Small ladle. The two-part object consists of a bowl-shaped, round-bottomed container and a solid handle on the upper rim. The ceramic was smoothed and slurried on both sides. The outside is primed, painted and polished. The primer and paint are partially eroded. The pottery has a red base colour, which was painted black and white on the outside of the vessel. There are black bands decorated with white dots on the lip, the wall and the rod-shaped handle. The inside of the object was left undecorated. After Lothrop 1926: Nicoya black line ware. According to Lehmann 1913: El Viejo style. Cultural significance: although the Tola Tricromo group is considered a diagnostic indicator of the Policromo Antiguo (800-500d.C.), Bonilla et al. (1987) date it to the period of zoned bicoloured pottery. The Costa Rican variant López was mainly documented in the Bahía de Culebra and in the valley of the Río Tempisque. It appears to have originated from the Rosales Esgrafiado en zonas group (500d.C.-500a.C.). The Nicaraguan variant Tola has many similarities with the Chávez Blanco sobre Rojo group (800-500d.C.). (Künne 2004)