80 THE ABORIGINES OF FORTO RICO

oneoftlieinclosiiresbetweenthe disti'ictof ConierioandP.arranciui- tasandof othersinthedistrictsof JallulasandHatillo.

While ^l)all

games may

have taken place in the inclosures just described,itseems

more

probable

from

their

mode

of construction, situation,and other features thattheywere used as dancecourts, in whichwerecelebrated

some

ofthesolemnreligiousceremoniesof the clans. Itisconjectured that therowsof stoneswhich surroundthese inclosuresare theremainsofseats.

A

short distance outside the inclosures there are generallyfound tumuli,

mounds

of earth which were used for burial of the dead.

Thesestructui'es are not confined to Porto Rico; similar inclosures surrounded

by

stonesoccurinother

West

Indianislands.

J. G.Miiller, in his historyof the aboriginal

American

religions, speaks of one of thesedance places discovered bj^

Schomburgk

"in Haiti,nearSan

Juan

de

Managua, where

therewasaring of gi'anite stones, 21feet thick,which measured2,770 feetincircumference. In the center of this circlewasa rock, 5 feet 6 inches in height, partly buried in the soil,which Schomluirgk supposed to be an idol.

He

ascribed these structurestoarace antedating the Indians that

Colum-

busfound on^theisland.

Inhisreportinthe Proceedingsofthe British Association forIS.Jl

Schomburgk

gives a

more

detaileddescription of the rock inclosure nearSan

Juan

de

Managua:

A

farmoreinterestingdiscoverythan those heapsofconcli shells,madeduring

mv

travels inSantoDomingo,is,however, agraniteringintheneighborhoodofSan Juan de Managua, which seemstohaveentirelyescaped theattention ofprevious historiansandtravelers. Managua formedoneofthefivekingdomsintowhichSanto Domingo, onthe arrival ofthe Spaniards,wasdivided. Itwasgoverned bythe Carib caciqueCaonabo (whichnamesignified rain),themostfierceandpowerfulof the chieftains,andtheirreconcilableenemyofthe Europeans. Thegranite ringis

now knownintheneighborhood underthenameof"el cercadodelos Iiidios,"and

liesonasavannasurrounded with grovesofwoodand bounded bytheriverJlanagua.

Thecircle consists moistly ofgraniterocks,whichprovebytheirsmoothnessthat theyhave beencollectedonthebanksoftheriver,probablyatManagua,although itsdistanceis considerable. The rocks are mostly each from 30to.50poundsin weight,and have been placedclose together,givingtheringthe api)earanceofa p:ived road,21feetinbreadth and,as far asthetreesand busheswhichhad grown upfrombetweenthe rocks permittedoneto ascertain,2,270feetincircumference.

A

largegraniterock,5feet7inchesin length,endinginobtusepoints,liesnearlyin themiddleofthecircle,partlyembeddedintheground. Ido not thinkitsj^resent situationisthe oneitoriginallyoccupied; the rock stood probablyinthecenter. It hasbeen smoothed and fashioned byhumanhands, and, althoughthe'surfacehas suffered from atmosphericinfluences,thereis evidencethatitwastorepresent a human^figure;thecavities ofthe eyesand moutharestillvisible.

This rock hasineveryrespecttheappearanceofthefigure representedbyPere Charlevoixin his HistoiredeI'isleEsi^ignole onde Saint Dominigue,which hedes- aSirRobert Schomburgk, Ethnological ResearchesinSantoDomingo,inthe ReportoftheBritish Association, p. 90-92.1851. SeealsoBachiller yMorales'squotation fromJ.G.Jliiller'sAmerikan- ischeReligionen,alsoanarticle in the HeiistiidelaIMianainwhichhedescribestheso-called cerciulosdelosIndios ofSanto Domingo.

FEWKEs] ARCHKOL(X4ICAL SITES 81

ignates asa "figuretrouveedansunesepultureIndienne."

