indians.
each
with 2
50 houses
Houses are always within
gunshot distance of one another and so disposed that surprise attacks
would be difficult. hedge surrounds it.

are
If
a village
is at all
permanent, a protective cactus

Dwellings
Goajiro nomadism makes elaborate houses unnecessary.
mere lean-tos, arbors, and temporary gabled roofs supported on poles. Thatch is made from the core of the cactus, split lengthwise. Rough tables, chairs with rawhide seats, and benches are often used. The hammock is always present. House walls are often lacking, but a corner
of the hut
may
be closed
off for
girl's
puberty seclusion.
When
mi-
372
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
grating from one locality to another the Goajiro generally dismantle their
houses and take them along, piling the poles and thatch on the backs of burros. Sometimes, however, they leave them for their own or some-
one
else's
use in the future.
DRESS
Goajiro dress has changed
AND ADORNMENT
little
since the time of Nicolas de la
Rosa
(18th century).
Men
normally wear only a breechcloth, a necklace,

(pi. 72,
and a head band with feather attached

paying
visits,
top)
but
when
traveling,
or receiving
company they wear a
large loincloth with
many
in
folds, a mantle (nowadays of bright colors), and an immense sash, which they carry their arrows. A knitted string bag is hung from the
waistband.
In towns trousers and shirts are worn.
The women wear

with holes cut for
a cotton dress, sometimes

the head and arms.
made
like a simple sack
The puna
long strings
of beads passing over both
shoulders,
crossing each other
on the breast and back and held in
(the sirapo) is placed on a female few months after birth and gradually augmented according to the parents' wealth and the child's age. Black beads are generally used
child a
for the sirapo, colored ones for the puna.
place by a sash or belt of beads
married
woman wears
the
puna
until her first confinement.
After her seclusion at puberty, a robe,
sometimes containing 8 or 10 yards of embroidered material, is also worn by a Goajiro woman, but the loosely folded cloth which was her sole
covering before puberty
is
still
worn beneath
it.
Women,
of beads
unlike men,
are modest and avoid being seen naked.
Some young
preferred, but
waists, as well as
have as many as 100 turns many around their wrists and most beads are made from seeds
girls
around
their
is
ankles.
Red
coral
or coconut shell and
are cut out by

the palms.
means
of a hollow metal
reamer twirled rapidly between

Glass
The
perforated shell
may
then be used as a colander.
and porcelain beads and earrings are also worn. The most prized ornaments are the tumas polished and perforated stone ornaments found in some of the old graves. On dress occasions necklaces of beads and gold ornaments are worn. These, found in Tairona graves, are fashioned in the form of tiny animals, frogs, turtles, etc. The men, except the medicine men, wear their hair short, kept back by a ring or crown made of plaited straw, or of wool with a tassel behind. Often the two are combined and adorned with a couple of feathers in For protection against or the whole may be made of feathers. front mosquitos and sun both sexes paint their skin with powders made from rotten wood, a black stain made from a wild nut, and another color extracted from leaves and mixed with fat. After puberty women cut their hair short, keeping the shorn tresses in a bag hung from the roof henceThey make designs on forth they never let it grow beyond the neck.
Vol. 4]
THE GOAJIROAKMSTRONG AND METRAUX
373
their skin with black stain
and
the
legs,
with charcoal dust pigment.

as the tribal brand.
and tattoo themselves, especially on the arms At least one of the marks is
same
MANUFACTURES
They arise before daymorning meal for the men, who then go off to fish, hunt, fight, or merely loaf and drink chicha. They fill their jugs at the water hole and then spend the rest of the day collecting wild cotton, spinning, weaving, making ropes, grinding corn, making butter, cheese, and chicha, and performing other household duties.
have a rather definite daily routine.
break, milk the cows, and prepare the
Women
They milk again
in the evening.
Textiles are probably the best
Goajiro manufactures.
Their other
sibs),
products are pottery (which
is
the virtual
monopoly
of a
few
bows
and arrows, and saddles and harnesses.
Spinning and
viêaving.
Wild cotton
is
collected, the seeds
removed
by hand, and small wads are rolled around a thin stick to form small
mm.) in diameter and 6 inches (15 cm.) These tubes are then spun into thread with the use of a spindle, one end of which rests in a calabash bowl on the ground. Yarns are
tubes about half an inch (12.5
long.
colored with vegetable dyes, especially divi-divi.
hours weaving hammocks and bright-colored belts for
Almost every household owns a loom, before which the women sit for men and horses. The warp is made from one long continuous thread wound around two thick horizontal poles, the upper one firmly attached to two uprights, As the work the lower one hanging loose and maintaining the tension. progresses, the cloth is moved forward around the poles, so that an endless strip of cloth is produced, which is then cut. Shuttles are passed through by hand, the warp being shifted by means of a threading arrangement which takes hold of alternate strands. On a piece of cloth about 2 yards wide an inch of weave every three hours is considered very fast
work.
Containers.
peninsula.
Most cooking
utensils are
made
of crude
earthenware by
a few tribes in the vicinity of the Teta, a peak near the middle of the
possess enameled
Spoons and forks are cut out of calabashes. Some Indians mugs and pots obtained from itinerant traders.
Almost every man possesses a good rifle. Cartridges are and expensive and must be smuggled in. Firearms are consequently reserved mainly for warfare, and the bow and arrow is the
Weapons.
scarce
everyday weapon.
The bow
is
made from
sisal cord.
the hard, springy
wood
of the black palm.
It is
almost round in cross section, 5 to 6 feet (1.7 to 2 m.) long, and strung
with a special
The end which
rests
on the ground
is
protected
374

case, to
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
by an empty cartridge
which a metal ring

designs.
is
sometimes attached,
giving a musical note with every shot.
Feathered arrows show

(2,5 cm.) in diameter.
many
Bird arrows
nails are
;
may
be tipped
1
with cartridge cases or with large, rounded, wooden knobs about
inch
Heads made from
used for small game.
Serrated metal-tipped arrows are used in warfare but the most dangerous arrow is pointed with a sting ray tail, sharpened to a fine needlelike point and fitted into the hollow end of a light cane shaft about 4 feet (1.2 m.) long and three-eighth inch (9 mm.) thick. To prepare arrow poison, scorpions, centipedes, and poisonous spiders are mashed, snake venom is added, and the mixture is allowed to putrefy
for several days.
The poison
will retain its
potency for six months.

is
It is
kept in a short section of
bamboo, which
carried around the waist,
together with the arrow points, each in a hollow reed.
Before shooting,
an Indian dips the point into the poison and inserts
it
in the shaft.
decorated leather wrist strap
is
worn
as a bowstring guard.
Fire making.
the spark
is
Fire
is
made by
twirling an arrow on a cactus hearth
caught in dry grass.
TRADE
There is considerable trade between the Goajiro and foreigners. Firearms and ammunition, cloth, beads, blankets, rum, cutlery, corn, crude sugar, rice, plantains, and tobacco are imported in exchange for salt, cattle, cheese, milk, hides, pearls and pearl shells, logwood {Haematoxylon campechianum), and divi-divi (Caesalpinia coriara). During the salt season the Indians of the interior flock to Manaure, where they are paid for loading sacks of salt into the warehouse and onto ships. Both men and women take part in the work, the men filling the sacks and the women carrying them.
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
The Goajiro
are subdivided into 30 odd matrilineal sibs ("castes" or
"tribes"), each identified with an animal.
Some
of the larger and
more
important sibs are

various
split into
smaller groups, each with a special totem.
(See Simons, 1885,

sibs,
p. 796,
and Weston, 1937,
p.
139, for a Hst of the
together with the totem animals and the locality which they of any sib are
inhabit.)
The members
the peninsula than previously thought, although in

sib
may
be found to the exclusion of
all
more widely spread throughout some localities, one others. Each "caste," according
PetruUo (1937, p. 155), "holds sovereignty over a well-defined territory." The sib which is largest and wealthiest in livestock is that of the Urianas. It has many subdivisions, such as Uriana jaguar, Uriana rabbit, Uriana paularate (a song bird), and Uriana gecko (a lizard). The
to
Vol. 4]
375
Urianas are connected by marriage with the Pushaina, another wealthy

"tribe" of the Goajiro.
Each extended village (section or rancher ia) consists of related sib members who are bound by close ties and who unite against outsiders if one of them is wronged. Intermarriage among the sibs is common. The role of the maternal uncle in Goajiro culture is of great importance. Santa Cruz's detailed study of it (1941) will be summarized here. Types
of behavior, both prescribed
and unformalized, vary, not only according
to the seniority of either uncle or
nephew but
all
also according to that of the

his property to his oldest
nieces.
The maternal
uncle must leave
sister's oldest son,
the other nephews receiving nothing.
In practice the
maternal uncle transfers most of his property to his

after his death little
if
anything remains for the

If the
own children, and nephew. The attitude of

girl
a senior nephew toward his senior maternal uncle largely depends on what
inheritance he expects from him.
nephew marries a
to
from a
wealthy family and has, therefore, to pay a high bride price, the senior
maternal uncle
is
expected to
make a donation
meet the
price.
The
uncle has no authority, however, in the selection of the bride.

Etiquette requires that in
silent if his senior
maternal uncle
ask his
speak he must
first
company the nephew must always remain is speaking; if the nephew wishes to uncle's permission. The nephew must always
show
respect
and conduct himself with propriety.
On
the other hand, a
senior uncle should not criticize or laugh at his senior nephew.
No
such
behavior
is
prescribed between father and son or between other uncles
and nephews. Public opinion castigates any deviation from this behavior between uncle and nephew. The relationship between a maternal uncle and his niece is just the
reverse of this, for the uncle
is
the recipient of benefits.
He
receives the
bride price paid for the niece, and he contributes nothing toward the
dowry
for the bridegroom.
The maternal
uncle, however, is
empowered
to accept or reject a prospective bridegroom, and the girl has no recourse
and considerate, although less rigidly formal, toward her senior maternal uncle. Her behavior toward her other uncles depends solely on her regard for them.
in the matter.
girl is respectful
There
is
no central government uniting

its
all
the sibs, but each sib or
subdivision thereof has
chiefs
who
is
inherit their position matrilineally.
The
oldest chief has greatest authority
and may carry a knobbed
stick
as symbol of his authority.

retainers.
He
is
generally the wealthiest and has most
Hereditary status
very important, and a

of high rank
may
never achieve a high position, even though he acquires
man born poor much wealth.

daughters, for
He
may, however, marry a
woman
and
his children will
inherit her rank.
Chiefs are polygynous and have
many
376

very high bride prices are paid
to $10,000.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
whom
sometimes thousands
of animals,
worth $6,000
pearls
Such
rich
chiefs take great pride in their
daughters, dressing them in fine silken robes and necklaces of gold and
and providing them with personal servants. There is a class of slaves who are beneath the chiefs' retainers in the social hierarchy. It consists of people born into this status and of captives. PROPERTY
All cattle, though individually owned, belong in theory to the local group as a whole and are worked for the common benefit of all. For example, the cattle paid as a bride price when a girl marries within her
own
sib
go
to a
new owner,
but the milk, butter, cheese, and hides from
them continue
to be shared
by everyone
in the sib.
When
new
woman
receives cattle as a bride price for her daughter any
stock born to
them belongs to the daughter's husband and his sons, and when the animals are rounded up for the annual branding each son is allowed to brand a certain number of them.
ETIQUETTE
The Goajiro
until invited in.
are in general unfriendly to strangers but have a well-
established code of hospitality.
Strangers calling at a house must wait
Inside a house a bowl of chicha or
rum
(coffee
when
available) is the first gift offered the visitor,
who
is
thereafter given a
special feast
is
hammock and
be arranged
if
treated as a
there are
member of many guests.
the family.
may
guest of high rank
feasted,
and some
of the
young
girls of the
house
may
be placed at his disposal.
LAW AND ORDER

chiefs have little power outside their own local group, where they minor disputes. The solution of many disputes and transgressions The laws of group responof custom are left to the parties concerned. A person sibility and group retaliation lead to frequent intertribal feuds. without a strong sib to protect him is helpless, for others may use any act which may conceivably be interpreted as harmful as pretext for demanding indemnity. For example, a person injured while intoxicated may demand payment from the person who sold him the rum, or a person injured by a borrowed animal may demand payment from the owner of the animal; a thief who hurts himself when trespassing on the property of his intended victim will demand compensation of him; and anyone
The
settle
aiding a sick or
If
a person injures himself he must

of his
wounded person who subsequently dies incurs a liability. make an expiatory gift to the
lesser gift to his father's relatives.
of
If a
members
child dies
own sib and a when under the care
one parent,
this
parent must reimburse
Vol. 4]
THE GOAJIRO ARMSTRONG

Many
ANt)
METRAUX
377
the other.
other cases indicate the absolute nature of Goajiro law
and the
refusal to recognize extenuating circumstances.
Murder is a very serious crime, and the victim's family immediately demands blood money to the amount of 200 or more cattle. For failure to pay, a member of the murderer's sib of the same rank as the victim must forfeit his life. If payment is not forthcoming retaliatory raids are made. As the defenders generally lose more people than the attackers, the feud may continue indefinitely until all the members of one sib will consider themselves at war with the members of the other, thereby spreading the war throughout the peninsula. If a feud should develop between the sib of the husband and that of the wife, the latter, with her children,
will return to
her
own group
until the trouble is over.

is
person
who
has received a deadly insult from another
baited and
chided until he takes revenge by killing the offender, in proof of which
he removes the victim's viscera and takes them home.
This act also
prevents the victim's soul from bothering him. If unable to accomplish this he may commit suicide. Suicide is also sometimes a means of vengeance, a person feeling that he will suffer less than those who caused him to commit the act. Thus a wife who is not allowed enough freedom may hang herself. Next to murder, one of the most serious offenses is to mention a person's true name (given at birth?) or to mention a person's name after
his death.
This has caused
many
tribal conflicts.
The
value of the compensation
demanded
sib
in disputes varies directly
with the social rank of the offended party.

offender
In some cases a repeated
may
be killed by his
own
members.
Sometimes, rather than
to continue the warfare, hostile sibs
may
confer under the auspices of an
outsider, such as a
sonal quarrels or minor brawls
Capuchin monk, and draw up peace terms. In perwomen often step in and enforce peace.
WARFARE
Wars between the may be held liable for

to
Goajiro and outsiders are rare, but any White

the offense done by another, as
sib.
all
man
Whites are thought
belong to the same
the peninsula take vengeance on the Indians,

prisals
Sometimes the few civilized people living in which leads to further re-
by the
latter.
At
tribe
the time of
De
la
Rosa, war was declared by sending to the other
an ambassador who, in a public speech, asked indemnities for damage

If these
were not conceded war was declared, but a might be made. In battle each group of opposing warriors formed a semicircle and tried to surround and destroy the other. In individual encounters a Goajiro rode out on a horse, but, upon seeing the enemy, he dismounted and shot his own horse with an arrow to show his confidence and willingness to fight
previously done.
brief truce
was observed
in order that preparations
378
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
on equal terms. He then approached the enemy from the left while making quick movements, jumps, and turns, with his legs apart and his knees bent. More recently, according to Ernst (1887 c), war is not declared,
attempts being
made
to take the
enemy by
surprise.
Wars
last
indefinitely,
about by an influential
sometimes being broken by a peace brought "civilizado" or the Capuchin monks, the latter
sometimes paying the retribution demanded out of their own pockets. Some tribes, such as the Cosina of Serrania Cosina (actually a conglomeration of outcastes rather than a sib),
make
their living almost entirely
by robbery and
pillage, destroying houses, stealing cattle,
and
killing or
enslaving their enemies.
LIFE CYCLE
Birth and childhood. During pregnancy a woman continues to do her heavy work up to the very hour of delivery. At childbirth, the shaman pronounces various spells over the patient and applies poultices made of
dried flowers, roots,
etc.
large,
heavy stone placed over the

If the
womb and
not soon
vigorous massaging bring about the birth.

expelled, the
placenta
is
woman
drinks a medicine concocted by the medicine man.

is
As soon
to
all
as the child
safely delivered the father serves
his relatives.
If the
pains of childbirth appear
woman mounts and rides ahead so up the event is practically over. The husband cuts the cord with his machete and cauterizes its ends with a glowing ember. The woman then continues on the march with the child in a sling on her back. When the permanent camp is reached she washes herself and the child. Baptism is a Christian ceremony which the Goajiro have adopted, and most of the Indians are called by Spanish names, as their real names may
on the march, the
catches
rum and chicha when the sib is that when the sib
not be mentioned.
child's
Teknonymy
is
practiced
a parent
is
addressed by
si
its
name
plus a prefix, nushi or sushi for the father, ni or
for the
mother.
Thus, a father
may
be called Nushijuan after a son or Sushi-
juana after a daughter.
At 6
animals
or 7, girls learn to grind salt, pick cotton, and tend the smaller the boys imitate their fathers.
little
Parents are said to show

selling
affection for their children, sometimes
them
at Sinamaica.
They
receive
$10 or $15 for a
child of
years.
The purchaser becomes
the child's guardian, teaches
8 or 9 him the
him until he is 17 years old. These children Abandoned children are taken to the San Antonio orphanage, where the girls continue to wear their Goajiro dress, but the boys are put into jackets and pants. Girls* puberty. At her first menstruation a girl is isolated in a small dark hut and stripped of all her ornaments. She lies in a hammock, sometimes hoisted near the roof. For the first 2 days she drinks no
Catholic faith, and keeps
rarely return home.
Vol. 4]

is
379
Generally
water but
given an herbal purgative.
Her
hair
is
cut short.
several of her relatives stay around the door of the hut,
and strangers
and men with an eye to matrimony may look in. During this period the girl is taught the duties of married life and such skills as weaving, sewing, and making hammocks. When she emerges, stout and bleached, a special festival is held, when she resumes her ornaments and puts on the adult clothes that she has made during her confinement. She is now considered marriageable. The length of her confinement depends on her status, though theoretically it lasts until her hair again reaches the nape of her neck. Poor girls are secluded only a few weeks, rich girls up to 2 years.
Sexual
the
life
and marriage.
at the
Little is
known about
Dances
the sexual
life
of
the Goajiro.
A certain amount of promiscuous love making occurs among

biweekly
festivals.
young people
also provide
an op-
portunity for sexual advances.
There are some male transvestites who carry on only female activities and are ridiculed by the men. When a man desires to marry he sends his father or uncle as intermediary, then pays a bride price which has been set by the girl's relatives. The payment is usually in cattle, but goats, pearls, liquor, cotton cloth, and gold ornaments also are used. The father retains the purchase price only when his first daughter marries the income of subsequent marriages goes to the girl's senior maternal uncles. The mother also receives part of the income. A son obtains the cattle for the bride payment from
;
the increase of his father's herds.
Intermarriage between the sibs
is
frequent,
give their daughters to "civilizados"
and many of the Goajiro from Maracaibo and Rio Hacha,

with the Indians useful in their
who pay
higher prices and find such a
tie
trading relations.
The marriage ceremony
consists of a series of feasts
and exchanges
is
of
presents between the two families.
The wedding
is
night
spent at the
(specially
rancheria of the bride's mother, but the nuptial
hammock
tree
woven by the female relatives of the bride) tance away from the house. For a period
this
hung from a
of
some disdays and even months the

after sunset.
bridegroom leaves his bride at dawn and returns only
In
groom shows respect to his mother-in-law. Polygyny is general. The number of wives depends on the economic status of the husband, some men having as many as 20. Each wife lives The man, in her own house, where her husband occasionally visits her.
the
way
as head of the polygynous household, supervises the daily slaughter of
animals and the distribution of meat and corn to each household according to the
If
number
of its
members.
a wife shirks her domestic duties she
may
be divorced and her husplus their increase and
band may claim the return of the bride price
cattle,
380
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
minus an amount considered equivalent

cised.
If
for the sexual right he
woman
dies in her first childbirth the
had exerhusband may demand

the
the full return of the bride price (Simons, 1885, p. 792, however, states
that
the
wife's
relatives
demand compensation from

full
husband).
It rarely
Adultery entails divorce with
return of the bride price.
occurs, however, as the wife will be treated badly by her
own
relatives.
At
his death a
sister's
sons
man's wives are inherited by his brother, and next by his the women may avoid this by making a payment equivalent
If
to their bride price.

to be his legal heirs,
he
is
of the Catholic faith his children

conflict
may
claim
which leads to
p.
with the maternal nephews.
(See Social Organization,
374.)
in political affairs is
The
influence of
women
There are cases
of female chiefs,
sometimes noticeable. and women are respected enough so
as to be able to intervene
Death.
Funerals
and stop brawls.
are accompanied by festivities which last days or even
weeks, according to the wealth of the family.

in the funeral ceremonies
ticular sibs.
There are some differences
which are apparently associated with the parfeasts afford the best opportunity for display
These funeral
and more than 1,000 head of livestock may be butchered. Every mourner who comes to the feast contributes animals for slaughter and continues to do so as long as he cares to remain. After the mourning
of wealth,
period,
marked by weeping and lamenting interspersed with drinking and which has lain in a hammock slung from the rafters, is sewn up in hides by the women (men may not touch a dead ,body) and carried to the cemetery of the tribe. For a year or so, the body may be temporarily consigned to a shallow grave marked by a pile of stones. Food and drink are often placed in the grave, and, if the deceased had been a warrior, his bows and arrows are put in. A year or two later the bones are exhumed and reburied in a large urn. The exhumation is generally
feasting, the corpse,
done
at night
and
is
accompanied by a
feast.
The remains
funeral urn
are carried in
a funeral procession to the dead person's birthplace, where they are

buried in the family's
own
cemetery.
The
is
placed in a
vertical position with the
narrow neck of the jar protruding above ground permit the free entry and exit of the spirit and to allow the remains of to other members of the family to be added from time to time. A cactus
hedge surrounds the cemetery, and
in
placed over the opening of each jar to keep out the rain.
relatives of a recently deceased person meet, they
wet weather half a calabash is Whenever two
bow
to the ground,
shouting and groaning, for several minutes.
(For a
slightly different
p.
account of the burial of a rich man, see Simons, 1885,

If
792.)
a person
is
stricken with smallpox the whole tribe moves away, only
the family of the sick person remaining.
When
the death occurs they
bury the body below the floor and burn the hut over the grave.
'-^l!f
Plate
72.
Goajiro Indians.
(Courtesy American
Museum of
Natural History.)
Vol. 4]

believe that after death the deceased in ethereal
their favorite
381
form
The Goajiro
of Bahia
wander about the country,
meeting place being
in the vicinity
is
Honda
in the
extreme north of the peninsula.
There
some
evidence that the Indians look forward to a happier existence after death.
stems the practice of mutilating the body enemy, for once his body is broken and scattered it is not possible to reassemble his soul, and the slayer is protected from a vengeance-seeking
this belief in the afterlife
From
of a slain
spirit.
The dead
are highly respected or feared; consequently,
it
is
a serious
offense to mention a dead person by name.
Games.
wrestling,
The Goajiro have various

and archery.
;
athletic sports, such as
horse racing,
Contestants shoot at a skin ball or a fruit tossed

they are very accurate up to 125 yards.
off,
into the air or at targets
Tourna-
ments are held
in
which the contestants pair
the victor of each round
winning an arrow and continuing to compete.
Feasts and dances, The Goajiro are fond of feasts and hold them whenever opportunity offers at funerals, when they have received their
as a medicine
when a person completes his training Weston (1937) describes a festival held on the lastmentioned occasion. For 2 days the big drum was sounded by relays of players, spreading the news. The dance, practiced beforehand, took place
pay for loading
salt, at
baptisms, or
man.
in a circle
some 25
feet
(7.5 m.)
in diameter
Indians gathered.
A man,
nude except for
his waist cloth
around which some 200 and head band
with ornamental plume, with his face painted red in a crisscross pattern,
danced backward from a
girl
dressed in a voluminous robe and wearing
a large red handkerchief on her head.
The
girl
attempted to overtake
and head
place, the
off the
man, who retreated before her
in a circle
with a peculiar
its
double step, almost a hop and a skip.
As one
musical
pair tired another took
dance continuing indefinitely.
calabash
filled
Goajiro
instruments are few.

rattle for
with stones or peas serves as a

clarinet
is
dance accomof telescoped
paniment.
The
about 2 feet (0.6 m.) long,

blown.
made
is
( ?) sections of
reed with a bell consisting of calabash and a vibrating reed

It is side
in the mouthpiece.
The
large
drum
carved from a
hollow section of
tree,
15 inches (38 cm.) in diameter and 24 inches
(60 cm.) long, and has both ends covered with sheepskin. It is slung from the rafters, a branch, or from the player's neck. Singing among the
Goajiro
is
virtually nonexistent.
Narcotics and stimulants. To make chicha beer, maize may be masby the women and spat into a large earthenware bowl, with water and crude sugar added. After 3 days it is strained and drunk. By another
ticated
653334
48
26
382
method the maize

is finely
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
pulverized by
is
hammering on a
flat
stone, instead
of being masticated.
Beer
drunk
in large quantities, as is
rum
received
by trade. Both sexes commonly smoke long narrow
cigarettes,
which the
women
western
make
of bundles of
8 or 10 leaves.
Formerly, at
least in the
portion of the country, the Goajiro chewed coca (hayo) with lime, which
stained their teeth black.
this
Coca
is still
grown, but there
is
no mention
of
custom
in recent times.
RELIGION
Goajiro religion
to
is
imperfectly known.
Mareigua (Maleiwa) seems
have been the Creator and Culture Hero.
He
caused the
first
Goajiro
emerge from the ground and taught the tribe how to produce fire with a drill. He saved them during the flood by raising the Cerro Pororo where they had taken refuge and by driving the jaguars away. As a Supreme Being he shows some moral preoccupation, in the past having punished those who lived in incest. He sends rain and all the good things which the Goajiro expect from nature (Hernandez de Alba, 1936,
to
p.
44).
Yoluha (Yorja) has been thought to signify the god of thunder, lightning, and drought, but the term probably does not designate a single deity but bad spirits or ghosts in general. These are feared at night when
the sky
is
clouded
to prevent their inroads the Goajiro stretch a thin cord
between two poles reaching above the roof. They attach to this cord, at regular intervals, fishhooks which serve to entangle the Yoluha and make their stay unpleasant. Sometimes when sounds coming from the bush are thought to have been made by spirits, the Indians light embers
and throw stones
at them.
The Goajiro
The Goajiro
give considerable importance to dreams.
dream may
cause the desertion of a camp, a war, or a consultation with a shaman.

carry charms which they buy from shamans.
SHAMANISM
Aside from their long shamans differ little in external appearance from ordinary persons, but their power is reputed to be considerable and people avoid offending
Goajiro shamans (piache) are of both sexes.
hair
them.
They
are said to cause the heart of a person to stop beating unless
they are paid enough.
shaman keeps
his cures secret
and divulges them only
to a successor,
who undergoes
a certain
a long period of training and

of cattle.
who pays
is
his instructor
is
number
When
the training
at
complete, there
is
public initiation with dancing
and drinking,
which the novice
seized
by
fits
as demonstration of his
new power.
The
instructor chants spells
Vol. 4]
THE GO AJIROARMSTRONG AND METRAUX

lies in
383
over the novice as he (or she)
the
hammock
twisting and groaning
as his spirit takes possession of him, imparting knowledge
and power.
In attempting to cure, a shaman often causes greater injuries to the

patient;
injuries with caustic
permanent blindness may result from his effort to cure eye powders or to remove foreign substances with horse-
hairs or cactus spines. Tuberculosis is treated by inducing expectoration and prescribing a meaty diet. Dysentery is cured with herbal medicines. Well-chewed tobacco or tobacco-laden spittle rubbed over a painful area is a common method of therapy. If the medicine man effects a cure, which he frequently does, he is rewarded with gifts of cattle, rum, etc. No attempt is made to treat smallpox, the victim often being abandoned to
his fate.
Some
i.e.,
practitioners
who
are not exactly shamans divine by burning
a bundle at the end of a stick or by examining the bottom of a bottle,
by crystal gazing (Hernandez de Alba, 1936,
p.
42).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brettes, 1898; Castellanos, 1874; Celedon, 1878; Ernst, 1870, 1872, 1887 c;
Herndn-
dez de Alba, 1936; Jahn, 1914, 1927; Kirchhofif, 1931

1940; Mason,
J.
Kohler, 1887; Mason, Gregory, A., 1926; Nicholas, F. C, 1901; Nicolas de la Rosa, 1739 (see
;
Nicholas, 1901); Petrullo, 1937; Santa Cruz, 1941; Sievers, 1898; Simon, 1882-92;
Simons, 1885; Weston, 1937.
THE GUAYUPE AND SAE
By Paul Kirch hoff
INTRODUCTION
In the southernmost section of the Venezuelan-Colombian llanos, the
so-called
Llanos de San Juan, the
German and Spanish Conquerors

name and whose
(Speyer, Federman, Hutten, Perez de Quesada, Avellaneda) encountered
a series of tribes which they did not always mention by

culture they described only briefly
(map
6).
Of
these tribes only the
Gnaynpe (Guaypi) and the Sae have been described by the chroniclers these expeditions (Castellanos, 1874; Oviedo y Valdes, 1851-55; Simon, 1882-92; and Aguado, 1916-17) in sufficient detail to reveal that they had a culture with distinctive characteristics, and to suggest that the remaining tribes, little as they are known, shared this culture.
of
Tentatively,
we may
also assign to this

is
group the Eperigua (Operigua),
about whose culture nothing
known
but
whom
the
Guayupe considered
in the llanos
to have the same origin as themselves and the Sae.
At
least
one of these
tribes, the
Guayupe, lived not only
(which resemble the other Venezuelan and Colombian llanos) but also in
large part also inhabited the dense rain forests of the
Andean
slopes.
The Guayupe
Highland.
villages that directly adjoined the
Chibchan Muisca even
extended beyond the rain forest into the marginal sections of the Bogota
Language and relations with other

spoken by these
tribes,
tribes.
Of
the
languages
only a few words, mainly personal names, are

the Caqnetio to the north
known.
These suggest an Arawakan speech. The Guayupe and Sae had relations with
(Speyer came to the Guayupe with a Caquetio interpreter) and the Chogue to the south, whom they dreaded as cannibals. They also knew
Muisca on the Bogota Highland, who came down into their and they even knew of Highland tribes farther to the south and gave news of their In fact, their relations with vessels of silver and gold and their llamas. the more southerly tribes may have been even closer than with the Muisca, for from them they obtained 22-carat gold in thin leaves and sheets, jewels, and silver bells.
quite well the
territory to purchase cotton in return for gold objects,
385
386
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
CULTURE
Farming. The products of their fields included manioc (seemingly both the sweet and bitter varieties), maize, sweetpotatoes, beans, peanuts,
:
some unnamed "vegetables"; also cotton and tobacco. Fishing and hunting. Fishing was an important source of food for all tribes. Hunting was absolutely undeveloped by the Sae, who ate no meat whatsoever, while the Guayupe would eat no fowl, hunting only
chili
peppers, and
quadrupeds, such as deer and peccaries.

in
Peccaries were important
game
most
of the area.
Food preparation. Manioc and maize were both used for making bread and a drink (undou.btedly fermented) of rather thick consistency; in fact, they were used mainly for the preparation of such drinks.
Domesticated animals. That the dog is nowhere mentioned may be The only reference to domestic animals is in a curious passage about "domestic animals of strange nature," which may, howa mere accident.
tamed animals. Birds seem to have been kept in Pedro Simon credits the tribes of the Llanos de San Juan with the knowledge of how to change the coloring of the feathers on the living bird, sometimes even producing feathers of different colors on one bird. They plucked the feathers of young birds and filled the holes with a paste which contained, in addition to the coloring matter, some kind of poison similar to that put by other tribes on arrows. This poison is said to have made the flesh of birds thus treated inedible.
ever, refer only to
captivity, since
HOUSES AND VILLAGES
The houses were
built
building used for ceremonial purposes.
around a plaza on which there was a special Houses were kept very clean,
and their inhabitants went to the river to defecate. Few details of Guayape house construction are known. The roof sloped to the ground, there were two doors facing each other, and houses were so big and long that many families lived in them. Hammocks were used for sleeping.
DRESS
AND ORNAMENTS
Throughout the area men went completely naked. In most tribes women also went naked, but among the Guayupe they wore in front a pointed piece of bark (apparently not bark cloth), hanging from a Cotton blankets were made, but their use string tied round the waist. Feather blankets were part of the chief's regalia. is not mentioned.
Of
exceptional interest are deer-hide moccasins that covered the foot
to the ankles
and leggings made
of the fiber of the leaves of a tree called
Vol. 4]
THE GUAYUPE AND SAEKIRCHHOFF

worn
387
palmicha, both
for protection against the hard, high grass that
covers the llanos.
Men wore
line,
it
their hair long, usually falling

it
down
the back to the waist-
but sometimes they braided
with white cotton ribbons and tied
back "like a rose."

it
The
front part of the hair

into artful designs.
mediately behind
was shaved
was shorn, and imOn the Meta River
women shaved their heads completely. One group of warriors was encountered
showy headdresses of guacamaya
rattlesnakes
with their faces and the upper
halves of their bodies painted black, the lower halves red.

feathers to the tips of
They wore
rattles of
which
were fastened. No ear, nose, or lip ornaments are mentioned, but the GuayupS said that a tribe farther south, probably outside of this culture area, wore wooden earplugs, because they had no gold. Golden ornaments as well as strings of shells were typical of the area, but it is not known how either was worn.

Canoes were used for river traveling.
times every year to
No
data are available regarding
land travel, except that the high, hard llanos grass was burned several
make walking
easier.
have controlled only individual villages. Among were not necessarily, and possibly only rarely, close relatives. They may have been chosen by general agreement of the old men, who seem to have been important and may have had special status, as they are spoken of as "principals."
Headmen seem
Guayupe
to
the
their successors
When
out log.
to
a Guayupe headman died his body was cremated in a hoUowed-
The ashes were put into one vessel and the bones were ground powder and placed in another. The remains were kept in these vessels until the deceased's successor or some close relative had accumulated enough beer to entertain the people of his own and neighboring villages The two vessels were bedecked with the at a ceremony in his honor. deceased's gold and shell ornaments and feather blankets and placed on his ceremonial stool. Then two or three of his closest relatives, followed by all persons present, danced around with these objects on their shoulders, first inside the house and then outside, circling it to enter again through
the opposite door.
Inside, they sat
down
it
in silence, while the pretender
to the deceased's position arose, lance in hand,
claiming a better right than he to take

accepted the challenge, an old
away from him.
and challenged anybody When nobody
man
arose and declared the speaker to be
the legitimate successor of the dead headman.
388
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
After this challenge and confirmation had been repeated thrice, the
chief sat on the stool where the ashes of the dead man had been and invited the latter's closest relatives to sit on his right and left. The old man who had spoken before recommended these relatives to his care. The men who had danced with the deceased's ashes now danced carrying the new headman, seated on the ceremonial stool, on their shoulders,
new
while everyone present followed, dancing as before.
After a period of wailing, directed by a special leader, the new chief
was given the ashes of the dead man headman was believed to come to life
with other important persons,
lest
to drink.
In this
way
the former
again.
The
chief shared this drink
any of them
feel slighted.
The drink
was prepared,
therefore, in sufficient quantities,
given to the lesser people.
To
and any left over was conclude the ceremony all men danced
that he
holding their bows and arrows.
No
other prerogatives of the
headman are mentioned except
received half of the bride price that any
man
paid for a wife.
Stools
and feather blankets were among his regalia. In addition to the main headman and the "principals," there may have been special "war captains." An army led by 14 such captains was
once encountered.
Waifs were permitted
to
go around every 8 days or so to beg for food.
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
Marriage.
Among the
future wife's parents or brothers and paid them for her.
payment, however, went to

of the usual
Guayupe, a husband-to-be negotiated with his Half of the the headman. The wedding consisted simply
several wives.
dancing and drinking.
Among
the Sae,
many men had

the
first,
Wives were chosen by
two methods.
By
married and single people gathered annually
in a special building to dance, sing,
general sexual intercourse.
and drink, after which there was Married people slept with their own spouses,
while unmarried people paired with their future wives or husbands.
By
the other method, a girl indicated her choice of a husband at the public
celebration which terminated her 3 months' puberty confinement by giving
man
a basketful of food.
This did not bind him to become her husband,
but he often acceded.
Sae women might leave their husbands at any time, especially if they were not pregnant after a year. Some women changed husbands several times until they became pregnant. Among the Sae, marriages seem to have been contracted only with
people of the same village.
WARFARE
All the tribes of this area were very warlike.
short hurling spears of a
For
offense they used
wood
called pipiri, long lances, likewise thrown,
Vol. 4]
THE GUAYUPE AND SAE KIRCHHOFF
389
three-edged dubs tied to the wrist, bows and arrows, and, in some tribes, sHngs. Spears, arrows, and clubs were ornamented with feathers. For
defense they had great round shields, big enough to cover a man completely, made of a single piece of tapir or manatee hide, and a head protection of strong hide, decorated with feathers.
Some
warriors hung a
kind of trumpet from their necks.
The Indians
of this area attacked in
orderly formations, with the usual shouting and noise.
Some
tribes built palisades of
wooden
posts tied closely to each other
with lianas. LIFE CYCLE
Childbirth.
A Sae woman delivered alone
in the bush, then left the
husband or some other relatives, who brought water so that she could wash herself and the child. If the father showed signs of sadness because of the new child, the mother immediately buried it alive or threw it into the river; otherwise they went home together to
child there to inform her
celebrate the occasion.
the Gtiayupe, the first child, boy or girl, always was buried thrown into the river. The reason given was that firstborn children are naughty and disobedient. Of subsequent children, girls were
alive or
Among
sometimes also
for a
killed.
As
a rule, however, the birth of a second child
occasioned great rejoicing and
many
ceremonies.
The
father
was confined
former days for 3 months or until the child started crawling around) in a special hut where every 5 days he was given a piece of cassava and a fermented drink made of cedar bark.
to tradition, in
month (according
When
could.
entering the hut
then 12 old
many men lashed him with men pushed him and plucked as much
bundles of nettles
of his hair as they
After his confinement they tied these tufts of hair to lances, and,
accompanied by other old men, they put them into the ground on the plaza and sat down in silence. The shaman arrived, took one of the lances and
away from him. The father, now released show of trying to do so, but the shaman struck him heavy blows with a thick cord and nettles. Having withstood this test, the father was anointed all over with a chili-pepper solution. It was believed that the child would die if the father did not undergo these
challenged anyone to take
it
from
his confinement,
made
ordeals.
Puberty. ^\Vhen a boy reached puberty his father invited many guests ceremony during which the headman and other old men repeatedly jumped through a big fire. After that the headman whipped the boy with nettles and pricked him with lances, the points of which had been heated, to make him a good warrior. At their first menstruation Sae girls were confined for 3 months in a dark room or hut. After that the father invited everyone in the village The girl's hair was cut all around slightly above ear to a celebration.
to a
390
level,
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
her body was painted black, and she was adorned with
all
the family
heirlooms.
The women danced around her

full of all
while four
women
held a
During the singing and dancing the girl picked the man she liked best and handed him the basket. He had to accept and sleep with her at least once. Often the two became husband and wife. During menstruation a woman might not go close to a maize field which was being sowed or harvested. Chili pepper had to be sowed by a young
kinds of food over her head.
girl.
tambourine-shaped basket
Death.
The
Guayupe had a
tradition that formerly they buried their
dead but that they were instructed by their gods to burn them, grind the bones into powder, and drink both ashes and powder. A detailed description of the funeral of a tion (p. 387).
headman has been given under

or 4 days,
i.e.,
Political
Organiza-
It lasted 3
until all the drinks
had been
consumed.
At
intervals, after every five or six
rounds of dancing, the
people stopped with loud whistling, shouting, and weird movements of

the body, sat
down
to drink, broke into wailing, directed
by a leader, who
praised the deeds of the dead man, and finally started dancing again.
Among
the Sae, a corpse
was
half cooked over a
cut into pieces, which were divided
among
his closest relatives.
wooden frame and The more
important and richer people made the burned and pulverized ashes into a
beverage, which they drank during a ceremony, whereas poorer people,
who had
panying
insufficient drinks to serve guests, ate the flesh at once,

it
accomThis
with so
many
drinks that they

tasted meat.
fell
down
unconscious.
was the only time the Sae ever
Dances.
Evidently
is
only
men
danced.
The
only form, which
is re-
peatedly described,
that in
which each
man
put his hands on the shoul-
ders of the one before him.

their steps.
The dancers
sang, keeping the
rhythm with
No
musical instruments are mentioned in connection with
dances and ceremonies.
Coca (yupa) was taken, and tobacco was smoked through mouth or nose in order to provoke visions whether this was limited to shamans is not stated. What people saw under the influence of these stimulants provided them with an unbreakable rule for action.
Narcotics.
the
;
SUPERNATURALISM
wife.
is
Major deities. In Guayupe belief The sun sends heat and dryness
the sun
;
and moon are husband and
the moon, the rains.
When
there
an excess of one or the other the sun intervenes with the moon, or the moon with the sun, on behalf of mankind. A complete circle surrounding the moon is considered a sign of fertility and prosperity, while a broken
Vol. 4]
THE GUAYUPE AND SAEKIRCHHOFF
391
or half circle
ward
off
is a sign of impending calamities which the people try to blowing toward the moon and by fasting. Against earthby
quakes, which are caused

fast is necessary.
people looking for
when God (the sun?) goes to sleep, a 7-day The moon has eclipses when it is attacked by dead food and drink. The living frighten them away by
and other weapons;
showing
bout.
their strength in a display of their lances
having achieved their purpose, they celebrate their victory by a drinking
Another deity may have represented the evil principle, although in this main source, the missionary Pedro de Aguado (1916-19), may not be trusted. This "devil" took the form of jaguars, bears, and certain other wild animals, which were never to be killed. The Gimyupe believed that they, the Sae, and the Eperigua all descended from one couple, and that at some future time they would disappear, after which God (the sun ?) would descend from heaven to create new men.
respect our
sorcery. Shamans could take the form of jaguars, and other wild animals. For this reason they were highly esteemed and at the same time feared. They could ask any man for his daughters. People helped them in their fields, gave them presents, etc. Their sons succeeded them in their profession. Their curing methods depended upon the nature of the ailment. They tried to cure wounds and leprosy with herbs. Swellings were considered due to some object, such as herbs, thorns, or worms, having been placed in the body by witchcraft. The cure consisted of sucking out the object. In more serious diseases, especially fevers, the patient was placed in his hammock between two fires and kept there until he got better or died, some magic formula being the only additional treatment given him. Ritual numbers. The numbers 3, 5, 7, and 12 are mentioned. All of them are, in fact, of ritual importance in one or another of the neighboring
bears,
Shamanism and
areas.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aguado, 1916-17; Castellanos, 1874; Oviedo y Valdes, 1851-55; Simon, 1882-92.
THE BETOI AND THEIR NEIGHBORS
TRIBAL LOCATIONS
The
extensive llanos in eastern Colombia comprise a submountainous
territory
which
is
crossed by several large rivers, such as the Orinoco,
It was described by the first explorers and by the Jesuit missionaries of the early l7th century as a region of forests and great mysteries, inhabited by various tribes and peoples. This region, called Ayrico (Airico), was bounded by the Guayabero and Guaviare Rivers on the south, the Uva or Vua River on the northeast, the Manacacias and Vichada Rivers on the north, and the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Oriental of the Andes on the west. Today it embraces
Vichada, Guaviare, and Meta,
all the Province of Meta in Colombia. A large number of rivers and streams cross it from west to east, among them the Duda, Cabra, Guejar, Cunumio, San Vicente, Pororio, and Ariari the last, which flows through the center of the region, is the most important. In the days of the Conquest the region of Ayrico was occupied by the Airico and Curicuriveni. Farther north, living near the last foothills of the Cordillera Oriental in an environment similar to Ayrico, were the Anabali and Jirara (Girara) on the upper Arauca and Tame Rivers and near the Girara River, the Lolaca, Atabaca and Situfa (Cituja) on the plains of the Sarare River, the Luc alia on the banks of the Arauca River, and the Betoi (Betoy) in a region bounded on the south by the Sarare River and on the north by the Uribante (Uriban) River, a region today embracing parts of the Departments of Santander, Boyaca, and Arauca, where Colombia and Venezuela meet (Gumilla, 1745; Rivero, 1883; Salas, 1920). The most important and most numerous of these tribes was the Betoi, whose widespread language was formerly designated as the Betoya linguistic family but today is called Tucana (Castellvi, 1934).
almost
LANGUAGE
Gumilla (1745) states that
are
all
these peoples and several others,
who
unknown
ethnographically and
may
be subdivisions of those mendifferent dialects.
tioned above, spoke the
same language though possibly
He
writes that the languages of the "Betoy and the Jirara, although
*r's'
the latter has few
and the former too many, must be
related
and
393
394
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
from them were derived the languages
of the Situfa, Ayrica, Ele, Luculia,
Fabue, Arauca, Quilifay, Anabali, Lolaca, and Atabaca" (Gumilla, 1745, vol. 2, p. 38). Rivero (1883, p. 339) finds that "Betoy is similar to that
of the Giraras." Salas (1920, p. 121) and Rivet (cited by Pericot Garcia 1936, p. 597) follow Gumilla in every respect, except that Rivet changes
the
of Luc alia to Buculia and Fabue or Jabue to Jabrie, and classes two tribes as Chibchan. Castellvi on the other hand, includes the Tama and Airico in the Tucano (formerly the Betoya) family,
name
these
HISTORICAL SOURCES
and were unquestionably the Jesuit missionaries, such as Fathers Gumilla (1745), Rivero (1883), and Oviedo y Bafios (1824, 1932, 1935). The contemporary Venezuelan author Salas based his studies (1920) on these classic authorities. Very few modern ethnographers have made field studies of the small remnants of the once numerous native tribes of eastern Colombia and western VeneKoch-Griinberg (1917-28, vols. 2, 3, 4) made some important zuela.
authoritative chroniclers of the Conquest
of the attempts to colonize this zone
scientific
The most important and
observations but unfortunately did not visit

regions.
all
the tribes of the
Orinoco and Amazon
CULTURE
The
natural fertility both of flora
and fauna
of this
mountainous, warm,
its
humid, and well-watered region afforded ample resources to

habitants,
fishers.
native in-
who were
gatherers of wild fruits, cultivators, hunters, and

native crops were manioc and maize
aji
;
The most important
fruits,
chili
such as pineapples, and condiments, such as pimientos and

peppers, supplemented the diet.
or
Bananas were adopted after the Conquest. Hunting, carried on with the bow and arrow, yielded tapirs, peccaries, deer, bears, jaguars, and pumas. The Jirara and Airico ate snakes after cutting off their heads and the ends of their tails.
VILLAGES AND HOUSES
The tribes of this region apparently did not have large villages with many houses built in any one place, but lived in small communities (caserios or rancherios). The Betoi, the most populous people, had the
following villages
or
subdivisions:
Betoi proper,
Guanero, Agualo,
Guaracapon, Situja (Situfa?), Quilifay, Aibali, and Mafilito or Isabaco (Rivero, 1883, p. 348). The typical habitation was the "caney," a com-
munal house sheltering an extended family. It was built of poles and had a roof thatched with grass or palm leaves. Among the Jirara and Airico, it was 200 feet (about 60 m.) long and 30 feet (about 9 m.) wide and had small doors in its ends. In 1759 the Jirara and Airico of the
Vol. 4]
BETOI AND NEIGHBORSHERNANDEZ DE ALBA
395
Girara River had 18 communal houses sheltering 450 people, an average

of 25 persons per
house (Rivero, 1883,
p.
77^.
Betoi village also had
a community clubhouse which was used for festivals and for the accom-
modation of guests.

Nudity was characteristic of these tribes, although Betoi headmen or some kind of bark-cloth garment, and Jirara and Airico women wore a leaf genital cover. The climate rendered clothing unnecessary,
chiefs used
but these Indians painted their bodies not only as decoration but also as
protection against the sun and the bites of mosquitoes and other insects.
The most common ornaments were crowns

of snail-shell beads
of colored feathers, necklaces
(quiripas),
figures.
form
of rays
and other
and red or vermilion body paint in the As evidence of mourning the relatives
of the deceased painted themselves black with "jagua" (Genipa).
TRANSPORTATION
For
river travel these Indians

fire.
made dugout canoes which were hollowed
by means of
On
land they carried goods on their backs.
MANUFACTURES
Pottery cooking vessels were probably
Betoi
made bark
cloth for garments.

tribes
made by all the tribes. The The Anabali wove mats. The Betoi
and probably the other
made
calabash containers.
SOCIAL

into locally
exogamous groups, each under "They obey the oldest man," wrote Rivero (1883, p. 348), which suggests that the occupants of the communal house, or caney, comprised a pater familia or group of
the leadership of the most distinguished elder.
relatives with the oldest
The Betoi were organized
man
as chief.
Among
the Jirara, Airico, and perhaps the other tribes
men
periodically
held festivals in the community clubhouse, drinking chicha and playing
musical instruments.
The
celebrants sat in
each
man
holding his weapons.
The
chicha jar
two lines facing each was in the center.
other,
Marriage was forbidden with relatives to the fifth degree, a restriction which perhaps applied mainly to the local, exogamous group. There was little polygyny because female infanticide caused a shortage of women. The Betoi practiced infant betrothal when the boy and girl were only a year old, but a man might later repudiate the agreement. Marriage
was
celebrated by a drinking festival, the betrothed being

left there.
first
carried to
the house by their friends and relatives and

of a spouse, a year of chastity
After the death
had
to be observed.
To
obtain a
new
wife,
a widower
made
presents of birds,
game
animals, and fish to the girl
until she accepted him.
396
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
The Jirara and Airico celebrated a wedding with a community banquet. The parents of the betrothed hunted and fished in advance in order to accumulate the necessary provisions. The father or some other relative
of the
young man took him

at the
to the girl's house,
where the
girl
and her
mother met them
door and they exchanged presents of strings and

of these beads
beads (quiripas), which had great economic importance in the region.
The
girl's
mother put a necklace
the boy's father placed one on his daughter-in-law.
on her son-in-law and The newly wed
couple then sat down, and the

feet of
her daughter.
the girl
girl's mother placed a jar of chicha at the While her husband sat solemnly with folded arms, served the chicha, meat, and fish to the people of the village.
ECONOMIC LIFE
As
these tribes depended greatly on hunting and fishing and were semi-
nomadic, owing to the custom of abandoning a house at the death of an

occupant, they had only a simple economic
planted, weeded,
life.
Among
the Betoi,
men
hunted, fished, and cleared the fields that were to be cultivated.
Women
and harvested these
fields,
carried the produce to the
house, and prepared the meals and drinks.
An
interesting feature of this area
was the use
of strings of snail-shell
beads as
money
(quiripa).
from shells obtained in the ground down. Value was proportionate to the length of the string. This money was used in trade with neighboring tribes, and among the Airico the most distinguished or powerful persons used them to pay servants or workmen of their own group for their labor. There appear to have been no restrictions on hunting rights, and game probably belonged to the hunter just as farm produce belonged to the cultivator. The Jirara and Airico, believing that sickness and death contaminated things, abandoned crops, the house, and the personal goods
of the deceased at a death.
The beads were small, perforated disks made rivers. The points were cut off and the shells
LIFE CYCLE
A
was
Betoi mother buried a newborn daughter alive unless prevented by
her husband or relatives.

that a
The reason given
the conquistadors for this
woman's life was very hard and painful. The Betoi practiced the couvade. At childbirth the father took to his bed and his wife took care of him in the belief that if he walked about he would step on the child's head, if he cut wood he would cut the child's head, and if he shot an arrow at a bird he would shoot the newborn. At death the Betoi buried the corpse and the dead man's utensils, weapons, and ornaments in the portion of the house used for cooking. The night after the burial the relatives of the deceased held a funeral ceremony The men sat on one side of the house and the in the communal house. women on the other, all playing musical instruments. The widow recited
Vol. 4]
BETOI AND NEIGHBORS HERNANDEZ DE ALBA
397
sad laments to which the others responded in chorus.

the house site to be contaminated
place.
The Betoi beHeved and moved the habitation to another The custom of abandoning a house and cuUivated fields at a death
was general among these tribes. Among the Jirara and Airico, mourners painted themselves black, the amount of paint depending upon their relationship to the deceased. The widow, children, and brothers painted their entire bodies. Slightly more distant relatives, such as cousins, aunts, and uncles, painted their legs, feet, arms, hands, and part of their faces. The remaining relatives painted only their hands and feet and put spots on their faces. A year of widowhood was required before remarriage. The chroniclers (Gumilla, 1745; Rivero, 1883) called attention to the great sorrow exhibited by the deceased's women and children. The widow, painted entirely black and her hair cut, spent 9 days weeping for her husband at the arroyo or river nearest the village. The Anabali covered the grave with many mats and abandoned the house and fields, but after the Conquest they merely burned the house as the Spanish missionaries and encomenderos would not permit them to move away.
WARFARE
While attacking
in battle the Indians uttered so
Spaniards referred to their attacks as "shouts."
and arrows, macanas of used arrow poison, especially against

Chinato (Rivero, 1883,
p.
many shouts that the Weapons included bows hard palm wood, lances, and axes. The Lucalia
their neighbors
and enemies, the
139).
The
Jirara apparently did not poison their arrows, but a person

kill
who
someone brewed a poison called "irruqui alabuqui" and mixed it with his chicha. This poison was made by boiling a certain species of ant and skimming off the poisonous grease, which was kept in an animal bone (Gumilla, 1745, vol. 2, p. 165).
wished to

Music, which accompanied community gatherings, dances, and funerals,
was played on such instruments

(5 feet)
long,
as "fotutos"
and
flutes.
The
"fotuto"
consisted of a calabash resonator fitted
to a hollow cane about 2 varas
which was blown
at the free
end producing a raucous
The special instrument of this area was the hollow-log drum, which was made by burning out a log 2 varas (1.6 m.) in circumference and 3 varas (2.4 m.) long. The drum was suspended above the ground and struck with two wooden clubs on one side over slots. Chicha, an alcoholic drink made principally of fermented manioc, was
sound.
used on
rites.
all
social occasions
meetings,
weddings, burials, and religious
653334
48
^27
398

RELIGION
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
AND SHAMANISM
The Betoi regarded tlie sun (Es) as the creator and protector and a Memelu as an evil spirit which caused the death of children. The Jirara and Airico had no idols, but believed in two gods who were brothers. The older created everything but destroyed it with a great flood, after which the younger made people and ruled over them. The
being called
latter
causes earthquakes by moving his arm.

ascribe
(The Chibcha or Muisca
similarly
brothers
now
live in the stars
drunk, they
spill
believe in an evil
Chibchacum), These and are very fond of drinking chicha. When it and it falls on the earth as rain. These tribes also spirit which has charge of the peccaries. In the religion
by Father Rivero (1883,
p.
earthquakes to a god named
of these tribes recorded
116) there
may
be a
trace of Christian belief introduced by the missionaries.

