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CULTURE AREAS IN THE WEST INDIES 



251 



specimen is said to hiive been found at the Indian town of El Caney : it 

 belongs to the same type as the ceremonial celt described and figured by 

 Poev, Ferrer, and others. Its general character allies it to stone prod- 

 uct&of the Tainan culture of Santo Domingo and Porto Rico. 



The celts collected by me in Cuba have the same forms as those 

 from the other West Indian Islands, and are known to the country 

 people by the same name, piedras del rcnjo. or thunderbolts (fig. 67). 

 They are petaloid in form, 

 smoothly polished, and 

 without grooves for haft- 

 ing. As in Porto Eico, 

 there is consideraljle folk- 

 lore in Cuba connected 

 with these implements. 

 Twenty petaloid celts were 

 collected in the neighbor- 

 hood of Santiago at El 

 Cristo, El Caney, and the 

 outskirts of the city. 



While in Santiago I pur- 

 chased a small collection of 

 Indian objects from Xipe 

 Bay, on the northei'n coast 

 of Cuba, which includes 

 petaloid celts, fragments 

 of pottery (fig. 68), a shell 

 implement, and other ab- 

 original objects. Among 

 the last is a water-worn 

 stone on which is cut in 

 outline (more like a picto- 

 graph than in relief) a 

 human face with mouth, 

 eyes, and what might have 

 been intended for a nose 

 (fig. 69). The specimen is unique in form, and although not flattened 

 on one side, in certain particulars it reminds one of the so-called stone 

 masks of the ancient Porto Eicans. The chief characteristics of this 

 outlined face are the oblique eyes and the three curved lines extending 

 from their lower ends to the incised line which borders the face. Its 

 use and significance are unknown to me, nor am I familiar with anj^ 

 similar specimen from the other West Indian Islands. It will be 

 observed that this and the following specimens came from the eastern 

 end of Cuba and can be referred to the Tainan culture. 



Fig. G5.- 



-Idol or iji'Stle fiom Lcjma di'l Cayuco 

 (Santiago Museum). 



