Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924104075241 I^J^JIfLL UNIVERSITY UBBABY 3 1924 104 075 241 HUNTINGTON FREE LIBRARY AND READING ROOM MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN HEYE FOUNDATION Huntington Free Library Native American Collection CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY e98A7 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUREAU" OF ETHNOLOGY, VrT IlSr SHELL ANCIENT AMERICANS. BT WILLIAM H. HOLMES. 179 CONTENTS. Page. Introductory 185 Implements and utensils : 189 Unworked ehells 189 Vessels 192 Spoons 198 Knives 201 Celts 203 Scrapers 205 Agricultura* implements 207 Fishing appliances 207 Weapons 210 Tweezers 211 Ornaments 213 Pins 213 Beads 219 Perforated shells 219 Discoidal beads 221 Massive beads 223 Tubular beads 220 Runtees 228 Beads as ornaments 230 Beads as currency 234 Mnemonic use of beads 240 Pendants 255 Perforated plates 264 Engraved gorgets 267 The cross 268 The scalloped disk 273 The bird , 280 The spider 286 The serpent 289 The human face 293 The human figure 297 181 ILLTJSTEATIONS. Page. Plate XXI. — Natural shells as vessels 192 XXII. — Vessels artificially shaped 194 XXIII. — Vessel with engraved surface 196 XXIV.— Spoons 200 XXV.— Celts 204 XXVI. — Cutting and scraping implements 206 XXVII. — Weapons, agricultural implements, etc 208 XXVIII.— Fishing appliances 210 XXIX. — Manufacture of pins and heads 214 XXX. — Pfns, Atlantic coast forms 216 XXXI. — Pins, Pacific coast forms 218 XXXII.— Beads, perforated shells 220 XXXIII.— Beads, discoidal in form 222 XXXIV. — Beads, massive in form 224 XXXV.— Beads, tubular in form 226 XXXVI.— Beads, "Euntees" 228 XXXVII.— The wampum belt in treaties 240 XXXVIII.— "Wampum belts 242 XXXIX.— Wampum belts 244 XL.— Wampum belt 246 XLI.— Wampum belt 248 XLIL— Wampum belt 250 XLIII.— The Penn belt 252 XLIV. — Strings of wampum 254 XLV. — Ancient pendant ornaments 256 XL VI. — Plain pendants, Atlantic coast forms 258 XL VII. — Plain pendants, Pacific coast forms 260 XL VIII. — Plain pendants. Pacific coast forms 262 XLIX. — Plain pendants, Pacific coast forms 264 L. — Perforated plates ...^ 266 LI. — Engraved gorgets, the cross 268 LII. — Engraved gorgets, the cross 270 LIII. — ^Engraved gorgets, the cross 272 LIV. — Engraved gorgets, scalloped dislis 274 LV. — Engraved gorgets, scalloped disks 276 LVI. — Engraved gorgets, scalloped disks 278 LVIL— Scalloped disks, etc 280 LVIII. — Engraved gorgets, the bird, etc 282 LIX. — Engraved gorgets, the bird, etc 284 LX. — Engraved gorgets, the bird 286 LXI. — Engraved gorgets, the spider 288 LXII. — Engraved gorgets, the rattlesnake 290 LXIII. — Engraved gorgets, the rattlesnake 290 LXIV. — Engraved gorgets, the rattlesnake 292 LXV. — Engraved gorgets, the rattlesnake 292 183 1 84 ILLUSTRATIONS. Plate LXVL— The serpent 292 LXVII. — Engraved gorgets, the hnmanface 294 LXVIII. — Engraved gorgets, the human face 294 LXIX. — Engraved gorgets, the human face 296 LXX. — Engraved gorgets, the human ftice 296 LXXI. — Engraved gorgets, the human figure 298 LXXII. — Engraved gorgets, the human figure 298 LXXIII. — ^Engraved gorgets, the human figure 300 LXXIV. — Engraved gorgets, the human figure 300 LXXV. — Engraved gorgets, the human figure 302 LXXVI.— The human figure , 302 LXXVIL— Sculptured frogs 304 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. By W1LI.1AM H. Holmes. INTRODUCTORY. The student will find scattered throughout a -wide range of archseologio literature frequent but casual mention of works of art in shell. Indi- vidual uses of shell have been dwelt upon at considerable length by a few authors, but up to this time no one has undertaken the task of bringing together in one view the works of primitive man in this ma- terial. Works of ancient peoples in stone, clay, and bronze, in all countries, have been pretty thoroughly studied, described, and illustrated. Stone would seem to have the widest range, as it is employed with almost equal readiness in all the arts. Clay is widely used and takes a foremost place in works of utility and taste. Metals are too intractable to be readily employed by primitive peo- ples, and until a high grade of culture is attained are but little used. Animal substances of compact character, such as bone, horn, ivory, and shell, are also restricted in their use, and the more destructible sab- stances, both animal and vegetable, however extensively employed, have comparatively little archseologic importance. All materials, however, are made subservient to man and in one way or another become the agents of culture; under the magic influence of his genius they are moulded into new forms which remain after his dis- appearance as the only records of his existence. Bach material, in the form of convenient natural objects, is applied to such uses as it is by nature best fitted, and when artificial modifica- tions are finally made, they follow the suggestions of nature, improve- ments being carried forward in lines harmonious with the initiatory steps of nature. Had the materials placed at the disposal of primitive peoples been as uniform as are their wants and capacities, there would have been but little variation in the art products of the world ; but the utilization of a particular material in the natural state gives a strong bias to artificial products, and its forms and functions impress themselves upon art pro- ducts in other materials. Thus unusual resources engender unique arts 185 186 AET IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. and unique cultures. Such a result, I apprehend, has in a measure been achieved in N"orth America. In a broad region at one time occupied by the mound-building tribes we observe a peculiar and an original effort — an art distinctive in the material employed, in the forms developed, and to some extent in the ideas represented. It is an age of shell, a sort of supplement to the age of stone. It is not my intention here to attempt at extended discussion of the bearings of this art upon the various interesting questions of anthropo- logic science, but rather to present certain of its phases in the concrete, to study the embodiment of the art of the ancient American in this one material, and to present the j:esults in a tangible manner, not as a catalogue of objects, but as an elementary part of the whole body of human art, illustrating a particular phase of the evolution of culture. This paper is to be regarded simply as an outline of the subject, to be followed by a more exhaustive monograph of the art in shell of all the ancient American peoples. Art had its beginning when man first gathered clubs from the woods, stones from the river bed, and shells from the sea-shore for weapons and utensils. In his hands these simple objects became modified by use into new forms, or were intentionally altered to increase their con- venience. This was the infancy, the inception of culture — a period from which a tedious but steady advance has been made until the re- markable achievements of the present have been reached. Eude clubs have become weapons of curious construction and ma- chinery of marvelous complication, and the pebbles and shells are the prototypes of numerous works in all materials. Eude rafts which served to cross primeval rivers have become huge ships, and the original house of bark and leaves is represented by palaces and temples, glitter- ing with light and glowing with color. The steps which led up to these results are by no means clear to us ; they have not been built in any one place or by any one people. Nations have risen and fallen, and have given place to others that in turn have left a heap of ruins. "We find it impossible to trace back through the historic ageS into and beyond the prehistoric shadows, the pathway to culture followed by any one people. The necessity for groping in- creases with every backward step, and we pick up one by one the scat- tered links of a chain that has a thousand times been broken. So far our information is meager and fragmentary, and centuries of research will be required to round up our knowledge to such a fullness as to en- able us to rehabilitate the ancient races, a result to be reached only by an exhaustive comparative study of the art products of all peoples and of all ages. By collecting the various relics of art in shell I shall be able to add a fragment to this great work. Destructible in their character these relics are seldom preserved from remote periods, and it is only by reason of ^ouiRs.) INTEODTICTOEY. 187 their inhumation with the dead that they appear among antiquities at all. A majority of such objects, taken from graves and tumuli, known to post-date even the advent of the white race in North America, are so far decayed that unless most carefully handled they crumble to pow- der. It is impossible to demopstrate the great antiquity of any of these relics. Many of those obtained from the shell heaps of the Atlantic coast are doubtless very ancient, but we cannot say with certainty that they antedate the discovery more than a few hundred years. Specimens obtained from the mounds of the Mississippi Valley have the appearance of great antiquity, but beyond the internal evidence of the specimens themselves we have no reliable data upon which to base an estimate of time. The age of these relics is rendered still less certain by the presence of intrusive interments, which place side by side works of very widely separated periods. The antiquity of the relics themselves is not, however, of first im- portance; the art ideas embodied in them have a much deeper interest. The tablets upon which the designs are engraved may be never so recent, yet the conceptions themselves have their origin far back in the forgot- ten ages. Deified ancestors and mythical creatures that were iu the earlier stages rudely depicted on bark and skins and rocks were, after a certain mastery over materials had been achieved, engraved on tab- lets of flinty shell ; and it is probable that in these rare objects we have, if not a full representation of the art of the ancient peoples, at least a large number of their most important works, in point of execution as well as of conception. Man in his most primitive condition must have resorted to the sea- shore for the food which it affords. Weapons or other appliances were not necessary in the capture of mollusks; a stone to break the shell, or one of the massive valves of the shells themselves, suflced for all pur- poses. The shells of mollusks probably came into use as utensils at a very early date, and mutually with products of the vegetable world afforded natural vessels for food and water. For a long period the idea of modifying the form to increase the con- venience may not have been suggested and the natural shells were used for whatever purpose they were best fitted. In time, however, by accidental suggestions it would be found that modifications would en- hance their usefulness, and the breaking away of useless parts and the sharpening of edges and points would be resorted to. Farther on, as it became necessary to carry them from point to point, changes would be made for convenience of transportation. Perforations which occur naturally' in some species of shell, would be produced artificially, and the shells would be strung on vines or cords and suspended about the neck ; in this way, in time, may have originated the custom of wearing pendants for personal ornament. Following this would be the trans- 188 ART IN SHELL OP THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. portation of such articles to distant places by wandering tribes, ex- changes would take place with other tribes, and finally a trade would be developed and a future commerce of nations be inaugurated. Eesults similar to the foregoing would spring doubtless from the employment of substances other than shell, but that material most closely associated with the acquisition of food would come first prom- inently into use. The farther these useful articles were carried from the source of supply the greater the value that would attach to them, and far inland the shell of the sea might easily become an object of unusual consideration. Having an origin more or less shrouded in mystery, it would in time become doubly dear to the heart of the superstitious savage, perhaps an object of actual veneration, or at least one of such high esteem that it would be treasured by the living and buried with the dead. The material so plentiful on the sea-shore that it was thought of only as it proved useful for vessels and implements, became a valued treas- ure in the interior; its functions were gradually enlarged and differen- tiated; it was worked into varied shapes, such as pendants for the ears, beads for the neck, pins for the hair, and elaborate gorgets for the breast ; it served its turn as fetich and charm ; and was frequently used in the ceremonial jugglery of the mystic dance. The slightest modification of these relics by the hand of man attracts our attention, and from that infant stage of the art until the highest and most elaborate forms are reached