Beliefs in
ciated with the place
shamanism and magic were very extensive. Evil was assowhere a death occurred, and the place was abandoned.
site.
The Betoi
believed that the soul of the deceased remained at the house

illness.
The shaman could both cause and cure

performed a cure, the patient and
foresee the future, the Jirara
While the Betoi shaman

fast.
his relatives
had to
To
cure or to
"yopa" or "yopo" powder.

to counteract the illness.
spirits,
and Airico shaman took a narcotic snuff of He also blew it slowly over a patient's body had the power
to send several
He
demons
or
which became visible, to the sick man to perform the cure. In women's breasts a shaman could place a charm called "mojan," which the child took with the milk. At the entrances to their villages the Anabali built little towers of branches in which a spirit, mojan, stayed to protect the houses against human and invisible enemies, while the people confidently went away on hunting and fishing expeditions.
At a moon
eclipse,
which the Lolaca and Atabaca greatly feared, the

fires
women
tice
hurried to cover their cooking
and
utensils with earth, a prac-
prompted by the belief that if the moon died all fire would die with it except that which was buried for protection, and if, as is natural, the buried fire died, the moon would continue to live (Gumilla, 1745, vol. 1, The Betoi attached special meaning to the cries of the birds and p. 315). wild animals in the mountains, and deduced from them what would happen.
The Betoi
vidual's
his legs
believed that spirits
made
fish
;
revelations in dreams.
:
An
indi-
power was increased by

with the spine of a ray
scarification
to obtain fish, he
wounded
to insure hunting luck,

his left with a bird's
his right
arm with
a peccary bone and
he scratched femur and to

;
be brave in warfare, he cicatrized his entire body.

painted ones would drive
To
avoid bites from
poisonous snakes, he painted snakes on his legs so that the poison of the away the living. Betoi accredited men with th(?
to send snakes to bite other
power
men.
THE ACHAGUA AND THEIR NEIGHBORS
TRIBAL LOCATIONS
The Achagua were widely
Colombia.
distributed
in
Venezuela and eastern
Rivero, apparently exaggerating their extent, assigned them
a habitat which extended from near Barinas, southeast of Lake Mar-
San Juan de los Llanos east of Bogota in Colombia. Farther south there were several isolated groups near the Province of Popayan. In addition, there were the following scattered groups One distributed from the Casanare River to the Ariporo River and the banks of the Meta and embracing more than 20 "nations or provinces with the same Achagua language" another which included
acaibo, to the
city of
:
now abandoned
21 groups or peoples between the banks of the Vichada River and the
mouths by which the Guaviare River enters the Orinoco River; another Guaviare River; another with Achagua Cataruhen on the Orinoco, above the island inhabited by the Adole; and one on the Aritagua and Onocutare Rivers (Rivero, 1883). In terms of modern political divisions, Salas (1920) locates the Achagua in the Venezuelan They lived at the states of Bolivar, Guarico, Zamora, and Bermudez. confluence of the Meta and Orinoco Rivers, between the Apure, Meta, and Orinoco Rivers and between some of the tributaries of the Meta, especially the Uribante and Arauca, and on the south side of the In modern times Fabo Guaviare adjoining the Gunhiho and Saliva. (1911) places the Achagua in Colombia on the Mani River, not far from the Orocue River, and Codazzi (1889) locates them on the right side of the Muco River, where they are supposed to be survivors of the old Caulin (1841), an important source, divides the Jesuit missions. Achagua into the following subtribes: Chirk oa, Taparita, Otomaco, and Yaruro. Groups mentioned by Rivero are the Cataruhen, Barria, UcataGumilla (1745) divides them querri, Quirruba, Lisarva, and Abani.
along the
into
the
Aycubaverrenay and
Issirriberrenai.
Univerrenay.
Salas
(1920)
adds the
Amarizan and the
The Guaiqueri {Guayqueri, Guayquiri, Guajqueri, Guajkeri) occupied the country around Cumana, the islands of Margarita, Coche, and Cubagua, and part of Trinidad. They were essentially coastal and insular.
399
400
[B.A.E, Bull. 143
Cumana were the Palenque and Piritu The Spaniards called the territory of these tribes the "Mision" or "Provincia" of the Piritu. The name comes from a local species of cane of which the Indians made tobacco pipes. The Piritu were
Farther south or southwest of
{Piritu, Pirichu).
divided into two subtribes, the Piritu proper and the Chacopata.
The Caberre (Cabre,
Cavarri, Cabritu) occupied part of the region of

its
the Inirida (Inirria, Inirricha) River, especially
confluence with the
Nooquene, and groups of Caberre held a portion of the banks of the Atavapo River (Caulin, 1841, p. 230). Salas places this tribe on the southern side of the Orinoco, from the Caura to the Caicara River. The Puinave (Puinabe, Puinabi, Puinabo) were neighbors of the Caberre in the region of the Nooquene and Inirida Rivers, and, together with the Guaipunabis (Guipunabis) they extended through the mountains of Mabicore and the Raudal de Maipures. The Saliva {Sdliba, Saliva) occupied the Orinoco River at and downstream from its confluence with the Meta, the banks of the Guaviare, Vichada, and Meta Rivers, and the western margin of the Carichana River. Salas (1920) includes the Piaroa, Adole, Maipure, Dimiberrenai, and Yaruro (Yuro) as cultural and linguistic relatives of the Saliva. The Piapoco inhabited the territory drained by the Maria and Cuinacia
,
Rivers (Fabo, 1911).
Other tribes in this area are little known culturally and linguistically, Among them are the Tamanaco, and remain ethnographic riddles. Maipure, and Abani of the territory between the Apure and Meta Rivers. The Pareca lived along the Caviari, Muruparu, Cururuparu, Luyeme, and Sacure Rivers, all affluents of the Orinoco. The Mapoye, Totomaco, and Toto lived on the headwaters of the Sibapuli, Urupere, Suapure, Auyacoa, and Paraute Rivers, i.e., east of
the Saliva.
HISTORY
The
Jesuits,
of these tribes at the
accompanied by military escorts, began the subjugation end of the 16th century. They assembled a large
number of Indians in the "reductions," i.e., settlements, and in the missions. The natives who survived the wars of the Conquest, the slavery on Spanish settlements, and the missions began to migrate to new areas
where they could preserve their customs, religion, and language. The Achagua, Guaiqueri, Palenque, and Piritu went especially to the banks of the Meta, Guaviare, and Casanare Rivers, and the Caberre, Puinave, The tribal Saliva, and Piapoco went to the Macuco, west of Orocue. shift their habitat remnants which survived in the Oriente continued to
as white or civilized people penetrated their lands to exploit rubber,
chicle,
and other products, to
establish cattle ranches,
and to carry out
political objectives,
such as the protection of frontiers.
Vol. 4]
ACHAGUA AND NEIGHBORS HERNANDEZ DE ALBA
401
Among the Jesuit settlements were San Jose on the Aritagua River, an affluent of the Casanare, and San Salvador del Puerto on the Casanare and Onocutare Rivers, which enter the Meta from the north. The
missions of the Province of Piritu had 34 villages with nearly 12,000
persons; these included 13 Can'&-speaking villages (Caulin, 1841).
The Caherre went

little
to
Orocue
in the
middle of the 19th century, and a

In recent times
enters the Meta.
later they
migrated farther up the Meta River.
Fabo found them where the San Juanito River
The
where.
Jesuits founded missions
among
the Saliva at Carichana and else-
San Miguel de Guanapalo, Beato Regis, Santa Teresa de Jesus, and others were flourishing missions.
the beginning of the
At
17th century Nuestra Sefiora,
The
Jesuit missions founded in the Guianas, the

to
Amazon, and the
Orinoco region seem

for they evidently
lived
have been succesful from a social point of view,

the
made
new
converts into prosperous peoples,
on large
cattle
ranches with a communal system of property.
who From
the beginning, however, the strife between the Jesuits

lay population
and the Spanish and maltreating
was notorious, and the
fathers accused the expeditionaries,

of exploiting
merchants, and even the

the Indians
civil authorities
who had been
"reduced," or appropriated, to their settlements.

of the
For example. Father Rivero said
Achagua, "They are made to
groan under the tasks and work, and, moreover, they are sold as slaves," especially those of Santiago de la Atalaya. Thus the Spaniards increased
the
number
of "macos," a
rivers for "Indian
slaves."
word used throughout the region of the great The civil authorities, on the other hand,
was
finally expelled
believed that the region should be developed by no one but themselves.
They organized
against the Jesuits, and the order
by
Carlos III in 1767.

part Spanish
The
Indians were taken over by other religious
orders; their government became mixed in method and purpose, being

placed by individually
Communal work and property was reowned haciendas, and at best the missions were badly administered by the new missionaries. The wealth in cattle was
and part Indian.
lost,
and so many of the animals ran wild that by the time of the wars of Independence Bolivar's and Santander's troops were able to live on them. The cattle industry of eastern Colombia and of adjoining Venezuela
which began with the Jesuits' attempts to develop socialism has vanished. The only remnants of the Jesuit missions today are ruined buildings and cattle corrals. It is interesting to note the inventory which the Jesuits made for the conveyance of the Achagua mission of Surimena to the
Recoletos de San Agustin.
the Indians
The inventory was made

chief,
in the presence of
It lists the
lieutenant, a
a captain, and two others.

carpentry
shop,
mission house,
dispensary,
school,
blacksmith
shop,
church, and herd.

cattle
The
herd consisted of 400 horses and 4,000 head of
(Ganuza, 1921).
402
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
In the Piritu region the missionaries, hoping to facilitate their work, brought together people of various tribes and languages and endeavored
to in the
make the Cumanagoto language a lingua geral, comparable Andes of southern Colombia and Ecuador.
to
Quechua
CULTURE
Most
of our cultural information concerns the
Achagua, Piritu, and
Saliva, and, unless stated to be otherwise, the following description applies

to these tribes.
In addition to the major plant foods listed by Kirchhoff (p. 355), the ate the following: The fruit of a vine gathered in summer and
; ;
Achagua
prepared
like green broadbeans "camuirro," a grapelike palm fruit and "emau," a fruit the size and shape of a billiard ball. The farms, cultivated mainly by women, were divided into individual plots marked by stakes.
Among
lined
the Saliva,
men
cleared the fields of trees and brush and
cultivated them.
Before the work of clearing was begun, the older

that they
aji
women men
would
chili
up the younger and ceremonially whipped them so
not be lazy.
Saliva crops included sweet manioc, maize,

birds, wild rats, iguanas,
or
peppers, and, after the Conquest, bananas.
monkeys, deer, tapirs, and even grubs. Fish were taken with bows and arrows, harpoons, nets, cane traps, and a drug, barbasco, which the Achagua call "cuna." The Piritu apparently used fishhooks. These tribes prepared a maize dough which they carried as a ration on trips it was mixed with water when eaten. Sweet manioc was roasted or boiled in water. Bitter manioc was grated on a board studded with small pieces of stone affixed with resin, and the poison was removed by squeezing the pulp in what, to judge by Rivero's detailed description, was the typical tipiti. It was then washed, put through a basketry sieve, and made into cakes, cassava, which were baked on a pottery plate (budare) supported over a fire by three stones. Foods were seasoned with aji, for these tribes used no salt.
turtles, turtle eggs, ants,
;
Animal foods included
HOUSES AND VILLAGES

Each village was enclosed by a palisade of poles and earth. The enwas very high and could be defended against attack. Inside the palisade were the dwellings and a special building which served as the men's clubhouse and where festivals and gatherings were held and guests accommodated. The Achagua called such a building "daury." The houses were large communal dwellings which could hold a considerable number of people; Chief Irrijirre's had a capacity of 500. The occupants
trance
Vol. 4]
403
is.
of each
house comprised what the chroniclers called a "parentela," that
probably a sib (see below).

the Piritu,
The
dwellings were circular, except
among
who made them long and rectangular. There were apparently separate cook houses. Household furniture and utensils included pottery vessels, half-calabash drinking cups
(totumas), stools covered with the skins of jaguars, tapirs, and other
animals, and sleeping
built at night.
hammocks (chinchorros) below which
fires
were

which were apparently plaited of maguey or hemp. These skirts were about 1 vara (80 cm. or 2 feet 8 inches) long and three-quarters of a vara (60 cm. or 2 feet) wide and were held up by cords passing over the shoulders. Men wore a small breechclout (guaruma).
to
skirts,
Garments were limited
women's
of very flexible fiber cords.
The cords were probably
The
principal ornaments
were various designs painted on the body,
black (genipa, "jagua") stain on the hands, feathers glued to the body
with resin, feather

pearls
tufts,
necklaces of snail-shell beads (quiripas) or of
(which the Piritu called "thenocas"), men's pearl ear and nose ornaments, women's silver lower lip ornaments made in semilunar and
other shapes, and metal and coral pins.
The Achagua
tattooed children
around the mouth, puncturing the skin with a fish tooth and rubbing genipa in it to make black marks. The hair was worn long and was painted red or anointed with oil (Achagua). Beards were plucked with
wooden tweezers.
TRANSPORTATION
These
tribes traversed their
many
rafts.
large rivers in dugout canoes pro-
pelled with paddles
and on pole
MANUFACTURES
True weaving has not been reported.
knotted or netted.
Fish nets and hammocks were
Among the products were manioc squeezers, carryingbaskets (called "camayas" by the Piritu), manioc sifters, and light, flexible shields of cane (Achagua). Women made pottery ollas, plates, cook pots, and containers. Containers were also made of calabashes and drinking cups (muriques) of
Basketry and matting were well developed.
the finely woven, flexible
women's
skirts,
half calabashes.
Wooden
products included stools, dugout canoes, weapons, and large
hollow-log drums.
404

Saliva had an adhesive (peraman)
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
The
table resin prepared with heat.
the shafts and, according to
made of black wax and vegeThey used it to glue arrow points to Gumilla (1745, vol. 2), even to mend broken
bones
SOCIAL

divided into patrilineal sibs or gentes.
The Achagua were seemingly

Local exogamy
is
by Rivero's statement (1883, p. 326) that they had to "go to distant villages to marry," and some evidence points to patrilocal residence. The Achagua had totemic groups e.g., Aycubaattested
;
verrenais, children of the trunks
Univerrenais, children of the rivers
of the serpent, "amarizan"; Isirriberrenais, and others connected with the jaguar, fox, and other animals and birds. It is not stated that these totemic groups coincided with the communal house (which perhaps usually constituted a village), the village, or a larger group; perhaps they were not localized The data, however, strongly suggest totemic, exogamous, patriat all. linear sibs, and the pattern may have resembled that of the Tucanoan tribes to the south (Handbook, vol. 3). Evidence of sibs among the other tribes is less clear. Possibly some groups designated as tribes, such as the Caturuben, Barria, Ucataquerri. Quirruba, Lizarva, and Abani, were really sibs, but their totems have
Amarizan,
descendants
;
descendants of the bat
not been recorded.
The Achagua were polygynous.

or four wives, each of
vated her
own
fields,
Every man endeavored to have three had equal rights and obligations and cultiwhich was marked by stakes. Either the husband or
whom
wife could dissolve the marriage.
Among the Guaiqueri, women about to be married were confined for 40 days, during which their daily diet was about 3 ounces of cassava, 3 "muriche" fruits, and a jar of water. Gumilla explains this on the basis of woman's malevolent influence "Our old people believe that whatever menstruating women step on will dry up if a man steps where a
: . . . ;
woman
has set her
feet,
his legs will swell
up
To
prevent their
bodies being poisonous
[women] are made

;
to fast forty days.
Thus they
dry up well and are not dangerous

times."
at least not so
all
much
so as in ancient
On
the eve of the marriage,
the Indians adorned themselves
with paint and feathers, while some old
women
dressed up the
girl.
The
ceremony was held in the dance house and was presided over by the chief, who sat on a stool. At sunrise the participants, dancing and making music, arrived at the girl's house, which they encircled. An old woman appeared at the door and presented them a plate of food, which they took to the nearest woods and threw away, saying, "Dog demon (?), take this food and do not come to disturb our festival." Crowned with flowers and holding a bouquet in the left hand and a rattle or jingles in
Vol. 4]

mark time
405
the right, to
to the music, the dancers returned to the girl's
house with the boy dancing in the center of the group.
The
girl
now
came forward accompanied by the old woman, who wept while uttering Then everyone feasted on cassava, turtle, fish, and other special chants.
food.
Among
man had
the Piritu a youth's parents selected his bride.
The
wife had
to give her
husband
strict
obedience.
In some cases a newly married
to serve his father-in-law for a certain period.
Each Achagua communal house or village had a chief, whom the The Piritu group or chroniclers and missionaries called a "cacique."
house chief had to prove his fitness for the
after
office
by observing a long
fast,
which he drank a cup
full of
water and dried pepper (aji), and by
hammock filled with stinging ants. If he endured these ordeals and bravely without showing pain, he was confirmed as chief. The Saliva imposed similar tests. Among the Achagua and Piritu was a group of young girls who were not only a kind of vestal virgins, but who might be taken for sexual
lying in a
quietly
purposes by the
chiefs.
Achagua men had a special clubhouse (daury), from which women were barred. Each afternoon they lounged in their hammocks in this house and discussed matters of current interest. Here also they occasionally held drunken festivities (chubai). After preparing a great quantity of chicha in wooden troughs, the men would paint their bodies with various designs in the morning and go to the clubhouse. They squatted while the chief sat on a stool. Loquacious with the chicha, which servants passed around in bowls, everyone sang to the accompaniment of musical instruments and made much noise.
Men*s gatherings.
Punishment.
of a
Achagua law permitted personal revenge or punishment

visitors with a
wrongdoer.
Etiquette.
The Achagua received

The
rite
solemn
ritual,
which
Father Rivero described.
was
called
"mirraye" from the verb

First, seated in the
"numerraidary," which means "to make a speech."

clubhouse with their weapons in their hands, the
in line
men
rose and, standing
one behind the other, they greeted their guest saying, "mude,"
replied, "cha,"
which means "cousin," to which he
meaning
"alright."
The
men
The
free.
sat
down again and
the
women
passed the drinks, whereupon a

it
long speech was begun by an orator
who had committed

his right arm,
to
memory.
hand
orator sat on a stool or squatted on his heels, his elbows resting

his left
on his knees,
hand grasping
and
his right
After he delivered the long address in a serious and monotonous
voice, the guest responded.
The
orator then continued the second part
of his oration which, says Rivero, might last an hour and a half or longer.
The
Piritu accorded great respect to old men.
At
festivals,
young
people were not permitted to stand in their presence.
Also, young people
406
had
sit

to serve their elders food
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
and drink, and women were not allowed
to
down and
eat with their husbands.

to sit
and were invited

like those of the
down
Guests received a special greeting and drink, but there were no long speeches
Achagua.
ECONOMIC LIFE
Among
and
the Achagua,
men made
cords,
baskets, mats,
and
articles of
wood,
fetched
cleared the fields for farming, assisted in gathering wild foods, and hunted
fished.
Women made
hammocks,
fields,
nets,
and
pots,
firewood and water, cultivated the
cooked, prepared cassava, and
painted their husbands' bodies and groomed their hair.

fields, but some major importance to the group, such as hunting and fishing, may have been done communally, for they were preceded by community ceremonies. The Guaiqueri sense of economic and social solidarity was shown in the custom of dividing game among all families, regardless of who killed it, and of helping one another in farming activities. Trade. ^Two articles of commerce were especially important to the Achagua. The first was an oil which the subtribe Becirri produced and sold. It was made from a fruit called "abay" and was used for anointing the hair and for illumination. The second, of greater importance, was
Private property existed in the form of the cultivated

activities of
economic
which served as money in all kinds of transactions in the Orinoco area and which were also worn as necklaces. This money, called "quiripa," was obtained from the Betoi in the vicinity of Casanare to the west (p. 396). Rivero (1883, p. 157) says of this money, "With it they carry on their trade and conclude their deals and obligations; it is the national money, and it is highly valued in the Guianas and even on the they do not make it but they get it from the Island of Trinidad
strings of shell beads
.
port of Casanare where
it is
worth a string
of pearls long
enough to
encircle
a man's girth, the equivalent of two silver reales, or, in the city of the Guianas, four, and on the Island of Trinidad, eight." The Puinave, who
were given
to much travel and trade, also used this money. The Guaiqueri fished for pearls and traded them to other
tribes.
On
to
the Islands of
Cubagua and Margarita, the conquistadors forced them
dive for pearls.
LIFE CYCLE
The couvade was

p.
practiced
among most
of these tribes (Karsten, 1926,
543).
In the case of twins, the Sdliva, believing that only one could be the and that the other must have been sired by another man, Both the Achagua and Sdliva killed the first-born killed the first born.
father's child
daughter, perhaps to
make sure
that the oldest child,
who
inherited the
Vol. 4]
ACHAGUA AND NEIGHBORSHERNANDEZ DE ALBA

and
privileges,
407
father's rights
would be a
after birth.
son.
These
tribes circumcized
infants of both sexes

tributaries of the
8 days
Some
of the Indians
on the
Meta River merely drew blood from the genitals, but, when a boy was 10 or 12 years old, they intoxicated him to the point of
he might withstand the
his
loss of blood and then scarified body and arms (Karsten, 1926, p. 177). From early childhood boys were taught to use weapons, starting with small bows and arrows. The Piritu were very fond of their children and seldom punished them. When boys were 12 or 14 years old they began to make trips and to learn men's tasks; by 16 or 18 they were ready to
insensibility so that
marry.
At her
fast.
first
menstruation, a girl was confined to the house, where

in
she had to
She remained
an elevated hammock,
in
which stinging
girl
ants were placed.
Thus
purified, she
was able
to fulfill the obligations of
marriage.
During a dancing
festival after her
confinement the
was
given in marriage.
an Achagua became dangerously ill, his weapons were placed him so that he could defend himself against death. As great care was devoted to one's hair, a dying man's widow or oldest daughter groomed him. When he expired everyone wept, and one person went to the entrance
beside
to the enclosure to
When
announce the death
in a loud voice so that the people
For 3 or 4 days the pardrank chicha from calabash cups, and each had to make a speech about the deceased, describing his deeds and attainments. The grave was dug in the center of the house and the body buried with weapons, food,
could foregather for the funeral observances.
ticipants
ornaments and a hammock. The mouth of the sepulcher was filled with packed earth, and each day any holes were stopped with clay to keep
out ants.
When
ments.
a Piritu chief died his body was kept 8 days or longer while the
people sang his prowess, accompanied by funeral flutes and other instru-
The grave was lined and covered with cane mats or thin planks. Convinced that a dangerous spirit which had caused the death now lurked in the house, they abandoned the place. A year later the relatives of the
deceased returned, gathered up his remains, and carried them in a procession to another place,
the air.
where they burned them and threw the ashs

into rain.
into
They
believed that the deceased, pleased with the ceremonies in
his honor,
would turn the ashes
The
it
Saliva celebrated a death with the usual chants and eulogies of the
They prepared the grave in the center of the house, and beside on columns they placed feather crowns, imitation birds, and masks. The funeral dancers wore feathers and played musical instruments, including special trumpets, which GumiUa (1745) illustrates. At the end of the ceremonies the dancers threw the grave ornaments and trumpets Rivero describes a into the river and purified themselves by bathing.
deceased.
disinterment ceremony held later.
The
participants feasted
on
chicha,
408
game,
bones
fish,

maize, cakes, and cassava cakes.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
They placed
the disinterred
and for 3 or 4 days they sat around lamenting, chanting, and, at intervals, drinking and dancing. The ceremonies were concluded when the bones were cremated and the ashes drunk
in chicha.
in the center of the house,
In doing this they believed "that they drink
all
the valor and
qualities of the deceased."
WARFARE
There
is
a tradition that the Achagiia fought with the Amazons, the
women who were alleged to live on a kind of island formed by the Meta and Orinoco Rivers. The particular enemies of the Palenque were the Chaiina and Tapacuare. The Caherre fought especially against
mythical tribe of
the Carih,
whom
first
the Caberre chief,
Macapu, was engaging when the con-
quistadors
tives
came.
They
also attacked the Saliva in order to take cap-
(macos or macus), whom they sold or traded to the Dutch of Guiana. Although sometimes taking the initiative in warfare, the Achagiia were
often victims, both before and after the Conquest. The Chiricoa, Guahibo, and Carib tribes of the interior attacked them and took them as
more
slaves; the Chibcha captured

religious cult
;
them for sacrificial victims (mojas) in their and the Spaniards made them the object of repeated attacks
In spite of
this,
and depredations.
the Indians received the Spaniards
when more than 4,000 Achagua accepted and submitted to the expedition of Capt. Alonzo Jimenez, which had come to their territory via the Meta River. The Achagua arranged the entrances to their palisades so that missiles
peaceably, as in 1606
could be discharged at attackers from above.
To
in
conclude a peace, a
battle while the
group
of
Achagua met a group of the enemy

;
mock
women
shouted
afterward everyone sat in a circle and drank chicha.
Before a battle the Piritu took a strongly intoxicating drink to make

themselves braver and more insensitive to wounds.
Some
of the groups
would leave behind two youths

the battle.
whom
they tortured to insure success of
Whipped with
the inner shoots of palms while seated on stools,
young men had to show fortitude so that the warriors would be brave Then one was placed high in a hammock from which he shot arrows at a target near the house roof; each hit meant that the warriors would hit one of the enemy. Victorious warriors returned with their enemies' arm and leg bones, which they made into flutes. Played in future battle, these flutes would insure victory. The Piritu dried and powdered the enemies' hearts and mixed the powder with their drinks in
the
in battle.
order to
Weapons.
make themselves braver. The principal weapon was
the
bow and
arrow.
The
Achagua sometimes poisoned their arrows with "curare" and the Piritu with a mixture of woman's menstrual blood and vegetable and animal poisons. The Piritu bow was 1.9 m. (about 6 feet) long, thick at the
Vol. 4]
ACHAGUA AND NEIGHBOKS HERNANDEZ DE ALBA

at the ends.
409
also
thin,
macana was commonly used. The Achagua used a basketry shield made of flexible canes woven together.
grip,
and slender
The wooden
club or
Poisons.
In
addition to arrow poison, the Piritu used a poison to
kill
personal enemies.
Made
of the skin of a certain snake,
it
was put
until
secretly
in the victim's food or drink, causing
him
to
vomit blood
he died.
The Caberre were

to other tribes at
the principal producers of "curare," which they sold
annual markets.
is
True
curare,
which has been studied
chemically and medically,
made of a species of Strychnos. The Caberre "curare" was made of a certain swamp plant. The root was mashed and slowly cooked under the supervision of old women, who usually died from
the fumes.
stick
To
it
test the
poison the chief took a small amount of
it
on a
and held
If the
near an open
wound
of another Indian without touching
him.
wound stopped
bleeding, the poison
was
ready.

Art.
art,
Manufactures
such as basketry and pottery were mediums for

in their territory to
but styles are not known.
The Saliva explained pictographs

places
Humboldt by
saying that in times of high water their forefathers had arrived at these
and painted the rocks.
which were used tamplayed m. or 5 feet 4 bourines (?), (1.6 inches), trumpets (fotutos), and instruments called "purmas" made of a length of cane and two calabashes. An important instrument, used espeA cially by the Saliva, was the hollow-log or signal drum (maguare).
Music.
The
individually.
Achagua are accredited with cane The Piritu and neighboring flutes of various lengths up to 2 varas
flutes
tribes
was hollowed out by means of fire, and, to give it resonance, a was cemented inside in the middle with an adhesive called "peraman." The drum was suspended by vines from a scaffold of poles, and it was struck with wooden sticks covered with resin (currucay) on the side where it was cut with slots so as to leave tongues. The drum served not
large log
stone
only as a musical instrument but as a kind of telegraph, as

at
it
could be heard
a great distance.
The
Saliva also
bell,
made two kinds
of trumpets, one with
a cane stem and a pottery

ings along
the other consisting of a series of two or

several open-
more joined and intercommunicating pottery spheres with

its
length.
Narcotics.
The Achagua used a

;
snuff
made
of the narcotic
powder
of certain leaves called "niopa" or "yopa."
Two
Indians took
it
this snuflF
simultaneously
nose.
with two crossed bird bones, each blew
into the other's
Intoxicating drinks.
^The
made
of cassava fermented with
main intoxicating honey and water
drink, "berria,"
was
in a calabash vessel.
410
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Maize and fruits, however, were also used for fermented drinks. These drinks were drunk during religious ceremonies, funerals, public gatherings, and merrymakings.
RELIGION
Several
Achagua gods
;
are recorded:
;
Tanafimi and Tanasuru,
whom
who
the Spaniards identified as "demons"
Cuaiguerry, the principal god

;
Gurrana minari, god of cultivated fields Baraca, god of riches Pruvisana, who holds up the earth and causes earthquakes when he shifts it from one shoulder to the other; Achacato, god of fate and of madness; and Cuisiabirri, god of fire. The Achagua also worshiped lakes. Idols were not used, but supernatural beings were represented by masks or costumes (chuvay) during dance festivals which men held at fixed times. Women were excluded from these ceremonies lest they die. Available data do not permit a full analysis of these ceremonies, but they suggest the Tucanoan cult in which the sib ancestors are impersonated by masked men (Handbook, vol. 3). The Piritu worshiped the sun and moon as gods and believed that eclipses were caused by their anger. When an eclipse occurred the men played musical instruments and prepared their weapons as if for combat, while the women tossed maize grains into the air and lamented, promising to cease being lazy. The end of the eclipse was celebrated with a general
;
saw everything
dance.
Some
of the groups (or sibs?) worshiped frogs as lords of the

kill
water and would not

sticks.
them, perhaps because they were totems, but in
the dry season they kept frogs under ollas and whipped them with thin
One
of their religious ceremonies
musical instruments (purmas).
The purmas were
was a dance, accompanied by carried between two

In another religious dance
small images to which they sang reverently.
in celebration of the yield of their fisheries, the
performers carried imitafish into
tion fishes.
it
;
The
Piritu
made
sacrifices to the
water by throwing
they sacrificed beads from their necklaces to the earth in payment for
good harvests. The Palenque believed that in life after death people stayed in cultivated fields (conucos), but some of the groups thought the dead went to a lake from which they were carried in the belly of a monstrous snake to a delightful land where people danced and feasted all the time. The Saliva creator god was Puru he made all good things. His daughter killed the serpent that had been destroying the Indians, but from its body came worms, which turned into the Carib, the enemies of (The Catio have a similar legend, the Saliva (Gumilla, 1745, vol. 2).
;
except that the
worms turned
into Spaniards.
See
this
volume,
p.
326.)
moon, religious ceremonies were celebrated in honor of Puru. The sun and moon were also Saliva gods they were thought to cause eclipses. The main indication of a priest-idol cult was
At
fixed times, possibly at each
Vol. 4]
ACHAGUA AND NEIGHBORSHERNANDEZ DE ALBA

the Saliva,
411
among
who had
artistically
made
sculptured figures represent-
ing "demons,"
whom
priests consulted as oracles, receiving
answers to
their questions (Rivero, 1883; Karsten, 1926, p. 260).
SHAMANISM AND MAGIC

supernatural and and magician, but among the Saliva he served as priest or intermediary between the people and their gods. Every person in the tribe, however, also could divine, prognosticate, and harm victims through witchcraft. The Achagua foretold future events from the songs of birds and from encounters with terrestrial animals. To prognosticate the outcome of an undertaking, they took "yopa" snuff: A nasal secretion from the right nostril signified success, from the left meant failure, and from both was an indeterminate sign. From the first fish caught they predicted their general fishing success. In this connection they held a ceremony (chaca) at the beginning of the fishing season. It was a blessing of the fish. All the people foregathered at night and threw various fish into a large olla. Among these were small fish, also called "chaca." While the fish were being cooked on the fire, the shaman blew the smoke from several cigars over them and over cassava cakes which had been prepared. To eat this For example, children purified food immunized one against sickness. were just beginning to eat solid food would never in their lives be who harmed by eating fish, and girls would not become too fat when they were adults. The Achagua also believed that dreams foretold events, and
natural
The shaman ("piache") not only cured by both

means and acted
as diviner
each morning, starting with the chief, the people sang their songs of the
night before in a sad, melancholy, singsong voice.
In addition to killing an enemy with a poison made from snake skin,

the
Achagua and PiriUi bewitched a victim by putting

else
his hair, spittle, or
and putting it in "mojan," or "camerico." The shaman carried this, uttering incantations, and the victim, thus bewitched, died no matter how far away he might be. This power of bewitching from a distance naturally caused much enmity, and the victim or his relative would seek out the witch to take revenge. The Palenque, Piritu, and Saliva shamans also used "yopa" for divination. To cure, they used such magical means as blowing, sucking (probably to remove the disease-causing object), and anointing, as well as cerThey offered the smoke of cigars containing tain medicinal remedies. grains of a fragrant copal to the spirit which helped them. The shamans lived in remote places in the mountains where in the dark of night they held dances and invocations accompanied by music. The Piritu also cured with herbs and roots and by bleeding the arms
something
from
his
body
in "chicha," shaking
its
it
up,
a small calabash, which, with
contents,
was
called "carraje,"
and other parts of the body.
412
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
The Palenque believed that a hunter could insure great hunting success by painting his face with the extract of a root called "parikchayepue." The
extract
was carried
in
small calabashes.
To
propitiate fish, the
fisherman carried the horns of a certain beetle and fishbones.
The
Palenque did not kill animals that were not dangerous, believing that to do so would make their own children sicken and die. Upon killing a
game animal they threw water
in its mouth so that the animal's soul would tell the other animals of the hunter's kindness and these animals would come to him. To lure game animals the Palenque also had an old man drink a great quantity of intoxicating liquor when he was disposed to vomit they took him through the plains to advise the animals that there was drink for all. Thus the animals did not wander off or flee.
;
MYTHOLOGY AND LITERATURE

The Achagua had
flood
the myth of the "Manoa," or the flood. A great drowned the people and animals, but some Indians escaped by
climbing to the top of a high mountain.
The waters covered
the earth
and formed a huge lake called "catena manoa" ("large lake"). The Achagua believed that beyond their territory there was a lake in the center of which was an island with a prodigious city of high, gilded
buildings, the residence of
King
Paititi.
The The
Piritti
had the tradition of a great earthquake which had occurred
before the Conquest.

Saliva had, in addition to the legend of the snake which turned
and women.
which recounts that the earth germinated men Other groups, which are not identified except that they were related to the Saliva, explain that the creation was accomplished by certain trees which produced men and women like fruits and were their ancestors. The Still other groups held that the sun was their father and creator. Mapoye stated that they originated from a large stone on the top of a hill called "Uruana" and for this reason they liked to be called "Uruaninto Carib Indians, another
p.
ayes" (Karsten, 1926,
338).
LORE AND LEARNING
The
Piritu and Saliva reckoned time by the stars, especially by the
position of the Pleiades.

visible after sunset.
Their year began when the Pleiades were
first
The
Piritu also had lunar months, and they reckoned
time (luring the day by the sun
THE ARCHEOLOGY OF VENEZUELA
By Alfred Kidder
INTRODUCTION
Few American
of the
tions,
scholars, either
North or South American, have con-
cerned themselves seriously with Venezuelan archeology.
The
area
is
east
Andean-Central American axis of the great early American civilizaand the generally unspectacular nature of archeological remains has
attracted few field workers to
what
is,
nevertheless, an important
and
in-
teresting region, particularly with respect to the problems of the peopling

of the Antilles.
Venezuela, lying between Colombia, on the west, and British Guiana
on the
east,
and north
of Brazil, is a nation of sharp geographical
and
climatic contrasts.
Foothill valleys of the cold, barren

tropical forests of the
Andes are
pleasant
and
healthful.
The heavy
Maracaibo Basin give

of the northwestern
place to the dry, inhospitable, scrub country of
much
coast
and interior. The great expanse of plain and forest of the Orinoco River and its tributaries, which drain the greater part of the country, reaches the little-known Guiana Highlands in the east. Archeologically most of the area is imperfectly known, and intensive controlled excavation has been limited to a few sites on the Orinoco, the Lake Valencia area, and the foothills of the Andes in the northwest. Scattered finds have been made in many localities, although there are large, and often easily accessible, areas from which there is no archeological information whatsoever.
The
early Venezuelan Indians left simple cultural remains,
by no means
uniform, throughout the area.

Village
sites,
burial caves,
some low earth mounds and earth causeways, shell heaps, open cemeteries, and petroglyphs in some mountainous areas
list.
;
complete the general
Perishable remains are almost never found

is
recoverable material culture
some few wooden house posts, pottery varying from the crude and drab to the excellent and decorative, and the usual array of stone, bone, and shell tools and ornaments characteristic of neolithic cultures the world
limited to
over.
65333448
28
a-i
414
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Fabric impressions on pottery and historical accounts indicate the use
Gold ornaments were used but have so Simple American tropical agriculture, combined with hunting and fishing, provided food
of basketry
and cotton
textiles.
far not
been found in recorded archeological diggings.
for
most of the Indians, although hunting and gathering alone probably
supported some of the people in pre-Columbian as well as in recent times.

Cultural changes in time have been noted in a few sites but, however
striking,
do not necessarily indicate more than changed preferences in

and ceramic
styles.
burial customs
inal
No
fundamental changes in the aborigis it
way
of
life
are inferrible from the archeological record, nor
yet
There are no remains of demonstrably great antiquity. Absolute chronologies have not been developed; probably some of the earlier remains were left prior to
safe to attribute stylistic changes to shifts in population.
A.D.
1,000, but there
is
as yet no evidence to indicate an occupation of
Venezuela before the beginning of the Christian Era.
SOURCES AND HISTORY OF INVESTIGATIONS
number
first
of short papers
by Ernst (see Osgood and Howard, 1943,

sites
and Kidder
are the
II, 1944, for
bibliography), published in the 1870's and 1880's,
important recordings of prehistoric
and
artifacts, chiefly
from western Venezuela.

limited almost entirely to
For many the Lake Valencia

(Marcano, 1889).
sites of this
years archeological activity
was
area, first intensively exca-
vated by
Marcano
in 1887
Later papers on the mounds
and the
village
and burial
region are those of
Von den
Steinen
(1904) covering the work of Jahn, Requena (1932), and the detailed
reports of Bennett (1937),
Osgood (1943), and Kidder
II (1944).
Until recently, investigation has been sporadic in other areas.

the
Among
more important contributions by Venezuelan authors are those of Briceno-Iragorry (1928, 1929) on the Andean region, Oramas (1917) on the llanos sites, and Nectario Maria (1933, 1942) on central Lara. Short studies of the archeology of Margarita Island (De Booy, 1915-16) and
Falcon (Nomland, 1933, 1935) are useful sources, as are the briefer descriptions of material from the Apure Delta (Petrullo, 1939 b) and the
Survey has Goajira Peninsula, obtained by Korn (Bennett, 1936). been limited to that of Spinden (1916), Kidder II (1944) in parts of the
northwestern area, and Osgood and
Howard
(1943).
The
last-mentioned
investigation, undertaken as one of the projects of the Institute of
Andean
Research in 1941, covered a great part of the northern area from the
comprehensive summary of Venezuelan archeology (Osgood and Howard, 1943). As a part of the same project, Howard (1943) carried out an
Orinoco River to the Colombian border and resulted
in the first
intensive excavation of the
Ronquin
site
on the middle Orinoco.
Vol. 4]
VENEZUELAN ARCHEOLOGY KIDDER
II
415
REGIONAL PRESENTATION OF CULTURES

The
basic data of Venezuelan archeology are here presented regionally,
since the shortness of historical perspective precludes a description of the
materials
by periods.
Osgood and Howard (1943)
have described
and territories) and have tentatively classified the prehistoric cultures on the basis of the McKern system (Midwestern Taxonomic system^). The geographical terms used to designate the major divisions (Phases) of this classification, with some others, are here used simply to designate somewhat arbitrary
archeological materials by political divisions (states
areas
(map 7)
as a basis for regional presentation of the data.
The
size
of such areas
depends largely upon the amount and kind of information
available, but their designations are without classificatory or chronological
implications.
The
writer has used fewer and
more general
regional terms
and a cultural
attempt
is
classification for the
Lake Valencia area and part of the
northwestern area different from that of Osgood and Howard.
An
made below
(see chart, p. 432) to correlate previously published
classifications temporally
and
spatially.
LOWER ORINOCO RIVER

The
area comprises the Delta of the Orinoco and the Barrancas area
in the State of
by archeologists.
village refuse
Monagas (map 7). No sites in the Delta have been noted In 1941 Osgood and Howard (1943) excavated the site of Los Barrancos on the north bank of the river and
tested several other localities in the vicinity.
No
house remains or burials
were found.
humus stratum
0.75 cm. thick, overlying sterile sand,
produced quantities of sherds of a colorful and highly distinctive ware.
No
significant
changes in style throughout the refuse layer can be dis-
Most Los Barrancos sherds have a slip varying in color from glossy browns and blacks to reds and orange yellow shades predominate.
cerned.
;
Decoration in addition to the solid
slip color
occurs on over a quarter of
the sherds, and consists primarily of broad, smooth incision, done with a
blunt tool.
Shapes are
chiefly plates
and bowls, with the characteristic

incised lines
incision adjacent to the rims.
Broad
on the
lips of
rims are
common. Complete designs are lacking, but sherds indicate that these were often complex, depictive, and highly conventionalized (fig. 68).
Incised rim lugs and realistic animal-head adornos (decorative applied
elements, often biomorphic) are also characteristic
bases, but
(fig.
69).
Annular
no vessel
legs,
were found.
Vertical handles are the usual form.
^This is a system of archeological culture classification used in the Midwestern States in North America. Its underlying methodology is based upon typological affinity. Excavated sites are arranged in an implicitly genetic scheme of categories, subcategories, etc., to show typological relationship.
The
factors of time
and space are not considered
in the
system as
it
is
expounded by
McKem.
416
[B.A.E. Bull. 14S
Figure
68.
Incised
potteiy,
Los Barrancos, Venezuela. Howard, 1943, fig. 16.)
(After
Osgood and
I' W--
<l^>n
s-
V
-M
Figure
69.
Pottery
adornos, Los Barrancos, Venezuela.
(After
Osgood and
Howard, 1943,
fig.
22.)
/*>
Figure 70. Pottery from Lake Valencia, Los Tamarindos lower strata or La Cabrera Phase, a, Decorated sherds; 6, adornos; c, pipe fragments. (After Kidder II, 1944, pis. 2, 3, and 4.)
adornos F,.UHK 7..-Lake Valencia pottery
-'<<
^''^'^^tirt'Jf'lMl'be:!;
1043,
fig.
11.)
Figure
72.
Lake
Valencia figurine, Valencia Phase.

fig.
(After Kidder II, 1944,
32.)
Vol. 4]
VENEZUELAN ARCHEOLOGYKIDDER
II
417
Pottery griddles occur in the refuse with relatively very few artifacts
of other materials, including
some broken stone
celts,
grooved stones,
apparently used as sharpeners or polishers, hammerstones, and a few

simple bone awls.
MIDDLE ORINOCO RIVER

In this region are included the Arauca Delta in the State of Apure
and low,
flat
land closely bordering the Orinoco both north and south
of the river in the State of Guarico and Bolivar.
The
area cannot well

is
be separated from the llanos on geographical grounds but

arately for the sake of convenience
located sep-
and because some of the most intensive excavation in Venezuela was done in the Ronquin region of Guarico (map 7). Here Howard, in 1941, made excavations in the Ronquin All are village refuse site and tested three other sites (Howard, 1943). deposits located on dunes on the flood plain of the Orinoco. At Ronquin two cultures and periods of occupation, called Early Ronquin and Late Ronquin, are represented by groups of pottery largely concentrated in distinct sand strata, the latter overlying the earlier, and the two totaling about 2 m. (63^ feet) in thickness. Four post holes and a badly disintegrated burial were found, but no house type or burial customs can be inferred from these fragmentary remains. Early Ronquin pottery is characterized by smooth or polished reddish surfaces, shallow, smooth incised designs, usually curvilinear, made with a wide, blunt tool (pi. 73, a). Biomorphic adornos (pi. 61, b) with the typical broad line incision are common. Red and white painted areal
designs also occur
(fig. 72)).
Late Ronquin pottery contains sponge spicules in the paste. Surfaces are unpolished and generally bufif colored some sherds are covered with
;
maroon
slip.
Decoration
tool
(pi.
73, c)
is
much
less
common
than in
for
the preceding period.
It consists typically of rectangular incision,
which a narrow
was used, and crudely modeled biomorphic lugs. The pottery of the nearby sites tested by Howard belongs to this style. Sherds from both Ronquin periods are chiefly from bowls, although sherds from jars and bottle-shaped vessels do occur. Griddles are found throughout both periods. Stone artifacts are very scarce and are not
diagnostic of either period.
Few other sites in the middle Orinoco have been found; none have been thoroughly excavated. Petroglyphs have been noted on various rocky points along the Orinoco but cannot be related to village sites. Sherds from the Caura River are closely comparable to those from the Late Ronquin Period.
Arauquin district, near the mouth of (1939 b) collected red-slipped, narrowly incised sherds and modeled animal- and bird-head adornos (pi. 73, c, d), which
several localities in the
From
the Arauca,
Petrullo
show a general but
clear stylistic relationship to Late
Ronquin
pottery.
418
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
Figure
73.
Early
Ronquin painted
pottery.
(After Howard, 1943,
fig.
9.)
Vol. 4]

UPPER ORINOCO RIVER
II
419
The upper Orinoco

is
includes the southeastern part of Venezuela,
com-
prising the Federal Territory of
Amazonas.
Archeologically, information
limited to that obtained by 19th-century explorers,
from the various
sites
along the river in the Atures region.
Osgood and Howard (1943)
include a complete
summary of the recorded data on the burials in caves and rock shelters found in the area. Skeletons in the caves and shelters were found free, in baskets, wrapped in mats, or contained in urns. In some cases red paint on the bones indicates secondary burial. Other remains are partly preserved in resin, indicating primary burial. There
is
some
historical
and ethnographic evidence, as well as the presence
of
perishable materials in association with these burials, to indicate that
many probably
date from historic times.
THE LLANOS
Venezuela drained by the northern and western tributaries of the Orinoco, chief among which are the Apure, with its many northern tributaries, the Arauca, and the Meta. The area is flat, periodically inundated, and has probably always been relatively sparsely settled in comparison to the foothill valleys of the Andes and
The
llanos are the great plains of
the
Lake Valencia Basin.
Archeological finds have been scattered; no
planned survey or excavation has been undertaken in the entire region lying between the Colombian and Venezuelan Andes and the immediate
flood plain of the
Orinoco itself. There are no archeological data whatever from the large area comprising the entire State of Cojedes and the State of Guarico, except for the immediate flood plain of the Orinoco (the Ronquin area). Most of the State of Portuguesa is similarly unknown. Multiple secondary urn burials, in large dra,b urns, associated with fabric-impressed sherds, have been reported from the middle course of the Arauca River, and urn burial has been noted in a number of undesignated localities on the Portuguesa, Apure, and Arauca Rivers clear
;
descriptions and illustrations are lacking.
Mounds and causeways

of Barinas
are reported from
many
places in the State
and
in neighboring southern Portuguesa.
All available data
have been
summarized by Osgood and Howard (1943). The causeways, or calzadas, are earth structures varying between 1 and 3 m. (about 3 to 10 feet) in height, 6 to 25 m. (about 20 to 82 feet) in width, and
fully
extending, in
many
instances, for several kilometers, often branching
in different directions.
In some cases these structures connect directly
with conical earth mounds, some as high as 5 m. (about 17 feet), and 60 m. (about 200 feet) in basal diameter. Hollow, pear-shaped clay
objects found in
some
of the
mounds suggest
vessel legs, but this
is
not
420
possible to determine
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
from the illustrated specimens. No burials have been found in the few mounds that have been excavated, and the purpose both of mounds and of causeways is a matter of speculation. It has been suggested that the causeways served as roads across the inundated
plains, possibly leading as far as the high
hills,
ground
of the
from the upper and middle courses
northern tributaries.
It is also quite possible
of the Andean footApure River and its that the mounds served
to elevate dwellings above the level of flood waters.
LAKE VALENCIA
The
lies in
sites.
Lake Valencia (map
7), sometimes called
Lake Tacarigua,
also
the center of an inclosed drainage system of the maritime x'Vndes
in the States of
Aragua and Carabobo.
The
region
is
commonly
referred to as the Valley of Aragua.
Archeological sites abound on the
pleasant shores of the lake and on the lowland at one time covered by
its
waters.
The immediate
in
lake basin has been the scene of very con-
siderable excavation, both unrecorded
and
scientific,
but the
hills, valleys,
and coasts elsewhere

archeologically.
Aragua and Carabobo are
still
virtually
unknown
Mounds,
of at least
village refuse deposits,
and cemeteries containing urn burials
are the three kinds of sites found singly but
more often
in combinations
two
of the
above elements.
Mound
groups are concentrated

village refuse sites
on the
all
flatlands east of the lake,
urn burials and
on
sides.
The mounds have attracted many workers, beginning with Marcano and Jahn (Marcano, 1889). Jahn made further excavations in 1903 (Steinen, 1904; Jahn, 1932), and he was followed by Oramas in 1914 (Oramas, 1917). At about the same time a large private collection from the mounds was acquired by the American Museum of Natural History, in New York. Requena, in the twenties, had further excavations carried out (Requena, 1932), but it was not until 1932 that Bennett undertook the first scientifically controlled study in the area at the mound group
called
La Mata
(Bennett, 1937).
Osgood followed
in 1933 with a similar
detailed
excavation and analysis of a
mound
in
the nearby
Tocoron
group (Osgood, 1943). Groupings of Lake Valencia mounds along the eastern
the lake
affluents of
show considerable
variations in size of individual structures and
no apparent relationship in plan. They are low accumulations of clay and humus, seldom exceeding 3 m. (about 10 feet) in height, roughly round to oval in plan, measuring from about 10 to 30 m. (33 to 100 feet) in basal diameter. Larger ones, measuring over 100 m. (about 330 feet) in long axis, have been reported, and mounds with double eminences, or From the recorded evidence connecting mounds, are sometimes seen. it is apparent that not all mounds were built in exactly the same manner
Vol. 4]
II
421
or used in the same way.
All rise from the old lake bed, either as ac-
cumulations of refuse, possibly from pile dwellings over the shallow

water, as sometimes indicated by post holes in the lower levels, or by
artificial
accumulations of clay and earth.
Upper
levels of
humus
often,
but not always, contain urn burials and dwelling site refuse.
It is
ap-
parent that the
mounds served
either as dwelling sites or cemeteries or
combinations of both.
Protection against inundation has been offered
as a primary reason for their construction, which seems reasonable in
view of the former extent of Lake Valencia and the proximity of the
mounds
to affluent streams.
Village refuse sites and urn-burial cemeteries have been noted at various
places in the lake basin, but only one has .been largely excavated.
is
This
on La Cabrera Peninsula (pi. 7(i, a) on the north side of the lake (Kidder II, 1944). Here, on a slope leading to the water's edge, a humus cap, containing many urn burials and refuse,
the
Los Tamarindos
site
covers a thick series of lake-deposited gravels, sands, and clays, as well

as stone slide material from outcrops on the slope.
These water-laid
village refuse.
deposits contain primary burials, as opposed to the urn burials of the
humus
cap,
and quantities
of potsherds
and other
Pile
dwellings
may have been
in use at the time these deposits

site.
were
laid
down,
but no post holes were found at the
Materials from the Lake Valencia sites represent two primary cultural
periods, related to the stratigraphy of the
sites.
Los Tamarindos and mound
The
earlier, called the
cluded in the Los Tamarindos Aspect,
La Cabrera Phase (Kidder II, 1944), and inLower Orinoco Phase, by Osgood
and Howard (1943), is represented in the lower levels of the lake deLos Tamarindos and sparsely in the lower levels of mounds Much work remains to be done in the correlation of east of the lake. archeological materials with the rise and fall of the lake levels in this period. The later period, represented by materials from the humus levels of Los Tamarindos, the upper and middle levels of mounds, and
posits at
the urn-burial cemeteries of the valley, has been called the Valencia Phase (Kidder II, 1944) and the La Mata Aspect, Valencia Phase, by Osgood and Howard (1943).
terized
early period. The early period (La Cabrera Phase), is characby primary burial, in some cases covered by a stone slab or pottery Pottery is primarily a plain, gray unvessel, but with few grave goods. slipped ware. Large jars and double-spouted jars are common; bowls and griddles are rare. Decoration (fig. 70, a) is limited to broad inAdornos are relatively rare but are cisions, punctation, and modeling.
Horizontal handles are characteristic.
The
of distinct type (fig. 70, b).
a polished gray ware, represented by bowls, often with low leg-ring bases (pi. 74, a), and many elbow pipes, both plain
is
Less frequent
422
(pi. 74,

h) and decorated
(fig.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
70, c) with modeling
and broad
incision,
the latter sometimes filled with red paint.
third ware, with polished
red
slip,
occurs in bowl forms decorated with broad incision, often on
the tops of everted rims,
and some low
relief
celts,
t_vpe,
modeling.
Stone artifacts consist of large polished

a few of whicli are of the .broad-winged
some
large stone pendants,
and a few beads.
Bone
is
confined to beads and gorge fishhooks.
Shell beads occur, but flat shell
pendants are very
rare.
The
pect)
late period.
displays
The late period many marked contrasts

styles.
(Valencia Phase or
La Mata As-
with the earlier period in burial
customs and pottery
Secondary urn burial (pi. 76, c), single or multiple, was the usual method; primar}' burial (pi. 76, b) is rare. Grave furniture is frequently abundant, in the form of vessels, figurines, beads, and food oflFerings.
Most
of the thousands of specimens in the large collections representing
this period are
from urn
burials.
Pottery varies in color from drab gray to brick red, produced by a

slip characteristically
sites
containing mica flakes.
Specimens from the mound
tend to be grayer than those from Los Tamarindos.

to small bottles
large variety
of jars is found, varying in size
from the large, flat and jars with bulbous necks, upon which Double-spouted jars are faces were frequently modeled (pi. 74, d). Hollow rare. Bov/ls (pi. 74, e) are veiy numerous, as are griddles. rims are found in the mound sites but are lacking from the Los Tamarindos
or round-bottomed
urns
(pi. 74, c)
collection.
Vessel bases are nearly
all flat,
although annular bases occur.
Small, horizontal adorno handles
(fig.
71, a) are characteristic.
Decoration
of
(fig.
71, h)
consists of highly varied modeling, adornos
many
types, including
mammal and
bird heads,
and conventional knobs,
often in combination with thin-line incision.
Typical of the area and of the late period are the numerous female
figurines of the
same drab or red
slipped
ware
as vessels.
either standing (fig. 74) or sitting (fig. 72) figures, varying in size
These are and

less
head form, and often grossly exaggerated
in style.
less frequent but
Animal
figurines of the
same ware are
none the
typical in style of modeling.
Stone objects consist of small petaloid

beads, and various miscellaneous objects.
celts,
very few large celts, many Broad-winged ornaments occur
but rarely.
Bone artifacts are not numerous. Simple points, awls, gorge fishhooks, and tubular beads are found. A very few end flutes, including several
elaborately carved specimens, have been found in the valley.
Shell artifacts (fig. 71, c) are
numerous
in collections
from
this period.
Many
burials contain necklaces consisting of single or varying types of
shell beads, often
combined with others
of stone.
Tubular, discoidal and
Vol. 4]
II
423
elongated, incised shell beads are usual, as are "tinklers" of Oliva shell. Pendants of cut shell, plain or carved as conventionalized frogs and
turtles,
are found separately or with necklaces.
Miscellaneous carved
burials.
shell objects of uncertain use
have also been found in many urn
':?-^''xî^--i
)
-
- ^^:.:^^^:V/;.:^;;;:;?;^^;;r^:V^lVvv^:^^:v::^^
"
':
'^^^V;;v":/.';JA?^;o?î;^X'>:>^^
Vc.-.-. ::.;-;"
-v:eiS<li
Figure
74.
Lake Valencia
figurine, Valencia Phase.
(After Osgood, 1943,
fig.
13.)
Comments on
the sequence.
outlined above appear to have
The two major Lake Valencia cultures merged without a clean break, although
this question requires further analysis.
No
stylistic
changes within the

't
early period
(La Cabrera Phase) have been
noted, although
is
highly
probable that such did occur during the time period, certainly at least several centuries in length, required for the deposition of the lake deposits
from which specimens have been excavated.
424
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Subperiods within the late period (Valencia Phase or La Mata Aspect) have been tentatively defined on the basis of correlation of mound stratigraphy and isolated horizontal distribution with minor variants in shape and decoration of the late pottery and figurines. These are
discussed fully by
Kidder
II (1944).
Osgood (1943), Osgood and Howard (1943), and The Lake Valencia sequence as a whole is still capable
of very considerable refinement, with
many
detailed problems of cultural

investigation.
and geological correlation within the immediate area awaiting
NORTHEAST COAST
The
area comprises the Caribbean coast from the Orinoco Delta to
the Federal District, including Margarita Island
(map
7).
The
eastern
extension of the maritime

the area
;
Andes
leaves
little
coastal plain throughout
in
many
places the hills rise sharply from the sea, limiting the
The interior of the States of Sucre and Anzoategui are virtually unexplored archeologically. No information is available from the State of Miranda, and none from the Federal District beyond the fact that one coastal site has been found.
areas suitable for habitation.
The few
deposits.
coastal sites reported are small village refuse
and shell-heap
At Guayabita, near Guiria on the south coast of the Paria Peninsula (map 7), Osgood and Howard (1943) tested a shallow shell midden in
which no cultural change could be correlated with depth.
indicate open bowls,
griddles.
Pottery
is
drab gray to brown ware, sometimes slipped in buff or brown.
Sherds
wide-mouth
is
jars,
vessels with annular bases,

1
and
Decoration
limited to less than
percent of the material.
Crude modeling and incision are present on a few sherds. Two specimens of linear painting in red on buff and one of yellow on red are
probably trade sherds.
Nonpottery artifacts are limited

of Strombus shell occur,
milling stones, and a few pieces of
a few small stone celts, hammer and worked shell and bone. No artifacts although unworked food shells of other species
to
are
common
in the middens.
Margarita Island was explored by

has been
De Booy (1915-16), whose work summarized by Osgood and Howard (1943). Excavation was
made
Again no
cultural depth
is is
confined to the Gire-Gire shell heap, but surface collections were

at various other localities.
is
apparent.
Pottery
largely drab
and undecorated.
Painted pottery
exceedingly rare
and, as at Guayabita,
may
be the result of trade.
D-shaped handles,
decorated with small modeled heads, and some modeled adornos from Griddle fragments were absent at Girevessel walls or rims are found.
Gire, but present at other localities.
Stonework included petaloid celts, some "Guiana" axes, with notches near the butt, hammerstones, handstones, mortars, and rubbing stones.
Vol. 4]
shell is apparently rare.
shell
II
425
Worked
Several crude broad-winged orna-
ments of conch
were found.
In the vicinity of Barcelona, in Anzoategui, Osgood and Howard (1943) found a number of small village and shell-heap sites. The
Guaraguao
ponderantly
Hills,
near Puerto de
this area.
of the material
from
undecorated
la Cruz (map 7), produced the bulk Surface sherd collections consist of prebrownish-yellow and yellowish-gray pieces,
from wide-mouth jars and open bowls, some of which had low annular bases. Only one handle, a D-shaped specimen, was collected. No sherds
are definitely identifiable as griddle fragments.
Linear painting in red
or dull yellow
Island.
is
more frequent here than

(pi.
at
Guayabita or Margarita
Designs
74, /)
are parallel or oblique line arrangements,
and concentric circles. Modeling, incision, and punctation on applied strips and necks occur relatively rarely in crude designs, indicating faces with doughnut or punctate nub eyes and mouths (pi.
spirals, triangles,
7A,g).
Stone objects are limited to

collection.
hammer
flint
grinders and a few fragments of

flakes.
miscellaneous artifacts, including
Celts are absent in the
bita
Implements of S trombus shell are common here, and Margarita. These consist of cups, tips,
in contrast to
plates, lips,
Guayaand one
gouge.
Oliva shell beads, of the familiar "tinkler" shape, also are rela-
Osgood and Howard (1943) regard the similarity of the Stromhus shellwork to that of the Cuban Ciboney sites as probably
tively frequent.
coincidental.
THE NORTHWEST
The area lying west of Lake Valencia, north of the llanos and the high Andes, is included in the northwest region (map 7). Climate and topography are varied. Forests cover most of the western and northern
hills
Maracaibo Basin and parts of Yaracuy. From the Andean foothills dry and well-watered valleys lead to the eroded, cactus-covered low hills and flats of the States of Lara and Falcon (pi. 76, d).
The
State of
Yaracuy
in
is
archeologically
unknown,
as
is
the greater part
of the Maracaibo Basin.

