Conch shell internal part, named columela, with spires attached which were used as scrappers. As scrapper they were used for peeling the skin from manioc tubers.
Read more
Shell scraper
Silex core
Silex stones were broken into massive chunks which were then shaped into prismatic cores from witch blades were later chipped off. Those blades received further treatment along their lateral edges according to their intended purpose. These flintmakers seemed to be divided into small bands traveled seasonally from place to place foraging for food as it…
Read more
Ceramic pot with bilateral anthropomorphic handles
This vessels were manufactured to contain meals. Meals were cooked with meat, corn, tuber etc.. The meals were a mixture of various ingredients and prepared like a soup. Manioc was the principal ingredient. The shortcoming of manioc is its low protein content so other sources of protein had been added to the garden as protein…
Read more
Chican pot with incised decoration and anthropomorphic bilateral handles
The society of the Taino who made ceramic vessels which style the archaeologist called chicoide, emerged as a continuation of the cultural development that had characterized Caribbean history for several thousand years. They fused the aspects of their heritage into something altogether new.
Read more
Double bodied pot with incised decoration
Double bodied pot with incised decoration and lateral handles with anthropomorphic representation half bat half human from Chicoide style. The bat is a common motif in Taino representational art. These bat – head adornos were affixed to the sides of pots where they communicated the Taino worldview while serving as handles. The importance of bats…
Read more
Chicoide style ceramic vessel
This is a boat shaped earthenware pot with bilateral anthropomorphic handles and incised decoration below the rim. This one is of Chicoide style, however boat shaped vessel were developed during the Ostionoide culture which appeared in Puerto Rico around the seventh century AD.
Read more
Simple earthernware pot ostionoid style
Earliest Caribbean farmers originated in the Orinocoan – Amazonian rain – forest areas. The societies who developed through time as their successors shared common belief systems, traits, styles, and conceptions of nature, although with slight but noticeable variations. The patterns of daily life are often similar so big open pots like this one appears in…
Read more
Ceramic bottle
Ceramic bottle as a mixture of Chican and ostionoid style. This bottle is representing the divisions of the Taino universe into male - female, living - dead, and cultural – super supernatural spheres. The vessels shoulders represent female breast, and the spout represents a male phallus. Faces representing twins, look off in opposite directions to…
Read more
Three pointers
The first triangular three pointers existed in stone and shell and were small and undecorated. They date from the first migration by ceramic bearing people in the lesser Antilles about 200 B.C. In time they became the most significant artifact of the Taino culture and received complex decorations. They could represent social status, political power,…
Read more
Small Zemi
Zoomorphic representation of a small zemi. An animist conception of nature is characteristic for indigenous beliefs. Human traits are attributed to animals, which are considered to be embodiments of mythological beings. Living creatures were believed to have a dual existence and could transform themselves, into animals.
Read more