126 



COLUMBIAN HISTORICAL EXPOSITION AT MADRID. 



Ze&quot;int&amp;gt;s. Stone objects peculiar to Porto Rico and possibly San Domingo. Found in 

 ancient caves, graves, and in human habitations. They are entirely prehistoric, 

 having been in possession of the natives at the advent of the white man. Their 

 use is unknown, and though various uses have been suggested, none are more 

 satisfactory than that of fetich or spirit. They are of hard, usually volcanic 

 rock, pecked and smoothed in a conical or mammiform shape, with a representa 

 tion, on one or both ends, of a human or other animal. Eleven specimens. 



WEST INDIES. 



Stone masks, clubs, hatchets. These are generally from the same localities as the 

 stone collars and the zemes, and are believed to have the same antiquity. 

 The hatchets are casts. One is from Tennessee, displayed here for comparison. 

 Twelve specimens. 



149 



144 



1*3 



146 



145 



Fig. 47. 



STEATITE VESSELS. 



143, steatite 



i ; H6, DOS Pueblos. Californi 



ALASKA, MEXICO, AND&quot; CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA. 



Jade, turquoise, rock crystal. Jade was a favorite material with prehistoric man, 

 and in some one of the following varieties was made into implements, utensils, 

 or ornaments in nearly every part of the inhabited world. Jadeite was plentiful 

 in Mexico and Central America, while nephrite is indigenous in Alaska. Jade 

 is a generic term including jadeite (silica, alumina, soda), specific gravity 3.3; 

 nephrite (silica, magnesia, lime, and iron oxide), specific gravity 2.9 to 3.1; 

 fibrolite (alumina, silica), specific gravity 3.0 to 3.2; saussurite (silica, alumina, 

 lime), specific gravity 3.2 to 3.3; actiuolite (silica, magnesia, lime, protoxide of 

 iron), specific gravity 3.0 to 3.2; pectolite (silica, lime, soda, and water), spe 

 cific gravity 2.7 to 2.9. Fifty-six specimens. 



Obsidian is volcanic glass. Its source of supply was in the Rocky Mountains, where 

 it was in profusion. It was easily worked, took a keen edge, and was much 

 employed by the aborigines. It was worked principally by chipping, though it 

 could be ground and polished. It served for ornaments as well as implements. 



