FEWKES] ARCHEOLOGICAL OBJECTS 145 and found at Ysabela bj' Seilor Luis Passailaique, measures 3i inches

long-andlias

arms

representedatthesides ofthebody,the lingersbeing- indicatedbyincisedlines.

The

bac-kisslightlyconcave and the face iscut in lowrelief. Perforations, intended like the others for sus- pension of the object,are situated on the back oneachedge at the levelofthemouth.

Leg

bandsare indicated bj^lateralwart-like ele- vations near the position of thekneesandthe toes arefaintly-marked.

The

specimen tiguredas/;, //, ^//'repi-esents ashell amuletin the Imbertcollection, whichalsowasolitained at Ysabela

by

Senor Pas- sailaique. Itis about2^ inches in lengthand is well polished and carved.

The

imageisinascpiattingposture, theknees beingbrought together and the bodj'restingonthetoes.

The

headbears carvings supposedtorepresentfeathers; the eye socketsand

mouth

aredeep;

the teeth arewell indicated; the left ear is brokenandthe right ear entirelygone; the

arms

are closelypressedtothesidesof thebody, andthe closedhandsare raisedtothechest,thepalms^facing-outward.

The

shoulders,knees,andfeetarecontinuedasraisedIjandsacross the backof the amulet.

The

perforation fursuspensionissituated on a levelwith themouth.

The

only amulet of bird form here tigured, plate lix, /, /', /",

althoughotherspecimensare

known

tothe author,Ijelongs to

Mr

^Hall,

ofPuertoPlata,

who

has

mounted

the objectasawatch-chainornament.

Thisspecimenisfinely

made

ofdark-brownor horn-coloredstone,and measures an inch andaquarterin length.

The

beak is prominent, thewings are

drawn

to the breast,andthetail is

marked

with par- allel lines indicating feathers.

The

perforation extendscompletely throughthebodyatthelevelofthe neck.

Another animal-shaped amulet, plate lix,^/'.,/',7". also

owned

hy

Mr

^Hall,is

made

^of green stone; it is 2 inches long and is said to have been found ⁱⁿ the Sierra del Serra, south of Santiago de los Caballeros. Itisdifficult in this specimen to recognize limbs, although the

two

appendages

midway

^{in its} length ma}^ have been designedtorepiesentHippers ortins.

The

twopitson onesidewere evidentlyintended for e3'^es.

The

general

form

of this amuletsug- gestsan animalanditma}'have beenintendedtorepresent a manatee.

Mention ma}'here be

made

of twobeautiful and uniqueamulets, oneof shelland the other of bone,whichwere purchased in Santo

Domingo

from Archbishop Merino."

The

latter specimen is acom- pleteimageof

human

shape, whiletliat

made

of shell is nondescript, havingahighly conventionalizedbodywithout limbsandarealistically carved head.

Itwasthe author's

good

fortuneto seeinprivate collections

many

amuletsdifferent in

form from

those here described and ligured,an

aSee theauthor'sPreliminary Report,inSmithsonianMiscellaneousCollections,xlv,pi.xlviii, 1903.

2ri ETH

—

⁰⁷ 10

146"

THE

ABORIGINES OF

POKTO

RICO fETti.axn.25 account ofwhich wouldincreaseourknowledgeofthe variety of

amu-

letforms from^the

West

Indies.

Among-

thesen\sijl)ementioned

two

frog-shapedamuletsof black stoneinthe excellentNazariocollection at (iuayanilla, nearPonce,P.R.

While

it ispossible that

some

of the amuletsabovedescribed

may

not have been

bound

to the foreheads of the natives,it is at least prol)able,asindicatedbythe perforations, that theywereattachedto orsuspended

from some

part of the headorbod}-. Itis

known

that caci<|ueswore ontheirbreastsgoldornamentscalled (/nan In,sincethe customismentionedinan accountof abattlewiththe Indians,

when

Ponce shot a cacique (supposed to have been

Aguebana

^{the Second)} thus adorned.

As

noneof these gold objectsescaped the rapacity of the eaidv conquerors,andasnodetailed description of

them

isknown,

it isimpossible to saywhether theywere amulets aswellas insignia of rank.

There isastriking similarity lietween

some

oftlie^^'estIndian

amu-

letsandthosefoundin Mexico.

As

arulethosefromthe Antilles are not socharacteristic inshapeand are not so well

made

as those

from

Central America.

We

should expect to tind awider distribution of these small objects than of the largeridols

from

thefactthat they are

more

easilytransported; butthisdistributionisnot necessarilyindic- ativeofracial kinship of theownersof theseobjects.