A

pathwayofthesame breadthastheringextendsfrom it,first,duewest,and turnsafterwardataright angletothe north,endingata small brook. The pathwayisalmostforitswhole extent overgrown with thick forest; I could not, therefore, ascertain the exact length. Nodoubtcan existthatthis circlesurrounded the Indianidol,andthat withinitthousandsofnativesadored the deityinthe unshajienformofthe granite rock. Butanother question remains to besolved,namely,were the inhabitants

whom

the Spaniardsmetintheislam!the constructorsof this ring? IthinkniA.

The

inclosnreabovedescribed^{i.-^}apparentlytlie.sameasthatreferrecl toby F.A. Ober."

who

writes res^ardiiiy-one of the dance placesin

SantoDomino'oasfollows:

Thesouthwesternportion,especiallywheredweltAnacaona* andHenriquillo,^''is rich inwhatImaytermsurface,indications;andit isin thisdistrict,inavalley in themountains, that the remainsofalarge amphitheater, enclosedbygreatrocks, are to-dayseennear the spotwhere Caonabo wascaptured. Thisamphitheateris

supposedtohave servedasthearenafortheexercise ofapeculiargameof ball in which the Indians indulged, somewhat similar to that to-day practiced liy the Basques.

Itwas probablyin thisdance plaza,oroneoflike construction, in theprovinceof

Xaragna

thatthecacique

Anacaona

gavethe reception to

Bartholomew Columbus

which Herrera has described in detail.

When Bartholomew

Columbus, with his troop of 300 men,

came

to Xaragua, he was received by ^all the nobles of the province with dances,songs,and otheramusements. Thirty

women

of the roj'al household, naked except as to such garments as

hung from

their girdles,bearinggreenboughsⁱⁿtheirhands,approachedtheSpaniard with song and dance, knelt before him,and ^offered

him what

the_v carried. These werefollowed

by

others,and thewhitevisitorswere taken intothepresence of the cacique,wheretherewas spreadafeast of cassava,utias,tish,andotherdelicacies.

On

thefollowingdaythe Spaniardswere treated to an exhibition inwhich two troops of the Indiansengagedina

mock

battle,duringwhich

some

of their

number

werekilled.

The

Portoli'icnnJiier/os <IehohiwovQfirstdescribedby DoctorStahl,

who

speaks of several of these inclosures in differentparts of the island. Accordingto thisauthor, thesesitesareformedoflaminated stones of different sizes, placed vertically in position, and forming inclosures ofrectangular

form

measuring 15meters,

more

orless,in size,the wallsbeing.slightl}'elevatedabovethe surface of theground.

Some

of these structures, on accountof the

want

of protection,have

oAboriginesof theWestIndies,in JProcecdings of theAmerican AntiquarianSociety,p. 24,Worcester, 1894. Seealso hisIn theWal^eof Coliimbu.s, Boston,1893,andhisPortoRicoanditsResources NewYork,1899.

''ThecaciqueCaonabolivednear thepuebloSanJuan Managua,hiswifebeing asistercifBehe- chio,caciqueofXaragua,whosevillagewasattheheadofthelalccofthatname.

cThecacique Henriquilloheadedthe lastoutbreakofthe Haitians against theSpaniardsandlater received apueblocalledBoya,northofthecity ofSantoDomingo, wheresurvivorsoftheIndians wereliving in1723.

2-TETH 07 ^It

82 THE AKORTGINES OF PORTO

RICO ^[eth.ann.25 disappeai-ed,andtheremainder havelieenpartiallydestroyed, so that

itcannot bedetermined whetherthe wallsonce completelysurrounded the inclosureorwhetherjjassageways

were

leftinthe corners or other places. DoctorStahl mentionsone of thesesites near the source of the

Bayamon

river,on the border of

Aouas

Buenas and

Bayamon.

Another was found on the banks of the Manati river, in the high mountainsofCorosal.

The

hall courtsexamined bythe present authorwere situated for the most part on terraces oron land fringingrivers, elevatedhigh enoughto beabovefreshets,andyetlyingin river valleys thatcould be cultivated.

The

center of the inclosure is ordinarilylowerthan thesurroundingplain. Inmostinstances thealignmentofthe stones has been disturbed, and none of these structures which has been examined hasan unbroken surroundingwall.

