[ The scarified group.—]
This group is represented by about forty specimens and is worthy of especial attention. It comes from the graves of two localities, one near C. E. Taylor’s hacienda, north of David, on the slopes of Mount Chiriqui, and the other at Alanje, southwest of David. As a variety of ware it stands so entirely alone that had it arrived unlabeled no one would have recognized its affinities with Chiriquian art. It is rather inferior in material, grace of form, and surface finish, and the decoration appears to belong to a lower grade of culture than that of the other groups. It is possibly the work of an inferior race in comparatively recent times.
Nearly all the vessels are tripods, but a few have rounded or flat bottoms and a few are supplied with annular stands. The walls are thick and the shapes are uncouth or clumsy. The paste is coarse, poorly baked, and friable; near the surface it is a warm reddish or yellowish gray; within the mass it is a dark gray.
The makers of this pottery, like their brother artificers, took especial pleasure in the modeling of life forms. The work exhibited in these specimens is, however, exceptionally rude. In some cases grotesque heads are attached to the rims of bowls; in others the head, tail, and
feet of animals appear about the periphery of the vase; and in a number of cases the legs of the tripods are modeled to represent the forms of living creatures. Generally the feet are clumsy in shape and three toed, suggesting the feet of the tapir.
These vessels are embellished by painting, incising, or scarifying and by modeling in relief. Color was not employed in the production of designs, but a dark Indian red pigment was daubed over that part of the surface not occupied by incised ornament. Little or no slip was used and the rude geometric patterns were executed with pointed tools in a very haphazard manner.
Fig. 118. Tripod bowl of red scarified ware—⅓.