FEWKEs] ARCHEOLOGICAL OBJECTS 99 



pointed stonas, except that it lias the basal groove and no indication 

 of the anter or inclination of one of the points. The specimen here 

 figured was obtained on the British West Indian island of Grenada, 

 but there are other and far better specimens of this t3'pe in local col- 

 lections on St Kitts. The general form and the presence of a groove 

 suggest that this specimen is one of those pendants which are repre- 

 sented in the ear lobes of certain idols and fetishes from Porto Rico 

 and Santo Domingo. There is little doubt that the wooden idols later 

 figured and described in this paper formerly had pendants in the ear 

 lobes, but these ornaments were probabl}' made of gold or precious 

 stones. It is possible that people of the lower classes ma\' 

 have worn in their ears ruder j^endants, perhaps of stone 

 of which the object figured may be an example. 



The use of the object shown in figure 4« is unlinown. 



Two broken mullers, or grinding stones, much worn 

 and looking very much like the broken axles of a wagon, 

 are known to the author. One of these occurs in the 

 Latimer collection; the other was obtained by Mr Read object imm 

 for the author near Ponce, Porto Rico. Since these speci- ■'^' vmcent. 

 mens show wear on one side, as if from the friction of another body, 

 it has been suggested that the aborigines were accjuainted with the 

 principle of the wheel and that these were axles partialh' worn away 

 by the rotation of the wheel. The same person who originated this 

 theory to account for these stones suggested also that the massive col- 

 lars were wheels, the interior having been filled with wood in which 

 was inserted the hul). This theory has little to commend it, and the 

 best that can be said is that it is as I'easonable as some others that have 

 been brought forward to explain the use of those archeological enig- 

 mas, the stone rings or collars. The so-called axles are stone mullers 

 used with metates in grinding maize, as figured by Benzoni. A single 

 specimen was seen in Puerto Plata. Santo Domingo. 



Pesti.ks 



The collections from Santo Domingo contain many pestles with 

 ornamental handles, but there are only a few similarly decorated 

 pestles from Porto Rico. The ornamentations take the form of heads 

 of animals or of human beings on the ends of the handles. In some 

 instances the entire body is represented, in others onl}' the heads, and 

 in a few the whole handle itself is carved to represent an animal or a 

 human being. We can distinguish in each of these pestles four distinct 

 parts, (1) head, (2) handle, (3) lens or base, and (4) ferrule, the last 

 being situated at the junction of lens and handle. 



A considerable amount of speculation has been indulged in by various 

 writers to explain the significance of the carvings on these objects. 



