FEWKESl ARCHEOLOGICAL OBJECTS 137 



ceremonial paraphernalia, especially masks, nothing could show greater 

 respect than gifts of this nature, some of which were plated with solid 

 gold, and all no doubt were of great antiquity. Las Casas says that 

 the cacique Guacanagari gave Columlius a great mask with the ears, 

 eyes, and tongue made of gold. 



These masks doubtless had other uses than as symbols of fealty. 

 They may have functioned in a way somewhat similar to images among 

 the Saliva of the Orinoco, who mounted figurines of animals and of 

 human heads or masks on poles, which they deposited near mortuary 

 tumuli. With the Orinoco tribes this was done with great ceremony 

 and accompanied by dances, the nature of which rites at this time 

 maj^ be learned by a studj' of Gumilla's valuable account" of the 

 Saliva Indians. 



The object figured as 1>, V . plate liv, is a specimen of the discoid stone 

 heads, which are classified as ceremonial masks. It has eyes, nose, 

 and ears well indicated, depressions marking the upper limit of the 

 ej'ebrows. The back of this specimen (//) is rounded, showing the 

 natural surface of the stone of which it is made. 



Specimen a of plate lv has a flat nose, above whii'h, in the middle of 

 the forehead, there is a pit. There seem to be indications of legs drawn 

 close to the chin, the feet being brought together at the median line. 

 The back of this specimen («') is only slightly convex — almost plane — 

 and has a rough surface. There ai-e indications of ears on })oth these 

 disks, appearing as simple lateral projections on the level with the e3^es 

 and nose. The eyebrows are outlined by incised lines. 



Specimens })-e I'epresent stone disks without protuberances, the back 

 being flat or slightly convex. The one figured as S, the most artistic of 

 these disks, shows a well-cut face which is surrounded by an oval, highly 

 decorated border. This border is smooth in c and d^ both of which 

 were obtained in Utuado, Porto Rico. In specimen <% in which this bor- 

 der is elaborately ornamented but unfortunately very much broken, 

 there is a perforation near the top for suspension, the corresponding 

 hole on the other side having been broken ofl". The large mouth is sur- 

 rounded by a raised border representing lips; the eyes are sunken, the 

 eyebrows outlined by incised curved lines. The reverse side of this 

 specimen is flat.* 



Plate L\ I. a and «', represents one of the most remarkable stone 

 objects in the collection purchased from Senor Neumann. This 

 unique specimen was evidently intended to represent a bird, the head, 



iir'iiflre Josupli Gumilla, El Orinoco, Ilustrado y Definido, Historia Natural, Civil y Geogr4fiea 

 cle este Gran Rio, y de sus Caudalosas Vertientes, Govievno, Uses yCostumbres de los Indies, sus 

 habitadores con nuevas y lUiles noticias de Animales. Arboles, Frutos, Aceytes, Resinas, Yervas, y 

 Raices medicinales: y sobre todo, se hallaran conversiones muy singulares a Nuestra Santa Fu, y casos 

 de mucha edificaci6n, 2 vol., Madrid, 1745. 



b A remarkable disk with face on one side was received while this article was going through the 

 press. It is made of the semifossil shell of a sea urchin, the face being cut on the actinal region. 