Trujillo,
Several sites in central Falcon, one in foothill
and several
Lara have produced surface
collections or
have
been briefly excavated.

a
number
In the vicinity of Barquisimeto, Nectario Maria (1933, 1942) excavated of primary burials containing vessels, broad-winged ornaments,
Pottery includes plain-ware bowls
stone and shell beads, and pendants.
with leg ring, annular and tripod

of which
pipes.
is
iDases,
some painted ware, the decoration
not clear from the published illustrations, and two plain elbow
426
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
Two village refuse sites (pi. 76, d) near Quibor, in Lara, were visited by Osgood and Howard (1943) in their survey. These produced no burials or house remains, no shell or bone artifacts, little stonework, but numerous sherds. Plain red and linear painted sherds, primarily from bowls, hollow legs, probably from tripod vessels, and horizontal handles
are characteristic.
rare.
Some annular
bases occur, but leg-ring bases are very
Unpainted sherds show some examples of applied punctate strips and nubs, some incision, and a few corrugated rims. Painted ware is relatively frequent, in one to three colors red, black, and white on orange, white, or gray. Designs (pi, 74, h) are complex arrangements of straight and curvilinear lines and dots, in which the "comb" motif
predominates.
Two sites near Carache, in northern Trujillo (Kidder II, 1944), produced pottery closely related to that of the Quibor area. Burials are primary, sometimes covered by a stone slab but without grave goods.
Plain red sherds, chiefly from jars, some from bowls and griddles, and
plain, small,
were found.
or plain.
compact tripod vessels with solid legs, called incensarios, Large horizontal handles are common. Bases are annular Applied punctate strips and small pitted nubs are sometimes
Painted decoration
is
used to decorate the unpainted ware.

tripod legs.
(fig.
75)
limited almost entirely to open bowls, with high leg-ring bases or hollow
Colors are red on a plain red surface, or red on white

is
slip.
Design, as at Quibor,
in
combinations of linear elements, which at
Carache include the
spiral,
arranged in bands and panels.
Many
specific
design elements are shared with Quibor.
Stonework
objects.
is
limited to a broken oval pendant

of
and some pencil-shaped

shell artifacts.
One amulet
human
skull
bone was found, but no
Village sites and shell heaps on the Falcon coastal plain are recorded
from Coro and
to the west
(Nomland, 1933, 1935), and on the Para-
guana Peninsula (Osgood and Howard, 1943). The general relationship of the culture of this area to that of Quibor and Carache, as well as to
that of Curasao, Aruba,
coast, is obvious, although differences in detail
traits are
apparent.
and Bonaire, the Dutch islands off the Falcon and in frequency of certain Secondary urn burials, from near Coro, for example,
are in contrast to the primary burials of Carache and central Lara.
commonly incised at Coro, much less frequently so at other Falcon sites. At the Cayerua site on Paraguana Peninsula, pottery marked by impression of knotless netting showed a marked increase in the
Plain ware
is
upper
level of a shallow
excavation, with a proportionate decrease in
linear painting.
Bowls and
this area
;
jars with corrugated necks (fig. 76, a) are characteristic of
hollow rims also occur.
The
linear decoration of painted
ware
is strikingly similar in style to that of
Quibor and Carache but occurs on
Vol. 4]

(fig. 76,
II
427
double-spouted jars
b) in the north coastal area as well as on
bowls and plain
jars.
Stonework from the area includes celts, rough axes, hammer grinders, round hammerstones, mortars and pestles and grinding stones, and
miscellaneous objects.
Figure
b,
75.
Carache
painted pottery,
(All
Vi,
a,
Interior and exterior red on white ware.
Red on
45.)
red ware.
actual size.)
(After Kidder
II,
1944, figs. 47, 46
and
428
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Figure
76.
Pottery
;
of the Northwest Venezuela region,
a,
Corrugated rim jar
(^
actual size)
h,
spouted jar (5^ actual size)
c,
painted ware from Betijoque.
(After Kidder
II, 1944, figs. 51, 54,
and
57.)
Plate
73.
Early
b,
and
late
incised;
Early Ronquin adornos;
(After
1939, pis. 31
Howard, 1943, pis. and 32.)
Ronquin pottery, Venezuela, a, Early Ronquiu c, d. Late Ronquin (not all to same scale). 3, 4, 6, 2, and 7; c (bird's head) and d, after Petrullo,
4vV^%
-i|:JÂ^ ^*^'
i'^^M
Plate
74. Pottery from various Venezuelan regions, a, b, Bowl and pipe from Lake Valencia, Los Tamarindos lower strata (La Cabrera phase), c, d, e, Burial urn (diameter 60 cm. (23% in.)), jar {% actual size), and bowl (}^ actual size) from Lake Valencia (Valencia phase). /, Painted pottery, Guaraguao, Northeast region, g, Modeled pottery, Northeast region, h, Painted pottery, Quibor area, Northwest region, {a-e, After Kidder II, 1944, pis. 5, 6, and 7; others after Osgood and Howard, 1943, pis. 4, 5, and 8.)
3
Plate
jar
Pottery and stoneware of the Andean region, Venezuela, a, Incised h, annular base bowls (H actual size); c, leg-ring base bowls (Ms and Y% actual size); d, tripod bowls (}/i actual size); e, tetrapod bowls (}i actual size); /, female figurines (J-i and >i actual size); g, male figurines (^
75.
{)i
actual size);
actual size);
16, 14, 15,
/i,
stone figurine
17; o, after
(^4
actual size).
(After Kidder II, 1944, pis.

pi. 3.)
and
Osgood and Howard, 1943,
Plate
Venezuelan archeological sites, a, Lake Valencia, La Cabrera Valencia 6, Lake Valencia'primary burial, Los Tamarindos; c, Lake urn burial, Los'Tamarindos; d, Tierra de los Indies site, Quibor area, Northwest (After Kidder II, 1944. pi. 1; d, after Osgood and Howard, 1943, region.
76.
Peninsula;
pl. 1.),
VoL
4]
artifacts are rare,
429
Bone
one bone point and a carved pendant having

site.
been found in the Cayerua

Shell, lacking at
Quibor and Carache, occurs in the Coro district in form of beads and pendants, and Cayerua produced .beads, a S trombusshell ax, and Stromhus tips. Secondary burial in globular urns with annular bases, and covered by inverted bowls, is reported from the Bellavista and Punta de Leiva sites in the vicinity of the city of Maracaibo (Osgood and Howard, 1943). Decoration sometimes occurs on these and associated vessels, one of which A very few black-on-orange and black-onis a spouted jar (fig. 76, h). white sherds (fig. 76, c) bearing striking curvilinear designs, found near Betijoque, Trujillo, near the eastern shore of Lake Maracaibo, are the only further specimens reported from the immediate lake basin (Kidder Simple secondary urn burials and secondary urn burials, II, 1944). covered by bowls, have been found on the Goajira Peninsula by Korn (Bennett, 1936). In some of the latter the bones are painted red. Surface collections from the Goajiro area include red and brown ware, decorated by incision, relief and modeling, and painted ware.
the
THE ANDES
The western Highlands of Venezuela in the States of Tachira, Merida, and Trujillo are an extension of the northeastern Andes. Peaks of 15,000 feet (about 4,500 m.) rise above barren plateaus and temperate subtropical
valleys.
Formal archeological survey has been limited, but collections from the area are relatively large, particularly from the Bocono area of Trujillo. Much of the collected material is from cave sites, variously reported to be burial places or deposits of ceremonial objects. Rock-lined tombs and There is no hill terraces with stone retaining walls have been found also. evidence that caves were inhabited; undoubtedly more adequate survey would lead to discovery of open village sites. The collections from caves and tombs represent a highly selected sample, consisting primarily of decorated pottery vessels and figurines, many stone and shell broad-winged ornaments, and small human and frog
figurines of stone.
Pottery vessels occur in a variety of shapes and wares, with

ciational data.
little
asso-
Simple, unfooted bowls are absent from the collections.

(pi. 75, a),
Globular jars, profusely incised
were found
at
Tabay, Merida,
by Osgood and
Howard (1943)
in collections
but have not been noted elsewhere.
Other shapes noted
from the Trujillo and Merida High-
lands include bowls and jars with annular bases (pi. 75, h), bowls with
leg-ring bases (pi. 75, c), tripod jars, and,
much more
frequently, small
tripod bowls with solid legs (pi. 75, d) and simple or effigy tetrapod bowls
with hollow, often mammiform, legs

653334
(pi. 75, e).
48
29
430

(pi. 75, a, h,
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Decoration of unpainted ware

is
limited to incision, crude punctation,

vessels.
on jars and tripod

not characteristic.
d) from Trujillo and Merida and some application and modeling Profuse modeling and the use of adornos are
Knotless netting impression occurs on some sherds

site
from the Los Moiios and Howard, 1943).

Painted decoration
Spirals
near Urena on the Colombian border (Osgood
is chiefly black on white or unslipped surfaces. and curvilinear motifs (pi. 75, c, e) predominate in designs, with an emphasis on the production of thin lines from thick ones. Various arrangements of lunate forms also occur (pi. 75, h). These designs are confined to bowls with annular or leg-ring bases. Human figurines of pottery form the most numerous class of objects in Andean collections (Kidder H, 1944). Males, females, and individuals of uncertain sex are represented, in plain ware, unslipped ware with dark paint, black-on-white slip, and black and red on white. Characteristic types are small, simple, usually plain ware figures (fig, 77, a), standing or seated female figures (pi. 75, /), and males, often holding bowls, seated on four-legged stools (pi. 75, g). Head forms and other details are vari-
able; painted designs are predominantly simple linear patterns, although
a few bearing curvilinear designs, similar to those on vessels from the
same
area, have been noted.

(fig.
Stone broad-winged ornaments
77, b)
of the
forms
illustrated,
varying in detail of shape and ranging in length from 3 to 75 cm., are
numerous
in
Andean
collections.
Not
all
are pierced for suspension.
They
and
are said to occur in caves in association with small tripod vessels
figurines, although this has not
been verified by excavation.
Small
h) and
stone figures, often green in color, representing
humans
(pi. 75,
conventionalized frogs
area,
(fig.
77, c), are also characteristic of the
Andean
Stone tools are rare, probably because stone celt, a hammerstone, and village sites have not been excavated. a milling stone were found at Tabay, Merida.
and stone beads were made.
Shell broad-winged ornaments (fig. 77, d),

lections than those of stone,
much
less frequent in col-
have been found in the Andes.
Some have
incised designs.
Other
shell
specimens have not been reported.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

summary of Venezuelan archeology as known an outline of spatial distribution of recorded sites and associated artifacts and notes what few temporal sequences have been
The
foregoing regional
in 1945 provides
discovered in stratified
sites.
The
regional presentation
is
without chron-
ological or classificatory significance.

Ideally, the archeology of
an area
is
presented as a historical record,
correlating changing or static cultural conditions reflected in material
remains with an absolute or relative time
scale.
Although more
stratified
Vol. 4]
II
431
Figure
{}/2
17.
Artifacts
;
of the
Andean
d,
region,
Venezuela,
shell
a,
Plain ware figurine

scale)
;
actual size)
6,
broad- winged stone ornaments

;
(common
c,
stone
figurines
(^
actual size)
broad-winged
58, 59, 60,
ornaments
(ca. Yz actual size).
(After Kidder
II, 1944, figs.
and
61.)
432

5
0)
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
n o
^^
'^
2 K
t-4
T)
3 ^
4S
SS ^
s ^ I .:,
a
u
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g
j;
ft
^ O
.2
>
3 ^
fli
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to
n
J5
rt
"
ja
i
i>
t:
u w
.ha
111
> o
ja
J =
rt *i
^ O u
C/3
2 S
4)
J?
-S
2 5. V _
ft
2 1^
_ kj "3 W o go
u-5
"3
t-i
JJ
^
-c
g ft&H g ftfn
fic3
o a
Vol. 4 J
II
433
o
O.
""
m
ja
W 3 O
i)
r
rt
-
^-ss C t
s:
!_)
1
O 2 u o j3
J3
!:
>%^
-Jl
rt
ft,
C u
Oh
Ph
-'
-^
f^
""
rt
Si
S t-
=a o
ri
"-y"
C "
-ô 1^ D
l>
to
r^
kL
5
>.
O
-5
WH
.tJ
^
"
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te
n
>3
""iJ
< o
S*-c
a o
rtS
434
sites
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
have been reported fiom Venezuela than from many large regions of South America, historical perspective for the area as a whole is lacking. Cultural change is correlated with depth in three areas. At Ronquin, on the middle Orinoco, an Early and a Late culture are represented by
In the Lake Valencia Basin one group of
contrasting pottery styles.
La Mata Aspect) from mounds, villages, and urn burial cemeteries shows gradual change presumably ending at the time of the Conquest. This is preceded by a period, undoubtedly capable of subdivision, marked by distinctive pottery styles and the lack of secondary burial. Lastly, the Cayerua site on Paraguana Peninsula shows an increased relative frequency of fabric-impressed sherds and a
material (Valencia Phase or
decrease in linear painting in a total depth of 50 cm. (about 20 inches).
Lack
of significant
sites
;
change
in
shallow deposition has marked
all
other
excavated
such conditions will probably obtain in most of those yet
to be discovered.
Lack of
historical perspective
emphasizes the value of spatial relation-
ships of trait complexes and cultural classification.
Osgood and Howard

traits,
(1943) have compiled a table of selected, general

the
pointing out, at
Other studies of trait distribution directly or indirectly concerned with Venezuela are those of Linne (1929), Palmatary (1939), and Kidder II (1944). Cultural classification is rendered difficult by incomplete representation from most of the archeologically surveyed areas, and the dangers of comparing collections variously composed of carefully excavated village refuse, surface sherd collections, grave goods, or highly selected specimens from cereover-all inadequacy of the data.
same time, the
monial deposits.
Osgood and Howard (1943) have developed a
tentative cultural classi-
fication of sites, setting off six focal centers in sharp contrast to
one
another, in terms of diagnostic characteristics of typical sites within each,
and
relating other sites or groups of materials to the six centers in a
classification following the
classification geographical designations of divisions (phases
Midwestern Taxonomic System. In such a and aspects)
refer only to cultural types, without regard to their actual distribution in

space, although frequently a phase or aspect
may
be
known from
the area
from which
it
takes
its
name.
No
other over-all classification has been
attempted, but Kidder, following a different system, has used some of the
same terms
tion above,
to designate cultures
found
in certain localities.
In order to
correlate the cultures as variously classified with the regional presenta-
and
to
show what
temporal relationships, a
is known or guessed as to their relative summary chart is herewith presented. This
visually emphasizes the lack of sequence in

tural relationships
most areas but indicates
cul-
between certain areas.
Without
detailing the evidence,
these connections are reviewed in terms of important diagnostic traits

significant external relationships are briefly noted.
Vol. 4]
earlier cultures,
II
435
grouped by Osgood and Howard in the Lower Orinoco Phase, are found on the lower and middle Orinoco and in the Lake Valencia region. Important traits found at Los Barrancos, Ron-
The
quin (lower strata), and Los Tamarindos (lower strata) are pottery in
solid colors with polished surfaces, decoration in conventionalized designs
rendered in broad-line incision,

incision,
lips of
bowls bearing encircling broad-line
and
realistic
biomorphic adornos.
There are
also significant difis
ferences.
tive
At Los Barrancos and
related sites incised decoration
distinc-
and more elaborate than at the other centers. Vertical handles predominate on the Orinoco and horizontal handles at Los Tamarindos, while the elbow pipes and leg-ring bases characteristic of Los Tamarindos are absent at Ronquin and Los Barrancos, The presence of red and white painted ware in the Ronquin lower strata led Osgood and Howard to classify Early Ronquin as a separate aspect.
In spite of considerable dififerences in detail, the relationships of the
three earlier manifestations are clear.
All are relatively early, but the

at
presence of some
suggests a
of the
attributes of Late
Ronquin culture
Los Barrancos
time than that
somewhat
later position of that site in absolute
lower levels
of Ronquin and Los Tamarindos.

the correlation between
Osgood (1942 b) has discussed

culture and that of the
Los Barrancos
West
Indies, particularly Trinidad.
Added
to
similarities in vessel form, style of

vertical,
modeling and
incision,
and the use of
D-shaped handles, the discovery of red and white painted pottery

relationship of early Venezuelan cultures with
at
R6nquin strengthens the

of the Lesser Antilles,
similarly relatively early Antillean cultures, including those of Trinidad,
many
For
and the Crab Culture
of Puerto Rico.
lack of evidence for absolute dating, the stratigraphically relatively
late cultures,
and those found
in shallow, superficial deposits,

in the
of short duration, are
shown
and hence accompanying chart as not greatly

be considerably earlier
;
antedating the Conquest.

part, historic.
Some may
others, in
In Osgood and Howard's classification they are grouped
in five phases,
from which certain poorly represented manifestations are

strata
omitted.
The Late Ronquin Aspect, represented by Ronquin upper

several related sites, contrasts with Early
and
Ronquin and other earlier aspects in the use of unpolished pottery in few and simple shapes, decorated with narrow-line incision and punctation, and some use of modeled lugs and adornos. To this is related the small sample of material from the Arauquin sites in the Apure Delta area, classified as a separate aspect by Osgood and Howard on the basis of a greater profusion of adornos and
the formaHzation of narrow-line incised design.
In general these wares resemble those of the late period at Lake Valencia and certain combina-
tions of traits of pottery decoration suggest connections with sites
on the
Amazon.
436
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
Late Lake Valencia culture, represented by mounds, village refuse, and
urn burials, displays a wide range of drab or red pottery vessels, decorated typically with relief modeling, particularly in the form of highly
conventionalized adornos.
tain elements of
Female figurines are
distinctive in style.
Cer-
modeling resemble some of those from Late Ronquin, and there are general resemblances between late Lake Valencia pottery and specimens from the Venezuelan coast from the Paraguana to the
Paria Peninsulas.
As
a whole the Valencia Phase
is
a typically Venez-
uelan manifestation, unrelated as a complex to anything outside the country,
although some of the vessel and figurine shapes and decorative motifs
region
have a wide South American distribution.
The Northwest
con
sites,
is
represented by a
number
of aspects in the
Osgood and Howard
classification.
Characteristic of the Lara and Fal-
and Carache,
in Trujillo, are shallow tripod bowls, linear paint-
ing in one to three colors, and horizontal handles.
The Quibor
sites
(Tierra de los Indios Aspect) and the Carache

Carache.
sites
(Mirinday Aspect)
Carache, in
are closely related in painted design, which occurs in one color only at
There
is
a high proportion of leg-ring bases
a.t
contrast to the Lara sites, but corrugated rims found at other sites in the
area are lacking.
The La Maravilla Aspect

site,
is set ofif
from the Coro Asis
pect on account of the preponderance of incised, as contrasted to painted,
decoration at the Coro
and the Cayerua Aspect

Cayerua
site.
distinguished by
the presence of fabric impression, occurring with relatively greater fre-
quency
in the
upper
level of the
Primary burials at Carache contrast with secondary urn burials, found on the Falcon coast, the Goajira Peninsula, and at the two Maracaibo sites (Bellavista Aspect). The last two are related to others in the area by the presence of linear painting and corrugated rims. Double-spouted vessels have been found only in sites of the La Maravilla and Bellavista
Aspects.
Betijoque, in the southeastern Maracaibo Basin, has produced too
to be included in the
little
Osgood and Howard
classification.
Linear painting
and tripod bowls
indicate a relationship with other northwestern cultures.
The
culture of the area as a whole, but particularly the

is
La Maravilla and
Indies, just
Cayerua Aspects,
off the coast of
chiefly related to that of the
Dutch West
Falcon.
Linear painting occurs sporadically along the
The painted designs of the Quibor east. and Carache areas particularly are strikingly similar to some of those of Code and Chiriqui Provinces in Panama, indicating a probable but disnorth coast of Venezuela to the
tant connection.
The
Aspect
lack of
northeast coast region
is
characterized by predominance of plain,
drab pottery and rarity of handles and of decoration.

is set off
The Guayabita
from the Guaraguao Aspect on the basis of the complete handles and shell implements in the former. Such linear painting
Vol. 4]
VENEZUELAN ARCHEOl,OGYKIDDER
II
437
as does occur, chiefly at

of the
Guaraguao Aspect sites, is clearly similar to that Falcon coast and the Dutch Islands of CuraQao and Aruba. The
general similarity of northeastern coastal modeled decoration to that of the Valencia Phase has also been noted.
Margarita Island drab pottery
is
similar to that of the northeastern

is
coast of the mainland, but the Gire-Gire Aspect
separately classified on
some broad-line and notched stone axes, indicating a connection with the Orinoco, the early West Indian cultures, and Trinidad. These traits may be the result of trade or of raiding parties. The evidence suggests a somewhat
incision,
the basis of several polychrome sherds, D-shaped handles,
earlier position for
Margarita Island culture than that of the northeast
coast in general, as indicated tentatively in the

is
accompanying
chart.
It
quite possible, however, that a sequence of pottery styles exists

of the
and that
wares related to those
Orinoco and West Indies were followed by
the plain wares characteristic of the northeast coast region generally.
The little-known Andean region is represented by one aspect, the Tabay, of the Andean Phase, in Osgood and Howard's classification. The
lack of associational data
useless at this time.
on
collected material
makes further
classification
Important diagnostics for the area as a whole are
globular vessels with incised designs, tetrapod vessels, unpainted tripod

vessels with solid legs, effigy vessels, cursive painted design
on bowls
with solid leg-ring and annular bases, figurines, usually painted in linear
designs, representing standing or sitting females,
tetrapod stools, and the stone broad-winged ornament.

of the single attributes of
Andean
style
and males seated on Although many are widely distributed, typical comVenezuela
binations, such as female figurines with linear painting, or leg-ring base

vessels with cursive painted design, occur in other parts of
only as apparent trade objects.

a stool, tetrapod vessels
Such
traits as the
male figurine seated on
and bulbous or mammiform legs, and the broadornament suggest general relationships with Colombia. winged The Los Mofios site in western Tachira is not included in the Osgood and Howard classification. It produced no distinctive traits other than fabric impression, suggesting a relationship with the Cayerua site, possibly indicative of a continuous distribution of this form of decoration across
the Maracaibo Basin.
Too
little
material
is
available
from remaining areas
to attempt classifica-
tion or to suggest meaningful relationships.

burials, of
The upper Orinoco
cave
which some are probably post-Conquest, are isolated. The mounds and calzadas of the llanos have produced no associated artifacts
accessible for examination.
FUTURE FIELD WORK AND PROBLEMS

Further field work should be directed toward filling the gaps in regional knowledge, clarifying the relationships between known remains, and es-
438
[B.A.B. BuU. 143
The Orinoco Delta, nearly all the upper Orinoco, and the States of Miranda and Yaracuy are virtually unknown archeologically. A survey of the coast from Falcon to the Orinoco should clarify relationships along the Caribbean littoral
tablishing chronological sequences.
llanos, the
and of the coastal areas with central Venezuela, including Lake Valencia. Margarita Island offers little depth of deposit, but careful excavation might serve to isolate some material on an early chronological level. A detailed stratigraphic study of the Lake Valencia Basin, emphasizing the correlation of archeology and lacustrine geology, might lead to the establishment of an absolute dating system and would certainly serve to refine the known sequence. In view of the relationship between early Lake Valencia and Orinoco cultures, and the bearing of these on the early history of the Antilles, any additional chronological evidence would be
valuable.
The Maracaibo
Basin, both east and west of the lake, should be sursites
veyed to connect the known northwestern
with those of the Andes
and Colombia. Such sites as Betijoque should be explored, and numerous new sites would undoubtedly be found. In the Andes there is need of location and excavation of village sites, as well as cemeteries and cave
sites,
in
order to provide representative samples in place of selected,
unassociated objects.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bennett, 1936, 1937; Booy, 1916; Briceno-Iragorry,
1928, 1929;
Howard, 1943;
Kidder II, 1944; Linne, 1929; Marcano, 1889; Nectario Maria, 1933, 1942; Nomland, 1933, 1935; Oramas, 1917; Osgood, 1942 b, 1943; Osgood and Howard, 1943; Palmatary, 1939; PetruUo, 1939 b; Requena, 1932; Spinden, 1916;
Jahn,
1932;
Steinen, 1904.
THE OTOMAC
By Paul Kirchhoff
INTRODUCTION
In the Venezuelan Llanos, between the Orinoco, the Apure, and the
Meta Rivers,
to
lived the
Otomac and the
related
differed so strikingly
from
their neighbors' that they
Guamo, whose culture must be considered

their small geo-
have formed a separate cultural group
in spite of
graphical range
(map 6)
The
culture not only differs sharply from that

it
of neighboring tribes, but also
definitely
originally from one of the high culture areas toward the west.
seems to have been derived But more
and in specific traits are not Middle America. A further striking with Peru or Colombia, but with fact is that the Otomac Indians seem to have been aware of the uniquesurprisingly, resemblances in general flavor
ness of their culture within the area and, as foreigners in a

to have developed special means of keeping alive Their daily routine of life reminds one of White
its
new
country,
essential features.
settlers
among
jungle
tribes
who
symbolize their intention of maintaining their cultural heritage
by dressing every evening for dinner. The Otomac Indians were discovered and converted to Christianity in the 18th century. Their missionary, Jose Gumilla, is our main source on their culture. It is evidently no longer possible to recover further information from the few survivors.
Hzingly short, failing to touch upon
others in a short sentence.
Gimiilla's account (1745)
is
tanta-
many important
questions and
treating
Nonetheless, his data, supplemented by two
other missionaries, Gilij (1780-84, vol. 3) and Bueno (1933), and by Humboldt, reveal a remarkable chapter in the history of human culture. The culture described below was shared in part, at least by several neighboring tribes the Guamo, Taparita, Pao, Saruro, and Paranoa. The Guamo and Taparita, both food gatherers, were closely related
linguistically to the
Otomac, and some of the Guamo, through
inter-
marriage with the Otomac, had borrowed much of the latter's culture, including farming, while in turn influencing it. (The nonf arming Taparita and Gu<imo are described in "Food-gathering Tribes of the Venezuelan
The Pao and Saruro cultivated the same variety of Llanos," p. 445.) maize as the Otcrmac. Carvajal (1892) stated that the Paranoa and Otomuc were closely related, even being divisions of the same people, but his cultural data for the Paranoa are very different from those for the
Otomac.
439
440
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
CULTURE
Farming.
The following plants were cultivated

known
also
Only one
variety of
maize, which developed in 6 months and therefore yielded two crops every
year (this variety was

but nowhere else)
;
among
the neighboring Yaruro and
Pao
In
several kinds of calabash; sweet manioc; apparently

;
a considerable number of other, unspecified "roots"
and pineapples.
Gumilla's time plantains, sugarcane, and watermelons had already been
added.
In their farming these tribes did not waste an inch of
soil
every
field
had
a basic crop of maize, with other plants
sown between.
They
cul-
tivated clearings
and the ground surrounding the many lagoons

tributaries,
of the
Orinoco and
fall
its
taking advantage of the annual rise and

fertilized
of the rivers to
sow the areas

all
by the inundation.
In striking contrast with
surrounding areas, Otomac and Gtiamo

except for
farming lay exclusively
in the
hands of men.
stored,
The
harvests
were not
fishing.
sowing purposes.
No
domestic animals are mentioned.
Hunting and
Few
details are
known.
manatee are mentioned as animals of the chase.

hunted with bow and arrow.
turned them
The peccary and the They may have been

behind them,
to the riverbank.
To
take turtles a
man swam
them
on their backs, and thus brought
Their eggs were collected and eaten.

in pairs,
To
catch caimans
men worked
at the end.
it
armed with a long manatee-hide rope with a noose

it
After putting the noose around the animal's nose, they pulled
the
out on
bank and struck
between the eyes.

are said to have been expert fishermen
hetter
The Otomac and Guamo
than their neighbors, but no technical details are given.
Food preparation.
in baskets to
Turtle eggs were eaten raw, or they were

To
."^moked
be preserved.
meat or
fire.
fish for eating.
There are no data on the preparation df fresh To preserve fish it was dried in the sun oi by a
and wild
plants.
These
tribes
made
flour of cultivated
prepare a
"bread" of maize they buried a mixture of maize and other kinds of flour in the ground for a few days until it was about to become sour then
;
they strained
it
it,
added a good
quantity of turtle
and
alligator fat,
made
into loaves,
These
tribes, especially the
and put them into an oven, which is not described. pound of clay daily when food Otomac, ate
was
scarce.
fermented chicha was prepared of maize, manioc, and palm
fruits.
Vol. 4]
THE OTOMAGKIRCHHOFF
DRESS
441
AND ORNAMENTS
in
Among the Otomac, both sexes wore a belt and apron. Men had the outer edge of their ears separated by an incision,
in their hands.
which
they often kept small objects which they did not want to lose or to carry
These
strings of beads.
wore feather headdresses, necklaces of monkey teeth, and In Gumilla's time glass beads were already in use. The feature that distinguished them most from neighboring tribes was
tribes
the beard.
VILLAGES AND HOUSES
A
river
village consisted of a
number
of palm-leaf sunshades built
on the
bank and each inhabited by a considerable number People slept on the ground (Guamo) or half buried in sand brought from the river banks, each family covered by mosquito nets (Otomac).
of people.

These tribes used canoes, which must have been of great importance in view of the location of villages on the riverbanks and of the importance
of fishing.
MANUFACTURES
a coarse, black pottery. Plates and pots are the only mentioned. Of the fiber of the muriche palm women made baskets, shapes mats, bags, and blankets, and of palm leaves they made a kind of mosquito net big enough to cover a whole family.
Women made
They probably
also
wove
the belts
men
wore.
Each
village
seems to have been autonomous, but no village headman
is
mentioned.
The
only authorities described are the chiefs ("capitanes")
of the inhabitants of a certain
number
of houses,
who
constituted an
independent economic unit and cultivated their

village council.
fields collectively.
These
chiefs probably acted in mutual agreement, thus constituting a kind of
appointment.
controlled
No data are given on the method of their election or Their authority and functions, however, are clear. They
single
activity of
and directed every

of free farmers
is
their
people
to the
extent that a village seemed
more
like a military establishment
than a
community
and fishermen.
fields
The democratic
Nothing
tilled
is
character of
said of the
the arrangement
nonetheless unmistakable.
chief's role in warfare.
Whereas
men
of each group led by a chief,
to the village as a whole.
by the grounds belonged The animals hunted and fish caught were diswere hunting and
collectively
fishing
tributed
among
these groups.
442

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
There
that
is
absolutely no information on the kinship status of spouses and
their children or
on courting and marriage. The only relevant data are young men had to marry old women, so that they might learn the secrets of married life; widows were given by their chief to the young men. As only elderly men were allowed to take young girls, women, like
men, started their married
life
with
much
older partners.
This system
inter-
seems
to
have
been
combined
with
frequent
Otomac-Guamo
marriages.
Older
men often had
several wives.
WARFARE
territory.
The Otamac were continuously at war with the Corih, who raided their They fought with bows and unpoisoned arrows and with
Unlike
clubs.
most
South
American
tribes,
they
the
attacked
without
bragging and shouting.

Before
entering
The women accompanied
men
into battle in
order to recover the enemy's arrows which had missed

battle
tlieir
mark.
with
men
took
coca
and bled themselves
sharpened bones.
LIFE CYCLE
At
childbirth,
one of the parents pierced his tongue and spat on the

practiced circumcision.
newborn.
The Otomac and Guamo
Upon
reaching old age an Otornac dug his
own
grave.
The dead were

its
buried with bread and chicha for use of the soul during
other world.
It is
voyage to the
not clear in which part of the body the soul was

if
the skulls were unearthed a year
was involved when and carried to a hill called Barraguan or "grandmother" and deposited in caves in the shadow of a rock believed to be their grandmother. In these caves the skulls were
thought to reside or to what extent,
any, this part
later
thought to be transformed into stones.
Music and dances. Every evening from about sunset to midnight the whole village disregarded the house groups and everyone danced together. Men, women, and children formed three concentric circles, the men inside, Ever>'body danced and sang the women next, and the children outside.
in unison, directed
by a leader who stood in the center. No musical instruments were used during these ordinary daily dances. 2 m. (6 feet) long were used, always Those who served the drinks were accompanied by two such in pairs. trumpet players. Such festivities were held in specially constructed huts Men would drink chicha and or sheds made of freshlv cut branches.
On
special occasions trumpets
Vol. 4]
THE OTOMACKIRCHHOFP
443
become intoxicated by taking coca (yopa) through the nose. The women took care of them while they were in this state (Otomac). The participants drew blood from their temples and foreheads with fish teeth and
pointed bones
(Guamo).
village had special grounds for the ball game, which was played with a big rubber ball that was propelled only with the right shoulder. In the morning only men played. They divided into two bands The of 12 each and wagered baskets full of maize and strings of beads. spectators took sides and also made bets. When the sun began to rise the players started to draw blood from their legs, thighs, and arms with With rapid movements pointed bones, without interrupting the game.
Ball game.
Every
they also threw handfuls of a certain kind of earth into their mouths.
At noon women entered

players, joined each side.
the game.
Twelve
of them, the
wives of the
ball
They used paddle-shaped
ball sticks (possibly
simply ordinary canoe paddles) with a round blade and threw the with such force that
the
it
was received by the men with the

dififers
full
back.
During
whole game old men served as umpires. Bueno (1933) reports a ball game which
in detail
from that
just described.
THE DAILY ROUND

Long
dead.
before the sun rose the people started their daily crying for the
the sun appeared the chiefs selected those
in the field.
When
who
should
fish
and those who should work

ing weaving or
Any men
all
remaining in the village
started playing with the rubber ball, while
the
making
pots.
At midday
the
women spent the mornwomen entered the ball

morning
game.
Around 4
o'clock the groups of
men
sent out in the
Both the agricultural produce and the result of their hunting and fishing were distributed by the chiefs according to The fishermen left their tlie number of mouths to be fed in each family. fish in the canoes, and women and children took them out and piled them up. At this time the only meal of the day was eaten. Afterward everyreturned to the village.
went to the river to bathe and to eat a certain kind of clay to be it, and then, divided into families and led by their family heads, they went to the bush to defecate in excavations made with a digging stick. Upon their return to the village they started a dance which
bod}'
found near
lasted until midnight.
After a few hours of sleep they started the
fol-
lowing day before sunrise exactly as the previous day.
RELIGION
Religion.
AND SHAMANISM
moon may have been
to
No
special deity is mentioned, but the
regarded as a supernatural being.

relationship with the
Women
were thought
have a
special
moon.
During an
eclipse the
men
struck their
bows
444
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
and arrows together, scolded the women for their faults which had supposedly caused the eclipse, begged them to supplicate it to return, and finally showered them with gifts of strings of beads in order to gain their cooperation. The women left the house so as to greet the moon after it was
fully visible again.
The Otomac
this
believed that they were descended
had been transformed into day on the Barraguan Hill on the banks of the Orinoco. Their oldest forefathers they saw in two rocks, one called "grandmother" on the summit of this hill and another called "grandfather" on a nearby hill.
their forefathers
from stones, i.e., that stones which may be seen to
According to
Gilij
(1780-84,
It
vol. 3), the
descended from jaguars.
was thought
became
that
Otomac believed themselves Otomac and Guamo shamans

its
could transform themselves into jaguars.
Shamanism.
When a
child
sick
mother pierced her tongue
with a pointed bone and smeared the blood over the child's body. The headman drew blood from his own body for every one of his people (ap-
who fell sick and smeared the During epidemics this procedure must have been very hard on the headman. Diseases were thought to be caused by what Gumilla, without explanaparently with the exception of children)
blood upon the person's chest.
tion, calls "the devil,"
who
placed
little
stones in the patient's body.

out.
The
There were, however, other probably those accompanied by high temperature, which the diseases, shamans cured by throwing cold water over the patient. Otomac shamans, under the influence of nope, predicted the future.
task of the
shaman was
to suck
them
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bueno, 1933; Carvajal, 1892;
Gilij,
1780-84, vol. 3
Gumilla, 1745; Humboldt, 1860.
FOOD-GATHERING TRIBES OF THE VENEZUELAN LLANOS
By Paul Kirch hoff
INTRODUCTION
The The
scattered food-gathering tribes of the Orinoco Basin
in striking contrast to the horticultural tribes of the
culture of these hunters
and gatherers
is
(map 6) stand Amazon-Orinoco area. not uniform. All of them

is
hunt and gather vegetable food, but, to some of them, this

gathering shellfish in rivers and lagoons.
that there
the principal
subsistence activity, whereas others depend primarily on fishing and on
These differences
in
sub-
sistence activities are correlated with other cultural differences, indicating
was not one basic culture type but two, the Hunting Culture and the Fishing Culture. Each in turn was divided into at least two
subtypes.
Without further comparative research,

these subtypes were
it
is
impossible to say whether
simply local variants of the two basic types or

In any case
it
whether they too sprang from different origins.

link in the
is
highly significant that these food-gathering tribes formed an important
now-broken chain
of food-gatherers that at
one time must

that,
have stretched from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, and

tribes of the southern part of
like
the
South America, they were divided into people who were mainly hunters and people who were principally fishermen and shellfish gatherers.
The
territory occupied
by these food-gatherers
is
very
much
larger
than had been recognized previously.

gathering
Whereas
to the southeast, food-
tribes, like the Shiriand and Waica, appear as isolated remnants in an area characterized by horticulture, food-gatherers predominated and farmers were the exception in an almost uninterrupted
area north and west of the Orinoco River, stretching from the delta of
the Venezuelan
Warrau, Handbook, vol. 3, p. 869) to the foothills of Andes in the west and the Vichada River in the south. A considerable number of specific traits, such as the Gayon earth oven, linked these tribes with the food-gatherers of North America and
that river (see the
with those farther to the east and south in South America. A few elements must have been borrowed from neighboring cultivating tribes,
65333448
30
^ >g
446
and portions

of certain food-gathering tribes
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
had even adopted farming.
(The farming Gtmino are treated in the article on the Otomac.) There was a small but significant number of traits for example, Guahibo and Chiricoa rafts and Guamo vessels with two spoutswhich seem to indicate that some of these tribes had been in contact with the Andean civilizations, though most of them are now separated from Andean tribes by peoples with a Tropical Forest culture of the Amazon-Orinoco type. The Guamo
and Taparifa tree-dwellings, on the other hand, may date from a time when these tribes were in contact with the Choco and the Barhacoa of
western Colombia,
or, they
may
be links in the chain of tree-and-pile

of the
dwellings that stretches from western Colombia and the pile-dwellers of
Lake Maracaibo
to the
Warrau
Orinoco Delta and to several
horticultural tribes of the Guianas.
The
is
data on the majority of the food-gatherers of the Venezuelan
Llanos are unfortunately so scanty that the present cultural grouping

only provisional.
Hunting Cultures
THE GUAHIBO AND CHIRICOA

INTRODUCTION
The immense savannas
or llanos, covered with hard grass growing
higher than a man, that stretch from the Meta River to the Vichada
River, and the narrow strips of forest which separate the savanna from
the river are inhabited
these tribes differs as markedly
rounding them on
all
by a number of nomadic tribes. The culture of from that of the sedentary tribes sursides as the country inhabited by them differs from
However, some traits in the culture of these nomads were undoubtedly taken from the nearby farmers. For the most
the Tropical Forests.
part, the
nomadic groups are confined
to the
unsuited for Tropical Forest horticulture.

sentatives of the nonfarmers just
forests lying to the southwest.
savanna country, which is There are also a few reprelimit of the savanna, in the
beyond the
Interestingly enough, the latter, although
considered to be related to the Guahibo, differ from them in some traits
(such as permanent settlements and shields used

ginal
in
warfare).
This mar-
group of the forest

of an
is
called by a
the
name
Achagua
still
subtribe
name composed of Guahibo and from which they may have taken these
elements.
Of
other Indians
farther south, the first explorers say that they
spoke a language similar to that of the Guahibo but that they differed
from the Guahibo culturally, above all in being farmers. Thus it may be that the Guahibo and related tribes originally were forest dwellers, or inhabitants of both the forest and the savanna, being driven out from the former and into the latter by the advance of agricultural forest tribes. The invaders may have been the Arawakan Achagua, who seem to have had the closest relations with and influence upon these nomads.
Vol. 4]
VENEZUELAN LLANOS TRIBES KiRCHHOFF

HISTORY, SOURCES,
447
AND DEMOGRAPHY
tribe
The
first
expedition
that of
to
meet a
of
this
group,
the
Guahiho
(Giiaibo),
was
Federmann
in the 16th century.
Missionary work
began early in the 18th century. It never met more than temporary success and was practically abandoned before the end of the century. This explains our lack of early references dealing with these tribes. Still, our most important sources are those of Jesuit missionaries Casani (1741),
Gumilla (1745), Rivero (1883), and Gilij (1780-84, vol. 3). Among later sources the possibly none-too-trustworthy Marcano (1889) deserves
mentioning.
The
early sources agree in detail, giving a consistent although far
from
complete picture of Guahiho and Chiricoa culture of the 18th century. Later sources, among them Marcano (1889), describe a culture profoundly altered, probably not so much by direct European influence as by neighboring sedentary tribes which the white man was dislodging from the llanos. As a result of this, Guahiho and Chiricoa culture today is, at least superficially, much less sharply set off from the culture of the sur-
rounding horticultural
Chiricoa.
tribes.
All early sources remark
upon
the great
numbers
of the
Guahiho and
In raiding the villages of the sedentary Indians, they always
had superior manpower. A few data given in the following pages (the description of a band on march and the fact that in most groups there
was a surprisingly great number of

observation.
invalids) bear out the truth of this
According
to Bolinder, present-day local estimates put the
number
of the
Guahiho as high as 20,000.
LANGUAGE
Two
of the Savanna tribes, the Guahiho {Goahiho, Guaiba, Guahiba,
Guaiva, Guahiva, Guahiha, Goahivo, Guagiho, Guajivo, etc.), and the

Chiricoa, including th^ Sicuane, speak closely related languages or possibly only dialects of
one language.
These two
tribes,
which are said

to this
to
be culturally indistinguishable, are practically the only ones on which

there
is
ethnographical data.
The Maiha probably belong
group
of tribes,
and possibly
also
do the Bugi and the so-called Rancho.

Culture
SUBSISTENCE
and probably all the other tribes enumerated above, depended principally on hunting land animals and on gathering vegetable food. The hunting of river animals and fishing apparently
Chiricoa,
The Guahiho and
took a secondary place.
Hunting.
Except
for a pointed stick used by
some
of the
Guahiho and
Chiricoa to get armadillos out of their dens, the only hunting weapons
were bows and arrows.
Of dubious importance, and not mentioned by
448
some
sources,

were darts which were kept
darts
in quivers.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
It is nevertheless
possible that the so-called

reality arrows.
were in any of these weapons are extant. Poisoned arrows were mentioned once with reference to a Chiricoa subtribe or band, the Sicuane. It is not clear whether these were used for hunting or only in warfare. The blowguns now used by these tribes consist of an Arundaria cane inserted in a scooped-out palm stem. They are never mentioned in the earlier sources and are today imported from neighboring sedentary tribes. The most common method used to take deer, peccaries, "zorras"
(occasionally called lances)
No
technical descriptions of
(skunks?), jaguars, pumas, and other animals
is
a communal hunt in
which the
darts.
men advance
in
a crescent-shaped
line,
closing the circle
when
they get close to their prey, which they then shower with arrows and
Deer are also stalked by hunters whose heads are concealed behind branches and whose chests and part of whose arms are covered with a rosin, called mara. The rosin attracts the animals so that they can be
from a short distance.
Armadillos, the most important and dependable food animals, are simply driven into their dens by setting fire to the
killed
close to the rivers
savanna grass and then taken out with a pointed stick. Savanna grass is often burned off so that the fresh sprouts may attract
deer and other animals.
The flesh of large water snakes and manatees, though disdained by the Achagua, is highly esteemed by the other tribes. Manatees are shot with "harpoons," barbed on one or both sides (Gilij,
1780-84, vol. 3).
Fishing. The only fishing method described is one generally used among and probably borrowed from the surrounding sedentary tribes. Fish are shot with bow and arrow after being drugged by a mascerated root (called cuna by the Arawakan Achagua) which has been thrown
into stagnant water.
stituted
tacts
"Harpoons," unfortunately not described, are subsometimes for arrows. It is possible that, previous to their conwith the sedentary tribes, these people lived only by hunting and by
gathering vegetable food and not by fishing.
Collecting wild foods.
As
soon as the band arrives at a river the
men spend
their time hunting or fishing while the
women
gather vege-
table foods, principally roots
and palm fruit. The roots, especially those the Indians call guapo and cumanapana and the wild pineapple, are simply pulled up. The digging stick is not mentioned and was probably unnecesThat the guapo root is the mainstay both of these tribes and of sary. peccaries gives the sedentary tribes occasion for rather derisive comparisons. The datelike fruit of a palm called becirri by the Arawakan Achagua and the olivelike fruit of the cunama palm are brought down in
is not stated. From April until June the Indians travel from palm grove to palm grove. They return with their bodies filled out, having eaten as much as their stomachs would hold. These palms, each
a manner that

Vol. 4]
VENEZUELAN LLANOS TRIBESKIRCHHOFF
449
yielding up to 50 pounds (2 arrobas) of fruit, loom large in the thought and conversations of these Indians, and the palm-fruit season is the happy time of the year. During the remaining months they must rely on the guapos and other roots. By Marcano's time the Guahibo had taken to the cultivation of bitter manioc and cotton. Food preparation. Meat is roasted in or over the fire. Intestines are eaten uncleaned, and even those left by members of a sedentary tribe are greedily devoured. Meat and fish are preserved by smoking. How roots
are prepared for eating

the
fire,
is
not stated.
Palm
fruits are roasted in or
over
(presumably of pottery), or consumed in the form of a liquid the appearance of which is described as similar to beaten eggs. Wooden mortars, though actually mentioned only in the process
cooked
in vessels
of extracting
oil
from the
fruit of the
the preparation of vegetable food as well.

extract
cunama palm, are probably used in The Guahibo and Chiricoa

juice
from palm trees (apparently the corozo palm) a
which they
allow to ferment in a
manner
similar to that described for the Warrau.
(See Handbook,
vol. 3, p. 871.)
is
The
use of salt
unknown.
DWELLINGS
These nomadic peoples never spend more than 2 or 3 nights
place.
in the
same
the
Consequently, dwellings are either completely lacking, as
among
mil'
''
.
'
V^r
"^^H'nm
?///'i'^!'..!.';
l''ri^^-
Figure
78.
Guahiho house (boo).
Top: End view; bottom:

1888.)
side view.
(After
Stradelli,
450
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Guahibo and Chiricoa, or they are portable and are made of palm "straw" (probably mats woven of this material) The Guahibo and Chiricoa simply
.
ground.
open air or sleep on the bare Pedro Simon's report (1882-92) of Federmann's trip of 1538 referring to portable huts of "heavy cotton cloth" used by the "Guaigua"
sling their
hammocks between
trees in the
Vol. 4]
VENEZUELAN LLANOS TRIBES KIRCHHOFF

Meta River south
of the
451
of the
Pauto River
is likely
to be the result of a
misunderstanding.
Both the Guakibo, who lived outside the savanna and were culturally Achagua, and those, described by Marcano (1889), who lived in the savanna near the cataracts of the Orinoco and had already become much acculturated, had permanent houses (figs. 78 and 79). The hammocks of the Guahibo and Chiricoa were netlike (chinchorros) and were made by the women from thread extracted from the heart of the quitebe palm. In Marcano's day they were made of cotton.
half
DRESS
AND ADORNMENT
Among
the Guahibo and Chiricoa
went naked.
quitebe-palm
cloths.
all men and the majority of women Some women wore, Achagua fashion, little aprons made of thread. By Marcano's time the Guahibo made cotton loin-
and Chiricoa both sexes wore their hair cut was pulled out. In warfare the face was painted black and red. In one case a war party aiding some Achagua against another band is said to have smeared their bodies with white clay, allegedly to distinguish themselves from their tribesmen on the other side. No ornaments or deformations are mentioned by writers who report them among neighboring sedentary tribes.
the Guahibo
Among
very short (or shaven?).
Facial hair
TRANSPORTATION
Women
carried loads in baskets on the back.
Men
occasionally carried
members of the band. Usually though, they carried only their weapons, hammocks, and a shell filled with parica. The women carried the main part of the belongings of the band, especially all the vessels, the wooden mortars, etc. Children were carried by both men and women, by the former on their shoulders and by the
loads (pi. 77) and always carried any sick
latter either
on top
of the
baggage or clinging to their breasts.

rafts
Rivers were crossed or traveled downstream with the aid of

described as trough-shaped,
made
of
bamboo
logs tied together or of

excellent
bundles of savanna grass.

mers.
Both men and
women were
swim-
MANUFACTURES
The early sources mention weapons, hammocks, mortars, rafts, garments, and dwellings (which were rather exceptional), calabashes varnished black inside, baskets, and, surprisingly, cooking vessels which must mean Today the Guahibo make pots that are often beautifully clay pots. painted and basketry that is said to resemble that of sedentary tribes The older sources mention small and large carrying farther south. latter big enough to seat a person!) made of palm leaves, baskets (the
452
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
and tubes 6 feet (2m.) long made of flexible cane strips. The latter seem to have been similar to the tipiti of horticultural tribes, but the Guahibo and Chiricoa used them to extract oil from the cunama palm fruits that had been mashed in wooden mortars. The oil was collected in small calabashes and bartered to other tribes, especially the Achagua, who used it on their hair. The Guahibo and Chiricoa did not use this oil, and the stimulus for it may have come wholly or partially from a foreign group, probably the Achagua. The Guahibo and Chiricoa made snail-shell disks (chiripa) which are used by many of the neighboring sedentary
tribes as a
medium
of exchange.
It is likely that this industry, too,
was
due to foreign stimulus.
At
the time of Marcano's visit cotton
was spun and woven by the
Guahibo.
Fire was started with a wooden wooden box covered with a piece
drill.
piece of cotton, kept in a
of skin, served as tinder.
Torches
consisting of a bark tube filled with tacama resin were used at night
Marcano, 1889).
TRADE
Commercial
the
oil,
relations with their sedentary neighbors are important in
The Guahibo and Chiricoa trade cunama palm palm thread, palm-thread hammocks, receptacles made from calabashes (or the calabashes themselves?), "iguana stones" (?), and, most important of all, slaves captured or stolen from other tribes. In return they receive chica (achiote), tobacco in powder form, snail shells, and Agricultural produce is perhaps not mentioned among glass beads. the goods received by the Guahibo and Chiricoa because these tribes combine extensive begging and stealing with their trading expeditions
life of
these tribes.
into the villages of the sedentary tribes.
Upon
leaving a village laden
with goods either received in trade or given them in order to get rid of
them, they
fall
like locusts
on the
fields.
These simple and trusting

exchange of
Indians, however, can often be sent
away with mere promises.

first
The exchange
goods.
of
news seems
to be as important as the
few hours before trading starts (the begging and stealing follow at the end) telling the villagers all that they have seen or heard in their wanderings since their last visit. They insistently ask questions which the villagers have to answer to avoid For this news exchange, and probably for the subsequent exscenes. change of goods, the visitors break up into small groups, certain individuals
In
fact,
these Indians spend the
or families evidently always pairing
off.
All sources mention the insolence of these Indians,
made bold by
their
usually superior numbers, and their attemps to deceive their customers.
For example, they cunama palm oil.
half
fill
with water the calabashes in which they
sell
Vol. 4]

SOCIAL
453

is
The
unit of political organization
a local subdivision of the tribe
which we may call a band. Spanish sources call it a "parcialidad." It The tribe is led by a chief, who is succeeded in his office by his son.
itself
does not seem to be a functioning unit.
The band,
in turn,
is
divided into subgroups, probably on the basis of kinship, although
we
have no data on
ing,
this point.
These subgroups are led by headmen
whom
our sources call "captains." Although these subgroups separate for huntthey often cooperate under the
tribes.
command
of the
band
chief in attacks
on other
bors.
On
such occasions the chief addresses the
headmen
in
a formal manner, reminiscent of the "mirrayes" of their sedentary neigh-
In the only case where figures are given, the subgroup controlled
of
by a headman consists
6 or 8 families, with a
total of
about 30 people.
The bands themselves
are usually
much
larger,
powerful units, quite
capable of inflicting serious
damage on their sedentary neighbors. on the basis of age and sex, possibly reflecting a more permanent organization, may be seen in a description by Gumilla (1745) of a band on the march. Marching in Indian file and extending sometimes over several miles ("una legua"), it was composed of six At the head marched the unmarried young men, well-defined sections.
division of the band
their
weapons ready
for
any emergency.
task of opening a path for those following;

his legs bleeding
from the
The first section had the difficult when the leading man tired, hard savanna grass, he was replaced by the
next young man, and took his place in the rear of the entire band where the walking was easy. The second section consisted of the married men,
carrying their weapons.
They
also carried
children not yet able to walk.

physically
sisted of
on their shoulders some of the Old men and women, as well as the
weak of both sexes, followed next. The fourth group conthe married women, each buried under a load of domestic
with one child on top of this load and another clinging Children big enough to walk formed part of this group.
hospital.
utensils, usually
tc her breast.
Next followed a curious group, a walking
The
strongest
men
of the band carried the sick and aged of both sexes on their backs in big (See basket, pi. 71, bottom, left.) A case has been carrying baskets.
described of an aged Guahiho
woman
like the
being thus carried around for years.
The rearguard was formed,

increased
vanguard, by a group of warriors,
now and
then by a young
data
man from up
whatever.
front
who had worn

regarding
the
himself out opening a path for the others.
On
Casani
kinship
we have no
Reports
prevalence of polygyny are conflicting.

that those
Rivero (1883), in opposition to
affirms
(1741), speaks of the frequency of polygynous unions. He remaining without women indulged in homosexual Homosexuality is denied by all sources for the surrounding relations.
sedentary tribes but was quite a
common
trait farther to the west.
454

WARFARE
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
It
is
not clear whether in aboriginal conditions warfare was of im-
portance
among
the Guahibo and Chiricoa.
In mission times some bands,

of tactics
under capable
chiefs,
displayed a knowledge
which may have
been due to contact with Spanish military expeditions.

tion between the various subgroups led
They
attacked
under the command of the chief of the whole band, with a perfect coopera-
by their respective "captains."

