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78 THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO [ETH. ANN. 25 Carib words del'ived from the Lesser Antilles. Similar words are frequently heard in the island patois and among Venezuelan tribes, as has been pointed out by Torres, Lucian Adam, Brinton, and other writers. Many Tainan words, as hamac, canoe, tobacco, key (island), have become anglicized and are now universally used in the West Indies and on the neighboring mainland. The Indian name of Porto Rico is variously given in the different early accounts, and probably the Carib designatio!), Boriquen, was a dialectic variant which Columbus heard in the Lesser Antilles. The name Baneque, mentioned in Columbus's diary, was probably a Lucayan variant. Although affixed to a smaller island north of Haiti on several maps, Torres has shown that this is the same as the Carib Borinquen. As a result of his scholarly examination of the three elements , Bo-ri-qlten, CoIl y Toste arrives at the conclusion that the proper spelling of the name of the island is Borinquen. After a critical discussion of the name of the island as spelled by others, Torres says,G in part, as follows: We believe that the word Borinquen or Bo-ri-n-que-n is composed of the following elements: bo which expresses the general idea of man, malltel'j ri which denotes the absolute conception of mlor, force,' the prefix n which signifies of them, of thej the root que, which entails the signification earthj and n final sign of plural. Borinquen, with accent on the i, would then mean" land of valiant masters" 01' "fatherland of powerfnl men."b The speech of the ancient people of the island BOlinquen is considered by some authors to be a Tainan dialect called Eyrie, but there seems no good reason, on account of dialectic variation, to separate aboriginal Porto Ricans from the other West Indians, whom they clearly resemble in customs and language. All belong to one and the same stock, but from their proximity to the Carib the Porto Ricans were naturally more warlike, and the prep-ence of slight variations in their langnage indicates no difference in race kinship. ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES In addition to the preceding information l'egarding the prehistoric Porto Ricans, obtained from historical accounts or from ethnology and folklore, we have that afforded by a study of prehistoric objects found in the soil, in caves, or on village sites. These can often be interpreted by the writings of the Spanish historians~ and they alsopresent evidence in themselves of the character of the long-extinct people that manufactured and used them. Archeology is thus able to illuminate obscure chapters overlooked or unrecorded by the historian and ethnologist. a Luis Lorens Torres, America; Estudios Hist6ricos y Filo168icos, Madrid, 1898. b It will be noted that this spelling of the ancient name of the Island Introduces the letter It, and In that respect differs from that of Coil y Toste and others. The objection to the omission ix well presented by Torres, who points out that the three elemcntsbQ·ri-quen mean simply "man-forcelands ," and n.eed the connective n and the fnalletter to bring out the correct meaning. FEWKESj ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES 7\) It offers the only exact data by which the manners and customs of the aborigines before the advent of Columbus can be interpreted. As the author has sought to indicate in the preceding pages the life of the aborigines as shown by the historians, in the following pageR he will try to supplement this account by descriptions of the prehistoric objects preserved in the Smithsonian Institution, suggesting, when possible, their use and meaning. As has been shown by the historical data already presented, the aboriginal race which peopled the island of Porto Rico was not confined to it but extended to the neighboring islands. Indeed, much that we know through historical sources of the customs and beliefs of the Borinqueiios is based on their resemblance to the natives of Haiti, whose manner of life has been described by-several early writers. It is therefore legitimate in discussing the archeological data bearing on the aboriginal culture of Porto Rico to Introduce studies of prehistoric objects from neighboring islands. From comparative evidence of this kind our knowledge is greatly enlarged, bllt it must always be borne in mind that certain types of archeological objects are peculiar to certain islands, and that each island has objects of human rnake which are characteristic. Numbers of prehistoric Porto Rican antiquities occur...

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