The

^similarity betweenAntilleanand South

American

amuletsismarked, btit Itind no resemblance between those from Porto Rico and those

from

the mainlandnorth of Mexico.

The

objects described in the preceding pages are supposed to be identicalwiththesmall idolscalledzt'//ii'''<byearh'writers,

who

declare that the natives

bound them

to theirforeheads

when

theywenttowar.

A

referenceto

Ramon

Pane's statement that the islanders

wore

zemis in this

manner

has already been

made

(page 42). Peter Martyr'' describes certainidolsused bythepeople of Hispaniolaintheirwor- ship,whichwere undoubtedlyamulets.

He

says:

"These

imagesthe inhabitantescall i^wz/.v. whereof the leaste,

made

to the likenesse of

young

^devilles,they bindtotheirforeheads

when

the}'goetothewarres against their enemies." Francisco

Lopez

de

Gomara,*

indescribing thecustomsof the Indians of Hispaniola,says: "Atanseala frente idoloschiquitosquandocpiieren pelear.''

("They

bind littleidols to theirforeheads

when

theywishtolight.'") Similar statements

made

l)yother writersintheearlier half of the sixteenth {-enturyare fre- (juently(juotedinluore

modern

works.

The

difference inthe forms of these amuletsmight be supposed tohave been dueto the desire to indicateb}'

them

the clans of the wearerswereit not for thefactthat theimagesare so smallandcon- sequently inconspicuous that theywould have been uselessforsucha

aDecadeI,lib.i.\,p. fju-ol. !Historia<le lasIndias,p. 24,Antwerp,lohi.

:ewkes]

ARCHEOLOGICAL

OBJECTS

147

purpose:butit isquiteprobable thatthecustomofpainting the seuu^

or totem,onthe

body

waspractisedwiththisintention/'

Itis

much more

probablethat the frontalamuletswere regardedas efficaciousagainst occultevilinfluences, the

owner

relying for protec- tionontheirmagic power,inthe possession ofwhichtheyresembleall amulets. Their attachment to theforehead naturallj^ suggests the phylacteries of theJews.

It isprobablethat, inadditiontothe amuletswhich the C'aril) and theother Antilleans

bound

ontheir forelieads

when

theywenttowar, thesepeople had

numerous

amulets,

some

of whichwere

worn

onthe neck or on other parts of thebodyor limbs. Thosehere considered^. havethe

form

of smallidolsandwere designed forpendants,butthe aborigineshadother objectsalsowhich werenotsuspended from the body,althoughlikewiseusedasprotectivecharms.*

Ramon Pane

hasgiven afullaccountof the usages of themedicine men,orhoii,oftheislanders, whichis interestingin thisconnection.

From

hisdescription,whichaccordsingeneralwithprimitivemedici- nalpractices

among

othertribes,that portionbearingdirectl}'onthe

way

inwhich a stone object, later usedas a fetish, was presumably taken

from

the patientisheregiven:''

Theboii,huhuitiha,havingpurged himselfandtaken^liisowndrug[acustomnot recommendedtotiiemodernphysician]risesandgoestothesickman, . . . takes him bythelegs,feelshis thighs,descendingbydegreesto hisfeet,thendrawshardas ifhewouldpullsomethingoff;thenhegoestothedoor, shutsit,andsays: "Begone tothemountainortothe seaorwhither thouwilt," and, giving a blastasifhe blowedsomething away, turns about,clasjishishandstogether,shutshismouth, his handsquakingasifhewerea-cold,heblo,wsonhishands,andthendrawsin liis blast asifsucking themarrowofa bone, sucks theman'sneck,stomach,shoulders, jaws, breast,I)elly,and several otherparts of his body. .This done, they beginto coughandmakefaces,as^iftheyhadeatensomebitterthing,andthe doctorpulls outwhatwe havesaidheputintotiismouthathomeorby^theway,whetherstone, fiesh,or bone,asabove. Ifitisanythingeatablehesaystothesickman,^"Take noticeyou haveeatensomething that has causedthisdistemper;seehowIhave takenitoutofyour body. ForyourCemishadputitintoyoubecauseyoudid not praytohimor buildhimsometemple or givehim someofyour goods." Ifitbe a stone,hesays,"Keepitsafe." Sometimesthey takeitforcertainthatthese stones are good andhelp women in labour, wherefore theykeep them very carefully wrapped upin cotton,puttingthem intolittlebaskets,givingthemsuchasthey themselveseat,andthesametheydotothe Cemixtheyliavein their houses.''