As

a rule,only a

few

of the stoneswhich once

composed them now

stand upright.

Many

of these structures are

now

foundin themountainsl)utthere^isgood evidence that inprehistorictimes theywere most

numerous

on the coastal plains.

The

latterregions arc

now

given

up

mostlyto sugar cultivationand have beenplanted withcane for so

many

years thatall traces of aboriginal structuresin

them

have been completely oblit- erated.

Along

thebanksoftheRio

Grande

deAreciboanditstri1)u- tariesthere arestillfound

many

remnantsofballcourts, <'specially in thehigh mountains inthemiddleof theisland.

At

present the best preservedarefoundnear the towns

Utuado

andAdjuntas. Thereisa

good

specimen about.50 steps

from

themain road between

Utuado

andAdjuntas,justnorth of thelattertown.

During

his archeological studies in

Utuado

in 1903 over 20 hateys were broughttothe author's attention, the

most

important andbest- preserved being

somewhat

distant

from

that town.

The

following

may

bementionedasthe best

known:

(1)Cayuco,(2)Arenas,(3)Salto Arriba,(4)ViviAbajo,(5)Jayuya, (0)

Mameyes,

(7)Pasodel Palma,

(8)Alonso, (9)Alfonso, (10)severalinthel)arriosofUtuado.

Justoutside theboundarywallofeveryoneofthe inclosures studied bythe author thereweri^found oneor

more

low

mounds

whichbear superficialevidences ofhaving been

made

by

human

hands. Excava- tions inoneofthese

mounds

near

Utuado

were

made

b}'thewriterin 1903,and a brief reference to the ^resultof his

work

appears in the following quotationfrom^hisaccountofPorto Rican pictography^:

"

In

my

studies ofoneofthese inclosures atUtuadoIfound that themainroad from thattowntoAdjuntashadcut through the edgeofoneofthemounds,^''reveal- ing,a few^feetbelowthesurface,a layerofsoilcontainingfragmentsofjiottery,a fewbrokencelts,andthe long bonesofanadult. This discovery induced

me

to extend a trench diametrically through themound,parallelwith thesides of the

<iAmcrii'im Anthmpologist, n.9.,v.,no.3, 457. 1903.

'>Theauthoridentilies tnesemoundswiththemneysmentioned by AntonioBachiller yMorales in hiswell-l;nown work,CubaPrimitiva.

FEWKEs]

ARCHEOLOGICAL

SITES 83

inclosure. Thedepth oftliistrench, atthe middleofthemound, was about9 feet. Theexcavation revealedthatthemoundrested ona hard gravel baseand was composedofsoil so richthatsomeofitwascarriedawaybj- tlieneighboring farmer^foruseasfertilizer. This earthwasvery moistand^illadaptedtothepreser- vation of Ijonesorotherfibrous material. Nevertlieless,wefound ten skeletonsof adultsandinfants,withmortuaryobjects so distributed as to indicate thattheyhad been placed thereas offerings. One ofthe bestpreservedofthese skeletonswas foundinasittingposture withitslegsdrawnto^itschestandwith ceramicobjects lyingatoneside. Thefrontalbonesoftheskullswereabnormallyflattened,asin thosefrom the cavesin thenorthern partofSantoDomingo,described byDoctor Llenas."

The

discoveiythat these

mounds

areIndian cemeteries sheds light onthe natureanduse of theneighboringinclosures.

The

conclusions

drawn from my

exca\'ations of the

Utuado mounds

are that large

numbers

of the deadwere buried just outside thedance courts and thatthe elaborateareitos,ormortuarydances,wereheldinthelatter.

There is evidencealsoof the intermentof thedead incaves,

human

.skeletons

from

the cave at Jobo, near the road

from

Arecibo to Utuado,having been givento

me

bj^DoctorCabello.

