34 BULLETIN 15 6, UlTITED STATES ITATIONAL MUSEUM 



of the peninsula in pre-Columbian times must have been greater than 

 is the Dominican population at the present time. 



While working at San Juan liA'ing quarters were established at 

 the Finca de la Esperanza, an abandoned cacao plantation pictur- 

 esquely situated among the mountain ridges which traverse the entire 

 length of the peninsula. The finca was well adapted to our purposes, 

 being healthfully^ located in a region high above the mosquito <ind 

 fly infested coast. Each morning the long journey down the moun- 

 tain trail to the coast was made on the backs of rather ill-tempered 

 diminutive stallions. The more powerful but no less sure-footed 

 bulls carried back up the mountain trail our newly acquired speci- 

 mens of natural history, pottery, and other cultural objects. 



Large quantities of leg bones of pigeons were obtained at the 

 San Juan site. Neither pigeon bones nor manatee ribs were found 

 in the Anadel midden, which otherwise was much like that of San 

 Juan. Cave middens of the south siiore of Samana Bay generally 

 lacked large quantities of pottery fragments; some of the cave de- 

 posits ^delding no pottery at all. It is noteworthy that of the com- 

 parativel}^ small amount of decorated pottery obtained from the 

 cave middens, only incised decorative designs predominated. An- 

 thropomorphic or zoomorphic molded figurine heads, so common 

 to Arawak sites, were almost entirely lacking in the cave middens. 



A noteAvorthy exception to the statement just made is the large 

 globular bowl, U.S.N.M. No. 341055, which has characteristic 

 Arawak (Tainan) decorative designs, including both incised and 

 applied zoomorphic figurine heads. This vessel was recovered from 

 under a mass of fallen rock on a ledge in the Cueva del Templo, 

 inland from San Lorenzo Bay. It is probable that the find repre- 

 sents later Arawak occupants than those who are responsible for the 

 large shell middens which are entirely free from pottery fragments. 



The environs of Samana Peninsula and Bay are of especial inter- 

 est to students of West Indian archeology because of the presence 

 there of many heretofore unexplored village sites of the somewhat 

 anomalous Ciguayan Indians. Columbus thought these Indians of 

 Samana to be cannibals and Caribs. as they were agressively hostile 

 and met the landing crew from the longboat of Columbus's flagship, 

 the Nina^ equipped with bows and arrows, sword clubs, lances, and 

 ropes with which to tie up the Spanish they intended to make prison- 

 ers. In his assumption that these Indians were Caribs of cannibal- 

 istic tendencies Columbus was in error, as the Ciguayans were later 

 found to speak an Arawak dialect, somewhat different from tliat 

 spoken elsewhere on the island, but certainly not Carib. A striking 

 difference in their culture trait complex lay in their hairdress, as 

 other Arawak tribes throughout the island did not permit their hair 

 to grow long. Samana is the native Arawak term for the territory 



