FEWKEsa CULTURE AREAS IN THE WEST INDIES 237 



circle or dots, are well filled. Straight lines often end in pits, which 

 may be separated from the ends of the lines. They were apparently 

 made with a pointed implement. 



Food bowls are not uncommon, their decoration being commonlj' 

 a modification of lugs, or handles, into heads, which when broken 

 off are often called idols by the country people. The margins of 

 the openings are not turned outward or upward, but are without 

 modifications. There are rarely necks to the bowls or feet or bases 

 for them to stand upon. 



The earliest described whole piece of pottery from Porto Eico 

 was figured in 1907 in the article on the Aborigines of Porto Rico. 

 Se^ieral additional specimens are now known in different collections. 

 As shown elsewhere, there are two distinct types of Porto Rican pot- 

 tery — one from caves (Cueva de los Golondrinos, not far from 

 Arecibo) ; the other from the shell heaps and ball courts (batey). 

 The vessel ***" from the mound near the ball court at Utuado is of 

 rough ware, the handles slender, not as broad as those from the caves- 

 If the reputed provenance of specimens can be relied upon, the pot- 

 tery from inland caves differs from that of the caves alongshore — 

 a condition that might be expected if caves were at times inhabited 

 and later used for mortuary purposes. The pottery from Porto 

 Rico is quite different from that found in middens of the Lesser 

 Antilles: the incised or relief decorations are not the same. It is, 

 in fact, possible to differentiate art designs from the different islands, 

 although there is a general similaritj' in pottery forms from Trinidad 

 to Cuba, indicating a like cultural condition of the prehistoric inhab- 

 itants, the modifications being largely due to environmental condi- 

 tions, character of clay, and pigments used in decorating. 



The most abundant fragments of pottery from Porto Rico and 

 Santo Domingo are lugs or handles of bowls and vases made in the 

 form of human and animal heads. To consider all these fragments 

 in any collection would be a great undertaking, and many such heads 

 have been figured by students of collections from these islands. 



While the pottery of Porto Rico and Santo Domingo in general 

 characters resembles that of the other West Indies, it can be readily 

 distinguished from that of tlie St. Kitts, St. Vincent, Barbados, and 

 Trinidad areas. Many of the specimens in the Heye collection are 

 fragmentary and are more or less worn on the surface by use, but as 

 a rule they exhibit no evidence of a gloss which they formerly had. 

 Even these fragments indicate that the ancient islanders were excel- 

 lent potters, showing superior art and workmanship. As in the other 

 islands, handles of vessels in the form of clay heads predominate, in- 

 dicating that effigy bowls, vases, and jars were very numerous. 



*'" Aborigines of Porto Rico. TwHnty-flfth Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pi. Lxxvii, c; 

 the character of cave pottery is sliowu in pi. Lxxni. 