they have the deepest interest to the student of human progress. IMPIiBMENTS AND UTBNSIIyS. UNWOEKED SHELLS. Some writers have suggested that the ancient peoples of the interior districts must have held shells from the sea in especial esteem, not only on account of their rarity, but also by reason of some sacred properties that had, from the mystery of their origin, become attached to them. It would appear, however, that shells were valued chiefly for their utility and beauty, and that fresh water as well as marine varieties were con- stantly employed. In their unworked state, for their beauty alone, they are treasured by peoples in all grades of culture, from the savage up through the barbarian stages to the most civilized state. As they are most conveniently shaped for utensils and implements, they have been of great service in the arts, and were thus of the greatest impor- tance to primitive peoples. It must not be supposed that the natural shells found in graves were always destined for use in an unworked state, but they should doubtless in many cases be regarded as highly- valued raw material intended for use in the manufacture of articles of utility and taste, in the tempering of potter's clay, or in effecting exchanges with neighboring tribes. As vessels for food and drink, and as cups for paint, many species are most conveniently shaped. Good examples may be found in the Haliotis, so plentiful on the Pacific coast, the Helcioniscus of the Pacific islands, the Pattelidce of Central and South America, or the Pecten of many seas. In their natural state they have a twofold interest to us — as utensils they are the forerunners of many more elaborate forms that have been evolved in more advanced stages of culture, and in their distribution they give us important insight into the commerce and migrations of their aboriginal owners. Pectens. — The Pectens are very widely distributed, and on account of their beauty of form and color have been in great favor with all peoples. They figure in the heraldic devices of the Middle Ages and in the sym- bolic paintings of the ancient Mexicans. They have been employed extensively by the ancient inhabitants of America as ornaments and rattles, and many examples exhumed from graves, mounds, and refuse heaps appear to have been used as utensils, cups for paint, and vessels for food and drink. They are especially plentifnl in the cemeteries of the ancient Californians, from which Schumacher and Bowers have made excellent collections, and specimens may be found in the great museums 189 190 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS, of the country. A very good example of this shell {Janira dentatay is shown in Fig. 3, Plate XXI, which represents a paint cup from Santa Barbara, Gal. This cup is still partially filled with dark, purplish, indurated paint. Some were receptacles for asphaltum, while others, which are quite empty, were employed probably for domestic purposes. The species chiefly used on the Atlantic coast are the Pecten irradians and P. concentricus. On the Pacific coast the Pecten caurinus and P. hastatus are employed by the Mabah and other Indians for rattles, and it is probable that some of the rudely perforated specimens found in our collections were intended for the same purpose. Clams. — Clams formed a very important part of the food of the ancient seaboard tribes, and the emptied shells have been utilized in a great variety of ways. The valves of many species are large and deep, and are available for cups and dishes, and as such are not scorned even by the modern clam-baker, who, like the ancient inhabitant, makes period- ical visits to the sea-shore to fish and feast. They were also lised as knives, scrapers, and hoes, and in historic times have been extensively used in the manufacture of wampum. The hard-shell clam, Venus mer- cenaria, on account of the purplish color of portions of the valves, has been most extensively used for this purpose. A southern variety, the Mercenaria prceparca, is much larger and furnishes excellent dishes. The soft-shell clam, Mya arenaria, has been an important article of food, but the valves are not serviceable in the arts. The hen clam, Mactra ponderosa, which has large handsome valves, has also been used to some extent for utensils. On the Pacific coast the large clam, Pachydesma crassatelloides, is known also to be similarly used. Unios. — Shells of the great family of the Unios have always held an important place in the domestic and mechanical arts of the savages of Korth America. Their chalky remains are among the most plentiful relics of the mounds and other ancient burial-places, and they come from kitchen middens and the more recent graves with all the pearly delicacy of the freshly emptied shell. The valves of many varieties of these shells are well adapted to the use of man. Not large enough for food vessels, they make most satis- factory spoons and cups, and are frequently found to retain portions of the pigments left from the last toilet of the primeval warrior and des- tined for use in the spirit land. It is probable, however, that they were much more frequently employed as knives and scrapers, and as such have played their part in the barbaric feast of the primitive village, or have assisted in the bloody work of scalp-taking and torture. They are pretty generally distributed over the country, and their occurrence in the mounds will probably have but little importance in the study of artificial distribution. Very little trouble has been taken by explorers and writers to identify the numerous species collected. ' I am greatly inclebted to Prof. W. H. Dall, of the Coast Survey, for assistance iu the identification of Pacific coast varieties. HOLMES.) USE OP UNWORKED SHELLS. 191 Haliotis. — The JSaliotia affords one of the best examples of the varied uses to which the natural shell has been applied by savage peoples. Eecent explorations conducted by the government exploring parties in California have brought to the notice of archseologists and the world the existence of a new field of research — the burial-places of the ancient tribes of the Pacific coast. Many of the interments of this region are probably post-Columbian. Several species of this beautiful shell were used and are taken from the graves in great numbers, the pearly lusters being almost perfectly preserved. Many were used as paint-cups, and still retain dark pigments, probably ochers ; one of these, a fine exam- ple of the Haliotis calif ornianus, is shown in Fig. 4, Plate XXI. Some had contained food, and in a few cases still retained the much-esteemed chia seed, while in others were found asphaltum, which was employed by these peoples in a variety of arts, the rows of eyes in the Haliotis usually being stopped with it, and in one case, as shown in a specimen in the National Museum, it has been used to deepen a cup by building up a rim around the edge of a shallow shell. Many others are quite empty, and doubtless served as bowls, dishes, and spoons, or were ready at hand for the manufacture of implements and ornaments. Buried with the dead, they were designed to serve the purposes for which they were used in life. This shell probably formed as important a factor in the commerce of these tribes as did the large conchs of the Atlantic coast in that of the mound-builders and their neighbors. In recent times they are known to have a high value attached to them, and Professor Putnam states' that a few years ago a horse could be had in exchange for a single shell of the Haliotis rufescens. This species is a great favorite toward the south, and the Haliotis Kamschatlcana, which furnishes a dark greenish nacre, is much used farther north. The rougher and more homely oyster-shell has also enjoyed the favor of the mound-building tribes, and has probably served many useful pur- poses, such as would only be suggested to peoples unacquainted with the use of metal. Many species of the Fissurella and Dentalium shells were in common use, advantage being taken of the natural perforations for stringing, the latter being quite extensively used for money on the Pacific slope. In Fig. 2, Plate XXI, a cut is given of a Mytilus shell paint-cup from an ancient Peruvian grave. It is copied from Plate 83 of the Necropolis of Ancon.^ It is represented as still containing red paint, probably cinnabar. A great variety of the larger univalve sea-shells were used in the un- altered state, the Busyoons probably taking the most important place,, species of the Strombus, the Cassis, the Nautilus and Fasciolaria follow- ing in about the order named. ' Putnam: in Surveys West of the lOOth Meridian, Vol. VII, p. 251. ' Eeiss and Stulsel : Necropolis of Ancon, Peru, Plate 83. 192 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. The Busycon perversum has been more extensively used than any other shell, and consequently its distribution in one form or other is very wide. It is obtained along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Massa- chusetts to Mexico, and within the United States it is artificially dis- tributed over the greater part of the Atlantic slope. The uses to which this shell has been put by the ancient Americans are so numerous and varied that I shall not attempt to enumerate them here. They are, however, pretty thoroughly brought out in the subsequent pages of this paper. From the employment of shells in their complete state their modifi- cation for convenience is but a slight step, and when once suggested is easily accomplished — holes are bored, handles are carved or added, margins are ground down, useless parts are broken away, and surfaces are polished. The columellse are removed from the large univalves, and the parts used for a great variety of purposes. The mechanical devices employed have been very simple, such as flint implements for cutting, and rough stones for breaking and grinding. Hand-drills were at first used for perforating; but later mechanically revolving drills were devised. VESSELS. I shall not attempt to take up the various classes of objects in shell in the order of their development, as it would be hard to say whether food utensils, weapons, or ornaments were first used. It is also difficult to distinguish weapons proper from implements employed in the arts, such as celts, knives, hammers, etc., as it is probable they were all variously used according to the needs of their possessors. Having briefly treated of natural vessels, it seems convenient to go on with vessels shaped by art. Early explorers in many portions of the American continent record, in their writing, the use by the natives of shells of various kinds as vessels. We have in this case historic evi- dence which bears directly upon prehistoric customs. Indeed, it is not impossible that the very shells used by the natives first encountered by Europeans, are the identical ones exhumed so recently from burial places, as many of the finer specimens of shell objects have associated with them articles of undoubted European manufacture. A notice of the earliest recorded use of these objects naturally introduces the pre- historic use. With many nations that were bountifully supplied with convenient earthen and stone vessels, as well perhaps as others of the hard shells of fruits, the sea-shell was nevertheless a favorite vessel for drinking. Herrera describes the use of silver, gold, shell, and gourd cups at the banquets of the elegant monarch Montezuma II, who " sometimes drank BUREAU OF ETHNOLOOr ANNUAL REPOBT 1881 I'L. XXI 1. From a plate in De Bry. 2. From a Poruviau grave. 3. Peoten, California grave. (}) 4. Haliotis, CaJifornia grave. (J) SHELL VESSELS. noLMEs.) DEINKING AND FOOD VESSELS. 