CEREMONIAL BATOX

FEWKEs]

ARrHEOLOGirAL

OBJECTS ^"

195

Tilenature of the tluneiny .sticks .still used in mortuarydance.sby theIndians ofGuiana

may

he learnedfrom im Thurn,

who

figuresone of these dancestickswith an efEgv ofaquadruped attached to one extremity.

The same

author .states that "the

Ackawoi

have one danceinwhicheach of the performers represents adifferentanimal, andeachcarriesastick on which is thefigure ofthatanimal.""

He

likewisespeaks of thesedancesticks as"tippedwithrude andpainted imagesof

some

bird,tish. oranimal.''

Thereiseveryprobability, since theresemblanceslietween the abo- rigines of Porto Rico and those of the mainlandof South America werelinguistic-allyandotherwise veryclose,that themortuary custom of carryingstickswith attachedfiguresor zemis existed likewiseonthe i.sland,andthat

many

of thestoneimageswhich

show

unmistakableevi- dences of having been lashed to foreign objects were used for this purpose.

SWALLOWIN(i-.STICK.S

Among

themost remarkable specimensof

wood

carvingfrom Santo

Domingo

are five curved stickswith elaborate handles cut on their ends, representing

human

beings. Figures of these objects,

from

sketches

made

))Vthe author, are

shown

in plate lxxxviii, parts1 and2. Thesesticksare

now owned

by SenorImbert, ofPuertoPlata,

who

purchased

them from

a

man

thathad found

them

Liia cavewith, the

wooden

idol laterdescribed.

1!)6

THE

ABORIGINES OF

PORTO

RICO

Small idolsor amulets,ashas ^lieen alreadymentioned,are said to have beentiedto theforeheads of warriors

when

theywentto battle, but itisnot impossible that

some

of the larger idols

may

have been attachedtothe top of the head in

much

the same

way

that this bird figureisrepresentedontheheadof a four-leggedanimal carvedonthe endof thestatf

shown

inplatelxxxix, J.//.

In a of this plate is represented a carved stick purchased

from

Senor

Neumann

andsaid to have l)eenfound in Porto Rico. This objectisnot believed by^theauthortohave been

made by

the prehis- toricaborigines ofPortoRico,but the incised

work

onthecrookand upperpart of thehandleisthoughttobe Antillean. Tlie linesclearly

show

theuse of asteel knife orother metallic implement introduced

by

Europeans,while the cutting of the ferulesand groovespoint the

same

way.

The

objectin questionwas pi'obablyan Indian planting stick or dibble, called hy the aborigines a coo,but not necessarily

made

before theadventofthe Spaniards.

The wooden

turtle show'n

from

the side and the backinplate xc, a and«',collected))y

Mr

F.A. Ober,isafinespecimenofthe Antil- lean

wood

carving.

Mr ^Ober

speaks of thisobjectin his Aborigines of the

West

Indies,asfollows:

InthisconnectionI maybe pardonedforalludingto

my

own"finds," intliese islands,someonehundredspecimens having been sent byme tothe Government Mu.seumat differenttimes. Oneofthemost uniquewasafigure ofa tortoise, carx'ed from hardwood,which wasfoumlbymeina cave nearStVincentin1878.

When

seenfrom theside,theheadof thisturtleappearstoextend considerabh' bej'ond the plastronandcarapaceand^itsthroatand^sides, especiallybehindtheeyesockets,arecoveredwith acarvedimitation of scales, consisting of aseriesof incised lines crossingone another.

On

thetop of the carapacerisetwo prominences,which,ascan be seen inthe backview, are pierced with perforations that extend through the body.

When we

examine thebackof thisturtle('/),

we

notonl}' findthe

two

perforationsabove mentioned,but alsodiscover that the surface of the carapaceis decoratedwith incised lines, ridges, and ovatefigures.

The

^foreandhind limbs of the animal appearin this viewasprolongations

from

the sidesof the body, extendinga short distance l)eyondthe rimof the carapace.

The

animal's nostrils are represented

by

shallowpitson theupper sideof the pointed snout.

Whether

this image

was

an idolor an amuletis notclearly deter- mined, butthe

two

ventro-dorsalperforationssuggest thatitwastied toorsuspended from

some

otherobject, possibly attached to

some

part of theImiBan heador

body

or

worn

as an amulet. Stoneturtles are

known

in oneor twocollections

from

theA\'est Indies,but they

FEWKEsJ

ARCHEOLOGICAL

OBJECTS

197

are notperforatedand were probablyidolsratherthanfetishes.

From

the statementthat the

wooden

turtlewas " found inacave near St Vincent"a locality notclearlydefined, this object

may

be associated with Caribpeople,

who

werethelastaboriginesto inhabit theLesser Antilles,butit

may

have been

made

byan antecedent racewhichthese people replaced.

The

following legend of the origin of theturtleisrecordedhy

Ramon

Pane:

CaracaracolgoingintothehouseofAiamavacoaskedsomecazzabi ofhim, which, as hasbeensaid,isbread. He^{elajit his}hand on ^hisnose,-andthrewonhima Guanguaio, fullofCogiba, whichhe had madethatday After this, Caracaracolreturnedto his brothel's,andtoldthem what had happenedtohimwith Baiamanicoel,andthe stroke hegavehimon the shoulder with the Guanguaio,and thatitpainedhimverymuch. His brothers look'duponhisshoulder,andperceiv'd

itwasmuchswollenwhich swelling increased so much thathe was like to die.

