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Home , La Isabela, Tumbaga

AND THE ABORIGENES OF

Bernardo Vega* Museo del Hombre Dominicano

A recent of European metallic objects associated with taino amulets, and earplugs, brings to focus the use given by the aborigines of Hispaniola to European metals during the Indohispanic period.

The find includes 5 rattles, 12 'croissant'-shaped pieces, 5 belt buckles, a base of a lamp and 6 rings, all of European origin, together with 3 stone necklaces, 3 stone amulets and 2 earplugs of taino origin.

We had one of the 12 metal pieces analyzed and it turned out to be red (85$ , 13$ zinc). Elpidio Ortega found pieces of similar material in Barrera, in 1977.

Although the chroniclers mention the use of brass in pre-Columbian times, we think we demonstrate in our work that all brass found is really of European origin.

Krieger reported a copper piece in the but we had it analyzed and it turned out to be European brass.

Pieces of other metals have been found in archaeological digs in the West Indies. These include:

12 hammered pieces: Dominican Republic (Garcia Arévalo and Krieger) , (Paul Barker and William Hodges)- 1 solid gold piece: Puerto Rico (Chanlatte). 3 copper pieces: Dominican Republic, (Garcia Arévalo 99-9$ cop­ per), Cuba (Rouse) and Jamaica (Bastian).

Together with Ortega's, our work constitutes the only work where metal pieces have been analyzed in laboratories. They show 2 sites where European brass objects have been found and one where a pure copper piece of taino origin was found, and one site where a European piece was excavated. In our work we believe we have proved that bronze objects have to be European, and this leads us to the conclusion that the only autochthonous pure metal pieces in the West Indies are gold and copper ones and that guanin (an of gold and copper) although reported by the chroniclers to exist in the islands (but not yet found by modern archaeologists), was really produced in the Guyanas and taken to the Islands. A natural alloy of gold and copper does not exist in the West Indies and its pre-Columbian inhabitants had forgotten the techniques of melting metals in order to obtain alloys, a technique

*This paper is a resume of a book that will come out in the last quarter of 1979.

1+88 which originated in the Guyanas and then spread to Colombia, where 'guanin' is known, after the discovery, as tumbaga. Amongst the Caribs it was known as 'Karakoli.'

Walter Raleigh gave a description of how the Indians in the Guayanas made guanin and Theodore De Bry made a drawing which shows the melting process.

Guanin was valued by the tainos for the following reasons:

1) They could not by themselves find it or produce it. They had forgotten the techniques of alloying which their ancestors in the mainland still retained. 2) The few pieces they had originated from , but trade was limited, amongst other reasons, because of the Caribs. 3) The third reason has to do with their religion. Pané explains the mythical origin of guanin as coming from their primordial ancestors. 4) A fourth reason has to do with the physical properties of Guanin. It is as hard as bronze and much harder than pure gold and it has a peculiar smell non-existent in gold, especially when heated or rubbed. Also, it does not turn green or corrode.

Therefore, when the Spanish bring other alloys (brass, bronze) it is considered by the Indians as equivalent to the only other alloy they know: Guanin, so, to the Indians, the European alloys have as much value as the mythical 'guanin' and for the same reasons just stated. To them brass and bronze have more value than gold, which, after all, is found in nature, in the islands, has no tie to the mythical ancestors; it is brittle, comes in nuggets which have to be pounded into wafers and does not smell.

The inclusion of European rattles in the find is important. The chroniclers mention how they were highly priced and for good reason.

1) They are made of 'European Guanin' and are similar to South American metal rattles. 2) They make noises and are a substitute for the wooden rattles used in the areitos. was very impressed by the church bell of Isabela because it was a piece of guanin that 'talked,' meaning a piece of bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) which talked to the Spaniards since they went to church every time it 'spoke.' Caonabo was captured by Ojeda who tricked him by showing him brass (a copper-zinc alloy) shackles, and telling him they were 'guanin of Biscay,' that is European guanin, used by the Spanish king. He, of course, tried them on, as well as a pair of fetters, and was doomed.

Las Casas tells us of an Indian who traded gold for a small rattle and ran away immediately, thinking he had fooled the Spaniard in the barter.

1+89 The rattle became so popular that many Indians had them. This caused the Spaniards to use it as the unit of measurement for the amount of gold that each Indian had to give quarterly to them.

Ortega, Garcia Arévalo and ourselves report crescent shaped brass objects. They were used as or nose . Mattioni, in the last Congress, states that the crescent shape, or 'croissant' shape, as he calls it, represents the shape of the rainbow and the rainbow acts as a bridge which communicates the shaman with his gods.

Some of the metal pieces reported by Ortega and ourselves have some lines or indentation marks. This might be explained by a comment made by Las Casas, who said that the Spaniards had some brass or copper coins made up in which certain signs were stamped, and that each Indian had to have the coin always hanging from his neck. The Spaniards could then see the mark and tell whether the Indian had paid or not his quarterly contribution of gold or cotton.

The religious implications of the alloy 'guanin' can now be developed more. Pané explains that Guahayona took all the women from Hispaniola to Matinino and then went to another island called Guanin and ' it bears that name because of what he took from it, when he went there.' This means that the mythical land of the ancestors was called Guanin because metal alloys were made there. Later on Pané mentions that the mythical forefathers are the origin of guanin and live in a place called, also, Guanin. Further on Pané explains the myth of the four sacred twins of which one was ' caracaraco' meaning with scabbed skin. For the Carbis, guanin is called precisely 'caracolis.' This twin is the one that receives the spit in the back, which gives origin to the turtle which is the symbol of the house. Pané also mentions the Cemi Guamorete. This word, according to Arrom, probably means, gold, red metal or bronze.

