MATERIAL CULTURE OF THE INDIANS OF SAMANA 49 



resulting tool makes an ideal scraper and supplies a fairly durable 

 and sharp cutting edge. The larger specimen recovered is 10.5 centi- 

 meters (4.1 inches) long and 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) wide at the 

 cutting edge. A smaller specimen is figured as 10, on Plate 9. In 

 this specimen the beveled cutting edge has been fashioned from the 

 smaller and thicker end. Thus the tool becomes an excellent per- 

 forator or pick. Another smaller specimen is figured as 9, on Plate 

 9. This diminutive shell celt is 9.5 centimeters (2.6 inches) long and 

 1.7 centimeters (0.7 inch) wide. These smaller shell celts, also the 

 shell gouges, are from the Anadel site. 



Oim>amental uses of shell. — Gouges and celts fashioned from conch 

 shell are characteristic of the material culture of the island Arawak 

 of the Samana Peninsula. They were much used for such work as 

 dressing wooden stools after being charred by fire. Ornamental and 

 d'ecorative uses of shells of various species is no less characteristic of 

 Tainoan culture. From the few specimens of decorative work in 

 shell recovered from the vicinity of Samana Bay, it is apparent that 

 no distinction may be drawn in this respect between the Ciguayans of 

 the peninsula and the other Arawakan tribes of aboriginal Haiti. If 

 we disregard the element of phallic symbolism encountered elsewhere 

 in the island, but absent from Samana, the one significant element 

 of distinction disappears. On Plate 9 are figured two examples of 

 aboriginal decorative art in shell from Samana. One, 8 (Cat. No. 

 341005, U.S.N.M.), is but a fragment of a discoidal pendant. Sev- 

 eral perforations near the rim were made with a drill from one side 

 only. These perforations are not evenly spaced — an irremediable 

 lapse in native handicraft in aboriginal America. The shell pendant 

 appears to have been uniformly oval. The fragment is 6.6 centi- 

 meters (2.6 inches) long and 0.2 centimeter wide. 



Another effort at decorative art in shell may be seen in Plate 9, 

 No. 5 (Cat. No. 341004, U.S.N.M.). This object was also of practical 

 use as a pestle. It has been fashioned from the thick portion of the 

 lip of a conch shell into tubular form, 1.5 centimeters (0.6 inch) in 

 sectional diameter at the base, from which it is tapered to a diameter 

 of 1 centimeter at the neck, where it is again expanded into a bulbous 

 head, 1.5 centimeters in diameter. The tubular shell pestle is 4.5 

 centimeters (1.5 inches) long. No similar object is known from the 

 West Indies. 



On plate 9, No. 3 (Cat. No. 341003, U.S.N.M.), is illustrated an- 

 other decorative object in shell, probably a pendant. This example 

 of art in shell is from Anadel. Other examples, 4, 5, and 8. are from 

 the San Juan site. It has been cut and ground to convexly flaring 

 lateral edges, but the ends are straight. The reverse, which is not 

 visible in the illustration, is concave and conforms to the natural sur- 

 face plane of a conch shell. Three incised parallel lines have been cut 



