192 THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO [eth. ANN. 25 



Shell and Bone Cakvinos 



The Porto Rican aborigine.s were expert lu carviiig bone. Several 

 beautiful specimens of their work are in the Smithsonian collection. 

 They made also celts or chisels from shell and used bright nacreous 

 shells for eyes for their idols. Shells were used also for beads and 

 for ))odkins and needles. Several carved-shell objects of unknown 

 meaning and use are in the several collections that have been examined. 



On coral islands, like Barbados, where hard rock availalile for 

 implements is scarce, shells almost wholly replace stone for imple- 

 ments, and large collections of shell axes occur. The shell generally 

 used for this purpose is the couuuon conch, the lip of which is i)artic- 

 ularly solid, often semifossil. 



Specimen a, plate Lxxxvii, is a string of stone beads, to the end of 

 which is attached a shell object of curved shape perforated for suspen- 

 sion, and ornamented at both ends. This pendant was found in the 

 bowl shown in a and «', plate Lxxvii, attached to a string of beads, 

 and was evidently a mortuary offering. 



The object represented in c, plate lxxxvii, is made of shell, but for 

 a purpose that is not wholh' evident. It was purchased in Santo Do- 

 mingo in the Archbishop Merifio collection. Illustration h represents 

 shells that were excavated by the author from the floor in the Cueva 

 de las Golondrinas, and, although they are artificially worked, their 

 use is unknown. 



There is an ornament made of shell in the Iml)ert collection in the 

 form of a carved plate, its surface decoruted with an incised circle 

 surrounded by triangles in the corners. 



The linest example of Antillean shell and bone carving in the Smith- 

 sonian collection, obtained from Archbishop Merino, is a manati rib 

 with a figure cut on the handle, the only one of its kind known to the 

 author. This specimen is I'epresented in a side view in plate lxxxvii, d. 

 The shape of the shaft practicallj' follows that of a rib, flat on the 

 concave, rounded on the outer side. The edges and the end opposite 

 the handle are rounded. 



One edge of this object is stained green throughout its length, 

 probably by guano or other chemical agents in the floor of the cave where 

 it was formerly buried. The most remarkable example of carving 

 is in the handle, where there is a representation of a kneeling figure 

 bent slightly backward to conform with the natural curvature of the 

 rib. When seen from the side, it will be noticed that the right arm is 

 flexed forward, bringing the hand to the breast, and that just below 

 the shoulder there is an ornamented armlet. The legs have small 

 tubercles on the outside of the ankles and ornamented anklets. The 

 forehead is nuich flattened, the ears are prominent, the eyes large and 

 circular. The front view {d') shows that the left hand is not bent to 



