214 



THE ABORTGIXES OF PORTO RICO 



[ETH. ANN. 25 



centimeti'i's in heij^ht. According to tlie same iiuthur the head of this 

 specimen was a skull with artificial eyes and covered with woven 

 cotton. 



About the upper arms and thighs (figure 43) are found woven fabrics, 

 prol)al)ly of cotton, following a custom to which attention has been 

 already called. There is a representation of bands over the forehead. 

 The small projections or warts on the wrists and ankles are duplicated 

 in .some of the carved shell objects described in the preceding pages. 

 It is nnich to be regretted that our knowledge of this figure, which 

 could shecl so iiuK-li light on the mortuary rites and worship of the 



prehistoric Antilleans, is so im- 

 [)erfect. The author was told 

 that it is now somewhere in 

 Italy, but whether it is lost to 

 science could not he learned. 



CONCLUSIONS 



When we examine as a whole 

 in a comparative way the archeo- 

 logieal ol)jects from Porto Rico 

 and Santo Domingo, we find 

 them quite ditferent from those 

 of North. Central, or South 

 America. Types like the stone 

 collars and three-pointed idols 

 are not known to occur on the 

 American continent, but are lim- 

 ited to Porto Rico and Santo Do- 

 mingo, specimens which have 

 been reported from the Les.ser 

 Antilles being readily accounted 

 for on the theory that tlu-y were carried there by Carib or other 

 wanderers. These types do not occur in Cuba or Jamaica and are 

 great rarities in the Lesser Antilles, being practically unknown in such 

 islands as Trinidad. It is believed that these stone objects are pecu- 

 liarly Antillean and indicative of a characteristic culture stage in 

 Porto Rico. 



It is. however, equally evident that there is a likeness in some par- 

 ticulars between the prehistoric culture of Porto Rico and that of Ven- 

 ezuela, although the natives of the latter country had never developed 

 a stage of stone working equal to that of the former. The germ of 

 the island culture is therefore thought to have originated in South 

 America, but to have reached a higher develoj^ment in Porto Rico than 

 in any other locality, except possibly Santo Domingo. 



