i-EWKEs] ARCHEOH)GICAL OBJECTS 93 



rare instances they are found decorated with carvings of grotesque 

 faces in relief. 



The weapons of the Porto Ricans were wooden clubs, called //uuxmas, 

 or swords pointed at one end, with a cross stick like a sword hilt. 

 They had also javelins of hard wood, which they threw with great 

 force, and bows and arrows. Although the}' are said to have used 

 bows and arrows derived from the Carib, no stone arrow points have 

 yet been found, and it is probaV)le that these aiTows had tips made of 

 bone or shark's teeth, or of spines of the ray or other tishes. The his- 

 torian Inigo states that they were skilful in shooting, but that they 

 did not poison the points of their spears or arrows, as the Indians of 

 the Orinoco vallev did: the ends of the arrows of the Porto Ricans 

 were hardened by tire. 



Specimens with blades and handles of stone show the ordinary 

 method of hafting the prehistoric stone celts used by the aboriginal 

 West Indians, but all petaloid celts are destitute of grooves, except 

 one specimen in a small private collection, in which a groove is well 

 marked. While the majority of the celts are pointed at one end and 

 rounded on their edges, their longest axis being at right angles to their 

 handles, many are more massive, and blunt at both ends. There are 

 specimens in which the longest axis is in line with the handle. 



Characteristic stone implements, called from their shape paddle- 

 stones, occur in many collections and appear to have been found in all 

 the West Indies. These have a circular, triangular, or even a more 

 or less rectangular form, terminating in some specimens in a bifur- 

 cated tip. It would seem that some of these may have been used as 

 a means of carrying live coals for various purposes, such as hollowing 

 out log's in the tii-st stages of canoe making. The forms of these 

 objects grade so imperceptibly into those of celts provided with handles 

 that in some instances it is very difficult to distinguish the two t3'pes. 



A group of artificially worked stone objects of unknown use are 

 called polishing- stones. These have a variety of shapes and vary 

 considerably in size, some being quite large, others minute. Many of 

 these objects were sharpened at one end or at both ends. 



The use of curved stones is likewise problematical. Many of these 

 are massive and in some specimens the curved extensions are bifur- 

 cated at their extremities. Examples of this type are figured in 

 several published articles on West Indian stone implements and good 

 specimensof the type are represented in Professor Mason's publications. 



A number of paddle-shaped stone implements, some being of con- 

 siderable size, have a circular or a roughly triangular shape. Their 

 handles are sometimes curved, rarely bifurcated at the pointed end. 

 Stones of this shape are often of green color, of a rock unknown on 

 the island, and may be those implements of which Chai'levoix speaks 

 as having been brought from the Amazon valley. In this group may 



