FEWKES] 



CULTURE AEEAS IN THE WEST INDIES 



15 



pigments or bruising roots. They are elongate, sometimes angular, 

 with shallow pits on two or all four faces which served to facilitate 

 handling by providing convenient places for the thumb and fore- 

 finger. Circular stone disks, probably used as grinders, were like- 

 wise found. 



A small, finely polished pendant (fig. 2), made of jadeite, per- 

 forated at one end, was found buried deeply among the shells in 

 the Erin Bay midden. In finish this beautiful specimen recalls 

 certain finely polished green petaloids collected in Porto Eico and 

 other islands. The stone of which these objects 

 are made does not occur in the West Indies — a fact 

 indicating that the pendant, as well as the celts, was 

 brought from the mainland, probably from South 

 America. 



Bone Objects 



Considering their occurrence in soil saturated 

 with moisture, it is remarkable that bone objects 

 were preserved in the Erin Bay mound, but many 

 unworked animal bones and a few bone implements 

 were exposed in the course of the excavations. One 

 of the latter is from an unidentified animal, and its 

 flattened form resembles a spatula used in pottery 

 making. Among other bone implements may be 

 mentioned a tube of uniform diameter, supposed 

 to be an ornament, cut off at both ends and hav- 

 ing a slit extending along two-thirds of its 

 length. 



Objects of Wood 



riG. 2 



peodan 

 i d ad 

 inches. 



Jadeite 

 t. Trin- 

 (2.81 

 ) 



A fine black finger ring, similar to the rings made and worn by 

 the natives in several islands of the West Indies, was found deep in 

 the shell heap. It is made from a seed of the gougou palm. An 

 angular fragment of lignite of irregular form, with an artificial 

 groove encircling it, was found in one of the deepest excavations. 



Comparison oe Prehistoric Objects from Trinidad with Those 



FROM Other Islands 



As is generally the case in archeological studies, pottery, from 

 its greater durability and variety in form, is one of the most reliable 

 types of artifacts for the study of prehistoric culture areas in the 

 West Indies. The Erin Bay shell heap shares with the middens of 



