Pre-Columbian Taino of Ciboney peoples, Dominican Republic, ca. 1000 to 1500 CE. A lovely celt, or ceremonial hand axe, hand-carved from a green stone with dark inclusions. The petaloid axe has a thin handle with a conical tip, a broad body with convex faces and severely inclined sides, and a broad, curved blade edge. This blade would have been hafted onto the wooden handle of a ceremonial hatchet known as a "manaya," albeit there are only a few specimens where the handle and blade are carved from the same piece of stone. The Yoruba African people who were brought to the Caribbean as slaves by the Spanish discovered these stones in fields and associated them with the Yoruba deity Shango (occasionally Chango) because of their size. Acrylic and metal stand included. 9-/4" in height. From a private Florida estate collected in the 60's. Ex. Private Florida collection.