The

formsoftheseamuletsvary

somewhat

indifferent islands;those

from

thesouthern

members

of theLesserAntillesdiffer especial!}'

from

"Theauthorwastold thatthecountry peopleatBoya, the oldpuebloinSantoDom'ngo where theIndiansunder Henriquillo weresettled,"sometimes paint designsontheirfaces inredasthe Indiansusedtodo."

t>lmThurnspeaksofthe nativesofGuiana carryingwornstones towhichtheyascribeoccult powers. Thereareinnumerable otherinstances of thisgeneralcustomamongvariousraceswhich maytjeexplainedon the theoryofabeliefin theireihcacy againstevilinfluencesorpractices.

'ThistranslationistakenfromChurchill'sVoyages,p. 572. SeealsoH.Ling"Roih,'Journalo/the AiUhmpoluiiiralIiistiliiteof GreutBrilciin,XVI,2.')4-25.i.1886.

dFeedingfetishesandotherimagesisacommonpracticeamongprimitive idolators,and almost everyspecialstudentmightgiveinstances oftheusageamongtribeswhichhe has.studied. The Hopi,forinstance,put foodintothemouthsoftheirstoneidols.

148 THE

ABORIGINES OF

PORTO

RICO (etii.ANN. 25 tho.sefoundinthenorthern i.slunds. Trinidad, which is so near the continent of .SouthAmerica that

we may

regard tiieir aborigine.s a.s

practicallythesameinculture,has severalamulets oftypesdifferent

from

any foundⁱⁿPortoRico. PlateLviii,n,representsoneofthese fromsideandtop.

The

sideview showsafigurine of ananimalwith peccary- or armadillo-like head, fourlegs,andashort,thicktail.

The

legsare outlinedb^-incisedspiralsonthe

body

and havetheirextremi- tiesconnectedbya Hat band having- an opening between ^it and ^the

body

of the animal.

The

holes by which this fetish was suspended arejust infront of thelegs,oneoneach.side,asinother amulets.

When

seen

from

above, itwillbe noted that the figure is slightly curved andthattwo deep grooves extend along the back, inclosing a triangularareareaching

from

the neck

backward

as far as the con- striction whichseparates thetail

from

the body. Thereare likewise incised parallel linesontheupperpart of the tailand curved^lineson thetop of the head.

PiCTOGRAPHS

Nottheleast significantofthe

many

survivals of a prehistoric race inthe

West

Indies are rude pictures cutin rocksandcalled '"picto- graphs" or^'•petroglyphs."^"

A

studyof their forms, geographicaldis- tribution,and

meaning

is an important aid to ourknowledgeof the origin and development of Antillean culture; itaffordsvaluable data bearing on themigrationof the race and ^{points the}

way

backto its ancestral continental home. Although there exists consideraldelit-

erature on the pictography of the Lesser Antilles, the Bahamas, Jamaica,*and PortoRico,littlehas yetbeenpublishedonthatof

Cuba

and Santo

Domingo. The

last-named islands werethicklysettled at thetimeoftheir discover}',and

we

shouldexpectto find in

them many

pictographic evidences of prehistoric occupancy.' Continued^research willundoubtedly

make them known

toanthropologists.

The

most importantcontributiontothe pictograijhy of Porto Rico

is

by

A. L.Pinart,''

whose

pamphlet, although rai-e, isacce.ssible in njliillery (1893) restrictstheterm "petroglyph"toproductions"wherethepicture "isuponarock either in situorsutiicientlylarge forinferencethatthepicturewasimpo.seduponitwhereitwas found." Followingthisrestrictionthemajorityofpictureshere consideredwouldbecalled " petro- glyphs;"butas this articlecontains otherforms,theauthorretainsthe older term "pictograph"

forbothkinds. SeePrehistoricPortoRicanPictographs.AmericanAiithropoh(jist.v,no.3.July-Sep- tember,1902.

''J.K.Duerden, Aboriginal Indian RemainsinJamaica. Journalof the Institute ofJamaica,ii, no.4,July, 1897.

cWhileintheDominicanRepublic the authorheardofseveralpictographs,amongothers a cluster onthe shoreofLakeHenriquillo,but he did notinspectthem. AccordingtoH. LingRoth(The AboriginesofHispaniola, Journalof the Anthropolorjiral Institute of^(IrratBritain, xvi,264,1886),

"Descourtilzalso(Voyaged'\niNaturaliste,ii,18-19,Paris, 1808) saysrock carvingsofgrotesquefig- uresare tobefoundinthecavesofDubeda, Gouaives,inthoseofMontSelle,nearPortauPrince, andinthetiuartierduDondon,nearCape Francois (CapoHaitien)."

rfNote^.surlesPC'troglyphs etAntiquitiesdesGrandeset Petites Antilles, Paris, 1890 (folio facsimile ofMS.).

FEWKES]

ARCHEOLOGICAL

OBJECTS

149