FEWKEsl . CULTURE AREAS IN THE WEST INDIES 175 



or marginal notches for the hafting of handles. While the celt 

 has no indication of- a head, and the extremity of the blade tapers 

 into a point, the head of the majority of axes from the Lesser 

 Antilles is often broader or larger than the blade, and is variously 

 modified into projections, horns, or bifurcations, very rarely tak- 

 ing the form of an animal's head. 



The type form of celt from the Greater Antilles, has an almond 

 or petal shape, which has suggested the name " petaloid." Although 

 the petaloid celt occurs in greater or less abundance -^ in all the 

 West Indies, this form is particularly characteristic of the Greater 

 Antilles. Implements of this type are generally made of stone, but 

 Vv'hen proper stone does not occur another material, as shell, may also 

 be used for the purpose. 



No implement of the polished stone epoch in America can sur- 

 pass the petaloid in the regularity of its form or the beauty cf its 

 sujierficial finish. There is considerable variation in their size, but 

 only a slight modification in their outlines, as seen in profile, the 

 general almond or petaloid form being constant. 



A cross section of one of these implements, taken midway in 

 length, is as a rule oval ; but a few are rectangular, tlie angles being 

 rounded. The greatest breadth of a typical petaloid is near the 

 middle. These celts have blunt edges and taper to a point, being 

 destitute of grooves.^* 



The petaloid type passes almost imperceptibly into the ax_ form, 

 or those with one end modified into a head and without the jjointed 

 extremity. 



The petaloid celt figures extensively in the folklore of the modern 

 islanders. In Porto Rico and other Spanish West Indies they are 

 usually called " piedras del rayo," or thunder-stones, by which name 

 they are commonly designated in the English islands. They are 

 supposed by the country people to be endowed with magic powers, 

 and are regarded as efficacious in healing diseases. They are like- 

 wise supposed to protect the natives from lightning, being fre- 

 quently deposited for that purpose under the thatch forming the 

 roof of their cabins. In St. Vincent and some islands they are 

 placed in earthen jars to keep the drinking water pure and cool.^* 



''Thp petaloid typo occurs as far .'louth as Trinidad, its northprn extension being the 

 Bahamas. About 90 per cent of all stone implements from the Greater Antilles are 

 petaloid celts, and an equal percentage from the Lesser Antilles are a.xes. 



^ It is sometimes stated that grooved axes do not occur in the West Indies, but in the 

 Heye collection we find them well represented from St. Vincent and other Lesser Antilles. 

 The author has seen very few of this type from the Greater Antilles. 



™ There exists considerable folklore and many superstitions connected with these 

 Etones. It is sometimes stated that they are found in trees struck by lightning, while 

 others declare they penetrate the earth and come to the surface in seven years. A true 

 thunder-stone may, according to some informants, be determined by binding a thread about 

 It and applying a lighted match. If the thread burns the stone is genuine. Several 

 specimens bear superficial marks of having been tested this way. 