(pi. 77, top, left; pi. 78, left),
Weapons
included the
bow and arrow
somewhat doubtfully the dart or lance (p. 448), and sword clubs, the last probabl}'^ borrowed from their sedentary neighbors. As a matter of fact, all their weapons are stated to have been "like those of the other Indians." However, shields of the type used by some of the sedentary tribes, though mentioned in the description of a sham battle with the Achagua and in a peace ceremony in the form of a sham battle with the same tribe, seem to have been used by the Guahibo and Chiricoa only in these ceremonies. It is likely that the ceremonies were of foreign, possibly of Achagua, origin. Only in one group, now outside the savanna and half Achagua in culture as their very name indicates (pp. 446, 451), were shields employed in actual warfare. They were used together with a weapon called caporano and described as similar to a butcher's knife. The caporano is not known
from the Arazvakan Achagua, but possibly unique weapon of the Carib Oye.
it
is
related to the otherwise
The Sicuane and
possibly
some other Chiricoa and Guahibo used
poisoned arrows, apparently only in warfare.
The Sicuane
also placed grass,
sharpened and poisoned sticks along

the tribes of the upper
trails
and covered them with
a custom totally isolated in this region but well
known among some
of
Magdalena Valley.
The
fear of
enemy
attacks induced the Guahibo and Chiricoa to allow
the fire used for the evening meal to continue burning while they stealthily
retired to another place for the night.
Whether
Chiricoa,
the capture of slaves for sale, practiced by the Guahibo and

of
was a pre-Contact custom we have no means
knowing.
LIFE CYCLE
Women, who frequently gave birth while the band was traveling, washed themselves and the child in the first stream they encountered. If a sick Guahibo or Chiricoa died on the march, he was superficially buried by the man who had carried him, aided by the two last men in the rear guard. No observers seem actually to have seen such a burial. On the other hand, human skulls and bones frequently found on the surface of the ground seem not to have been buried.
Vol. 4]

455
panpipes for the Guahibo.
Marcano
mentions
rattles,
cane
flutes,
and
Stimulants. Guahibo and Chiricoa men

a jaguar bone containing parica.
invariably carried a shell or
These
tribes
were said
to carry the
habit of parica snuffing to extremes not found

tribes.
among
the neighboring
Parica was used in connection with their "superstitions and
telling of the future"
and generally before going into
battle in order to
enrage themselves.
RELIGION AND MEDICINE
Nothing whatver
that the
is
known regarding
the religion of these tribes, except
Guahibo believed in a supernatural being, the devil, called duati. Sick people running a temperature were buried up to their necks in
fresh clay or water, a treatment that caused
many
a death.
When
bitten
by a snake, especially while taking an armadillo out of its den without using a stick, the Indians immediately cut off the hand or foot, so that in every "capitania" there were 40 or 50 people with only one hand or
foot.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Casani, 1741; Gilij, 1780-84, vol. 3; Gumilla, 1745; Marcano, 1889; Rivero, 1883;
Simon, 1882-92.
THE GAYON
The Gayon and
dry plains and
hills
the Cuinatigua, Atarigua, Quibor, and Barquisiiiu'to
Gayon) Hved in the around Barquisimeto and Bobare. They seem to have depended on vegetable foods to a much greater extent than the Guahibo and Chiricoa, but unfortunately our knowledge of their culture is too Their most important plant foods scanty to be sure about this point. were agaves and palm fruits; deer and rabbits were the principal game
(these last four possibly local subdivisions of the
animals.
They cooked their food in earth ovens covered with bihao leaves. Animals were eviscerated, but put into the oven unskinned. The skins were removed after the animals had been cooked for about 2 hours and were ready to be eaten. In the same ovens the Indians cooked the agave
hearts,
which they then chewed in order to extract the sweet juice. These tribes seem to have had no dwellings whatever. Their netlike, agave-fiber hammocks, a variety called chinchorros, were simply slung
under
trees.
No
watercraft
is
mentioned.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Altolaguirre y Duvale,
1882-92.
1908;
Herrera, 1729-36; Rionegro. 1918, 1926;
Simon.
456

Fishing Cultures
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
THE YARURO
INTRODUCTION
The Yaruro appear
to be the last representatives in this area of a type
of culture different not only from that of their horticultural neighbors

but also from the savanna-dwelling tribes of hunters.
In contrast to
the savanna-dwelling Guahibo, Chiricoa, and related tribes, which live
by hunting land animals, the Yaruro live on sandy river banks and are mainly fishermen and hunters of river animals. While the former usually travel by land and have only wooden rafts for crossing of rivers and occasional downstream travel, the Yaruro are expert canoe men and spend much of their time on the river. While there exist cultural differences as to both details and basic features between the Yaruro and the Guahibo-Chiricoa group, the nature
largely
of the sources differences.
and the kind of data they give probably exaggerate these For the Guahibo and Chiricoa we depend almost exclusively
on
relatively early sources (18th century).
On
the other hand, practically
all we know about the Yaruro is derived from a single recent source (Petrullo, 1939 a), which deals with entirely different aspects of culture than that treated in the early sources, making it difficult to compare the
data.
with the Guahibo-Chiricoa, the Yaruro have important cultural features, such as matrilineal moieties, which are isolated in the region of the Venezuelan-Colombian Llanos and are rare among or atypical of food-
As
gatherers in general.
earlier contacts with
The
best explanation of their presence

is
among
the
primitive Yaruro, Guahibo, or Chiricoa
that they are hold-overs
western cultures, pro.bably Chibchan tribes. were later obscured when the hunting and fishing peoples were surrounded by tribes with an Amazonian type of culture. The original habitat of the Yaruro or Pumeh, as they call themselves, Today some 150 of them are found on the banks of is not well known. the Capanaparo River, and others are said to live on the Sinaruco River, The first missions were established among them in 1739 by the Jesuits,
relationships
from These
Culture
Farming.
when they
farming at
crocodiles
According
scale
to GiHj (1780-84, vol. 3), they

it
grew maize only
on a very small
first
all.
and ate
green, as so
many
food-gathering tribes do
take to farming.
Petrullo (1939 a) does not mention
Hunting.
Animals hunted
,
are,
more
or less in order of importance,
(Crocodylus)
turtles
(terracais,
matamatas, galapagos, and
tortoises), iguanas, manatees, chiguires (capybaras), deer, and armadillos. According to Petrullo, the Yaruro have practically stopped hunting land
Vol. 4]

it
457
animals, and
is
possible that they originally lived not only along the

in the savanna.
sandy riverbanks but also
He
reports, however, a definite
aversion for hunting inland and a decided preference for hunting river
animals, chiefly crocodiles.
standing.
This would indicate a specialization of long

is
The
crocodile
is
hunted every day and

it,
eaten in
its
entirety.
Deer
(rarely hunted) are usually stalked by a hunter
who
camouflages his body
with white paint and feathers pasted on
mask and
imitating the
movements
hunting are so heavy that
and by wearing a jibaro-stork The arrows used for this they can be shot only from a short distance. The
of this bird.
is
armadillo, the basic food of the savanna-dwelling Guahiho-Chiricoa,
seldom obtained by the Yaruro.

lieved to be related to
Animals not hunted because they are beman are the caiman, the tonina, and the howling
to be the only
monkey.
The bow and arrow seems

string
terial
weapon used
in the hunt.
Bows
are 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 2 m.) long, with a planoconvex cross section and a
made from the fiber of the macanilla palm. Arrows differ in maand construction according to their use. Harpoon arrows with a barbed head (today, of iron) tied to the shaft with a 30 foot (9m.) string, are used for hunting crocodiles and turtles. Crocodiles are also hunted with hard sticks sharpened at both ends and
attached to a rope or, today, wire.
They
are baited with a large piece of
meat.
Chiguires and manatees are caught with hooks

or iron.
made
of strong
wood
For birds, which are but wooden knobs are used.

Fishing.
rarely hunted, arrows with ,bone points or
The Yaruro met by Rivero (1883) near the Achagiia village Onocutare and those known by Forneri (Gilij, 1780-84, vol. 3) lived mainly by fishing. According to Petrullo, the present-day Yaruro of the Capanaparo River resort to fishing only when neither crocodiles nor turtles
of
are to be had. Apparently the electric

a
eel.
all
available species of fish are caught, including
from a canoe, but sometimes they take done mostly with the bow and arrow, the fisherman standing in the prow of the canoe. Fishing arrows consist of a reed shaft into which a bone point has been inserted, its proximal end often protruding sideways through the shaft so as to form a barb. Three feathers and a notched piece of wood are inserted in the butt end of the shaft.
fish in pairs
is
Men
boy along.
Fishing
Hooks
of
wood, bone, or iron are also used for
fishing.
Collecting wild foods.

crocodile eggs.
peditions.
Women go out
collect these
in canoes to collect turtle
and
Men
also
may
eggs during their hunting ex-
Women
also
go inland to dig up roots (changuango, barbaco,
guapo, yam) with a digging stick or to gather the seeds of the chigua. The hearts and fruits of palm trees (macanilla and moriche) are usually
gathered by men.
458
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Domesticated animals. known of its use.
These
tribes ha,ve the
dog today nothing

;
is
Food preparation.
Crocodile
and
turtle
eggs are sucked out raw,
Roots are roasted in the fire. Chigua seeds are crushed, toasted on flat earthenware dishes, and pounded into flour in a trough-shaped wooden mortar. Any ordinary hard stick is used as a pestle. Crocodiles and turtles are placed in the fire until their skins or shells can be cracked open. Afterward the meat is cut into pieces
roasted on hot coals, or boiled in pots.
and stuck on
raw.
spits to
is
be heated rather than boiled.
Fish
is
also eaten half
Food
is
rarely boiled in pots;
meat and
turtle eggs are
most
fre-
quently cooked in this fashion.
Wooden
ladles are
used in cooking.
is
Food
placed in calabashes in the center of the family circle and
picked out with the fingers.
Only one meal
is
eaten a day.
is
The use
of salt
is
unknown.
Instead, salty clay
either eaten (as stated
by early sources) or merely chewed (Petrullo, 1939 a).
The only
chigua.
vegetable foods stored, and these only for a couple of days,
are the root of the changuango and the crushed and toasted seed of the
Live turtles are kept in shallow water for future use.
Their hind
legs are tied to the front ones, or they are fastened to canoes
by means
of strings
which pass through holes
drilled in their carapaces.
DWELLINGS
are located on sandy riverbanks or, in the interior, near water During the dry season they are usually occupied only for 2 or 3 days and consist simply of some leafy branches thrust vertically in the sands. For longer periods, or during the rainy season, the Yaruro, especially those living on the islands at the mouth of the Capanaparo River, build low hemispherical structures. These consist of poles stuck into the ground and connected by horizontal sticks. They are covered with palm leaves which reach down to about 2 feet (0.5 m.) from the ground. Hammocks are used mainly as cradles for children and for certain ceremonial purposes (couvade, female shamans). During the day people sit with their legs doubled under them. At night they prefer to protect themselves from the cold and from mosquitoes by sleeping in pits dug in the
holes.
Camps
sand.
People
rise
only after the sun has risen.
DRESS
AND ADORNMENT
consisted of a breechclout, held in place
The
original clothing of
men
by a hair rope tied around the waist, and wide fiber belts. Both breechThey clouts and belts were made of moriche palm-leaf fiber, dyed red. were woven by the women. The women's original garment was a girdle
consisting of a bundle of loose fiber, about 2 feet (0.5 m.) long.
It
was
fastened together at the back in a big knot and held by a hair rope tied
Vol. 4]
459
legs,
around the waist. The whole mass of fibers was then passed between the brought up in front in triangular fashion, and tucked in the rope belt.
No
Women
body decoration has been reported for men. wear a narrow string below the knees and above the ankles and
lip for
necklaces of carved asabache figures.
through the lower

observed.
bone pins.
They drill several small holes As many as 13 pins have been so
lancet-shaped delousing tool,
women, has a serrated end used
as a
made by men but used exclusively by comb to expose the lice. The lice are
This same de-
then seized in the fingers and crushed between the teeth.
lousing tool has a pointed end used to crush blisters raised by mosquito
bites.
TRANSPORTATION
Loads are carried
,by
men and women
in nets
suspended by a tumpline.
expedi-
Women
tions.
use baskets suspended similarly
when on food-gathering
Babies are carried in a sling or simply sitting astride their mother's
hips.
man
carries turtles
and crocodiles hanging from the ends

m.) long.
of
a balance pole placed on one shoulder.
Dugouts are usually 18

differently
feet (5.5
Paddles have a crutch and
shaped blades for bow and stern paddling.
Yaruro,
if
alone,
paddles seated in the bow.
MANUFACTURES
Basketry and netting.
once or twice
;
Basketry
has a simple weave, either threeis
over-three or two-over-two.
The former
for baskets to be used only
the latter, for fire fans, mats, hunting pouches with flap and
handle, and small baskets (with or without handles) in which to carry or

store food or miscellaneous objects.
The
material used
is
the inner cor-
tex of
single
tlie
moriche palm
leaf.
leaf.
Simple baskets are sometimes woven of a
palm
Hammocks
made with a
are
"knotter's netting technique,"
upright poles to
from the moriche palm leaf. They are on a loom consisting of two which crosspieces are fastened at top and bottom. Carry-
made
of strings
ing nets are of the knotless variety.
Pottery.
The Yaruro,
The
clay
like the
is
Guahibu and Chiricoa, though nomadic,
make
mecla
shell.
pottery.
tree.
tempered with ashes from the bark of the

fire
Vessels are coiled and smoothed by hand or with a piece of
After drying in the sun for 2 days, the pots are baked in the
for 2 hours, producing a rather porous ware.

is
The upper
part of water jars
decorated with red paint.

flat
Two
other forms mentioned are bowls (used
as cooking pots?) and
plates used for toasting seeds, both undecorated.
Miscellaneous.
Realistic figures, birds (mostly ducks), fish,
and other
animals and geometrical designs are carved from asabache with a knife.
460
Fire
tB,A.E. Bull. 143
is drilled with two laurel sticks. Division of labor. Men hunt, fish, and make camp. They collect honey, crocodile and turtle eggs, and probably also palm fruits and hearts. They make weapons, implements, string, hammocks, canoes, wooden
stamps, and the delousing tools, and carve asabache figures.
Women
and
gather roots and seeds, prepare the food, and

clothing.
make
pottery, basketry,
While there
are also
is
a marked separation of the sexes in daily
life,
there
many
instances of close interdependence.
This
is
seen both in
small matters and in ritual.
For
instance,
women
roll cigars for their
men,
him in his performance. Usually everybody leaves the camp during the day to hunt, fish, and gather vegetable food. Boys accompany their fathers in the canoes, while the little girls, each carrying a basket and her little digging stick, accompany the women on their inland trips. Only the very old and those fatigued from a strenuous hunt the day before stay behind.
or the wife of a
will assist
shaman
TRADE
In Rivero's time the Yaruro exchanged
fish for
tobacco and arrow cane
with the Achagua.
SOCIAL

is
The The
basic social
and economic unit

it
the extended family, generally
matrilocal, except, as
seems, for the headman.
kinship terminology seems to belong basically to the type in which
parallel relatives are
equated with immediate relatives and distinguished
from cross relatives. Marriage today is usually monogamous, but polygynous and polyandrous marriages are also found. Polyandry is of the fraternal type (including parallel cousins). Both levirate and sororate are practiced.
The
relations
between a
man and
his sister's son are very close.

life,
The
young man helps

old age.
his uncle in hunting throughout his
especially in his
Relations between grandparents and grandchildren are also

(see below) address each other as
said to be rather intimate.
Young men
of different moieties
In a more limited sense this term is applied only to mother's brother's sons, while another term is used for one's mother's one's Petrullo (1939 a) states that marriage with one's brother's daughter.
"brother-in-law."
father's sister's daughters are excluded because they belong to one's
own
moiety, which
is
not the case.
with the mother's brother's with other relatives have been reported
daughter's daughter.
myth explains the daughter. A number of

:
origin of marriage
cases of marriage
Father's
sister, father's
mother,
In view of the reduced numbers of Yaruro today,
Vol. 4]
461
it
cannot be said whether these are exceptional cases or are instances of

Certain relations between mother-in-law and son-in-law,
preferential marriage.
who
usually
live together,
and between father-in-law and daughter-in-law, who rarely live together, are tabooed. A son-in-law is obliged to supply his motherin-law with food, firewood, and basketry material and to gather delicacies, such as honey, for her. The mother-in-law will often prepare food and make pouches for him or show him other favors, but the two must never have any direct relations with each other. They may not address or look at each other, eat or perform their personal toilet in each other's presence, or sing or dance close together. When forced to be in close proximity, they turn their backs or sit apart, as in the stern and bow of a boat. The discovery of matrilineal moieties by PetruUo (1939 a) is of great Unfortunately, a number of the details he gives theoretical significance. about their functioning, especially about their influence upon marriage, suggest theorizing rather than a description of actual facts. The two
moieties are called Itciai (Jaguar) and
plains that they originated
Puana (Snake).
legend ex-
from two young men who, finding no marriageable girls, mated with a jaguar and a snake, respectively. The moieties not only regulate marriage through their exogamy, but in ceremonies the
moieties are separated, the
members
of each standing or sitting together
In a certain ceremony the members of one moiety sleep in sheds erected by the other (Petrullo, 1939 a). Each moiety has a chief who is always a shaman. The Puana moiety takes precedence over
near their shaman.
the Itciai moiety, and
as a whole.
its
chief
is
considered the chief of the Yaruro tribe

"'^''^
'
Succession to the post of a chief-shaman ideally

actually the individual fitness of the candidate
is
is
matrilineal, but
taken into account.
LIFE CYCLE
Birth and puberty.
Two
shelters are built
when
delivery
is
imminent,
one for the prospective mother, built by members of her moiety, and an-
Both parents are tended and brought food by members of their respective moieties. Both abstain from eating fish, turtle, and crocodile for a full month after delivery. During delivery and for the first 10 days after it the husband lies in a hammock
other for the father, built by his moiety.
and engages in no physical activity. During her first menstrual period a

of cloth.
girl's face is
covered with a piece
It is
Death. A corpse is washed by the women (of the deceased's moiety?). wrapped in a hammock and carried to the grave by the brothers and
uncles (on the mother's side?).

belongings,
the east.
6S3334
is
The
body, together with the person's
wrapped in the hammock, with the head toward The parents do not accompany the body to the grave, but the
buried,
48 31
462
wife does.

The
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
night after the burial a feast takes place in the camp,

fish
during which, however, no
may
be eaten.
All fires are extinguished
and fresh ones are kindled. The widow goes on a diet, first for 4 days and then for a whole month. On the fourth day the widow and the two men who buried the body bathe and abstain from all food during the following day. That night the shaman ascertains from the nether world if the dead person has arrived there. A widow may not remarry for a long time, lest her new husband die of the same sickness as the former.
RELIGION
religion, but
Cosmology. The sun appears to play no important role in Yaruro Kuma, his wife, seems to be basically a moon goddess. On the shaman's rattles she is represented as a human being with raised Both sun and moon travel over the skies in canoes. Kuma hands.
created the world, but she had the assistance of two brothers, the water
snake (Puana) and the jaguar (Itciai),

respectively.
who
created earth and water,
The
first
people created
last the
(seemingly directly by
Kuma)
were the Yaruro, and the

ation
Guahibo.
In the versions of the cre-
myth given by members of the Puana moiety (the only versions known) Puana teaches Kuma's son, Hatchawa, many arts, including Hatchawa, fire making, bow and arrow making, hunting, and fishing.
hi his turn, passes this
up through a hole
in the
knowledge on to mankind, which he has brought ground by means of a rope that breaks when
a pregnant woman tries to climb out. Kiberoth, a female evil spirit, rules over the races of the underworld which were not liberated by Hatchawa.
The caiman
he
in
is
is
one of these, and because of his relationship to mankind
not hunted.
rules the afterworld, located in the west, a land of happiness
Kuma
which for every species of plant and animal there exists a gigantic counterpart. The stars are the ancestors of the Yaruro. According to Gilij ( 1780-84, vol. 3), the Little Dipper had one of his legs bitten off by a crocodile in the Meta River. Falling stars are messengers sent by Kuma to her people, the Yaruro. Another contact is established through th^ shaman.
A great flood was sent once by Kuma when men turned to The howling monkeys are subhuman survivors. The human
evil
ways.
survivors,
after a period of brother-sister marriage, started the institution of cross-
cousin marriage between the "watersnakes" and the "jaguars."
SHAMANISM
There are both male and female shamans.
latter.
Little is
known about
the
The former,
in the course of several years, learn
from an old
shaman
tribal traditions
and the songs to be used
in their performances.
Vol. 4]
463
Before they
reviewed
Finally, they see the land of
Kuma
in
a dream or vision.
may
and
represent their vision on a rattle, which, together with a special
breechclout and headdress, they use from

criticized
now
on, the vision

is
is
by other shamans.
shaman
usually succeeded by a
nephew (or niece) or a son (or daughter). During a shamanistic performance the first songs describe the voyage made by the shaman's soul to the land of Kuma, when the shaman shakes
close relative, usually a
Subsequent songs describe this land. The spirits gods or dead ancestors now enter the shaman's body and The next day the shaman does not retalk to the people through him. anything that happened in the trance. member
his rattle violently.
of the different
around which the people dance, men and women in separate circles. Whereas male shamans sing only at night, seated or dancing, female shamans sing only during the
faces the east, in front of a pole
The shaman
day, sitting in a
hammock.
;
Sickness
Kuma,
laid
caused by Kiberoth, who. enters the body of a person only through the aid of a shaman, can help him. The sick person is
is
on the ground, with
his
head to the
east,
while the shaman stands
and shaking his rattle. The rest of the people dance forward and backward. Nobody is allowed to pass by the head of the sick person, and no menstruating woman may be present. If the person does not recover during the night's performance, a woman shaman, lying in a hammock with her head toward the east, continues
to the north of him, singing
the singing during the following day.

in
If the sick
person be a
woman
is
her menstrual period, a male shaman
may
not sing to her and she
cared for by a female shaman.
During
ties of
their performances
:
male shamans consume enormous quanti-
various narcotics
Cigars
made
of several strips of tobacco leaf
wrapped in a green leaf from a tree, the narcotic tcuipah root, and fermented crushed maize (or manioc). Sometimes the latter is taken before fermentation. According to Petrullo (1939 a), about 100 cigars, together with 6 inches (15 cm.) of the tcuipah root, and 2 quarts of fermented maize were taken in a single night.
Sickness.
The
skin disease called pinto, or carate,
is
very
common
among
^
the Yaruro today.
THE GUAMONTEY, GUAMO, TAPARITA AND ATURE

INTRODUCTION
An
all
important gi'oup of fishing and shellfish-gathering tribes, not pre-
viously taken into account in

the
modern ethnographical
literature, stretched
way from
the
Warrau
to the southern foothills of the
Venezuelan
Andes, thus bridging the gap which formerly was thought to exist between the GaySn and the Warrau, Yaruro, Guahibo, and Chiricoa.
464
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
tribes.
"Guamontey" and "Guamo" seem to have designated whole groups of Some sources called the Guamo, both in the east and the west,
(The name Guaikeri occius
also out-
Guaikeri (Guayquiri, Gaiqueri, Guaycari), but there can be no doubt that
both names refer to the same people.
side of our region as a designation of tribes that live exclusively or largely
by fishing.)
5.
The
territories occupied
by the Guamontey and the
Guamo
stretched
from the eastern
to the
western extreme of our area, in two wide, parallel
bands. The Guamontey were found along the lower Orinoco and the Apure River to its junction with the Zarare, and on the Guanare River, The Maiha (Amayba, Amayva, Amaygua, Amaiba) and the Guaypiira were found camping with the Guamontey and may have been related to them. The Guamo lived more to the north of the latter, principally on the Portuguesa, Pao, Cojedes, Guanare, Guanaparo, and Acarigua Rivers. The Dazaro, on the Guanare River, seem to have been closely related to the Guamo. The Taparita, on the Arauca, stand culturally somewhat apart from both the Guamontey and the Guamo, although linguistically
they were closely related to the latter (but also to the horticultural Oto-
mad). The Gudrico lived between Rivers. They were enemies of the
the Guarico, Portuguesa, and
Apure
and Colorado, on the Portuguesa, Sarare, Colorado, Bocono, and Masparro Rivers. These last four tribes are nearly unknown culturally, but seem to belong to this culture area. The Zavire, on the Capanaparo River, are known only by name, but are included in this area on the basis of their geographical
Atature,
o,
Masparr
location.
The physical appearance of the Guamontey and the Guamo is surprising. Our sources stress that they were taller and better built than other tribes
(the comparison is probably with their sedentary neighbors) and describe them as markedly dark-skinned (Federmann, 1840; Castellanos, 1852; Gilij, 1780-84, vol. 3), Federmann saying "black as coal" and Castellanos
"black as a raven."
The two groups
of the
Guamo,
that near the junction of the
the Orinoco Rivers and that north of the junction of the
Apure and Apure and Sarare
Rivers, maintained close relations with neighboring horticultural tribes,

the
Otonmc and the Caquetio, respectively. The first was not only linked Otomac through constant intermarriage, but had learned from them a certain measure of cultivation. The two tribes had so influenced each other that these Guamo are described in the chapter on the Otomac (p. The westermost Guamo (Federmann's Guaycari) had retained 439).
to the
their fishing culture, but their settlements

of the Caquetio,
were intermingled with those
who seem
to
have been their overlords, and these tribes
carried on an active exchange of their respective products.
these tribes, or at least
The few demographic data our sources provide give the impression that some of them, were as numerous as the Guahibo and
Vol.
4f
"
VENEZUELAN LLANOS TRIBES KIRCHHOFP
465
Chiricoa. The Guamontey were estimated to have numbered 30,000. According to Federmann (1840), 70,000 Guamo were observed in one single
war
party,
and 15,000 were said to have crossed a river

Culture
at
one time.
Hunting.
Although
fish
or shellfish was undoubtedly the most im-
was said to have Hved "only on fish," all them probably did some hunting. Animals living in the rivers and lagoons, especially manatee, may have been more important, especially to the Guamo, than land animals, among which tapirs, peccaries, and deer are mentioned. Most tribes are said to have eaten all nonpoisonous animals. The bow and arrow, which apparently was never poisoned, is the only hunting weapon mentioned by most sources, but Castellanos (1852) states that the food-gatherers encountered by Losada and Reynoso used darts and lances. The Guamo caught caimans by the same method used by the Otomac (p. 440).
portant food to these tribes, and occasionally a tribe
Fishing and shellfish-gathering. The Guamontey and the Guamo seem to have been true fishermen, the latter specializing in the catching of large fish, whereas the Atature, asparr o, and Colorado are accredited with the gathering of shellfish. The Guamontey used bows and arrows and "fisgas," the latter either three-pronged spears or harpoons. The Guamo used ropes to haul big fish and aquatic mammals from the rivers and lagoons. Gathering of vegetable food. All these tribes probably dug roots, including caracaras and guapos, the latter an item in Guahiho and Chiricoa diet. They also gathered fruits, especially palm fruits. Collecting wild honey was of special importance in the west, between the Barinas and the Apure Rivers, a region which is described as "one great bee-hive." ^ Cultivation and domestic animals. Except for the Guamo who had come under Otomac influence, these tribes knew nothing of cultivation.
,}
Castellanos
p. 85) relates that when the Spanish conquerors maize to the Guamo and Guamontey of the lower Orinoco, the Indians "snififed at them as something strange." Castellanos (1852,
(1852,
of
showed grains
p.
136) reports that the food-gatherers, whom Losada and Reynoso met between the "province of Catapararo" and the great causeway near Buena
Vista, cultivated a root called "lerene," but he insists that these people
did not cultivate maize.
No
source mentions dogs
among any
fish
of these tribes.
deerskins, in holes that
and roots were ground, the latter in were dug for that purpose and trampled smooth. Fish and root meal were also mixed together and made into tamales or mush. When the land was flooded, meal was stored in calabashes or
baskets.
coa,
Food preparation.
Dried
Jerked meat, preserved in lye made of a salitrous plant, called

stored in the
was
same way.
466
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
Intoxicating drinks, prepared from fruits and possibly from roots, were
of great importance, at least
among some
INDUSTRIES
tribes.
Most
tribes
seem
to
age of food. Among spouted jars, apparently of baked

neighboring, sedentary tribes,
this
have used only calabashes and baskets for the storthe eastern Guamo, the women manufactured double-
These were much coveted by being used to keep water cool. Although
clay.
unusual
trait
may
indicate
Otomac
influence,
it
is
curious that the
latter did not
make
these jars.
DRESS
AND ADORNMENTS
In the
east,
Men
belts,
generally went naked.
Guamo men wore
only
woven
which, in Gumilla's time, were so finely woven of cotton thread
that the Spaniards used
them as
neckties.
Originally, the belts
may have
been made of some other material. In some tribes, both sexes, or possibly only women, wore small aprons woven of moriche palm fiber or grass.
The Taparita were named after their men's calabash Hats, perhaps only for men, were woven of thin
definitely to
penis covers (tapara).

lianas
cachipo leaves; these served as a protection against rain.
be a pre-Columbian
trait.
and lined with They seem Guamo men wore long beards.
Deformation of the body seems to have been rare or entirely absent among most tribes, except that the Guamo separated the outer edge of their ears by an incision in which they kept small objects that they did not want to
lose or to carry in their hands.
DWELLINGS
Dwellings and
seasons.
mode
of
life
differed completely in the
wet and dry
more than 20 leagues before striking camp. They either built no huts at all, sleeping on the bare ground (the Guamo of the lower Apure) or on a bed of leaves (Taparita), or they constructed simple huts made of or covered with palm leaves or grass, which one source describes as "movable," as if they were carried along from camp to camp. On the lower Orinoco, people slept in such huts on deerskins. During the long months when the whole country was flooded, the Indians had to travel by canoe, and their camps seem to have been more permanent. They lived either on sand banks that rose above the water level, possibly in the same type of dwellings as in the dry season, or, more typically, they made tree-dwellings, which are described as "interwoven," i.e., probably made of wickerwork. The western Guamo, who lived in the same territory as that of their
During the
latter,
the Indian often traveled
Caquetio overlords, though in separate settlements, seem to have had permanent villages. The Guamo of the lower Apure, when settled in regular
Vol. 4]
467
villages
by the missionaries, continued to build simple structures of freshly
cut branches for festive occasions.

were dugouts, which were were so well made that the Spaniards used these Indians as boat builders. For caiman and manatee
only wâtercraft
to these tribes
The
known
used for both fishing and hunting.

hunting, the
The
craft
Guamo
of the lower
Apure used a
special, rectangular, coffinits
shaped dugout, which other tribes ridiculed because of

ance.
clumsy appear-
SOCIAL
camp might
consist of as
many
as 25 families,
said to
who were
usually re-
lated to
one another.
Chieftainship
is
have been weakly developed,
but family and kin cohesion

several wives, often
was
strong.
In at least some tribes
men had
two
sisters,
or a
woman and
her daughter by a pre-
vious marriage.
One
source mentions homosexual relations between men.
Frequently, several tribes, or bands belonging to different tribes, were
found camping together.
WARFARE
Wars between
seem
to
different tribes or
between
local
bands of the same tribe
have been frequent, and most sources stress the warlike character
of these Indians.
To
steal
frequent purpose of warfare.
women and children is said to have been a Bows and arrows were evidently the only
The nature
of the
weapons, but poisoning and sorcery were also employed against enemy
groups.
Arrows were both poisoned or unpoisoned.

is
poison
To judge by 6 days after being shot, though showing no characteristic symptoms, the more northern tribes may have used the coastal type of poison, which led to death only after several days. The Taparita placed quivers full of poisoned arrows in places where they expected enemy attacks. While one source states that some of these tribes ate human flesh, the Taparita clearly were not among them; they killed all their captives and burned them to ashes. The western Giiamo painted themselves before going to war.
not known, except that the Taparita used curare.
the case of a Spanish horse that died
BURIAL
The Guamo buried
their
dead
in the
ground.
The Taparita
roasted the
deceased and placed them, covered with bark, apparently they abandoned after a death.
in tree dwellings,
which
468
ylfl
-H'

SUPERNATURALISM
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
We
the
know
little
of the religion of these tribes.
accredited with the faculty of transforming themselves into tigers.
Guamo shamans were Among

The shaman
Guamontey, the shamanistic cure
of a chief
is
recorded.
placed a garland of certain herbs on the head of the sick chief and anointed
his
body with an extract made
of certain other herbs.
On
his
own head he
thrust
it,
placed another garland, already withered, into which he had stuck a sting
ray spine.
A cotton thread was attached to the
spine.
The shaman
and Bending over the sick man, he suddenly cut the string and let the blood that had gathered in the meantime cover the Lowering himself and muttering certain patient's chest and abdomen. words, he anointed the chiefs body with more herbs until the chief fell asleep, to awaken 2 hours later completely restored. The shaman subsequently joined a fishing party, seeming not to have suffered from the
the spine through the head of his penis, pulled the prepuce over
it
tied
with another string.
effects of his ordeal (Carvajal, 1892, pp.
351-352).
.K".
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gilij,
Bueno, 1933; Carvajal, 1892; Castellanos, 1852; Federmann, 1840;

Gumilla. 1745; Rionegro, 1918, 1926.
1780-84;
Man Plate 77. Guahibo Indians. Right and bottom: Carrying baskets. Left: right, {Left and bottom, courtesy Batista Venturello; arrows. with bow and
courtesy Llewelyn Williams.)
03
^,
Is
O
t.
H S
^"
03
a o bcO
G
"-'
=3
^ O
(J)
Ô
'B .-
H
o
2S
TRIBES OF NORTHWESTERN VENEZUELA
TRIBAL LOCATIONS
pn At
the time of the Discovery, three important tribes living east of
Lake Maracaibo were the Quiriquire {Quiriquidc, Kirikire, Guirigniri) Jirara (Jirajara), and Caquetio {Caiquetio, Caiquetia). The Quiriquire occupied the territory extending eastward from the lake to the region of the Teque, southwest of the Caracas Valley (Simon, 1882-92, 1 :37), but originally they lived on the western shores of the lake (Febres Cordero, T.,
1920).
Salas (1920) places the Quiriquire in the drainage area of the
Tuy River
south of their neighbors, the Mariche.
The
Jirajara lived
west of the Caracas, near Barquisimeto in the mountainous part of the present Venezuelan State of Falcon and the neighboring Venezuelan
Slates of
Lara and Zulia (Simon, 1882-92,
vol. 1
Pericot, 1936, p. 634).
The
of
Caquetio, northern neighbors of the Jirajara, must have occupied
the Atlantic Coast, especially the Peninsula of
Paraguana and the Islands
Aruba, Curagao, and Bonaire. On the west they were bounded by the Coculza River, on the south by the Tocuyo and Baragua Rivers, and on the east by the Gueque River (Salas, 1920). Pericot Garcia (1936), a
modern author using

Maracaibo to the
earlier
documents, assigns the Jirajara not only the
islands previously mentioned but also the Venezuelan coast
from Lake Yaracuy River and the inland territory south to the Ele River, where the Achagua call them the Tamud.
LANGUAGE
The
and
Quiriquire, together with their neighbors the
Mape, Motilones,
and
Zaparas, belong to the Carih linguistic family, but the Jirajara
Caquetio speak an Arawakan language (Oramas, 1916).
HISTORY
The riparian tribes near Lake Maracaibo were first discovered by Juan de Ampues, who arrived in the region of Caquetia in 1527, followed by
Ambrosio Alfinger a year later. Because of its lake dwellings, the region was called Venezuela, "little Venice." There followed the rapid decline
469

470
[B.A.E. BulL 143
of the native population in the vicinity of the lake.
The Indians who
wars of the Conquest, in which they strongly Spaniards, were so rapidly decimated by the slave trade that resisted the Simon (1882-92, 1 :372) states that in his day there remained only four small villages near Carora and Trujillo in the eastern side of the lake In being enslaved, these Indians Paraute, Misoa, Coro, and Mopico. were treated as "Caribs," that is, as cannibals. They were "marked with a C (Carib) branded with a hot iron and sold to dealers. Thus, Lake
were not
killed in the
Maracaibo was depopulated" (Salas, 1920).
The
Quiriquire and Jira-
jara stubbornly resisted the Conquest and slavery, and they
came out
at
various times to attack the Spanish ships, which hastened their

destruction and ruin.
own
The
Caquetio, on the other hand, were
more
pacific,
and they
fled
from the conquistadors
to take refuge in the jungles of the
interior in the region of the Ele River.
CULTURE
Although these
tribes preferred to live
on the shores
of the lake, they
cultivated maize, manioc, and sweetpotatoes in plantations in the interior, the Caquetio and Jirajara being the most intensive farmers. The Indians
near Barquisimeto had an irrigation system in which water was diverted
from the rivers and conducted to the fields. The Caquetio and Jirajara also ate cactus fruits or "datos" and tender cocuy leaves (Agave cocui). They prepared maize in various ways, including a boiled soup, called "caza," which was seasoned with aji or chili pepper. Fish, taken with a drug, barbasco (Lonchocarpus sp.), provided the staple food of the Quiriquire, and deer, tapirs, and other game, killed with the bow and arrow or surrounded with fire, constituted an important
portion of the diet of the Jirajara and Caquetio.
HOUSES AND VILLAGES
The
villages
interior.
Quiriquire lived on the shores of the lake or sometimes in the After their migration from the south, they established the four
named above near Carora and
Trujillo.
One
of these, Mopico,
was also called Barbacoas (Simon, 1882-92, vol. 1, p. 37), a name which the Spanish gave various Indians such as the Choco, Catio, and Barbacoa of western Colombia, who built pile dwellings over the water or land. To
explain the custom of building pile dwellings over the lake the chroniclers say that, although there was sufficient territory away from the coast to
avoid the numerous and annoying mosquitoes of the hot sections, they probably chose the lake for such reasons as the greater security against
enemies and the greater ease of procuring fish and shellfish. The lake dwellings were reached by channels hidden in the rushes and aquatic
Vol. 4]
NORTHWESTERN VENEZUELA TRIBES

and the Spaniards had great
all
471
and destroying
plants,
difficulty in finding
them.
The Spaniards, however, sought them out with

the present author visited in 1935
great perseverance
and eliminated nearly
the Indians of old "Venezuela."
The Paraujano,
on the northwestern side of Lake Maracaibo near the Goajiro (Hernandez de Alba, 1936), are, however, survivors of these Indians. The Jirajara must also have used piled dwellings, for a Spanish town built in the beginning of the 16th century
in the territory of the Curarigua, a Jirajara subtribe in the central part of
whom
the area east of the lake,
was named San Felipe de Barbacoas
(Salas,
1920, p. 229).
r
Villages in the interior had the houses arranged in rows, facing each
other on opposite sides of a wide street.
The
Jirajara and Caquetio
grouped
fields, in
their houses in two's or four's, preferably
by their cultivated
order to protect them against dangerous animals (Descripcion de

.
.
Ciudad 1579). The houses were rectangular huts of poles, vines, and grass, and there was a separate house for the shaman (piache) (Antolinez, 1943). A letter written in 1546 by the Licenciado Juan Perez de Tolosa to the King of Spain states that the Caquetio built poor houses and slept in hammocks.
la
,

small apron which
The only garment of the Qiiiriquire was a genital cover consisting of a hung down from the belt (Simon, 1882-92, vol. 1, p. 38)
or a calabash penis cover suspended from the belt by a cord called "bayoque" (Salas, 1920). Oviedo y Valdes (1851-55) says that men tied the prepuce with a thread by which the penis was fastened up to the belt, for they believed that this preserved their virility, and that women hung a cotton string from the belt and attached another string to it so that it fell down in front and passed between the legs, ending in a knot which was held between the buttocks. They were greatly ashamed when this string was not in place. Jirajara men wore a garment called "guayuco" or "guaruma," and women a kind of very short skirt. Caquetio men wore
women wore genital covers that were evidently woven ("demanta"). Body ornamentation usually consisted of red and black paint, the latter
calabash penis covers, and
pigment called "onoto" and of a fruit called "jagua" or "buxera" The paint was mixed with a resin (Castellanos, 1852). Other ornaments were tufts of feathers, facial designs, diadems for chiefs and nobles, gold earrings, and, especially among the Caquetio of the maritime
of a
(Genipa).
region of Paraguana, pearl bracelets.
TRANSPORTATION
These Indians were excellent navigators of the coast and lake, traveling and carrying their goods in dugout canoes that could accommodate three
472
or four persons.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
After the Conquest they became handlers of cargo and
were engaged by the Spaniards to transport goods from the coast to Barquisimeto and Nueva Segovia. Paths or roads connected the villages with one another and with the
cultivated fields.
MANUFACTURES
These
minimal.
tribes
seem
to
have done
little
weaving, for their clothing was

net-
Thread, made of cotton or other fibers and sometimes dyed red,

for genital covers, for
was used only
ted, for carrying-bags (mochilas),
hammocks, which were probably and for objects called "cataures."
Ceramic wares included cooking pots, jars for fermenting chicha, and Calabashes were used both as containers and as lids. Salt was prepared in the Caquetio region, possibly by the evaporation of tidal water confined in the low portions of the beaches.
storage vessels.
SOCIAL

war
chief
The
chief,
Jirajara were divided into subtribes (parcialidades), each under a
but at the Conquest there was also a tribal Subtribes
named "CamiCurarigua,
setano."
mentioned
others.
were
the
Nirgua,
Cuiha,
Ayaman, Coyon, and
The Caquetio were
likewise divided into
various lesser "chieftaincies" but had a general chief, the Senor de Para-
guana, named Manaure (Oviedo y Bafios, 1824, 1935), who was ceremoniously carried in a hammock which was decorated by the lesser chiefs or
"diaos."
to
He was
the crops
attributed divine or magical

fertile.
power
to control nature
and
make
In addition to the chiefs there was a noble class
consisting of distinguished warriors and another class of rich men.
The
Caquetio villages were Todaquiribo, Zacerida, Carao, Tamodore, Gapatarida, Guaybacoa, Miraca, Hurraqui, Hurehurebo, Cacicare, Cacorida, and Sarasaragua, of which Miraca was the principal one. Among the chiefs mentioned by the Germans, who first contacted the tribe in the early 16th century, were Catimayagua, Categue, Geeoagua, and Badurajara
(Castellanos, 1852).
The
only information on marriage
is
references to polygyny.
TRADE
The
for
Quiriquire traded with the Caquetio and Bubure, exchanging fish maize and other products. The Caquetio traded salt and tobacco to the
Curarigua, Jirajara, and Nirgua, and obtained objects of gold from the last
two.
WARFARE
Weapons were
limited
to
clubs
(macaras), and bows and arrows.

long,
Jirajara arrows (Salas, 1920) were about 85 cm. (33^/^ inches)
Vol. 4]
NORTHWESTERN VENEZUELA TRIBES
473
tipped with a poisoned, harpoonlike bone point (of iron after the Conquest), and carried in quivers.
the Conquest
These tribes fought other tribes before and dominated Lake Maracaibo, which they crossed in their
small, fast canoes.
When
the Spaniards came, they attacked their ships
and
colonies.
The
Quiriquire staged an uprising in 1580, leaving the
servitude to which they had been subjected in Maracaibo and Gibraltar,
and, after attacking Gibraltar, they migrated south, toward the mouths of
the
Cucuta River, having
allied
themselves to the Zapara, Alile, and

three daughters of their encomendera.
Eneale.
They took with them

they had children.
Dona Juana de
Ulloa, and married
them
to three
men
of the tribe,
by
whom
The mothers and
children lived as Indians
until they
were rescued between 1610 and 1617.

from
the time of their discovery by the
belligerent
in
The Jirajara were German, Federman,
1530; they staged a rebellion in 1610 and did not cease fighting until
completely subjugated in 1614.
In the Conquest, expeditions such as
those of Jorge de Spier or Espira captured slaves to be sold to plantations or mines.
DEATH PRACTICES
At
deeds.
the death of a Caquetio noble, the people assembled in his village
and spent the night lamenting his demise and praising his noteworthy
The next day
they desiccated his corpse on a babracot over a
fire
and cleaned
drank.
his bones,
which they ground and mixed with masato and

likeness of
In the case of a chief, they put the desiccated corpse in a
hammock, beneath which they placed a wooden image or
new him
and then abandoned the house. The son or successor of the chief renewed the hammock when it became old. When the bones of the corpse
fall apart, the whole tribe was convoked. Painted with genipa and bixa and adorned with all their ornaments, the people spent 3 days consuming the powdered bones in masato and burning the wooden image, which had remained under the hammock.
began to

Musical instruments reported are horns and shell trumpets. These accompanied songs, such as those eulogizing the deceased at funerals, and were played during attacks in battle.
The Caquetio shaman smoked tobacco

which "robbed him of his senses."
together with various herbs
The Caquetio made an

was probably very
intoxicating drink of maguey, or fique, which
similar to
Mexican pulque.
During funeral ceremonies
they also drank masato, which
may have been
a kind of chicha.
474

RELIGION
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
AND SHAMANISM
The head
phenomena.
chief
of the
Caquetio had great religious power, being
capable of increasing the fertility of crops and of controlling natural
There were community temples (adoratorios), but each its own idols. The principal gods were the sun and moon, to whom the shamans (boratios), acting in the capacity of priests, made offerings or sacrifices. Each village, or caserio, had its shaman or priest who made offerings to the deities, foretold the future, and predicted the outcome of battles.
family also had
The Caquetio and Jirajara, according to Nueva Segovia (Antolinez, 1943), offered a
the account of the city of
10-year-old girl to the
Sun
as his wife in order to obtain rain for their fields.
They bought
the girl
from her mother, decapitated her with a stone knife on the bank of a and offered her blood to the Sun. To divine the future and the outcome of battles, the priest-shaman shut himself up for 3 days smoking tobacco and other narcotics, which made him insensible, after which he announced what he had learned from the He advised individuals on the outcome of spirits during the trance. projected enterprises by placing tobacco ash on a dried maize leaf. If the ash formed a curve, the enterprise would succeed, but if it remained straight, failure was certain. To insure the success of a battle, the shaman required that people limit
river,
their diet to a daily
meal of the soup called "caza."
In a shamanistic curing it is not clear whether spirit helpers were involved or whether the shaman supplicated the cult gods. At Nueva Segovia the Caquetio called the evil spirit "Capu," the same name gfiven the Spaniards (Antolinez, 1943), and good and bad spirits were said
to be supplicated
by the shaman-priest to cure the sick. In any event the shaman required that his patient fast and that his patient's family limit its diet to a daily meal of "caza" soup. To effect the cure he passed his hands over the ailing place of the sick person to locate the cause of
the trouble, then blew on
thorn, piece of
and sucked out the disease-causing object which he spit out. The shaman stone, or piece of wood
it
was customarily paid for his services with gold ornaments. Herbal curing was also practiced. For example, the Indians made a purgative of "pifion" fruits {Jatropha curcas) mixed with "cariafistola"
{Cassia fistula).
LEARNING
probable that time, at least seasons of the year, was measured not in terms of astronomical phenomena but of the ripening of wild fruits, for the Caquetio would set a date by saying "when such and such fruits
It is
ripen."
THE TRIBES OF NORTH CENTRAL VENEZUELA^
TRIBAL LOCATIONS
In a territory which, according to Oviedo y Bafios, extended 40 leagues west from the port of Borburata and 20 leagues north to south were
the general name of Caracas (Oviedo y Bafios. Oviedo y Banos (1935, ch. 10, p. 74) gives the following list of tribes in this area Caracas, Tarma, Taramaina, Chagaragoto, Teqtie, Meregoto, Mariche, Arvaco, and Quiriquire. Some of these, such as the Quiriquire, belong to the area of Northwest Venezuela, east of Lake Maracaibo. The Caracas gave their name first to a Colonial province and later to the modern capital of Venezuela, which, according to Salas, was previously named Mlayo, Guairo, or Gaire, after the Guairo River, which crosses the valley in which Caracas is located. To the tribes listed above, Salas adds the Tomuza, Mucaria, Aragua, Tacarigua, Naiguatae, and Guaraira.
various tribes
known by
1935; Salas, 1920).
The Teque,
eastern neighbors of the Quiriquire, extended southwest to
the Caracas or Guairo Valley.

plains of the Guairo River
The Mariche
lived east of Caracas in the
and the coastal mountains. The Tarma, Chagaragoto, and Taramaina adjoined one another in the mountains which run to the sea and on the headwaters of the Guairo and San Pedro Rivers. The Arvaco (Arbaco) were northeast of the last group, and the Meregoto were east of the Arvaco. The Mucaria, Aragua, and Tacarigua lived around Lake Valencia. The Naiguatae, Guaraira, and other tribes occupied the coast from Cape Codera to the Yaracuy River.
The tribes occupying the Colonial Provinces of Maracapana and Cumana more or less adjoined the Caracas group, of which they were an eastern extension. They also adjoined at least some of the tribes north
of the Orinoco River (p. 481
tion of the coast
) In general, they lived inland from the poraround the port of Maracapana. As their limits are not exactly known and as some of the tribes, such as the Cumanagoto, Piritu, and Pariagoto (Paragoto), extended into the territory of and had cul.
to press
Dr. Hern4ndez de Alba hurriedly prepared this article in the last weeks before volume 4 went in order to fill in gaps that still remained in the Handbook coverage. Time permitted
neither the coordination of cultural data and tribal locations with KirchhoflE's material dealing with
closely related tribes nor inclusion of the
modern ethnology.
Editor.
475
476
tural influence

on the other
tribes, the present article
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
must be considered
of the
as complementary to Kirchhofif's articles on
"The Tribes North
Orinoco River" (p. 481) and "Food-gathering Tribes of the Venezuelan Llanos" (p. 445), which overlap this area. Simon (1882-92)^ lists
the tribes of the Provinces of
Cumana and Maracapana,
together with the
following tribes or subtribes:

