254 



ISLAND CULTURE AEEA OF AMEEICA 



lETH. ANM. 34 



culture was higher than that of the others referred to, but the highest 

 prehistoric culture was confined mainly to the eastern provinces, 

 especially Santiago, and was apparently introduced from Haiti, 

 where it reached a high development, although even in the mountains 

 of that island there were survivors of the savage, or lower, culture 

 stage which predominated in western Cuba. 



The Carib, who occupied the Lesser Antilles from Trinidad to 

 Porto Eico, M'ere the last of the several South American tribes 



Fig. 68. — Fragments of pottery from Nipe Bay (U. S. National 

 Museum). 



which invaded the West Indies. This virile race at tlie time of the 

 discovery had conquered and assimilated the original inhabitants of 

 the Lesser Antilles and peopled tliem witli a comjjosite people. The 

 evidence that the Carib settled on the coast of Cuba is not decisive. 

 They probably visited the island in their marauding expeditions, 

 but they contributed little to the existing culture of Cuba or that of 

 the neighboring jjeninsula of Florida. 



