Abstract
WEST INDIAN STONE COLLARS.—An interesting suggestion relating to the origin of the ‘stone-collars,’ which are a problem in West Indian archeology, is made by Mr. A. D. Russell in Man for December. The collar stone is an object in shape much like a horse collar, but obviously too small for that purpose, and unsymmetrical in shape, being bent to one side at the narrower end. Various theories as to their origin have been put forward. Mr. T. A. Joyce has suggested that a wooden mechanism is indicated, two unequal ends of the fork of a tree being bent round and fastened together, the part of the tree cut off below the fork being represented by the protuberance called by some archeologists the ‘shoulder.’ It is here suggested that this wooden mechanism was a tree climber, which is symbolised by the stone collar. This might more accurately be termed a belt or cincture. The palm climber of West Africa and the West Indies, with which the collar is compared, is made in two pieces. Two lengths of supple wood are bent into a long oval hoop, the two ends on the right side being secured by a permanent fastening, those on the left being done up and undone as need requires. The identity of the palm climber in West Africa and the West Indies is scarcely to be explained as introduced by the slave trade, since the archaic stone collar proves its existence in the latter area before slaves were introduced.
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Research Items. Nature 119, 26–27 (1927). https://doi.org/10.1038/119026a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/119026a0
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