92 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 72 



One of several flat stone objects collected by Doctor Abbott having 

 extensions, two " handles " on the rim, is shown in figure 98. In 

 shape and especially in the form and position of the handles these stone 

 implements resemble graters — generally of wood — specimens of which 

 are still in use in Haiti. Stone graters are novelties and those col- 

 lected by Doctor Abbott are the first of this material added to the 

 museum. It is probable that the surface of this stone was formerly 

 covered with some kind of matrix in which were set sharp stones 

 arranged in an ornamental design that has now completely disap- 

 peared, leaving no trace of its former presence. 



All the above-mentioned specimens are referred to the Tainan or 

 most advanced neolithic culture of the West Indies, that originated 

 and flourished in the Haiti-Santo Domingo and Porto Rico areas in 

 prehistoric times. The three-pointed idols, stone collars, elbow stones, 

 and characteristic pottery separate the Porto Rico Tainan from that 

 of Jamaica, eastern Cuba, and the Bahamas, which belong to another 

 closely related culture that may be called Cuban Tainan. 



The pottery of the aborigines of the Lesser Antilles belongs to an 

 allied prehistoric Tainan culture that was submerged by the Caribs, 

 v/ho inhabited these islands when discovered by Europeans, at the 

 close of the 15th century. The fine addition that Doctor Abbott has 

 made to our West Indian collection all belongs to the true Tainaii cul- 

 ture which reached its highest development in Espafiola and Porto 

 Rico. 



The archeological specimens from the West Indies presented to the 

 museum by Doctor Abbott are very valuable and as time goes on will 

 be more and more appreciated by students of the history of man in 

 the Antilles. 



ARCHEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE OF THE CAHOKIA AND 

 RELATED MOUND GROUPS 

 David I. Bushnell, Jr., collaborator of the Bureau of American 

 Ethnology, conducted during 192 1 a reconnaissance of the remarkable 

 mound groups in the vicinity of the great Cahokia Mound. The in- 

 formation secured at this time, added to notes made during frequent 

 visits in the past, has been used in preparing the following sketch of 

 the interesting region. 



It is quite evident that long before Pere Marquette discovered 

 and passed the mouth of the Missouri, during his journey down 

 the Mississippi early in the summer of 1673. the region immedi- 

 ately below the confluence of the two great streams had been an 

 important center, a gathering place, of the native inhabitants of the 



