Stone effigy "zemi"
Ulrich Kortmann, Dortmund, Germany
German Private Collection
Description
stone, red pigment,
“Zemi”, whether they represented gods or ancestors, were objects of great power, and were perceived as supernatural beings who could help or hurt the person who possessed them. They were kept in special shrines, set apart from the houses of the Taino.
The Taíno were an Arawak people who were indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. At the time of Columbus’ arrival in 1492, they were the principal inhabitants of most of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (presently Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles. After the arrival of the Spaniards they suffered from warfare and harsh enslavery by the colonists. Above all from infectious diseases to which they had no immunity. Only a few decades aftter the Conquista they became extinct as a culture
Comparing literature
Bercht, Fatima u.a. (Hg.), Taino, New York 1998, p. 23Notices
This object is subject to the UNESCO Cultural Heritage Protection Act. Export documents are required for export (subjected to a fee).