Vessel with an appliqué figure,

1400–1550

Taíno caciques (community leaders) amassed fine sacred objects as demonstrations of their wealth and power, although Taíno behiques (shamans) also owned many of the same kinds of powerful objects. Cemís were particularly potent vital forces that could reside in various forms and were made in a variety of media. The triangular stone on view here is an example of one form that could be associated with cemís. Fancy ceramic vessels were used for feasts and possibly to contain the ground seeds of the cohoba tree, which were crushed with mortars—such as the example displayed here with an owl’s head—and inhaled for their potent mind-altering effects. Other fine sculptures were made as pendants, including the white stone figure. This example, like many others, seems to depict a bound captive.