Ancient art of the province of Chiriqui, Colombia Part 1

Ancient art of the province of Chiriqui, Colombia.

by William Henry Holmes.

INTRODUCTION.

GEOGRAPHY.

Until comparatively recent times the province of Chiriqui has remained almost unknown to the world at large. The isthmus was traversed a number of times by the conquerors, who published accounts of their discoveries, but it was reserved for the period of railroad and ca.n.a.l exploration to furnish trustworthy accounts of its character and inhabitants. The situation of Chiriqui is unique. Forming, politically, a part of South America, it belongs in reality to the North American continent. It occupies a part of the great southern flexure of the isthmus at a point where the sh.o.r.e lines begin finally to turn toward the north.

The map accompanying this paper (Plate I) conveys a clear idea of the position and the leading topographic features of the province. The boundaries separating it from Veragua on the east and Costa Rica on the west run nearly north and south. The Atlantic coast line has a northwest and southeast trend and is indented by the bay or lagoon of Chiriqui.

The Bay of David extends into the land on the south and the Gulf of Dolce forms a part of the western boundary. A range of mountains, consisting princ.i.p.ally of volcanic products, extends midway along the province, forming the continental watershed.[1] The drainage comprises two systems of short rivers that run, one to the north and the other to the south, into the opposing oceans. Belts of lowland border the sh.o.r.e lines. That on the south side is from twenty to thirty miles wide and rises gradually into a plateau two or three thousand feet in elevation, which is broken by hills and cut by canons. This belt affords a natural thoroughfare for peoples migrating from continent to continent, and doubtless formed at all periods an attractive district for occupation.

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 the South American continent. The islands of the coast furnish some fragmentary monuments and relics, and there is no doubt that a vast quant.i.ty of material yet remains within the province to reward the diligent search of future explorers.

[Footnote 1: For physical features, see report of Lieutenant Norton (Report Chiriqui Commission, Ex. Doc. 41, 1860).]

LITERATURE.

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 archaeologists 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. But, little by little, it has been discovered that at some period of the past the province was thickly populated, and by races possessed of no mean culture.

The most important contributions to the literature of this region, so far as they have come to my knowledge, are the following: A paper by Mr.

Merritt, published by the American Ethnological Society;[2] a paper by Bollaert, published by the same society, and also a volume issued in London;[3] a valuable pamphlet, with photographic ill.u.s.trations, by M. De Zeltner, French consul to Panama in 1860;[4] a short paper by Mr. A. L. Pinart, published in the Bulletin de la Societe de Geographie (Paris, 1885, p. 433), in which he gives valuable information in regard to the peoples, ancient and modern; and casual notes by a number of other writers, some of which will be referred to in the following pages.

A pretty full list of authorities is given by Mr. H. H. Bancroft in his Native Races, Vol. V, p. 16.

One of the most important additions to our knowledge of the province and its archaeologic treasures is furnished in the ma.n.u.script notes of Mr.

J. A. McNiel, who made the greater part of the collection now deposited in the National Museum. This explorer has personally supervised the examination of many thousands of graves and has forwarded the bulk of his collections to the United States. His explorations have occupied a number of years, during which time he has undergone much privation and displayed great enthusiasm in pursuing the rather th.o.r.n.y pathways of scientific research. In the preparation of this paper his notes have been used as freely as their rather disconnected character warranted, and since Mr. McNiel's return to the United States, in July, 1886, I have been favored with a series of interviews with him, and by this means much important information has been obtained.

[Footnote 2: J. King Merritt: "Report on the huacals or ancient graveyards of Chiriqui." Bulletin of the American Ethnological Society, 1860.]

[Footnote 3: Bollaert: Antiquarian Researches in New Granada.

London, 1860.]

[Footnote 4: A. De Zeltner: Notes sur les sepultures indiennes de departement de Chiriqui.]

PEOPLE.

At the present time this district is inhabited chiefly by Indians and natives of mixed, blood, who follow grazing and agriculture to a limited extent, but subsist largely upon the natural products of the country.

These peoples are generally thought to have no knowledge or trustworthy tradition of the ancient inhabitants and are said to care nothing for the curious cemeteries among which they dwell, except as a source of revenue. Mr. A. L. Pinart states, however, that certain tribes on both sides of the continental divide have traditions pointing toward the ancient grave builders as their ancestors. There is probably no valid reason for a.s.signing the remains of this region to a very high antiquity. The highest stage of culture here may have been either earlier or later than the period of highest civilization in Mexico and South America or contemporaneous with it. There is really no reason for supposing that the tribes who built these graves were not in possession of the country, or parts of it, at the time of the conquest. As to the affinities of the ancient middle isthmian tribes with the peoples north and south of them we can learn nothing positive from the evidences of their art. So far as the art of pottery has come within my observation, it appears to indicate a somewhat closer relationship with the ancient Costa Rican peoples than with those of continental South America; yet, in their burial customs, in the lack of enduring houses and temples, and in their use of gold, they were like the ancient peoples of middle and southern New Granada.[5]

The relics preserved in our museums would seem to indicate one princ.i.p.al period of occupation or culture only; but there has been no intelligent study of the contents of the soil in sections exposed in modern excavations, the exclusive aim of collectors having generally been to secure either gold or showy cabinet specimens. The relics of very primitive periods, if such are represented, have naturally pa.s.sed unnoticed. Mr. McNiel mentions the occurrence of pottery in the soil in which the graves were dug, but, regarding it as identical with that contained in the graves, he neglected to preserve specimens.

