﻿500 
  ANNUAL 
  KEPOKT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192 
  9 
  

  

  perforating 
  point 
  shaped 
  by 
  chipping, 
  or 
  rechipped 
  stone 
  forms 
  oi 
  

   other 
  description 
  occur 
  in 
  middens 
  throughout 
  the 
  island. 
  Impro- 
  

   vised 
  stone 
  implements 
  and 
  tools, 
  such 
  as 
  hammerstones, 
  and 
  many 
  

   forms 
  of 
  flaked 
  tools 
  as 
  perforators, 
  drills, 
  knives, 
  and 
  scrapers, 
  are 
  

   common 
  to 
  the 
  island-culture 
  complex. 
  Polished 
  pebbles 
  of 
  unknown 
  

   use 
  abound. 
  

  

  USES 
  OF 
  GOLD 
  AND 
  OF 
  METAL 
  ALLOYS 
  

  

  Metal 
  was 
  scarce 
  in 
  the 
  West 
  Indies. 
  Gold 
  was 
  M^orked 
  by 
  the 
  

   natives 
  of 
  Haiti 
  into 
  thin 
  plates, 
  which 
  were 
  fashioned 
  by 
  them 
  into 
  

   objects 
  of 
  personal 
  adornment 
  or 
  amulets, 
  and 
  were 
  frequently 
  

   interwoven 
  in 
  belts 
  of 
  cotton 
  fabric 
  or 
  cemented 
  into 
  the 
  peculiar 
  

   visor 
  masks 
  either 
  as 
  a 
  complete 
  covering 
  or 
  merely 
  as 
  eyes, 
  nose, 
  

   and 
  ears. 
  Hammering 
  of 
  gold 
  between 
  two 
  smooth 
  or 
  polished 
  

   stones 
  was 
  developed 
  by 
  the 
  island 
  Arawak 
  as 
  a 
  metal-working 
  

   technic 
  after 
  they 
  had 
  arrived 
  in 
  the 
  Greater 
  Antilles, 
  as 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  

   gold 
  in 
  the 
  Lesser 
  Antilles 
  except 
  what 
  has 
  been 
  introduced 
  through 
  

   the 
  agency 
  of 
  primitive 
  barter, 
  Arawak 
  and 
  Carib 
  w^ere 
  unacquainted 
  

   with 
  tools 
  of 
  metal. 
  Neither 
  did 
  they 
  understand 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  

   blowpipe 
  or 
  of 
  a 
  flame 
  for 
  casting 
  or 
  fusing 
  metal. 
  Clay 
  molds 
  

   for 
  casting 
  were 
  likewise 
  unknown. 
  

  

  The 
  metal 
  technic 
  of 
  Mexico 
  and 
  Central 
  America 
  was 
  for 
  the 
  

   most 
  part 
  more 
  advanced 
  than 
  was 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  island 
  Arawak, 
  

   although 
  gold 
  leaf 
  and 
  sheet 
  gold 
  were 
  employed 
  in 
  aboriginal 
  Panama 
  

   and 
  elsewhere 
  in 
  the 
  production 
  of 
  tubular 
  beads 
  and 
  other 
  decora- 
  

   tive 
  objects. 
  Beads 
  of 
  solid 
  gold 
  like 
  those 
  from 
  Florida 
  are 
  not 
  

   found 
  in 
  the 
  Antilles. 
  Gold 
  was 
  apparently 
  always 
  worked 
  into 
  

   thin 
  plates 
  by 
  the 
  island 
  Arawak 
  and 
  worn 
  either 
  round 
  the 
  neck, 
  

   suspended 
  from 
  the 
  nose, 
  ears, 
  or 
  breast, 
  or 
  worked 
  into 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  

   turban 
  or 
  "crown" 
  covering 
  the 
  head. 
  Crescent-shaped 
  plates 
  were 
  

   suspended 
  from 
  the 
  neck 
  after 
  the 
  fashion 
  of 
  North 
  American 
  Indians. 
  

   In 
  1494 
  Columbus 
  observed 
  on 
  the 
  south 
  coast 
  of 
  Jamaica 
  a 
  cacique 
  

   and 
  his 
  wife, 
  each 
  bedecked 
  with 
  earrmgs 
  of 
  greenstone 
  from 
  which 
  

   dangled 
  discoidal 
  plates 
  of 
  gold. 
  

  

  Columbus 
  was 
  given 
  some 
  metal-pointed 
  spears 
  on 
  the 
  island 
  of 
  

   Haiti, 
  which 
  on 
  analysis 
  showed 
  gold, 
  copper, 
  and 
  silver 
  alloy. 
  

   This 
  alloy 
  of 
  gold 
  and 
  copper 
  "guanin" 
  or 
  "pale 
  gold" 
  was 
  reported 
  

   by 
  the 
  Ciguayans 
  of 
  Samana 
  as 
  coming 
  to 
  them 
  through 
  barter 
  from 
  

   the 
  island 
  of 
  Carib 
  (Porto 
  Eico). 
  When 
  these 
  natives 
  informed 
  

   Columbus 
  that 
  pale 
  gold 
  and 
  "tuob" 
  (gold 
  without 
  alloy) 
  came 
  to 
  

   them 
  from 
  the 
  east 
  they 
  probably 
  told 
  the 
  truth, 
  as 
  the 
  term 
  applied 
  

   to 
  gold 
  elsewhere 
  on 
  the 
  island 
  of 
  Haiti 
  was 
  "caona, 
  " 
  a 
  term 
  they 
  did 
  

   not 
  understand 
  when 
  used 
  by 
  the 
  Indian 
  guides 
  Columbus 
  had 
  

   brought 
  with 
  him 
  from 
  the 
  Lucayan 
  Islands. 
  

  

  