Show golden relics of old race discovery of ornaments and trinkets of a lono long past period has aroused archeologists archaeologists to speculation as to the makers four or five years ago several poor and ana ignorant natives were poling their way to in a canoe up the rio nio grande do code cocle a large river in western panama about 00 90 miles south bouth of the panama canal the dry season ceason had lowered the river AS the small craft made its way upstream the keen eyes of ono one ot of the natives noted something glittering in the bank in a few minutes greedy hands were tearing at the soil tor for they had found pieces of gold the fact that the gold articles were objects of art beaten into curious and beautiful shapes by hands bands long dead did not interest the natives but it did interest scientists when word of the find came to the peabody museum of harvard university a party of archeologists archaeologists went down to investigate the scientists worked in secret for three years and have now returned with a store of gold objects worth a kings ransom in the opinion of dr S K X lothrop leader of the expedition they represent the art of a civilization in panama that has hag hitherto been unknown to ence the chance which brought scientists to the spot was due to a shift in the bed of the rio kio de code cocle in changing its course the stream cut through an ancient burying place the gold ornaments which excited the interest of the natives were part of the funeral dress of some long forgotten chieftain buried not only with his richest possessions of metal and pottery but surrounded also by his wives retainers servants and slaves the abundance of similar finds made by the peabody museum party in bitsi three year sojourn in panama was almost without precedent describing the results of the expedition recently in the new york times magazine doctor lothrop reported that from one gran grae e alone measuring no more than 12 by 14 feet more than 2000 objects were removed the grave contained a score of bodies laid out in rows upon massive stone slabs piled rived over and around the bones were 90 00 different objects of gold including tour four heavy pend ants set with semiprecious semi precious stories stones six gold necklaces containing thousands of beads four large and heavily embossed golden discs twenty eight discs about 3 inches wide which had once been sewn on a shirt tout four pairs of gold cutts cuffs and twenty four rods of gold with decorated tips for insertion in the ears there were pottery vessels both for domestic service and for religious offerings there were 67 stone axes and chisels five gold chisels 21 stone knives stone arrow points nine mirrors of hematite set in limestone discs pendants pennants pend ants and beads of agate statuettes carved from the ribs of the manatee or sea cow some of them overlaid with gold wild boars baars tusks set in gold stingray sting ray spines and sawfish saw fish teeth used as spear points shacks tooth necklaces crystals glided gilded copper ornaments and many other objects such a list gives but a pale picture of the reality said doctor lothrop gold does not tarnish in the earth and it appeared gleaming in the sun as our knives and brushes removed the accumulated layers of dirt intricate designs beaten in high relief met the eye huge hug ge breastplates breast plates embossed with mythological monsters gold cuffs running in sheets from wrist to elbow each pair stamped with a distinctive design or property mark corresponding to our coat of arms complex castings of strange anthropomorphic gods fashioned in molds over delicate models in wax the richness variety and fine workmanship of these possessions indicate that a well established wealthy and highly organized culture cul turri produced them doctor lothrop and his associates believe from a study of the relles relics that the panama peoples were unrelated in culture either to their neighbors the mayas and aztecs azteca to tha northwest or the incas to the south in short the discovery of these graves has brought to light remains of a hitherto unknown amerlean american civilization as great and important in its way perhaps as any of the others who were these people histories relate that a party of spaniards in earch of gold left the coast of ran pan ama in 1515 moving inland they came to a district ruled by a powerful ower chief named carlta barita who by a stratagem administered such a crushing defeat to the spaniards that they were driven off several years later a band of 0 spaniards searching for him found ills his body elaborately decked for burial surrounded by bound captives who were to accompany him to his grave ills body was adorned from head to toot foot with golden orna ments and many others were in baskets nearby stripping the body and robbing the baskets the spaniards returned to the coast with more than pounds of gold barita parita and his subjects were probably remnants of the once great civilization liza tion which produced the ornaments and relies relics recently uncovered by archaeologists archeologists from the literary digest |