MUSEUM EXPEDITION TO SAMANA, 192 8 5 



Above this layer is a deposit varying from a few inches to 2 feet 

 in thickness belonging to historic times. Thi^ upper culture layer 

 is nondescript in the extreme and includes fragments of pig, cow, and 

 other animal bones, also coconut and calabash shells. Tools of iron, 

 including a Spanish ax, were recovered from the vicinity of impro- 

 vised fireplaces. Some of the more habitable caves occasionally are 

 still occupied by Dominican fishermen and farmers who come to the 

 south shore of Samana Bay to tend their fish pots and to work in 

 their small potato, coconut, and banana plantations. One large 

 cave at the head or western end of the bay near the mouth of the 

 Barracote River is occupied in season by a number of Colorado 

 wood {Rhizophora tnangle) " mangle rojo " or tanbark peelers, who 

 work in the mangrove swamps during the day but find the cave 

 shelter a satisfactory temporary domicile. 



Covering much of the interior floor of the caves are large deposits 

 of bat guano, which have been extensively exploited for use as a 

 fertilizer, and small deposits of pellets from an extinct species of 

 giant owl. The removal of guano disturbed some of the culture 

 deposits which in several instances had been taken out along with the 

 guano. This commercial use of cave deposits greatly hampered our 

 scientific investigations. 



Deposition of shells in the kitchen middens had produced heaps of 

 varying thickness, but in those portions of the caves, usually near 

 the entrances, which were obviously devoted to culinary purposes, 

 the refuse heaps reach a thickness of 9 feet or more. Where the 

 deposits had not been disturbed or removed in part by collectors of 

 fertilizers, excavation and systematic study of the refuse heaps was 

 undertaken. The deposits on the floor of the caves were trenched, 

 and when results justified the labor, more extensively uncovered. 



Obstructions due to fallen rock were negligible, as the environs of 

 Samana Bay appear never to have suffered much from destructive 

 earthquakes. Only a few broken stalactites were observed. 



Railroad Cave. — As already pointed out, surface finds were dis- 

 tinctly post-Columbian, while the extensive middens containing rude 

 artifacts of shell and bone, and of flaked stone were identical through- 

 out and afforded no evidence of white man's trade objects. No 

 stratification showing definitely marked differences in the culture 

 remains were noted, except in one instance. The one exception was 

 a clearly marked break in the deposits of the cave on the mainland 

 just east of the abandoned railroad track about two-thirds kilometer 

 inland from the shore of San Lorenzo Bay. The cave opens on the 

 side of a cliff, the escarpment of an old sea cutting. It was named 

 the " railroad " cave by members of the expedition to distinguish it 

 from the several other caves on the mainland of the south shore of 

 Samana Bay. This cave is locally named Cueva del Templo. 



