FEWKES] INTRODrCTION 19 



Porto Ricau archeology. It is particuhirl}- rich in unique amulets and 

 three-pointed stones and has some rare pottery objects aud a few stone 

 collars. The many hieroglyphic markings on the stones that are most 

 highly prized by the owner were also examined b}' the author, who 

 does not consider them very ancient. In addition the author studied 

 collections in Havana, Santiago de Cuba, St Christopher, Barbados, 

 and in other places. Moreover, supplementarv reading and study shed 

 some light on the significance of several specimens the use and mean- 

 ing of which had not been interpreted in the field. 



A survey of all the results of his study and collecting, and compari- 

 son with the rich material available for that purpose in the Smithsonian 

 Institution, led the author to the belief that a comprehensive report 

 would be a desirable addition to the existing information on this 

 important subject and an aid to later students in this field of research. 



It became evident on the verj^ threshold of the preparation of this 

 report that there exists no comprehensive memoir in English on this 

 subject, and it was therefore regarded as desirable to enlarge its scope 

 so as to cover the whole ground; in other words, to give it a mono- 

 graphic form as far as possible, including' the material available in the 

 Smithsonian Institution. For this reason there is here added to descrip- 

 tions of new objects a review of those in the Latimer collection, so well 

 described by Professor ^lason, whereby this work is made comprehen- 

 sive and, it is hoped, exhaustive, so far as the Washington collection 

 is concerned. 



The author has used three methods of gathering knowledge on the 

 subject of this memoir: (1) The historical, (2) the ethnological, and (3) 

 the archeological. 



The historical method deals with the published descriptions of the 

 Indians by contemporaries of the discoverers — men like Las Casas," 

 who saw the aborigines before their manners and customs had suffered 

 very great changes. Documents speciall^^ describing- the natives of 

 Porto Rico ai'e few, but, as the same or a closeh' related race 

 inhabited the neighboring islands, it is legitimate to bring as an aid 

 to this method of research descriptions, which are many, of the 

 natives of these adjacent islands. It ma}' be said in passing that all 

 accounts of the natives of Porto Rico are derived largelj' from the 

 writings of Las Casas, Ramon Pane, Benzoni, Oviedo, and Peter 

 Martyr, who have given detailed accounts of the natives of Haiti, 

 adding that whatever is true of the aborigines of this island holds also 



a Obras del Obispo de la Ciudad Real de Chiapa en las Indias, Sevilla, 1552. Reprinted as Historia 

 de las Indias, escrita por Fray Bartolom^ de las Casas, Obispo de Chiapa, i-v, Madrid, 1875. 



Las Casas was born in Seville, Spain, in 1474, and died in 1566. He accompanied Ovando to Haiti 

 and lived in the New World off and on for sixtj' years. His history was written between the years 

 1-527 and 1539. The writings of this sympathetic friend of the Indians are full of most valuable data 

 regarding the manners and customs of the aboriginal West Indians. He knew them from personal 

 acquaintance, and recorded his observations with completeness and accuracy. The history of Las 

 Casas contains quotations from Columbus's diary of his first voyage, constituting a mine of information 

 regarding the aborigines not previously published. 



