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



"ceremonial batons of stone 



"An examination of certain celts, clubs, and other stone artifacts 

 leads to the belief that the prehistoric Antilleans had manj- kinds 

 of objects which they carried in their hands on ceremonial or other 

 occasions. Several of the almond-shaped or petaloid celts with heads 

 or human figures cut on the sides have their jDointed ends prolonged 

 into a handle, and even those without such a prolongation can hardly 

 be supposed to have been hafted, as in such a case much of the 

 design cut upon them would have been concealed. Many of the 

 beautiful axes for which the island of St. Vincent is famous were 

 too bulky to be carried in war and too dull to be used as cutting 

 implements. They may have been carried by chiefs on ceremonial 

 occasions as badges or insignia of office. 



"A remarkable stone object [pi. 99, A] in the Heye collection 

 has the appearance of having been used as a baton, but its form 

 is different from that of any yet described, and would suggest that 

 it was carried in the hand, but it may have been inserted into a 

 wooden staff. One end of this object is enlarged, with the surface 

 cut into a definite form, while the other end tapers uniformly, pro- 

 viding the handle, possibly for attachment to a rod. The figure 

 on the larger end has a median crest or ridge extending over the 

 extremity, on each side of which is a prominence, the arrangement 

 recalling the crest and eyes of some highly conventionalized animal. 

 The crest or ridge is found on examination to be double and to 

 extend round the larger end, the two parts coalescing at one end 

 and uniting by a transverse band on the other. On the sides of 

 this median crest are the protuberances, each with a circular pit 

 and extension from the margin. The only object known to the 

 writer that approaches in form the stone referred to is one made 

 of burnt clay found in Barbados, many miles away. This specimen 

 also has an enlargement representing a head at one end and tapers 

 uniformly to the other extremity in the form of a hancfle. The 

 Barbados object also has a crest extending along the middle of the 

 enlarged part and ending abruptly near a hole which may be likened 

 to a mouth ; on each side of this elevation there are pits that may be 

 regarded as eyes. The ridge or crest suggests a distorted nose, or 

 the beak of a bird, a suggestion that would seem to comport with 

 the parts on the enlarged end of the stone baton above described. 

 The double median fold and lateral elevations with pits represent 

 beak and eyes." 



Another stone object (pi. 100, .1, B) from Guadeloupe, described 

 by Prof. Mason, evidently belongs to the same type as the stone cere- 

 monial baton, or some form of badge mounted on a staff. 



