142 THE ABORIGINES OE POKTO RICO [eth. axx. 25 



drilled at the edges of the shoulders and a depression marks the mid- 

 dle line of the back. 



There are three amulets of this kind in the Latimer collection, one 

 of which is figured by Mason. These specimens came from Porto 

 Rico and it is probable that an amulet in the Guesde collection, from 

 Guadeloupe, to which he refers, belongs to the same tjqje. There are 

 other amulets of this form in the Nazario collection. 



The writer has not found an amulet like the last in the collections from 

 Santo Domingo, and it is believed that the form is distinctly charac- 

 teristic of Poi'to Rico; but, as the natives of the two islands frequently 

 passed from one island to the other in pre-C'Olumbiau times, it is pos- 

 sible that this particular form sooner or later will be found m the 

 former island. The failure to find this form of amulet in Cuba, Santo 

 Domingo, or Jamaica, its existence in numbers in Porto Rico, where 

 there was considerable Carib blood, and a record of it from the Lesser 

 Antilles, which at the time of Columbus were occupied by Caril), 

 make it possible that this form of anuilet is Carib rather than Arawak." 



A smaller amulet of white stone, plate lvii, c and <;•', also purchased 

 from the archbishop, has a well-formed head, with forehead flattened 

 after the Antillean custom. The arms and fingers are indicated by 

 lines, not bj^ relief work; the legs are divided merelj" by a median line, 

 and a few indistinct scratches represent the toes; the back is smooth 

 and slighth' rounded. The perforation extends completely through 

 the anudet from side to side below the ears, having })een drilled from 

 each side until the holes met, but the union is not perfect. 



A very rare form of amulet, representing twin figures united at the 

 sides, plate lviii, I, was purchased from Archbishop Merino, of Santo 

 Domingo. '' The face, eyes, nose, and mouth of each of the two com- 

 ponent images are well made, but there are onlj- two ears instead of 

 four. The fingers are indicated by incised markings on the abdomen, 

 showing that the specimen belongs to the second type of amulets, rep- 

 resenting human forms. Although imperfectly indicated, the lower 

 extremities bear marks representing bands with which, according to 

 early writers, the Carib wei'e accustomed to bind the calves of their 

 legs. There are two drilled perforations, one at the outer edge of 

 each component figure. This amulet is similar in size and form to 

 an "amulcto para amor" froui Argentina, described and figured l)y 

 Ambrosctti.'' Although this author does not give the locality from 

 which the twin amulet noted by him was brought, it probably came, like 

 others he describes, from the CalcluKjui region. His identification of 



'iNotas de Arqueologia Calchaqui, fig. 23, a to d, Buenos Ayres, 1899. While the art i)rocUu'tfi of 

 tlie .-Vntilleans are sui generis, they are more characteristic of the Arawalj tlian of tlie Carib people 

 of South America. Antillean art was comparatively pure Arawak in Cuba and Santo Domingo, but 

 in the Lesser Antilles it was mixed with Carib. 



i'See Smithsonian Miscdlaneous C'oUectiim.i. XLV. p\. xxxill. Wasliintjton, 1U03. 



«.*Notas de Arqueologia Calchaqui, p, 33, Buenos Ayres, 1899. 



