William Henry Holmes

“ In speaking thus of the whole body of ceramic products, I would not convey the impression that there is perfect homogeneity throughout, as if all were the work of a single people developed from within, and therefore free from the eccentricities that come from exotic influence. On the contrary, there is strong evidence of mixed conditions of races and of arts, the analysis of which, with our present imperfect data, will be extremely difficult. These evidences of mixed conditions are found in the marked diversity and individuality of character of the various groups of ware. ”

“ It is a well established fact that primitive peoples habitually invest inanimate objects with the attributes of living creatures. Thus the vessel, from the time it assumes individual shape and is fitted to perform a function, is thought of as a living being, and by the addition of plastic or painted details it becomes a particular creature, an alligator, a fish, or a puma, each of which is in most cases the symbol of some mythologic concept. ”

“ The agencies of modification inherent in the art in its practice are such that any particular animal form extensively employed in decoration is capable of changing into or giving rise to any or to all of the highly conventional decorative devices upon which our leading ornaments, such as the meander, the scroll, the fret, the chevron, and the guilloche, are based. ”

“ There are apparently no traces of implements of war.
In metal there are numerous and somewhat remarkable works. They are of gold, gold-copper alloy, copper, and bronze. The objects are of small size, rarely reaching a pound in weight, and they are almost exclusively pendent ornaments. They were, for the most part, cast in molds, and in nine cases out of ten represent animal forms. A few bells are found, all of which are of bronze. Pieces formed of alloyed metal are usually washed or plated with pure gold.
The great body of relics are in clay, and the workmanship displayed is often admirable. ”

“ As it now stands we are absolutely certain that no race, no art, no motive or element in nature or in art can claim the exclusive origination of any one of the well known or standard conventional devices, and that any race, art, or individual motive is capable of giving rise to any and to all such devices. ”

“ The character of the conceptions embodied in the art unite with evidences of technical skill to prove to us that American culture, as represented by the metal ornaments of Chiriqui, was not the product of a day, but of long periods of experiment and progress. ”

“ There is no family of American ware that bears evidence of higher skill in the manipulation of clay or that indicates a more subtile appreciation of beauty of form, and no other that presents so many marked analogies to the classic forms of the Mediterranean. ”

“ When once within the realm of decoration the various motives or elements are subject to modification by two classes of influences or conditioning forces: the technical restraints of the art and the esthetic forces of the human mind. Mechanical and geometric elements, although born within the art or its associated arts, are modified in the processes of adaptation to the changing requirements and conditions of the art and through the tendency towards elaboration under the guidance of the esthetic forces ”

“ The almost total absence of human remains has frequently been remarked, and the theory is advanced that cremation must have been practiced. We have no evidence, however, of such a custom among the historic tribes of this region, and, besides, such elaborate tombs would hardly be constructed for the deposition of ashes. Yet, considering the depth of the graves, their remarkable construction, and the character of the soil selected for burial purposes, it is certainly wonderful that such meager traces of human remains are found. ”

“ The testimony of the earthen relics—for no others are preserved to us—goes to show that the art of music was, in its rude way, very assiduously practiced, and that it probably constituted with these, as with most primitive communities, a serious and important feature in the various ceremonial exercises. Clay is naturally limited to the production of a small percentage of the musical instruments of any people, the various forms of woody growths being better adapted to their manufacture. ”

“ We find that a limited area—a small and obscure province of the isthmian region—possesses a wonderful wealth of art products the character of which indicates a long period of occupation by peoples of considerable culture. The art remains are perhaps as a whole inferior to those of the districts to the north and south, but they possess many features in common with the art of neighboring provinces. ”

“ The ancient races were accustomed to conceive of the vessel as the body of an animal, an idea originating in the association of mythologic conceptions with art. The head and the tail of the particular creature thought of were attached to opposite sides of the vase and consequently interfered with the original zonal arrangement of the design where it existed, or where it did not exist the sides were filled with devices representing the markings of the creature’s body. ”

“ The antiquarian literature of the province is extremely meager, being confined to brief sketches made by transient visitors or based for the most part upon the testimony of gold hunters and government explorers, who took but little note of the unpretentious relics of past ages. As there are few striking monuments, the attention of archæologists was not called to the history of primeval man in this region, and until recently the isthmus was supposed to have remained practically unoccupied by that group of cultured nations whose works in Peru and in Mexico excite the wonder of the world. ”

“ It was further observed in Pueblo art that as 172 time went on life forms were little by little introduced into its decoration and that in recent times they shared the honors equally with the primitive geometric forms. In Chiriquian art we find but meager traces of a primitive geometric system, and conclude that either the earliest art of the people did not give rise to such a system or that the graphic motives, entering gradually and steadily multiplying, supplanted the archaic forms, finally usurping nearly the entire field. ”

“ The legs are very generally modeled to represent animal forms. In a majority of cases the fish was chosen because, perhaps, its shape was suitable or because the fish bore some relation to the use to which the vessel was to be devoted. Lizards and mammals are also seen and the human form occasionally appears. In some cases the animal figure is attached to the upper part of the leg or is perched upon the hip, where that feature is pronounced. ”

