FEWKES] ARCHEOLOGICAL OBJECTS 149 part through extracts published by Mullery." Piiiart spent some time

FEWKES]

ARCHEOLOGICAL

OBJECTS

149

150 THE

ABORIGINES OF

PORTO

EICO [eth. ANN.25 firstoroupcontainsperhaps the best specimensof stone cutting, but thoseofthe thirdclassare in man}- instances very finely executed.

The

river pictographs are

commonly

^found in isolatedvalleys of the high mountains and,as a rule,arc cut on hard rocks the surface of which had been

worn

smooth bythe water, presenting conditions quite favorableto

good

technic.

The

caves of the island arcfound onlyⁱⁿa softcalcareous formation, the surface ofwhichisneververy hard and

is seldom smooth.

The

pictographs in these localities, while

more

easilycutthan thoseon river bowlders, are

more

readily etiaced by erosion,andareseldomas finelyexecutedas those of the river type.

The

pictographs found on rocks surrounding dance plazas are, as a rule, finely

made

and well preserved. In all three types it

would

appear that greater attention

was

given Ity the Antilleans to the technic of pictographic

work

than

by

contemporarypeoplesinNorth

America

northofMexico.

KIVEK PICTOCiRAPHS

As

alreadysaid,

some

ofthe bestspecimensofaboriginalPorto Rican pictography were found on bowldersⁱⁿtheriversorinthevicinityof runningwater.

They

oftenoccuronrockswhich^riseout of themiddle ofstreamsornearwaterfalls, sothatitisnot inappropriatetodesignate thistypeasriver pictographs,todistinguish

them from

othersfound in caves orgraven'on the rude aligned stoneswhichincloseancient danceplazas.

The

author's studies of the river pictographswerelimited mainly tothose of the valley of the Rio

Grande

de Arecibo,one of thelarge rivers of theisland,which^risesinthehighmountainssouth ofAdjuntas and flows northward into the Atlantic near the

town

of Arecibo.

Thereare

many

evidences that therewas formerly adense Indian populationalongthefertile banksof the Rio

Grande

dcArecibo and

itstributaries,and

many

indications that later this regionwill yield mostinstructive discoveriestothe archeologist.

The town

of I'tuado, which formsan especiallygood center for archeological

work

on the island, is situatecl in the high mountains nearly directly south of Ai-ccibo, on the right ))ank of theriver, being readily accessible

by

till' finecarriage road connecting Arecibo and Ponce. Its surround-

ingsatt'ord

some

ofthemost beautiful and picturesquemountain and river sceneryonthe entire island.

Utuado

occupies the angleformed

by

tworivers,oneofwhichpenetrates theisolated districtof

Jayuya

(amostinstructive region for'the archeologist); the otheristhemain stream along which extends the road toAdjuntas,and overthe high sierras to Pouce.

The town

^issituated ina territoryformerlyruled by(xuarionex,a cacique

who

at theconquest of theisland is said to haveled

more

than athousandwarriors againstSotomayor.

Wq

can still trac(>inthe inunediatevicinityof the puebloseveralhirgevillage

FEWKES]

AECHEOLOGICAL

OBJECTS 15i sitesandplazaswheretlieIndiansassembledforceremonialandother dances, while nearbyarefound

some

of thetinestexamplesofpictog- raph}'

known

^intheisland.

Among

the

many

groupsof pictographsfoundintheneighborhood of the

town

of LTtuadooneoccurson a riverbowldersituated at the southeastern corner of theestateofSenorRoig.

One

can readilyfind

tillsbowlder

by

following the road

from Utuado

toAdjuntas, passing

the Roig farmhouse on the right,and continuing aboutthree miles

from

theformertown.

The

bowlder lies to the right onlj'a short distance

from

the road, and is situated conveniently near a dance plaza, whichwill be presently described.

The

pictographs, eight or nine in

number

^(plate lx, pt 1), co\er the entireupper face of the bowlder, afiatsurfaceabout15feetabovethebase.

The

pictograph

shown

in1>isoneof the bestonthisrock. Itiswell

made

andconsistsof acircularhead withtwoprojectionsor hornson thetop, pitsforej'es,and an^oval

mouth

connected with the eyesby a^linewhich extends

upward midway

between them.

The

oval body contains amedianline,withotherlines,partlyefl'aced,parallel toone another,probablyrepresenting arms.

A

second pictograph(<:),withahorned head,resembles in general shapetheonejustdescribed. It hasacircular

mouth

connected with the outline of the head.

