PRELIMINARY REPORT ON AN ARCHEOLOGICAL 

 TRIP TO THE WEST INDIES 



By J. WALTER FEWKES 



Introduction 



The archeological results of a brief visit to Porto Rico in the 

 spring of 1902 were so promising that the author was encouraged 

 to renew his explorations in the following winter, when he could 

 devote more time to his researches. Therefore in November he re- 

 turned to the island where he continued until the close of May, 1903, 

 with the exception of a month spent in Santo Domingo. The size 

 of the collection of prehistoric objects made on this visit so far 

 exceeded expectations that a mere preliminary report can call atten- 

 tion only to the more important results. These will be considered 

 under two general heads — Excavations, and Description of Speci- 

 m.ens. Excavations were confined to Porto Rico and were made 

 in caves, village sites, and dance enclosures. The objects considered 

 under " description of specimens " embrace those which were pur- 

 chased and brought back to Washington, as well as others that 

 could not be obtained. 



Excavations 



The nearest approach to ruins of prehistoric Porto Rican struc- 

 tures, now surviving, are enclosures surrounded by aligned stones, 

 set on edge, which occur in the less frequented parts of the island. 

 These enclosures are square or rectangular and their floor level is 

 slightly below the surrounding surface. The stones forming their 

 boundary walls are roughly hewn and sometimes bear pictographs, 

 in one or two cases the upper end being rudely fashioned to repre- 

 sent the head or body of an idol. These structures, which are un- 

 doubtedly prehistoric, are sometimes called ccrcados de los Indios, 

 or " Indian enclosures." They are also locally known as juegos 

 de bola, from the belief that they were used in a game of ball, 

 called batey, of which the Indians were fond. Oviedo describes 

 this ball game, saying that it was played in enclosures outside the 

 pueblos, where there were seats for the cacique and the spectators. 

 Following analogy, we may suppose that other gatherings took 

 place in these enclosures, since they were situated near the villages. 