In one instance, while on a visit to Los Remedios, a pueblo near the eastern frontier of Chiriqui, he observed a cultivated field about which a ditch some 8 or 9 feet in depth had been dug. In walking through this he found a continuous exposure of broken pottery and stone implements.

Some large urns had been cut across or broken to conform to the slope of the ditch, and were exposed in section.

Although not apparently representing a very wide range of culture or distinctly separated periods of culture, the various groups of relics exhibit considerable diversity in conception and execution, attributable, no doubt, to variations in race and art inheritance.

[Footnote 5: R. B. White: Jour. Anthrop. Inst. Great Britain and Ireland, p. 241. February, 1884.]

THE CEMETERIES.

The ancient cemeteries, or huacals, as they are called throughout Spanish America, are scattered over the greater part of the Pacific slope of Chiriqui. It is said by some that they are rarely found in the immediate vicinity of the sea, but they occur in the river valleys, on the hills, the plateaus, the mountains, and in the deepest forests. They are very numerous, but generally of small extent. The largest described is said to cover an area of about twelve acres. They were probably located in the immediate vicinity of villages, traces of which, however, are not described by explorers; but there can be no doubt that diligent search will bring to light the sites of dwellings and towns. The absence of traces of houses or monuments indicates either that the architecture of this region was then, as now, of destructible material, or, which is not likely, that so many ages have pa.s.sed over them that all traces of unburied art, wood, stone, or clay, have yielded to the "gnawing tooth of time."

One of the most circ.u.mstantial accounts of these burial places is given by Mr. Merritt, who was also the first to make them known to science.[6]

Mr. Merritt was director of a gold mine in Veragua, and in the summer of 1859 spent several weeks in exploring the graves of Chiriqui; he therefore speaks from personal knowledge. In the autumn of 1858 two native farmers of the parish of Bugaba, or Bugava, discovered a golden image that had been exposed by the uprooting of a plant. They proceeded secretly to explore the graves, the existence of which had been known for years. In the following spring their operations became known to the people, and within a month more than a thousand persons were engaged in working these extraordinary gold mines. The fortunate discoverers succeeded in collecting about one hundred and thirty pounds weight of gold figures, most of which were more or less alloyed with copper. It is estimated that fifty thousand dollars' worth in all was collected from this cemetery, which embraced an area of twelve acres.

Although there are rarely surface indications to mark the position of the graves, long experience has rendered it comparatively easy to discover them. The grave hunter carries a light iron rod, which he runs into the ground, and thus, if any hard substance is present, discovers the existence of a burial. It is mentioned by one or two writers that the graves are in many cases marked by stones, either loose or set in the ground in rectangular and circular arrangements. The graves do not often seem to have had a uniform position in relation to one another or to the points of the compa.s.s. In some cases they are cl.u.s.tered about a central tomb, and then a.s.sume a somewhat radiate arrangement; again, according to Mr. McNiel, they are sometimes placed end to end, occupying long trenches.

[Footnote 6: J. King Merritt: Paper read before the American Ethnological Society, 1860.]

THE GRAVES.

Graves of a particular form are said to occur sometimes in groups occupying distinct parts of the cemetery, but the observations are not sufficiently definite to be of value. The graves vary considerably in form, construction, and depth, and are cla.s.sified variously by explorers. In the Bugaba cemetery Mr. Merritt found two well marked varieties, the oval and the quadrangular, reference being had to the horizontal section. The oval grave pits were from 4 to 6 feet deep and from 3 to 4 feet in greatest diameter. A wall of rounded river stones 2 to 3 feet high lined the lower part of the pit, and from the top of this the entire s.p.a.ce was closely packed with rounded stones. Within the faced up part of this cist the remains of the dead, the golden figures, pottery, and implements had been deposited. This form is ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 1 by a vertical section constructed from the description given by Mr. Merritt.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 1. Section of oval grave.]

The quadrangular graves were constructed in two somewhat distinct ways.

One variety was identical in most respects with the oval form ill.u.s.trated above. They were sometimes as much as 6 feet deep and frequently 4 by 7 feet in horizontal dimensions. In the other form a pit 4 by 6 feet in diameter was sunk to the depth of about 3 feet.