Pitagoto, "and
Cariaco, Chacopata, Chaigoto, Cherigoto,
many
others,
are
named
after their chiefs."
which could never all be enumerated, that Among these were the Cunumagoto, Pi-
ritu,
and Paragoto, which Kirchhofif has described.

present article gives only those cultural data which are not found
The
elsewhere in the Handbook.
HISTORY
From
the beginning of the Conquest
all
these Indians resisted enslave-
ment by the conquistadors.
To
this end,
all
outstanding leaders, such as

the other chiefs and subtribes
Guaicaipuro, chief of the Teque, united
(parcialidades) under their command. The principal confederated tribes were the Teque, Taramaina, Arvaco, and Meregoto, whose resistance to the conquistadors was well organized by 1561. By 1562, however, the first two Spanish colonies were established Nuestra Senora de Caraballeda on the Atlantic coast, 2 leagues east of La Guaira, and San Francisco in the interior. The latter was founded by two Mestizo brothers, sons of
:
the chieftainess of one of the subtribes.
The continued
attacks of the
Indians forced the Spaniards to abandon these settlements after a few

years, but in 1565 or a
little
later Capt.
of Santiago de
Leon de Caracas
in the
Diego de Lozada founded the cities Guairo Valley and Nuestra Sefiora
de
The Indians continued to resist the colonists, but in los Remedies. 1568 Guaicaipuro, chief of the federation, died, and soon the Spaniards executed 25 Mariche chiefs, thereby drowning these Indians in blood and
exterminating them.
CULTURE
depended upon farming, hunting, fishing, and the gathering Caracas crops included cacao, which was made into a hot drink, tobacco, cotton, agave (fique), sweet manioc, maize, and such fruits as genipa (mamon), cardones (datos), and cactus (tuna or comoho). Animal foods included anteaters, deer, peccaries (zaino or puerco
These
tribes
of wild fruits.
montes), hares, mute dogs, tapirs, such birds as partridges, parakeets, and pigeons, and lobsters, which were roasted. The Indians used snares and pitfalls; in open country they hunted with bows and arrows. Chief Guaramental's people had a special lake for fishing, but shortly before the
Conquest they relinquished

*
it
to another tribe.
Kirchhoff did not have access to this source.
Vol. 4] -a j^j^
NORTH CENTRAL VENEZUELA TRIBES
477
Domesticated bees, which were kept in calabash hives, were an unusual

feature.
Dried meat and other foods were kept

use during wars and times of scarcity.
in well-stocked storage places for
CLOTHING
Caracas
wide.
women wore a small cotton Held up by a cord around the

down over
all
loincloth (bragas), about 2
palms
waist,
it
passed .between the legs,
belly.
the buttocks and the front end over the unmarried women) also wore bragas but were distinguished by a cord worn around the neck and crossed over the breast with the ends tied on each side of the body to the belt and a second cord running vertically on the back from the first cord to the belt. Men usually wore only a penis cover, perhaps a calabash. They cut the hair at ear level all the way around the head, wore gold ornaments, painted their bodies, and tattooed themselves by rubbing finely ground charcoal into
the back end falling
"Virgins" (probably
scratches.
>rn
Among
bulge, a
the Maracapana, as
threads as ligatures
young women wore cotton above and below the knees; these made their legs
among
the Carib,
mark
of feminine beauty.
MANUFACTURES
Cordage was made for women's belts and neck strings and for woven Weaving, though little developed, was practiced by the Caracas, who made women's loincloths and hammocks of cotton. The weaving technique is not known.
iBftsoBr.
v/ bits lijiw
products.
SOCIAL

For one triumph
The
right
Caracas, an essentially warlike tribe, had a graded military class

in battle the
with rank indicated by special tattooing.
arm was
tattooed; for another the breast received a design which

similar to that
was sometimes
to
tattooed from each eye to the ear.
on the arm; and for the third a line was Men of higher grades were privileged
of
wear a jaguar-skin headgear or a necklace made
human bones
or pos-
sibly of
human
teeth like those recently found archeologically in Pijao
territory
(Oviedo y Valdes, 1851-55, vol. 2, bk. 25, ch. 19). were ruled by chiefs, or caciques, and in case of war they formed a confederacy under a single leader, like that under the Teque chief, Guaicaipuro. The chief of the Maracapana appointed a special
The
tribes or subtribes
war captain and designated men to guard the village palisade. If these men were lax, their commander was punished with death and his wives and children were made slaves of the chief. A similar punishment was imposed on people who used the hunting and fishing places reserved for the
653334
48
32
478
sovereign,
'^'''
SOUTH AMERICAN
culprits'
INt)IANS
It
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
and the
goods were confiscated.
was the
chief's
prerogative to be guarded by four Indians,
who always
stayed in front of
him
in battle.
Children captured in war were spared and became a special class of

slaves.
Some men
to war,
in these tribes
were sexual
inverts.
They wore
their hair
shoulder-length, were sodomists, practiced transvestitism, avoided going
and carried on
traditional tasks of
women, such as spinning and

principal wife governed the
If the
weaving.
The Maracapana
others,
practiced polygyny.
The
and her
child inherited the father's
goods and privileges.
principal wife
had no children, the children of the wife who took her place
there
It was the youngest of the sons was no primogeniture, though it is Simon, the newlyweds' house was built
when she
to
died received the inheritance.

the inheritance passed
;
whom
common
by
elsewhere.
According to
tribe
the bride's father, the

in
groom furnishing
the materials.
After a cere-
mony
which the men of the
danced with the groom and the
women
faithful
with the bride, the latter was given to the shaman,

nuptials
who
initiated
her in the
and turned her over
to her husband,
warning her to be
because an adulterous
lover
woman would
be returned to her father while her
was punished.
WARFARE
The
warlike nature of these tribes has been mentioned.
No
details of
warfare can be added here except that the Caracas used bows and arrows,
with and without poison, and clubs (macanas) of hardwood.
CANNIBALISM
The only mention

Guaramental.
breast with a
of cannibalism
is
among
the
Maracapana under Chief

off the
After a victory, these Indians cut
arms, legs, and
other parts of a captive

flint
enemy
chief, and,
when he
died, they
opened
his
knife and removed the viscera, which were distributed
among
the people and eaten.

the Maracapana and Cumand all festivals were accompanied by some grave and solemn, others gay and jocular. To judge from an example given by Simon, these songs or ballads used a device of grammatical transposition "Tenemos buen sefior sefior tenemos bueno." The Caracas made an intoxicating drink (comoho) of maguey, similar to Mexican pulque. o
chants,
:
Among
Vol. 4]
NORTH CENTRAL VENEZUELA TRIBES

RELIGION
479
Before going to war or making sacrifices to their gods, the Caracas

dieted for one day, eating only a soup called "mazamorra."
Shamans (piaches) are mentioned, but their practices are not described. They undoubtedly cured by supernatural means, but they also employed
various materials remedies, including herbs, of which they had considerable
knowledge.
Their pharmacopoeia also included roots, which were ad-
ministered cooked or uncooked and whole or ground, potions
made
of
wood,
e.g.,
guayacan, the fats of animals, birds, and
fishes,
and
certain
minerals.
THE TRIBES NORTH OF THE ORINOCO RIVER

By Paul Kirch hoff
INTRODUCTION
On
the Venezuelan coast, from the Gulf of Paria to
Cape Codera and

is
south practically to the banks of the Orinoco

of tribes of an essentially similar culture.
(map
6), there
a series
There are, however, local variations, and these are most striking between the damp coastal forest peoples and the dwellers of the more open country to the south. The inhabitants of the islands of Trinidad, Cubagua, and Margarita are considered as part of this culture area.
All tribes, with the exception of one
area,
town on
the eastern fringe of the
Aruacay, probably Arawakan, belong to the Cariban family. The main tribes were the Pariagoto, Cumanagoto, Chaima, Palenque or Guarine, Core, and Tumusa. "Provinces" mentioned, but not always
coinciding with tribal areas, are Aruacay, Paria,

Piritu,
Cumana,
Chiribichi,
Maracapana, Anoantal, Guacharuco, Paripamotu, and Curiana. Christopher Columbus (1870), his son Ferdinand (1811), Amerigo Vespucci, Oviedo y Valdes (1851-55), Castellanos (1874), and Las
Casas
(1909)
are
our most important of the
16th-century
sources.
The Spanish missionary Ruiz Blanco (1892),

added the only other important study. have lost their culture and themselves
in the
of the 17th century, has
Since then the tribes of this area
new Mestizo
population.
CULTURE
SUBSISTENCE
Farming.
rather advanced type of horticulture formed the main
basis of subsistence.
The
following plants and trees were cultivated in

all of
the area as a whole, but not
them by every
tribe
Maize, bitter and
sweet manioc, sweetpotatoes,
aji,
calabashes, chili peppers, pineapples,
some unspecified "greens" and fruit trees, including the guava, guanaBitter manioc was the bana, mamon, guamo, hicaco, hobo, and tuna. staple. The most highly prized of the cultivated trees, which formed a conspicuous feature of Cumanagoto villages, was coca (hayo), which was grown for its leaves, not for its fruit. The trees were planted in regular rows and were watered by a system of canals and ditches. An unnamed
481
482
tree

was
cultivated for resin,
fruit trees
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
whether the
that
applied
in
which was used as incense. It is not clear were planted and watered in a fashion similar to Other plants were not the cultivation of the coca.
irrigated.
Every year new clearings were made by felling trees and burning oflF Fields were cleaned of weeds, but after 2 years it was considered more advantageous to abandon them for new clearings. The Spanish chroniclers praised the neat appearance of native fields. Maize was planted in the soft ground after the rains with the aid of a straight planting stick. Bitter and sweet manioc were planted from small cutthe branches.
tings, preserved fresh in
moist places.
in
soil
Aruacay crops were raised

Orinoco.
enriched by inundations of the
Cotton seems not to have been cultivated but used only in

state.
its
wild
Collecting wild food.

roots
An apparently
large
number
of wild fruits
and
were
collected, especially in times of
bad harvests.
In the llanos
of the interior, various palms were important sources of food.

the coast
Along
and on the islands oysters were collected. Hunting. Hunting was an important source of
food.
The
following
animals are said to have been eaten:
Tapirs, deer, peccaries (saguino),

(ara-
porcupines, anteaters, a kind of skunk (mapurichi), cuchicuchis
guato), acuris, zapiguas, rabbits, squirrels, three different kinds of rats

or mice, lions, jaguars, tortoises, and cachicans.
in Chiribichi but not in Piritu.
The iguana was
eaten
Birds hunted were pigeons, turtle doves,
quails, partridges, ducks,
keys and chickens.
and certain birds described as being like turThe young of some other animals, mainly monkeys,
pets.
were captured and kept as
The only hunting weapon was the bow, with nonpoisonous arrows. Technical details of the bow are not given it is described as long and straight, lustrous, and neatly carved. In the house the bow was unstrung; the material of which the string was made is not mentioned. Arrows were made of cane tempered in fire, or of wood, with points of stone, the infectuous bones of some fish, or the prong of the sting ray. Quivers are mentioned among the Palenque.
;
In hunting tapirs, after killing the

the nearest tree,
first
animal the hunters climbed
from which they shot its fellows, attracted by the moaning of the wounded tapir. Other devices used in hunting were nets (for birds and small mammals, including the anteater), snares (for small animals), and bird lime. The tortoise was chased out of its hiding place in grassy plains by setting fire to the grass.
The iguana was sometimes caught
alive
^probfire,
ably to be eaten later.
In the llanos animals were encircled by
Vol. 4]
TRIBES
N.
OF ORINOCO RIVERKIRCHHOFF
483
and as many as 400 hunters, stationed at the only exit to the circle, killed them as they attempted to escape. Amulets were worn for luck in hunting. Domestic animals. No source mentions the dog. In Paria, and apparently only there, a kind of turkey was bred. According to Petrus Martyr (Anghiera, 1912), the first Spaniards were given a number of male turkeys killed and ready to be eaten, as well as live ones for breeding purposes. In Curiana at least two kinds of domesticated ducks, or ducklike birds, were known, one of them possibly being the Muscovy duck. People raised many animals in captivity. When young mammals refused to eat, women would feed them at their breasts. Hunting was less important than fishing. There is no ^. Fishing. record of the fish caught. The mention of sharks being eaten by the Tocuyo, a tribe far to the west, suggests that they were not eaten within the area under consideration. For fishing, bows and arrows, multipronged spears, harpoons, basket At night fish were blinded by torches traps, nets, and hooks were used. and killed from canoes with arrows or harpoons. The most spectacular method was one by which a group of men swam shoreward in a half circle. By making a noise with their hands, one open, tlie other armed with a staff, they drove great masses of fish to
the beach.
Food preparation. The most common method of preparing food seems to have been to roast it, although undoubtedly other methods Salt and chili existed. Small wild bees were eaten raw, fried, or boiled. pepper were used for flavoring. (i. The most important foods were liquids fermented drinks prepared
of palms, of fruits, and (possible only
Among
the
Aruacay maize
flour
the Cumanagoto) of maize. was sometimes added to cassava beer to
among
make it stronger. The natives preserved maize

indispensable technique in this
for several
months by smoking
it,
an
humid
climate.
fire;
fish
or in slices; dried
it
with the aid of
made
it
into a paste.
Both shrimp and
whole roasted it; or boiled it and were dried and ground into
salted fish,
They
powder, which was taken in cassava wine.
DWELLINGS
In the 17th century, villages were small and were built on high
and dry
places.
;
Before native culture broke down, they

that of the
may have
been much larger
Aruacay on the lower Orinoco for instance, consisted in the 16th century of 200 large houses. Special buildings, used for ceremonies and dances, stood in every village on a central plaza. Among the Palenque and the Pariagoto of the interior, villages were fortified with two or three palisades (palenques) of tree trunks. In
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
the older palenques these had taken root again and were closely tied
together
with
lianas.
They were provided with
loopholes.
Castel-
lanos (1874) describes the palenque of the cacique Guaramental, which
was situated near the Unare River, as an enormous palisade surrounding a complex of buildings, with streets and plazas. Among its buildings were several storehouses and the cacique's harem of 200 women. Outside the palisade there were storehouses for food, among them one full of maize beer and pineapple wine. Houses were always round, with a roof of bark, palm leaves, reeds, or straw which reached to the ground. They are described as shaped like a
tent or haystack.
In the village of the Paria tasteful cotton blankets of various colors with
little
golden
bells
on one end were used for interior decoration.

types,
Sleeping
hammocks,
of
two
were
tied to the
house posts.
One
type consisted
of a well-woven cotton blanket gathered at the
two ends, which were dec-
orated with a fringe; the other was netted and (possibly always) was
made of agave mocks at night.

grass.
fiber.
Fires were kept burning underneath the hamthe mosquitoes became unbearable, people half
When
buried themselves in the ground, covering themselves with branches and
Wooden
stools of a very black
wood were carved with
such excel-
lence that they attracted the attention of the Spaniards.
DRESS
AND ADORNMENT
of
There were two basic types

Curiana
thread
;
men's dress.
Cumand,
it
Chiribichi,
and
men
or,
tied the
prepuce to a string; wound
tightly with cotton
apparently more frequently, covered the penis with a calabash

little
(provided with two

shell,
holes and tied to a string around the waist), a
men wore a cotton which reached to the knees it passed between the legs and was breechclout tucked in front and back under a string tied around the waist. In one unnamed village close to the Orinoco Delta men wore a small apron in
or a golden tube.
Arimcay, Paria, and Piritu

;
women's fashion. Married women wore either aprons, (usually just Girls went naked. big enough to cover the sexual organs, but on the Paria coast, reaching halfway down the calf) among the Cumanagoto (Oviedo y VaJdes, 185155) they wore, in men's fashion, a breechclout; or, in some tribes, they wore a garment described by various sources as a kind of shorts. On their breasts women wore tightly fitting plates of an unknown material. ( Much farther west, in the North Colombia Lowlands near the Gulf of Uraba, these plates were of gold.) Below and above their knees women wore tight
;
cotton bands.
Men wore
their hair long in Trinidad
and among the Piritu, but
short,
to about the height of the ears
among
the
Cumand and
Chiribichi.
They

Vol. 4]
TRIBES
N.
Piritu
485
their hair
removed
long.
their beards with small pincers.
women wore
of the teeth and claws of animals they had Men's nose ornaments rings or half moons were formerly of gold, but in Ruiz Blanco's time they were made of silver. When Gomara (1552-53) states that Curiana men wore golden rings he
strings
killed, especially jaguars.
Men wore
made
may
9{
refer to nose rings.

bracelets, anklets,
Both sexes wore necklaces,
and ear ornaments of
gold, oyster pearls, coral beads, shells, bones, or clay.
On
gala occasions
women wore
and
shells,
a belt consisting of a
number
of strings of pearls, coral,
and
other beads, and
men wore crowns
of feathers or gold, garlands of flowers
golden breastplates (often decorated with pearls and shaped
and other animals), and shell rattles on their legs. their body with bixa or covered it with resin (carapa), to which, on festive occasions, they glued feathers. The Cumanagolo was the only tribe that painted dark circles around the eyes ("alcoholados"). Teeth were blackened by chewing a powder or paste of coca leaves and lime. The lime was prepared by burning shells with a certain wood in a specially excavated hole. The Cumand and Chiribichi traded a coca-lime paste far and wide. In other regions coca and lime were kept in separate calabashes and mixed only at the moment of use. According to one source, the natives (men only) chewed coca every day. According to another source, the blackening of the teeth was produced only once, at puberty. At this time young men abstained for several days from eating and drinking in order to allow the coca and lime to produce this effect. Contradictory sources leave doubt whether among the Curiana, in the west, the custom of blackened teeth prevailed, or whether, on the contrary, teeth were whitened by chewing some unknown substance. 4) A frontooccipital deformation was produced with the aid of two cushions
as birds,
fish,
They painted
made
of cotton.
TRANSPORTATION AND TRADE

Canoes were made of hollowed-out tree trunks. When traveling by canoe, one man sitting in the bow sang to set the rhythm for the crew. Chiefs were carried in litters. Buyers of coca and fish came from distant areas to the coastal area of the Chiribichi and Cumand, bringing maize, slaves, and guanin necklaces. The Araya Peninsula was a salt-producing center the salt was traded in the form of bricks. The Curiana obtained gold, in exchange for pearls, from a country 6 days' travel to the west, called Cauchieta. This region has not yet been located, but we know that it had a somewhat divergent culture (e.g., headhunting).^ According to Gomara (1552-53), the Curiana used
;
According
to
Petrus Martyr (Anghiera 1912). however, the Curiana were headhunters.
^S6

it
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
scales and weights in goldwork, but data refer to the people of Cauchieta.^
seems more
likely
that these
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
special esteem for virginity, although young have been promiscuous. On the other hand, girls (and perhaps also married women) frequently oflfered themselves
.,,.]
.;:
Marriage. There was no
girls are said not to
to the
Spaniards.
In most places only headmen and chiefs had many wives. The wives one big house (Cumand) or each had a special hut (Ptntu). The chief, Guaramental, had a big harem composed of 200 women, sent to him from many different countries.
either lived together in
Widows were inherited by the dead man's brother. reared young girls in order to marry them later on. cross-cousins seems to have been frequent.
For
Older
men
often
Marriage among
the wedding, bridegroom and bride dressed in all their ornaments; necklaces of stone beads are specially mentioned, and a young couple that
had none would borrow them from their neighbors. brought food; men brought building materials and
for the
Women
guests
constructed a house
young couple. According to one source, however, the bridegroom was obliged to build the house and prepare a field for his wife.
At the marriage ceremony the bridegroom and bride sat outside the new house, the former surrounded by dancing young men, the latter by dancing girls. A man cut the bridegroom's hair, and a women the bride's. Then the bride was handed over to the bridegroom, but she had to
sleep
the
first
night with the shaman.
both sexes were systematically separated. Homosexual relations among men are said to have been very frequent and to have been publicly condoned. Division of labor. Men hunted, fished, and went to war. The Cumand not only felled the trees and generally prepared the new fields but
also
young husband served his father-in-law for 1 year. Not only at meal time but also in all the ordinary occupations
did the sowing and weeding.

in
This
left to
the
women
only the harvêsting
which the men
also helped.
Among
the Aruacay, however,
women
also
planted the crops.
Men made wooden

ing), ropes, nets,
stools, baskets
(including basketry traps for fish-
hammocks
of agave fiber,
and weapons.
and
also
Women,
went
to
in addition to raising the children, preparing the meals,

fields,
harvesting the
spun and wove cotton and made pottery.
They
war with
their husbands, handling
bows and arrows as expertly
as the men.
'
In western Colombia, as far east as the Pacabuey, scales and weights were used.
Vol. 4]
TRIBES
N.
487
Etiquette.Visitors did not enter the house or speak to the women. their arrival, food and drinks were at once brought out to them, and they were put up in a special hut. It was customary to offer one's wife
Upon
to a guest
who
stayed overnight.
if
guest on his departure, and
In ArucKay women often followed the she stayed with her husband, he was con-
sidered to be under special obligation toward her for not having gone
away
with the guest.
Everywhere old men were highly

sit
respected,
and young men would not
down
in their presence.
Chiefs seem to have been both elective and hereditary. In the village of the Paria there was a principal chief ("king") and five subchiefs. All
of
them were
called "chiaconus"
and were
elected for a year.
Among
the
Piritu the chieftainship
was
hereditary, descending to the eldest son.
In
one part of Trinidad the chief was succeeded by his nephew; whether brother or sister's son is not stated. The Aruacay had a principal chief and
whom governed a barrio. The principal chief was distinguished by a beard. Considerable pomp and ceremony surrounded some of the leading chiefs. Guaramental was carried in a litter of black wood, which was carved with animal figures and adorned with gold plaques. Ordinary people were not permitted to enter his palenque. His decrees were promulgated from He also possessed a harem, which was the top of an artificial mound. guarded by eunuchs, an institution not reported often in South America. Generally, a chief's power was based on having a big family, possessing much gold and many canoes, being able to point to great deeds of his people and his forefathers, and having magical power. Often a man was
nine subchiefs, each of
both chief and shaman.
In most of the area chiefs seem not to have intervened in disputes of

their people or to
have punished crimes.
Justice lay in the hands of the
offended.
For example,
in cases of adultery, the
husband punished the
trespassing lover but not the wife.
Certain chiefs, however, such as
Guaramental and the chief of Anoantal, wielded great authority. In Anoantal a man who fished without the chief's permission was killed and eaten. Guaramental was surrounded by a group of elderly councillors who were also judges and who directed various henchmen. Gallows, for
executions, are mentioned.
Slaves seem to have been
common
in the
whole area and v/ere traded
by one chief to another. were protected by a cotton thread or thin liana tied Fruit orchards around them trespassers, it was thought, would be struck by immediate man's propdeath. Among the Piritu people inherited any part of a dead
or presented as gifts
;
erty by being the
first to lay their
hands on
it.
488"

LIFE CYCLE
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
Birth.
woman
gave birth without anyone's help.
For a
difficult
and the newly born child in the river. During the first few days the father did not go Small children to the bush to fell trees, lest the child be harmed and die. were carried in a cotton sling. They were never punished, since otherdelivery she
into the bush.
went
The mother bathed
herself
wise they would die.
Puberty. At puberty girls were secluded for 2 years in a dark comDuring this time their hair must not be cut. At every menstruation a woman was confined and fasted for a few days. Death. People who were seriously ill were abandoned in the bush with a provision of bread and water. The Cumand dried the bodies of the dead on a barbracot over a fire fed with special herbs. The fat dripping from them was collected and the bones ground into a powder. The powder and fat were drunk by those present. Among the Chiribichi, the bodies of men and women of high social standing were desiccated and hung up in the house. A more compartment.
mon
procedure, however, was to bury the dead (Piritu, after roasting

in a seated position.
them), outside of the house,

lasted
Weapons, other belong-
ings, and food and drinks were placed in the grave.
The
burial celebration
8 days. The
house in which a death had taken place was abandoned.
After a year the body was dug up and the bones burnt.
Among
the
Cumand and
wife.
Chiribichi the skull
was
given to the dead man's principal
many dead, and threw the ashes Rain clouds were believed to be formed by them. The participants in this anniversary ceremony pulled their hair, then grabbed their feet with their hands, put their heads between their knees, and danced around in this position. Afterward they lay down on their backs with arms and legs stretched skyward, weeping and moaning.
Piritu burned the bones jointly for
into the air.
The Aruacay buried
the
body inside the hut
in a kind of
tomb
built
of clay over a framework of posts, with a clay figure on top representing some deity. Cassava bread and a calabash of cassava beer were placed
in the grave.
of the dead, but
Some time later a ceremony was held in commemoration it is not known whether the bones were burned.
The
daily round.
People got up and went

At
started out for the fields before the
sunset the people of the village
to bed early. They never day had warmed up. At dawn and greeted each other singing and playing
various instruments.
night a guard stood on the roof of the highest
hut and
answered by guards in other This was done because of fear of night attacks by some enemy. villages. Whenever one had to walk outside of the villages at night he carried a
shouted at certain intervals, being
torch for fear of wild animals.
People bathed daily during the hot season before daybreak, and during
the rainy season after sunset.
Vol. 4]
TRIBES
N.
489
latter posi-
tion
hiThey squatted on their heels or sat cross-legged, although the may have been used only in a certain ceremony.
WARFARE
Cumand
chief desiring military allies sent

it
one of his own arrows by
messenger, and whoever accepted

in the war.
village
;
thereby bound himself to take part
Piritu messenger shot the

it
the
headman picked
of warfare
up and shot
it if
arrow into the midst of the he agreed to the alliance.
were bows and poisonous arrows which were kept in quivers (some men wore two quivers) and were provided with points of flint, sting ray spines, or shark's teeth. In addition, clubs of two types and large spears of fire-hardened palm wood were used. The Aruacay and the natives of Trinidad had shields, and in the former place a special
helmet.
Weapons
Spear throwers seem to have been used only in Trinidad.

first tried
Before going to war people
to foresee the future
by taking
tobacco and coca, and then they became drunk.
Warriors everywhere wore showy headdresses.

variety of ornaments, including necklaces of
In Trinidad they
teeth, eagle-shaped
painted themselves red and .black from head to heel and wore a great
human
gold breastplates, and jaguar

riors
tails.
Some
of the
most distinguished war-
were clad
in
puma
or bear skins, with the animal's
mouth placed
over the head.

Little
boys practiced shooting with the bow, using arrows with blunt
points of clay, wood, or wax.
Women
were as expert with the bow and
arrow as
their
husbands and went to war with them.
dad.
works was part of the art of warfare in Trinisome of the interior tribes have already been described. That of the chief Guaramental contained, in addition to other buildings, an arsenal filled with bows and arrows for 10,000 warriors, and others with a similar number of darts, lances, clubs, and slings. Six hundred young warriors at a time patrolled the palisaded area.
erecting of defense
The
The
palisaded villages of
In an unknown place, quite some distance up the Orinoco, the Spaniards met a war party of a little over 70 men, traveling in orderly formation
and carrying carried bowls
shell trumpets.
Before them went two young
men who
full of burning fire into which they threw pulverized chili pepper, so that the fumes were driven by the wind toward the Spaniards' camp. These people, however, may not have belonged to this culture area, since their war arrows were not poisoned. The arrow poison was prepared among the Cumand and Chiribichi by
old
women during a 2-day period. Gomara (1552-53) distinguishes tween a "simple" kind and a "bad one." The former consisted of blood of a certain snake (aspide), certain herbs, and the juice of manzanillo tree. The "bad kind" is described as differing only in
be-
the
the
the
490

If,
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
addition of the heads of poisonous ants.
after 2 or 3 days, the old
women who cooked

praised
;
the poison liad died, or at least fainted, the poison
was
were scolded and the poison was thrown away. The death produced by this poison was not instantaneous as an antidote the natives used the tail of a snake (Ruiz Blanco, 1892). To eat slain enemies was a common procedure among the Cumanagoto and Palenque but seems not to have been a general practice in this area.
if
not, they
Few
flesh
data are available, but the cannibalism cannot have been highly devel-
oped.
The only precise data refer to Cubagua Island, where human was prepared in vessels that might not be used for any other purpose
and was eaten only by certain persons, always outside of the house. According to Castellanos (1874), the inhabitants of this island did not enjoy eating human flesh on the contrary, "it caused them much grief."
;
Dances.
Various kinds of dances were known.

it
In the most common,

they dropped sometheir hands.
people danced in a circle with clasped hands.

thing they picked
When
up with their feet without unclasping Musical instruments. Wooden drums with a carved
figure at each
end, calabash drums, cane or deer-bone flutes, very large trumpets, and
trumpets made of two calabashes were the musical instruments used.
unique reference speaks of a
shell
.
over the opening of which strings had
been tied (Petrus Martyr, 1912) Shell rattles were reserved for shamans. Drinking bouts. Drinking bouts lasted up to 8 days. Men and young
girls
were the main participants. When drunk, older women cared for Men often became so drunk that they insulted each other and fought. Participants produced vomiting by taking certain herbs in order
them.
to be able to drink
more.
There was a ceremonial Avay of drinking in which a man received a cup from a woman and then passed it on to all others. People invited to a drinking bout arrived dancing and singing at the hut of the chief, who had had the road leading to it carefully cleaned of weeds and sometimes widened. Here they staged a sham battle and then
entered the chief's hut, everyone dancing in imitation of a certain kind
of animal.
in
Then the singing ceased and one of the party made a speech honor of the host. The Aruacay performed an interesting ceremony. In the midst of about These 1 50 big pots full of cassava beer, 2 still bigger vessels were placed.
had attached handles large enough to support a person. Two Indians stood on these handles, 1 of whom started bragging while the other 1 denied the truth of what he claimed and challenged him to resist 6 heavy blows with a whip made of lianas. If the first man could not withstand them another man took his place, and so on. Tobacco. Men inhaled tobacco smoke through their noses.
Vol. 4]
TRIBES
N.
RELIGION
491
wife, seem to Thunder and hghtning were believed to be caused by the sun's anger. A lunar eclipse was also thought to be caused by the angry sun having wounded the moon. Sad songs about the latter's disappearance were sung. The Cumand and Chiribichi, especially the women, fasted to ward off the danger to the moon. In addition,
Major
deities.
Sun and moon, considered husband and

deities.
have been the supreme
married
women
fought, scratched their bodies and pulled hair
Vv^hile
young girls drew blood from their arms with pointed fishbones. No amusements were allowed during the lunar eclipse. The reappearance of the moon was greeted with shouting and merrymaking. All foods or drinks prepared before the eclipse had to be thrown into the sea or river. The Piritn took up weapons to defend the sun and moon. They threw maize toward them to placate them, and they promised to mend their ways and work hard, actually going to their fields to work. Comets were thought to have an evil meaning people tried to frighten them away by shouting, blowing on their trumpets, and beating their
;
drums.
The Piritu believed that frogs were the representatives of the rain god. They were kept in the house under a bowl and were scolded when it did
not rain.
An
unusual feature was the use of the
St.
Andrew's
cross, simple or
enclosed in a square, to drive
away spirits that roam about at night. This symbol was painted on newborn children. The afterworld. At death, a person's soul separated from the body.
Some
souls
went to
live in the deceased's fields,
but the majority
left for
a lake called "Machira,"
where big snakes swallowed them and took them to a place of eternal dancing and merrymaking. Ceremonies and miscellaneous beliefs. On a certain day every year the Piritu held a ceremony at which people ate a roasted deer while At another ceremony standing and holding weapons in their hands. dancers carried fish representations carved out of wood, wife put a drink of maize beer into the li. When a hunter came home his mouth of an animal he had slain so that its soul might tell the other animals how well it had been treated. Offerings of first fruits and of fresh fish together with strings of pearls, coral, or shell beads were made to
the earth
and ocean.
fasting.
Whoever
killed another person had to cleanse himself by newly arrived guest was not spoken to at once, in order
to give his
soul time to arrive.
SHAMANISM AND SORCERY

The shaman
(piacheor piazamo) was the most important person
in
every settlement.
Often a man became the headman
of the village be-
492
SOUTH
AMERlCAlsr INDIANS
People would
[B.AM.
rise in the
Bull. 143
cause he was such a powerful shaman.

of
presence
shamans and were
said to have treated
them
like gods.
As
candidates, fathers selected those of their sons
whom
they con-
sidered predestined to become shamans.
The
boys, 10 to 12 years old,
had to live for 2 years secluded in caves or in special huts in the bush, where they ate no meat, saw no other human beings, and did not think The old shamans visited them at night and, while special of women. guards watched the camp, taught them the magic formulae and curing
methods.
Shamans wore a head band, bead

carried one calabash filled
stick
bracelets,
and thin
plates of shell
and
with coca and another containing lime and a

figurine,
ending in a
little
monkey
"which they say
is
their
god"
(Ruiz Blanco, 1892).
Shamans would never cure relatives, and, in general, men from distant Shamans led a life all their own. They had their special ceremonies, and even when they went to some general festivity they kept apart from other people. They tried to renew their magic strength by getting drunk and by inhaling tobacco smoke and incense.
regions were preferred.
Some shamans
animals.
transformed themselves into jaguars and other dreaded

to fall sick
They caused an enemy
by burying
little
figures of
lizards or other animals along the trails he frequented or
by poisoning him,
To
out,
cure slight sickness the shaman took certain herbs into his mouth,
and pretended to suck the sickness-causing substance and then left the house with his cheeks inflated to show that he was carrying it away. In more serious cases, when the sick person was thought to be possessed by malignant spirits (iboroquiamo, in Piritu), the shaman first tried to call these spirits and pull them out of the body through the joints. When that failed he took a stick made of a special wood, which only he knew and which he had meanwhile placed in a bowllicked the patient,
ful of water, and forced it down the patient's throat until he vomited. The evil spirit was thereby believed to pass into the body of the shaman, who fell upon the ground, sweating, shaking, and screaming for 2 hours or more until completely exhausted. In this state he vomited a blackish substance surrounded by a mass of mucus. While the shaman was lying
half
dead on the ground, the relatives of the sick person took

it
this blackish
substance out of the surrounding mucus and threw

house, saying,
far
away from
the
"Go away
spirit!"
If the patient fell sick
again the per-
formance was not repeated, but herbal remedies were applied. Certain were cured exclusively, or mainly, with raw, cooked, or ground herbs and roots and with the fat of certain birds, fish, and other animals.
diseases
Immediately after the cure the shaman was asked the amount of his
If
fee.
shaman was killed. Another function of the shaman was to foresee the future. On the request of a headman a shaman was taken at night either to a cave or
the patient died the
Vol. 4]
TRIBES
N.
493
chamber of the ceremonial hut that belonged to every village. stool, he called a spirit with his rattle and with special inWhen this spirit appeared, the headman's representatives vocations. questioned the shaman about fishing, selling, good or bad harvests, eclipses, and comets. Some shamans are said to have been able to predict lunar eclipses 3 months in advance. For these consultations the shamans were
into a secret
Seated on a
also paid.
LORE AND LEARNING
The year was known

In the
to
have been divided into lunar months.

therapy, the Indians bandaged their whole body
field of practical
tightly to counteract high blood pressure.
$5333448
33
Part
3.
The West
Indies
THE WEST
INDIES:
AN INTRODUCTION
By Irving Rouse
The
islands of the
West
Indies, stretching in a great arc

fall
between North,
a series
Central,
and South America,
into four
groups
The Bahamas,
of small coral islands southeast of Florida; the Greater Antilles, large
mountainous land masses extending 1,000 miles (1,609 km.) eastward from Florida and Yucatan the Lesser Antilles, tiny volcanic islands curving southward 800 miles (1,287 km.) from the last of the Greater An;
South America; and the three islands of Trinidad, Tobago, and Barbados, remnants of an ancient land mass that formerly
tilles
to the coast of
lay just ofl the
mouth
of the
The Greater
(pis. 80, 81,
Antilles are the

:
Orinoco River (map 1 map 8). most populous of these four groups.
;
They
consist of four large islands

;
Cuba, at the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico
82) Jamaica, south of the eastern end of Cuba; Hispaniola (divided between the Republic of Haiti and the Dominican Republic)
(pi.
Hispaniola.
79), just east of Cuba; and Puerto Rico (pi. 83, bottom) east of In the time of Columbus these islands were inhabited mainly
who spoke an Arawakan language and who had a single type of culture, characterized by agriculture, permanent villages, a well-developed aristocracy, an emphasis upon songs, dances, and ceremonies, and the worship of images known as "zemis." It is customary to call these Indians Arawak, after their language (map 8).^ The Arawak, although occupying the bulk of the Greater Antilles, were not the only Indians there at the time of the Conquest. In the extreme western part of Cuba, on the small group of keys off the north and south coast of that island which are known as Los Jardines de los Reyes, and on the long narrow peninsula of Guaicayarima, which forms the southwestern part of Haiti, the Spaniards encountered a more primitive population who lived in caves or open camps rather than permanent villages
by relatively peaceful Indians
obtained their food by hunting, fishing, and collecting rather than agriculture;
and seem
to
have lacked the aristocratic and ceremonial aspects
^This term seems to have been introduced by Brinton (1871). The name Taino is sometimes used as a substitute, although it ordinarily is given a more specific meaning (see footnote 9, p. 521). To distinguish the Arawak in the West Indies from those on the mainland, Lov^n (1935, p. 41)
and others use the term "Island Arawak" or "Insular Arawak."
495
496
of

civilization.
[BA.E. BulL 143
Arawak interpreters who accompanied Cuba were unable to understand these people, it has been inferred that they spoke a language other than Arawak} No trace of this language has survived, but it is often given the same name
Since the
Arawak
Columbus and
later explorers of
as that of the people themselves:
Ciboney.^
In historic times the limits of the Ciboney territory do not seem to have extended beyond the Greater Antilles. In the Bahamas were only
Arawak,
similar in language
and culture to those
of the Greater Antilles.
The Trinidad-Tobago-Barbados group
also contained mainly
Arawak
who, however, were somewhat different in language and culture from those of the Greater Antilles.* The Lesser Antilles, on the other hand, were inhabited by a third group of people, the Carib.^
which have been given the same name Arawak and the Ciboney. The Carib relied more upon fishing than upon agriculture; their villages were only semipermanent they had more elaborate canoes ; placed greater emphasis upon warfare, choosing their leaders by prowess in fighting rather than by inheritance; lacked elaborate ceremonies; had no worship of idols; and were cannibals. Periodically they conducted raids upon their more peaceful Arawak neighbors in Trinidad, along the Guiana coast of South America, and as far northwest as Cuba and the Bahamas in the Greater Antilles. It is said that they were gradually encroaching upon the territories of the Arawak; by the time of Columbus they had taken over the northwestern part of Trinidad and may have secured a
culture,
The Carib language and
as the people themselves, differ from those of the
foothold in eastern Puerto Rico.

*It is also possible, as implied by Stirling (1936, p. 335), that the people spoke a "primitive" form of Arawak. ' This term originated with Las Casas {in Fernandez Duro et al., 1885-1932, vol. 6, pp. 7-8), who applied it to one of the two Cuban Indian groups which seem to have been non-Arawak at the time of historic contact Harrington (1921, pp. 21-22) is responsible for expanding its meaning to include all of the non-Arawak, and he is followed here. Lov6n (1935, p. 2) prefers to substitute the name Guanahatabey, which Las Casas (op. cit.) used for the other group of non-Arawak in Cuba. Fichardo Moya (1944, pp. 543-544) employs both terms, applying them to different nonArawak cultures, as described in note 10 below. Ortiz FernAndez (1943, pp. 5-6) uses the names Guanahatabey and Aunabey for these two cultures, shifting the term Ciboney to what is here called the suh-Taino group of Arawak. (See footnotes 6, p. 500, and 10, p. 521.) * Some authorities believe that Tobago and Barbados had become depopulated by historic times
(Fewkes, 1922, pp. 79-80). This is the name by which the Carib distinguished themselves from the Arawak. The linguistic usage of the name, and its extension to Indians of the mainland who speak Carib languages, are secondary. Because of the latter, the island people are now often called "Insular Carib."
THE CIBONEY
By Irving Rouse^
INTRODUCTION
The
that
is
three linguistic-cultural groups
in
the
Arawak, and Carih
may be conveniently discussed
West
Indies
Cihoney,
in that order, since
roughly their distribution at the time of historic contact, going
through the islands from North to South America.

to be the order in
Moreover, it seems which the three groups arrived in the Antilles. That the Cihoney were the original inhabitants of the West Indies is suggested by their peripheral position during historic times (map 8). It
also indicated by the archeology, for traces of a preagricultural hunting
in
is
and fishing population have been found throughout Cuba and

earlier date than the
many
parts of Haiti besides the peninsula of Guaicayarima, apparently at an
Arawak
population wherever the two happen to over-
lap (tables
1, 2.).
There
is little
doubt that the Cihoney were more widely
and that they were pushed back into their historic position as a result of the advent of the more advanced Arawak and Carih. It is commonly assumed that the Cihoney came into the West Indies from Florida.^ Not only do they appear to have been limited during
distributed during prehistoric than historic times
historic times to the parts of the Greater Antilles adjacent to Florida, but
also
no sure archeological traces
of the
elsewhere in the
West
Indies.
Some Cihoney
Cihoney have as yet been found artifacts do have resem-
blances with the Lesser Antilles rather than with Florida, but these
may
be the result of
Arawak
influence.*
ARCHEOLOGY
Although the number of known Cihoney archeological
particularly in Cuba, they are quite similar in type.
sites Is large,
Most are
located
near the shore, either along bays and streams or in other areas sheltered from the full force of the sea. Except for several cave burials in Cuba,
all
*
the sites are places of habitation, there being no ceremonial structures.
Except for section on ethnography, as noted. Cosculluela (1922, p. 9) seems to have been the first to make the assumption, and it is generally held in the West Indian field today. Many Florida archeologists, on the other hand, follow Harrington (1921, pp. 422-425) in deriving the Cihoney from South America. In general, the stone artifacts, from Cihoney sites have the most resemblances with the Lesser Antilles (Rouse, 1947), while the shell artifacts are more like those of Florida (Osgood, 1942 a,
pp. 39-45).
497
498
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Vol. 4]
THE CIBONEYROUSE
499
Each
site consists of
a single heap of refuse (often called a "caney") con-
taining shells, animal bones, artifacts, and in

largest of these
many
cases burials.
The
middens are in swamps, on tiny islets offshore, and in caves usually in areas favorable for hunting, fishing, and the gathering of shell food but not suitable for agriculture. One group of pile dwellings is known from
but they occur also in smaller
size in the open,
Cuba (Harrington, 1921,
pp. 76-79). Ciboney burials have so far been found only in Cuba.
As summarized
by Royo Guardia (1940 a, pp. 39-42), the burial practices included inhumation, both primary and secondary, and cremation, either in the open or in caves. Most burials were in refuse, but several have been found instead in sterile soil in caves or sinkholes. At one site the bones were protected by stone slabs; at another they had been stained red with ocher. Only two of the .burials known to the writer contained grave objects, and
these were not ornaments or utensils
accompanied the body.

tion practiced
In
all
in each case one or more stone balls Ciboney burials the skulls lack the deforma;
by the Arawak and the Carib.

all
So
far as artifacts are concerned, certain negative data characterize
Ciboney sites. Pottery is never present,^ nor are the griddles on which the Arazvak used to bake cassava. Except in a few sites, which seem to have been under Arawak influence, no traces have been found in the
Ciboney sites of the elaborate ceremonial apparatus of the Arazvak, such as bone spatulas for inducing vomiting, shell masks, and representations in stone, bone, and shell of the anthropomorphic deities which the Arazvak
called "zemis."
CULTURE SEQUENCES
Except for these negative characteristics, the artifacts found in the Ciboney sites vary from place to place, making it possible to formulate a series of different types of Ciboney culture (table 2). Cuban Ciboney. In the Cuban sites shell artifacts are the most Gouges, made from the outer whorl of the conch, occur characteristic. everywhere; there are also cuplike artifacts cut from the same type of
shell, lips
and
tips
from
that shell,
and
plates consisting of the outer whorl
Hammerstones (pi. 84, e-h), many of them pitted, are common. Ornaments include crude stone pendants (pi. 84, /) made by drilling pebbles, and beads of bone and shell. No examples of
of the shell (pi. 84, l-o, q-s).
art
have yet been found.^
Diznsions of
established the existence of
Cuban Ciboney. Cuban archeologists have tentatively two different types of Ciboney culture in their
The
called Ciboney
few pottery-bearing sites which Harrington (1921, pp. 177-181, 273-276, 308, 311-316) have since been shown to be Arawak (Rouse, 1942, pp. 161-163). Certain objects incised with geometric designs (Harrington, 1921, pp. 348-355, 398-399) and
1-3)
a group of painted pictographs (Herrera Fritot, 1939, pis.

tion is uncertaint
may
be Ciboney, but the identifica-
500
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
country, which have been termed the
Caya Redondo and the Guayabo
Blanco (Rouse, 1942, pp. 160-163).^ In addition to the types of artifacts enumerated above, the former is characterized by stone balls and disks
(pi. 84,
i,
k), peg-shaped ceremonial stones (pi. 84, d) called "gladiolitos,"

grinders,
and other evidences of stone-grinding and polishing, whereas the latter had only the battering of stone, as evidenced by the In addition, the Guayabo Blanco culture is ubiquitous hammerstone. characterized by a type of deep vessel made from the conch which is
absent from the Cayo
hammer
Rendondo
culture.
Haitian Ciboney.
Most
of the above types of shell artifacts are not
present in the Haitian
sites, the emphasis there being upon stonework. Large single- and double-bitted stone axes take the place of the shell gouge, and there are also hammer grinders, milling stones, stone balls, stone dishes, and gladiolitos, some of them engraved with complicated geometric Rechipped flint blades, having the form of daggers, designs (pi. 85). and scrapers, are common. knives,
The Haitian
Couri
sites
sites fall into three
groups, Couri in the northern part of
the country, Cabaret in the center,
and Bay of Conch
in the south.*^
The
have
yielded all the artifacts listed in the
preceding paragraph
and
in addition a stone knife, a shell chisel, a stone bead,
and pendants of
stone and shell engraved with

pp. 24-52).
straight parallel-line designs
In the Cabaret sites

flint
(Rouse, 1941, found only daggers, have so far been
knives, and scrapers of
(Bastien, 1944).
The Bay
of
Conch
sites,
finally, have yielded artifacts of the types listed in the previous paragraph and also pointed stones used for smoothing and polishing, mortars and
pestles,
and single-butted, eared stone axes, one
a complicated spiral
1947).
which is decorated with design (Krieger, personal communication; Rouse,

of
Other West Indian nonpottery sites. There are four other groups West Indies, which cannot as yet be definitely identified as Ciboney. Gabb (1881, pp. 146-147) and Krieger (1929, pp.
of nonpottery sites in the
5-6) have each excavated an apparently preagricultural stratum underlying an Arawak one in caves near Samana Bay in the northern part of the Dominican Republic. These strata contained crude unworked stone knives, hammerstones, and other artifacts of stone and shell which have not yet
Rouse (1945) has located another group of nonpottery Puerto Rico, named Coroso. These sites are small shell heaps containing only irregular hammerstones, several possible milling and sharpbeen described.
sites in
ening stones,
flint chips,
pieces of coral, plain
and fractured
shell tips,
and
Alternatives for the term Cayo Redondo, as used here, include Ciboney (Pichardo Moya, 1944) and Guanajatahey (Ortiz Ferndndez, 1943). In place of Guayabo Blanco are used Aunabey (Ortiz Fernandez, 1943), Ciboney (Harrington, 1921), and Guanajatabey (Pichardo Moya, 1944). Many Cuban archeologists do not agree with the identification of the Cayo Redondo culture as Ciboney Instead, they consider that the Cayo (in the sense in which that term is used in this article). Redondo culture represents a separate ethnic group, comparable to the Ciboney, Arawak, and Carib (Royo Guardia, Morales Coell6, and Herrera Fritot, 1942; Pichardo Moya, 1944). 'An alternative name for the Couri group is "Flint" (Rainey, 1941).
i:- ^'aj-^^r^.'^'
w7.
.'
3'
Plate
79. Landscapes of Hispaniola. Top: Mountain forests of the Dominican Republic along the Santiago-Puerto Plata highway. (Courtesy Jacob Gayer and the National Geographic Magazine.) Bottom (left): The lower Yuna (Bottom right): The Savanne Diane east of River, Dominican Republic. (Courtesy Alexander Wetmore.) St. Michel, Haiti.
fittkmkJtSHhilKmifkit
iitflllfllTl
ir
H iWiiiHftn
Plate
tes}'
Cuban landscapes. Top: Savanna country of western Cuba. (CourH. H. Bennett by permission of the American Geographical Society.) (Courtesy Theodor Bottom: Scene along road from Havana to Guanajay. De Booy by permission of the American Geographical Society.)
SO.
Vl
rt
Plate
of Charlotte
Top: St. Thomas harlxir Irnm a hiil .ast Old saltponds, Mathew-Town, Island of Inagua, Bahamas. Bottom: Beach at Joyuda, Puerto Rico. (Courtesy Theodor De Booy by permission of the American Geographical Society.)
83.
Antillean
landscapes.
Center:
AmaUa.
^\.:
s
Plate
g,
84.
d,
Ciboney
artifacts
from Cuba,
c,
a,
Flint chips;
b,
coral rasp;
c,
stone
mortar;
ceremonial stone;
discoidal
Ic,
hammerstone;
stone disk;
I,
h,
hammerstone; /, cubical hammerstone; rectangular hammerstone; i, stone ball; j, stone

irregular
])endant;
shell
q,
gouge; m, shell cup;

r,
7^,
shell plate; o, shell
pen-
dant
Ys.)
(?); p,
milling stone;
fractured shell tip;
j^lain shell tip; s, shell lip.

