FEWKES] ARCHEOLOGICAL OBJECTS 135 Specimen <i, a' is a well-made .stone head in which the l)a.sal part has

lostallsemblancetoa three-pointedstone, beingcontinued anteriorly andposteriori}'intotwoprotuberances.

The

foreheadoverhangsthe eyebrows and thedeep-sunkene3'es

form marked

notchesinthepro-

file. There ^is no raised nose, as inthe preceding specimen,itsplace being occupiedbyaflattriangular area; the earsandearpendantsare cut in high relief.

The

basal region is widely sepai-ated

from

the facial.

The

projectionsonthebackofthisheadgivestrong evidence thatit was formerlyattached to a foreign body, possiblyto a stafl",

which wascarriedinprocessions orsetin^theearthtoraisetheimage before the worshipers.

.Specimen/-,

V

of thesame plate(liii)has aflat nose as inthat last

mentioned, but the interval betweenthe eyesis continuouswiththe forehead,showing nonotch

when

seenin profile. Thereisamedially placedpit in the forehead. Projections for attachment toa foreign

body

are present, but smaller.

Professor ^lason figures this object and the last preceding one described,Initgroupsitwith three othersinaveiygeneral mention, in which hecalls attention simply to '"cleat-like projections onthe back, scarceh'admitting of adoubtthat theyweredesigned forfasten- ingtoa handleor pole."

The

flattenednose areareappears in the stoneheads representedin plateLiv,(I, a'. Although destitute of a projection above the fore- head, this object has a prolongation below the chin, resembling a handle, hy which it

may

have been carried.

The

back of the head in this specimen,whichhas averyroughsurface,isrounded andnot unlike the base of three-pointed stones. In specimen c,

d

on this platethe objectrepresentedisalmostspherical,having adeep groove which separatesthe basal region

from

the facial. This specimenis

uniqueinthatthe chinis ornamentedwith incised decorations.

The

nasalareaisalso triangularand^flat,asinthe majoritj^of these stone heads. Thereisnoband abovethe eyes.

The

basal regionislentic- ular,slightl}'convex,andofaboutequaldiameterthroughout. Pro- fessor

Mason

gives no description of this unique object, butgroups

it with^.several others that

show

cleats for attachment,althoughthis specimenisrather unfortunatel}^chosento illustrate thiscondition.

Disks

with Human Faces

The

second type of objectsplaced byProfessor

Mason

underthe heading

"Masks"

has littlein

common

withthefirst,or stone heads.

The name

disk

more

properlydescribes theseobjects,as theyhave only themost remote resemblancetomasks,andastheybearlittleevi- dencethattheywei'eevertied tootherobjects. Itispossible that these diskswerecarried in thehand on ceremonial occasions, or they ma}' haveservedassymliolicmasks,buttlieirsizeand shapearesuch that

136 THE

ABORIGINES OF

POKTO

RICO [eth.anx. 25 they could not be

worn

overtheface.

The

cu^^tom of carrying-sim- ihxrobjects inthehand seemstohave been practised incertainparts ofCentral America, and

we

have clayimages

from

Costa Rica bear- ingheads in their hands, one of which isiigured

by Mi

Hartman.

While,therefore, asacknowledged byProfessor Mason,"it requires aslightstretch of the imaginationto callthe objectsincluded inthis class masks for theface,he

deems

it not impossible thatthey

may

haveserved a similar purpose

when

^{carried in}thehandor

may

have indicatedthe

god

personated. Professor

Mason

^describesoneofthese objectsasfollows:

Thereisone mask,discoidal inform,fromthe peripheryofwliiclitwoc^'linch'ical

knobsproceed, lookingagain verymuchlikeattachmentsfora handle.

The

use of

wooden

masks was

common

ⁱⁿ

some

islandsofthe"We.st Indies,l)uttheonly specimenthusfar

known

isinthecapitol atPort auPrince, Haiti,a

good

figure ofwhich isgiven in Doctor Cronau's Amerika. Apparentlythese

wooden

masks,likethose

made

ofstone, werepaintedandincrustedwithornamentsofmetal orstone,andwere

worn

overthe ^{face. Itis} possible thatthewearer,

when

thususing them,was supposedtopersonate a

god

or zcml.

Thereareoneor

two

referencesinearlywritingstothewearingof masks bvthe Antilleans,ason theoccasion of thevisitof the

Cuban

caciquetoColumbus.''

We

are told by Bernaldezthat

when

theship of

Columbus

wasofi' the coast of

Cuba

^itwas approached^l)vacanoe inwhich wasthe cacique,

who

brought with

him

a

man who

acted as standard bearer. This

man

stood aloneinthel)ow,

"wearing

a loose coatofred feathersresemblinginshapethose ofourkings-at-arms.and onhishead wasalargeplume,which looked verywell; andinhishand he bore a white banner,without anydevice.

