FEWKEsJ CULTURE AREAS Ilf THE WEST INDIES 119 



reason to suppose was painted with red pigment. In numerous in- 

 stances this paint disappears if the fragment is moistened. 



xVmong different forms of pottery indicated by the fragments 

 may be mentioned bow'ls, bottles, cups, griddles (flat plates), vases 

 with or without snouts like the so-called monkey jars or modern 

 teapots. x\.s is the case with prehistoric pottery from the other West 

 Indies, there are many forms of effigy vessels and a considerable num- 

 ber with rims adorned with animal heads serving as handles or legs. 

 There are several fragments of the bases of vessels or basal clay 

 rings, which, being more massive than the remaining walls of the 

 bowl, remain unbroken witli fragments of the bowls. One of these 

 is shown in plate 6'2. .1, which, unlike the majority, is decorated with 

 an incised zigzag figure. 



While the lips of the majority of these vases and bowls which are 

 not decorated with heads are plain or without distinctive markings, 

 certain of them are decorated with a succession of impressions evi- 

 dently made with the thumb-nail or finger when the clay was soft. 

 One fragment (pi. 62, B) has a series of holes around the rim, 

 evidently made with a round stick or bone. Nothing like a roulette 

 was found, although there are several clay stamps. By far the 

 largest number of bowls have clay heads attached to the rim, placed 

 either vertically or horizontally, according to the shape of the 

 vessel, the latter being mainly confined to certain griddles or flat 

 plates evidently used in frying cassava bread, so placed that thei 

 cook may hanclle a hot dish without burning her hands. 



Plate 62, (\ shows a fragment of pottery with a small attached 

 snout similar to those found on modern vessels from St. Kitts and 

 Nevis.*"* A double bowl, one of the component parts of which is 

 unfortunately broken, is illustrated in plate 62, D. This object has 

 a flat base, thick walls, and is undecorated. A hole leading from 

 one bowl to the other characterizes this object. Its size and general 

 appearance suggest a receptacle for paints, and it may possibly have 

 been for red dye used in painting the body, as recorded in the early 

 accounts of the inhabitants of the Lesser Antilles. 



The relief decoration shown on a fragment of a bowl (pi. 63, A) 

 is typical of the style of ceramic decoration constantly employed by 

 the prehistoric Antilleans. The fragment represents a section of 

 the rim, the ornamentation being on its outer wall. 



The decorated handles of Grenada bowls are more massive than 

 those of Trinidad, and are commonly two in number, situated on the 

 end of the longer diameter near the rims or the sides. Plate 63, B, 

 illustrates the form of one of these handles and a fragment of the 

 vessel, upon which is the head of some animal, possibly a bird. There 



"The ancient potters' technique still survives in these islands. 