/.,
(Sizes very
(c,
d,
approximate: c, y^; d and n, K; /, k, and >4; i, Ys; j, }i: all others, and m, After Osgood, 1942 a, pis. 4 D, 6 E, and 3 F; others after
pi. 2.)
Rouse, 1942,
Plate 85. Ciboney
artifacts
from
Haiti,
a,
Flint dagger;
b,
fiuit
kuife;
c.
irregular hammer-grinder; /, recflint scraper; d, double-bitted stone ax; e, stone bead; i, irregular tangular hammer-grinder; g, spherical stone pendant; h, stone knife; I, ceremonial stone; m, fragment hammer-grinder; ;, stone ball; k, (All approximilling stone. of a stone disk; n, shell chisel; o, shell pendant; p, Rouse, 1941, pi. 1.) (After mately Yi actual size.)
Vol. 4]
THE CIBONEYROUSE
Hatt (1924,
St.
p.
501
shell plates.
Krum
sherds.
Bay,
Thomas, Virgin
31) has excavated comparable shell heaps at Islands, finding only long rectangular
stone adzes, red ocher, scrapers
made
of clamshell,
and a few surface pot-
In Trinidad,
flint
finally, J. C.
Carter (personal communication) has
found only crude
ships in the Savanetta site near Claxton Bay.
Middle American contacts. Because of the closeness of the Ciboney territory in western Cuba to Yucatan, several archeologists have searched Ries (1936) reports the discovery of there for remains of the Maya. two Maya sherds and a perfect obsidian blade, found on the end of the
Peninsula of Guanahacabibes, the westernmost in Cuba.
Although there
are numerous Ciboney sites in the vicinity, these specimens were obtained
on the surface and were not
in association with any other Indian remains. few metates and other carved stone objects of Central American types have also been found in Cuba and in the other islands of the Greater Antilles (e.g., Joyce, 1916, fig. 58), but these were probably introduced after the Conquest by Indian slaves from Central America. Extinct faunal associations. A number of Ciboney sites in Cuba have yielded bones of an extinct form of the ground sloth {Megalocnus sp. ) comparable to those which in North America have been considered an indication of great antiquity. There can be no such antiquity in Cuba, both because the Ciboney are known to have survived into historic times and because some bones of the ground sloth have been obtained from the
early
Arawak
sites
(Harrington, 1921,
p.
274).
Nevertheless, a study
of the distribution of the bones of the ground sloth in Ciboney sites might
provide a good basis for the establishment of a chronology.'
So
far,
it
has been possible to show only by seriation that the Ciboney were earlier
than the
Arawak
in the areas in
which both occur (table
1).
HISTORY
When
the Spaniards first arrived in
Cuba they were
told that the
Arawak had taken away
the most of the island from the Ciboney, enslav-
ing the latter or driving them into isolated sections of the central and
western parts of the island.
chieftainships, in the west,
The Spaniards mention five "provinces," or named from west to east Guanahacabibes, Guaniguanico, Marien, Habana, and Hanabana (map 9). It is not clear
;
whether any or all of these were Ciboney at the time of the Conquest the names are Arawak but only Ciboney sites have so far been found in these
provinces.^"
The last three of these groups of sites, instead of representing separate cultures, may be secondary sites of the Arawak. Those in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands could have been places for opening shellfish; the Trinidad site, a flint-gathering locality. ' A-iother possibility would be to classify the sites according to the presence or absence of Arawak
influences.
10
Ortiz Fernandez (1935, pp. 368-416) concludes that the Ciboney were
still
in possession of all
Garcia Valdes (1930, 1936-37) argues on the contrary that the Arawak had driven the Ciboney out of all this territory except for the most inaccessible regions. Extensive archeological research in the western part of the island is needed
to settle this controversy.
the western provinces at the time of first historic contact.
653334
48
34
502
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Vol. 4]
CIBONEY ETHNOLOGY GARCIA VALDBS
503
said to be isolated groups of Ciboney-like Indians living
In Haiti the bulk of the population was also Arawak, but there were on the long narin the southwestern part of the island.
row Peninsula of Guaicayarima
As
in Cuba, these Indians are supposed to
have been driven into
this
peripheral position as a result of the
Arawak migrations from South

Habana
in
America.
With
the exception of the province of
Cuba (which may

Indians
is,
not have been Cihoney), the Spaniards rarely visited the inaccessible re-
gions occupied by the Ciboney.

quently,
The
fate of those
conse-
unknown, except
in the
extreme western part of Cuba, where
some are
said to have survived until the Spaniards colonized that part of
the island at the beginning of the 17th century.
attacked the cattle of the settlers with

to be offered for their
At that time the Indians bows and arrows, and rewards had extermination. There are traditions that some of
middle of the 19th century.
them survived
until the
SOURCES
The
historical sources contain
few references
to the Ciboney.
Isolated
(n. d.),
statements have been published by
Gomara (1749), Las Casas
Anghiera (1912), Oviedo y Valdes (1851-55), Torres de Mendoza (186484), and others. These sources have been summarized by Cosculluela (1922, pp. &-9, 21-22), Fewkes (1922, pp. 243-244), and Loven (1935, pp. 3-6). They can be supplemented with material from several reconstructions of Ciboney culture from the archeological remains, including for Cuba, Osgood (1942 a, pp. 50-52) and Santovenia y Echaide (1939, pp. 66-71), and for Haiti, Rouse (1941, pp. 50-52).
THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE CIBONEY

By Pedro GARcfA Valdes
LANGUAGE
probably different from both the
it was Arawakan and the Cariban. The word "Ciboney" seems to be derived from the Arawak siba, which signifies rock, and eyeri, man; it may have been given by Arawak who saw Ciboney people living in caves. The size of the Ciboney population is un-
Nothing
is
known
of the Ciboney language beyond the fact that
known, but
it must have been small, since the people lived in isolated groups in inaccessible places.
CULTURE
The Ciboney have been considered

tain the
fish eaters,
because their
sites
con-
bones of
fish
and great quantities of
shells,
including clam, conch.
504

many
of
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
mussel, oyster, and snail,

the meat.
also
which have been perforated to extract
Land and
to
sea crabs, the manatee or sea-cow, and the turtle
seem
a small insectivorous
in
have been eaten. The hutia, a rodent, and the almiqui, mammal which formerly existed in great abundance
lizard, snakes,
Cuba, the iguana or giant
and birds were
all
probably
hunted with special techniques.

rojo, the
The
people must also have nourished

including the caimito, the co-
themselves with a number of native
fruits,
guanabana, the guayaba, the mamey, the manon or chirimoUa,

plants.
and the roots of various no cultivated crops.
According
to the explorers, there
were
may have been prepared in mortars and on milling which a number have been found in the sites. They could then have been mixed in bowls of wood and stone, which are also known from the archeological remains. Since many of the sites lack traces of fire, the food may often not have been cooked. At some sites, however, there are layers of ash, and it may be suggested that the fish and shell food were roasted over the fire.
The
vegetable foods
stones, of
DWELLINGS
The
sources
evidences from both the archeological remains and the historical

is
that the Cihoney lived in rock shelters

it
and caves.
They probTheir
vil-
ably dwelt also in the open, where
is
doubtful that they constructed
more than
lages
the simplest windbreaks of brush or palm thatch. were probably small and semipermanent; one might be calling them camps.
justified in
DRESS
AND ADORNMENT
little
According to the conquistadors, the Cihoney wore

have yielded rough beads and pendants of
the Indians
shell
clothing, per-
haps only girdles or breechcloths made from vegetable
fibers.
The
of red
sites
and stone, with which
must have adorned themselves.

ritual periods.
The presence
They
and
yellow ocher suggests that the Cihoney colored their bodies or faces, possibly
during ceremonies or
did not deform their
foreheads, as did the
Arawak.
TRANSPORTATION
As an island people who placed great emphasis upon fishing, the Cihoney must have had some kind of boats, possibly the dugout canoe.
On
on foot, since they could not have had either conveyances or beasts of burden. Although they may have moved from place to place when the wildlife became exhausted, it
land
it
is
likely that they traveled only
is
doubtful that they undertook long journeys.
Vol. 4]
CIBONEY ETHNOLOGYOARCIA VALDES

MANUFACTURES
505
The manufactures
of stone, shell, bone,
of the Ciboney
were primitive.
In
all their sites
are encountered specimens of primitive workmanship, including objects
nological processes
and wood. These indicate that the principal techwere battering with stone hammers, chopping with the shell gouges and (in Haiti) with stone axes, and cutting by means of flint chips. A few sites in both Haiti and Cuba have yielded also traces of the grinding and polishing of stone with combination hammer grinders of the same material. Sites in Haiti reveal a knowledge of the flaking and rechipping of flint blades. Bark cloth, basketry, and gourd containers may have been present, but no traces of them have yet been found in the
sites.
SOCIAL
AND POLITICAL
LIFE
utensils they
To judge from
us, the
the nature of their sites
and the
have
left
Ciboney must have had a primitive
social organization.
Each
local
group, consisting of several families living together,
may have
constituted
an independent band.^^
Cuba,
100.
At Cayo Redondo, one
of the larger sites in
it has been estimated that the total population of such a band was According to Oviedo y Valdes, each group of Ciboney in Haiti held all its property in common, but this may not have been entirely true, since some artifacts have been found in burials in Cuba. In any case, trade m.ust have been rare, as few indications of it have been found in the sites. Nothing is known of the life cycle of the Ciboney beyond the traces of their burials, which have already been described in connection with the
archeology.
When
the Spaniards
first
encountered the Indians of western
Cuba, the
clubs.-^^
latter uttered
war
In Haiti, the
flint
and fought with stones and wooden daggers which are common in archeological
cries
collections
may have been used for warfare. The presence of stone balls and disks in many of the Cuban and Haitian sites suggests some sort of game, which may have had a ritual function, as indicated by the deposition
of balls in
some
of the graves.
RELIGION
Perhaps the most

the Ciboney none of the
typically
significant statement that

it
can be made concerning
religion is that
was unlike
in
that of the
Arawak.
There are
Ciboney sites. The gladiolitos, or ceremonial stones, however, may have had a religious function. The presence of stone balls in the burials, finally, may be considered an indi-
Arawak zemis
cation of a belief in
life
after death.
either
"provinces" which the conquistadors mapped on the western end of Cuba must have been Arawak social units or else designations which the Arawak applied to Ciboney territory. " The bows and arrows that the Indians used during the 17th-century colonization of western Cuba may have been a later addition.
" The
THE ARAWAK
By Irving Rouse
^
INTRODUCTION
It is
generally agreed that the
Arawak came
is
into the
West
and
Indies after
the Ciboney but before the Carib, as
indicated by the presence of

also
Arawak
Antilles
archeological sites throughout Carib territory
by the
traditions
of the
Carib,
who
claimed to have conquered the Lesser
from the Arawak. come from South America,

shelter in particular).
Unlike the Ciboney, the Arawak must have

for their language
is
Amazonian
in type,
and
so also are the basic elements of their culture (agriculture, clothing, and
Presumably they entered the West Indies by way and the Lesser Antilles, sweeping the Ciboney before them of Trinidad when they reached Hispaniola and Cuba.
ARCHEOLOGY
Arawak sites are not difficult to distinguish from those of the Ciboney. They are located inland as well as near the shore, usually in the areas As among the Ciboney, the most common best suited for agriculture. type of site is the refuse heap, but it is often without shells. Some sites
most consist
comprise only a single midden, no larger than those of the Ciboney, but of a number of middens, which may or may not have
coalesced into a single deposit.
While some of these deposits are
in
rock shelters or in caves, most are the remains of villages built in the
open.
Ceremonial structures are

consist of large
flat
common
in
Arawak
sites.
Most
of
them
areas alongside the refuse deposits, either circular,
oval, or rectangular in shape
cases with upright stone slabs (pi. 86, top, center).

courts," although
plazas,
and lined with embankments, faced in some These are called "ball
many of them may have served primarily as ceremonial and several are so long and narrow as to resemble roads. Some are accompanied by walks paved with flat stones and others by megalithic columns known as "pillar stones." Petroglyphs are common (pi. 86, bottom, right), occurring on the slabs lining the ball courts, on the pillar The caves stones, on boulders near streams, and on the walls of caves. containing petroglyphs, as well as a number of others from which have been taken wooden seats, pottery bowls, and images of wood, cotton, and
1
Except section on Ethnography of Puerto Rico, as noted.
507
508
Stone,
facts

were probably used as shrines. and ornaments are known also.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Several caches of ceremonial arti-
from the dwelling sites and from caves that were not inhabited. Burial mounds and cemeteries in the open, away from the dwelling sites, have
(pi. 86,
Burials.
Arawak
burials have been obtained
bottom,
left)
also been reported but so far without verification.
The
typical burial
practice
was inhumation, usually primary but occasionally secondary, in the former case with the body either flexed or extended, on the side, on the back, or in a sitting position. A few examples of primary and
secondary urn burial, usually of children, have also been encountered.
Grave objects are somewhat more common than

usually comprise a pot, rarely ornaments.
in the
Ciboney
sites
they
Artifacts.
Almost
;
all
the Ciboney types of artifacts occur also in the
Arazvak
sites
many
of them had presumably been taken over by the in-
vading Arazvak.
Pottery.
The Arazvak
sites
contain a large variety of other types of
artifacts, the
most characteristic of which are potsherds. These are rarely found in the form of complete vessels, but it is clear that they come principally from bowls, either round or boat-shaped (pi. 87). In addition, one finds fragments of platters, jars, some water bottles, and many large discoidal griddles which the Indians used in baking cassava. The techniques of decoration include painting in one, two, or rarely three colors,
sometimes positive and sometimes negative; incision; the application of strips to the surface of the vessel modeling and the affixiation of lugs and loop handles, often to the ends of the boat-shaped bowls.
; ;
The
first
three of these techniques were employed almost exclusively to

;
produce geometric designs

the other hand,
is
the modeled and affixed ornamentation, on
largely zoomorphic.
Utensils and ornaments.
Petaloid
celts
and
chisels,
made
either of
stone or of shell, are also diagnostic of the Arazvak sites (pi. 88, c; 89, a).
Other utilitarian objects include net sinkers, made of clay and of stone, and awls, anvils, gouges, needles, picks, and spoons, made primarily from the bone of the sea-cow, or manatee. Ornaments are made from clay,
stone, bone, or shell (see pis. 87, 88, 89)
;
they include not only the simple
types
made by
the Ciboney but also elaborate beads, earplugs, masks, penof
dants, rings,
and stamps for painting the body, many
which are carved
with complicated geometric and zoomorphic designs or are prepared for

the attachment of feathers, pieces of gold, or other bits of decoration.
among
Although the conquistadors imply that gold ornaments were common the Arazvak, only three small fragments of that metal have yet been
obtained from the
sites.
Ceremonial and problematical objects. Ceremonial paraphernalia are characteristic of many Arazvak sites. They comprise idols of bone, eyes clay, cotton, shell, stone, and wood (pis. 87, k; 88, p; 89, g, h, k)
;

Vol. 4]
THE ARAWAKROUSE
of shell
509
idols
(pi. 89,
and teeth
seats of
which were
inlaid in the
wooden
d)
wood
(pi. 89, ;, /)
or stone shaped for the most part like
ham-
mocks; and swallow

induce vomiting
(pi.
sticks or spatulas
88, o).
Trumpets
It
used during the ceremonies to of conch shell are common in

shell,
some
sites,
while others have yielded disks of bone, clay,
and stone,
drilled or undrilled (pi. 89, e).
has been suggested that the latter were
either spindle whorls or tokens used in
some
sort of game.
Table
1.
Sequence of cultures
in the
West Indies
OlO
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Two
Arawak, although they usually occur as

sites themselves.
groups of problematical stone objects are associate^ with the isolated finds rather than in the
One
group, obtained principally from Puerto Rico and

(pi. 88,
the neighboring islands, comprises the so-called "stone collars"
g), "elbow stones" (pi, S^, k), and "three-pointed stones" (pi. 88, i), which are highly decorated with biomorphic as well as geometric designs
and are believed

of the
to
Arawak
idols or zemis.
have had some function in connection with the worship The second group of problematical objects,
which centers in Guadaloupe and St. Vincent, includes crescents, artifacts shaped like hourglasses, and other peculiar geometric forms whose functions are not
known
(pi. 88,
n).^
CULTURE SEQUENCES
The Arawak
site
material just described varies considerably from site to
from stratum to stratum within individual sites. These differences make it possible to formulate a series of cultures based largely upon the pottery, the most frequent and most variable of the maoften also
terial (table 1).
and
Trinidad. In Trinidad the cultural sequence is as yet poorly defined. strata have been noted at the Erin Bay and Palo Seco sites (BullBoth strata contain a style of pottery brook, 1920; Osgood, 1942 b). characterized by elaborate figurine lugs and by geometric designs, executed in modeling and incision, often red- or black-slipped, and located The bottom typically upon a flange or outward extension of the rim.
Two
layer has in addition yielded red-slipped sherds bearing white-painted
designs which appear to be from the outer walls of the vessels rather
than from the rims.
Both layers comprise
shell deposits containing
some
burials but without the ceremonial manifestations of
Arawak
culture.
The white-on-red painted sherds limited to the lower levels at Erin Bay and Palo Seco resemble, on the one hand, the painted pottery obtained by Howard (1943) from the lower levels of the site at Ronquin
in the
middle Orinoco region and, on the other, the white-on-red sherds
of the Cuevas culture in Puerto Rico.

incised pottery
is
(See below,
p. 511.)
more
like
some
of the
La Cabrera
plain
Themodeledand polished
gray ware obtained by Kidder II (1944) from the lowest levels at the Los Tamarindos site near Maracay, Venezuela. It also resembles the sherds obtained by Osgood and Howard (1943) at the site of Los Barrancos in the lower Orinoco region.
is
The Lesser Antilles. Throughout the Lesser Antilles the archeology known only from surface collections and from a few descriptions of
It has often been assumed, for example by Fewkes (1922, p. 93), that these geometric objects were Carih rather than Arawak. They are associated, however, with single- or double-bitted stone axes of the types which have been found in the earlier Ciboney and Arawak sites of the Greater Antilles, at an age which would preclude a Carib origin (Rainey, 1940, pp. 29, 73; Rouse, 1941.
p.
163).
Vol. 4]
THE ARAWAKROUSE
511
shell
the white-on-red
heaps (Fewkes, 1922, pp. 88-166; Loven, 1935, pp. 88-134). Both and the modeled-incised pottery are present, but it is
their association
is
not
known what
with each other or with the geo-
Petroglyphs and cave shrines are the only manifestations of ceremonialism yet discovered in the Lesser Antilles there are no burial caves.
;
metrically carved stone objects of the Lesser Antilles.
Only the white-on-red pottery

that country,
sites,
is
present in the Virgin Islands.
In
Hatt (1924) found it the Coral Bay-Longford, but

(table 1).
in the first of
Magens Bay-Salt River
two groups of Arawak it is absent from the second group, The Coral Bay-Longford seems to
Similarly, the
cul-
be a local variant of the Cuevas culture of Puerto Rico.

tures in eastern Puerto Rico.
Magens Bay-Salt River resembles the Santa Elena and Esperan2a
(See below, pp. 511-512.) Unpublished excavations by Josselin de Jong on the tiny Dutch islands of Saba and St. Eustacius between the Virgin Islands and the rest of the
Lesser Antilles confirm this sequence, except that the pottery,
ball courts,
and problematical stone objects of the Esperanza culture are absent. This suggests, as Hatt (1924, pp. 40-41) has pointed out, that the Esperanza traits taper ofif as one goes eastward from Puerto Rico through the
Virgin Islands into the Lesser Antilles.
Puerto Rico.
is
The Cuevas-Santa Elena-Esperanza sequence

The Cuevas
Most are from bowls, but
(table 1)
the result of recent excavations in eastern and northern Puerto Rico by
Rouse (1945).^*
and
sented.
potsherds are characteristically thin, hard,

jars are also repre-
finely constructed.
outward and have thickened rims, which show in profile a bevel or a rounded lip facing inward. Ribbon handles are common they are vertical, D -shaped, and do not extend above the rim. Although the white-on-red designs are the most striking elements of decoration, they are not the most characteristic, for they occur only on a few of the sherds and during the first half of the period of
sides of the bowls typically slope
;
The
existence of the Cuevas types of pottery.
The
all
usual decoration
is
red
or black paint, applied either as a slip

face or else in the
upon
or part of the vessel sur-
form of crude geometric designs. Simple rectangular or semicircular lugs, formed as an extension of the rim, are also characteristic. Modeled and incised sherds are rare a few examples which resemble the modeled-incised pottery of Trinidad and the Lesser Antilles may be
;
trade objects.
Cuevas potsherds occur only in

located close to the shore.
relatively
shell-free
refuse deposits
Rectangular stone adzes and cleatlike shell

artifacts; there are
ornaments are the most typical of the associated

* Work done since the above was written northern Puerto Rico was also present in the of table 1, the Ostiones culture now appears eastern and northern coasts, with the Santa
no
indicates that the Ostiones culture
of western and
eastern and southern parts of the island. In terms to have occupied the first half of Period III on the
Elena culture coming in (possibly from the Virgin
Islands) during the latter half of the period.
512
traces of the usual

Arawak ceremonial
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
in this respect, is different
apparatus. The Cuevas culture, from those found otherwise among the Arawak
of the Greater Antilles.
Santa Elena sherds are cruder and thicker than the Cuevas, and they
reveal a simpler shape
and decoration.
Bowls predominate
to the virtual
Their sides tend to be vertical rather than outsloping and convex rather than concave. The rim is typically thickened and
exclusion of jars.
cylindrical in cross section
;
most handles are

is
vestigial.
The
most
painted deco-
ration of the Cuevas sherds

applied,
largely replaced by simple designs incised,

of the vessel, the typical being
and modeled on the outer wall
a series of vertical parallel lines bordering a ridge or covering a vestigial

handle.
Santa Elena potsherds come mainly from the coast, but they have also
been obtained from the mountainous interior of Puerto Rico.
They
are
found not only in shell-free deposits but also in

ball courts,
shell
middens, in some
and
in cave dwellings.
The
associated artifacts include peta-
loid celts of stone and shell; tubular pendants and beads of stone; tiny stone amulets carved in the shape of flexed human figures (zemis) and
;
small three-pointed objects of stone and
emonialism had begun to develop in

culture.
These indicate that certhe Santa Elena type of Aarawak

shell.
posed of the same crude ware.

exclusion of jars.
vertical,
Esperanza potsherds are thinner than the Santa Elena but are comBowls again predominate to the virtual
Their sides are characteristically incurving rather than and rounded inward. Decoraconfined to the shoulder formed by the incurving side. In most
and
their rims tend to be tapered
tion
is
it
cases
consists of mcised designs, especially
two
parallel lines in a semi-
circular or alternating oblique arrangement.
Esperanza potsherds have been found almost exclusively in shell heaps and in shell-free village sites along the shore. A few come from ball courts, but none so far from caves. They are accompanied by the usual Arawak utilitarian objects of stone, bone, and shell and by the simpler ceremonial
objects.
The sequence
in the
western and northern parts of Puerto Rico has
been worked out by Rainey (1940) and Rouse (1945). As in the rest of Puerto Rico, this sequence begins with the Cuevas culture (table 1). The latter is succeeded in turn by cultures called the Ostiones and the
Capa, which replace respectively the Santa Elena and Esperanza cultures
tc the east.'
Ostiones potsherds bear a closer resemblance to the Cuevas than they
do to the Santa Elena, for they are finely made and come commonly from Although the sides of bowls tend to be vertical jars as well as bowls.
As
of the
originally formulated
Problematical Recent.
Site
by Rainey (1940, pp. 107-110), this sequence was termed Crab-Shellnames have been substituted for the sake of consistency with the rest
West
Indies.
Vol. 4]
THE AHAWAKROUSE
513
Most
rather than outsloping, the rims are characteristically beveled inside.

of the sides are
convex rather than concave, and the handles are loopsites,
shaped rather than D-shaped.

In the lower levels of the Ostiones
entirely limited to painting like that
pottery decoration
is
almost
on the later Cuevas sherds. Other modes of decoration make their appearance in the top levels. More complicated than on the Cuevas and Santa Elena sherds, they include horizontal incised lines situated on the bevel inside the rim and often ending in dots modeled-incised lugs located on the ends of the vessel, which are
;
called bat- or
monkey-heads and faces, limbs, or geometric figures exework on the outer wall of the vessel. These modes of decoration resemble designs on the earlier pottery of the Dominican Republic and may represent a diffusion from that country. Ostiones potsherds have been found in shell-free deposits, in shell middens, and in association with ball courts. The accompanying artifacts include all the types listed above for the Santa Elena culture and also
;
cuted in applique
carved stamps of clay.
Capa sherds are among the crudest in the Antilles many of them are sandy and crumble easily. Few jars are represented. The sides of bowls usually curve inward, they are convex, and they taper at the rim. Handles and painting are virtually nonexistent the few lugs consist primarily of Incised designs, grotesque figures executed in modeling and incision.
; ;
located on the shoulder formed by inturning the vessel wall, are characteristic of this
pottery.
More complex than on
the Esperanza pottery, they
each consist of a combination of several motifs, of which a circle with a

dot in the center
is typical.
As Rainey
(1940, pp. 109-110) has pointed
out, both the incised designs
and the lugs have resemblances with the later pottery in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Capa potsherds are characteristic of the ball courts in the mountainous
They have also been found in the top levels of some of the refuse deposits along the shore, with or without shells and
interior of Puerto Rico.
usually in association with ball courts.

caves, they are
Although a few occur
in inhabited
more
typical of the cave shrines.
Associated with them

artifacts described
are almost a complete complement of the other
Arawak
above, including the biomorphically carved stone objects of the Greater

Antilles.
of
The Capa
cultural
complex apparently represents the height

into
Arawak
ceremonialism.
Hispaniola.
Island and
all
Hispaniola divides
two
areas, one comprising
Mona
area
except the northwestern corner of the Dominican Republic,

1 )
.
the other the rest of the island, including Haiti (table

is little
The
first
known, for stratigraphical excavations have yet to be undertaken in the Dominican Republic. Two Arawak cultures seem to be represented, the Anadel and the Boca Chica, Anadel pottery has resemblances with
514
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
both the Cuevas pottery of Puerto Rico and the later Boca Chica pottery
of the
former to the
Dominican RepubHc presumably it represents a transition from the latter. It is known from shell middens and from cave dwell;
ings (Krieger, 1929, 1931).
Boca Chica bowl sherds are somewhat
like the
Capa
in Puerto Rico,
but they differ from the latter in having firm, well-polished surfaces, ridges
outside the rim, vestigial handles, and large prismatic lugs modeled and
heavily incised either biomorphically or geometrically.
teristic
The
jars charac-
of western and southern Puerto Rico are replaced in the Boca

bottles.
Chica complex by
1929, 1931).
The complex
shell-free refuse sites, ball courts,
is known from shell middens, and possibly cave shrines (Krieger,
Two
was and
kinds of
Arawak
culture, the Meillac
and the Carrier, are known
in Haiti,
and
it
has been possible to show by seriation that the former

Meillac potsherds are thin, hard,
earlier than the latter (table 1).

fairly well
made.
They
all
appear to come from bowls rather than
jars or bottles.
of the
Unlike the pottery of the Dominican Republic, the bottoms
bowls seem to have been always round, never flat. Their sides typically turn inward, are convex, and have a ridge outside the vessel just
beneath the rim.
handles are
line incised
The latter is characteristically round in profile. Loop common. The usual decoration consists of parallel straightdesigns made with a sharp tool, unpolished, and sometimes
These designs,
of
copied in applique work.

cal,
which the cross-hatch
is
typi-
completely cover the shoulder of the vessel up to the ridge bordering
the rim.
They
are said to resemble on the one hand certain decoration

shell
on Ciboney work in stone and

in the southeastern part of the
and on the other hand pottery designs
United States (Rouse, 1940).
Additional modes of pottery decoration occur in the upper levels and

at the later
lines
middens
in the Meillac sites.
These include horizontal

faces, limbs,
incised
on the ridge bordering the rim, and also
and geometric
Dominicar
western
designs executed in applique work.
They bear a
striking resemblance to
in the
comparable elements of decoration on the Anadel pottery
Republic and on sherds in the upper levels of the Ostiones
sites in
Puerto Rico, despite the fact that the three types of pottery are otherwise
quite different.
The
sites of
Meillac pottery
is
known
only from excavations in a few shell
middens.
The
associated artifacts are similar to those in the Ostiones

flint
Puerto Rico except for the presence of
and stonework
is
like
those of the Couri type of Ciboney culture, and for the absence of tubular
pendants and three-pointed objects.

absent,
it
Since the ball court

less
also apparently
may
be suggested that ceremonialism was
developed in the
Meillac type of
Arawak
culture than in the others
from Hispaniola
(Rainey, 1941
Rouse, 1941, pp. 54-112).
\-..l.
41
THE ARAWAKROUSE
Carrier pottery
is
515
The
well as
known from
It is like the
flat
from
village sites.
ball courts and cave dwellings as Boca Chica pottery of the Dominiis
can Republic, except that the

prismatic lugs are
bottom
almost entirely absent, the
more
heavily modeled and less heavily incised, and the
circular incised motif gives

straight line
way to the ovoid, an oval line surrounding a which ends in dots. In contrast to the Meillac pottery, the Carrier is characterized by a slight eversion of the vessel wall just beneath the rim, by a flat rim, and by broad incised lines made with a blunt tool, polished afterward, and curved as well as straight. There are no separate
loop handles or simple face designs.
similar to those in the Meillac culture.
The other utilitarian artifacts The ceremonial apparatus of
are
the
Arawak was probably
also present, but the only

is
example yet associated
definitely with Carrier pottery
a carved shell figure (Rainey, 1941
Rouse, 1941, pp. 113-154).
Jamaica. In Jamaica the sites consist of shell middens, of petroglyphs, and of caves used as dwellings, shrines, and burial places (personal communication from C. B. Lewis). The remains found are comparable to those of the Meillac culture in Haiti (De Booy, 1913 a).
Bahamas.
these sherds
in the
In
the Bahamas, potsherds of both Meillac and Carrier
types have been collected
on the surface (table
1).
It is
not
known how
were
distributed within the refuse deposits,
which are either
open or
in caves.
a,
Petroglyphs and cave shrines are both present
(DeBooy, 1913
1913 b).
Interest in the archeology of the
resemblances with Florida.

carved
on
on wooden stools stamped pottery from the mainland. In addition, it has been noted that a number of sherds from the northern Bahamas are fabricstamped like mainland pottei-y. This recalls the statement of Martyr (Anghiera, 1912, vol. 2, p. 251 ) that the Indians of Florida used to visit the
in order to
Bahamas has centered upon certain Holmes (1894) has shown that the designs from Turks Island are largely duplicated
Bahamas
Cuba.
hunt birds.
pair of
Arawak
cultures comparable to the Meillac and
Carrier are present in Cuba; they have been
Pueblo Viejo (table 1).
The former
is
best
named the Bani and the known from the Maniabon
Hills in the east-central part of the island,
where excavations have been
concentrated in recent years (Rouse, 1942).
The
principal differences
from the Meillac pottery are that the alternating-oblique-parallel-line design is more common than the cross-hatch, loop handles are rare, and the
applique
work
is
poorly developed.
In the later middens at the Bani
sites
the pottery bears
many
additional designs otherwise characteristic of the
Pueblo Viejo culture.
Hilltop village
shells,
sites,
;
composed
of a series of
mid-
dens which contain few
are typical
in addition there are coastal
shell heaps, burial caves, shrine caves,
and
in
some
places cave dwellings.
516

associated artifacts include
all
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
The
those characteristic of the
Cuban
Ciboney cultures, plus the usual complement of Araivak tools and ornaments. Work in shell, which is probably the result of Ciboney influence, is outstanding, and there are many ceremonial objects, including swallow
sticks
and
idols of clay, stone, bone,
and
is
shell.
The Pueblo Viejo

is
culture,
which
limited to the eastern tip of Cuba,
not well known.
Its pottery
resembles the Carrier pottery in Haiti,
except for a certain lack of sophistication and a greater variation in design.
The
sites
and the associated
artifacts are similar to those of the
Bani cul-
ture, with the addition of the ball court
and the petroglyph.
Summary and
described above
fall
reconstruction.
As
:
shown on
table 2. the cultures
into three divisions
Igneri, Taino,
and Sub-Taino.*
The
first
of these divisions, the Igneri,

of
is
characterized by painted pottery,
by the absence
most
of the ceremonial aspects of
Arazvak culture, and
possibly also by the presence of the geometrically carved problematical
stone objects of the Lesser Antilles.
The Taino
Indians typically manu-
factured incised rather than painted pottery and biomorphically rather than
geometrically carved stone objects.
Their ceremonialism was the best

ball
it
developed and they were the only one of the three divisions to have
courts.
The Sub-Taino
also
made
incised pottery but usually decorated
with simple, straight-line designs.
They had no biomorphically carved
problematical stone objects and, while they worshiped idols, they usually
made no
petroglyphs.
tentative hypothesis concerning the prehistory of these three groups
of people
may
be expressed in terms of four periods (table 1).
Period
I,
before the arrival of any of them, represents the original Ciboney occupaIn Period II the Igneri are presumed to have tion of the West Indies.
entered Trinidad and the Lesser Antilles, spreading as far as Puerto Rico and possibly also into the Dominican Republic. Period III saw a twofold fission from the Igneri : of the Taino in the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic; and of the Sub-Taino in Haiti.'' During the same period the Sub-Taino seem to have spread into Cuba, Jamaica, and the Bahamas, driving the Ciboney into the isolated position which they occupied during historic times. Period IV, finally, was marked by the conquest of the remaining Igneri in the Lesser Antilles by the Carib, and by the encroachment of the Taino upon the Sub-Taino territories in the western part of the Greater Antilles. This produced the historic distribution of Indians within the West Indies, which is shown on map 8.
These are the names of three of the groups of Arawak Indians living in the Antilles at the time and are discussed as such below (pp. 521-522). They are here applied to the archeological divisions upon the assumption, adopted from Lov^n (1935, p. vi, ff.), that the
*
of historic contact
ethnographic groups correspond to the archeological divisions. An alternative, purely archeological terminology is that of Rainey (1940) and Rouse (1941), who substitute the name "Crab" for Igneri and "Shell" for the Taino and Suh-Taino. s Rainey (1940) prefers to derive the Taino and the Suh-Taino (his Shell culture) from the mainland of South America rather than from the Igneri (his Crab culture).

Vol. 4]
THE ARAWAKROUSE
Table
Cultures
2.
517
West Indies
Groups
Classification of cultures in the
Divisions
Cayo Redondo Guayabo Blanco

Couri
Cuban Ciboney
Cabaret
Haitian Ciboney
Bay
of
Conch
Ciboney
Dominican Nonpottery Strata Coroso (?)
Krum Bay
Savanetta
(
(?)
?)
Other Ciboney (?)
Early Erin Bay-Palo Seco Late Erin Bay-Palo Seco Coral Bay-Langford Cuevas
Igneri
Magens Bay-Salt River

Esperanza
518
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
In 1500 Bobadilla replaced Columbus as governor of Hispaniola.

the Indians were
Since
3 months, the
now unable to provide the proper amount of gold every new governor demanded that each chief contribute a certain
work
in the
number
of Indians to
Spanish gold mines.

all
Two
years later
Bobadilla's successor,
Ovando, ordered
this
the Indians of the island (in-
cluding those of the easternmost province of Higuey, which had never been
conquered) to be used in
of repartimientos, the principal cause for the extinction of the
manner, thus establishing the dread system Arawak.
All available male Indians on the island were distributed
among
the
Spanish colonists
in this
they were to
work
in the gold
mines or on the planta-
8 months of the year. Each Indian treated manner received the name "encomendado" if he worked as a house servant of his master, he was called instead a "naboria" (Wright, 1916,
tions of their masters for 6 or
;
pp. 42-48).
In theory the system of repartimientos was to operate for the benefit of

It was intended to give them the opportunity to learn Spanish and the Christian religion, in return for supplying a moderate amount of labor. In practice, the system was badly abused. The Indians were overworked and ill-fed many of them starved to death, others com-
the Indians.
culture
mitted suicide.
fathers,
Mothers
killed their children to spare
them the
lot of their
and
in addition hurricanes
and smallpox decimated the population.
By
1535, only 500 natives were
left
on the island; and the
colonists
were
importing Negroes and Indians from other parts of the Caribbean to take
their place.
The Arawak
larly in the
did not accept this treatment without a struggle, particu-
extreme eastern and western parts of Hispaniola, where the

still
Spanish control was
weak.
The
conquistadors, however, easily put
down
the rebellions, in
many
cases using great cruelty.
The captured
Only
in
Indians were either massacred or branded and treated as slaves.
the southwest did the natives succeed in withstanding the Spaniards.
There, after a struggle of 15 years, the cacique, Enrique,

able peace
won an honorand was allowed to establish a village of his own at Boya, 30 miles from what is now Trujillo City. Between 1540 and 1550, when the gold of the islands had been exhausted and most of the colonists had turned to richer fields in Mexico and
Peru, the system of repartimientos was abolished, but the damage had
been done.
When
Sir Francis
Drake
visited Hispaniola in 1585, he re-
ported that not a single Indian was
left alive.^
The
fate of the Indians
was the same
in Puerto
Rico and Jamaica,
which the Spaniards
settled in
1508 and 1509 after the conquest of Hisresult of slave raids

still
paniola had been completed.
In the Bahamas, too, the Indian population
was destroyed before 1600, as the

Ober (1895,
p.
undertaken by the
in 1798.
289), however, notes that half-breeds
lived at
Boya
Vol. 4]
THE ARAWAKROUSE
519
colonists of Hispaniola to replenish the diminishing supply of Indians on

that island/
In Cuba, on the other hand, the situation was different.

cause this island was the
partly because of
its
Partly be-
last in the
Greater Antilles to be conquered and
great size, the natives there succeeded in surviving
the system of repartimientos.

still
When
it
was abolished
in 1550, there
were
over 2,000 Indians in Cuba, as compared with some 700 Spaniards. They were set up in towns of their own near the principal Spanish towns
and were allowed
to own their own property and govern their own affairs. The Indians prospered they built up farms and established trade with In the 18th century they founded at least one new town, outsiders.
;
Jiguani, in the eastern part of Cuba.
During the
in eastern
first
half of the 19th
Cuba (Yara, near Baracoa Dos Brazos, between Baracoa and Yateras La Giiira, near Yateras; El Caney, near Santiago; and Jiguani), in one town in the central
century they were living in
;
five
towns
part of the island near Camagiiey, and in another at
Guanabacoa across the

;
bay from Habana.

1900, although
Contact with the Spaniards was constant
the In-
dians gradually intermarried with them and took over their culture.
some 400 Indians

Giiira,
still
survived, mainly at Yara,
By Dos
had
Brazos, and
La
(pis.
almost
all
traces of the native
mode
of life
disappeared
96-97).
About
of
the time of the discovery of America, or perhaps later, a group
Araivak from Cuba migrated to Florida in search of the fountain of youth. Under the leadership of the chief, Sequene, and of his son Carlos,
they founded a
town
called
Abaibo somewhere
in southern Florida
and
established a semblance of control over the original inhabitants of the

region, at the
their origin.
same time preserving their contacts with the country of These Indians had some relations with the Spaniards, but
their fate is not
known
(Escalante Fontaneda, 1837-41, vol. 20).
At
1498.
the other end of the Antilles,
Columbus discovered Trinidad
in
The
first
attempt to found a colony was made by Spaniards from
Puerto Rico
island
in
1530 to 1540.
until
After the failure of this attempt, the
was abandoned
1584,
when De Berros converted
it
into a
base for his search for El Dorado on the neighboring mainland.

result, the natives
As
escaped the system of repartimientos.
They did not

European
avoid a decline in population, however.

the attempts to found a colony.
diseases, too,
Many
fell
Indians died in resisting

raids.
Others
prey to slave
swept the
island.
When
At
the British took Trinidad from
the Spaniards in 1797, only 1,082 Indians
were
left;
34 years later the

live at
population had declined to 726.
present, about
200 Indians
Arima
in Trinidad.
Although
called Carih, these natives are probably
mainly Arazvak (HoUis, 1941,

'
p.
5; Bullbrook, 1940, p. 4).
Culin (1902, p. 185), however, was told that Indians still lived in the unexplored parts of Abaco Island in bis time. Similar reports are current in some of the other islands, but, except in Cuba, all appear to be unfounded.
Little
520

SOURCES
[B.A.B. Bull. 143
The sources for Arawak ethnology fall unevenly into two groups. majority of them are concerned with the natives of the Greater Antilles,
while a few contain information on Trinidad. Most of the former date from the original colonization of the Indies, whereas the latter have arisen from the subsequent attempts of the English and the Spaniards to find El Dorado in the Guianas.
the island of Hispaniola,
In the Greater Antilles, as one might expect, our data are richest for where the Spaniards first settled. The earliest
anthropological research in the
New World
when, during
friar
his second voyage, Christopher
named Ramon Pane
to study the
took place on that island Columbus commissioned a religion of the native Arawak.
(F. Columbus,
Pane's report has survived in three principal versions
1811; Las Casas, 1909; and Anghiera, 1912; compiled in Bourne, 1907). It is the only ethnographic source for the Arawak.
All the early historians provide
some information on the
life
of the
Indians of the Greater Antilles, most of them with special emphasis upon
Hispaniola.
The
best information
comes from writers who had
lived in
Hispaniola before the Indians there became extinct, such as Benzoni

(1857), Christopher Columbus (1893, 1930, 1930-33), Ferdinand Colum-
bus (1811), Las Casas (1909, n.d.), and Oviedo y Valdes (1749, 1851Subsequent historians have depended for their data upon the 55, 1906).
original
sources; they include Abbad y Lasierra (1866), Bernaldez (1870), Gomara (1749), Herrera y Tordesillas (1725-26, 1730), Irving (1851), Martyr de Anghiera (1912), Munoz (1797), Scillacio
(1859), and
Tamara (1556).
Charlevoix (1730-31), Cor-
In recent years most writers have turned their attention to summarizing

the ethnographic data for particular islands.
nilliac
(1875), Edwards
(1818-19), Featherman
(1881-91),
Jeft'erys
(1760), Joyce (1916), Krieger (1930),
Nau
(1894), and especially Roth
rales
(1887) have done this for the island of Hispaniola; Fewkes (1907), MoCabrera (1932), Stahl (1889), and Tapia y Rivera (1854) have
done
it for Puerto Rico; Guiteras (1865-66), Santovenia y Echaide (1939), Torre y de la Torre (1841), and Wright (1916) have done it for Cuba; and Cundall (1894) has done it for Jamaica. Ober (1895) has made a brief survey of the ethnography from island to island, while Gower
(1927) and Loven (1935) have traced the distribution of Arawak culture few writers have concerned themselves only with special topics for example, Roumain (1942) and Safford (1916, 1917) have discussed
traits.
the ethnobotany of Haiti, and Bourne (1907) and

studied
De Hostos (1941) have Morales (1883), Coll y Toste (1907), and Zayas y Alfonso (1931) have compiled lexicographies of Arawak words, principally from the sources on the Greater Antilles.
Arawak
religion.
Bachiller y
Vol. 4]
THE ARAWAKROUSE
wealth of information
is
521
Nothing
like this
available for Trinidad.
number of the
historians
who came
into contact with the natives, includ-
ing Castellanos (1874), Dudley (1899), Scott (in Harlow, 1925), and
Sir Walter Raleigh (1848), have provided scattered observations con-
cerning the Indians, but
we
possess no well-rounded picture of their cul-
Fevvkes (1922, pp. 63-65) and Loven (1935, pp. 32-42) have ture. gathered together many of the observations, while BuUbrook (1940,
1941) has supplemented them with archeological information concerning Most recent histories of Trinidad also contain brief the native customs.
references to the Indians.
In view of the great amount that has been written about

ture as
it
Arawak
cul-
was known
at the time of historic contact,
it is
surprising that
Culin (1902) and little has been done with the modern Arawak culture. Torre (1890) have published information on the modern Indians of Cuba, but no account is known to the writer of the Indians at Arima in Trinidad. A thorough study of the customs in these two places, westernized though they are, might reveal some survivals from prehistoric times.
ETHNOGRAPHY
Two
the
systems exist for distinguishing
among
West
Indies at the time of historic contact.
the aboriginal social organization, divides the
Arawak who inhabited One system, based upon Arawak according to islands
the
and within each island according to their chieftainships (maps 9-11). The other, derived from the linguistic and cultural diflFerences recorded in the historic sources, separates the Arawak into five groups (map 8). Three of these have already been defined archeologically (on p. 516).
Ethnographically, they have the following characteristics
Igneri
:
Antilles.
The Arawak who survived the Carih migrations in Trinidad and the Lesser More warlike than the rest of the Arawak, they apparently spoke a
divergent dialect.'
Taino:
tip
of the inhabitants of Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, and the eastern These appear to have been the most typical of the Arawak, with the highest development of ceremonialism." Sub-Taino The Indians of Jamaica and the central part of Cuba. These people spoke the Taino dialect but do not appear to have been as highly developed
The majority
of Cuba.
culturally.'"
tertre,
by the Carib to refer to their Arawak predecessors (DuRafinesque (1836, pp. 163-165) applied it, together with the name Cairi, to the language of the Arawak in the Lesser Antilles. Other ethnographic variants include leri, used by Hollis (1941, p. 6) for the Indians of Trinidad, and Eyeri, which Morales Cabrera (1932, p. 12) applies to an Arawak dialect in Puerto Rico. As a name, the term Taino is not aboriginal but was introduced, probably by Rafinesque (1836), to distinguish the Arawak dialect characteristic of the Greater Antilles from that of the Igneri.
8
The term Igneri was

1667-71,
originally used
vol. 2, p. 361).
The term has

p.
since been used in
26)
to all the
Arawak
of the
tants of the Greater Antilles.
many other ways. Fewkes, for example, applied it at first (1907, West Indies, but later he (1922, p. 56) restricted it to the inhabiThe meaning used above is from Harrington (1921, pp. 412413).
"This term was coined by Harrington (1921, pp. 395-396) to apply primarily to the archeology. Ortiz Fernandez (1943) substitutes the name Ciboney, upon the assumption that it originally applied more to the Arawak of Cuba than to the non- Arawak (see footnote 3, p. 496).
522
IB.A.E. Bull. 143
CiGUAYo: A small group in the northeastern part of the Dominican Republic, who had a divergent dialect and also seem to have been more warlike than the Taino and Sub-Taino.^^ LucAYO The inhabitants of the Bahamas. These "people of the small islands" spoke the Taino dialect but are supposed to have been less advanced in culture. Their differences from the Suh-Taino have not been worked out.
:
Ideally, the following ethnographic data should be presented according

to
one of these two systems.
In practice this
is
impossible because the
conquistadors, not having had the knowledge of the

did not record the data
modern
investigators,
from the standpoint of these systems. Hence, the following account will conform to the usual practice of presenting
the ethnographic data according to island except in the case of Hispaniola,
where a distinction will be made between the Taino and the Ciguayo. The Taino in Hispaniola will be described in detail, since they are the best known, and the remaining Arawak will then be discussed in terms The period treated is circa 1510, of their differences from the Taino. when the Spaniards were in full contact with the Indians in the Greater
Antilles.
THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF HISPANIOLA TAINO

:
In prehistoric times the island of Hispaniola was called Aiti (mountainous country), Bohio
(house), or Quisqueya (mainland).
Its total
population, including both the Taino and the Ciguayo, has been variously
estimated from
height,
100,000 to 6,000,000.
broad-headed, strong-boned, and well proportioned.
The Indians were medium in They had
high
cheekbones,
high brows,
lips,
flat
noses with wide nostrils, thin to
moderately thick
;
soft, and black their Although peaceful and
and generally poor teeth. Their hair was straight, skin copper-hued and their bodies lithe and supple.
;
lethargic, they possessed considerable intelligence
and were quite emotional.

Farming.
planted
it
Manioc
(casavi)
twice a year,
when
the soil
was the staple food of the Taino. They was damp. Every few years they
changed fields, burning out a new clearing in the forests. The women heaped up small mounds and placed in them cuttings of manioc root,
using a fire-hardened digging-stick (coa).
They
fertilized the
trees.
mounds
with urine and also included in them ash from burnt
Irrigation
was extensively practiced
in the
southwestern part of the island.
In colonial times both the bitter and the sweet varieties of manioc were in use; the latter may have been introduced after the Conquest (pi. 91,
Ji The term Ciguayo, together with an alternative, MaQoriges, was used by the Taino for the above group. It refers to the fact that the Ciguayo wore their hair longer than the Taino. (Zayas y Alfonso, 1931, vol. 1, pp. 199-200.)
Vol. 4]
THE ARAWAKROUSE
The method
flint,
523
was to scrape the skin off the root with on a board set with small pieces of flint, and to squeeze the juice out of the shreds in a woven basketwork or cotton tube. One end of the tube was hung from a branch; the other was weighted with a stone or else a woman stood on a cross bar attached to the From the shreds she made a cake, baked it on a discoidal clay tube. griddle (buren) set on three stones over the fire, and parched it in the sun. The ordinary cakes were coarse those for a chief, however, were fine. They were often stored in dried leaves. The juice from the root was used in the pepper pot to be described below. Corn was an important source of food, although apparently more so
6,
7)
of preparation
a piece of
to shred the root
after the Conquest than before. It was always planted on the hillsides and without the benefit of the mounds heaped up for the planting of cassava. The ash from the burned forests was used as fertilizer, and the planting took place twice a year, during a new moon and after it had
to rain. Each planter carried the kernels in a bag around She dibbled four or five kernels in each hole, a pace apart, working the planting stick with a vertical motion. Birds were kept from the fields by the children, stationed on platforms in the trees.
commenced
her neck.
From
the absence of metates in prehistoric times,
that the Taino then
green and used
it
it has been assumed had only a soft variety of corn. They harvested it mainly in a soup. After the Conquest, at least, they
which were of two kinds, one for the commoners and the other for the chiefs. To produce the cake of the common people the women wet the grain and left it overnight. Then they ground it between two stones, or possibly in wooden mortars hollowed out of tree trunks,
cakes,
made
mixed it with water to form loaves, wrapped the loaves in leaves which had previously been moistened, and baked them in the fire. In making bread for chiefs, the process began in the same way, but the meal was washed, the husks removed, and the meal reground into flour before being
baked into cakes, on clay griddles over the fire. Corn meal was also used (after the Conquest
tion of beer.
at least) in the prepara-
The women
it
put meal into large jars of water containing
kernels of corn that had been

to ferment, heated
it
warmed and chewed.

it
They
left this
liquor
for 3 or 4 hours, allowed
to cool,
and then strained
through a
cloth.
Other cultivated plants included the yahutia, the potato, the arrowroot, the bean, the pepper, and the peanut, most of which were mixed with water and with manioc juice in the pepper pot. This was a bowl left on the fire From time to time the Taino ate from it or added to boil continuously. new material to it. The potato and the arrowroot are also said to have
been baked the peanut was eaten with cassava.
;
Wild
plants.
Several wild roots were mixed
in the
pepper
pot.
They
fruits,
included wild varieties of arrowroot, peppers, and a turnip.
Most
524
SOUTH AÎERICAN INDIANS
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
such as the alligator pear, the annona, the coconut, the guayaba, the mamey,
and the papaya, were probably also gathered wild, although there is some mention of fruit gardens near the houses. Another food was guayaga, a
root filled with larvae.
When
they had nothing better the natives con-
sumed
the sour fruit of the mangrove.
Hunting.
worms,
prairies.
The Taino hunted mainly the
hutia,
a small rodent, and the

occasionally
into corrals,
iguana, or giant lizard.

spiders,
They also ate birds, snakes, and and insects. The hunters drove the hutias
using torches and dogs to frighten the animals at night, or else burning the
The
corrals also served as pens for the animals.
Hunters were
able to pluck iguanas ofT trees, by first imitating their call to
make
the
animals open their mouths and then stuffing something in them. They used tame birds to decoy wild parrots within reach, caught geese by hiding themselves in the water under one of several calabashes, and with their
dogs chased other birds which could only hop off the ground, until they tired. Birds and other animals were dispatched with clubs, not with bows and arrows. The flesh was put into the pepper pot or roasted upon a spit,
that of the iguana
chief.
and a certain variety of hutia being reserved for the
said to have been mute.
The only domesticated animals were the dog

in hunting.
and the birds which were used

Fishing.
The former,
called alco, are
There were nets made of cotton and stone sinkers and probably used for dragging. Hooks and lines, the former of one piece (either shell or bone), were common. The natives sometimes poisoned the water with a kind of vine. They also had many-pronged fish spears (the prongs being spines of fish bones), harpoons for taking manatees, baskets for fishing in rivers, and weirs for use in tidal waters. The last were employed both for fishing and for storing fish and turtles. Other sea food included crabs and many varieties of shellfish. Except for fish eyes, which were eaten raw, marine foods were boiled in the pepper pot or roasted on a spit over the fire.
varied.
Fishing techniques
with wooden
or
fiber, fitted
floats
Eating.
evening.
The people
ate at least three times a

is
day
morning, noon, and
A fourth
meal, at night,
it
also mentioned, but this
was probably
only during festivals, for
was preceded by vomiting.
VILLAGES
AND HOUSES
They
are said to have varied in size
Settlements.
The
Taino settlements were located without particular

site.
regard for the nature of the
from a
single dwelling, containing several families, to as
many
as 1,000
These houses were irregularly arranged except in one village on the eastern end of the island, which had a pair of streets intersecting at right angles. Every village contained one or
houses, having a population of 3,000.
Vol. 4]
THE ARAWAKROUSE
525
more ball courts, each of which was a flat, rectangular area lined with an embankment and sometimes also with upright stone slabs. The chief's dwelling was always alongside one of the courts, often at its end. Some
chiefs
had additional buildings outside the
village,
another a temple to house his idols (zemis).

possessions in their
one a storehouse and Other chiefs stored such
Houses.
The Taino dwellings were

;
own
houses, like the ordinary people.

of
two kinds, bohios and caneyes.
The
former, which were large, rectangular, and gabled, were occupied by

the latter, small, circular, and provided with a
(pi. 90, 9).^^
the chiefs (pi. 90, 10)

conical roof,
were for commoners
The houses
of both kinds
had only a single room despite the fact that each was shared, in the case of a chief, by all his wives, in the case of a commoner by several different families. Each had a single low doorway and perhaps also windows but was without a smoke hole.
To construct the rectangular house the people set heavy posts in the ground five to six paces apart, following the line of the wall, and braced them at the top with wooden poles, corded together with rope vines. The central posts at either end were taller to them was attached a ridge pole. Other poles were laid on as rafters, and the roof was thatched with straw, the tops of canes, and palm leaves. The floor was of dirt, but the builders filled in the walls with thick canes, set on end in the ground, and bound them together with rattan. In case the house was exposed to the wind, a series of forked posts were run down the center of the building to give strength to the roof. The circular dwelling was constructed in a similar manner, except that it lacked the ridge pole and had only a single post in the center. Both types are said to have been so well constructed that they rarely had to be rebuilt.
;
Household furniture.
;
Most
of
the
Indians
slept
in
hammocks
(hamaca), made of cotton netting and hung by cords between two of the house posts (pi. 90, 8) some chiefs used raised platforms instead. Carved
stools,
class,
made
of
wood
or stone, were
common among
the people of higher
baskets
Gourds and hung from the ceiling hunting, fishing, and cooking gear lined the walls. Every house contained one or more idols (zemis). In addition there is mention of platforms set on four posts and used to store food,
;
being used principally during the religious ceremonies.
particularly
manioc cakes.
It is
not
known whether
these platforms v/ere
in the dwellings, in the chief's storehouse, or
were provided with roofs
of their
own.
DRESS
AND ADORNMENT
toilet.
Clothing, hairdress,
and
Most
Taino
men went naked
before the arrival of the Spaniards.
Afterward, they assumed a genital
^ There is some question whether both of these house types were prehistoric. Loven (1935, pp. 340-341) concludes that the rectangular house was introduced by the Spaniards. It is still in use
today in Hispaniola.
526
covering of cotton

(pi. 91, 4).
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
Girls
contrary, even in prehistoric times
they married they exchanged this
who had passed puberty, on the wore a net over their genitals; when for an apron of cotton, grass, or leaves
The
length of this apron seems to
it
which they bound around their hips.

have been a sign of rank upper-class
;
women wore
down
to their ankles.^^
To keep
off
off the rain
the people covered themselves with the fibrous sheaths
palm shoots (yagua), just as the modern inhabitants do. Both men and women originally wore their hair in tufts, between which the head was shaved. After the Conquest the custom (for adults, at least) was to cut the hair at the neck and fasten it with a band. The men were beardless, except for a few straggling hairs. Washing was a common custom, both for the sake of cleanliness and as a preventative against sickness. The Taino used an aromatic fruit to form a lather in the water. Painting, tattooing, and deformation. Both sexes painted themselves, some red, others white, black, yellow, or a combination of colors. The occasions varied, but usually painting was done mainly in preparation for festivals and warfare. Men painted their bodies more than women; men favored the red color, women the white. The materials used were vegetable matter, mixed with a resinous gum. Warriors were accustomed to paint their whole bodies red; other persons often painted themselves
with figures of their zemis.
were tattooed as well as painted, sharpened The mothers flattened the foreheads They also pierced their children, a high one being considered ugly. of for the insertion of pendants. the ears and the nasal septum Ornaments. Ear and nose ornaments were of gold, silver ( ?), stone, hone, or shell and were hung on cords. Many were carved in the shapes of zemis. No mention is made of earplugs, but some clay heads bear ear
figures of the zemis
The
reeds being used for the purpose.
disks that have concave sides.
Necklaces were common, the beads being of stone, bone,

gold.
shell, clay,
or
They belonged principally to the upper classes, who prized them highly. Each family handed down its beads from generation to generaMost beads tion, giving them to children who were about to be married.
were discoidal
;
some were
insertion of feathers.
cylindrical and pierced transversely for the Armlets and leg bandages were made either with
beads or from cotton.
When
they went into battle the warriors wore on their foreheads
little
During dances and upon ceremonial occasions feathers were inserted in the hair, and many people wore masks of wood or shell, often inlaid with gold. Other
stone figures of men, flexed and with prominent penises.
women who wore
women
the long.
Authorities disagree concerning: this apron, some failing to specify that it was the married it. Others have not noted the distinction between short and long aprons. Charlevoix (1730-31, p. 37) states that the unmarried women wore the short aprons, married
1*
Still
other authors
fail to
mention the net worn by unmarried women.
Vol. 4]
THE ABA WAKROUSE

of gold
527
ornaments included plates
suspended on the forehead and girdles
of cotton interwoven with small beads of fishbone or with pieces of gold.
Occasionally these girdles were decorated with tiny masks.
As
a pendant of gold, alloyed with copper.
a symbol of their rank, the chiefs wore suspended from their necks This pendant, called a guanin,
was apparently imported from South America. Chiefs are also said to have had gold crowns and feather headdresses their women, gold wreaths and turbans. Gold objects, it appears, were a sign of high rank.
;
TRANSPORTATION
The Taino had dugout canoes (canoa) made from Cottonwood (Ceiba) trees. They burned a ring around
with
fire,
the cedar and

the tree to
kill
and hollowed the log by alternate burning and it, felled it The ends of the canoe were square (pi. 91, 1). The larger chopping. canoes, some of which could carry 70 or 80 men, belonged to the chiefs they were the only ones painted. There were no sails, the only method of propulsion being paddles, spade-shaped with cross-bar handles and very long blades. Bailing was done with gourds. The canoes were used not only to coast the shore of Hispaniola but also Single men were not afraid to set out to travel from island to island. on long trading voyages, carrying only food and a gourd of water. Travel by land was not common. There were paths, but they were just broad enough for a single man to pass at a time. The chief traveled in a litter, the chief's son rode on the shoulder of a retainer, and the chief's brother walked, supported beneath the arms by two men of upper class. The people originally carried burdens only in baskets on the back. After the Conquest the balance pole came into use (pi. 91, 8).
MANUFACTURES
nor bark cloth.
Basketry and weaving. The Taino apparently possessed neither mats They wove some baskets from biheo leaves and maguey The technique is not known, but an impression of fiber (pi. 91, 8).
twilling has been found on a griddle sherd excavated in Haiti. Baskets used
for storage of trinkets
had a double wall and a cover, which made them Other baskets may have been open, since they were used variously to carry salt and to bring offerings to the idols. Cordage made from native hemp, from maguey fiber, from a certain
waterproof.
brown
that cotton
and from cotton, was common (pi. 91, 9). There is no proof was woven into cloth. It is mentioned in connection with the manioc squeezer and the fabrication of bags, hammocks, and aprons; but
grass,
the technique
disks,
may have been netting rather than weaving. Drilled pottery perhaps spindle whorls, have been found in some archeological sites,
lack of large land
but these prove only the making of cotton cord.
The
mammals precluded
the working of skins.
528
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Pottery and gourds.
Pottery was common.

