NO. 8 SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I913 59 



of Porto Rico than to that of St. \'incent. The material oljtained 

 in this field-work will be embodied in a rejjort which Dr. I'ewkes has 

 in preparation on the magnificent collection of West Indian prehis- 

 toric objects owned by George G. Heye, Esq., of New York. The 

 exploration was done in cooperation with the Heye Museum. 



Field-work in the West Indian islands was supi)lemented by a 

 visit to those museums in Em^ope where extensive Antillean collec- 

 tions exist. August, September, and October were devoted to study- 

 ing prehistoric West Indian objects in Berlin, Hremen, Copenhagen, 

 Vienna, and Leipzig. While in the first mentioned city he employed 

 Mr. W. von den Steinen to make drawings of the originals of the 

 Ciuesde Collection and many other objects from Hayti, Porto Rico, 

 and the Lesser Antilles. 



In the r)remen Museum a stone collar was found to have its knob 

 modified into a reptilean head, an unique feature that would seem to 

 shed light on the meaning of these objects. The Museum at Copen- 

 hagen has a rare ceremonial celt connecting petaloid stone axes with 

 stone heads. 



These field-studies and examinations of museum specimens have 

 led Dr. b^wkes to the conclusion that in prehistoric times there ex- 

 isted in the Antilles a race of sedentary people having a form of 

 culture extending from Trinidad to Porto Rico. This culture differed 

 in minor details, in the various islands, as the style of stone imple- 

 ments, pottery, and other objects of material culture in all these 

 islands shows. It was preceded by a life in caves which survived in 

 western Cuba and the western peninsula of Hayti down to the time 

 of the discovery by Columbus. The Caribs, who came comparatively 

 late, brought a difi^erent culture that overlaid and, in a measure, ab- 

 sorbed the preceding culture in the Lesser Antilles. In other words, 

 evidences were found of at least three distinct types of culture in the 

 Lesser xAntilles : cave, agricultural, and Carib. The second or agri- 

 cultural type was found to have the subdivisions localized in the fol- 

 lowing groups of islands : Cuba. Santo Domingo, and Porto Rico ; 

 St. Kitts. including Nevis ; the volcanic chain of islands from Guade- 

 loupe to Grenada ; Barbados ; and Trinidad. 



As with all other sciences, the highest form of research in culture 

 history is comparative. It is universally conceded that the race in- 

 habiting the New World, when discovered, had not advanced in 

 autochthonous development beyond the neolithic age, whereas in 

 Asia, Europe, anfl .Africa a neolithic age was supplemented by one in 

 which metals had replaced stone for implements. In the Old World 



