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THE MAYA: CRAFTS
309

composed of a very coarse grey clay containing small pebbles. The latter have not been fired at a high temperature and are very soft. Another form of coarse, soft and brittle ware is found in British Honduras, chiefly in the form of small figurines probably made for funerary purposes (Pl. [X, 7-11; p. 82).

The shapes in which the pots were moulded exhibit great variety, and most of the types characteristic of Sacrificios are found scattered over the whole area, though they are more common in Guatemala than in Yucatan and Honduras. In particular a very close connection appears to exist between Sacrificios pottery and the ware of the Alta Vera Paz region. The similarity is not confined to shape, but relates also to the peculiar slate-coloured earth-glaze (see p. 194), which is found on many of the vases of this district, and extends westward into the neighbourhood of Quen Santo in western Guatemala close to the Chiapas border. Another interesting similarity exists between the spouted vases of the Huaxtec country and certain pots discovered in British Honduras, and further south in Honduras. The resemblance which certain forms of the Uloa valley bear to the regular Huaxtec "teapot" (Fig. 42; p. 196) with its vertical spout is very striking, but the bodies are not ornamented with painted designs, being either plain or decorated with faint gadroons.

The shape which is perhaps of widest distribution is the tripod bowl, the feet of which terminate in grotesque animal heads, like those of Sacrificios (Pl. XIX; p. 198), or are moulded in cascabel form and contain a rattle (as Fig. 36, 9; p. 185). The former type appears rather to be limited to Vera Paz, while the latter has a wider range. The beaker-form with expanding foot, so common at Sacrificios (e.g. Pl. XVIII, 10; p. 194), extends through Vera Paz to the Chacula district, while bowls, invariably with a flat base, and bottle-forms, appear to be found in greatest numbers