and
fired
it
The
potter built
up the
Shapes
vessel with the coiling technique
in
an open hearth.
is
include bowls used for pepper pots

platters, spherical bottles,
(the boat-shape
characteristic),
and flat griddles for baking cassava. The Indians also made gourd containers used mainly for carrying drink-
ing water.
Stonework.
are
A few stone bowls have been found in Hispaniola, some

Hammer-grinders and
pestles of stone
sculptured with zemilike designs.
common; mortars
flint;
are rare.
These, too, are sometimes sculptured.
The Taino
knives of
Celts
of the northwestern part of the island
made daggers and
elsewhere only
flint
chips seem to have been used.
were
either of stone or shell.
They were
petaloid in shape, the
pointed butt being inserted in a cleft in the
handle and bound with a
cord
(pi. 90,
12).
Picks were of shell or manatee bone; there were also
chisels of shell or stone
and wedges
of
of shell.
Woodwork.
ticularly
The inhabitants of the western part

fire,
of Hispaniola, par-
on the island
Gonave, were excellent woodworkers.
They
made
sticks
well-polished bowls, hollowed out with
and
stools, the latter
often being carved with zemis.
Other
articles of
fire drill.
with fire-hardened points and the
wood included digging The latter was a stick,
twirled between the hands and resting either upon a softer stick or upon two lighter sticks tied together (pi. 91, 2). Metallurgy. The Taino washed gold from the mountain streams or dug it out of sedimentary deposits, particularly river beds that had dried up after the rainy season. They knew how to beat the metal upon pieces of stone but not how to smelt it. There are a few references to copper and silver, which may have been imported from South America. The ornaments of metal have already been described. Metal was employed
only for ornaments.
SOCIAL
On Hispaniola the Spaniards observed five provinces, or chieftainships, not counting that of Ciguayo, which will be discussed below in connection
with those people.
These provinces are shown on map 10, Magua, in the northeastern part of the island, was the most populous. The wealthiest and most aristocratic was Xaragua to the southwest it was the model As shown on map 10, each of refinement in customs and manners.
;
province had
to
its
own
chief, called
a "cacique."
In addition, there are said
have been some 30 subchiefs in control of local districts within each province and 70 to 80 headmen in charge of the villages of the provmce. Each chief, subchief, or village headman seems to have governed the
village in
which he resided.
He
organized the daily routine or work,

tilling
arranging for hunting, fishing, and
the
soil.
He was
also respon-
Vol. 4]
THE AHA WAKROUSE
529
Map
10.
The
of
aboriginal
;
provinces of Hispaniola.
1,
Marien (chieftainship of
;
Goacanagaric)
tainship
2,
Maguana
;
(chieftainship of Caonabo)
3,
;
Magna
5,
(chieftain-
ship of Guarionex)
4,
;
Xaragua
6,
(chieftainship of Behechio)
(chieftainship
Caj'acoa)
Ciguayo
of
Higuey (chiefMayobanex). (After
Charlevoix, 1730-31.)
sible for the storage of extra provisions
and for
their ultimate distribution
among
the villagers.
His was the
largest canoe in the village
and he
probably directed transportation.
He
acted as host to visitors and con-
ducted relations
vîth other villages,
through their
chiefs, subchiefs, or
headmen.
He was
the leader at feasts and dances, and, having learned
His were the most and he organized their worship by the villagers. His authority is said to have been despotic; he could order the death of his subjects, and they had to obey his commands to the letter. The authority of the headman apparently extended no farther than his own village, but the subchief also had a certain control over the other
the songs by heart, he also directed the singing.
village,
powerful zemis in the
villages in his district, while the chief's authority
extended over the entire
and subchiefs exacted no tribute from their subordinate villages, but they had the power to requisition agricultural or military services. This power may have been quite nominal and dependent largely on the personalities of the chiefs and subchiefs, for there is some evidence that it shifted considerably from time to time. Each chief was always addressed in full by a set of some five titles
province.
chiefs
The
which he inherited with his

special houses,
office.
He was
least
also entitled to special food,

special
special dress
and ornaments, and the
modes
of
transportation already described.
At
one of the
chiefs,
Goacanagaric,
spoke to his subjects only through two old men.
These prerogatives were inherited

brother
matrilineally.
They went
first
to
the eldest son of the eldest sister; failing sister's sons, they passed to a
;
and only
failing these did the chieftainship pass to a son.
Women
relatives
were
also allowed to inherit the position.
In absence of any
relatives, the people
chose as chief the most worthy and powerful man.
530
Beneath the

set of chiefs
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
the Spaniards called nobles,
nos) acted as the chief's
was a hierarchy of other social classes which commoners, and slaves. The nobles (nitayassistants; for example, they supervised com-
munal labor. Only they and the chiefs attended the cahoba meetings at which snuff was taken to decide matters of village policy, such as war or peace. They also had certain unspecified judicial functions. The commoners, for whom no native name is given,^* did the actual work of the village. In this they were assisted by the slaves (naborias), whose exact status is not known. They seem to have been dependents of the chiefs and nobles. There is some indication that all of these classes tended to be endogamous. Crimes were judged by the chief, who imposed punishments. In the case of theft, the penalty was death, the guilty person being impaled on the branch of a tree and left to die. Adultery, too, was punished by
death.
Etiquette.
The
Taino were a hospitable people.
The
chief of each
village acted as host;
he went out to receive the traveler, brought him
into his house, seated
him on
his stool,
and provided him with
food.
;
The
they
other people of the village sat on their heels around the visitor
if
wished to honor him, they placed their hands on his head. It was the custom to offer women from the village for sexual intercourse and to give
feasts for important people.
At a
feast for the Spaniards, the chief's
wives danced and there was a gladiatorial contest, in which several
men
were killed with the bow and arrow. To show friendship the Taino would exchange names or presents with their visitors.
Economic organization.
Pane
The extent of private property

myth implying
is
not clear.
{in Bourne, 1907, p. 323) quotes a
that each
man
inherited his family's agricultural land.
Personal property, including
beads and other ornaments, was inherited matrilineally, as in the case of

the chieftainship, or else
it
time of marriage or death.
was transmitted in the form of gifts at the House owners laid canes across the door to
prevent entrance and theft of personal property.
communal agricultural and hunting and of the communal storehouse controlled by the chief, suggests that food and perhaps other materials were held in common. Many writers refer also to a general lack of acquisitiveness the Taino were
the other hand, the mention of
activities,
;
On
generous in giving away their possessions.
For this purpose from one village to another, sometimes overland and sometimes by canoe, from province to province or from island to island. Manioc, pepper, stools, wooden bowls, pottery,
individuals or groups of Indians traveled
Several sources mention a term "guajiro." This may have applied to the common iJcoplej lists the guajiros before the nitaynos, thus suggesting that they were of higher rank.
1*
Despite a lack of markets, trading was common.
Las Casas, however,
Vol. 4]
THE ARAWAKROUSE
531
and carved stone objects were the principal objects of barter. Cere.g., Gonave Island off the west coast of Hispaniola was noted for its woodwork. Hispaniola as a whole had a reputation throughout Cuba and the Bahamas for its gold. The plates of guanin (gold and copper alloy) must have been traded in from South America, probably before the arrival of the Carib in the
gold,
tain places specialized in different products
;
Lesser Antilles.
LIFE CYCLE
Birth and childhood.

ately after delivery, the
There is no record of birth customs. Immedimother washed the baby in the sea or in a river.
chiefs gave their children to the wise
Upon
child,
the birth of a chief's son the villagers congregated to salute the
using his
titles.
The
men
to
be taught the origin myths and the recitation of the deeds of their ancestors.
Chastity was not valued it was considered desirable for a bride to have had sexual experience. Incest was unknown. Continence is reported to have been observed only during the 20-day period when the men were gathering gold (p. 532). There were said to have been berdaches, who
;
dressed as
women.
Marriage. The tendency was to marry a person of one's own rank. Marriage with a sister or the daughter of a sister was prohibited. The prospective groom had to pay a bride price if he were poor he could work it out by service to his future father-in-law. A chief who wished to marry opened negotiations by sending one of his principal men to ob;
tain the consent of the prospective bride's father,

gift of food.
sometimes carrying a
Then
the chief himself visited the father and arranged for

of
the bride price,
which consisted of plates
guanin and strings of stone
beads, to be paid in daily installments during a month.
Throughout the
month
estate,
the future bride remained in seclusion in a hut, seeing no one but
the girls
who brought her food. Then
her hair was cut to signify her
new
and the marriage was celebrated with dancing and a feast, at which time the father-in-law gave guanin and beads to the bridegroom, apparently in exchange for the bride price.^^ Residence seems to have been patrilocal, despite the matrilineal inheritance. Polygyny was prevalent but only among people who could afford
it. It was largely limited to chiefs at the time of the Conquest, 1 chief had 30 wives. One of the wives was always considered the principal one authorities differ as to whether she had control over the rest. All the wives lived, ate, and slept together in the same house. Several Spaniards looked for evidence of divorce but were unable to find it. Division of Labor. Columbus observed that women worked more than men. They cultivated the crops, prepared the food, brought water, cared for domesticated animals, and wove the basketry and cloth (if any).
;
^ Some
sources say these gifts went to the daughter rather than to her husband.
532

fished, cleared the fields, helped
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
The men hunted and

crops,
women
harvest
and taught the children customs and rites. They collected gold, forming expeditions which had to remain away from the women for 20
days.
Death and
die,
burial.
When
it
became apparent
that a chief
was about
to
This was also done to commoners upon the order of the chief. The dying person might, instead, be driven out of the house by his relatives or he might be abandoned in his hammock with food and
he was strangled.
water nearby.
The methods of disposing of the body varied. If the deceased had been abandoned before death, the people returned later to collect and bury his bones. If he had died in his house, the building might be burned with the body inside. Often the corpse was flexed, wound with cotton, and placed in a prepared grave, which might be lined with sticks. Another method was to deposit the corpse in a cave. If the deceased were a chief, his body was sometimes disemboweled and dried over the fire, apparently to be kept as a fetish (zemi). The heads of both chiefs and commoners
were similarly treated and kept in baskets in their children's houses. Grave objects were sometimes placed with the corpse: a bowl of water and some bread, the deceased's personal ornaments, and, in the Several of a chief's case of a chief, the stool upon which he had sat.
wives were often buried alive with his body.
ceremony
is
mentioned only
in connection with the burial of a chief.
The dead
and his neighbors came together, divided up his personal property, composed chants to commemorate his reign, and danced and sang for 15 or 20 days. The chants composed at this ceremony were sung throughout the reign of the chief's successor.
chief's followers
WARFARE
The Taino were a
relatively peaceful people
and had
little
success in
defending themselves against Carib raids.

putes betwen the chiefs,
They sometimes fought among
themselves to avenge murders, but most of their wars resulted from dise.g.,
over hunting or fishing rights or the refusal
of one chief to deliver his daughter to another

price.
who had
paid the bride
All
men
took part in the fighting, but only the chiefs and nobles
attended the meeting at which snuff was taken and warfare was decided
upon.
as
One
of the chiefs
was
elected to lead the attack
the nobles acted
bodyguards for the chiefs. Warriors kept their weapons at home. These included the spear thrower, or atlatl (a staff with fishbone peg and a braided-cotton loop for the fingers), the javelin (sometimes pointed at the end and hardened in the fire, otherwise provided with a stone point or with one to three bone
spines), clubs (often digging sticks wielded with
two hands), and
stones.
The
distribution of the
bow and arrow was
intermittent; they were
com-
Plate
Top: Ball courts at Capa, Puerto Puerto Rico. Bottom (left): Burial from El Mango near Banes, Cuba. Bottom {right): Petroglyphs on St. Vincent. (Top and center, after Mason, 1941 a, pi. 2, iig. 1, and pi. 15,
sites in the
86.
Arawak
West
Indies.
Rico.
Center: Walls of a ball court at Capa,
fig. 2; bottotn (right)
after Joyce, 1916, pi. 28,
fig.
1.)
J
Plate
87. Arawak pottery from the West Indies, a, Modeled-incised vessel from Trinidad; h, white-on-red painted bowl of Cuevas type, Puerto Rico; c, vmpainted bowl of Cuevas type, Puerto Rico; d, red-painted bowl of Ostiones type, Puerto Rico; e, unpainted bowl of Collores type, Puerto Rico; /, incised bowl of Boca Chica type, Dominican Republic; g, spindle whorl, Dominican Republic; h, stamp, Dominican Republic; i, incised bowl of Meillac type (reconstructed), Haiti; j, water bottle of Carrier type (reconstructed), Haiti; k, idol, Cuba; I, griddle (reconstructed), Haiti. (6, c, and e, approximately Yi actual size; others, size unknown.) (a, After Fewkes, 1922, pi. 3, c; c, /, g, and h, after Kreiger, 1931, pis. 43, left; 34, top: and 35, fig. 2; i, j, and I, after Rouse, 1941, pis. 6, fig. 1; 26, fig. 2, and 26, fig. 3.)
m
Plate
88. Arawak stone and bonework from the West Indies, a, Monolithic stone ax, Dominican Republic; 6, rectangular stone adze, Puerto Rico; c, petaloid stone celt, Dominican Republic; d, eared stone ax, St. Vincent; e, uoomorphic stone pendant, Haiti; /, stone bird, Puerto Rico; g, stone collar, probably Puerto Rico; h, stone bead, Puerto Rico; i, three-pointed stone, Puerto Rico; j, stone mortar, Puerto Rico; k, elbow stone, Puerto Rico; Z, stone
Puerto Rico; m, stone pestle, Dominican Republic; n, {jroblematical o, bone swallow sticks, Puerto Rico; p, bone idol, Cuba. (Approximate sizes: a, }{; c, k, and m, y-,; d, )i; e, Yi,; h, j, and /, %; i, yi; n, ]i; remainder unknown.) (a, c, /, k, I, m, and o, After Fewkes, 1907, pis. 14, a;
seat,
stone, Guadeloupe;
15, a; 25, b; 69,
b, figs.
40; 7;
and
pi. 2, e.
e,
24, fig. 3; 18,
fig.
2;
and
17, fig. 3.
p,
Fewkes, 1922,
pis. 112, c; 81, c.
d, g, and i, After Joyce, 1916, pis. After Rouse, 1941, fig. 7. j and n, After After Rouse, 1942, pi. 6, n.)
d
a
Plate
and woodwork from the West Indies, a, Shell celt, Cuba; c, shell mask, Cuba; d, shell teeth, Cuba; e, shell disk, Cuba;/, shell pendant, Cuba; g, shell bird, Cuba; h, wooden idol. Greater Antilles; i, shell pendant, Cuba; j, wooden seat, Dominican Republic; k, w'ooden idol, Puerto Rico; I, wooden seat, Bahamas. (Approximate sizes: f^j Mi; ^, 'Is; l, Ms; remainder unknown.) (6, d-g, and z, y^'i K Vn; i, %; j, After Rouse, 1942, pis. S, a, h, e; 7, q; 8, d; and 7, /). and j, After Joyce, k and I, After Fewkes, 1907, pis. 90, c; 93, d ) 1916, pis. 21 and 22.
89.
Arawak
h,
shell
Puerto Rico;
shell ring,
/;,
^jttmmmmmtmm^
Plate
90. Arawak history and ethnography in Kispaniola. I, Coat of anus of Christopher Columbus; 2, southern cross, as used for navigation by the conquistadors; 3-6, Taino drums, sliowing the varieties of gonghke openings; 7, tube used by the Taino for sniffing cohoba snuff; 8, Taino hammoclv, as set up while traveling; 9, circular house (caney) used by Taino commoners; 10, rectangular house (bohio) used by Taino chiefs; 11, genital covering worn by Taino men before the coming of the Spaniards; 12, stone ax used by the Taino in hollowing out canoes. (After Oviedo y Valdes, 1851-55, vol. 1,
pi. 1.)
."SL^dL^/Si
J
Plate 91. Arawak ethnology and plants in Hispaniola. 1, Taino canoe, allowing manner of paddling; 2, fire drill, as used by the Taino; 3, gold torque found as an arclieological specimen in Asturias, Spain; 4, Taino mining gold for the
Spaniards with native bowls of wood; 5, the cut used for emeralds in the Mediterranean world; 6-7, leaves of the bitter manioc; 8, Taino carrying two baskets by means of a balance pole; 9, the maguey plant, from which the Taino made cordage; 10, the pineapple. (After Oviedo y Valdes, 1851-55,
pi. 2.)
Plate 92. Arawak dance
to the earth
goddess.
(After Picard.
Reproduced
from Fewkes, 1907,
pi. 10.)
Vol. 4]
THE AKAWAKROUSE
in
533
Ciguayo territory on the eastern end of the island and nobles The arrows seem to have been made in the same manner as darts they were featherless and bore poison only in the vicinity of the Ciguayo territory. Warriors practiced dodging missiles. Before going into battle, they painted their bodies red, hung little stone images of the zemis on their foreheads, and danced. They did not use feathers and had no martial music.
used them more than commoners.
;
monest
They
attacked from ambuscades and attempted to surprise the enemy.

is
No
mention
made of
is
the treatment of prisoners or of cannibalism, but
a victory dance
recorded.

Art. The Taino had developed stone carving to a greater extent than any of the other Indians of the Tropical Forests. They also carved well in wood, bone, and shell. Their modeling in clay, however, was poor. No examples of painting, which was done principally on the human body, have
survived.
The overwhelming
art motif
was the zemi, represented as a grotesque
anthropomorphic being, usually with the arms and legs flexed and with prominent male or female genitals (p. 535). This occurred as petroglyphs,
in the
form
of idols,
and upon secular implements and

a straight
line
utensils.
A cruder,
geometric type of design was also produced, the principal motif being
an oval
tests,
line enclosing
ending in dots.
Games and
The
last
sports.
The
Indians were fond of various athletic con-
all, a ball game. which formed part of each village. As many as 20 persons participated on a side. They used a rubberlike ball made from the gum of a tree. The players had to keep it in the air without crossing a line, knocking it out of the court, or touching it with their hands and feet. Each time one of the sides failed to do this, its opponents scored a point. The spectators sat around the court on slabs of stone, the chiefs on their carved wooden stools. Both men and women played this ball game, but never together (ex-
including running, wrestling, fighting, and, above
was played
in a rectangular court,
cept that the
young men
of the village occasionally
opposed the young
women).
villages.
Often
village played village, using the large courts outside the
The
chiefs sometimes offered prizes.
games and other contests were accompanied by dancing, which also took place upon ceremonial occasions, such as the marriage or death of a chief, before and after victory in battle, and during the autumnal festival in honor of the chief's zemis (pi. 92). The more solemn dances were organized by the chiefs, who sent messengers to inform the people the more jocular ones, however, took place without authority. Sometimes the men and women attended together; sometimes they had separate
ball
The
dances.
6S3334
48
36
534
Dances.
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Dances
were usually held
at night,
when
preparation, the Taino bathed, decorated themselves,
it was cool. In and vomited, using
an emetic made of the paste from an herb (see below). Men and women, if both were present, sometimes danced together or separately. They stood opposite each other or formed a ring, sometimes
placing their arms on each other's shoulders. The leader (a chief) began, and then the dancers repeated his motions. Often violent, these consisted of a series of steps or else of pantomime. In one case the women are said to have carried branches of trees. In historic times, at least, the dancers were liberally supplied with corn beer and usually became quite drunk. Some took snuff and became unconscious. An unconscious chief was put to bed, but ordinary people were left on the ground. The dance lasted until the people became exhausted. Such dances were accompanied by singing, the two together being termed an areito. The leader of the dance also led the singing; he sang a phrase in a medium voice, and then it was repeated in a higher tone by the dancers. Only the chief and nobles could act as leaders they learned the songs by heart in childhood. Each song lasted 3 or 4 hours, and it dealt with one of the following topics Warfare, mourning, love, the history and deeds of ancestors. In particular, power of the zemis, and the there were songs celebrating the events of the previous chief's reign, composed at his funeral and sung throughout the reign of his successor. Musical instruments. Three kinds of musical instruments were used drums, rattles, and a kind of Castanet, to accompany the songs and dances The drums were actually gongs hollowed out of logs (pi, 90, 3-6). Like
;
:
modern matracas,
shamans had
the rattles consisted of gourds
filled
with stones those of

;
For castanets the Taino used little plates of metal, attached to the fingers. Only the chiefs and principal men were accustomed to play these instruments, but the ordinary people wore strings of snail shells on their arms and legs while dancing, to give a rattling
split handles.
sound.
Stimulants.
Tobacco was native

from the Piptadenia
to Hispaniola.
leaf in
The Taino made
it
into cigars (tabaco),
wrapping the dried
a corn husk.
This smok-
ing was apparently secular; for religious purposes the natives prepared
snuff (cahoba)
plant, grinding the seeds in mortars,
carrying the powder in calabashes suspended around their necks, and

sniffing
it
through forked tubes
(pi. 90, 7).
also
pounded up and drank the leaves
of
it,
During the ceremonies they an herb (gioia), which may have

in order to induce vomiting.^^
been either coca or a plant resembling
There is considerable difference of opinion concerning these uses of narcotics. Roth (1887, 258) follows Oviedo y Valdes in assuming that the sniffing through tubes was of tobacco smoke Loven (1935, pp. 388-394) concludes that snuff was used but that it was rather than a powder. made from tobacco leaves rather than Piptadenia seeds. Roth (1887, p. 259) has likewise suggested The version presented that the leaves taken to induce vomiting were of tobacco rather than coca. above is taken from Safford (1916. 1917) and Roumain (1942).
1*
p.
Vol. 4]
THE ARAWAKROUSE
RELIGION
535
Spirits.
^The Taino believed

spirits of
in the existence of spirits or souls, not
own phenomena. The

only in their
bodies but also in
some
trees, rocks,
and other natural
nature are not named, and our sources do not

spirits of living
describe their character.
The
people were called "goeiz"
Even during life the goeiz could leave the body; after death they went as opias to an earthly paradise called Coaibai, which was said to be a remote valley in some part of Hispaniola. At night the opias sometimes returned to visit the living and to obtain a certhose of the deceased "opia."
tain kind of fruit of
which they were fond.
They were apparently
con-
sidered malevolent, for people traveled in groups at night to avoid them.
A woman
There
is
always
felt
for her partner's navel before having sexual inter-
course for fear that a spirit without a navel was attempting to rape her.
some
indication that
;
dreams and nightmares were considered the
work of
the spirits
a man, for example, would sometimes fight with an
opia and then find that he had got hold of a tree, or he would think he was lying with a woman and then find that no one was there and, presumably, that he had been tricked by a spirit. Zemis. The Taino believed that by obtaining control over the spirits of nature and of their ancestors they would gain supernatural power. They did this by constructing idols of wood, stone, bone, shell, clay, cotton, or gold as places for the spirits to reside. These idols were called zemis each person had at least one and often as many as ten zemis. The chief often kept his in a special house built for that purpose on the outskirts of the town; the ordinary people had theirs in their homes. Zemis were also placed in various sacred caves, some being carved on the walls in the form of petroglyphs. The rock carvings in the open in various parts of
the island
may
also have been zemis.
People painted images of their
zemis on their bodies, carved them in jewelry, and decorated

their utensils with them.
many
of
Most zemis were
in the
shape of grotesque
human
beings, often with

also animal
prominent male or female sexual organs.
There were
and
vegetable forms, including turtles, lizards, frogs, birds, leaves, manioc,
and potatoes.
Some zemis were

The
geometric; these included the threestones which the shamans "removed"
pointed stones and possibly the collars and other problematical stone carvings found in the Antilles.
were also considered zemis, as were the bones of the deceased which some Indians kept as fetishes. Those of a dead chief were often encased in a wooden image of the chief others were kept in the house in baskets. Some zemis, such as the bones of an ancestor, seem to have required no special preparation. Others were apparently constructed in response The cotton zemis, e.g., are to dreams or to other visionary experiences. seen during dreams. Those said to have been representations of images
from the bodies of
sick persons
;
536
of

:
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
wood or of stone were made in the following manner When a Taino was going through a forest, he might discover by an unusual movement of a tree that he was being accosted by a spirit. He would ask the spirit for its command and would be told to fetch a certain shaman. After arriving at the tree, the shaman would take snuff in an apparent effort to induce visions of the spirit and would "converse" with the latter. If the spirit so instructed, the shaman would cut down the tree and carve from it a zemi in the form ordered by the spirit. He would bring this zemi, with the spirit inside it, to his house or temple and there worship it. The zemis were highly regarded because of the powers they were thought to give to their owners. Each Taino boasted that his were the best. We
hear of attempts by one person to steal the zemis of another and of the
whether by trade or by inwould seem that the chiefs depended for their power on the superiority of their zemis. This is revealed by the experience of the Spaniards when they discovered that a chief had constructed a speaking tube between his zemi and a hidden corner, where a confederate spoke into the tube, making it appear that the zemi was talking. The Spaniards threatened to expose this deception, whereupon the chief begged them not to, saying that it would undermine his authority over his subjects. Each zemi had its own name, and there was a story concerning its origin, its personality, and its powers, often set forth in song. Many zemis had supernatural characteristics, such as the ability to regrow legs that had been burned off or the strength to break cords with which they were bound, but otherwise they were believed to act as in natural life. The zemis in human shape, e.g., would eat the food offerings set before them. One male zemi is said to have been a philanderer a female one was supposed to have had two attendants. Another zemi in the form of an animal was believed to run away into the forests at night, and parties were organized from time to time to search for it.
heritance
is
transfer of zemis from one person to another
not stated.
It
The powers
of the zemis varied.
Some were
believed to influence the
weather, some to foretell future events (particularly victory or defeat in
warfare), some to regulate crops, some to improve hunting and fishing,
some
to
produce wealth, and others to help
women
during childbirth.
The
stones "removed" by shamans from the bodies of the sick were
considered the best for the latter purpose.
Three-pointed stones had the most power over crops. Each zemi was set up in a niche or upon a table, with a smaller table or bowl containing snuff in front of it. When the owner wished to utilize the powers of his zemi, he would place some of the snuff on top of its head (which was often carved flat for the purpose) and would sniff it through a forked tube, thereby inducing visions and learning the will of the zemi. Some people fasted 5 days before communicating with their zemis some
;
vomited
first in
order to purify themselves, using either a stick or the paste
Vol. 4]
THE ARAWAKROUSE
537
by
herb. It is said that some worshipers, weakened perhaps became unconscious when they took the snuff.^^ It was beheved that if a zemi were not supphed with food it would cause its owner to become ill. Therefore, the owner gave it food from time to time or ru.bbed it with cassava. Each fall the whole village brought offerings to the chief's zemis, this being the occasion for an elaborate ceremony organized by the chief. The ceremony began with a procession of the villagers, dressed in their best ornaments and singing songs about the zemis. The chief led this procession, beating on a drum he was followed by men and women carrying baskets of manioc bread, decorated with flowers. The chief seated himself at the entrance to the temple, still beating the drum,
fasting,
;
made from an
while the rest of the people entered.

the zemis.
Within, the
chief's attendants
dressed
Each
of the villagers presented himself before the temple,
pressed a stick
down
his throat,
Then
the worshipers sat back
and vomited in order to purify himself. upon their heels and sang more songs. The
of the zemis
women
brought their bread to the attendants to be presented to the zemis.
Dancing followed, and the people sang the praises

ly the attendants
and
of their
former chiefs, also offering prayers for the prosperity of the

the heads of families.
village.
Final-
broke up the manioc bread and distributed the pieces to
These fragments were preserved
all
year as a pro-
tection against accidents.
SHAMANISM
It is
not clear whether the chief and his attendants (the principal
men
of the village)
name, bohuti. They wore the figures of their zemis on their bodies, communicated with the zemis or with other spirits of the dead at public seances, and had enough position to refuse to accept the poorer people as patients. When curing a sick person they worked only in the presence of the principal men and received gifts of cassava in payment. Before the shaman visited a sick person both he and his patient fasted.
latter
were also shamans.
The
had a
special
The shaman then took

his zemi.
snuff in order to learn the cause of the disease from
He
(p.
blackened his face with soot and proceeded to the sick
person's hut.
There he swallowed an herb

534).
called gioia,
which induced
vomiting
He
lighted a torch, took a certain kind of juice,
and began
the patient, sucked his body, grimaced as
accompanying the song with his rattle. He approached if he had discovered something disagreeable, and drew off an imaginary object, going to the door and
to sing,
throwing
it
outside.
The shaman sometimes sucked

object (secreted
out a stone, a piece of flesh, or a bone
on
his person for the purpose).

;
This was considered the

it
cause of the disease
often the
shaman would put
in a small basket, give
" See footnote 16 above for a discussion of the nature of the snuff and paste taken during ceremonies and for the possibility that tobacco smoke was absorbed.
538
SOUTH AJVIERICAN INDIANS
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
it to the patient after his recovery, and tell him to treat it as a zemi. He might explain that the person had swallowed it, thereby causing the disease, or he might say that the patient's own zemi had put it in his body, making him sick because he had neglected to care properly for the zemi. If the patient died and his family was powerful enough to oppose the shaman, they might blame the latter for the death. Before doing this they attempted to learn from the deceased himself whether the shaman had been
some other from the gioia leaf, they mixed it with the nails of the deceased and with hair from his forehead pounded between two stones, poured the mixture down his throat and nostrils, and asked him to say whether the shaman was the cause of his death. Another method was to place the corpse on live coals, covering it with earth in this case the deceased could answer 10 questions, and smoke from the fire might reach the shaman, causing him, if he were guilty, to break forth in sores. Having learned that the shaman had caused the death, the family waylaid and beat him. This never killed the shaman, however, as his zemis, taking the form of snakes, licked his injuries and helped him to recover. The shaman and certain old women knew various herbs and infusions for treating disease. The only one mentioned by name is guayacan (made by boiling the wood of a tree), which was used to cure pimples. The patient took this for a period of 20 days, during which he had to abstain from meat or fish. Baths and purgatives were considered treatments for disease; some women used an aphrodisiac. No cure is mentioned for
manner.
negligent in his curing ceremony or had caused the death in
Making
juice
syphilis, but
it
may have been
prevalent.
MYTHOLOGY
In response to questions concerning a supreme deity, the Taino mentioned an immortal invisible being called Jocchu
lived in the heavens.
beira,
This person had a mother with

liella,
Vague Maorocon, who five names (Attauncle,
Mamona,
Guacarapita,
and Guimazoa) and a maternal
Guaca.^*
The
Indians believed that the sun and
moon came
out of a cave called
Giououcua, in which they were accustomed to worship at the time of the

Conquest, and that their ancestors had emerged from two other caves
in Hispaniola called Cacibagiagua and Amaiuua. The first people to come out were changed by the sun into stones, trees, and animals. A man named Guaguiona persuaded the women and children to abandon
this
cave
life
in Hispaniola,
He
took the
women
to the island of Matinino
and the children to Guanin, where they eventually turned into small animals (particularly frogs) from Guaguiona himself returned to Matinino and had many lack of food.
(sometimes identified with Guadeloupe)
experiences with the
1*
women, including an
attack of syphilis.
p.
These names vary greatly in the sources.
Bourne (1907,
318) gives a detailed synonymy.
Vol. 4]
THE ARAWAKROUSE
rest of the
539
Meanwhile the
substitute for the
men,
left
alone on Hispaniola, had to find a

of neutral beings
women.
They discovered a group
hidden in a
tree,
The
born
origin of
and had woodpeckers fashion female genitals in them. the sea was attributed to a man Giaia and to four brothers
died at their birth.
to
woman who
The man
Giaia slew his son,
placed the bone in a gourd, and kept the gourd in his hut.
he examined the gourd, the bones had turned to

there, but
fish.
When later He left them

absence
forth.
one time the four brothers came into the hut
in his
and upset the gourd, causing the waters of the sea to pour Several other myths explain how the four brothers, one
called Caracarocol because he
from people
to song.
whom
of whom was was scabby, obtained manioc and tobacco they visited. These stories are said to have been put
LORE AND LEARNING
The Taino
past
could count only to 10.
As
in
already mentioned, they kept
a record of their immediate past in song.
Their only tradition of the far

Martinique and had abandoned
was
that they
had originally lived

is
that island because of quarrels with the rest of the population.
They had
no writing, and there
no information as
to
how
they kept time.
THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF HISPANIOLA: CIGUAYO

In the northeastern part of Hispaniola, principally along the north
coast and on the Peninsula of
Samana, was a small tribe of Indians who spoke a somewhat different Arawakan dialect from the Taino (map 8).^^
As
they also had a
number of
peculiarities in
customs they have been
classed as a separate cultural group, under the
name Ciguayo.
Some
idea of the population of the Ciguayo
statement that they were able to muster as
may be obtained from the many as 15,000 warriors.

and painted
their bodies
They wore
than
their hair longer than other people
completely black.
Feather headdresses were more
common among them
among
their
Taino neighbors.
tions.
In historic times they had a chief
They made fewer aristocratic distincnamed Mayobanex, but he may

chief,
have been under the domination of the neighboring Taino
Guarionex
(map 10). The Ciguayo were

and
the most warlike Indians of the Greater Antilles,
in this respect they
particularly skilled in the use of the
have been compared with the Carib. They were bow and arrow their bows were
;
larger and stronger than those on the other islands.
Except for their
Taino neighbors in the province of Higuey, they were the only Arawak
of the Greater Antilles to use poison arrows.
Indians to attack Columbus without warning

coasts of Hispaniola and Cuba.
They were also the only when he first explored the
"Lov^n
America.
(1935, pp. 46-47) believes that they also represent a separate migration from South

540
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF PUERTO RICO
By Adolfo
de Hostos
POPULATION
Two different peoples the Arazvak and the Carib were found in Boriquen (or Borinquen) by the discoverers. The Arawak, in permanent possession of the lands, formed the great bulk of the population, scattered throughout the island in the coastal settlements as well as in the mountainous interior and along the valleys of the larger streams. The
Carib, evidently newcomers, had fought for and gained isolated footholds, mainly along the eastern and southern coasts.^*^ Seventeenth-century estimates as to population, made by Spanish ob-
servers living in Puerto Rico, vary from 600,000 at the time of discovery
to 20,000 during the Indian rebellion of 1511
(Abbad y Lasierra, 1866,
pp. 279, 290).
The
difference between these figures

to
their acceptance.
According
that this
is too wide to permit Oviedo y Valdes (1851-55; Abbad y
Lasierra, 1866, p. 63), 11,000 Indian combatants gathered at Yagiieca in
1511.
If
we suppose
number
represents the
available at that time,
and that the proportion
of the
maximum manpower male adults who

be surmised that
could bear arms in a relatively feeble-bodied and short-lived population
was approximately
pation.
sites
5 percent of its total, then
it
may
the island had about 200,000 inhabitants 3 years after the Spanish occu-
This is substantiated by the remarkable abundance of prehistoric and remains in Puerto Rico. Most of what is known about the Indians of Puerto Rico concerns the Arawak. These Indians, often called Boriqueno after their name for the island, appear to have been similar both in language and in culture to the Taino of Hispaniola.^^ As a result, Fewkes (1922, p. 169) has placed them in the Taino cultural division.
CULTURE
Unlike the rest of the Arawak in the Greater Antilles, those in Puerto Rico cultivated pineapples, which they exported to the neighboring islands
(Loven, 1935,
p.
406).
To judge from
the archeology, ball courts were
more numerous in Puerto Rico than in Haiti. The stone carving, too, was the best in the Antilles, stone collars, three-pointed or mammiform
Lov6n (1935, pp. 53-58) cites contrary the opinion of Fewkes (1907, p. 219). evidence that no permanent Carib settlements were ever established in Puerto Rico. None have appeared in the archeology. Ikvtng Rouse,
is
soThis
historical
21 Reports that the Eyeri dialect of the Lesser Antilles unfounded (Morales Cabrera, 1932, pp. 12, 332-333).
also existed in Puerto Rico arc probably
Vol. 4]
THE ARAWAKROUSE
541
idols,
and elbow stones being particularly common. Recent research has shown that these objects, of high artistic excellence, are related to agriculsupposed "fertilization" of staple food products by means of certain practices of sympathetic magic. This in-
tural practices, especially to the
volves the representation, both direct and symbolical, of certain natural
agencies
(entomogamous animals) or mythical concepts (rain- or sunprocuring deities) incised or carved on the fetishes (Hostos, 1941, pp.
108-132, 146-174).
Upon
landing on the island in 1508, Juan Ponce de Leon found regional
authority vested in certain chieftains, or caciques.
Whether
these chiefs
exercised authority over the
members
of a clan, a moiety, or a tribe the
author has been unable to ascertain.
Agiieybana, or Giieybana,
is
often
mentioned by some 16th-century chroniclers as the island's principal cacique, but in most cases they fail to state whether this appellation is
given him by reason of the extent of his territory, the number of its inhabitants, or the fact that it comprised other tributary caciquedoms.
Tapia y Rivera, 1854, p. 15), on the other hand, Boriquen (whose name he omits) and states that he was "obeyed by many other caciques." There is a hint here that the Boriquen Arawak constituted a tribe, divided into groups whose exact nature no one, perhaps, would venture to define on the strength
Oviedo y Valdes
{in
refers to the "principal lord" of
of the available data.
The names
states)
of some of the caciques ("regulos," i.e., chiefs of small simultaneously ruling over certain island districts has been pre-
served.
From them
a reconstruction has been
made
of the distribution
of the chieftainships, as
shown on map
11.
Map
Rico and of their chiefs. 1, Ayniaco Yagueca (chief Urayoan) 3, Guajataca (chief Mabodamaca) 4, Guaynia (chiefs Agueybana 1 and 2) 5, Abacoa (chief Arasibo) 8, Jatibonico (chief 7, Sibuco (chief Guacabo) 6, Otoao (chief Guarionex) Orocobix) 9, Toa (chief Aramana) 10, Guaynabo (chief Mabo) 11, Guayama 13, Turabo (chief Caguax) (chief Guamani) 12, Bayamon (chief Majagua) 16, Jaymanio 15, Guayaney (chief Guaraca) 14, Cayniabon (chief Canobana) 18, Daguao (chief Daguao). (chief tainess Yuisa) 17, Macao (chief Humacao)
11.
The
;
principal villages of Puerto

;
(chief
Aymamon)
2,
(After Coll y Toste, 1907.)
542
[B,A.B. Bull. 143
The Puerto Rican Arawak were more warlike than the other Taino, perhaps because of their greater exposure to Carib raids. The warriors
were led into battle by people blowing on conch-shell trumpets. They were expert in the use of the bow and arrow, although they employed no poison. Cannibalism was not practiced. From information available in the texts of some of the early chroniclers (F. Columbus, 1811, pp. 133-141; Casas, n. d., pp. 523-550; Martyr de
Anghiera, 1912, pp.
revealing,
167-176), which, although meagre,
is
sufficiently
and from references as to the functions of some of the Indian artifacts and their possible connection with biological phenomena, it appears that the Arawak of Boriquen based their agricultural practices on animistic conceptions of plant life, although in some respect they were
certainly developing
more
rational ideas.^^
It
has been demonstrated, for
example, that
fertility idols,
commonly
called three-pointed stones,
were
employed
rainfall,
in
an
effort to control certain natural agencies
(insect pests,
religious practices based firmly
etc.) through the efficacy of magicoon animistic reasoning (Hostos, 1941). Idols embodying the stylized form of certain edible roots, or some of their
germination processes,
parts, further strengthened with representations of animals beneficial to
plant
life
or with symbols of rain or bud germination, were generally
utilized in conjunction with formulas of specific
magic to promote plant
growth (Hostos, 1941).
THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF CUBA

POPULATION
The name
known.
tants,
for the island of
Cuba
fall
is
aboriginal;
its
etymology
is
not
Archeological and historical research has shown that the inhabiinto three culturally distinct groups
sometimes called Cubeno,

8).
(map
As
already described, the western tip of the island and certain
On the eastern tip isolated places elsewhere were occupied by Ciboney. were Taino, who are said to have migrated from Hispaniola only 50 years before the Conquest, The remainder of the island was inhabited by SubTaino, who are also believed to have come into Cuba from Hispaniola, after the Ciboney but before the Taino (Rouse, 1942, pp. 30-33). The
population of
all
three groups, taken together, has been variously esti-
mated from 16,000 to 600,000; this would indicate that the island was more sparsely settled than either Hispaniola or Puerto Rico.
CULTURE
The
differences in culture
(Taino and Sub-Taino) are
difficult to
between the two Arawak-speaking groups determine from the sources, for
most of the early explorers did not distinguish between them.
From
the
Soil fertilization mainly by means of sympathetic magic coexisted with certain practical means of fertilization, such as irrigation and the application of organic matter to the soil.
Vol. 4]
THE ARAWAKROUSE
543
Standpoint of archeology, however, the Taino had essentially the same

as their namesakes in Hispaniola, and therefore it may be suggested that most of the features in which the culture differed from Hispaniola apply to the Sub-Taino.
culture
The Arawak
and other
fish,
of
Cuba used
the suckerfish
to a line
attaching
its tail
with nooses fastened to the ends of

children hiding in blinds.
paniola, they are said to have
(Remora) to catch turtles and float. They snared parrots rods, which were manipulated by
the Taino of His-
More improvident than

had
at
any one time only enough food to last 4 to 8 days. Cotton was particularly common, but gold was rare. The villages were located in high areas along the coast and inland. One
pile
dwelling
is
mentioned.
of
The Arawak
nor the arrow.
Cuba were most
peaceful.
They had
neither the
bow
Their chieftainships, although numerous, were smaller
than in Hispaniola (map 9) and were apparently not divided into districts
ruled by subchiefs.
There
is
some
indication, too, that the
power
of
the chief
to
was not so great
as in Hispaniola.
The
jus primae noctis seems
have been peculiar to Cuba. Some archeological data from the Sub-Taino
sites
may
help to
fill
out
The Sub-Taino had a preference for locating their villages on hilltops. They built no ball courts, nor did they carve petroglyphs, as did the Taino. They were particularly fond of shell ornaments and made a simpler pottery than is found in the Taino sites. Three-pointed stones, collars, and many other typically Taino representations of zemis are absent from their territory, but they did construct many
this ethnographic picture.
idols of clay, bone, shell,
and
stone,
most of them simpler
in conception
than the Taino zemis.
THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF JAMAICA

land.
is an Indian one and has been said to mean fertile According to one estimate, the aboriginal population numbered slightly more than 60,000 according to another it was 600,000. Like the Indians of central Cuba, those of Jamaica have been classed in the Sub-
The term "Jamaica"
they lacked the ball courts,
Taino cultural group (map 8), on the basis of archeological reports that wooden stools, elaborate stone zemis, and
(except in one case) petroglyphs of the Taino.
As in Cuba, fishing was done with the suckerfish (Remora). The bow and arrow were absent, and there was apparently little gold. (It did not occur naturally on the island.) Cotton was unusually common. Feather caps and capes, women's aprons embroidered with stone beads, a gold pendant in the form of a fleur-de-lis, and other ornaments like those in Hispaniola were observed by Columbus. It has been established that there were 8 or 10 chiefs on the whole
island, at the time of historic contact, but the
names
of only 2 along the
544

:
[B.A.B. Bull, 143
Ameyro and Huareo.-^ The people were gentle and peaceable and at first received the Spaniards with hospitality. A chief who met Columbus was accompanied by a "standard bearer" and by attendants with wooden drums and with trumpets (which may have been batons). A number of wooden idols have been found in
northeastern coast have survived
the caves of Jamaica.
THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE BAHAMAS

The Arazvak name for the inhabitants of the Bahamas was Lucayo (map 8). Their population has been estimated at 40,000, which is probThese Indians had the same dialect as on the ably an exaggeration. Because of the relative inislands, but their culture was simpler. other The Lucayo soil, fishing predominated over agriculture. fertility of the them only for fishing. The parrot was had the bow and arrow but used the only domesticated animal. Lucayo villages were small, comprising on Long Island not more than 15 houses, and lacked ball courts. Feather mantles and pearl beads are mentioned also rafts made by binding sticks together. Gold was rare, as it had to be imported. Each village had its own chief, who seems to have been independent.
;
Class distinctions were not so far developed as in Hispaniola and Puerto
people were peaceful. They traded largely in balls of cotton, and tobacco leaves. They made petroglyphs and had the Taino Although they lacked stone collars and threestyle of cooking pottery. pointed stones, they had other idols comparable to those of the Taino.
Rico.
The
parrots,
THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS

It is generally
assumed that the Virgin
Islands, as well as the small
neighboring islands of Vieques and Culebra, which are

jurisdiction of Puerto Rico,
now under
the
were inhabited during
historic times
by the
Carib.
traces of the Carib in the Virgin Islands

least the island of St.
Hatt (1924, pp. 41-42), however, could find no archeological and therefore suggests that at
Croix
still
belonged to the Arawak.

help in settling this problem.
The ethnographic
ticed cannibalism
data are
little
The
in-
habitants of St. Croix, the largest of the Virgins, are said to have prac-
and poisoned
this
their arrows, like the Carib.
The
fact
that they attacked the Spaniards without warning also suggests that they
were Carib, although

Ciguayo.
tainesses
was
likewise a custom of the Arawak-speaking
On
the other hand, the St. Croix people seem to have had chief-
and female warriors, both of which are Arawak rather than Carib traits, and they called their island Agay, apparently an Arawak
term.
s"
Several sources claim that these two chiefs ruled over the whole island and were chronologically
rather than geographically distinct.
According
to this version,
Ameyro and Huareo were

1,
the last
of a dynasty begun in 1420 and including Beroica, Bemberoica
and Bemberoica 2
(also called
Abemberoica).
Vol. 4]
THE AHA WAKROUSE
545
According
itants of the
to the archeological evidence, the latest prehistoric inhab-
Virgin Islands belonged to the Taino division of the Arawak They constructed ball courts, carved petroglyphs, and cultural group. had most of the elaborate zemis characteristic of Puerto Rico. An ex-
ample has been found of a funnel leading through a stone slab to a carving of a zemi, perhaps comparable to the tube described above (p. 536),
in connection
with the Taino religion in Hispaniola (Hatt, 1924, pp.
36-37).
THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE LESSER ANTILLES

The Carib name
Antilles
for the
Arawak whom
they conquered in the Lesser

is
was
Igneri.
variant of this term, Eyeri
often used for the
and the name Igneri is applied also to their culture. Only a few traces of this culture have survived in the archeology and in the history or can be inferred from the customs which the Carib are likely to have adopted from their Igneri predistinctive
Arawak
dialect of the Lesser Antilles,
decessors.
As
in the Greater Antilles, the Indians apparently cultivated
manioc, lived in brush huts, carved petroglyphs, and set up idols of cotton in the caves.
skirts.
There was
frontal deformation,
The bow and arrow were
present; burial
and the women wore was either primary or
secondary.
On
tilles.
the other hand, ball courts are not represented in the Lesser
An-
The
pottery styles appear different from those of the Greater
Antilles
that the priesthood,

social
and there are not elaborately carved idols. It may be inferred and therefore probably also chieftainship and the hierarchy, were less developed among the Igneri than among the
Taino.
THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF TRINIDAD

The Arawak
tural
of Trinidad are generally included within the Igneri cul-
group
of the Lesser Antilles
(map
8).
Unlike their neighbors in
the latter region, they survived the effects of the Carib migration except
in the
northwestern part of the island, where the Carib are said to have
Since the early explorers failed to distinguish between
seized control.^*
Arawak and Carib customs, our ethnographic information is probably a mixture of both. In the following account the data may refer either to the Arawak or to the Carib, unless otherwise stated. The Arawak name for Trinidad was Cairi, meaning island. The inhabitants
seem
to
Antilles, but
it is
not
have spoken a different dialect from that in the Greater known whether it was the same as the Eyeri dialect
of the Lesser Antilles.
better proportioned.
'*
They
Their bodies are said to have been lighter and had, however, the same general food habits,
the time of the discovery:
Harlow, 1925, p. 120) there were three ethnic groups in Trinidad at Carib in the north, Arawak in the south, and a group in the center who were variously called Napoyes and Sepoyes. Lovdn, (1935, p. 41) concludes that the latter group was also Arawak. Fewkes (1922, pp. 64-65) argues that all three were Arawak.
to Scott
According
(t
546
[B.A.E, BuU. 143
except that deer, which were absent elsewhere in the

available to them.
West
Indies,
were
100
Their houses, which they moved frequently, were

local
large
and bell-shaped; each
group, comprising as
many
as
people, lived in a single house.
As among
the Carib, the Indians had both
pirogues and canoes, some with a house structure in the center.
The Trinidadians went naked, except for girdles and head bands of cloth. They wore their hair long and parted it in the middle, as among the Carib. They painted their bodies red and used feather decoration. The chiefs had gold crowns and eagles of gold for
many-colored cotton
their heads. There were beads of stone and bone (some of the latter were human), as well as small carved stone amulets. Guanin (the goldcopper alloy), stone beads, and pearls were obtained from South America
in
exchange for tobacco and the greenstone used for making axes.
Until
regular
recently the Indians of the lower Orinoco River used to

trips to
make
Trinidad to obtain articles of trade.
Five "nations," probably equivalent to the chieftainships of the Greater Antilles, are mentioned in the sources.^^ The southeastern corner of the
island
around Point Galeota was occupied by the Arwaca.
North
of
them
sec-
along the east coast of the island were the Nepoio.

tion, centering in
The northwestern
of the latter
Paria,
Port of Spain, was inhabited by the Carinepagoto. South along the central part of the west coast bordering the Gulf of
laio.
were the
The southwest
to
corner, particularly the western part
of the south coast
which seems
have been the most thickly populated
was inhabited by the Saluaio.^^ These "nations," which seem to have been ruled by chiefs called acarewanas, sometimes formed alliances against one another during warfare. Men fought with darts, thrown from atlatls having hooks on the extremities of their back sides, with sling stones, and with the bow and arrow. The last, which were carried in quivers, were feathered, tipped with bone, and poisoned. Warriors also used a round or square shield, as on the mainland. War parties signaled with drums and had shell trumpets. Burial was in the ground or in caves, the bodies being flexed horizontally and sometimes accompanied by pottery. The shamans took snuff to communicate with the spirits, as in the Greater Antilles.
section of the island,
* These names
(1848,
p.
vary from source
to
source.
The
version
presented here
is
that of
Raleigh
See the preceding note for another version. ^ It is agreed that all these chieftainships except possibly that of the Carinepagoto were Arawak. Raleigh's description of their location, upon which the above account is based, may be interpreted in a number of different ways depending upon how one matches his geographical terms The above version is based upon a for different parts of the island with the modern terms. comparison of the terms of Raleigh (1848, p. 4) with those upon the map of Trinidad in Dudley (1899, back cover), which also bears several of the tribal names mentioned by Raleigh. Somewhat different versions are presented by Lov6n (1935, pp. 40-41) and Schomburgk (in the notes to Raleigh's account (1848, p. 4) and on the folding map in front of that book).
4),
states that the list is not complete.
who
THE CARIB
By Irving Rouse
INTRODUCTION
Arawak, were South American in origin. According came into the West Indies no more than a century before the arrival of Columbus; by his time they had succeeded in conquering all the Lesser Antilles and probably also the northeastern part of Trinidad, exterminating the Arazvak men who formerly lived there and taking their wives as slaves. They were conducting raids upon the Arawak of the Greater Antilles, but there is no confirmation of reports that they had settled anywhere in that territory, except possibly in spots on
The
Carib, like the
to their traditions, they
the eastern end of Puerto Rico.
ARCHEOLOGY
Very little work has been done on Carih archeology. Some writers, however, have assigned to the Carih all the archeological remains in the Lesser Antilles described above as Arazvak. In view of the shortness of the time during which the Carib inhabited the Lesser Antilles, this is not
place at
The only possibly authentic Carib site known to the writer is the Banana Bay on the small island of Balliceaux to which the English moved the Black Carib in 1797. Fewkes (1922, p. 89), who made a study
likely.
of this site, has not described the material found.^
Additional Carib sites will undoubtedly be found in the future, but
it
them because of the fact that the Carib wives were often captive Arawak women, who probably made the pottery and
should be
difficult to identify
other objects which survive in the sites according to their
own
customs.
A study of the location of the historic Carib

come
this difficulty.
sites
may
perhaps help to over-
HISTORY
Columbus
1493,
fierce
first made contact with the Carib during his second voyage, in when he purposely sailed farther south in order to investigate these
savages of whom he had heard in Hispaniola. His first landing was a small uninhabited island near Dominica; from there he went to Guadeloupe and discovered a Carib village. The men being absent on a raid, he was able to receive on board six captive Arazvak women from
place
^
Lov^n (1935,
p.
545) believes that even this
site is
Arawak.
547
548
Puerto Rico.
of
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
He
then proceeded to
St.
it
Croix, where Carib warriors
savagely attacked the expedition before
departed for the
Arawak
island
Puerto Rico.
The Spaniards made no attempt

was no gold
numerous
nibals.
to settle the Lesser Antilles.