The

bodyhas a similar medio-veutral ^line, with horizontallinessuggesting arms. Eyesare representedl\vsmall pits. It willbe observedthat thesetwojiictographsarein allparticu- larspracticallyidentical incharacter.

A

pictograph {d)of another kind,also found on the stone in the middleof theriver,consistsof

two

concentriccircles, intheinnerone of whicharepitsrepresenting the eyesand mouth. ^{Ithas a} medio- fiontal line, bifurcated at the center of the inner ^circle, and lines radiatingfromthe outercircle,"suggesting asolaremblem.

Specimene isdirectlycomparable withthat figured as d; but,while thelatter has the eyesand

mouth

^inthemiddleof the innercircle, in theformer^{the innercircle}contains anelliptical design.

On

oneside thisfigure {e) has a projection which is indistinct on account of a fracture inthe surface of the rock, but, as in the preceding picto- graph,linesradiatefromthe outercircle.

An

instructive feature of several of thesePorto Ricanpictographs isthemedian groove whichconnects the

mouth

with the ring groove- bounding the face. Thisanomalous

way

^ofdrawing the face reap- pears in certain South

American

j)ictographs

from

Chiriqui,*and in oneofthefiguresdescribedby Doctor

Seemanu we

findalsotheadded horns.

Whether

or not these figures

may

be rightly interpretedas

nSeethe figurewithsimilar radiating lines, in Stahl'sLos Indios Borinquenos.pi. iv, tig. 20.

I>For McNeil's sketchofthe pictographs herereferredto,see SixthEepuHvf the Bureau, of Elhnol-

ogtj,p. 22, 1888.

152 THE

ABORIGINES OF

POKTO

RICO

cupStructures is bej'ond the scope of this urticle; but the existence of a connectinggrooveorline

from

the

mouth

tothetop of the head, betweenthee_ves,inpictograplisfrom Colombia and Porto Rico^iscer- tainly suggestive. Thischaracteristic

may

))eaddedtothe

many

other likenesses between the prehistoric culture of the Antillesandthat of the aborigines of the northern countries ofSouth America.

In /"is

shown

a circular figure restingonanother,intheformerof which

we

detect eyes, asif itwereaheadandthe intentionhadbeento depict a

body

andaheadwith a crown or otherornament.

The

face

shown

ill q has ^ej'esanda iiom', butno

mouth

and norepresentation of the))ody. Itiswellmade, and although differing

somewhat

from the others,isapparently not a

new

type.

Several smaller pictogi'aphs are found near those described, ^liut they are so

worn

thattheirformscould not bedefinitelytraced.

They

are apparentlycircleswith inclosedpitsorgeometricalfigures,oneof whichsuggests themoon.

The

^circleisa

common form

of ornament on

many

different speci-

mens

of Antillean handiwork, as pottery, idols, stools,and carved shells.

One

or

two

three-pointedidolswhichtheauthorhas collected bearcirclescutinlowreliefor incisedonthebackor apex.

Mason"

has mentionedthe presence ofthisornament on^])illarstones,and the authorisfamiliarwith specimensofthoseproblematicstonerings,pop- ularly called '"hoi-se collars," intheornamentationofwhichthecircle isalso usedasa decorative motive.

Perhaps oneof the bestexamplesof theuse of thecircleinornamen- tation,onewhichtothe

mind

of theauthorishighlj'suggestive,occurs onarare, po.ssibIyunique,specimen of Antillean

wood

carvingseen

by him

inthecityof Puerto Plata,Santo

Domingo.

Thisspecimen represents a coiled serpent;itwas carved

from

a log of black

wood

and has a highly polishedsurface.

The

detailsof the head,body,andtail,

andespeciallyofthemouth,eyes,andscalesonthebelly,are natural, being remarkablywellrepresented.

Most

significantof thenoteworthy carvingsonthis.serpentimageai'ethe incised circular figure in the middleof thel)ackof thehead and ^the four similar figures on the body. These circles alternate with triangular markings and other incised lines.

The

a.ssociationof thesecircleswith the serpentidol (for assuch

we must

regardthiscarving),andthe interpretation of thecircleas a.sun

svmbol,are a suggestive repetition of aworld-widemythological con- ception of anesotericconnection l)etween sun and serpent worship.

Inthisindividualinstance,however, it

may

beno

more

than acoinci- dence.

The

authoris

much more

interestedinthefactthatthel)ackof the head and

body

of this

wooden

serpent effigyis decorated with uThcLatimerCollection of Antiquitiesfrom Porto RicointheNationalMuseumatWashington, D. C. Smiliisoniun Report, 1S76. Reprintedwith pamphlet on Guesdecollection,1x99.