MATERIAL, CULTURE OF THE INDIANS OP SAMANA 65 



ished, showing that polished stone celts sometimes underwent sec- 

 ondary use, probably after being broken accidentally. Dimensions: 

 Length, 7.3 centimeters (2.9 inches). (Cat. No. 341053, U.S.N.M.) 



Notched and grooved st07ie imflements. — Several stone celts from 

 Anadel and San Juan have been notched at the sides. The excava- 

 tions were made with considerable care by pecking and not by simple 

 fracturing of the durable greenstone. Lateral surfaces of these celts 

 are flat and are smoothly polished, while the edges are rounded. As 

 this form of notched stone celt was recovered from the San Juan site 

 where other possibly Carib artifacts were also recovered, it is not 

 unlikely that the notched celt substantiates the claim repeatedly made 

 that the culture of the Samanan north coast incorporates several 

 elements entirely distinct from the characteristically Tainoan. 



Another anomalous form of stone celt or ax from San Juan has a 

 slight bulbous elevation encircling the body of the implement at the 

 center. The implement has been shaped from igneous rock and shows 

 abundant evidence of use. Ends are abraded through use, the basal 

 end apparently having been intentionally bilaterally fractured for 

 use as an ax. The sides and rounded lateral edges have been pecked 

 into some semblance of an oval cross section. This is especially 

 noticeable in the concavities encircling the implement just above and 

 immediately below the raised and unworked central band. The em- 

 bossed surface at the center may have been intended as a handgrip, 

 and in all probability the implement is a form of hand ax or celt 

 characteristic of Samana, but new to science from the area. 



A rectangular celtlike implement of limestone from San Juan is 

 broken off, only the smaller end section remaining. In this rec- 

 tangular section of worked limestone we again have a novel type of 

 implement. Rectangular stone celts heretofore were unknown from 

 Samana, as were also the forms of hand axes here described, likewise 

 the conical stone pestles with undecorated head. 



Most interesting types of stone implements from Samana are those 

 bearing slight evidences of chipping. This is in part due to their 

 rare occurrence in the West Indies, also because of their crudeness. 

 The abundance of pottery remains in Samana is as striking as is the 

 rarity of stone chipping as a shaping process. Most noteworthy 

 among the flaked stone implements from Samana are the scrapers, 

 knives, and the crudely notched or pitted hammers and anvil stones. 

 No rechipped edges appear within this group of stone objects. Stone 

 tools showing rechipping were entirely absent from the Ciguayan 

 village sites on the peninsula, but incipient chipping of stone imple- 

 ments was noted in the objects of stone recovered from the shell de- 

 posits in the caves from the south shore of Samana Bay. Rechipped 

 edges of stone knives and of stone scrapers collected by M. R. Har- 