Two

or three

men

had theirfacespainted,allinthe

same

way, andeach of these

wore

onhis headalargeplate, inshape likea helmet,and overthe face a round tablet, aslarge as a plate,likewise painted,all in the .samestyle,for neitherinthesetablets norin theplumes was there anydifference."

From

thesizeandthegeneralappearanceofmasksol)tained

from

the

West

Indies, thereis reasonto l)elievethat

many

of

them

could not have been

worn

but

must

havehad

some

.Si'condaryuseand .symbolic meaning. Itisproi)able that thesemasks,largeorsmall,were some- timesexchanged as .syml)olsof fealty,

from

the fact that theywere pi'esented tothose

whom

thegivers regarded as superiorper.sonsor gods.

On

several occasions

Columbus

received such presents, often of elaborateworkmanship.

The

presentationmeant

nmch

tothe Indian, for,judging

from

the .sacred wa}' in which primitive

man

regards

aCatalogueoftheLatimerCollection,p. 384.

fcWashingtonIrving,Lifeand VoyagesofChristopherColumbus,NewYork,1S6G.

FEWKESl

ARCHEOLOGICAL

OBJECTS 137 ceremonial paraphernalia, especiallymasks, nothingcould

show

greater respect thangiftsofthisnature,

some

ofwhich wereplatedwithsolid gold,and^all no doubt wereof great antiquity. Las Casas says that thecaciqueGuacanagari gave Columliusagreat

mask

with theears, eyes, and tongue

made

of gold.

Thesemasksdoubtless had other uses than as symbols of fealty.

They may

havefunctionedina

way somewhat

similar toimages

among

the Saliva of the Orinoco,

who mounted

figurinesof animalsandof

human

headsormasks onpoles,which theydeposited nearmortuary tumuli.

With

^theOrinocotribes this

was

done withgreat

ceremony

and accompanied

by

dances, the nature of which rites at this time maj^ be learned

by

a studj' of Gumilla's valuable account" of the Saliva Indians.

The

object figuredas1>,

V

.plateliv,isaspecimenof the discoid stone heads,which are classified as ceremonial masks. It has eyes, nose, and ears well indicated, depressions

marking

theupper limitof the ej'ebrows.

The

back of this specimen (//) is rounded, showing the naturalsurface of the stone ofwhichit ismade.

Specimenaof platelvhas aflatnose,abovewhii'h, inthemiddleof theforehead, thereisapit. There seemtobe indications oflegs

drawn

closetothechin,the feetbeing broughttogetheratthe medianline.

The

backofthisspecimen(«')isonlyslightlyconvex

—

^almostplane

—

andhas aroughsurface. Thereai-eindicationsof earson})oththese disks,appearingassimplelateralprojectionsonthelevelwiththee3^es andnose.

The

eyebrowsareoutlinedbyincisedlines.

Specimens})-eI'epresentstone diskswithoutprotuberances, theback beingflatorslightlyconvex.

The

onefiguredasS,themostartisticof thesedisks,showsa well-cut facewhich^issurroundedbyanoval,highly decorated border. This borderis smoothinc and d^both ofwhich wereobtainedinUtuado,PortoRico. Inspecimen<%inwhichthisbor- der is elaboratelyornamented but unfortunately very

much

broken, thereisa perforation near the top for suspension, thecorresponding holeontheothersidehaving been brokenofl".

The

large

mouth

^issur- rounded bya raisedborderrepresentinglips; theeyes aresunken, the eyebrowsoutlined byincisedcurved lines.

The

reverse sideof this specimenis flat.*

PlateL\I. a and «', represents one of the most remarkable stone objects in the collection purchased from Senor

Neumann.

This unique specimenwasevidently intendedtorepresentabird,thehead,

iir'iiflreJosupliGumilla, El Orinoco,IlustradoyDefinido,HistoriaNatural,Civil yGeogr4fiea cleesteGranRio,y desusCaudalosasVertientes,Govievno, UsesyCostumbresdelosIndies, sus habitadoresconnuevas ylUiles noticiasde Animales.Arboles,Frutos, Aceytes, Resinas, Yervas,y Raices medicinales: y sobretodo, sehallaran conversionesmuy^{singularesa Nuestra}SantaFu,ycasos demuchaedificaci6n, 2vol.,Madrid,1745.

bAremarkablediskwithfaceon onesidewasreceivedwhilethis articlewasgoing through the press. It ismade^ofthe semifossil shell ofaseaurchin,thefacebeingcutonthe actinal region.

138 THE

ABORUilXES OF

PORTO

RICO [eth.anx.^I'D beak, wings,and tail all being'well made. Seen

from

one .side the headisglobular, withadepressioninplace oftheeye andan elongated straightbeaklike thatof a duck.

