﻿I 76 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS [VOL. 47 



theater for the scene of ancient public games ; and that these stone 

 collars might commemorate the victor in the chariot race, as the 

 tripods still existing record the victor in the Choragic games of 

 Athens. But no circumstances attending their discovery are known 

 which could aid conjecture either as to the period or purpose of their 

 ci instruction." 



Although these collars may have been found at Glenroy and have 

 been ascribed by Dr. Wilson to the stone age of Scotland, they are 

 evidently Porto Rican in origin, having been carried to Scotland from 

 over the seas. Stephens, in Flint Chips, includes these specimens 

 with other West Indian collars in English collections. 



Mason seems to have adopted no theory regarding the use of the 

 rings or collars, saying, " Whether they were the regalia of sacrificial 

 victims, 1 of military heroes, of ecclesiastical worthies or of members 

 of some privileged caste, who marched in double file through the 

 streets of Porto Rican villages long since decayed, will perhaps for- 

 ever remain a mystery." 



Dr. A. Stahl considers the collars as toison dc piedra — insignia 

 of rank worn by chiefs or caciques in important festivals or assem- 

 blies. This explanation he applies more especially to the slender 

 specimens, for the massive forms he regards as possibly implements 

 of torture. It should be borne in mind that there is a general simi- 

 larity in form of the massive oval and oblique ovate types which 

 would imply a like use for both. Dr. Stahl declares that they " never 

 have the form of serpents, as some have supposed. "- 



Sr. Agustin Navarette considers that these rings were neither idols 

 nor parts of the same. He supposes that the massive forms were 

 purely for the adornment of the cabins of the caciques, comparable 

 with crowns which were worn by them. It is quite improbable that 

 objects which cost so much time and labor were designed to be purely 

 ornamental; and even granted that they were symbols of this kind, 

 the question still remains. What is the meaning of their superficial 

 decoration ? 



Sr. E. Neumann 3 regards it certain that the entire lifetime of a 

 human being would be required for the polishing and ornamentation 

 of a completed stone collar. He ascribes to a "Catholic priest," 

 whose name is not given, the opinion that every cacique made a collar 

 to be deposited over bis grave on the day of his interment, in order 

 to drive off the devil, but no proof is given to support this specula- 

 Professor Mason had already said that there is no mention of human 

 sacrifice by the natn es. 



Indios Borinquefios, pp. 151-152. 

 . nefactores y Hombres Notables de Puerto Rico, vol. n, p. li. 



