MATERIAL CULTURE OF THE INDIANS OF SAMANA 89 



A third form of portrayal of the human figure is grotesque. It 

 consists of circular outline representing the head. There is no etched 

 or painted line representing body or limbs. The nose appears as 

 a Y-shape design or as a U figure. Ear forms resembling dog ears 

 are incorporated at the outer circumference of the curvilinear head 

 design, while the mouth is either a short, horizontal line or a recum- 

 bent oval. Teeth appear as upright blocked lines. (Plate 13, 

 No. 12.) 



A fourth form of portrayal of the human figure is still more con- 

 ventionalized and consists of an oval figure representing the head. 

 From this there extends a single vertical line representing the body, 

 from which in turn extend angular lines representing flexed arms 

 and legs in various attitudes of rest or motion. This form of pres- 

 entation of the human figure appears either in painted lines of blacL' 

 color or as line etchings in the rock walls of the caves. (Plate 6, 

 No. 10.) 



The lizard is a favorite theme for presentation as an artistic effort 

 in rock painting or sculpturing. The head is always represented as 

 a diamond-shaped figure, while the fore and hind legs in various atti- 

 tudes of motion diverge from a single horizontal line representing 

 the body, as in the fourth form of depicting the human figure. 

 (Plate 13, No. 16.) The centipede is indicated with the painting 

 of a heavy axial line with several bilaterally divergent transverse 

 lines. (Plate 13, No. 8.) The shark, gar, and several other species 

 of fish, including a barracuda, are painted on the walls of the " Rail- 

 road " cave and are excellently proportioned. (Plate 13, Nos. 10, 11.) 



The number of species of birds represented by aboriginal paintings 

 on the cave Avails of the Samana area is extensive. Easily recog- 

 nizable are such forms as ov\ds, herons, cranes, spoonbill, ducks, 

 parrots, along with other forms less realisticall}' executed or repre- 

 senting species now extinct. (Plate 13, Nos. 1-9.) 



A painting introducing a religious motive or some other element 

 of aboriginal thought is the painted design of what appears to be 

 a figure of the rising sun, with the figure of a fowl resembling the 

 domestic cock in black appearing in the oval. If the design repre- 

 sents a human figure, then that Avhich might be interpreted as ema- 

 nating rays of light, if the figure is that of the rising sun, becomes 

 merely a conventional form of headdress. The significance of the 

 bird in the center of the picture is lost with either interpretation 

 (pi. 13, No. 15). Another painted figure represents a bird as stand- 

 ing on top of the head of a human figure. The association of bird 

 forms with those of painted representations of the human figure 

 is not accidental, as in each instance the painting of the two figures 



