The objects of ancient art found in Chiriqui are, as elsewhere in North America, derived almost entirely from graves. The cemeteries, apart from their contents and the mode of sepulture, constitute in themselves topics of interest which are discussed and illustrated in the paper. Another curious feature is that the objects buried generally appear to have been manufactured for mortuary purposes and not for use by the living. A general review of the contents of the graves shows that the ancient inhabitants were skillful in the manipulation of stone, gold, copper, and clay, and tombs of undoubtedly great antiquity yield evidence of long continued culture.
It also appears that, while the art of the old peoples of the isthmus can in some respects be connected with that of adjacent regions in North America, in others it is remarkable for individuality. Ornaments of stone were seldom used by them and those of gold and copper were common. The articles of gold which the graves have yielded in large quantities to explorers during the last quarter of a century, and for which only they have until recently been searched, have generally been considered to be mere ornaments, but they probably had a fetichistic origin.
It is remarkable that no weapon, tool, or utensil of metal has been noticed. The objects were generally formed by casting in molds, which was done with considerable skill, and gilding, or at least plating, was practiced. The art of alloying also appears to have been understood.
The use of metals does not appear early in the order of technology, and an advanced degree of culture is generally attained before the casting of any metal is attempted. Without allowing too much weight to any argument based upon the surprising skill of these people in plating and alloying, the evidence of technical skill in general, together with the conceptions embodied in their art, proves conclusively that it was the product of a long period of experiment and progress.
The pottery of Chiriqui is to be noted for the perfection of its technique, its high specialization of form, and its conventional use of a wide range of decorative motives. Its forms present many striking analogies to the wheel made ware of the Mediterranean, regarded as classic.
The mythologic stage of the builders of these graves is shown by the fact that in their ceramic art there is no attempt to render the human face or figure with accuracy. The personages of their religious philosophy were zoömorphic and some of their forms may be discerned by a skillful analyst in or on all the ornaments and vessels. On each of the latter all decorative devices and delineations have some reference to the mythic creature associated with the vessel and its functions.
Mr. Holmes has made an important discovery in the evolution of decoration in Chiriqui from which are deduced instructive generalizations of wide application. All the decorations originate (doubtless under the influence of the stage reached in mythologic philosophy) in life forms of animals, none being vegetal. Coming from mythologic concepts they are significant and ideographic, and coming from nature they are primarily imitative and non-geometric. Nevertheless the agencies of modification inherent in the practice of art through its mechanical conditions are such that the animal forms early employed have changed into conventional decorative devices, among which are the meander, scroll, fret, chevron, and guilloche.
That this was the course of evolution of the classic forms of ornaments is not asserted; indeed, it is not necessary to form such a hypothesis, as by the interacting principles, well classified by Mr. Holmes, the course by which the same result was accomplished may have been wholly diverse. It is, however, shown that this was in all probability the particular and independent course in one region of America, being in that respect in distinct contrast to other art regions, such as that of the Pueblos, where the rise of geometric figures through technologic channels is equally obvious. It follows that in seeking to divide peoples by the criteria of their decorative arts the examination must embrace what is far more fundamental than a mere comparison of their finished products: these may be and are markedly similar without any evidence of transmission, and when in fact by deeper study the ascertained separate courses of development preclude such transmission.
A STUDY OF THE TEXTILE ART IN ITS RELATION TO THE
DEVELOPMENT OF FORM AND ORNAMENT, BY W. H. HOLMES.
For several years Mr. Holmes has been engaged in the study of the ancient and existing art of the North American Indians, and has published in the annual reports of this Bureau a number of elaborate essays upon the art of specified peoples and regions.