Pre-Colombian Jamaica: Caribbean Archeology and Ethnohistory

Aboriginal Indian Remains in Jamaica by J. E. Duerden / 281
are taken advantage of by numerous bats and birds; while, in
one part, the ground is strewn with hundreds of skulls and
bones, principally those of rats and bats, from the owl’s nest
overheard. Other parts of the floor are covered with bat manure,
portions of which have evidently been removed in recent
times. Climbing round a projecting part of the rock, a
natural recess in the side of the hill is seen, on the vertical
walls of which the incised carving is discovered. It is a rude
representation of a human figure, about 4 feet long and 1 foot
broad, with the facial part only well defi ned (Figure XVII).
The grooves denoting the outlines of the face, the eyes, and
mouth, are well marked, being nearly an inch in depth. The
Fig. XVII. Rock- parts representing the eyes are directed obliquely inwards, as
carving at Pantrepant,
Trelawny.
in the eye apertures of the Mongolian race. The edges and
surface of the carving, though evidently smooth at one time,
are now roughened and pitted by the solution and weathering
of the limestone.
The parts below the face are not well defined; incisions, probably intended
to represent arms, can be distinguished, while the slightly projecting portion of
rock in which the carving is made forms a natural outline tending to complete
the resemblance to the human figure.
Mountain River, St. John
The spot where these more important carvings (Plate VII) occur is reached by
traveling on the St. John’s road to near the 12th milestone from Spanish Town,
then turning to the right through the property known as Berry Hill and pursuing
a very rough and steep track over brecciated limestone, where the sharp
weathered edges of the rock render walking very difficult. For a distance of
about one and a half miles from the main road one descends nearly 200 feet to
a spring, and then ascends to about the same height. The elevation is between
1,200 and 1,400 feet above the sea. The spot can scarcely be called a cave, a
recess being formed by a huge limestone boulder which has lodged in such a
manner as to form a roof over the figures. The latter are pro-[50]duced by deep
incisions, about an inch broad and half an inch deep, in the limestone rock.
They present all the appearances of age, being rough and weathered, and show
no marks of any tool. The roof protects them from rain. The principal figure
(Figure 2) measures four feet in height, and about one foot in breadth near the
upper portion. Advantage has been taken of a projecting piece of rock to give
an impression of solidity and relief. As shown in the photograph, the eyes and
mouth are represented, and the face is surrounded by two parallel three- sided