Therefore theyendeavoredtocutitopen,and couldnot;but taking an instrument ofstone,theyopenedit,andoutcamealivefemaletortoise; sotheybuilttheirhouse, andbreduptheTortoise.

One

of thetinestexampl(>s ofAntillean

wood

carving

known

tothe author was seen in the citj' of Puerto Plata, Santo Domingo. It represents a serpent.

The

lateral view of this object (plate xc,b)

showstheornamentationof the

body

andhead.

The wooden

serpent has a single coil and is

made from

one piece of hard black wood, the head and mostof the body beingdecorated with incised circles, triangles,and parallel lines.

The

arrangement of these decorations

may

be seen on examination of the illustration, reproduced from a hurried sketch

made

bytheauthora short time before leavingPuerto Plata.

The

end of the tail is smooth and

much

flattened, but the wholesurface of thebell}' iscai'vedtoindicateaseriesofoverlapping scales,beginningatthethroat. Pieces of gold,shell,or

some

precious stones were evidently inserted into the eye sockets, where there still remain fragments of the material by whichtheywereattached.

Along

thebackof theimagethereisarowofliveincised circles,the firstof whichissituatedontheupperpart of the head. Thisspeci-

men

could not bepurchasedbytheauthor,butitistobehopedthat it

may

l^eacquired laterb}'

some museum,

whereit can beexamined

b}'ethnologistsand

more

detaileddrawingsofitpublished.

The

earlywriters speakver^' explicitlj'of theuse of

wooden

idols bythe aborigines of Haiti and,as several of the objects have been preserved to the present day and are available for studj^,

we

can

form

an idea of their

form

and general appearance. So farasthe author

knows

thereisno

wooden

idolof the Borinquefiosinexistence;

but, as the culture of prehistoric Porto Ricowassimilar tothat of Haiti,

we may

reasonablysupposetheir idolswere similar.

Wooden

idolsfrom Jamaica,Turks island,and

Cuba

areknown. In general

198 THE

ABORIGINES ^<)F

PORTO

RICO

features thereisaremarkable uniformityin these idols, which natu- rallysupports the inference that those of Porto Ricocould nothave differed very iii-eatly from ol)ii>cts of this kind in the other

West

Indianislands.

These idols are, asa^rule,

made

fromsingle pieces ofwood,astiie legendsstate, either alog, root,or branch,ⁱⁿnoinstance of

two

parts united. Although

many

of thcMii are

now

partially eaten awa^' ))ywhite ants or otliei- insects, rendering their surfaces rough,the indications are that theywere once^sraootliand covered witha super- ficial varnish orpaint.

The

majority are

made

of very hardwood, butoneortwoare of soft\vood. such as iseasily

worked

with stone implements.

These

wooden

images are generallyfound incaves or other places where theywere best protected

from

destruction and where ancient ritesand ceremonies were probablyheld. (Jonsidering thetime that has elapsed since theywereinuse,itisremarkablethat

many

of

them

are so well preserved. Itisnot certaintiiat all<>fthesmaller

wooden

idolsare Antillean.

Idolswere broughttoAmerica

from

Africa

when

negroslaveswere importedtoreplace the Indians

who

had

succumbed

tothe crueltreat-

ment

of the .Spaniards.

The

author has a photograph of one that closelyresembles the

wooden

idolsfromEasterisland. Similarimages were

known

to have been carriedtotheguanoliedson thePeruvian coast byenslaved Easterislanders,and one of these idols

may

have

come

bythesame

means

tothe

West

^Indies.

The

author has not seen the three

wooden

idols (jilate lxxxvtii, part 1.gji)from .lamaica thatwill first be considered, butfindsthe original figures and descriptions of

them

l)v Doctor

Duerden"

so instructive that he(juotestheretromatlength,as follows:

In thelastnumberofthe Journal[oftheInstitute ofJamaica, 1SH6]isafacsimile reproducedonthe previous pajjre.ofanengravingin .\rchieologia (1803) ofthree Jamaica woodenimagesintheBritishMuseum. Withregard tothesetheeditor suppliestheaccompanyingdetails: "In1799 they wereexhiliited attlieSociety of Antiquities,London,andthe following accountapi>ears ofthemintheappendixto

"Archa?ologia,"voK14,1803,p. 2t)9,April11, 1791i.

IsaacAlvesRebello,esq.,F.A.S.,exhibitedinthesurietythreefigures,supposed tobeofIndian^{deities in}wood,foundinJune, IT'.il',ina naturalcavenear thesum- mitofa luoimtain, called"Spots,"inCarpenters .MciUntam,intheiwrishotVeve^''in theislan<lofJamaica,byasurveyorinmeasuring theland. Theywere discovered placedwiththeir faces(oneofwhichwasthat of a hird)towanl theeast.

In comincntiiigon thefigurines. DoctorDiicrdencalls attention to the presence of constrictions on legs and arms and quotes Doctor Chanca's ^letter refei-ring toa habit of the natives of the island of

nAboriginalIndianRemainsinJamaiia, JournalujIhr InsliliilenjJamuicn.vol.l,no.4. .Inly, 1897;

Jamai<'aWoodenImagesintheBritishMuseum,ihid..no.3. Is'JC.

!>CarpentersmonntainisnowincludedinthecountyofManchester, createdin1S70.

FFWKES]

ARCHKULOOICAL

OBJECTS

199