1-32 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [voL. 45 



Shell celts, although common in the Lesser Antilles, were not 

 found by the author in Porto Rico ; a few, however, exist in local 

 collections, including one owned by Mr. Junghannis of Bayamon, 

 which is almost identical with those from Barbadoes. These objects 

 are generally made from the lip of a more or less fossilized conch. 



Apparently several genera of living marine shells were highly 

 prized by the prehistoric Antilleans, for tinklers or bells, for beads, 

 etc., and many genera of marine mollusca have been found in graves 

 and caves in the mountain regions of the island. 



The finest specimen of bone carving (plate xlviii, i, 2), one of 

 the treasures of the Archbishop's collection, was made apparently 

 from the rib of the manati, or sea-cow. It consists of a curved shaft, 

 flat on one side and slightly rounded on the other, and a handle skil- 

 fully fashioned into a kneeling figure with a flattened crowned head. 

 The ears are two prominent extensions, with roughened pits or 

 depressions as if for the insertion of fragments of shell or gold 

 nuggets. The position of the eyes is indicated by shallow pits, about 

 the margins of which are concentric rings. The mouth is incised, 

 but is without teeth. The body is smoothly polished ; the umbilicus 

 and male genitals are represented, and the waist is surrounded by 

 a band. The vertebrae appear as a row of five shallow, incised 

 rectangles along the middle dorsal line. The arms and legs are 

 well cut ; one hand rests on the knee, the other on the chest. The 

 toes are shown on the dorsal side of the image, the soles of the 

 two feet being turned in that direction. The incised lines about the 

 legs and arms represent the bandages with which the Antilleans are 

 said to have bound their limbs. There is a small knob on the outer 

 side of the ankle. A portion of the handle, as well as of the shaft, 

 is stained green, probably caused by its burial in the guano of the 

 cave in which it was found. The author believes this carved rib 

 was used for the same purpose as the wooden regurgitation sticks 

 above described. 



In the Nazario collection there is a clavicle with a carved figure 

 forming the handle. This object was also probably used by the 

 priests to induce vomiting. 



PICTOGRAPHS 



There are many rock etchings or pictographs in Porto Rico, par- 

 ticularly on the walls of caves, but as a rule they are more or less 

 obscured by stalagma or vegetable growth. The best preserved ex- 

 amples of picture-writing occur on large bowlders near waterfalls 

 or rapids, or along the banks of the rivers, since the rocks on which 



