FEWKES] ARCHEOLOGICAL TRIP TO WEST INDIES 12 1 



and sometimes gave the same name to their priests. Rehcs of the 

 dead, as human skulls or other bones, images or idols, and other 

 symbols or paintings of the same, were known as semis. Each clan 

 had, in the keeping of a chief, an idol or image of an ancestral 

 semi, the symbolism of which was characteristic of that clan. One 

 Spanish writer declares that semis are practically what Christians 

 call angels — the immortal spirits of men. Here, also, the word 

 refers to both the spirit and the personation — the magic power of 

 the dead or an idol symbolizing or representing the same. 



The worship of semis, which practically included all supernaturals, 

 gave rise to the use of a complicated system of objective symbols, 

 idols, images, relics, and the like, each of which had a special and 

 individual meaning. The idols were many and varied ; they were 

 made of wood, clay, or stone, and sometimes took the form of 

 effigies of which the skulls or other bones of ancestors formed a 

 part. There are representations of these various idols in several 

 collections, but the present article will consider only those of stone, 

 wood, and clay. 



Stone Rings. — Among the problematic archeological objects from 

 the West Indies none is more characteristic of Porto Rico than the 

 so-called stone collars or rings. They are practically limited to Porto 

 Rico and the immediately adjacent islands, and to the eastern end of 

 Santo Domingo, for they have not been reported from Cuba, Jamaica, 

 or the continent. There are approximately one hundred of these ob- 

 jects in the museums of Europe and the United States, and a few 

 still remain in Porto Rico. To the Latimer collection, which in 

 these objects is the richest in the world, the author has added eight 

 specimens, some of which are unusually fine. 



The use .and meaning of the stone rings have given rise to much 

 speculation, since historical records give no satisfactory clue to their 

 function. These objects were apparently not mentioned by any 

 chronicler contemporary with their use, and, indeed, they escaped 

 notice until a little more than fifty years ago — three and a half cen- 

 turies after the Indians had disappeared. 



It has been conjectured that they were bandoliers worn by the 

 caciques as insignia of rank, but some of them are too small for such 

 purpose and others too heavy for a man to bear on his shoulders. 

 The author believes that they were idols, and has therefore included 

 them among the semis. As an interpretation of what the objects 

 represent, it is suggested that they are images of the coiled bodies 

 of serpents or reptilian monsters which personated some great nature 

 power, possibly a sky or wind god. 



