80 ISLAIv^D CULTURE AREA OF AMERICA [eth. ANN. 34 



The earliest account of the shell implements, caves, and prehistoric 

 idols found in Barbados that has come to the author's notice was 

 written by Rev. Griffith Hughes,*^ a former rector of St. Lucy's 

 Parish. The Rev. Mr. Cooksey has supplemented this with a short 

 article on the earliest inhabitants of Barbados, one of the earliest in 

 which shell implements are mentioned, bir Robert Schomburgk's 

 account of the history of Barbados, like those of John Paget (1808) 

 and Dr. Hillary (1752), add little to the archeology of the island. 

 According to Joseph Forte shell chisels*^ have been found in Bar- 

 badian caves, over 100 being taken from a cavern 350 feet above the 

 level of the sea. 



The more extended account of prehistoric material from Barbados 

 in the Blackmore collection is as follows:*^ "The specimens exhibited 

 from Barbados have been presented to the Collection by the Rev. 

 Greville J. Chester, who has kindly furnished the following informa- 

 tion respecting them: 'In Barbados there is no hard stone, nothing 

 harder than coralline lunestone; the aborigines therefore were 

 obliged to import hard stone implements and weapons from the 

 other islands, or from the main continent of South America. For 

 ordinary purposes, however, they used implements made of various 

 kinds of marine shells,** and of the fossil shells from the limestone. 

 These shell implements vary in length from 1^ to 6^ inches ; some in 

 my possession are beautifully formed. In the commonest type the 

 natural curve of the shell formed the handle. Disks and beads made 

 of shell, and large cjuantities of pottery, in a fragmentary^ state, have 

 been found associated with the shell implements. The use of an 

 implement somewhat resembling a hone has not been satisfactorily 

 ascertained, only one specimen out of the considerable number which 

 have passed through my hands being worn down hy use. The large 

 number of implements discovered under rock shelters and in gullies 

 proves the existence of a large native population in Barbados, and as 

 shell hatchets are not found in the other West Indian islands, it is 

 clear that they are of purely local origin.' " 



It is pretty generally agreed among historians that when the Eng- 

 lish landed at Holetown,*" in 1625-1627, the number of Indians on 

 Barbados was small, but as the islands were discovered over a cen- 

 tury earlier by the Portuguese, we can not be sure that they were not 

 peopled more abundantly at that time. 



*^ The Natur<^l History of Barbados. London. 17.50. This article contains a plate with 

 illustrations of shell implements and an idol. 



" Note on Carib Chisels, Journ. Anthrop. Inst. Gt. Britain, vol. xl, pp. 2-3. 



"Stevens, Flint Chips, pp. 2.35-236. 



" Found also in many islands, but most abundantly In Barbados. 



'"The site of their landing is now indicated by a monument bearing an appropriate 

 inscription. 