193 out of cocoas and natural shells richly set with jewels." Other authors make similar statements. Olavigero says that " beautiful sea-shells or naturally formed vessels, curiously varnished, were used." In many ot the periodical feasts of the Florida Indians shells were in high favor, and it is related how at a certain stage of one of the dances two men came in, each bearing very large conch-shells full of black drink, which was an infusion of the young leaves of the cassine (probably Ilex Cos- sine, L.). After prolonged ceremonies, this drink was offered to the king, to the whites present, and then to the entire assembly.' It is a re- markable fact that a similar custom has been noticed among the Moquis of Arizona. Lieutenant Bourke witnessed the snake dance of that tribe a few years ago, and states that in front of the altar containing the snakes was a covered earthen vessel, which contained four large sea- shells and a liquid of some unknown composition, of which the men who handled the snakes freely drank. Vessels thus associated with important ceremonial customs of savages would naturally be of first importance in their sepulchral rites. De Bry, in the remarkable plates of his "Brevis Narratio," furnishes two instances of such use. Plate 19 shows a procession of nude females who scatter locks of their hair upon a row of graves, on each of which has been placed a large univalve shell, probably containing food or drink for the dead, and in Plate 40 we have another illustration of this custom, the shell being placed on the heap of earth raised above the grave of a departed chieftain. In Plate XXI, Fig. 1, an outline of the shell represented is given ; it re- sembles most nearly the pearly nautilus, but, being drawn by the artist from memory or description, we are at liberty to suppose the shell actu- ally used was a large Busycon from the neighboring coast, probably more or less altered by art. Haywood, Hakluy t, Tonti, Bartram, Adair, and others mention the use of shells for drinking vessels, and in much more recent times Indians are known to have put them to a similar use. On account of the rapidity with which they decay, we can know noth- ing of surface deposits of shells by prehistoric or even by comparatively recent peoples. It is only through the custom of burying valued articles with the dead that any of these relics are preserved to us. When we consider the quantity of such objects necessarily destroyed by time, exposure, and use, we marvel at the vast numbers that must have been, within a limited period of years, carried inland. In the more recent mounds there may be found specimens obtained by the Indians through the agency of white traders, but the vast majority were derived doubt- less from purely aboriginal sources. Many instances could be cited to show that the whites have engaged in the trade in shells. Kohl, in speaking of early trade with the Ojibways of Lake Superior, states that when the traders "exhibited a fine large shell and held it to the ears of the Indians, these latter were astonished, saying they heard the roaring 'De Bry : Collectio Para 2. Brevis Narratio, 1591, Plate 29. 13 E 194 ART IN SHELL OP THE ANCIENT AMEEICANS. of the ocean in it, and paid for such a marvelous shell furs to the value of $30 or $40, and even more."> Cabega de Yaca* traded in sea-shells and " hearts " of sea-shells among the Charruco Indians of the Gulf coast nearly three hundred and fifty years ago. The form of vessel of most frequent occurrence is made by removing the whorl, columella, and about one-half of the outer shell of the large univalves. The body of the lower whorl is cut longitudinally, nearly opposite the lip and parallel with it. The spire is divided on the same plane, a little above the apex, giving a result well illustrated in Fig. 1, Plate XXII. A very convenient and capacious bowl is thus obtained, the larger specimens having a capacity of a gallon or more. The work of dividing the shell and removing neatly the interior parts must have been one of no little dif&culty, considering the compactness of the shell and the rudeness of the tools. For nomadic peoples these vessels would have a great superiority over those of any other material, as they were not heavy and could be trans- ported without danger of breaking. In the manufacture of these vessels the Busycon perversum seems to have been a great favorite; this may be the result of the less massive character of the shell, which permits more ready manipulation. The spines are less prominent and the walls more uniform in thickness than in shells of most other varieties found along the Atlantic seaboard. Specimens of the Strombus, Cassis, and Fasciolaria were occasionally used. The specimen illustrated in Fig. 1, Plate XXII, is from a mound at Eitcherville, Ind., and is now in the National Museum at Washington. It is made from a Busycon perversum, and is ten and one-half inches in length by six and one-half in width at the most distended part. The body and spire have been cut in the manner described above, and the interior whorl and columella have been skillfully taken out. The rim is not very evenly cut, but is quite smooth. The outer surface of the shell has been well polished, but is now worn and scarred by use. The substance of the shell is very well preserved. A second example, now in the national collection, is from an ancient mound at Naples, 111. It is very similar to the preceding, being made from the same species of shell. It is eleven inches in length by seven in width. The body of the shell is well pre- served, the apex, however, being broken away. A small specimen, also in the National Museum, was obtained from a mound at Nashville, Tenn., by Professor Powell. It is three and a half inches in length, and very shallow, being but a small portion of the lower whorl of a Busycon. Among the more recent acquisitions to the national collection are two very fine specimens of these Busycon vessels. One of these was obtained from a mound at East Dubuque, 111. It is eleven inches in length by seven in width at the widest part ; the exterior surface is ' Kohl : Kitsohi-Gami, vol. I, p. 186, Rau, trans. "Cabesa de Vaoa : Relation et Naufragea. Paris, 1837, p. 121. Spanisli ed., 15,5[.. BUlilUU 01' UTIINOLOOY ANNUAL HKFOUT 1881 I't.. XXII 1 1. Shell vessel made from a Busycon pervers^im, Ind (| 2. Earthen vessel made in imitation of shell, Mo. (J) HOLMES.) ENGRAVED VESSEL FROM ARKANSAS. 195 highly polished; the interior is less so, having suffered somewhat from decay; the beak is very long and slender, and has been used as a han- dle. Tho whole vessel has a dipper like appearance. The finest example of these vessels yet brought to my notice was obtained from a mound at Harrisburg, Ark., by Dr. Palmer, in Octo- ber, 1882. It differs from the other specimens described in having an elaborate ornamental design engraved on the exterior surface. In shape it corresponds pretty closely to the first specimen figured, no part of the spire, however, being cut away; the interior parts have been removed, as usual. The surface is quite smooth, and the ridges on the inner sur- face of the spire are neatly rounded and polished. Its length is eleven inches, and its width seven. Plate XXIII is devoted to the illus- tration of this specimen. The entire exterior surface, from apex to base, is covered with a design of engraved lines and figures, which are ap- plied in such a manner as to accord remarkably well with the expand- ing spiral of tile shell. The upper surface of the spire is unusually flat, and has been ground quite smooth. It will be seen by reference to Pig. 2, Plate XXIII, that a series of lines, interrupted at nearly regular intervals by short cross lines and rectangular intaglio figures, has been carried from the apex outward toward the lip. Another series of lines begins on the upper margin next the inner lip of the shell, passes around the circumference of the upper surface, and extends downward over the carina, covering, as shown in the other figure, the entire body of the vessel, excepting the extreme point of the handle. The base of the shell, which is perforated, has a small additional group of lines. The lines of the principal series are, on the more expanded portion of the body of the shell, about eight inches long, and are interrupted by two rows of short lines and two rows of incised rectangular figures. The space between the latter contains the most interesting feature of the design. Three arrow-head shaped figures, two inches in length by one and one-half in width, are placed, one near the outer lip, another near the inner lip, and the third in the middle of the body, a little below the center. These figures are neatly cut and symmetrical, and resemble a barbed and blunt-pointed arrow-head. Near the center of each is a small circle, which gives the figure a close resemblance to a variety of perforated stone implements, one specimen of which has been found near Osceola, Ark. Whatever may be the significance of this design, and it is undoubtedly significant, it is at least a very remarkable piece of work and a highly successful effort at decoration. The pottery of this region which is generally highly decorated with painted and in- cised lines, contains nothing of a character similar to this, and it is probable that what I have come to consider a rule in such matters ap- plies in this case; the design on the shell is significant or ideographic, that on the pottery is purely ornamental. For the purpose of showing the very wide distribution of vessels made from large seashells, especially the Busycon perversum, I introduce here descriptions of most of the specimens heretofore reported. 196 AET IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. Dr. Eau, in his paper on ancient aboriginal trade in Nortb America, states that in the collection of Colonel Jones, of Brooklyn, there is a vessel formed from a Cassis which is eight and a half inches long, and has a diameter of seven inches where its periphery is widest. It was obtained from a stone grave near Clarksville, Habersham County, Georgia.' Two fine specimens of the Gassis flammea were taken from mounds in Nacoochee Valley, Georgia. They were nearly ten inches in length and about seven inches in diameter. The interior whorls and colu- mellsB had been removed, so that they answered the purpose of drink- ing cups or receptacles of some sort.* From a stone grave mound near Franklin, on the Big Harpeth Eiver, Prof. Joseph Jones took two large sea-shells, one of which was much decayed. The interior surface of these shells had been painted red, and the exterior had been marked with three large circular spots.' In the grave of a child, near the grave just mentioned, the following relics were found : " Four large sea-shells, one on each side of the skele- ton, another at the foot, and the fourth, a large specimen, with the in- terior apartments cut out and the exterior surface carved, covered the face and forehead of the skull." ^ In a small mound opposite the city of Nashville, Teun., Professor Jones found "a large sea-conch." The interior portion or spiral of which had been carefully cat out; it was probably used as a drinking vessel, or as the shrine of an idol as in a case observed by Dr. Troost.^ Two large shells of Busyeon, from which the columellse had been re- moved, were obtained from the Lindsley mounds, sixty miles east of Nashville, by Professor Putnam.^ Professor Wymau, writing of the mounds of Eastern Tennessee, says that " among the implements are well-preserved cups or dishes, made of the same species of shell [Busyeon perversum] as the preceding, but of much more gigantic size than those now found. One of them meas- ures a foot in length, though the beak has been broken off. When en- tire its length could not have been less than fourteen or fifteen inches. These shells probably came from the Gulf of Mexico, and found their way into Tennessee as articles of traffic. The dishes are made in the same way, and not to be distinguished from those found in Florida at the time of the first visit of the Europeans, or from those, as wiU be seen further, found in the ancient burial mounds. The great similarity in the style and make of these dishes renders it quite probable that they were manufactured in Florida."'' A number of similar dishes, made 1 Rau, in Smithsonian Report for 1872, p. 376. ? Jones: Antiquities of the Southern Indians, p. 233. 'Jones: Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee, p. 59. *Tbid., p. 60. ^Tbid., p. 45. 6 Putnam, in Eleventh Annual Report, Peabody Museum, p. 355. 'Wyman, in Third Annual Report, Peabody Museum, p. 7. liUKKAU OF ETHNOLOGY AOTJUAL HKrOKT 1881 I'L. XXIII ENGRAVED VESSEL. Harrisburg, Ark. HOLMBs] DRINKING AND FOOD VESSELS. 197 from the same shell, were obtained from mounds at Cedar Keys, Florida, by Professor Wyman.' Francis Cleveland, C. E., who, in 1828, had charge of the excavation known as the "deep cut" on the Ohio Canal, informed Colonel Whittle- sey that at the depth of twenty-five feet in the alluvium several shells belonging to the species Busyeon perversum were taken out.^ Dr. Drake, writing of the Cincinnati mounds, mentions "several large marine shells, belonging, perhaps, to the genus Buccinum, cut in such a way as to serve for domestic utensils, and nearly converted into a state of chalk."' Mr. Atwater states that " several marine shells, probably Buccinum, cut in such a manner as to be used for domestic utensils, were found in a mound on the Little Miami Eiver, Warren County, Ohio."* A Cassis of large size, from which the inner whorls and columella had been removed to adapt it for use as a vessel, was found in Clark's mound, on Paint Creek, Scioto Valley, Ohio.' This specimen is eleven and a half inches in length by twenty-four in circumference at the largest part. It is further stated that fragments of these and other shells are found iu the tumuli and upon the altars of the mound-build- ers. In digging the Ohio and Erie Canal, there was found, near Ports- mouth, its southern terminus on the Ohio Eiver, a cluster of five or six large shells, which appeared to have been thus carefully deposited by the hand of man. They were about three feet beneath the surface. The columellse of some large shells, probably the Stromhus gigas, were also discovered.