172 THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO [kth.ann. 25 



one kind of three-pointed stone — that culled in this article the '"tirst 

 type."' 



As objections to Acosta's theory of the former union of stone collars 

 and three-pointed stones, the followinif may be urged: 



1. That in the available accounts of the religion of the natives of the 

 West Indies no mention is made of a serpent cult and no record con- 

 temporaiywith the aborigines has given the snake a prominent place in 

 myth or ritual. (It is recorded, however, that two wooden images of 

 serpents stood at the entrance to a house on one of the islands visited 

 by the Spaniards, and the author has alreadv referred to a wooden ser- 

 pent idol in Puerto Plata, which is one of the best-known examples of 

 aboriginal West Indian wood carving. These show conclusively that 

 the Antilleans carved images of snakes in wood, hence the implication 

 is that these images were used as idols and played a conspicuous role 

 in their worship.) 



•2. That no three-pointed stone has yet been found to tit closely the 

 undecorated panel of any collar, nor have these objects ever l)een 

 found united or in close proximity. 



3. That some of these three-pointed stones bear birds' heads and 

 representations of wings; others have snouts like reptiles; and, 'in 

 many, grotesque human faces appear to have been represented, but 

 not a single three-pointed stone resembles a serpent's head. (To meet 

 this objection it may be urged that primitive art is rarely realistic, 

 but more often is highly conventionalized.) 



-1-. The presence of legs on a majority of the three-pointed stones of 

 all types is fatal to the theorv that these images represent heads of 

 serpents. If we avoid this objection by limiting the theory of those 

 three-pointed stones which have no legs carved in relief or otherwise, 

 we are obliged to discriminate, whereas what is true of one should 

 hold good for the others. 



i>. That representations of heads, realistic, symbolic, or both, are 

 cut on the decorated panel borders of several collars. Although these 

 carvings are sometimes highly conventionalized, their presence would 

 imply two heads to the same bodj' if a three-pointed stone also repre- 

 senting a head were attached to the undecorated panel. 



The weight of evidence thus seems to be against the Acosta theorj^ 

 that the three-pointed stones were attached to stone collars for the 

 purpose of completing idols of which he supposed the two objects 

 formed the component parts. 



Elbow Stones" 



There is another group of stone objects, also found in Porto Rico, 

 which, like those already considered, are problematical, j'et which may 



a There are .several fine elbow stones in the Stahl rollection purchased by the American Museum of 

 Natural History in Ne>v York, and since writing this article a good specimen has been sent to the 

 author from Ponce, P. R. 



