proceedings: anthropological society 143 



it has not been recorded in writing. Its earliest steps in culture, 

 those taken before the development of written history, can be traced 

 by a study of its archaeology and are important, even though they 

 represent only a small segment of its evolution. One of the most 

 instructive aboriginal types of man in pre-historic America is that 

 which in pre-Columbian times inhabited the West Indies, extending 

 from Trinidad on the coast of South America to Cuba, a few miles 

 south of the peninsula of Florida. These aborigines may be regarded, 

 from the cultural point of view, as members of a vanished race, for, 

 with the exception of very incomplete historical accounts and a few 

 highly modified living survivors, archaeological remains are all that is 

 left from which to determine its culture. A study of this limited ma- 

 terial shows that the Antillean culture belonged to the stone age, 

 and while it had attained a considerable development it was quite 

 unlike that of any other area in the New World. It is taken for granted 

 that these islands were originally peopled from the neighboring conti- 

 nent, and it is probable, from the peculiar types of stone objects which 

 occur on the islands, that the culture they represent originated where 

 it was found. In other words, the aborigines of the West Indies devel- 

 oped a cultural center distinct from that of any other region in the 

 world. There are archaeological evidences of a division in this cul- 

 ture into two types, one of which existed in the Greater Antilles and 

 the other in the Lesser, or the so-called Carib Islands. Each of these 

 had minor divisions, which also differed in details, although both had 

 the same general character. The two larger divisions differed mainly 

 in the forms of stone implements, pottery, and other artifacts. For 

 instance, 90 per cent of the stone implements of the Greater Antilles 

 have the form of celts pointed at one end and without grooves for 

 handles, while the large majority of implements from the Lesser An- 

 tilles are axes with blunt heads. Some of the latter have encircling 

 grooves for the attachment of handles, while others are notched on the 

 edges for the same- purpose. This difference in the culture of the 

 aborigines in the northern and southern islands was noticed by Co- 

 lumbus and is repeatedly spoken of by the early chroniclers, his im- 

 mediate successors. The inhabitants of the Lesser Antilles were 

 early designated by the name of Caribs, while those of the larger 

 islands were called Arawaks. The main difference in the characters 

 of the two peoples was recognized and described by early writers. 



The Caribs were not the original inhabitants of the islands where 

 Columbus found them. They were preceded by an agricultural people 

 whom they had conquered in pre-Columbian times. There is evidence 

 showing that originally all the islands from Cuba to Trinidad had a 

 highly developed population which had been absorbed by Caribs in 

 the southern islands but still persisted in the Greater Antilles. The 

 former home of the earhest inhabitants of the West Indies is unknown, 

 but certain facts point to the conclusion that, while the remote ancestors 

 of the aborigines of the Lesser Antilles came from South Arnerica, 

 those of the Greater Antilles were from Central America. This dif- 



