FEWKES] CULTURE AKEAS IN THE WEST INDIES 87 



One of the most instructive specimens (see pi. 87 <', D) from Bar- 

 bados is owned by Mr. Connell at St. Kitts. It is made of clay, one 

 end enlarged in the form of a head, with a neck prolongated into a 

 handle tapering uniformly to a point. The enlarged end bears eyes, 

 nostrils, and mouth, and its identification as a rude head is unques- 

 tionable. This specimen is so highly conventionalized that deter- 

 mination of its use is not possible, but it resembles a stone baton 

 from Porto Rico described in the author's article on Elbow Stones.^*" 

 Both were possibly carried in the hand as a badge or for ceremonial 

 purposes."* 



A large collection of fragments of the aboriginal Barbadian pot- 

 tery was obtained at Marl Hill on the northern end of Barbados. It 

 is a coai'se red ware, showing no signs of painting, the surfaces 

 appearing to be much eroded. Judging from the number of clay 

 cylinders with attached fragments of bowls from Marl Hill, the 

 general form of the dishes seems to have been flat or disklike with 

 raised rims. The rims of West Indian aboriginal pottery are often 

 decorated with finger prints and their walls with indentations — a 

 mode of ornamentation still practiced by negro potters of Nevis and 

 elsewhere. A common fonn. of coarse pottery was a flat dish, gen- 

 erally circular, with the edge turned up into a low ridge, imparting 

 a T shape to a section. These are supposed to have been used in 

 frying cassava cakes. 



There is nothing in Barbadian archeology thus far brought to light 

 to indicate that the prehistoric people of that island were less highly 

 developed than those of Porto Eico or Trinidad. No cause has yet 

 been discovered for its depopulation so early in history. The island 

 is not volcanic and we have no intimation that a convulsion of nature 

 drove away its prehistoric people or forced them to abandon agricul- 

 tural pursuits. The island was too isolated to have been frequently 

 raided. It has had several severe hurricanes in historic times, three 

 of which have done much damage, but none of these could have 

 driven away the inhabitants. 



One of the imjiortant questions in Barbadian archeology is the pos- 

 sibility that there were once cave dwellers or aborigines who exca- 

 vated rooms in the soft calcareous formations which compose a great 

 part of the island. While there is no doubt that natural-cave dwell- 

 ers existed in the Antilles at the time of their discovery, it is not 

 so evident that the aborigines excavated their houses out of the rock. 

 As shown in Barbados, howe-\'er, we have artificial excavations, which 

 have received the names " Indian excavations " and " Indian caves." 



BJa Porto Eioan elhow-stones in the Heye Museum. Amer. Anthrop., n. s. vol. xv, No. 3, 

 pp. 435-459, 1913. 



■^Mr. Chester states (Stevens. Flint Chips, p. 23G) : " I have also a small and beauti- 

 fully formed implement in the shape of a knife, made of yellowish alabaster, and a kind 

 of a stamp of the same material." 