But

themajor- ityof the prehistoric Porto Kican deadwere undoubtedIj' buried in thecemeteriesabove^referredto. ,

Of

thenature of the dancesperformedl)ytheAntilleansatthetime of interment little is

known;

but,

from what

has been described

by

Gumillaasoccurring

among

thekindredOrinoco^tribes,it isprobable thattheywere veryelaborate.

One

customis speciallynoteworthy.

Among

certainofthe lattertribesitwa.sthe habittoplace stavesaround thegrave,totheends ofwhichweretiedstoneeffigiesoftheheadsof thetotemsofthe dead. Apparently^thiscustom waspractised

by

the people

who

lived nearUtuado; in corroboration of this statement it

may

bementionedthat a stone face

was

foundonor near the mound.

Thisspecimen resemblestheso-calledmasksdescribedandfigured by Mason,butitssizeandgeneralshapeprecludeitsuse as such.

More-

over, certainother objects of thesamegeneralshapehaveagroove on one side,whereinisfittedastaff towhich thewholeobjectwas tied.

There^isgood evidence that the.se so-called stone masks were really mortuary

emblems

which were fastened to sticksandplacedaround thegraves of the dead,wheretheyremainedfor

some

time, especially

when

danceswerebeingperformedintheirhonor.

In considering the usetowhich the Indians put these inclosures, DoctorStahl points out thatif they

marked

the dwellings of chiefs, thewalls,overwhichachildmight jump, wouldbeuselessfor protec- tion.

The

boundarystoneswere not placedin linetoindicateburial places,*although cemeterieswere not far away,for the inclosure is

sunken below the level of the adjacent plain.

The

popular theory

fiDecouverted'unCrane d'Indien Ciguayo a Saint-Domingue,Nante.s,1891.

hTheancient PortoRicanshadevidentlyseveralmodesof burial, asOviedoassertsinregardto the Haitians. Thecemeteryinthevalley ofConstanza,mentioned bySchomburgk{Atht'iucnin., p.797-799.l.s.^2),mayhave beensimilar tothatnearMameyes.

84

THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO

^r.ICH5

thatthe_ywereplaces forball o-aniesisno doubt soundso farasitgoes, l)utthesewereonlyoneof

many

kinds of gatherings heldbythepre- historicIndians of PortoRico.

The

general appearanceof these inclosures. with idols and yicto-

graphs carved on

some

of theirboundarystones,and thepresence of neighboring mounds,

some

ofwhich were burial places, others the sitesof prehistoric pueblos, confirm

my

^{belief that they wereplazas}

in which were ^celebrated the ceremonial dances called an'ifoa, and especially thosemortuary rites ofancestorworshipwhich reachedso highadevelopment

among

the prehistoricPorto Kicans.

Here

were performed dances

commemorative

of thedead interred near by,and heresongs

were

sung in

memory

of ancestors,asOviedo and^othei's havestated.

Inadditiontoceremonialareifo!^.

games

alsono doubt tookplacein these inclosures,which correspond ⁱⁿ a measure tothe plazas of the Pueblosofour Southwest, whichareused for^allpublic functions.

The

Indian

town must

have beennear by, forOviedosays that near eachpueblotherewasa place forbati'ij.or theballgame."

The name

locallygiventothese inclosures has a foundationin tradition,andwhile they

may

have been used

by

the Indians forgames, the presence of tlieadjacent cemeteries indicates thatthey were used also in the per- formance of mortuarydances, ofwhich the Porto Rican aborigines had

many

kinds.

But

as

games among

the Antilleanswereprobal)ly halfsecularandhalf religious,thereisnoreason

why

theyshould not have been performedinplazassometimes usedfor thepurelyceremonial dances(areitos).

The

discovery of stone balls inthese inclosuresis often mentioned asan indication thatthese placeswere used ^{in ball} games,implying thatthe stoneswerethe balls used. Thisbelief,which isa

common

one

among

^the countryfolk of the island, finds little support

from

examinationof the objects themselves. In Oviedo's accountof tlie

game, theballused issaid tohave been

made

of a resinous

gum.

so that the stone balls donotfitatall hisdescription ofthe

method

of plavingthe game. Indeed,

some

of the larger stoneballs,whichare

more

than^'2feet indiameter, could hardly be carriedbya singleman.

