158 ISLAND CULTURE AREA OF AMERICA [eth. ANN. 34 



% 



The specimen (pi. 81, C) is a unique grinder or pestle, the handle 

 of which tapers to a point whicli is jjracefully bent over so that it 

 almost touches the flattened top of the base. This object has been 

 placed by some authors among problematical stones from the Lesser 

 Antilles, but its general resemblance to pestles or pounding imple- 

 ments is close enough to lead to its association with that type. As 

 an example of prehistoric stone cutting it is unsurpassed in the 

 West Indies. 



The unique character and admirable workmanship of this speci- 

 men has already been commented upon by the late Prof. Ma- 

 son.^ whose reference to it is as follows: "The object is entirely 

 unique, and indeed outlandish to the Antilles. It is admirable 

 in workmanship and has been preserved without a scratch. The 

 material is mottled green and lirown. It would not be difficult 

 to guess, granting this to be genuine, that the process of stone 

 carving went on after 1-193, the year in which Columbus discovered 

 (iuadeloupe. and that some ingenious lapidary had undertaken to 

 imitate a hook in the tackle. There is nothing improbable in this, 

 for the Haida slate carvers to-day imitate steamers and other inven- 

 tions of the whites in making their curious pipes. Height, 5^^ 

 inches." 



This is as remarkable a specimen as it is rare, so far as known, 

 unique and worthy to stand as the best known example of Antillean 

 stone working. 



Of the most beautifully made of all the grinders two are repre- 

 sented in plate 81, D, E, of specimens in the Berlin ^luseum formerly 

 in the (niesde collection. These wonderful examples of stone work- 

 ing have the bases prolonged into curved horns at opposite ends of 

 their longest diameters. The handles taper uniformly to a head 

 slightly enlarged and convex above. The shortest diameter of the 

 base is slightly greater than the lower portion of the handle. 



This is certainly a remarkable specimen of Stone Age work, quite 

 equal in technique to stone collars or zemis from the Greater Antilles. 



ST. KITTS 



The island of St. Christopher, or, as it is commonly called, St. 

 Kitts, was known to the Carib as Luiwa. the fertile land, on account 

 of its great fertility. The wealth of archeological evidences indi- 

 cates that it was once inhabited by a large aboriginal population 

 devoted to agricultural pursuits. 



The archeology of St. Kitts and Xe^ns " has attracted the attention 

 of local students, and is well considered in an instructive article by 



' Op. cit.. p. 809. 



» From the absence of aboriginal place names of Indian lUriv.Ttion in either St. Kitts or 

 the neighboring island, Nevis, it appears that the Indians were early exterminated on 

 these islands. 



