FEWKES] ARCHEOLOGICAL OBJECTS 213 



of this l)arial custom among the Haitians. The Orinoco tribes pre- 

 served the skulls of their dead in the same way, according to earl}' 

 travelers. 



The beautiful basket ware now made in the penitentiary at San 

 Juan is worthy of mention in this connection. While there is nothing 

 to prove that it resembles the ancient basketry, there is indirect evi- 

 dence pointing that way. This kind of basketry resembles that still 

 made by the Carib and related tribes. The basketry of the Carib of 

 St Vincent and Dominica is well known. 



The islanders made use of the fibers of several plants in plaiting 

 basketry, among which may be mentioned the cahuya, henequen^ and 

 iiKiqvez. Cotton fiber was quite extensively emploj^ed for cloth, and 

 feathers were artisticallj' used in the manufacture of headdresses. 

 These feathers were obtained from parrots and other bright-colored 

 tropical birds, which were domesticated for that purpose. So highly 

 prized were these birds that they were regarded as gifts worthy of 

 the gods. 



The hannuock of the prehistoric Porto Rican closeh' resembled some 

 of those still used by the tribes of the Orinoco and manufactured by 

 Indians elsewhere in South and Central America. The character of 

 the weaving probably varied in different islands. Hammocks of palui 

 liber are still made in the mountain I'egions of Porto Rico. esDecially 

 on Yunque and neighboring sierras. 



The Antilleans were familiar with native cotton and wore fabrics 

 made from it, among which were the garments of the married women, 

 called naguas^ and the breechcloths of the caciques. Mention is made 

 in the early accounts of cotton garments worn by the latter reaching 

 below their knees, forming a kind of kilt. 



The Carib and the Antilleans tied cotton bandages around their knees 

 and elbows to increase the size of the calves of their legs and of their 

 arms. The dead were sometimes wrapped in cotton cloth, and "cot- 

 ton puppets,"' or effigies of stuffed cotton cloth in which the bones 

 of the dead were wrapped, are mentioned in early writings. One 

 of the best of these is figured in an article by the author in his 

 pamphlet on Zemis from Santo Domingo and bj' Doctor Cronau in his 

 work on America." The author's figure was made from a sketch which 

 did not bring out several essential features of this instructive speci- 

 men. On his visit tp the city of San Domingo in 1903 he sought the 

 original specimen, now owned by Seiior Cambiaso, but as the former 

 owner was away, he could obtain no additional information about it. 

 The ffgui'e, which was found, according to Doctor Cronau, in a cave 

 in the neighborhood of Maniel, west of the capital, measures 75 



"Rudolf Cronau, Amerika; die'Geschichle seiner Entdeckung von der altesten bis auf die neuste 

 Zeit, 2 vols., Leipzig, 1892. 