The

legs arebrought forwardto thetop of the beak, leaving a triangular openingbetween thelower sideofthe beak, the head, the breast, and the legs. Seen from ^the front((''), thereappear on the top of.the head amedian groove and incisedlineswhich extend tothe upper portion of the planesurface.

The

wingsaVe raised areaswith pits near the border, the tailbeing indicated l)y

two

projectionsorknobs on the posterior extremitj^ of thebody.

The

use ofthisobjectisenigmatical,butitma_vhave been attachedtoastickandcarriedinprocessionorset

up

on graves during mortuaryceremonies.

Specimen^hisabird-likeanuilet

from

Trinidad, British

West

Indies,

where

it v/as purchased bythe author in 1904. It is

made

of soft soapstone or serpentine,highl}'polished,and ^is incisedon"liothsides.

The

signiticance of this uniciue object is

unknown.

Ijut it

may

be regardedasan amuletofunusualform.

Viewed

inthe position inwhichitappearson the plate tiieupper part has the

form

of abird'shead, thebeak resembling^{that of}apar-

r,ot,theroundpartwitha depressionbeingtheeyecavity.

The

per-

forationwould, accordingto thisinterpretation, indicatetheupperpart of the body, the incisedfigurethewings.

The meaning

of the globu- lar

body

onthelowerendof the object^isincomprehensil)leunderthis interpretation, unless

we

regarditastheheadofanotheranimal, pos- siblythatof a smallerbird. Ithasbeen suggestedalsothatthefigure represents a scorpion, the part that hasbeen regardedas theheadof a birdbeingthe stingatthe end of the tail. There are objectionsto thisinterpretation, forthe object

was

evidentlysuspendedatthe per- foration,and one side is flat,asif

worn

next the bodyor forehead.

This object should be classed as an amulet rather than as an idol, being connected with the

"Stone

amulets"'group immediatelyto )»e

considered.

Stove

A^iulets

Among

the objects used bythe Antilleans in theirworshipthere wei'e nonethatsurpassedintechnic the small stone images towhicli Professor

Mason

gavethe

name

amulet.

Four

figures of these

amu-

lets with accompanying descriptions occur in his catalogue of the Latimer collection.

The

authorhere considersamuletsofstone,used either as personal fetishes or charms,andwill descril)e later under carvings of these materials those

made

ofshellor bone.

The

following account taken

from

the author's article" on Porto Ricanandother

West

Indianamulets

may

giveanidea oftheirgeneral forms.

aAmericanAnthropologist, n.s.,v,no.4,1903. Thereferences to plates inthis toconfonu with thoseinthe presentreport.

j-EWKEs]

ARCHEOLOGICAL

OBJECTS

139

In^alllargecollectionsof prehistoricobjects

from

the

West

Indies there occur small imagescarved

from

stone, shell, and bone, perfo- rated for suspension fi;om the person. Although man^' of these fetishesoramulets are

known,

few have l)een descril^ed or figured, and there is little recorded information as to their various forms.

The

first-knownfiguresof

West

Indian prehistoricamulets appearon a

map

ofSanto

Domingo,

dated 1731, publishedbyCharlevoix." This

map

bearsunder theiigures the legend"Figures superstitieuses de

Zemi

ou

Mabouya

de la fayon anciensinsulaires,"showing that the religiouscharacter of the objects

was

earlyi-ecognized.

The

sugges- tionthatzemisweretied tothe foreheadwasfirst

made

b}-Professor Mason.

Among

otherfiguresofI)ominicauamuletsare those ofAntoniodel

Monte

y^{Tejada,publishedin his Historia de}Santo

Domingo,

1853.

Two

of these represent frogs; four others are thesameasthose figured in this article.

In a

German

translation of the author's address on Prehistoric PortoRico, delivered before Section

H

^{of the}

^American

Association for the

Advancement

of Science,the editor of Ghihuahas introduced (no.18and19,1902)finetiguresoftwo amulets from Gonaivesisland, nearHaiti.

The

firsttigures ofPorto Rican amulets

known

tothepresentauthor are those published in 1S77 by Mason.'' Three of the four figures given

hj him

undoubtedlyrepresent amulets,butthe fourth,calleda ''lizard-shapedamulet" on accountofanetworkoflinesonthebody, supposed to indicate scales, shows no head, thus rendering exact identificationimpossible.

Sofarasknown.

Mason

was alsotliefirst

American

writer toiden- tifythe perforated figures as anuilets,addingto his descriptions of

them

thesignificantstatement that "theinhabitants ofHispaniola, on the authority of Friar

Ramon

Pane (Irving's Columbus, i, 390), hadsmallimages of their gods which they

bound

about their fore- heads

when

thej'

went

tobattle."

