114 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [ VOL. 45 



CAVE EXPLORATION 



Porto Rico has many noticeable caves, some of which were 

 utihzed by the aborigines of the island. While there is no good 

 evidence that these caverns were dwellings of the Indians for any 

 considerable tinte, there is abundant proof that they were resorted 

 to in prehistoric times for several purposes. They undoubtedly 

 served, especially after the advent of the Europeans, as places of 

 refuge and perhaps for temporary shelter or for the performance of 

 secret rites when the aboriginal cultus was prohibited in public. 

 There are many evidences that the caves were used for burial, which 

 implies that they were places of ceremony, especially as ancestor wor- 

 ship was the main element in the Antillean religion. The walls of 

 many of these caverns bear religious symbols, and niches where idols 

 of stone or wood once stood can still be seen. These caverns are 

 reputed to have yielded many prehistoric objects, and it is probable 

 that others could yet be found in their floors. The author was 

 anxious to test this belief by systematic excavation, so after visiting 

 many of the most notable caves he finally chose for extended study 

 one, most conveniently situated for that purpose, on the coast, three 

 miles north of Manati, called Cueva de las Golondrinas, " Cave of 

 the Swallows." 



Excavations in this cave showed that it was once frequented by the 

 aborigines, while pictographs on the walls gave other evidence of 

 their former presence. There were found among the debris, on the 

 floor, many fragments of the pottery peculiar to the islanders, and 

 other evidences of primitive life, among which were broken celts, 

 bones of animals which had served for food, and also ashes and char- 

 coal. All of the implements and utensils were of ancient manufacture 

 and so numerous that many people must have frequented this coast 

 region and used this cave as their camping place. A few broken 

 human bones were also uncovered, but whether they indicated 

 former anthropophagous feasts or hurried interments could not be 

 determined. The trenches dug in the cave floor through ten feet of 

 debris showed, at all levels, art objects similar to those occurring on 

 the surface, indicating no change in culture. There was no evi- 

 dence of any great modification between the life of the earlier and 

 the later occupants, and no satisfactory proof that the occupancy of 

 the cave was of very great antiquity. 



DESCRIPTION OF SPECIMENS 



In the following pages the author will comment in a general way 

 en the unique as well as on some of the more striking and unusual 



