262 ISLAND CULTURE AREA OF AMERICA [ETH. ANN. 3* 



The handles of bowls are destitute of heads or realistic decorations of 

 animal form, and are vertical bands, jiits with a raised ridge, or sim- 

 ple lugs. Whether the caves in the interior of the island have similar 

 pottery is not known, but there is every probability that the niuner- 

 ous excavations made in them since mj' visit will shed much light on 

 this subject. It is very desirable that those having more material 

 on cave and shell-heap ceramics should make thorough examinations 

 of the character of pottery from different parts of Porto Eico. 



STONE IMPLEMENTS 



The stone artifacts from the West Indies indicate a division into 

 two large groups, corresponding roughly with the geographical 

 divisions called the Greater and Lesser Antilles. The predominating 

 type of stone implement of the Haiti-Porto Rico group is the celt of 

 almond shape called the petaloid, which is also common in collec- 

 tions from Cuba and Jamaica. The name conveys accurately the 

 form of these implements. They rarely show any sign of a groove 

 for hafting, have a pointed poll and a curved, often blunt, edge. The 

 predominating cross-section of these petaloids is oval, but convex- 

 concave outlines also exist, and some are slightly angular or rounded 

 at the corners. Their surfaces are smooth, often highly polished, 

 and are among the most beautiful known forms of stone implements. 

 Outside the Greater Antilles area they are rarely found. 



There are several known examples of these petaloids with faces, 

 heads, and human figures cut on the surface.-^ The mode of hafting 

 of the petaloid is known from several specimens. One specimen has 

 been found with a wooden handle and in others the wooden handle 

 is replaced by stone, which is sometimes engraved on surface and 

 extremities. 



The stone implements from the Lesser Antilles are quite different 

 from those of the Greater Antilles, although the petaloid occurs in 

 scanty numbers. The typical ax with blunt poll has been found on 

 several islands, and many of these have a shallow groove for hatting. 

 A cross section of the.se is generally oval or square with rounded 

 angles. The ax with two deep opposite angular marginal notches, 

 a strictly South American form, occurs in St. Kitts and Trinidad, 

 but is not found in great numbers. It has not 3'et been recorded from 

 Haiti and Porto Eico. The poll of this type is flat, the cross section 

 oval, and the thiclcness much less than the breadth. 



By far the most numerous form of ax from the Lesser Antilles 

 is that found often in caches and abundantly figured in this article. 

 The forms vary from a circidar, oval, or almost square body with 

 regular or asymmetrical outlines. The greatest modification appears 



»^Fewkes, Engraved CeUs from the Antilles, 1915. 