* Severallarge marine shells were found in a moundnear Grand Eapids, Mich. They were all hollowed out, apparently for carrying or storing water, and in one case perforated at the upper edge on opposite sides for suspension by a cord or thong.'' Mr. Farquharson mentions a vessel made from a Busyeon perversum, obtained from a mound near Davenport, Iowa. The shell has been cut through about an inch above the center ; it is thirteen inches in length by seven in width, and has a capacity of nearly two pints.' He also describes a large specimen of Cassis from a mound in Muscatine County, Iowa.'' Long, in his expedition from Pittsburgh to the Eocky Mountains in 'Wyman, in Third Annual Report, Pealjody Museum, p. 8. 'Foster: Preliistorio Races of the United States, p. 78. 'Since the shell here named is quite small it is probable that the specimens found were Busycons. Du Pratz: History of Louisiana, p. 364. ^Lewis and Clark: Expedition up the Missouri, &o., p. 537. " Harmon's Journal, p. 287. *Swan : Ttie Northwest Coast, p. 158. •Powers: Contributions to North American Ethnology, Vol. Ill, p. 263. 234 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. Sir John Lubbock, in his " Prehistoric Times," expresses surprise at the great number of beads sometimes found, instancing the Grave Creek mound of Virginia, which contained between three and four thousand. This number will, however, appear very insignificant when compared with a collection such as the costume of the great King Philip could have furnished. Drake relates that Philip had a coat "made all of wampampeag," which, when in need of money, he " cuts to pieces, and distributes it plentifully among the Nipmoog sachems and others, as well to the east- ward as southward, and all round about."' By adding to this store of beads the contents of two belts, one of which was nine inches in breadth, and so long that when placed upon the shoulders it reached to the ankles, we conclude that the greatest collection ever taken from a prehistoric mound could not compare for a moment with the treasure of this one historic chieftain. A great deal of art is shown in the stringing and mounting of beads. The simplest form is a single strand, a twisted string of vegetable fiber, a strip of buckskin, or a bit of sinew being passed through the perfora- tions. Again, rows of strands are placed side by side and fastened at intervals in such a manner as to keep them approximately parallel, or the beads when long are put on equidistant cross strands, the longitu- dinal strands serving to keep them in place ; they are also woven into the fabric by being mounted upon one of the strands before twisting. It is also a very usual practice to sew them on strips of cloth or buckskin, patterns being produced by using beads of different colors. The man- ner of stringing in the manufacture of belts will be given in detail under Mnemonic Uses of Beads. BEADS AS CVBRENCT. It will probably be impossible to prove that the prehistoric peoples of North America employed a medium of exchange in a manner corre- sponding to our use of money. It is a well-known fact, however, that a currency of shell beads was in general use throughout the Atlantic coast region very early in the historic period. Of all objects within the reach of savage peoples, shells, either in their natural forms or in fragments artificially fashioned for convenience of use, are the best adapted for such a purpose. In examining the contents of ancient cemeteries and mounds where all objects of value were to some extent deposited, we find no other relics that could have been conveniently used for such a purpose. It is not probable that objects subject to rapid decay, such as wood, fruits, and seeds, could ever have come into general use for money, although such objects are employed to some extent by savages in dif- ferent parts of the world. The unlimited supply or easy manufacture of these objects would be against their use for this purpose, whereas the difficulty of shaping and perforating the flinty substance of shells would prevent such a plentiful production as to destroy the standard of value. ' Drake : Book of Indians, p. 27. "O'^M^sl ANCIENT USE OF WAMPUM. 235 Objects and substances having a fairly uniform value, resulting from their utilitarian attributes, have been employed by primitive peoples as standards of value; as, for instance, cattle, in ancient Eome; salt, in Assyria; tin, in Britain, and cocoa, in Mexico. But such mediums of exchange are local in use. With these articles this function is only accidental. The utilization of shells for money would naturally orig- inate from the trade arising from their use as utensils and ornaments in districts remote from the source of supply. Yielding in the worked state a limited supply, and at the same time filling a constant demand, they formed a natural currency, their universal employment for pur- poses of ornament giving them a fixed and uniform value. They have undoubtedly been greatly prized by the ancient peoples, but on the part of the open-handed savage they were probably valued more as personal ornaments than as a means of gratifying avaricious propensities. Lewis H. Morgan, who had access to all the sources of information on the subject, says tHat " wampum has frequently been called the money of the Indian; but there is no sufficient reason for supposing that they ever made it an exclusive currency, or a currency in any sense, more than silver or other ornaments. All personal ornaments, and most other articles of personal property, passed from hand to hand at a fixed value; but they appear to have had no common standard of value until they found it in our currency. If wampum had been their currency it would have had a settled value, to which all other articles would have been referred. There is no doubt that it came nearer to a currency than any other species of property among them, because its uses were so general, and its transit from hand to hand so easy, that everyone could be said to need it." Yet he admits that " the use of wampum reaches back to a remote period upon this continent"; and further, that it was an original Indian notion which prevailed among the Iriquois as early at least as the formation of the League. He goes on to state that " the primitive wampum of the Iriquois consisted of strings of a small fresh- water spiral shell called in the Seneca dialect Oteko-d, the name of which has been bestowed upon the modern wampum."' Loskiel says that "before the Europeans came to North America, the Indians used to make strings of wampom chiefly of small pieces of wood of equal size, stained either black or white. Few were made of muscle, which were esteemed very valuable and difficult to make; for, not hav- ing proper tools, they spent much time in finishing them, and yet their work had a clumsy appearance."* Hutchinson is of the opinion that " the Indians resident northeastward of the province of New York had originaUy no knowledge of this sort of money or medium of trade."' The great body of our historical evidence goes to show, however, that 'Morgan, in Fifth Annual Eeport on the New York State Cabinet of Natural His- tory, pp. 71, 73. 'Loskiel: Mission of the United Brethren, Latrobe trans., p. M. "Hutchinson: History of Mass., Vol. I, p. 406. 236 AET IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. a currency of shell was in use among the Atlantic coast tribes when first encountered by the Europeans. Thomas Morton, in speaking of the Indians of ]Srew England as far back as 1630, says that "they have a kiude of beads in steede of money to buy withal such things as they want, which they call wampampeak ; and it is of two sorts, the one is white and the other is a violet coloure. These are made of the shells of fishe; the white with them is as silver with us, the other as our gould, and for these beads they buy and sell, not only amongst themselves, but even with us. We have used to sell them any of our commodities for this wampampeak, because we know we can have beaver again from them for it: and these beads are current in all parts of New England, from one end of the coast to the other, and although some have endeavoured by example to have the like made, of the same kinde of shels, yet none has ever, as yet, obtained to any perfection in the composure of them, but the Salvages have found a great difference to be in the one and the other; and have knowne the counterfett beads from those of their owne making and doe slight them." ^ According to Roger Williams also, the Indians of New England, as far back as his observations extend, were engaged in the manufacture of shell money as a well-established industry. It seems altogether impos- sible that such a custom should have been successfully introduced by the English, as the Indian is well known to be averse to anything like labor excepting in his traditional occupations of war and the chase, and if the whites had introduced it, would certainly have looked to them for a supply by means of trade in skins and game rather than apply himself to a new and strange art. Eoger Williams says that *' they that live upon the Sea side generally make of it, and as many as they will. The Indians bring downe all their sorts of Furs, which they take in the countrey, both to the Indians and to the English for this Indian Money : this Money the English, French and Dutch, trade to the Indians, six hundred miles in severall ports (north and south from New England) for their Furres, and whatsoever they stand in need of from them." Their methods were also aboriginal, another indication that the art was not of European introduction ; and Williams states that "before ever they had awle blades from Europe, they made shift to bore their shell money with stones." ^ That wampum was also manufactured farther south we learn from Lindstrom, who is writing of the Indians of New Sweeden: "Their money is made of shells, white, black, and red, worked into beads, and neatly turned and smoothed ; one person, however, cannot make more in a day than the value of six or eight stivers. When these beads are worn out, so that they cannot be strung neatly, and even on one thread, they no longer consider them good. Their way of stringing them is to rub the whole thread full of them on their noses; if they find it slides ' Thomas Morton, in Historical Tracts, Vol. II, p. 29. ^Williams: A Key into the Language of America, p. 144. H0LMB8.J ANCIENT USE OF WAMPUM. 237 smooth and even, like glass beads, then they are considered good, other- wise they break and throw them away."' Although Beverly did not write until the beginning of the eighteenth century, his statements are [)robably based upon accurate information. Speakingof the Virginia Indians, he says that they " had nothing which they reckoned riches before the English went among them, except PeaJc, Boenolce, and such-like trifles made out of the Cunlc Shell. These past with them instead of Gold and Silver, and serv'd them both for Money and Ornament. It was the English alone that taught them first to put a value on their Skins and Furs, and to make a Trade of them."^ From Lawson, who wrote in 1714, but whose statements deserve consideration, we also learn that the money of the Carolina Indians is "all made of shells which are found on the coast of Carolina, which are very large and hard so that they are very difflcult to cut. Some English smiths have tried to drill this sort of shell-money, and thereby thought to get an advantage*; but it proved so hard that nothing could be gained."' Speaking of its use and value in New York, he remarks that " an Englishman could not afford to make so much of this wampum for five or ten times the value; for it is made out of a vast great shell, of which that country affords plenty; where it is ground smaller than the small end of a tobacco pipe, or a large wheat straw." # * * '< This the In- dians grind on stones and other things until they make it current, but the drilling is the most difficult to the Englishman, which the Indians manage with a nail stuck in a cane or reed. Thus they roll it continu- ally on their thighs with their right hand, holding the bit of shell with their left; so, in time, they drill a hole quite through it which is a very tedious work; but especially in making their ronoak, four of which will scarce make one length of wampum. The Indians are a people that never value their time, so that they can afford to make them, and never need to fear the English will take the trade out of their hands. This is the money with which you may buy skins, furs, slaves, or anything the Indians have; it being their mammon (as our money is to us) that en- tices and persuades them to do anything, and part with everything they possess, except their children for slaves. As for their wives, they are often sold and their daughters violated for it. With this they buy off murders; and whatsoever a man can do that is ill, this wampum will quit him of and make him, in their opinion, good and virtuous, though never so black before."* Adair confirms the statements made by these writers, and adds em- phasis to the fact that the shell beads had, among the Cherokees and other southern Indians, a fixed value as currency. " With these they ' Penna. Historical Society, Vol. Ill, p. 131. 