Underneath this another pit some 2 feet in depth was sunk, leaving an offset or terrace 8 or 10 inches in width all around. The smaller pit was lined with flat stones placed on edge. In this cist the human remains and the relics were placed and covered over with flat stones, which rested upon the terrace and prevented the superinc.u.mbent ma.s.s, which consisted of closely packed river stones, from crushing the contents. A section of this tomb is given in Fig. 2, also drawn from the description given by Mr. Merritt.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 2. Section of a quadrangular grave, showing the surface pack of river stories and the positions of the slabs and objects of art.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 3. Grave with pillars, described by De Zeltner.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 4. Compound cist, described by De Zeltner.]

Mr. Merritt and others mention that in some of the graves pillars are employed to support the roof of the cist. These pillars are mentioned briefly by De Zeltner, from whose account the following ill.u.s.trations are drawn. This author does not state that he made any personal investigations, and if his accounts were obtained from the natives their entire trustworthiness may very properly be questioned. The first two forms mentioned by him are similar to those already given. The third is described as having at the corners square pillars of stone to support the covering, which, however, is not described. The fourth has four pillars, placed in the corners of the pit. These serve to support a vault of flagstones. The walls between the pillars are faced with pebbles, as in the cases previously described. Fig. 3 will make this form clear at a glance. The fifth variety described by De Zeltner is quite extraordinary in construction. His account is somewhat confusing in a number of respects, and the section given in Fig. 4 cannot claim more than approximate accuracy in details and measurements. Near the surface a paving, perhaps of river stones, was found covering an area of about 10 by 13 feet. This paving was apparently the surface of a pack about 2 feet thick, and covered the mouth of the main pit, which was some 6 or 7 feet deep. Pillars of cobble stones about 10 inches in diameter occupied the corners of the pit, and probably served in a measure to support the paving. In the bottom of this excavation a second pit was dug, the mouth of which was also covered by a paving 2 by upwards of 3 feet in horizontal dimensions. This lower pit consisted of a shaft several feet in depth, by which descent was made into a chamber of inverted pyramidal shape. This chamber approximated 6 by 9 feet in horizontal dimensions and was some 4 or 5 feet deep. At the bottom of this cistern the human remains and most of the relics were deposited.

The shaft was filled in with earth and the pavings described. The total depth, computed from the figures given, is about 18 feet, a most remarkable achievement for a barbarous people; yet this is equaled by the ancient tribes of the mainland of New Granada, where similar burial customs seem to have prevailed. Mr. White,[7] who traveled extensively in the northwestern part of the state, says:

A dry, elevated ridge, composed of easily excavated material, was selected as the cemetery. A pit of only a yard or so in diameter was sunk, sometimes vertically, sometimes at an angle, or sometimes it varied from vertical to inclined. It was sunk to depths varying from 15 to 60 feet, and at the bottom a chamber was formed in the earth.

Here the dead was deposited, with his arms, tools, cooking utensils, ornaments, and chattels generally, with maize and fermented liquor made of maize. The chamber and pa.s.sage were then rammed tightly full of earth, and sometimes it would appear that peculiar earth, other than that excavated on the spot, was used. One not unfrequently detects a peculiar aromatic smell in the earth, and fragments of charcoal are always found mixed with it in more or less quant.i.ty.

M. De Zeltner describes other very simple graves which are filled in with earth, excepting a surface paving of pebbles.

Mr. McNiel, who has examined more examples than any other white man, and over a wide district with David as a center, discredits the statements of De Zeltner in respect to the form ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 4, and states that generally the graves do not differ greatly in shape and finish from the ordinary graves of to-day. He describes the pits as being oval and quadrangular and as having a depth ranging from a few feet to 18 feet.

The paving or pack consists of earth and water worn stones, the latter pitched in without order and forming but a small percentage of the filling. He has never seen such stones used in facing the walls of the pit or in the construction of pillars. The flat stones which cover the cist are often 10 or 15 feet below the surface and are in some cases very heavy, weighing 300 pounds or more. A single stone is in cases large enough to cover the entire s.p.a.ce, but more frequently two or more flat stones are laid side by side across the cavity. These are supported by river stones, a foot or more in length, set around the margin of the cist. He is of the opinion that both slabs and bowlders were in many cases carried long distances. No one of the pits examined was of the extraordinary form described in detail by De Zeltner and others.

[Footnote 7: B. B. White: Jour. Anthrop. Inst. Great Britain and Ireland, p. 246. February, 1884.]

HUMAN REMAINS.

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. Pinart surmises, from the a.n.a.logies of modern burial customs upon the north coast, that the bones only were deposited in the graves, the flesh having been allowed to decay by a long period of exposure in the open air. This, however, would probably not materially hasten the decay of the bones.