He

^pointsoutalsothat theinhabit- ants of theLesserAntilles likewise used amulets,and thus refersto oneof these objectsinthe

Guesde

collection:

"The

principal auuilet isof carbonate of lime in bladed crystallization. It represents a

mahouya

(evil spirit)withbendedarms and legsandthevirileorgan

tiHistoiredeI'IsleEspagnoleou deS.Domingue.Paris, 1730. InhisprefaceCharlevoixstatesthat he obtained the manuscriptof thiswork^witlipermissiontopublishitfrom theauthor, .lean Baptiste lePers. MrH.LingRothsaj'sthat,accordingtoMargry,Le Pers repudiated Charlevoix'spublica- tion. ThesecondvolumeofCharlevoix'sworkisdated1731,theyearborne by themapinthefirst volume. Threefigures ofzcmisaregivenonthismap,oneofivhichbelongstothefirsttype,thoseof

humanform. It ismoredifficultto identifytheothers,especiallytheonesaid tohavebeenfound inan Indianburialmound. Itsgeneral form resembles thatofa three-pointedidol,butasnoprofile oftheconical projection characteristic of thisformisgiventhe identificationisdoubtful.

'"Latimercollection of antiquitiesfrom PortoRico, in theNationalMuseumatWashington,I). ('.

SmitlisoniaiiEeporifor 1876.

140 THE

ABORIGINES OF

PORTO

RICO [eth. anx. 25 inastateofat-tion.

The

.shoulders are pierced posteriorly to allow ofthe suspension of the amulet."

Dr

J. E.

Duerden"

thus writes ofamulets

from

Jamaica:

In 1879Mr^('.P.O'R.de !Montagnao discoveredtwof^mallstoneimagesonsome recentlydiRturl:)edgroundatRennockLodge,situatedona small plateauataheight ofabout 400feetuptheLongmountahi. Theywereassociatedwith accumulations ofmarineshellsandfragmentsof pottery,suchasaremetwithonthe topofthehill atWeireka. The largerisa neatly carved representationofahuman'head and neck,and is perforated behind forsuspension. It is2Jinches longandIfinches from earto ear;the body belowthe neck has lieen brokenoff. Thematerialisa soft (Tystallinelimestone, scratchingreadilywith a knife,and forms amarbleofa grayishor slightlygreeiush color,such as ia foundinvariousparts of theisland, especially atthe eastern end. Theujiperpartof thehead bearssomeresemblance tothatfigured in Stephen's FlintChips (p.227,fig. 6), occurringonthe topof acarved stonepestlefoundin Haiti. Thenose, chin, eyes,andearsareclearly dis- tinguished;theperforationisone-fourth inchindiameterandextendsfor 1]inches through the upperpart ofthe neck.

Thesmallerobjectis 1^4-inches long,and islikewise incomplete below. Though madeofthesamekindofstone,thefigureisofadifferentshape,thefacialcharac- tersnot beingwellpronounced. Itisbrokenatthesides,but there^isa suggestion thatarms wererepresentedraisedhighasthe shoulders, suchasisshowninthe Latimercollection,figure32 . . . Thesetwoobjects, so far astheMuseum^col-

lectionsshow, are the only ones belongingto thisgroupof aboriginal relicshitherto foundinJamaica,though ^{. .} . somewhatsimilarexamplesareknownfrom other parts of tlieWestIndies.

Duerden

follows

Mason

in reo-arding-theseo})j'ectsasfi-outalamulets andquotes Peter ^Martyr's reference to the small idolswhich the nativ^estied to theirforeheads. "'The}'were probably worn."writes Duerden,

"or

carriedaboutthepersonandintendedto act aNcliarms or preservatives againstevilor mischief."

Many

pre-Columbian amulets wereseeninSanto

Domingo

and Porto Ricoduring-the author'srecentvisit,severalofwhichditier

from

any of those figuredby^thewritersquoted above.

Although

this article iswritten

more

especially to describe these

new

and unusual forms, others are includedwhichclosel}'resembletheamuletsalready consid- eredbythose authors.

Some

oftheperforatedfetishesoramuletsof theAntilleanshad

human

oranimalshapes; otherswerestones of unu- sualforms, not yetidentified.

With

the limited material availableit

wouldbeprematuretoclaim

more

than a provisional classification of

West

Indian amuletsatthe present time,butof tho.sehaving

human form

there are two typeswhichare readilyrecognized. In addition to these two types there are other forms representing animals, as frogs,reptiles, andbirds.

The

first of the

two

typesischaracterized bythearms and hands being raised to the ears orabove the head. This unusual attitude oc(nirsalso in relief imagesonthe rims ofearthenwareves.selsandin

<i.VljoriginalIndianKem!iin.s inJamaica.Jnunmlnf the Institute ofJamaica,11,no.4,p. 44, .luly,1897.