'Beverly: History of Virginia, p. 195. ' Lawson : History of North Carolina ; Ealeigh reprint, 1860, p. 315. * On this point, however, the author quoted is apparently at fault, as there is abun- dance of proof that the whites often engaged successfully in the manufacture of this shell money. 238 AET IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMEEICAN8. bought and sold at a stated current rate, without the least variation for circumstances either of time or place; and now they will hear noth- ing patiently of loss or gain, or allow us to heighten the price of our goods, be our reasons ever so strong, or though the exigencies and changes of time may require it."' We find plentiful evidence in the stories of the early Spanish adven- turers that beads made from sea shells were held in high esteem by the Indians of the south, but, so far as I am aware, there is no statement in- dicating that they formed a well-regulated medium of exchange. In regard to the manufacture of wampum by the whites, the follow- ing quotations will be instructive: "Many people at Albany make the wampum of the Indians, which is theu- ornament and their money, by grinding some kinds of shells and muscles; this is a considerable profit to the inhabitants.'" "Besides the Europeans, many of the native Indians come annually down to the sea shore, in order to catch clams, proceeding with them afterwards in the manner I have just descpibfed. The shells of these clams are used by the Indians as money, and make what they call their wampum : they likewise serve their women as an ornament, when they intend to appear in full dress. These wampums are properly made of the purple parts of the shells, which the Indians value more than the white parts. A traveller, who goes to trade with the Indians, and is well stocked with them, may become a considerable gainer; but if he take gold coin, or bullion, he will undoubtedly be a loser; for the Indians, who live farther up the country, put little or no value upon these metals which we reckon so precious, as I have frequently observed in the course of my travels. The Indians formerly made their own wampums, though not without a deal of trouble: but at present the Europeans employ themselves that way; especially the inhabitants of Albany, who get a considerable profit by it. In the sequel I intend to relate the manner of making wampum.' "The article was highly prized as an ornament, and as such consti- tuted an article of traflc between the sea-coast and the interior tribes. • * « " The old wampum was made by hand, and was an exceedingly rude article. After the discovery, the Dutch introduced the lathe in its manufacture, polished and perforated it with exactness, and soon had the monopoly of the trade. The principal place of its manufacture was at Hackensak, in New Jersey. The principal deposit of sea shells was Long Island, where the extens'ive shell banks left by the Indians, on which it is difficult to find a whole shell, show the immense quantities that were manufactured."* The name wampum is often applied to shell beads indiscriminately, 'Adair: History of the American Indians, p. 170. "Kalna's Travels, London, 1772, "Vol. II, p. 100. ^Ibid., Vol. I, pp. 190, 191. * Ruttenber : Indian Tribes of the Hudson Elver, p. 26. BOLUBB.) ANCIENT USE OF WAMPUM. 239 but frequently has a more restricted significance, referring to the small cylindrical varieties used in strings and belts. It was known first in Few Eugland as wampumpeag, wampompeage, peag, wompam and wam- pum; the Dutch of New Sweden knew it as seawan, sewant, and sea- want, while on the Virginia coast, it was called peaJc, a roughly made discoidal variety being known as ronoah or roenoke, and heavy flattish beads pierced edgeways were called runtees. It is probable that all of these names are American in origin, although there is some difference of opinion as to their derivation. Loskiel says that wampom is an Iro- quois word meaning muscle, but according to Morgan, who is probably the best modern authority on this subject, the word wampum is not Iro- quois in origin but Algonkin, as it was first known in New England as wampumpeage. Eoger Williams, speaking of the money of the New England Indians, probably the Narragansetts (Algonkin), says that "their white they call Wompam (which signifies white); their black Suckanhoch {SdcM, signifying black)." In another place he gives the word wompi for white. Wood mentions two varieties of beads known in New England wampom- peage and mowhaclcees. The latter is probably derived from mowSsu, which, according to Williams, also signifies black. It would seem that we have but little evidence of the ancient use of shell money amongst the tribes of the Mississippi "Valley or the Pacific coast ; yet we are not without proofs that it came into use at a very early date throughout the entire West, and even today the custom is by no means obsolete. The ancient burial places of the Pacific coast are found to contain large quantities of beads precisely similar to those now used as money by the coast tribes. Lewis and Clark, speaking of traffic among the Indians of the Colum- bia Elver, state that shell beads are held in very high esteem by these people, and that to procure them they will " sacrifice their last article of clothing or their last mouthful of food. Independently of their fond- ness for them as an ornament these beads are the medium of trade by which they obtaiu from the Indians still higher up the river, robes, skins, chappeled bread, bear grass."' The Bentalium shell has always been the favorite currency of the peoples of the Northwest and is highly valued, especially by the inland tribes. It is frequently found in ancient graves at great distances from the sea-shore. A few specimens have been found in burial places in the Ohio Valley, but we have no means of determining the source from which they were derived. As the modern use of this currency has but little archaeologic interest, I will not enlarge upon the subject here. For further information the reader is referred to the following authors : J. K. Lord, The Naturalist in British Columbia, Vol. II, pp. 20 to 26 ; E. E. C. Stearns in the American Naturalist, Vol. Ill, No. 1, and in pro- ceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Vol. V, Part II, p. 113; W. H. Pratt in proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural 'Lewis and Clark: Expedition up the Missouri, p. 73. 240 ART. IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. Sciences, Vol. II, Part I, p. 38 ; and Stephen Powers in Vol. 3, Contri- butions to North American Ethnology, pp. 21, 24, 30. HNEMONIO l)8E OF BEAOS. One of the most remarkable customs practiced by the American In- dians is found in the mnemonic use of wampum. This custom had in it a germ of great promise, one which must in time have become a power- ful agent in the evolution of art and learning. It was a nucleus about which all the elements of culture could arrange themselves. I shall not at present undertake to divest the custom of adventitious features such as have been introduced by contact with European influence. Tet there is no reason to fear that any of the important or essential features have been derived from outside sources. It is not possible from any known records to demonstrate the great antiquity of this use of wampum. It does not seem probable, however, that a custom so unique and so wide-spread could have grown up within the historic period ; nor is it probable that a practice foreign to the genius of tradi- tion-loving races could have become so well established and so dear to their hearts in a few generations. Mnemonic records are known to have come into use among iflany na- tions at a very early stage of culture. Picture writing as developed in the north is but another form of mnemonic record, a fact, a thought, a verse of a song being associated with an ideographic design, more or less suggestive of the subject. The Peruvians had their quipm, in which the record was made by associating things to be remembered with knots made in cords of different colors, each combination having a fixed asso- ciation. The Mexicans had gone further and had achieved a system of picture writing that was very unique and curious, in which a phonetic element had already made its appearance, while the Mayas could boast the discovery of a true phonetic system with an alphabet of twenty- seven sounds. The mnemonic use of wampum is one which, I imagine, might readily develop from the practice of gift giving and the exchange of tokens of friendship, such mementos being preserved for future reference as re- minders of promises of assistance or protection. In time the use of such mementos would develop into a system capable of recording affairs of varied and complicated nature; particular facts or features of treaties would be assinged to particular objects, or portions of objects. With this much accomplished, but one step was necessary to the attainment of a hieroglyphic system— the permanent association of a single object or sign with a particular idea. The wampum records of the Iroquois were generally in the form of belts, the beads being strung or woven into patterns formed by the use of different colors. By association simply they were made to record history, laws, treaties, and speeches— a fact, a law, a stipulation, or a declaration being " talked into " a particular part or pattern of the de- sign with which it was ever afterwards associated, thus giviug addi- o S 1! M o a s- g o o d a "0LMK8.1 SYMBOLIC USES OF WAMPUM. 241 tional permanency to tradition and bringing it one step further forward in the direction of written records. Such records were, of course, quite useless without the agency of an interpreter. Among the Iro- quois, according to Morgan, one of the Onondaga sachems was made hereditary "keeper of wampum," whose duty it was to be thoroughly versed in its interpretation. But knowledge of the contents of these records was not confined to the keeper, or even to the sachems. At a certain season each year the belts were taken from the treasure-house and exposed to the whole tribe, while the history and import of each was publicly recited. This custom is kept up to the present day. It is recorded by Eiittenber that among the Mohicans a certain sachem had charge of the bag of peace which contained the wampum belts and strings used in establishing peace and friendship with the different nations. ' Aside from records wampum was used in the form of strings and belts for a variety of purposes; some of them were probably mnemonic, others only partially so, being based either upon its association with the name of some chief or clan, or upon a semi sacred character result- ing from its important uses. It was employed in summoning councils, and the messenger who journeyed from tribe to tribe found in it a well recognized passport. When a council was called it was presented by tlie delegates from the various tribes as their credentials; it was used in the ceremony of opening and closing councils, as was also the calumet ; it assisted in solemnizing oaths and in absolving from them ; white, it was a messenger of peace ; black, it threatened war, and covered with clay, it expressed grief. " White wampum was the Iroquois emblem of purity and faith, it was hung around the neck of the white dog before it was burned ; it was used before the periodical religious festivals for the confession of sins, no confession being re- garded as sincere unless recorded with white wampum ; further than this, it was the customary offering in condonation of murder, although the purple was sometimes employed. Six strings was the value of a life, or the quantity sent in condonation, for the wampum was rather sent as a regretful confession of the crime, with a petition for forgive- ness, than as the actual price of blood.'" We readily recognize the in- fluence of the Christian missionary in a number of these symbolic uses of wampum. The literature of wampum would fill a volume, but I forbear present- ing more than will give an outline of the subject, confining myself to such quotations as will serve to show clearly the extent and importance of this ancient custom and its attendant practices. The method of handling the belts of wampum in the presence of cer- emonial assemblies is extremely interesting, and cannot be better pre- sented than in the words of eye-witnesses. 'Kuttenber : Indian Tribes of the Hudson Eiver, page 43. • Morgan, in Fifth Annual Report on the condition of the New York State Cabinet of Natural History, page 73. 