38 BULLETIN 15 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



aboriginal Province of Marien, whose chief, Goacanagaric, be- 

 friended Columbus during his first voyage. 



One of the most striking differences between aboriginal culture 

 of the Ciguayan Indian of Samana and of Marien west of the Yaque 

 River is the small number of implements found in Ciguayan terri- 

 tory having to do with the maize culture. In Sehor Socias's collec- 

 tion from Marien were several mealing stones, the so-called metate 

 and mano, for triturating flour from maize. In the Monte Cristi 

 sites a few of these mealing stones were recovered, indicating that 

 the growing of Indian corn was understood. Although, as men- 

 tioned before, devices for grating cassava were found in quantity, 

 in Samana no such metate fragments or manos were seen. Also 

 many flat circular earthenware slabs for baking cassava bread were 

 seen at every hearth place in Samana and in Monte Cristi. 



The ceremonial life of the culturally more advanced Arawak 

 tribes of the central and northwestern portions of the island is 

 characterized by the use of so-called ball courts, as in Porto Rico, 

 where the chief game was one played with a ball. According to 

 Oviedo, every village had a cleared space for playing the game of 

 balos, surrounded by stone seats, but for the caciques pretty carved 

 stools were placed. The ball was made by boiling the roots of 

 certain plants. From the meager description in historical accounts, 

 but with little definite evidence for the assertion, it lias been sup- 

 posed that this substance was rubber. Herrera states that gum of a 

 certain tree furnished the material of which the ball was made. 

 Sides were taken with 10 to 20 to each side ; the ball was struck by 

 the head, neck, or shoulder, but most frequently by the thighs or 

 knees, and must not be permitted to touch the ground. If it falls, 

 then the side which has allowed it to do so loses the game. Men 

 and women never played together. 



Field work in La Vega^ Asua, and /Santo Domingo Provinces. — 

 During the months of January to May, 1930, the third consecutive 

 season of archeological work in Santo Domingo was undertaken. 

 As in preceding years, the work was made possible through the 

 generosity of Dr. W. L. Abbott, who had previously conducted 

 biological investigations in the mountainous interior of the Domin- 

 ican Rei)ublic, principally in the high mountains surrounding Con- 

 stanza Valley, but also at El Rio and at Jarabacoa in the Province 

 of La Vega, and on the southern slopes of the Central Cordillera 

 in the Province of Azua. 



The season's work opened on the south coast, at the little Do- 

 minican village of Andres on the Bahia de Andres, an arm of the 

 Caribbean, situated approximately 35 kilometers east of the capital 

 city of Santo Domingo in the province of the same name. The 



