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The Taino flourished in the Caribbean between
c.1200-1500. They were the first Americans to
make contact with the Spanish in 1492 and to
suffer as a result. Many of the features today
associated with the Taino, such as ball-courts
and three-pointers, were first used by their
predecessors who migrated to the islands from
both South America and Mesoamerica. As society
became more organised under the Taino, the
political system increased in complexity and
agricultural production intensified. Artistic
creativity also flourished. Earlier three-pointers
were often undecorated and small in size. During
the Taino heyday they became increasingly
important to public ritual and therefore larger
and more intricate. The central cone of these
triangular objects has been interpreted in a
variety of ways. Suggestions include manioc
shoots (one of the main crops of the Taino),
volcanoes, the roofs of Taino houses, phalluses
and the human breast. None of these theories
has been universally accepted and the precise
origins of the shape are likely to remain a
mystery. Despite this many scholars agree that
these ceremonial objects were symbols of power
and fertility. This is supported by a letter written
by Columbus in which he reports on his findings
among the Taino, ‘Equally the majority of
caciques (chiefs) have three stones to which they
and their people have great devotion. One they
say is for the fertility of the grain and vegetables
that they grow; the next for mothers to give birth
without pain, and the third for the water and sun
when they have need.’
Taino stone carvings were worked with two types
of tool: bone and flint chisels and a taut chord
that cut through the stone with the aid of water
and fine sand. The creator of this three-pointer
obviously delighted in the natural veining of the
pale green/cream stone. The anterior end
depicts a face that has both anthropomorphic
and zoomorphic features. The sunken circular
eye-sockets and the wide mouth could be human
but the nose resembles a snout. Behind the face
is a band of geometric designs. A second band of
lightly incised interlocking triangles runs up the
vertical axis and down the other side. The
posterior end is carved with a pair of hunched,
frog-like legs. This position is found on other
Taino artifacts – including pestles which depict
figures in a crouching pose. It seems to
represent a trance-like state that was brought on
by the inhalation of the hallucinogenic cohoba.
Although the mystery of the function of three-
pointers remains to be solved, they offer a
unique insight into the spiritual lives of the Taino
people. (AM)
- (AM.0083)
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