The name of the Caciques are also tied to metals:

1) Bohechio was called 'Tureiga Hobin,' meaning 'king as splen- dorous as brass. 2) Caona-Bo means 'he who is like gold.' Yet he was captured going after brass shackles. 3) Ana-Caona, was the wife of Caona-Bo.

In the language of the Arawacks 'Turey' means heaven but it also applied to guanin (and latter to European alloys like brass and bronze) to identify the mythical origin of all metal alloys. 'Caona' meant pure gold. 'Tuob' means pure native copper.

CONCLUSIONS

The finding of what, initially, might be considered as pathetic collection of European brass trinkets, of no value, together with rich

U90 Taino pieces, served us as a base from which to study the collection in the light of the economic and religious value system of the Indian who hid it. Looked at through this prism, or angle, it becomes totally congruent. To the Indian, pieces of buckles, a lamp base, cheap rings and rattles plus crescent shaped brass pieces are just as, if not more, important as his stone, amber and shell Cemi amulets, which were found together with the European brass. Our analysis also justifies, in socio-economic terms, the Barter of native pure gold and guanin from South America and in the possession of the tainos, in exchange for European brass objects, specially rattles and crescent-shaped plaques. In this transaction the Indian felt, with justification, that he was cheating the Spaniard and not vice-versa.

For the Taino, who had forgotten the South American technique of metal alloying technique discovered by his forefathers from the North coast of South America, the most valuable object was a metal alloy coming from that area, which incorporated this technique. For the Taino, guanin, an artificial alloy of gold and copper was the most valuable asset, not because it contained gold, but because he himself could not produce it, although he could get it through trade, through the Lesser Antilles; trade which became more difficult because of the Caribs. It is valuable not only because it is scare, but because, most of all, it comes from the land of his forefathers and conceptually is tied to his religious beliefs.

Pure, fragile, native gold, is less valuable to him. It can be obtained locally and is not hard and yet malleable as guanin, which also smells.

When the Spaniards gave him brass (a copper - zinc alloy), this is to the taino equivalent to the religious-related guanin of his continental forefathers. He happily exchanges pure gold and his scare imported guanin for the ' new European guanin.' He keeps the brass objects with the same religious passion with which he keeps his Cemis, amulets and necklaces. They are all sacred objects tied to his mythical forefathers. More so if they are rattles used in making music in the areitos.

The 'guanin-rattle' has another property: it makes music just as the extraordinary piece of 'guanin' which is the bell in the church of La Isabela. When it sounds, all the Spaniards approach it to pray- It is as sacred a guanin to the Spaniards as the pieces of tainos possessions from their forefathers from the mainland. The demand for brass is so great that the Spaniards, starting with the second voyage, bring thousands of rattles and other brass objects. Initially the Indians trade gold in exchange for rattles. Later the Spaniard will tell the subjugated Indian: 'Since you all have rattles, use that as the measure of the quantity of gold which we obligate you to give us quarterly.' The musical instrument used in the areito is turned into the measurement for a heavy tax: the irony is macabre: The mythical guanin, the rattle, provider of happy music, will now be used to measure the quantity of gold which has to be given to the conqueror.

1*91 To the Indian, gold is not a means of payment, since he does not live in a monetary economy. He only uses gold as an ornament, since he does not have enough guanin from the main land. When he receives 'European guanin,' he appreciates gold even less, since brass, bronze and copper are better for ornamentation purposes. The Spaniards bring crescent shaped brass since it is the most valuable of all guanins. The chroniclers speak of how the caciques gave their daughters away in exchanges for crescent shaped brass objects. Gold is important to the European because it is scarce and because he cannot manufacture it (that is why it becomes a means of exchange), two of the same reasons for which guanin is so important to the Indian. He does not know how to manufacture it and gets few samples from the mainland. It was so scarce, in fact, and the Spaniards were so good at capturing what existed, that today modern archaeologists have not yet found one piece of it in the islands.

'European guanin,' brass, is given to the Indians in the form of metal plaques, in the same crescent shape as that of their ancestors from the mainland, to be used as corporal adornment. Later, the Spaniards will try to put a mark in these plaques and make their use mandatory, so that the new 'guanin' becomes a system of checking the compliance with the quarterly tax. The mythical guanin becomes a receipt for a tax payment.

When Columbus arrives and asks for gold, they signal the East to him shouting 'guanin.' The Indian does not lie, or try to make the Spaniards move on in order to protect his tribe. He is simply indicating that the precious guanin is found in the mainland, at the end of the chain of islands. It is the beginning of the myth of 'El Dorado.' The word 'dorado' indicates it. Alloy of gold and copper: Guanin.

A final comment. Time proved the Arawacs right, when they implicitly accepted the greater physical advantages of guanin (80$ gold 20? copper) over pure 100$ gold, for the purposes of personal adornment. Today, pure 100$ gold, 22 karat gold, the one that the Europeans were looking for in the West Indies, is no longer used in the jewelry business. The alloy which is now universally accepted in the jewelry business is 18 karat gold, 80$ gold - 20$ copper.

The whole world adorns itself today with guanin.

1*22 Photo No. 1: Taino Amulets, necklaces and earplugs found together with European brass objects.

H93 Photo No. 2: Detail of the European brass objects: 5 rattles, 12 'croissant' shaped metal pieces, 5 belt buckles, one base of a lamp and six rings.

k9h Photo No. 3: Detail of the five European brass rattles.

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Photo No. M: Pure gold pieces (one with Taino motifs) found by Krieger in Monte Cristi.

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Photo No. 5: Pure gold piece (originally one piece) found by Krieger in Monte Cristi.

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