16 E 242 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. The following is quoted from Brice, who is describing a council held in the Muskingum "Valley in 1764 : " An Indian council, on solemn occasions, was always opened with preliminary forms, sufficiently wearisome and tedious, but made indis- pensable by immemorial custom, for this people are as much bound by their conventional usages as the most artificial children of civilization. The forms were varied, to some extent, according to the imagination of the speaker, but in all essential respects they were closely similar throughout the tribes of the Algonkin and and Iroquois lineage. " They run somewhat as follows, each sentence being pronounced with great solemnity, and confirmed by the delivery of a wampum belt: 'Brothers, with this belt I open your ears that you may hear; I remove grief and sorrow from your hearts ; I draw from your feet the thorns that pierced them as you journeyed thither ; I clean the seats of the council-house, that you may sit at ease ; I wash your head and body, that your spirits may be refreshed; I condole with you on the loss of the friends who have died since we last met ; I wipe out any blood which may have been spilt between us.' This ceremony, which, by the delivery of so many belts of wampum, entailed no small expense, was never used except on the most important occasions ; and at the coun- cils with Colonel Bouquet the angry warriors seem wholly to have dis- pensed with it. • • * And his memory was refreshed by belts of wampum, which he delivered after every clause in his harangue, as a pledge of the sincerity and truth of his words. "These belts were carefully preserved by the hearers as a substitute for written records, a use for which they were the better adapted, as they were often worked in hieroglyphics expressing the meaning they were designed to preserve. Thus at a treaty of peace the principal belt often bore the figure of an Indian and a white man holding a chain be- tween them.'" From an account of a council held by the Five Nations at Onondaga nearly two hundred years ago, to which the governor of Canada sent four representatives, I make the following extract : " During the course of the proceedings Cannehoot, a Seneca sachem presented a proposed treaty between the Wagunhas and the Senecas, speaking as follows : ' We come to join the two bodies into one. • * • We come to learn wisdom of the Senecas (giving a belt). We by this belt wipe away the tears from the eyes of your friends, whose relations have been killed in the war. We likewise wipe the paint from your soldiers' faces (giving a second belt). We throw aside the ax which Tonondio put into our hands by this third belt.' A red marble sun is presented — a pipe made of red marble. ' Yonondio is drunk ; we wash our hands clean from his ac- tions (giving a fourth belt). * * • We have twelve of your nation prison- ers; they shall be broughthomein the spring (giving a belt to confirm the promise). We will bring your prisoners home when the strawberries ' Brice : History of Fort Wayne, 1868, page 28. BUBKAU OF ETHKOLOGV ANNUAL BEPORT 1881 I'L. XXXVIII 1. Mohawk Belt. 2. Mohawk Belt. WAMPUM BELTS. Bousm.] WAMPUM IN TREATIES. 243 shall be in l)lossom, at which time we intend to visit Corlear (the gov- ernor of New York), and see the place where wampum is made.' "The belts were accepted by the Five Nations, and their acceptance was a ratification of the treaty. A large belt was also given to the mes- sengers from Albany as their share. A wampum belt sent from Albany was, in the same manner, hung up and afterwards divided.'" This indicates a most extravagant use of belts ; but since it is probable that as many were received in return this was a matter of little impor- tance. The great profusion of wampum used in some of the later treaties is a matter of surprise. In a council held between four Indian ambassa- dors from New England and the French thirty-six fine large belts were given by the ambassadors to thank them that their people bad not been treated with hostility.* " The appendix to the second volume of Proud's History of Pennsyl- vania contains the journals of Frederick Christian Post, who was sent by Governor Denny, in 1758, to make a treaty with the Alleghany In- dians ; and in delivering the governoi-'s answer to the chiefs, on his second visit in the same year, after proposing to them to unite in a treaty of peace which had lately been concluded \7ith the Indians at Easton, and producing sundry belts, one of which was marked with figures representing the English and the Indians delivering the peace- belt to one of the commissioners, he proceeds to say : * Brethren on the Ohio, if you take the belts we just now gave you, as we do not doubt yon will, then by this belt ' — ^producing another and using their figurative style of speech — 'I make a road for you, and invite you to come to Philadelphia, to your first old council-fire, which we rekindle up again, and remove disputes, and renew the first old treaties of friendship. This is a clear and open road for you; therefore, fear nothing, and come to us with as many as can be of the Delawares, Shawanese, or the Six Nations ; we will be glad to see you ; we desire all tribes and nations of Indians who are in alliance with you may come.' Whereupon a large white belt, vrith the figure of a man at each end and streaks of black representing the road from the Ohio to Philadelphia, was then given to them." 3 Lafitau, whose statements are considered unusually trustworthy, as they were based chiefly on personal observation of the Indian tribes of Canada, gives the following very instructive account of the mnemonic use of wampum : "All affairs are conducted by means of branches [strings] and neck- laces [belts] of porcelain [wampum] which with them take the place of compacts, written agreements, and contracts. • • • The shell, which is used for affairs of state, is worked into little cylinders of a quarter of an inch in length and large in proportion. They are distrib- uted in two ways, in strings and in belts. The strings are composed ' Events in Indian History, Lancaster, Pa., 1841, page 143. » History and description of New France, Vol. II, page 256. 'Penn.in Memoirs Hist. Soc. Penn'a, Vol. VI, p. 222. 244 AET IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS of cylinders threaded without order cue after another, like' the beads of a rosary ; the beads are usually quite white, and are used for affairs of little consequence, or as a preparation for other more considerable presents.' " The belts are large bands, in which little white and purple cylin- ders are disposed in rows, and tied down with small thongs of leather, which makes a very neat fabric. The length, and size and color are pro- portioned to *he importance of the affair. The usual belts are of eleven rows of a hundred and eighty beads each. "The 'flsk,' or public treasure, consists principally of these belts, which, as I have said, with them, take the place of contracts, of public acts, and of annals or registers. For the savages, having no writing or letters, and therefore finding themselves soon forgetting the trans- actions that occur among them from time to time, supply this deficiency by making for themselve s a local memory by means of words which they attach to these belts, of which each one refers to some particular af- fair, or some circumstance, which it represents while it exists. " They are so much consecrated to this use that besides the name Odionni, which is their name for the kind of belts most used, they bestow that of Qarihona, which means a transaction; that of Gaouenda, voice or word, and of Qaianderenfera, which means grandeur or nobility; be- cause all the affairs dignified by these belts are the endowment and province of the ago'ianders or nobles. It is they who furnish them ; and it is among them that they are redivided when presents are made to the village, and when replies to the belts of their ambassadors are sent. " The agmanders and the ancients have, besides this, the custom of looking over them often together, and of dividing among themselves the care of noting certain ones, which are particularly assigned to them ; so that in this way they do not forget anything. " Their wampum would soon be exhausted if it did not circulate; but in almost all affairs, either within or without, the law requires a reply, word for word, that is to say, for one belt one must give another, to be of about the same value, observing, however, a slight difference in the number of beads, which must be proportioned to the rank of the per- sons or nations with which they treat. " They do not believe that any transaction can be concluded with- out these belts. Whatever proposition is made to them, or reply given them, by word of mouth alone, the affair falls through, they say, and they let it fall through very effectually, as though there had been no question about it. Europeans little informed or little concerned about their usages have slightly inconvenienced them on this point in retain- ing their belts without giving them a similar response. To avoid the inconvenience which might arise from this they acquired the style of giving only a small quantity, excusing themselves on the plea that their ' In order to make the authors meaning quite clear, a free translation has been given of such words asporcelaine, iranches, colliers, etc., as his use of them is somewhat confusing. UUUEAU OK ETIIXOLOUr ANNUAL KEPOET 1881 PL. XXXIX WAMPUM BELTS BELONGING TO THE ONONDACAS. -HoiJiKs.) WAMPUM IN TREATIES. 245 wampum was exhausted ; and tbey supplied the rest with packages of deer-skin, in return for which they were given trinkets of small value, so that transactions between the Europeans and them have become a sort of trade. "Although all the savage nations of America make various kinds of ornaments of shells, I believe that it is only those of North America who employ them in transactions. I cannot even aflBrm that all of these do.'" A very complete account of wampum is given by Loskiel, from whose work the following extract is made : " Four or six strings joined in one breadth, and fastened to each other with fine thread, make a belt of wampom, heing about three or four inches wide, and three feet long, containing, perhaps, four, eight, or twelve fathom of wampom, in proportion to its required length and breadth. This is determined by the importance of the subject which these belts are inteiided either to explain or confirm, or by the dignity of the persons to whom they are to be delivered. Everything of moment transacted at solemn councils, either between the Indians themselves or with Europeans, is ratified and made valid by strings and belts of wampom. Formerly, they used to give sanction to their treaties by de- livering a wing of some large bird ; and this custom still prevails among the more western nations, in transacting business with the Delawares. But the Delawares themselves, the Iroquois, and the nations in league with them, are now sufficiently provided with handsome and well- wrought strings and belts of wampom. Upon the delivery of a string, a long speech may be made and much said upon the subject under con- sideration, but when a belt is given few words are spolcen; but they must be words of great importance, frequently requiring an explanation. Whenever the speaker has pronounced some important sentence, he de- livers a string of wampom, adding, ' I give this string of wampom as a confirmation of what I have spoken'; but the chief subject of his dis- course he confirms with a belt. The answers given to a speech thus de- livered must also be confirmed by strings and belts of wampom, of the same size and number as those received. Neither the colour nor the other qualities of wampom are a matter of indifference, but have an immediate reference to those things which they are meant to confirm. The brown or deep violet, called black by the Indians, always means something of severe or doubtful import ; but the white is the colour of peace. Thus, if a string or belt of wampom is intended to confirm a warning against evil, or an earnest reproof, it is delivered in black. When a nation is called upon to go to war, or war declared against it, the belt is blaak, or marked with red, called by them, the colour of blood, having in the middle the figure of an hatchet in white wampom. * * * They refer to them as public records, carefully preserving them in a chest made for that purpose. At certain seasons they meet to study their meaning, and to renew the ideas of which they were an emblem ' Lafltau : Moeurs des Sauvages Ameiiquains, 1724, torn. II, pp. 502-3 and 506-'7. 