HISTORICAL NAEEATIVES AND FIELD WORK 37 



10 kilometers distant from salt water and 30 kilometers from the 

 Yaque Eiver. Furthermore, in the middens were found bones of 

 the West Indian manatee or sea cow, some of which had been shaped 

 into picks and primitive adzes or hoes. Not only bone but coral 

 and shell were used as tools and implements by the aboriginal occu- 

 pants of the area. In fact, celts or adzes of conch shell {Stromhus 

 sp.) recovered by the expedition far outnumbered those shaped from 

 stone. It would appear that the aboriginal fishermen of ISIonte 

 Cristi established their villages so far inland because of their need 

 for fresh water. They found it easier to carry sea food 10 kilo- 

 meters inland than to carry water to the seacoast. In grating 

 the roots of the manioc to produce flour for bread making, slabs of 

 brain coral {Meandnna sp.) were used as triturating surfaces. 

 Many siich improvised graters were uncovered at each of the sites 

 investigated. Other uses of coral included pestles and figurines 

 probably used as religious objects (zemis). With regard to imple- 

 ments and decorative objects generally, shell and bone appear to 

 have been the favored media. The extensive use of shell and bone 

 in preference to stone or wood appears to have extended along the 

 entire northern coast of Santo Domingo, Uniformity in the coast 

 culture of northern Santo Domingo as contrasted with that of other 

 sections of the island is substantiated in pottery finds from the same 

 area. Many types of vessels and shards are ide'":tical with those 

 from Samana, both as to form and design, although a certain 

 similarity is to be noted with pottery from northern Haiti. The 

 porous, sand-tempered ware of Samana was not found in the ISIonte 

 Cristi middens. The culture identity prevailing in prehistoric times 

 along the entire northern coast of Santo Domingo apparently did 

 not extend westward much beyond the valley of the Lower Yaque. 

 In northern Haiti an Arawak culture identical generally with that 

 of the Central Cordillera prevailed. The Ciguayan Indians of the 

 Dominican northern coastal area must therefore be considered as 

 culturally distinct from the typical Arawak of the island as a whole 

 and of Porto Rico, 



This conclusion was vividly illustrated to the writer by explora- 

 tions conducted after concluding work at the Monte Cristi sites, 

 A visit was made to the foothills of the Central Cordillera near the 

 Haitian border in the vicinity of the headwaters of the Chaquey 

 Eiver and the border town of Dajabon, The writer was accom- 

 panied by Sefior Andres Socias, of Copey, who discovered petro- 

 glyphs on some large bowlders on the banks of the Chaquey River 

 near the village of Mara. Sehor Socias has through many years of 

 effort assembled a large collection of stone implements, pottery, 

 and ceremonial objects associated with the religious rites of the 

 Indians of northern Santo Domingo and Haiti, that is, of the 



