178 ISLAKD CULTITRE AREA OF AMERICA [eth. ANN. 34 



worked out in the illustration that there is no need of an elaborate 

 description. The stA'le of the firrure is thoroughly Antillean through- 

 out, and comparable with that so constantly found in engraved 

 figures 'of hiunan beings from these islands, especially those cut in 

 low relief on stone, shell, or bone. This specimen may be regarded 

 as an intermediate form between a smooth celt with a face incised 

 on the surface and that from the Royal Museum in Copenhagen, to 

 be considered later, where the celt form has almost completely 

 disappeared. 



4. British Museum (four specimens). — Four specimens^*" in the 

 British Museum preserve a petaloid form, but are not so symmetrical 

 nor so well made as some others. They are, however, especially in- 

 structive, since they show an elongation of the pointed end in the 

 form of a handle, while the cutting edge still survives above the 

 head. The position of these celts in a hypothetical series illus- 

 trating the modifications in the type would be nearer the simplest 

 than the most complicated forms. This shows connections with 

 another series, for from them one can readily pass into a group 

 of globular stone objects or heads, with handles — a form without 

 indications of a cutting edge and showing no affinity with celts. 



5. National Museum. — The tj'pe specimen of engraved or ceremo- 

 nial celts, first published in the author's work on the Aborigines 

 of Porto Rico,^^ was one of the most instructive specimens of Arch- 

 bishop Merino's collection and was collected in Santo Domingo. 

 The general characteristics, as shown in the figure referred to, are 

 a sharpened edge extending over an oval head, with a pointed poll 

 helow, imparting to it the true petaloid form. The hands with their 

 fingers drawn up under the chin and the low projection rising be- 



/ tween them are feeble attempts to represent either the body or its 

 appendages. On its reverse side the surface of the implement is 

 plain, slightly curved, as is true of all celts on which face or head 

 is represented. Tliere can hardly be any good reason to believe 

 that this celt ever had a handle, as no signs of such an attachment 

 are to be seen, and even if there were the presence of a hancfte would 

 conceal a part of the figure it bears. The specimen is of a greenish 

 stone and measures 14 inches in length. 



6. Beye Museum. — Mr. Theodoor de Booy collected in the Bahamas 

 a broken ceremonial petaloid celt, which is now in the lleye Mu- 

 seum. The edge of this celt and the surface bearing the figure are 

 very much mutilated, but enough remains of the body to enable us 

 to show its form ^^ and verify his identification. 



sin These have been well figured and descrlhed b.v Joyce, in .Tmirn. Roy. .\nthr. Inst., vol. 

 XXXVII. pi. i.v, figs. 1-4. 



=» Twenty fifth Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pi xv. 



="* This sp<H'imen is figured l»y Mr. de Booy in his article on Lucayan .\rtifacts in .\nier. 

 Authrop., n. s.. xv, No. 1. p. 6. 