246 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS, or confirmation. On such occasions they sit down around the chest, take out one string or belt after the other, handing it about to every person present, and that they may all comprehend its meaning, repeat the words pronounced on its delivery in their whole convention. By these means they are enabled to remember the promises reciprocally made by the different parties ; and it is their custom to admit even the young boys, who are related to the chiefs, to their assemblies ; they be- come early acquainted with all the affairs of the State ; thus the con- tents of their documents are transmitted to posterity, and cannot be easily forgotten." • It is to be presumed that if a treaty or a promise were broken, the belt would be released from its oflSce and in the same form, or worked into another, could again be used. Otherwise the records, if properly kept, would in time become extremely cumbersome. The repudiation of a treaty and of the wampum which accompanied it is recorded by Brice. It was at a council held at Miami, in 1790, between Mr. Gamelin and a number of tribes. Mr. Gamelin in begin- ning his speech presented each nation with strings of wampum, but "the Indians were displeased with the treaty, and after consulta- tion returned the wampum, saying : 'From all quarters we receive speeches from the Americans and not one is alike. We suppose that they intend to deceive us. Then take back your branches of wampum.' ThePottawatomies were better pleased with the speeches and accepted the wampum." ^ Another good example which illustrates the manner of canceling treaties, confirmed by wampum, is given by Mr. Gilpin: " When Washington, then but a youth of twenty-one, was intrusted by the colonial governor of Virginia with a mission to the western wilds of Pennsylvania, where the French from Canada were then pen- etrating and had already established, as was believed, four posts with- in our limits and were seeking to unite the natives in alliance against us, * * * he found that such an alliance had indeed been formed. He found that they had exchanged with the French, as its symbol, a wampum belt on which four houses were rudely embroidered — the rep- resentations of the posts which were to be defended, even at the risk of war. Influenced by his remontrances, the Indian sachems consented to withdraw from the alliance ; but they declared that the belt of wam- pum must be returned before the agreement could be abolished ; and one of the sachems repaired to the French commander in order to re- store to him the token of the warlike compact, and to proclaim the in- tention of the red men to take no part in the impending struggle."' Heckewelder relates that "it once happened that war messengers en- deavored to persuade and compel a nation to accept the belt by laying it on the shoulders or thigh of the chief, who, however, after shaking it ' Loskiel: Missions of the United Brethren. Trans, by La Trohe, Book 1, p. 26. 2 Brice : History of Fort Wayne, p. 118. ' Gilpin, in Memoirs of the Hist. Soo. of Penna. Vol. VI, p. 248. _ BUREAU OF ETIINOT.OnY ANNUAL KKPORT 1881 PL. XL WAMPUM BELT BELONGING TO THE ONONDAGAS. noLMBB.) WAMPUM AND OTHER MNEMONIC SYMBOLS. 247 off without touching it with his hands, afterwards, with a stick, threw it after them, as if he threw a snake or tpad out of his way."' It is remarkable that other objects were not more frequently used for mnemonic records. We can only explain the partiality shown to wam- pum on the supposition that the idea of value was not entirely lost sight of and that importance was attached to a record which in itself merited preservation. Yet instances of the use of other objects are often met with. Parkman states that " the figures on wampum belts of the Iroquois were for the most part simply mnemonic. So also were those carved in wooden tables, or painted on bark or skin, to preserve in memory the songs of war, hunting, or magic."' At one of the councils at Onondaga in 1690, a treaty was pledged and recorded in wampum by all the contracting parties but the New Eng- land colonies, which sent a wooden model of a fish as a token of their adherence to the terms of the treaty. ' Hunter, speaking of the manners and customs of the Osages, states that "they use significant emblems, such as the wing of the swan and wild goose, wampum, and pipes, in overtures for peace, while arrows, war clubs, and black and red painting, are used as indications or decla- rations of war. Any article, such as a skin painted black, or the wing of a raven, represents the death of friends, and when colored or striped with red, that of enemies. Amongst the Canada Indians when peace was conceded, a reddened hatchet was buried as a symbol of the oblivion of all past hostility between the contracting parties. A mutual ex- change of neck ornaments sealed the treaty after its terms were debated and determined. But all was not yet over, for the chiefs on each side proffered and accepted presents of rare articles, such as calumets of peace, embroidered deer skins, &c. This kind of ceremonial barter be- ing terminated to their mutual satisfaction, or otherwise, the conference broke up."* Gumilla saj'-s that the Oronoco Indians ratify their treaties with sticks which they give reciprocally, ' and the Araucanians, accordingto Molina, carry in their hands, when they conclude a peace, the branches of a tree, regarded as sacred by them, which they present to each other. * I have already enumerated the various kinds of beads and shown the sources from which they were derived and the uses to which they were apjjlied. I have yet to describe the manner in which they are strung or combined in strings and belts. The beads chosen as most convenient for stringing or weaving into fabrics were small cylinders from one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch in diameter, and from one-quarter to one-half an inch in length. White strings or belts were suflcient for the expression of simple ideas or the ' Heokewelder : Indian Nations, 1876, p. 110. 'Parkman : Jesuits in North America, p. xxxiii. 'Events in Indian History, Lancaster, Pa., 1841, p. 143. * Hunter : Indian Manners and Customs, p. 192. 'Gumilla: Histoire deOrinoque, Vol. Ill, p. 91. 'Molina: History of Cliili, Vol. I, i). 119. 248 ART IN SHELL OP THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. association of simple facts, but the combinations of colors in patterns rendered it possible to record much more complicated affairs. I^ belts used for mnemonic purposes the colors were generally arranged with- out reference to the character of the facts or thoughts to be intrusted to them, but in a few cases the figures are ideographic, and are significant of the event to be memorized. Strings cannot be utilized in this way. Wampum in strings. — From Mr. Beauchamp's notes I have compiled the following brief account of the use of strings of wampum among the modern Iroquois. Six strings of purple beads united in a cluster repre- sent the six nations. When the tribes meet the strands are arranged in a circle, which signifies that the council is opened. The Onondagas are represented by seven strings, which contain a few white beads ; the Cayugas by six strands, all purple, and the Tuscaroras by seven strands, nearly all purple. The Mohawks have six strings, on which there are two purple beads to one white. These are illustrated in Fig. 2, Plate XLIY. There are four strings in the Oneida cluster ; these contain two purple to one white bead. The Senecas have four strings, with two purple beads to one white. The three nations which were brothers are repre- sented by similar clusters. When a new chief is installed the address delivered on the occasion is " talked into" ten very long strings of white wampum. Three strings, mostly white, represent the name of the new chief. One of these clusters is shown in Fig. 1, Plate XLIY.' When a chief dies he is mourned on ten strings of black wampum. If he has merely lost his office, six short strings are used. According to Mr. Beauchamp, possession of beads gives authority, and they are also used as credentials, or, as the Indians express it, " Chief's wampum all same as your letter." Such of these strings as remain in existence are still in use among the Iroquois, and are consid- ered very precious by them, being made of antique hand-made beads. In the literature relating to our Indian tribes we find occasional ref- erence to the use of strings of wampum in ways that indicate that they were invested with certain protective and authoritative qualities, doubt- less from their association with the name of some chief, clan, or tribe. It is recorded that on one occasion Logan, the Mingo chief, saved a captive white from torture by rushing through the circle of Indians and throwing a string of wampum about the prisoner's neck. Through the virtue of this string he was enabled to lead him away and adopt him into his family. A somewhat different use is mentioned by Pike, to whom a Chippewa chief made a speech, during which he presented his pipe to Mr. Pike to bear to the Sioux. Attached to the pipe were seven strings of wam- pum, which signified that authority was given by seven chiefs of the Chijipeway to conclude peace or make war.' Wampum belts. — In the manufacture of belts a great deal of skill and ' From an original sketch by Mr. Beauoliamp. ' Pike : Travels through the "Western Territories of N. A., 1805-'7, p. 103. BUBBAV OV XTHHOLOGY ANiniAL BSPOBT 1881 FL. ZLI WAMPUM BELT BELONGING TO THE ONONDAGAS. BOLMEB.I MANUFACTURE OF WAMPUM BELTS. 249 taste have been shown. The large figured varieties were intricate in design and extremely pleasing in color. Belts of wampum beads were probably used simply as a part of the costume long before they became the vehicles of tradition, and beads were doubtless used in other parts of the costume in a similar manner. It is said that in New England they were made by the women ; in later times it is probable that the whites engaged to some extent in their manufacture. Mr. Morgan gives such a good account of the details of belt making that I beg leave to quote him in full : " In making a belt no particular pattern was followed; sometimes they are of the width of three fingers and three feet long, in other in- stances as wide as the hand and over three feet in length ; sometimes they are all of one color, in others variegated, and in still others woven with the figures of men to symbolize, by their attitudes, the objects or events they were designed to commemorate. The most common width was three fingers, or the width of seven beads, the length ranging from two to six feet. In belt making, which is a simple process, eight strands or cords of bark thread are first twisted, from filaments of slip- pery elm, of the requisite length and size ; after which they are passed through a strip of deer- skin to separate them at equal distances from each other in parallel lines. A piece of splint is then sprung in the form of a bow, to which each end of the several strings is secured, and by which all of them are held in tension, like warp threads in a weaving machine. Seven beads, these making the intended width of the belt, are then run upon a thread by means of a needle, and are passed under the cords at right angles, so as to bring one bead lengthwise between each cord and the one next in position. The thread is then passed back again along the upper side of the cords and again through each of the beads ; so that each bead is held firmly in its place by means of two threads, one passing under and one above the cords. This process is continued until the belt reaches its intended length, when the ends of the cords are tied, the end of the belt covered and afterward trimmed with ribbons. In ancient times both the cords and the thread were of sinew." ' In another place Mr. Morgan states that belts were also made by cov- ering one side of a deer-skin belt with beads, probably by sewing them on f a method which is everywhere common in the use of glass beads in modern work, but is not noticed in any of the mnemonic belts now extant. It is a remarkable as well as a lamentable fact that none of the great collections of the country can boast the possession of a wam- pum belt. Considering their importance in our early history, and the great numbers that at one time must have been in existence, this is rather extraordinary. I have taken considerable pains to collect accu- rate representations of a number of examples of the ancient belts for •Morgan, in Fifth Annual Report on the Condition of the New York State Cabinet of Natural History, 1852, p. 72. » Morgan : League of the Iroquois, p. 387. 