Ancient art of the province of Chiriqui, Colombia: Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1884-1885, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1888, pages 3-188 — John Shaqi
Ancient art of the province of Chiriqui, Colombia: Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1884-1885, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1888, pages 3-188Holmes, William Henry
History
Ancient art of the province of Chiriqui, Colombia: Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1884-1885, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1888, pages 3-188
Holmes, William Henry
Chiriquí (Panama : Province) -- Antiquities; Indian pottery -- Panama; Indians of Central America -- Panama
With reference to the principal groups of relics, we cannot do better
than accept the statements of collectors that all are buried in like
ways and in similar tombs, different varieties in many cases occurring
in the same tomb. There are, however, in a few minor groups such marked
distinctions in workmanship and style that we are compelled to attribute
them to different periods or to distinct communities. The groups
separated most completely from others are the scarified pottery
presented first in the series of painted wares, the maroon group, which
follows, and other varieties represented by fugitive pieces. The latter
may have reached Chiriqui from neighboring provinces. There are certain
pieces that speak decidedly of Costa Rican influence and others that
find their counterparts in the Colombian states to the south.
In art in clay in most countries the vessel is the leading idea, the
center about which nearly the entire ceramic art is gathered. This is
true in a marked degree in Chiriqui, and vessels are therefore given the
first place in this paper. The less usual forms include drums, whistles,
rattles, stools, spindle whorls, needlecases, and toy-like images, all
of which present features of peculiar interest. These classes of objects
are discussed in separate sections.
There are few indications of an ambition to model natural forms or
mythologic figures independently of utensils and useful objects, and,
strange to say, no pieces are found that portray the human face and
figure with even a fair degree of approach to nature.
_How found._--In describing the graves and tombs in a previous section,
I alluded to the manner in which the pottery was deposited. It appears
to have been buried with the dead or thrown into the grave with the
earth and stones with which the pit was filled. There was little
regularity in the place or position of the vessels and many were broken
when found. The precise use of the vessels, the character of the
contents, or the relation of particular pieces to the remains of the
dead cannot be determined. Although the human remains have almost
entirely disappeared and there are no traces left of utensils of wood,
bone, horn, or shell, the paste, slip, and colors are wonderfully well
preserved and the surface is not even discolored by contact with the
earth. When found, every crevice and cavity is completely filled with
earth, and the paste is often so tender that the vessels have to be
dried with great care before they can be handled with freedom. The
number of pieces found in a grave sometimes reaches twenty, but the
average is perhaps not above three or four.
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