182 ISLAND rVLTXTRE AREA OF AMERICA [ETH. ANN. 34 



As may be seen in plate 93, A, from a photograph by Sehor Na- 

 cisso Sentenach, procured in Madrid by Prof. Saville, this speci- 

 men has an ax form with a somewhat broken edge and a head in 

 relief on the opposite end or poll. Its general form is oval, the 

 surfaces plain, slightly convex, its margins rounded. The thickness 

 is much less than the length or breadth. 



The unique characteristic of this ax is the head on the poll and its 

 relative position respecting the longer axis. The form of the nose, 

 mouth, eyes, and forehead suggests the head of a human being and 

 the appendages represented in low relief on each side suggest fingers 

 or flippers at the extremities of the arms. The boundary between 

 body and head is a curved line near which on the under surface back 

 of the chin are indications of folds. The straight line extending 

 across the head and body passing through the eyes diagonally is the 

 quartz vein in the stone to which reference is made by Poey. The 

 resemblance to a fish is not striking. 



In comparing this blade with the ceremonial celts mentioned above, 

 it will be noticed that in the latter the head or figure is engraved 

 on one side, and the median line of the engraved figure corresponds 

 with that of the middle line of the side of tlie ax, while the middle 

 facial line of the Cuban specimen is at right angles to the middle line 

 of the blade. This is the only known ax which has the butt modified 

 into a head, although there is something similar in monolithic axes 

 from Santo Domingo and Haiti. 



In the Heye collection there is a fractured ceremonial celt col- 

 lected by De Booy in the Bahamas which connects ceremonial celts 

 and engraved stones with heads or human figures which have lost 

 their likeness to celts. This specimen preserves a likeness to deco- 

 rated petaloids as well as to stone images where the petaloid form is 

 lost, and may be said to connect these two types and possibly suggest 

 a meaning for both. It was found in a negro cabin in Mariguana 

 Island, Bahamas,''* and is thus referred to by De Booy, in an 

 article, " Lucayan Artifacts from the Bahamas " : *^ 



"Although in fragmentary condition, this object shows clearly 

 what the original outlines must have been, and it may be included 

 among the best examples of isrehistoric stonework from the Ba- 

 hamas * * * The celt is petaloid and is made of a green, slate- 

 like stone, possibly of volcanic origin." 



Mr. De Booy adds this important information about the object: 

 "The figure on the celt is shown in a seated posture and is carved 

 in low relief. The knees and arms point inward and the hands rest 



" The character of the stone of which it is made shows that It did not come from a 

 coral island like Mariguana, and the resemblances in technique and culture ally it to 

 Haitian forms. 



■■'* Amer. Anthrop., n. s. vol. xv, p. 6. 



