96 THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO [etii. ax.n. 23 



cast of a fine specimen of this form from an original in the Trocadero 

 Museum of Paris, having a head carved on the end of the handle. 

 Professor Mason has figured another one loaned to him for the pur- 

 pose by Mr George J. Gibbs, of which he writes as follows: 



The use to which these polished celts was put, or more correctly speaking, the 

 manner of hafting them, is graphically illustrated in the accompanying sketch of a 

 celt inserted in a mortise in a handle of hard red wood and found in a cave in Caicos, 

 or Turk's, island, by Mr George J. Gibbs, and kindly lent by him to be cast and 

 engraved. A still more interesting and precious relic, from the same locality and 

 found by the same gentleman, is that given in figure 11, which represents a celt and 

 handle carved out of a single piece of jadeite. ... A Ijeautiful a.x, similarly 

 carved from a single piece, is figured and described in Jones's Aboriginal Remains 

 of Tennessee (Smithsonian Contributions, no. 259). 



Plate XIV. c. shows the hafting lietter than it is figured in a and //, 

 both of which, however, must be regarded as finished implements. 

 Tho.se three specimens are the only ones of their type from the West 

 Indies in the Smithsonian collection. One of the most remarkable 

 specimens, jjlate xv, n, purchased from Archbishop Merino, of Santo 

 Domingo, is a petaloid celt made of green stone, on one side of which is 

 cut in low relief a human face, and arms folded to the bi-east. There 

 can hardly be a doubt that this celt was never hafted, as no signs of its 

 attachment to a handle are to be seen, and as the presence of a handle 

 would conceal part of the figure cut upon it. It is called a ceremonial 

 celt and was probably carried in the hand. The rever.se side is per- 

 fectly plain, very smooth, and with the exception of a small nick, the 

 cutting edge of the specimen is perfect. The stone from which it is 

 made is not found in the Antilles, a fact seeming to indicate South 

 American origin. The specimen pictured in plate xv (I/), at present in 

 the museum of Santiago de Cuba, may also be regarded as a ceremo- 

 nial celt, but the head is cut on one end instead of on the side of the 

 celt as in the former specimen. It is rough, unpolished, and made of 

 .soft stone. The arms of the figure cut on it are represented folded 

 on the breast, as in the Santo Domingo specimen. 



The use of the stone implement from Porto Rico shown in plate 

 XM {(/) is enigmatical, but it may have been a pounding implement, 

 the curved portion serving as a handle. It has a globular form, with 

 a narrow, sickle-shaped" extension that was formerly pointed at one 

 end. A grinding stone with a slightly curved handle is shown in the 

 last-named plate {r). Specimen b, likewise supposed to be a grinding 

 instrument, recalls other specimens in the collection in which the 

 handle is relatively longer and its bifurcation more pronounced. 



The object figured as f/ (plate xvi) is thus described by Professor 

 Mason: "A l)oot-shaped .specimen, the top bent forward and pointed, 

 and the toe coiled upward. It is somewhat smooth on the .sole." This 



"Carl Chrislian Rafn, in Cabinet d'Antiquitfe AmOrioaines a Copenliague (Copenliagen, 1868), 

 figures a stone collar, a mammiform idol, and two curved stone objects. 