“ The heavy implements of stone are rarely very far beneath the surface.
OBJECTS OF ART.
From the foregoing account it is apparent that our knowledge of the art of ancient Chiriqui must for the present be derived almost entirely from the contents of the tombs. The inhabitants were skillful in the employment and the manipulation of stone, clay, gold, and copper; and the perfection of their work in these materials, taken in connection with the construction of their remarkable tombs, indicates a culture of long standing and a capacity of no mean order. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It is in the middle portion of this strip of lowland, especially in the drainage area of the Bay of David, that the most plentiful evidences of ancient occupation are found. Scattering remains have been discovered all along, however, connecting the art of Costa Rica with that of Veragua, Panama, and 14 the South American continent. The islands of the coast furnish some fragmentary monuments and relics, and there is no doubt that a vast quantity of material yet remains within the province to reward the diligent search of future explorers. ”

“ We find that the plastic features are gradually reduced until mere nodes appear where the head and the tail should be, and finally in the lower forms there remains but a blank panel or a painted device, as already shown in a preceding section. The painted devices are also reduced by degrees until all resemblance to nature is lost and geometric devices alone remain. I observe in this association of plastic and painted features a lack of the perfect consistency I had learned to expect in the work of primitive peoples. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Although we are unable to show that any of these characters had other than a purely decorative use, we see how richly the ancient peoples were supplied, through the conventionalizing agencies of the art, with devices that could have been employed as ideograms and letters where such were needed, and devices, too, that, from their derivation and use in the art, must in most cases have had ideas associated with them. ”

“ These works affiliate with the various works in stone and clay, the art products of the province thus constituting a fairly homogeneous whole and being entirely free from traces of European influence.
Metals do not come into use early in the history of a race, as they are not found in shapes or conditions suitable for immediate use, nor are they sufficiently showy when found to be especially desirable for ornaments. A long period must have elapsed before the use of metals was discovered, and a longer period must have passed before they were worked ”

“ Elements from art are mainly of mechanical origin, and are, therefore, non-imitative and geometric. Elements from nature imitate natural forms, and hence are primarily non-geometric. Elements from art, being mechanical, are meaningless or non-ideographic; those from nature are in early stages of art usually associated with mythologic conceptions, and hence are ideographic. All decorations may therefore have four dual classifications, as follows: First, with reference to method of realization, as plastic and flat; second, with reference to derivation, as mechanical and imitative ”

“ At the right hand in the cut we have simply the head with its strong recurved jaws and notched crest. The principal figure at the left is a two headed alligator, the body being straight and supplied with two feet. The ground finish of the decorated band is in the light gray tint and the alligator figures and vertical septa now appear in that color. The ground of the remainder of the surface is red. It will be seen that in this case the panel outlines are rather elaborate and that the neck and base are striped in a way to enhance considerably the beauty of the vessel. ”

“ Neither are there traces of European ideas embodied in the shapes or in the decoration of the objects—a circumstance that argues strongly in favor of native origin. An equally convincing argument is found in the fact that all the alloys liable to corrosion exhibit marked evidences of decay, as if for a long period subject to the destructive agents of the soil. In many cases the copper alloy base crumbles into black powder, leaving only the flakes of the plating. ”

“ SPINDLE WHORLS.
The art of weaving was carried to a high degree of perfection by many of the American races, but the processes employed were of the simplest kind. The threads were spun upon wooden spindles weighted 150 with whorls of baked clay. These whorls are not plentiful in the graves of Chiriqui, but such as have been collected are quite similar in style to those of Mexico and Peru. In Figs. 218, 219, and 220 we have three examples modeled with considerable attention to detail but comparatively rude in finish. They are in the natural color of the baked clay and are but rudely polished. ”

“ Gold, silver, copper, and tin—the last in alloys with copper forming bronze—are found in the graves. Gold is the most important, and is associated with all the others in alloys or as a surface coating. The inhabitants of the isthmus at the time of the discovery were rich in objects, chiefly ornaments, of this metal, and expeditions sent out under Balboa, Pizarro, and others plundered the natives without mercy. ”

“ If we should conclude that the ancient Americans were probably able to secure in some such manner a thin film of gold, it still remains to inquire whether there may not have been some purely mechanical means of plating. In some of the Chiriquian specimens a foundation of very base metal appears to have been plated with heavy sheet gold, which as the copper decays comes off in flakes. ”

“ It is said that the illusory stories of an El Dorado somewhere within the continent of South America arose from the lavish use of gold ornaments by the natives whom the Spaniards encountered, and that Costa Rica gets its name from the same circumstance. It is also recorded that the natives of various parts of Central and South America at the date of the conquest were in the habit of opening ancient graves for the purpose of securing mortuary trinkets. The whites have followed their example with the greatest eagerness. ”

“ We observe that irregular and complex forms, in the production of which mechanical appliances could not be used to advantage, are modeled with as much grace of contour and perfection of surface as are the simpler shapes that could be turned upon a wheel, and we conclude that with this remarkable people the hand and the eye were so highly educated that mechanical aids were not indispensable. ”