160 



THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO 



follows: If we imagine the' collar placed over the neck, with its smooth edge resting 

 on the chest and the pointed pole hanging downward, the collar may be called left- 

 shouldered when the projection " faintly resembling a lashing of the two ends of a 

 hoop" is on the wearer's left side and the decorated panel on the right. When, 

 however, these portions have reversed positions^ the collar is called right-shouldered. 

 Certain of the massive collars have no superficial decoration, but are simply per- 

 forated stones, possibly unfinished specimens. 



The general character of the two groups of stone collars, massive and slender 

 oblique ovate, differs to such an extent that it would seem as if their uses were not the 

 same, and the differences in the symbolic markings on their surfaces would imply a 

 different interpretation of their meaning. For instance, while the theory that thes» 

 collars were worn over the neck applies fairly well to the slender ovate variety, it 

 fails to apply to some of the massive forms. Although the latter might be regarded 



as instruments of torture orsym- 

 P bols of servitude, this interpre- 



tation would hardly hold for 

 the slender examples. On the 

 other hand, it can not be reason- 

 alily claimed that the use and 

 meaning of the two groups were 

 different, considering the simi- 

 larity in their general forms; 

 nor is it probable that the mas- 

 sive forms are unfinished speci- 

 mens of the slender ones, inas- 

 much as the special superficial 

 symbolic characters of each 

 group are too well defined to 

 suppose that one could be made 

 out of the other. 



There are certain regions of 

 tioth the massive and the slen- 

 der collars which can readily l)e 

 identified and which for conven- 

 ience have been designated by 

 the following names (figure 25) : 

 h, boss; ;), projection; s, shoul- 

 der; !<h, shoulder ri<lge; ilp, 

 decorated panel; dph, decorated 

 panel border; dprj, decorated 

 panel ridge; dpbp, decorated 

 panel border perforation; up, undecorated panel; upp, undecorated panel pit; uph, 

 undecorated panel border; vpjg, undecorated panel groove. These regions are in 

 reverse positions in right- and left-handed collars and vary in form according to the 

 simple or elaborate character of the ornamentation. 



b. Boss. — The so-called boss is a rounded, generally unpolished, prominence or 

 swelling, well marked in slender but absent in massive collars, being generally either 

 plain or so decorated that it separates the two panels. 



In massive forms the boss is confluent with tlie undecorated panels, l>ut in the 

 slender it is evidently a continuation of the decorative panel. 



p. Projection. — The projection, which is a significant feature of the collar, has the 

 form of a slight, rounded elevation, closely appressed to the l>ody of the collar, to 

 which it appears to be bound by an encircling ridge or fillet. In massive collars 

 there are generally two protuberances which may l)e called projections, one on each 



