The Aborigines of Puerto Rico and Neighboring Islands

Conclusions

214 THE ABORIGINES OF PORTO RICO [ETH. ANN. 25 centimeters in height. specimen was a skull 'Cotton. According to the same author the head of this with artificial eyes and covered with woven About the upper arms and thighs (figure 43) are found woven fabrics, probably of cotton, following a custom to which attention has been already called. There i:; a representation of bands over the forehead. The small projections or warts on the wrists and ankles are duplicated in some of the c3.n'ed shell objects described in the preceding pages. It is much to be regretted that our knowledge of this figure, which eould s.hed so Illllch light on the mortuary rites and worship of the prehistoric Antilleans, is so imperfect . The author was told that it is now somewhere in Italy, but whether it is lost to science could not be learned. CONCLUSIONS When we examine a:; a whole in acomparative way the archeological objects from Porto Rico and Santo Domingo, we find them quite different from those of North, Central, or South America. Types like the stone collars and three-pointed idols are not known to occur on the American continent, but are limited to Porto Rico and Santo Domingo , specimens which have FIG.4;l. Zellii made of COlton cloth (holll Cronau). been reported from the Lesser Antilles being readily accounted for on the theory that they were carried there by Carib or other wanderers. These types do not occur in Cuba or Jamaica and are great rarities in the Les:;er Antilles, being practically unknown in such islands as Trinidad. It is helieved that these stone objects are peculiarly Antillean and indicative of a characteristic culture stage in Porto Rico. It is, however, equally evident that there is a likeness in some particulars hetween the prehistoric culture of Porto Rico and that of Venezuela , although the natives of the latter country had never developed a stage'of stone working equal to that of the former. The germ of the island culture is therefore thought to have originated in South America, but to have reached a higher development in Porto Rico than in any other locality, except possibly Santo Domingo. FEWKES] ARCHEOLOGICAL OBJECTS 215 The evolution of a culture as complicated and characteristic as this demands time for its growth. It may have reached its zenith and have been on the decline when the island was discovered. The territory inhabited by aborigines having an Antillean culture is insular, and according to weU-recognized biological laws must have been peopled from neighboring continents. It is logical to suppose that prehistoric man, like the fauna and flora, was derivative rather than autocthonous on the island. Moreover, it is evident that when man came to Porto Rico he had advanced so far in knowledge of navigation that he was no longer in a primitive condition, but possessed culture sufficiently deveioped to make long voyages in seaworthy canoes, to fashion polished implements, and was otherwise well advanced in technic arts. Another point is pertinent. His culture, as indicated by the prehistoric objects left on the island, was unique and characteristic. The most striking stone objects, as the stone rings found in numbers in both Haiti and Porto Rico, are different from objects occurring in either North or South America. It is evident from the time necessary to develop such culture that the ancestors of the islanders had lived for a long time in a distinctive environment before they went to the West Indies' or had inhabited these two islands for a comparatively long epoch. This culture, while peculiar to the West Indies, was n.ot confined to anyone island, like Porto Rico, for all the islanders have a certain similarity in manners, customs, arb,;, and languages, which has led us to call it by a special name, the Antillean, or Tainan, culture. With these preliminary ideas in mind, it is evident that we are considering a race culturally identical, extending from Florida. to South America, the northern limits of which are as near to North America as is its southern extension to South America. A portion of this race inhabited the eastern end of Cuba. There are three points where communication with the continent was possible and from which the islanders may have come: Venezuela in the south, Yucatan in the west, and Florida in the north. Each route of entry has had its advocates, and each presents strong arguments for acceptance by ethnologists. Porto Rico lying...