Stone Archives - Taino Museum

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,…

The indigenous people had no nails, no screws, no sticky tape, and no good glue, so they used string and rope to hold things together. They picked up things like roots, berries, oysters, clams, and other shellfish for eating and they used baskets for bringing home what they had gathered. Unfortunately, baskets or strings do…

The stone was first battered into general shape with irregular, discoidal or rectangular hammergrinder. Then it was pecked to create the grit. A large amount of knowledge and experience was needed to create such stone mortars. The artisan had to be familiar with the characteristics of the stone fracture zone and its hardness. In the…

The conventionized image is that of a frog with fore and hindlegs bent inwards, as if preparing to jump. In La Hispaniola the frog was associated with females and females functions. In the South American mythology, children were turned into frogs while calling toa toa what means mother, at the same time this is the…

Taino were able to carve large works of art in stone and other materials. They used tools like chisels made of stone and shell. They were especially used to cut stone, wood, bone and shell as well as for finishing touches. When working with this tool, the artisans used a percutor which was a round…

Admiral Christopher Columbus searching for a maritime way to India discovered land that Amerigo Vespucci identified as a continent unknown to Europeans. When reaching the island Guanani christened by Columbus he had his first encounter with the local people that he named Indians. He continued on to Cuba and La Hispaniola, and then returned to…

Stone collars are large stone rings. They date approximately from 600 AD to 1500 AD they are artifacts used at public ceremonies and would have to be visible to many people at the same time. They were produced to communicate and reinforce religious or social messages.

The elbow stones are more gracile than the stone collars, it is possible that they represent an evolution of the originally form, they constitute an abbreviated form. Elbow stones were displayed during the ball games. The Taino played a ball game that existed in various forms throughout Mesoamerica and South America. Played by two teams…

Celts were tools employed in cutting trees and working wood. They exist in a great variety of forms. Probably each aboriginal male adult manufactured his own axe. The shape of the axe was related to the ethnic group and to its use in daily life, in war or in religious ceremonies.

Stone graters were made for grating foodstuff. The most important one was the cassava root. There are two varieties of yucca, a sweet one and a bitter one. The bitter contains an acid substance which intoxicates if eaten raw, and it was with this yucca that the Tainos made the cassava bread. The Spaniards adopted…

Portfolio Category: Stone

Three pointers

Daily life instruments

Decorated stone mortar

Stone frog

Chisel

Canoe Anchor

Stone collar

Elbow stones

Stone axe

Stone grater

Donate

Last News

Like us on Facebook