]\Ioreover,

many

oftheballsare not spherical,but are simplywater-

worn

bowlders havingthe

form

of oljlateor prolate spheroids. Con- sidering these facts I have serious doubt whether the stones could have been usedinthekind ofball

game

describedby Oviedo, although thisdoes not,of course, precludetheirusein

some

othergame.* Their

aTheprehistoricPorto Ricans did not buildpermanentstone or adobehabitations,but only tem- porary.stnistureswithwoodenframesandpalm-leafcovering. These have long ago disappeared, but their sitesstillremainintheformofmoundsjustoutside thejucr/osdehola. InMunoz's description ofanIndian pueblo nearthe coastno mentionismadeofa batcy. ordanceplaza.

^The gamemay.for instance,have been thesameasthat playedin Jlexieo,thecourts,tlacMli, forwhicharefound nearmany^ruins.

FEWKES]

ARCHEOLOGICAL

SITES 85 presence ingravesandindance plazas indicates tliatthey weresuffi- cientlyprizedtohave been broughtthere for a purpose,and I offer thefollowing speculationas to their use:

Water-worn

stones are symbols of runningwater, theworship of which^ishighly significant in the rain ceremoniesofprimitiveagri- culturists. In the confusion of cause and effect,so

common

among- aboriginal peoples,thesestones,shaped mainly

by

runningwater,are believedtohave magic

power

to bringrainor tocausewater tofill

thestreambeds.

Hence

theywei'e gathered bythe Indiansandcar- ried to dance and other ceremonial places, where they are

now

so commonl}' found.

We

find that water-worn stones are often wor- shiped by primitive agriculturists because of the belief that these objectscause the water,whichhasgiven

them

theirform,to increase, just asthe frog,which ^{lives in} moist places,is believed to

augment

thewatersupply.^"

Itisinterestingtoadd,indiscussing theprobableuse of these stone balls,thatDoctorStahl,

who

hasgiven

much

attentiontothebotajiyof PortoRico, after statingtliata portionof the description of hateygiven by Oviedo wasderivedfromthe

game

played bytheSouth

American

Indians, declares that thereis no naturalvegetableproduct inPorto Ricowhichfurnishes anelastic

gum

^{*that could have}served the abo- riginesfor theballsusedinthegame.

Whether

theprehistoricPorto Ricansdidor did not play theball

game

describedbj'Oviedoisbeyond thescope ofthiswriting,but the stoneballsfoundinthedanceplazas certainlycould not have been used inthe

manner

Oviedodescribes.

The

foregoingexplanation does notfullyaccountforthename^Mtff/OA- dti hola, which survives from early times and evidently originated

among

the Spaniards, who, with knowledge of the use of theseinclo- sures,applied it to them.

The

prehistoric Porto Ricans

may

have performed,in theseinclosures,

games

orceremonieswith stone^lialls.

Such

games

were

known

toOviedo, butinhisdescriptionhedoes not carefull}-distinguish

them from

thoseinwhichelasticballswereused.

Similargames,towhich have been ascribed a phallic significance,are recordedfrom Yucatan and^{elsewhere. Inthe}absenceofdocumentary proofof the existence of a prehistoric

game

with stone balls inPorto Rico,

we

have little basis for speculation I'egarding their phallic significance, but thatthis game,

when

it existed,hadasymbolicger- minative

meaning among

thetribeswhichpractiseditisnot improbable.

Shell Heaps

The

existence ofshellheapsalong the coast ofPorto Ricohasbeen mentioned byseveral authors,andexcavationshavebeen

made

ⁱⁿ

some

aManyinstancesmight becited inwhich,amongprimitivemen, water-wornstonesandsucks or water animalsarebelievedtobeefficacious inbringingwater. Tothesemaybeaddedshells of water animals, waterplants,and,infact,anythingfromthewaterorpertainingtoit.

("StahlregardsItasprobablethat thisgomaeldsticawasobtained from atree,Hiplwniadastica, peculiar to themainland("costatirme").