potentialities did not
There
there,
and the agricultural

subduing the Carib.
for the difficulty of
The
colonists did,
compensate however, make
slave raids against the islands taking advantage, after the pro-
hibition of such raids elsewhere, of a provision permitting attacks
on can-
In 1623 the British and French settled

that island with great cruelty.
St. Kitts, driving the
Carib from
In rapid succession the British then colon-
ized Nevis, St. Lucia, Barbados, Montserrat,

settled
and Antigua; the French Guadeloupe, Martinique, Desirade, Marie-Galante, St. Lucia, and
;
and the Dutch occupied Montserrat and Antigua. By the end had been driven from all the important islands except Dominica and St. Vincent, and on those islands they were .being buffeted between the British and French, each of whom obtained the aid of the savages in attacks on the other. French missionaries made many attempts after 1650 to convert the Carib to Christianity, but with little success. The missionaries began to reside among the Indians, to study and speak their language. Fathers like Raymond Breton and Phillipe de Beaumont remained 25 years in Dominica, but the Carib gave only lip service to the Christian religion. About 1706 the missionaries abandoned St. Vincent entirely because of a plot of the Grenada
of the centuiy the Carib
Carib to
kill all
of them.
St.
In 1675 a cargo of Negro slaves was shipwrecked upon

they intermarried with the Indians.
Vincent, and
This Can^-Negro mixture became most hostile to the Europeans, and so in 1795 the English moved them from St. Vincent, first to the small island of Balliceaux offshore and later to Ruatan Island near the coast of Honduras, where they now occupy the
entire coastline
the Republic of
from Stann Creek in British Honduras to Black River in Honduras, and are known as the Garif, or Black Carib. The Carib who remained in the West Indies also intermarried somewhat with the Negroes. They continued to reside in Dominica and St. Vincent until the end of the 19th century, when they were moved to a reservation in Dominica. At present there are some 500 survivors, less than a third
of
whom
are full-blooded^ (pi. 98).
SOURCES
Many
of the writings of
Columbus,
his son,
and the early explorers and
historians
who have been quoted above
as sources for
Arawak ethnology
comes
also contain some data on the Carib.
The
best material, however,
the
The above account does not take into consideration the few Cnrib believed to have lived among Arawak in Puerto Rico and Trinidad, Their history has already been given above in conncc
Arawak.
tion with the
Vol. 4]
THE CARIBROUSE
549
from the missionaries and other observers who had contact with the Indians between 1650 and 1700, when the Lesser Antilles were first being settled. Bouton (1640), Breton (1877, 1892), Labat (1724, 1931), La Borde (1704, 1886), Du Puis (1652), and Dutertre (1667-71 copied in Rochefort, 1665, and Davies, 1666) are the principal primary sources. These have been compiled by Ballet (1875), Harris (1904), Sheldon (1820), Cornilliac (1875), Edwards (1818-19), Featherman (1881-91), Jefferys (1760), Joyce (1916), and Ober (1895), in the last six cases in
;
conjunction
with comparable compilations of Arawak ethnography. Delawarde (1938), Ober (1880), and D. Taylor (1935, 1936, 1938) have
the
provided information concerning the modern descendants of the Carih in
West
Indies, while
Conzemius (1928) and Sapper (1897 b) have
described the Black Carih of Central America.
Although the number of Carih sources and compilations is smaller than Arawak, each source, being more or less ethnographic in nature, contains relatively more information, and our knowledge of Carih culture is therefore comparable to that of Arawak culture. Many of the missionaries failed to distinguish between islands, and as a result the following
for the
account will deal with the Carih as a whole.
The period covered
is
that
from 1650
to
1700,
when
the Carih were concentrated on Dominica,
Martinique, and St. Vincent.
ETHNOGRAPHY
The Carih had a strong national consciousness. To distinguish themfrom the Arawak they used the term Calinago or Calino, which was corrupted by Columbus to Carihales, and later to Carih. From it comes our word "cannibal." The inhabitants of each island had a special name, which was formed by adding a suffix to the name of the island. Dominica, for example, was called Ouaitoucoubouli, and its inhabitants had the name
selves
Oiiaitoucouhouliri.
Carih
the
men and women had

fact that
certain differences in language,
which may
have been due to the
many
of the
women had
been captured from
The
speaking together both sexes used the men's language. had some words not found in the ordinary men's language. These were developed in the war councils. No estimates of the original population of the Carih islands have been discovered. By 1700, it is said that the number of those Indians had
Arawak.
old
When
also
men
fallen to 4,000, half of
them on Dominica and the
rest
on
St.
Vincent.
The Carih were more

flexible
robust than the Arawak.
They had
well-developed,
Their height was bodies and broad buttocks and shoulders. medium, the skin olive-colored, and the hair and eyes black. When at ease they tended to be melancholy; when aroused they became truculent
and
vindictive.
653334
37
550

[B.A.E. Bull. 143
^
crab,
Fishing.
The
staple food of the Carib
was the
which they hunted

it
at night by torchlight.
They
roasted the meat, seasoning
with a sauce
called taumalin,^ a
mixture of lime juice and pounded peppers with the

diet.
greenish meat next to the shell of the male crab.
Sea food was an important part of the

fish
The Carib picked up
shell-
along the shore.
They caught
;
fish
with small nets (at night or when
was calm) with hook and line (the hooks being of tortoise by scattering a certain kind of poisonous wood on the water; or by use of the bow and arrow. The arrows were long and three-pronged each was attached by a string to a wooden float so that it could easily be reHarpoons (with separate points) were employed to catch the trieved. manatee and sea turtle; the land turtle was stalked. Corrals are menthe water
shell)
;
;
tioned
they
may have been
fish wiers.
Hunting. On land the Carib hunted the agouti and the lizard with dogs, smoking the lizards out of the holes into which the dogs drove them. They also caught birds, using the bow and arrows tipped with cotton or else stupefying the birds with smoke from a poisonous wood. Domesticated animals. Parrots and dogs were the only domesticated animals except when, in historic times, the people kept poultry and swine,
largely for trade with the Europeans.
Preparation of
over a slow
fire
fish
and meat.
The Carib took
special pains in the
preparation of fish and
meat, broiling
them sometimes for a whole day
on a wooden grid 2 feet (0.6 m.) high. They also roasted fish and agouti meat in the ash and smoked the latter for purposes of storage, cooking the smoked meat in cassava juice when they wished to eat it. For the seasoning of fish and meat they used a sauce called coui, which was made by boiling the juice of the manioc with crushed peppers, lime juice, and manioc flour. They made a soup from left-over scraps of fish and meat, as well as from agouti bones. These were boiled in manioc juice with peppers, manioc flour, and oysters to form a strong mixture
in
as the Carib
which the Indians dipped cassava bread. Apparently this was as close came to the typical Arazvak pepper pot. The same sources that describe the foregoing methods of hunting, fish-
ing,
and
fact
and preparing meat also mention a taboo on the manatee, the turtle, The sources imply that this taboo was general, a all land animals. It is certain, howdifficult to reconcile with the above statements.'*
never took
salt
ever, that the Carib
or ate the flesh of the eel and that they
avoided
fat.
Farming and preparation

tivated both the bitter
*
'
of agricultural foods.
The Indians
cul-
and the sweet
varieties of manioc, using the
same
All Carib terms cited here are from the men's language. This discrepancy may represent a difference between ideal and practice or it may reflect a breaking down of the system of taboos. There is some indication that the taboos were followed
only during a limited period, as after fasts.
(See
p.
557.)
Vol. 4
THE CAKIBROUSE
551
methods of planting and of preparation as the Arawak. The kitchen The Carib made their graters from utensils, however, were more varied. coral, from thorny branches, or by inserting wood or stone splinters in a plank. They removed the juice in a cylindrical basketry strainer (pi. 94), hung with a weight from a tree sifted the flour in a basketry sieve and baked the cake on either a stone or a clay griddle with the aid of a wooden
;
;
spatula.
Corn, sweetpotatoes, yams, beans, and peppers also were cultivated,
Arawak. The sweetpotato and the yam were particularly important; they were planted as cuttings after a rain. When full grown the tubers were roasted or boiled and eaten with a sauce like that made for meat. The roots and leaves were
the corn being
made
into bread as
among
the
used as a seasoning.
The Carib
ate fruits of various kinds, including the
banana (post-Con-
quest), the plantain, the guayba, the papaya, and the pineapple.
Bananas
were cooked in sugared water; both they and the other fruits were also pounded in a mortar to make a thick paste. Sugarcane, acquired from the Spaniards, was boiled in water or was chewed fresh, and honey was mixed with water to make a drink. Eating. Except for the morning meal taken soon after fixing their hair and bodies, the Carib ate irregularly. Men sat on low stools in the carbet (men's house) and were served by women on little tables (matoutou),
covered with leaves.
Later the
women
ate
by themselves
in the kitchen.
VILLAGES
AND HOUSES
villages were located in the areas least favorable by the enemy, being usually on the windward side of the island and in an open space upon a rise in the land. Each village was near a stream, which provided drinking water and was used daily for
Settlements. Carib
for surprise attacks
bathing.
The villages were moved frequently, after a some other disagreeable incident. Each was small
storage
death, sickness, or
it
consisted of a
sev-
carbet (men's house), various smaller houses for the

eral
women, and
These structures were arranged irregularly around a small plaza where the people were accustomed to sit by the
platforms.
light of a fire at night.
Houses.
struct
it
The carbet
(taboiii)
was an oval
building,
which
later
became
con-
rectangular, about 60 feet (18 m.) long and 20 feet (6 m.) wide.
To
the Carib set into the ground forked posts 10 feet (3 m.) high and
lashed across beams to the tops of these posts.
They
laid
on
poles, extend-
ing from the ground at one end to the peak of the house at the other;
bound other poles horizontally over the first set; and thatched the whole down to the ground with palm leaves. The floor was of dirt and had a hearth in the center. There were no partitions the only openings were a door no more than 4 feet (1.2 m.) high in the middle of each side and end.
;
552

slept in this structure
;
[B.A.B. Bull, 143
Men
they and the boys ate, worked, and passed the

entered only to serve the men.
time of day there.

construction
Women, however,
Women's houses were
each about half the size of the carbet.
Their
that each had only a single doorway and was provided with a reed partition separating the room where the women and children slept from the kitchen. The storage platforms were built on piles and roofed, but open on
was the same, except
the sides.
Household furniture. Mats were used to cover the doorways of the Within, hammocks were the chief articles of furniture (pi. 93). Made of a network of cotton thread, they were 6 feet ( 1.8 m.) long and 12 feet (3.6 m.) wide. The ends were tied by cords to two posts in the wall of the dwelling; often the cords extended along the sides of the hammock as decoration. Some hammocks were painted red or black. They had a small packet of ash at each end, which was believed to make them last longer. Small wooden tables and stools were used in many houses some had cabinets in which to store weapons and utensils. The rafters also
houses.
;
were a favorite storage place. When on canoe trips the Carib made temporary shelters by erecting posts, to which they attached hammocks, covering them with a roof of palm leaves.
DRESS
AND ADORNMENT
Clothing, hairdress,
and
toilet.
Like
tlie
clothing except for a small cotton apron

genitals (pi. 93). In historic times this
Arawak, the Carib had no worn by women over their
was ornamented with beads. Every morning men washed themselves and sat in the carbet while the women combed their hair, anointing it with oil, and painted their bodies red. The women then dressed themselves in the same manner. The paint, urucu (roucou), was made by mixing oil with boiled and ground seeds from the bixa plant. It was brushed over the whole body, partially for decoration and partially as a protection against insects. On ceremonial occasions men also used black paint made from genipa they had their wives paint it in streaks over their faces and bodies, using tiny hair brushes. Rich black hair was considered a sign of beauty. Both men and women wore it long, cutting only the part above the eyes. They let it hang free or sometimes bunched part of it on the back of the head, tying it with a cotton cord and decorating it with tail feathers of the macaw (arara). Only slaves had their hair cut short in the Arawak manner. Men plucked their beards, which they considered a deformity. Deformation and scarification. A mother flattened both the forehead and the back of her child's head. The Carib pierced the ears, nasal septa, and lower lip for the insertion of fishbones, feathers, stone pendants, or pieces of wood, stone, or shell. They used the latter only temporarily,
;
Nôl.
THE CARIB ROUSE

the caracoU described below.
553
During ceremonies men
Native-born
when not wearing
scarified their bodies, later staining the scars black.
women
were distinguished from captives by wearing anklets

interwoven with cotton.
the wearers
made of
basketry
The
anklets
tighter
grew they became
were assumed at puberty, and as and caused the ankles to swell.
Ornaments.
Both sexes wore
bracelets
made
of cotton or of beads
of stone, crystal, bone, seed, coral, shell, or a pearllike substance obtained
Men placed these bracelets around their upper arms and women in shells. around the wrists. Both men and women often wore necklaces and girdles of the same materials; it was from the girdles that women hung their aprons. Men sometimes inserted teeth and bones from the enemies they had killed into their necklaces and bracelets. On their chests both
sexes hung small amulets of wood or stone carved to represent their maboya (evil spirits) and designed to frighten away other malevolent powers. Small gourd fetishes, containing bird claws and bits of jaguar
skin obtained on the mainland, were also used as pendants.
The most prized possession of the men was the caracoli, a crescentshaped alloy of gold and copper framed in wood, which the warriors
obtained during raids upon the continental
these caracoli
Arawak
(pi.
93).
Some
of
were small and served as ear, nose, or mouth pendants; others were large enough to be worn on the chest. They were a sign of high rank, being passed down from generation to generation, and were worn only upon ceremonial occasions and during journeys. Certain stone necklaces, the material for which was obtained on the mainland, were also prized. They were said to have had healing virtue and were worn only
during
their
feasts.
Upon
ceremonial occasions
men
decorated their hair with

;
feather caps and crowns
and their backs with jaguar skins bodies with gum and sprinkled feathers upon them.
some rubbed
TRANSPORTATION
The Carib were expert

four types
:
in the
management
of boats, of
pirogues, large canoes, small canoes, and rafts.
pirogues and the canoes were dugouts, but the sides of

built
which they had Both the the former were
up with planks, sewn together and pitched with bitumen. The average length of the pirogue was 40 feet (12 m.) some were large enough to carry 50 persons. Each one had a keel, a raised and pointed bow, a series of plank seats, and a flat-pooped stern carved with an animal's head (maboya) to frighten the enemy and often decorated with a barbecued human arm. The larger variety of canoe was 20 feet (6 m.) long. It, too, had a series of seats and also thwarts against which the paddlers leaned their backs. Both the stem and the stern were high and pointed there were holes in the gunwales to which the travelers could attach their The smaller type of canoe was just large enough for one belongings.
;
554
person
;
SOUTH
it
AJVIERICAN INDIANS
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
and served mainly for fishing. The rafts contwo transverse bars. The pirogues and canoes seem to have been better finished than the Arawak canoes. Their sides were smoothed, polished, and often painted
flat
had a
stern
sisted of a series of logs, lashed to
to represent Indians or
earlier) the pirogues
maboya
spirits.
In historic times (and perhaps
ing a
sail
had three masts and the canoes two, each supportmade from cotton or from palm-leaf matting.^ The paddles were
spade-shaped, like those of the
Arawak;
that of the steersman
was one-
third longer than the rest (pi. 94).
When
several
on a raiding expedition Carih

to prepare their food
men
and
traveled alone, taking only

to
paint them with urucu. Otherwise men, women, and children traveled together. They carried their hammocks and kitchen utensils and landed at night to build temporary sleeping shelters.
women
The Carib were

While
quite superstitious about traveling
at sea they ate
from island to island. no crabs or lizards and drank no water, for fear
of not being able to reach land.
They were
careful, too, not to spill fresh
water into the
sea, for they believed that this
would cause storms and a
swelling of the water.
When
passing a place where Carib had previously
been drowned they threw overboard food so as to prevent the dead people,
now
their
living at the
bottom
of the sea,
from causing them

all
to capsize.
air
Upon
the appearance of a storm cloud they
blew into the
hands to drive the cloud away. When it chewed manioc bread and spit it into the sea and air to appease the spirits (omicou) who were causing the storm. If the wind were unfavorable, an old man would shoot an arrow at the prow of the canoe in order to
and waved stormy they did become
make
the canoe go straight as an arrow.
The Carib never named
or
pointed at the land which they were approaching, for fear that they might
not be able to get ashore.
when on land, felling a log or using small Burdens were carried in baskets on the back; babies were suspended in little hammocks strung around the mother's
The
people traveled by foot
canoes to cross streams.
neck.
MANUFACTURES
Basketry and weaving. were baskets (pi. 94).
split,
Next
to
canoes the outstanding Carib

these
arti-
facts
The men made

shells,
from Latania
leaves,
which they
scraped with mussel
and plaited together.
Often
the baskets had double walls, separated by a lining of leaves which
made
Some, made large and pyramidal, were used on the back as carrying baskets. Others, which were small, rectangular, and provided with covers, served for jewel boxes. They were supplied with a cord to be attached to the gunwales of the canoes, so that the basket would not be lost
them watertight.
Some
sources say the pirogues had topsails as well as the usual square mainsails.
Vol. 4]
THE CARIBROUSE
555
if the vessel overturned. Large rectangular baskets, turned upside down and provided with wooden legs 4 to 5 inches (10 cm.) tall, served as tables (matoutou). The basketry technique was used also in the manufacture of strainers, sieves, and mats, the functions of which have been described above. In historic times the natives had brooms. The weaving of cloth may not have been an original part of Carib culture. The women had wooden spindles for making thread and used belt looms for weaving it. They stretched the warp threads from a stick on one side of the house to a stick on the other; then two women wove in the weft, beating the threads down with a sword-shaped stick. The cloth was dyed with various colors, particularly red, and was sewn with a needle made from a palmetto spine. Pottery and gourds. The Carib baked pots and griddles of clay the former were indispensable for making beer. They had numerous gourd containers, made by removing the pulp with hot water and pebbles. These included bottles for urucu, covered bowls (coyenbouc) for carrying trinkets, platters, cups, dippers, and spoons. Often they were engraved or painted. Coconut shells were treated in the same manner.
Woodworking.
The men not only
carved canoes of
wood but
also
they made bowls, which were used primarily for drinking bouts, and which either were solid or were provided with four legs. Fire making. The people made fire by rubbing one mahot
stools,
stick
against another.
SOCIAL

village
seems to have been an indepenan extended family which had split away from some other village and was headed by its founder. This man, called a carbet chief or tiubutuli-hauthe, had charge of the carbet and of the entertainment which took place therein. He probably also supervised fishing and the cultivation of the land, which seems to have been communal. Although he was treated with deference, he had little authority. The Carib men were individualists, and they looked down upon the
Except in wartimes, each Carib
dent organization.
It consisted of
Europeans for taking orders. Each island also had one or two war chiefs, called ubutu, who were elected to hold office for life. Except that ownership of a caracoli seems to have been one of the requirements for this chieftainship, no heredity was involved in the office. However, a son might succeed his father if he could prove himself worthy. He had to be an experienced warrior with a good record, excel in swimming and diving, show that he could carry a greater burden than his followers, and bear burning and slashing
o^ his flesh without flinching.
The war
assistant,
He was provided with an chief was particularly honored. and wherever he went he was surrounded by a retinue. His
556
were the

first fruits of
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
any
;
feast.
It
was
his duty to conduct the
war
council in one of the carbets
he also had charge of some of the entertain-
ment
there.
Two
chief
or
more war
chiefs usually participated in each raid,
one of them
being chosen head chief, but only for the period of the raid.
The head
sometimes assumed command of the
fleet of
canoes going on the raid,
or he might delegate such

of each canoe
was leader
of the
command to a younger warrior. The owner men in his craft; he was called a boat
among
the Carib
chief
and bailed instead of paddling.

be apparent that rank was not so well defined
the Arawak.
it
It will
as
among
Descent does not seem to have been important

has been found in the sources.^
either;
no mention of
Men were
knowledge.
prominent because
of their military prowess, because of caracoli obtained
from
their ancestors, or because they

class
were old and
full of
There was a slave were free.

It is said that at the
composed
of captive
women, but
their children
during historic times murders were a
common
occurrence
drinking bouts.
They were avenged by
the relatives of the dead
person.
thief
In case of theft the aggrieved person slashed the shoulder of the
with an agouti tooth, to mark the crime.
The husband punished
adultery by beating his wife to death with a club.
Etiquette.
Each carbet appointed a man

and a
seat.
to act as host.
He
provided
the visitor with tobacco
Then
the other
men
of the carbet,
dressed in their best, introduced themselves and conversed with the
There might be a banquet, at which everyone drank much. Special hammocks were always provided for visitors, and a woman was assigned to paint them and dress their hair in the morning. To show
visitor.
great friendship, the hosts exchanged names with their guests
in case of
intimacy they exchanged presents.

If the
cassava provided to a guest were folded, he could have only what

If
it
he
ate.
remnants.
The people
were unfolded, however, he could take with him the usually ate in silence and without drinking. Only
one
man
ordinarily spoke at a time; the other
men hummed
if
they
approved.
Economic organization.
of crystal or greenstone
Little is
known
of Carih economics.
The
people used rolls of tobacco as a monetary standard and obtained beads
from South America.
Land and food products
seem
to have been held by the village in common.

It is
On
not
the other hand,
canoes and ornaments were personal property.
known how
they
were inherited.
It
has not been possible to substantiate the statement by Gower (1927,
p.
33) that descent waa
matrilineaL
Vol. 4]
THE CARIBROUSE
LIFE CYCLE
557
Birth and childhood.

nancy.
Sexual intercourse was forbidden during pregby a

fire.
The
birth often took place

juice
If it
caused trouble, the
Afterward she washed the child in a stream and placed it in a tiny hammock or on a couch of leaves. If the birth had taken place at night, the men of the house bathed themselves so that the child would not catch cold. For several days after birth the mother fasted, eating only dried cassava and drinking warm water. The father, on the other hand, practiced the couvade. Immediately after the birth he complained of pains, went to a separate hut, and lay in a hammock. He remained there for at least 40 days after the birth of his first child, and for 4 or 5 days after the birth of other children. During this time he went out only at night and avoided meeting anyone for fear that they might tempt him to break his fast, thereby making the mother sick and the child cowardly. At first he took no food. After 5 days he was permitted to drink corn beer and after 10 days to eat manioc bread in increasing quantities. He ate only the
certain root.
insides of the bread, the crusts being
woman drank
made from a
hung up
in the
hut until the end of
the 40-day period,

carbet.
when they served

flat
as the basis for a feast in the village
Preceding the feast the father was brought into the carbet, was
cakes of cassava, and was scarified by two
chief.
stood on two large
men
chosen by the carbet
mixture of urucii, pepper
tobacco juice was rubbed into the cuts, and the blood which
them was daubed on the
face of
and from the child so that he would have the

seedss,
fell
courage shown by the father in undergoing
scarification.
The man was

fish,
then fed the two cassava cakes upon which he had stood and also
which he had to
to abstain
lest
spit out.
He
went back
to
bed for several days and had
the child
from the become
flesh of
animals for a period of 6 months or a year,
deformed."^
its first
The
child received
name
12 or 15 days after birth from a friend
of the father
who
acted as godfather or godmother.
The name was taken
from that of an ancestor, from nature, or from something that had happened during birth, pregnancy, or the couvade. If the baby were strong enough to bear it, his ears, nose, and lips were pierced at the same time,
but this might be deferred until 2 years had passed,
hair
when
the child's
was cut. At first all children

to eat in the
ate with the
mother when 4 or
;
5 years old the
boys
began
their
men's house.
fishing,
The
fathers spent
much time
in training
sons
in
hunting,
canoes, and particularly in shooting the
swimming, singing, basketry, making bow and arrow, at which they had
' The accounts of the couvade vary considerably from source to source. The above version is taken largely from Davies (1666, pp. 336-338), with supplemental data from La Borde (1886, pp. 249-250).
558

The
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
to be so accurate that they could hit a bough.
girls learned
from
their
mothers
how to cook, till the fields, weave cotton, and make hammocks. Puberty and marriage. At the age of puberty both sexes fasted for
3 or 4 weeks and had their skins scarified with agouti teeth.
time when the

their mothers.
This was the assumed the aprons and cotton anklets of women. Thereafter they were not allowed to run free but had to remain close to
girls
The youths were
taught to value courage and endurance and were peri-
odically rubbed with the fat of slaughtered
Arawak
to
make them
brave.
When
they had reached the age of becoming warriors they were tested in
these qualities.
The youth having been

sauce.
seated on a stool in the center of
the carbet, his father crushed a bird over his head, scarified his body,
and rubbed the cuts with pepper

endure
this entire
Then
the boy ate the heart of
He had to ceremony without flinching. When it was over he lay in a hammock and fasted for 3 days. Then he demonstrated his skill in wielding a club and was accepted into the company of the warriors, being given a new name. His father gave a feast in celebration. Specialization in shamanism began in childhood, when the candidate abstained from several kinds of flesh and underwent rigorous fasts. At puberty he was apprenticed to one of the older shamans, after going through a scarification ceremony comparable to that given to warriors. The Carib youth were supposed to be chaste. Except for prostitutes, contact between young men and young women was tabooed. So was marriage with mothers, sisters, and step-sisters. Cross-cousin marriage was preferred, the sororate also being practiced, but a man was allowed
the bird, to give himself courage, and his father beat him.
other wives as well.
Fathers presented their daughters to the successful

raid.
warriors at the feast following each raid, and the warriors could also
marry the women they had taken captive during the

Girls often
The men
with the most wives were considered the most prominent.
brought up by their fiance's family.

the consent of
became engaged during childhood and sometimes were The groom usually had to obtain the prospective bride's parents. There was no ceremony
feast, the
except for an occasional
only time the wife ever ate with her

in the case of
husband.
Residence was matrilocal, except

in
chief.
Each
island.
wife lived in a separate hut
her
own
;
village, often
on a different
The wives were
treated as servants
they dressed and fed their husbands,
cleaned and thatched the houses,
the fields, and carried all burdens. Their husbands could abandon them without ceremony, in which case the younger children remained with the mother and the older children were divided according to sex. Teknonymy was practiced, and a man had to
tilled
avoid speaking to his wife's relatives.
Death and burial.The Carib sometimes killed the old and the They feared the dead and never mentioned their names. When
infirm.
man
Vol. 4]
THE CARIBROUSE
559
died
all
the relatives examined his body to satisfy themselves that he

killed
by sorcery. The body was washed, painted, oiled and wrapped in a new hammock. It was placed upon a stool in a grave dug in the carbet, near the wall in the case of an ordinary person but in the center if the man were prominent, its eyes were weighted shut, and mats were added to protect it from the soil. The grave was not filled for 10 days, during which the relatives brought food and water to the corpse twice a day and lamented over it. A fire was built around the grave to purify it and to prevent the deceased from catching cold. The deceased's possessions were either cast into this fire or were placed in the grave; sometimes the house was burned too. In prehistoric times a slave or a dog was killed and put in the grave to care for the dead person. If the deceased were a warrior, the chief delivered a funeral oration, extolling his exploits. There was also a feast over the grave, accompanied by dancing. The close relatives fasted and cut their hair in mourning; some time afterward they held a second feast over the grave. In the case of a chief the Carib sometimes burned the corpse and mixed its ashes into a drink.
had not been

as in
life,
flexed,
WARFARE
watch for the approach upon war and to fix a rendezvous; at these meetings the old women harangued them on the cruelty of the enemy, the war chief exhorted them to revenge themselves, they became very drunk, and at the height of the festival they Each ate some enemy flesh, smoked and preserved from the last raid. warrior present was given a gourd full of pebbles, a string with knots,
sentinels near all harbors to
The Carib posted
of raiding parties.
They held assemblies
to decide
or a stick with notches, to

the
tell
how many days

time
before he had to be at
his
rendezvous.
He
spent
the
repairing
pirogue
and
his
weapons, while his wives prepared food for the
raid.
weapon was the bow and arrow, the former 6 m.) long, the latter poisoned, occasionally feathered, and provided with a separate barbed point. The poison came from the sap of the manchineel tree; the points were of fishbone, tortoise shell, or firehardened wood. There were also javeHns and clubs (boutou), the latter
The
principal Carib
feet (1.8
engraved and painted with geometric and anthropomorphic designs. These clubs, which varied in length according to the rank of the owner,
were used after the supply
of
arrows had been exhausted
(pi.
93).
The
Carib attempted to catch the enemy asleep in their villages.
attacked at dawn, or at night

into three bands, they
fire
fell
when
there
upon the
village,
They was a full moon. Divided uttering war cries and shooting
arrows (having cotton heads).
If the
enemy
resisted successfully, the Carib retired at noon, taking
with them their dead and wounded.
They might re-form
for another
560
[B.A.E. BuU. 143
attack, but usually they returned

there.
If the
home, carrying the corpses
to be buried
and ate the

as trophies.
enemy were defeated, they pillaged the village and roasted enemy corpses on the spot, keeping only some of the bon'''=!, They bound all prisoners and carried them back to the
home
village.
Each warrior kept his female captives and her children as slaves, incorporating them in his family. The male captives were tortured, killed, and eaten at the feast celebrating each victory. For 5 days beforehand each prisoner was kept without food in the house of his captor, bound onto one of his hammocks. Then he was brought into the carbet, where the villagers had assembled. They thrust burning brands into his sides, cut his flesh and rubbed in pepper, and shot his body full of arrows, trying (usually without success) to make him cringe. Then one of the old men of the village dispatched him with a club. The Carib cut up his body, washed the flesh, and roasted it, catching the fat in gourd containers. This fat was kept by the chiefs, who used it to season the food during later feasts. Some of the flesh also was kept until later, but most was eaten then with many signs of enjoyment. The most courageous warriors received the heart, the women the arms and legs, and the other men the rest of the body. At this time the chief recounted the exploits of the warriors, and they took the names of the enemies they had killed. A sponsor was chosen to present the new name, and he received gifts of ornaments in return. At this time, too, the fathers gave their daughters to the successful
warriors to be their brides.

Art.
^The sculpture of the Carib was not so well developed as that of

(evil spirits)
maboya from stone and wood for use as amulets and as adornments
the Arawak, but they did fashion images of their
of pirogues.
to the sterns
They
also carved small dolls of
wood
for the children
and engraved biomorphic and geometric designs on clubs and gourds. There are petroglyphs in Carib territory, but they were probably made by the Arawak. Painting was done on canoes, hammocks, and gourds; as in the case of engraving, the designs were either biomorphic or
geometric.
and of boat races. When wrestling, the two contestants held each other by the upper arms while each attempted to throw his opponent to the ground. To Feasts, dances, and music. Carib feasts were held frequently decide upon warfare; to celebrate victories, the birth of the first male
Games.
The Carib were fond
of wrestling
child,
or cutting the children's hair
to initiate a
clearing of
new
fields,
cutting
down
trees to
new
vessel, or recovery
from a
disease.
new warrior to observe make a new house, launching They were organized by one
;
Vol. 4]
THE CARIBROUSE
who gave
notice several days in advance so that food
561
and
both
all
of the chiefs,
drink could be prepared.
The
feast took place in the carbet, but
men and women,
dressed in their best, participated.
They
spent
day and most of the night in eating, drinking, singing, and dancing, usually becoming quite drunk. Both men and women participated in the singing, not only at the Most songs had to do with feasts but also to pass the time of day. warfare; others dealt with birds, fish, and women. Dancing seems to have been confined to the feasts (pi. 95). Men and women performed alone or together. They moved in a circle, dancing in
pairs,
only their
The men performed violently, but the women moved The dances were accompanied by songs, the drum, the rattle, a stringed instrument, and the flute. The drum, hollowed from a log, had a single head of skin. The rattle consisted of a gourd with a wooden handle. The stringed instrument, too, was of gourd; it had a single string. The flutes were made of bamboo or the bones of an enemy. Carib men played flutes in the morning, while their wives prepared breakfast. They used conch-shell trumpets for signaling while on raids or when hunting or fishing at night they also had recourse to signal flares. Intoxicants and narcotics. They were fond of drinking and made
arm
in
arm.
feet.
several diflFerent kinds of beer
(oiiicou)
from sweetpotatoes or from a

this material,
it.
mixture of sweetpotatoes and manioc.

allowed
it
The women chewed
to
ferment for several days, and then strained
They
also
brewed beer from the coarser manioc bread which they laid aside until it became mouldy. The Carib smoked tobacco, rolling it into cigars like those of the Arawak.^ There is no mention of snufT, but tobacco chewing was common. The Carib dried the leaves over the fire, softened them with sea Before water, and kneaded them into rolls which served as money. chewing they added ashes and packed the quid between the lip and gum.
RELIGION AND
SHAMANISM
The
to
Carib believed in a plurality of souls, which they associated with
the beating of the heart and arteries.
The soul in the heart was supposed go to an earthlike paradise in heaven, where it became part of a company of good spirits, or akamboue.^" The souls in the rest of the body either stayed in the bones after death or went into the forests or seashores. They were regarded as evil spirits, maboya those in the sea had a special
;
name, omicou.
Neither the drum nor the stringed instrument is mentioned in all the sources. They may have been historic developments. Labat (1931, p. 88) observed men smoking for pleasure. Davies (1666, p. 346), however, describes only the use of tobacco by shamans during curing ceremonies. 1 Some believed that the paradise was on earth rather than in the heavens and that only the successful warriors went there, the rest of the people being freed to live after death in another
and more barren land.
562
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
The good spirits (akamboue) were believed to be invisible, except at when they took the fonn of bats. Each Carib had one of them as his personal deity (ichieri). From time to time, particularly during feasts,
night
he set an offering for his deity upon a table at the end of his hut; it consisted of manioc bread and the first of his fruits its purpose was to insure good crops and to safeguard health. There were no idols on the
;
table, as
among
the
Arawak, and no ceremony
of worship.
When
man
died
it
was believed
the evil
that his ichieri carried the soul of his heart to heaven.
To
spirits
(maboya) were attributed
all
disagreeable and
frightening occurrences, such as nightmares, sickness, shipwrecks, thunder,

hurricanes, earthquakes, and eclipses of the
all-night dance).
revealed their
moon (the occasion for an The maboya were invisible, but a bad odor sometimes presence. Each Carib wore a small carved image of a
maboya around his neck to frighten off the other maboya. It was the function of the shamans (boyez) to control the maboya. Each shaman had one of them as his own personal deity which he obtained
ceremony closing his period of apprenticeship to one of the older shamans. After a fast of 5 months, the youth was brought into the carbet, before a table on which manioc bread, fruit, and oiiicou had been placed. The older shaman sang a song to call his own maboya to the carbet and then blew out cigar smoke, tickling the spirit in the nose and further enticing him into the carbet. Immediately the maboya fell into the hut and was seated upon a hammock to receive the food offering. His shaman then asked him for a spirit for the apprentice. This second maboya appeared and harangued the gathering on the power which the new shaman was to have.^^ Comparable ceremonies took place at frequent intervals to drive away other maboya who had caused evil, to bring revenge upon an enemy, to
at the
influence the course of warfare, to prophecy future events, or to cause

diseases.
These ceremonies were always held
at night
and
in the dark,
The food offerings, and sometimes also blood, were contributed by the spectators, who sat on stools at the opposite end of the hut, but the shamans appropriated them for their own use after the ceremonies. The maboya appeared in various shapes often it entered
since the spirits abhorred light.
;
the
body of an old woman
to give an oracular answer.
Sometimes
it
could
be heard eating the food offering, or quarreling with another

it
spirit
whom
had accused of causing some evil. Some shamans kept in their houses the hair or bones of their ancestors, which were supposed to contain maboya. The shamans put them into gourds or wrapped them in cotton; sometimes they made small cotton
11 The above account is taken largely from Dutertre (1667-71, vol. 2, pp. 36S-366). La Borde (1886, pp. 235-236) states on the contrary, that the apprentice went to the maboya. His body was coated with gum and with feathers so that he could fly, and he was made to take tobacco juice to
induce unconsciousness.
Vol. 4]
THE CARIBROUSE
which the maboya gave oracular answers.
priests, as
563
There were,
figures through
however, no household idols or
among
the
Arawak.
The Carib
often attributed sickness to the influence of sorcerers
who
had obtained control of maboya.

the identity of the sorcerer
They consulted a shaman
to determine
and were usually directed to a woman, from was to be feared. The woman was made to pick up a shell or a fishbone and to confess that she had administered this in food to cause the disease. She was then tortured and killed. The shaman was also brought in to effect cures. He worked in the same way as at other seances, setting up a table bearing food offerings and oiiicou at one end of the hut and calling his maboya with songs and tobacco smoke. The shaman first asked his maboya whether the disease would be fatal. If so, he abandoned the ceremony and told the patient to prepare for death. If not, the shaman and his maboya approached the patient, touched the part of his body which pained him, sometimes sucking it, and drew out an object an imaginary poison, thorns, pieces of bone, or splinters of wood and stone. These were supposed to have caused the disease. Then the shaman rubbed the sick person's body with the juice of the Ginipa fruit, producing a dark brown color. When the patient had recovered, he gave a feast for the shaman, at the same time providing food
whom no
reprisal
offerings for the latter's
maboya.
of occasions
;
The Carib
coming a
relative
fasted
upon a number
chief,
a father, or a warrior
after killing
death of a close relative,
man might
it
also
At puberty when bean enemy and at the be asked to fast when a

:
was
sick, in the
hope that
might relieve the
pain.
typical
schedule of fasting has already been described above (p. 557) in connection with the birth of the first child.
The
people did not vomit for
religious purposes, but only to rid their stomachs of
Women knew
of certain herbs, fruits, roots, oils,
an excess of food. and gums which they
used to cure diseases.
the bark of the chipou tree
For indigestion they prepared an infusion from and from the Lambys shell they had another drink made by pounding up the bark of certain trees and vines when the sap was thick. If the indigestion had been caused by eating crabs, they
;
ate as
an antidote the
flesh of the
manatee or
tortoise,
which caused the
body to break out into pimples.
Then they
treated the latter with the

of the balisier tree
juice of the junipa nut or with sap
from the leaves
mixed with the ashes

wounds.
infusion to the
of
burned seeds.
The former was
also used to heal
The wives sucked

wound, and
the poison out of snake bites, applied an
also prepared a drink as
an antidote.
They
body
had another antidote for arrow poisoning.
Bathing was used to treat

scarified the
some wounds, sweat baths for to draw off blood.
others.
Sometimes they
564

MYTHOLOGY
[B.A.E. Bull. 143
Upon questiowing by the missionaries, the Carib stated their belief in an unnamed superior power who lived in heaven and was endowed with
all
goodness.
They regarded
the earth as an indulgent mother,

life.
who
fur-
nished them with the things necessary for
The sun, moon, and other heavenly bodies were supposed to be human. The sun (noun) was considered a male; as ruler of the stars he prevented their shining during the daytime. He also warmed the stars, and they were believed to become ill during eclipses of the sun when the warming was not possible. The moon (houiou) was female; at first she shone
during the daytime, but the coming of the sun
thereafter she appeared only at night.
to be the cause of light rain
filled
her with shame and

said
star
;
named Achinoin was
and strong winds another star, called Couroumon, controlled the tides and caused the heavy waves which upset canoes. To a Carib, Savacou, who became a bird and later a star, was attributed Other stars, the rainbow, control over the thunder and strong winds. and a comet were given similar mythological backgrounds. The first waters in the world were said to be the perspiration and urine of these
waters became fresh only when the salinity was strained out them by the ground. Later the stars caused a great flood because the of
spirits; the
Carib failed to worship them.
The Carib
believed that their ancestors had emerged from the navel (or
an incision in the thigh) of a man named Louquo, who had descended from heaven, bringing manioc roots and showing the people
the nostrils and
how
to cultivate
build houses,
and of
fish,
them and to prepare food. He also explained how to and according to one version he was the creator of the earth which he made out of fragments of manioc bread. Three days
after his death
Louquo was
said to have returned to the sky.
LORE AND LEARNING
The Carib recognized only four colors white, They counted up to 20 on their fingers and toes.
chiefs,
black, yellow,
and
red.
As
already described,
they had several methods of recording the time until a rendezvous.
Their
shamans, and old
men
fall
kept track of the time, counting the months
by the moons, the seasons by the passing of the sun over the zenith, and
the years by the rise
and
of the Pleiades.
They
also predicted the
coming of winds and rains by the ascension of certain constellations which,

as described above, were believed to control the weather.
The people stated that they originally came from the mainland to conquer the Arawak whom they found living in the Lesser Antilles. They
were fond of recounting deeds seem to have had any interest
of bravery in
warfare but otherwise do not
in their past history.
Cttrnt'f'
Mm,
.C-
Woim
Cr>n/<
.\f,,.;
C/,,f'.
77n'
Carm-oh'
Ctlinih ("fifhff
Irff
.
(ifiiii
t,t
.s/nw
thf Hinnttnu'l-.s
Plate 93. Carib Indians and
artifacts.
(After Sheldon, 1820,
pi. 13.)
l^hf
Jmlntu nrfatrur
f'oiiiefi'inv
lli'
or Maui or
hiifUf
Stmimr
.
ini i/hl
.\
nn if
( 'it mil)
Si rvf
(iirftih
'
fit
Plate
94.
Carib manufactures.
(After Sheldon, 1820,
pi. 14.)
Plate
95.
Carib
war
dance.
(After
1907, pi.
Picard.
9.)
Reproduced
from
Fewkes,
Plate
96.
Cuban descendants
of the Arawak.
Top: Yara.
Bottom: El Caney
(After Culiu, 1902, pis. 62, 53, 54.)
Plate 97. Cuban descendants of the Arawak. Top: Playing guayo and guitar. Negro guide at left. At Yateras. Bottom: Spanish-Indians at Yara. (After
Culin, 1902, pis. 55, 59.)
Plate
cent.
8, 7.)
98.
Carib descendants. Bottom: Carib houses,
Top: Carib house and basketmakers, St. VinArima, Trinidad. (After Fewkes. 1907, pis.
Vol. 4]
THE CARIBROUSE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
565
Abbad y Lasierra, 1866; Anghiera, 1912 (1511) Arber, 1885; Bachiller y Morales, 1883; Ballet, 1875; Barlow, 1932; Bastien, 1944; Benzoni, 1857; Bernaldez, 1870 (1878); Beuchat, 1912; Booy, 1912, 1913 a, 1913 b; Bourne, 1907; Bouton, 1640;
;
Brau, 1907; Breton, 1877, 1892; Brinton, 1871; Bullbrook, 1920, 1940, 1941; Cabot, J. (See C. Columbus, 1893) Cabot, S. (see Arber, 1885) Cardenas (see Torres de Mendoza, 1864-84) ; Casas, n.d. (1875), 1909; Castellanos, 1874; Charlevoix, 1730-31
;
;
1811); Coll y Toste, 1907; Columbus (Colombo), C, Colon (Columbus), R, 1811; Coma (see Scillacio, 1859), Conzemius, 1928; Cornilliac, 1875; Corte Real (see C. Columbus, 1893); CoscuUuela, 1918. 1922; Culin, 1902; Cundall, 1894; Davies, 1666; Delawarde, 1938; Dudley,
Churchill
(see F. Colon,
1893, 1930, 1930-33;
1899; Dutertre, 1654 (1667-71)
Eaden
(see Labat, 1931)
Eden
(see Arber, 1885)
Featherman, 1881-91; Fernandez Duro, and others, 1885-1932; Fewkes, 1907, 1922; Fort y Roldan, 1881; Gabb, 1881'; Gage, 1928; Garcia Valdes, 1930, 1936-37; Girard de Rialle, 1881; G6mara, 1749 (1552-53, 1852, 1901); Gower, 1927; Guiteras, 1865-66; Harlow, 1925; Harrington, 1921; Harris, 1904; Hatt, 1924; Heriot, 1807; Herrera Fritot, 1936, 1939; Herrera y Tordesillas, 1725-26 (1730); Hollis, 1941; Holmes,
Edwards,
1818-19;
Enciso,
1519;
Escalante
Fontaneda,
1837-41';
1894; Hostos, 1941; Howard, 1943; Irving, 1851; Jane (see C. Columbus, 1930, 1930-33); Jefferys, 1760; Joyce, 1916; Kendall (see Dudley, 1899); Kerr (see F, Colon, 1811); Kidder II, 1944; Krieger, 1929, 1930, 1931; Labat, 1724 (1722, 1742), 1931; La Borde, 1704, 1886; Loven, 1935; MacNutt (see Anghiera, 1912);
Martyr (see Anghiera); Mason, J. A., 1941; Morales Cabrera, 1932; Morales Morales Patino (see Ortiz, CoscuUuela, Coello (see Royo Guardia et al., 1942) Moralis (see Anghiera, 1912) Mulligan (see Scillacio, 1859) Munoz, et al., 1943) 1797; Miinster (see Arber, 1885); Nau, 1894; Navarrete, 1825-37; Newton (see
; ; ;
;
Gage, 1928)
Ober, 1880, 1895
Ortiz Fernandez, 1935, 1943
Ortiz, CoscuUuela,
and Morales Patino, 1943; Osgood, 1942 a, 1942 b; Osgood and Howard, 1943; Oviedo y Valdes, 1749, 1851-55 (1535), 1906; Pacheco (see Torres de Mendoza. 1864-84); Pane (see Bachiller y Morales, 1883; Bourne, 1907); Pericot Garcia, 1936; Pichardo Moya, 1944; Puis, 1652; Rafinesque, 1836; Rainey, Ries, 1936; Rivet, 1923; Roche1940, 1941; Raleigh, 1848; Real (see Corte Real) fort, 1665 (1658); Roth, 1887; Roumain, 1942, 1943; Rouse, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1945, 1947 Royo Guardia, 1940 a, 1940 b, Royo Guardia, Morales Coello, and Herrera
Herrera
Fritot,
Santovenia y Echaide, 1939; Sapper, Serrano y Saenz (see Casas, 1909) Sheldon, 1820; Simon, 1882-92; Sloane, 1707-25; Smyth (see Benzoni, 1857) Sparrey, 1906; Spencer, 1873-79, vol. 6; Stahl, 1889; Stirling, 1936; Tamara, 1556; Tapia y Rivera, 1854; Taylor, D., 1935, 1936, 1938; Taylor, E.G.R. (see Barlow,
Fritot, 1942; Safford, 1916, 1917; Salas, 1921;
1897 b;
;
Schomburgk
(see Raleigh, 1848)
Scillacio, 1859;
1932)
Torre, 1890; Torre y de
la
Torre, 1841
Torres de Mendoza, 1864-84; Trinidad
Historical Society, n.d.;
Warner
(see Dudley, 1899); Wright, 1916;

;
Wyatt
(see
Dudley, 1899)
Young
(see
Edwards, 1818-19)
Zayas y Alfonso, 1931.
6S3334
48
38
BIBLIOGRAPHY TO VOLUME
ABBREVIATIONS
Acta Amer. Acta Americana. Revista de
la Sociedad (Sociedade) Interamericana de Antropologia y Geografia. Review of the Inter-American Society of Anthro-
pology and Geography.
Amer. Anthrop. Amer. Antiq.

An. Escuela Nac. Minas
American Anthropologist. American Antiquity.

Anales de la Escuela Nacional de Minas. Colombia.
ColMedellin,
An.
Instr.
Publ.
Rep.
ombia.
Ann. Rep. Smithsonian
Inst.
An. Real Acad. Cienc, Med., Fis., Nat. Habana. An. Soc, Geogr, Hist. Guatemala.
Anthrop.
Pap.
Amer.
Mus.
Nat. Hist.
An. Univ. Central Venezuela

Archiv. Anthrop.
Anales de la Instruccion Publica en la Republica de Colombia. Bogota, Colombia. Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington, D. C. Anales de la Real Academia Ciencias, Medicas, Fisicas, y Naturales de la Habana. Habana, Cuba. Anales de la Sociedad de Geografia e Historia de Guatemala. Guatemala. Anthropological Papers, American Museum of Natural History. New York, N. Y. Anales de la Universidad Central de Venezuela.
Caracas, Venezuela.
Archiv
fiir Anthropologie. wick), Germany.
Braimschweig (Brunsla
Archiv. Antrop. Etnol.

Bibl. Estud.
Archivio per I'Antropologia e

Italy.
Etnologia. Florence,
Bibl. Ling.
Cubanos Amer. Paris
Biblioteca de Estudios Cubanos.
Habana, Cuba.
Historia. Quito,
Bibliotheque Linguistique Americaine. Paris, France.

Boletin de la
Bol. Acad. Nac. Hist. Quito
Academia Nacional de
Ecuador.
Bol. Hist. Bol. Soc. Ecuatoriana Estud.
Boletin Historial. Cartagena and Medellin, Colombia.
Boletin de la Sociedad Ecuatoriana de Estudios Historicos.
Hist.
Bull.
Bull.
Quito, Ecuador.
Amer. Geogr. Soc. Bur. Amer. Ethnol.
Bulletin of the
Bulletin,
American Geographical Society. Bureau of American Ethnology, SmithWashington, D. C.

d'fithnologie de la Republique
sonian Institution.
Bull. Bur. fithnol. Republique
Bulletin de la
d'Haiti.
Bureau
d'Haiti.
Bull.
Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Free Mus. Univ. Pa.
Sci.
Art.
Bulletin of the Free
Museum
of Science and Art,

Paris, France.
University of Pennsylvania.
Bulletin Societe de Geographic.
Bull. Soc. Geogr. Paris
Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Ann. Rep._ Bureau

Col. Doc. Hist. Costa Rica
of
American Ethnology, Annual Report.
Coleccion de Documentos para

Rica.
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. la Historia de Costa
San
Jose, Paris, Barcelona.

al
Col.
Doc.
Ined.
Amer.
Coleccion de Documentos Ineditos, relatives
descu-
Oceania.
Col. Doc. Ined. Geogr. Hist.
brimiento ... en America y Oceania.

Spain.
Madrid,
Coleccion de Documentos Ineditos sobre la Geografia
Colombia.
la
Historia de Colombia.
Bogota, Colombia.
567
568
Col.
Libr.

Doc.
Ref.
Hist.
[B.A.E. Bull. 148
Amer.
Col. Ling., See. Ling. Paris __
Coleccion de Libros y Documentos Referentes a Historia de America. Madrid, Spain.

Paris.
Paris, France.
la
Collection Linguistique, Societe de la Linguistique de
Comp. Ethnogr. Stud.

Congr.
Int.
Amer.
Connecticut Acad. Arts, Sci.
Mem.
Contr. Mus.
Amer.
Ind.,
Heye
Foundation.
Estud. Etnogr.
Ethnol. Abt. Konigl. Mus.
Comparative Ethnographical Studies. Gothenburg (Goteborg), Sweden. Congreso Internacional de Americanistas International Congress of Americanists etc. Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, Memoirs. New Haven, Conn. Contributions of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. New York. Estudios Etnograficos. Puerto Rico.
; ;
Ethnologische Abteilung des Koniglichen Museums.

Berlin,
Germany.
Gote-
Etnol. Stud.
Etnologiska Studier; Ethnological Studies.

borg, Sweden.
Expl. and Field-Work Smithsonian Inst.

Field
Explorations and
Institution.
ton,
Field- Work
of
the
Smithsonian
Smithsonian
Institution,
Washing-
D. C.
Mus. Nat.
Hist.,
An-
Field
Museum
of Natural History, Anthropological

Illinois.
throp. Leaflet.
Leaflets.
Chicago,
Geogr. Rev.
Geographical Review.
Globus.
New
York, N. Y.
Globus
Illustr. Zeitschrift fiir
kunde.
Braunschweig
(Brunswick),
Londer-und VolkerGermany.
Hakluyt
Ind.
Hakluyt Society.
Indian
Notes Monogr.
Notes and Monographs, Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. New York,
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Int.
Archiv Ethnogr.
Journ. Amer. Ling.
Internationales
Archiv
fiir
Ethnographic.
Leiden,
Holland.
Int.
International Journal of
American
Linguistics.
Journ. Amer. Folk-lore

Journ.
Journal of American Folk-lore.
New
York, N. Y.
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Journal of Heredity, Organ of the American Genetic

Association.
Journ. Inst. Jamaica
Journal
Inst.
of
the
Institute
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Jamaica.
Kingston,
Jamaica.
Journ.
Roy.
Anthrop.
Gr. Brit, and Ireland.
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. London, England. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society.
Journ. Roy. Geogr. Soc.
London,
England.
Journ. Soc. Amer. Paris
Journ. Wash. Acad. Sci.
Journal de
la
Societe des Americanistes de Paris.
Paris, France.
Journal of the Washington
Academy
of Sciences.
Washington, D. C.
La Geographic. Paris, France. La Geogr. Mem. Amer. Anthrop. Assoc.- Memoirs of the American Anthropological
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Associ-
Mem, Carnegie Mus. Mem. Peabody Mus.

Ethnol.
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Memoirs of Memoirs of
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the Carnegie the
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Lexicografia antillana; diccionario de voces usadas por los aborigenes de las Antillas mayores y de algunas de las menores y consideraciones acerca de su significado y de su formacion. 2nd ed., 2 vols. Habana.
Ct
U.
S.
Government Printing
Office:
1948653334

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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS

THE CIRCUM-CARIBBEAN TRIBES

GOVERNMEINT PRINTING OFFICE

Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C.

Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology,

have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript

Preface, by Julian H. Steward

The Circum- Caribbean tribes An introduction, by The basic Circum-Caribbean culture

Social and religious patterns

and religious patterns

Social and religious patterns

Central American Cultures

Central American Cultures:

Southern Highlands Nicaraguan Highlands

Northern Coastal Plain Tribal divisions and history

The The The The The The

Cuna-Choco Division Talamanca Division

Northern Highland Division Meso- American Division

The archeology of Central America The archeology of Central America

northeast coast region

and remains Ceramics

Nonceramic artifacts Central and southwestern Honduras

112 112 114

pottery time chart

consideration of ceramic styles

of Panama, by Samuel K. Lothrop

basic cultures of Central America, by Doris Stone

American cultures and the Q-complex

The Meso- American

Division, by Frederick Johnson

The Northern Highland

Lenca, by Doris Stone

205 205 205

The Caribbean Lowland

The Mosquito, Sumo, Paya, and

Jicaque, by Paul Kirchhoff

west and south of the

The Cuna, by David

The Choco, by David

269 269 276

The Cayapa and Colorado, by John Murra

Tribes of the North Colombia Highlands

Tribes of the Cauca-Atrato region

Native culture The Indians of 1880

The 20th century Catio

Tribes of the Province of Aburra

326 326 327

Tribal divisions and locations

The Patangoro and Amani, by Paul Kirchhoff

by Alfred Metraux and

M. Armstrong and Alfred Metraux

Location and history

The Guayupe and

The Betoi and

by Gregorio Hernandez de Alba

The Achagua and

by Gregorio Hernandez de Alba

399 400 402