250 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. this work, and am only sorry that 1 am uuable to present them in color — the only method by which they can be adequately shown. As those which have come to my notice represent but a few localities, I shall in- sert descriptions of a number from regions as remote as possible. There is, however, great uniformity in design and method of construction ; the result, probably, of their international character. From Heckewelder I quote the following : " Their belts of wampum are of different dimensions, both as to the length and breadth. White and black wampum are the kinds they use ; the former denoting that which is good, as peace ,friendship, good- will, &c.; the latter the reverse; yet occasionally the black also is made use of on peace errands, when the white cannot be procured ; but previous to its being produced for such purpose, it must be daubed all over with chalk, white clay, or anything which changes the color from black to white. * * * A black belt with the mark of a hatchet made on it with red paint is a war belt, which, when sent to a nation, together with a twist or roll of tobacco, is an invitation to join in a war. • • • Eoads from one friendly nation to another are generally marked on the belt by one or two rows of white wampum interwoven in the black, and running through the middle, and from end to end. It means that they are on good terms, and keep up a friendly intercourse with each other." i A belt accepted by the Indians of Western Pennsylvania from the French in a treaty which secured to the latter four forts within English territory had embroidered upon it four hoiises, pictographic represen- tations of the forts. Another example of the belts used in Pennsylvania, upwards of a century ago, is described in Beatty's Journal. The Delawares, in ex- plaining to Beatty a former treaty with Sir William Johnson, "showed a large belt of wampum of friendship which Sir William Johnson had given them. On each edge of this were severalrowsof black wampum, and in the middle were several rows of white wampum. In the middle of the belt was a flgiire of a diamond, in white wampum, which they called the council fire. The white streak they called the path from him to them and them to him.'" Loskiel states that " the Indian women are very dexterous in weav- ing the strings of wampom into belts, and marking them with different figures, perfectly agreeing with the different subjects contained in the speech. These figures are marked with white wampom upon black, and with black upon the white belts. For example, in a belt of peace, they very dexterously represent, in black wampom, two hands joined. The belt of peace is white, a fathom long and a hand's breadth."' In Plate XXXVII I present a fac-simile reproduction of a platefrom the well known work of Lafitau,'' in which we have a graphic yet ' Heckewelder : Indian Nations, 1876, pp. 108-'9-'10. « Beatty: Journal of Two Months Tour, 1768, p. 67. 'Loskiel : Missions of the United Brethren. Trans, by La Trobe, 1794. Book I, p. 26. * Lafitau : Moeurs des Sauvages Ameriquains, Tome, II, p. 314. Boums.] WAMPUM BELTS. 251 higlily conventional representation of a council or treaty in which wampum belts were used. It is probably drawn firom description and is far from truthful in detail. The more important facts are, however, very clearly presented. No iuformatioa is given either -of the people or the locality. The scene is laid in the middle of a broad featureless plain, the monotony of which is broken by three highly conventional- ized trees. The parties to the treaty are ranged in t>wo rows, placed, face to face. The chief who speaks stands at the farther end holding abelt in his right hand. Three other belts lie upon the mat at his feet, while a fifth is shown on a large scale in the foreground. The patterns can not be clearly made out, but in a general way resemble very closely the designs woven into the belts of the Irqouois. The small belt shown in Fig. 1. Plate XXXVIII, is probably one of the most recent examples. The cut is copied from Plate 1 of the Fifth Annual Eeport of the Eegents of the University of New York on the condition of the State Cabinet of Natural History, p. 72. The beads of which it is composed formerly belonged to the celebrated Mohawk chief, Joseph Brant. They were afterwards purchased from his daughter by Mr. Morgan. In 1850 they were taken to Tonawanda, in the State of New York, and made into this belt. The trimmings are apparently of rib- bons, and the symmetry and uniformity of the whole work give it a new look not noticeable in the other specimens. The design consists of a row of dark diamond-shaped figures upon a white ground. It is now pre- served in the State Cabinet of Natural History at Albany. A belt of unusual form is shown in Fig. 2, Plato XXXVIII. It was kindly lent by Mrs. E. A. Smith, of Jersey City, by whom it was obtained from the Mohawks. It is 26 inches (251 beads) in length and in width varies from three inches (11 beads) at one end to aboub one inch (5 beads) at the other. It is bifurcated at the wide end, five rows having been omitted from the middle of the belt for about one-third of the length. Near the middle of the belt one row of beads is dropped from each side. Between this and the smaller end at nearly equal intervals it is twice depleted in a like manner. The beads are quite irregular in shape and size, but rather new look- ing and are strung in the usual manner, the longitudinal strings being buckskin and the transverse small cords of vegetable fiber. The ends and edges are all neatly finished by wrapping the marginal strings with a thin fillet of buckskin. The figures are in white beads upon a ground of purple. The form of this belt indicates that it has been adapted to some particular use, the placing of cords at the corners and shoulders suggesting its attachment in a fixed position to some part of the i)erson or costume. In Plates XXXIX, XL, XLI and XLII, I present a series of illus- trations of the wampum belts belonging to the Onondagas. They are preserved as a most precious treasure by these people at their agency in Onondaga County, New York. The drawings were made by Mr. Trill from a series of minute i)hotographs made from the original 252 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. belts by General J. S. Clark, of Auburn, New York. These were ob- tained for me by the Rev. W. M. Beauchamp, of Bald winsville, New Tork, who has also very kindly furnished many of the facts embodied in the following descriptions.' These belts are made in the usual manner, and present a great variety of shapes, sizes, and designs. Their full history has never been obtained by the whites, and it is not probable that the Indians themselves have preserved a very full account of their origin and significance. They are all ancient, and, judging by their appearance, must date far back in the history of the League. Many of them are quite fragmentary, and fears are entertained that they will gradually fall to pieces and be lost It is to be hoped that measures will be taken to have them preserved at least in the form of accurate chromo-lithographs. Mr. Beauchamp, states that they are yearly wasting away, as a little wampum is annu- ally cast into the fire at the burning of the " white dog," and these belts are the source of supply. The small belt presented in Pig, 1, Plate XXXIX, is somewhat fragmentary, an unknown number of beads having been lost from the ends. It is seven rows wide and at present two hundred beads long. The design consists of a series of five double diamonds worked in dark wampum upon white. At one end a few rows of an additional figure remain, and at the other a small white cross is worked upon a ground of dark beads. The number of figures may be significant of the num- ber of parties to a treaty. Fig. 2 represents a well preserved belt, seven rows in width and about three hundred and twenty in length. The ground is of dark wam- pum, on which are worked five hexagonal figures of white wampnm. For a short space at the ends alternate rows are white. As was sug- gested in regard to the preceding belt, the figures in this may represent the parties to a treaty. The belt shown in Fig 3 differs from the others in being picto- graphic. It is also quite perfect, although the character of the beads indicates considerable age. It is seven rows in width and three hun- dred and fifty beads in length. The figures are white, on a dark ground, and consist of a cross near one end, connected by a single row of beads with the head of the figure of a man toward the other end. Beneath the feet of the elementary man the figure of a diamond is worked. The cross is probably significant of the mission of the man who comes from a long distance to the lodge or council of the red man. This is proba- bly a French belt. The remnant of a very handsome belt is shown in Plate XL. Consider- able wampum has been lost from both ends, but the design appears to be nearly perfect, and consists of a trowel or heart-shaped figure in the center with two rectangular figures on the right and two on the left. These are in white upon a dark ground. Mr. Beauchamp states that it ' Mr. Beauchamp baa published many interesting facts in regard to these belts in the American Antiquarian, Vol. II, No. 3. )«/ ^y H mw'^m MM r ^ - ~ ^ S 5 ~ - " = " ^ =- ^ ^ S ? ip 1 i i ^ = ^ J ^' i^^^ 3 H^ - •^ - ^S S i ~ WM ■i ' - ^ :_ - .":; ^ ^- %'-:l:\\\% iului'^^ c ;: : ^ - ' i n '"-'^'-Zit'iV; ?;;;;•■:■;*? ■, :. : ^'. V; ^ ~i " z - ^ J ^ -^ ■' ^ - - - - -- 1 2 : : i lli^z-yii M !;! n' ( iiSi y ^:-;n^:^ ^?;pH; (i ■ - ^ s ; ; f^ 3 Jfc - fc - .. - -. 7 _ - - H V^^ -' S = ^ - - ^ = 4 H: : fli ^ S^Bi ^ ►tf - - - a^ . W ^ a£S ="-i;* 1 CHtVI: ^ ^ ; ;■ : 3 - 1 1 1 j w 11 rf - ^ ; ; ^ --*::: i L w f4iI . i ; c . j J i E^ ft a ^^ - -: ^ - -. - -i^ f-J" ^ '■ -^ :■ „^ lief ■-■-;■•, 1 - » ; 3: ; : J^ S i ■ 2 ^ ^ ■ - ■---;:;; ft E ; i ^'liiMn :,- ;H^|' 5^;-$pi iiii;=; '- ^ ^ ^ ^ - = - " ¥ 1 * S ■ E 5j ;s, t -i^_ ■ - — - - -Vr ~- ". ~ir||p 1 ''■ - 5 - -ll ^ ■- :. - ^ T ,.' 1 - s - ^ c-lf ^ - 7 V '^- !*■ ti^3. jT _ ■ - F ^ Ji >■ ' - - t - ■- - 1 ^ 'I I '-t ^ 1-^ ~ -H ; _ "" - - r, Z iff* - _ £ " ~ 1^^ "^ ^ Present chief of the Onoudagas. 254 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMEEICANS. sylvania at some one of hia treaties with the tribes that occupied the province ceded to him. Up to the year 1857 this belt remained in the ke€ping of the Penn family. In March, 1857, it was presented to the Pennsylvania Historical Society by Granville John Penn, a great grandson of William Penn. Mr. Penn, in his speech on this occasion,' states that there can be no doubt that this is the identical belt used at the treaty, and presents his views in the following language : " In the first place, its dimensions are greater than of those used on more ordi- nary occasions, of which we have one still in our possession — ^this belt being composed of eighteen strings of wampum — which is a j)roof-that it was the record of some very important negotiation. In the next place, in the center of the belt, which is of white wampum, are de- lineated in dark-colored beads, in a rude but graphic style, two figures— that of an Indian grasping with the hand of friendship the hand of a man evidently intended to be represented in the Europiean costume, wearing a hat ; which can only be interpreted as having reference to the treaty of peace and friendship which was then concluded between William Penn and the Indians, and recorded by them in their own simple but descriptive mode of expressing their meaning, by the employ- ment of hieroglyphics. Then the fact of its having been preserved in the family of the founder from that period to the present time, having descended through three generations, gives an authenticity to the docu- ment which leaves no doubt of its genuineness ; and as the chain and medal which were presented by the Parliament to Lis father, the admiral, for his naval services, have descended amongst the family archives un- accompanied by any written document, but is recorded on the journals of the House of Commons, equal authenticity may be claimed for the wampum belt confirmatory of the treaty made by his son with the Indians ; which event is recorded on the page of history, though, like the older relic, it has been unaccompanied in its descent by any docu- ment in writing." It will be seen, by reference to the accompanying illustration, that beside the two figures of men there are three oblique bands of dark wampum, one on the left and two on the right. The one next the cen- tral group on the right is somewhat broken, and consists of two long bauds and one short one. It is probable that these bands were used to record, by association, some-important -features of the treaty in which the belt was used. The beads are strung upon cords made of sinew or vegetable fibre, while the longitudinal fillets are of buckskin. This belt may be seen at the rooms of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. ' The proceedings atteuding the presentation are fully recorded in the Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, volume iii, page 207. A full size lithogiaphio Ulostration of the belt printed in color is also given. BUREAU OP ETHnOLOOY ANNUAL KEPOBT 1881 PL. XLIV 1. Name of Now Chief. 2. "Mohawk.' STRINGS OP WAMPUM. HOLMES.) PENDANT ORNAMENTS. 255 PENDANTS. It would probably be vaiu to attempt to determine how pendant or- naments first came into use, whether from some utilitarian practice or through some superstitious notion. It matters not, however, whether the first pendant was an implement, a utensil, or a fetichitic talisman ; it has developed by slow stages into an ornament upon which has been lavished the best efforts of culture and skill. The simple gorget of shell suspended upon the naked breast of the preadamite is the proto- type of many a costly jewel and many -a princely decoration. With the American savage it was a guardian spirit, invested with the mystery and the power of the sea, and among the more cultured tribes became in time the' receptacle of the most ambitious efforts of a phenominal art. The important place the gorget has taken in ornament and as a means of displayipg personal aggrandizement has made it a most pow- erful agent in the evolution of the arts of taste. As a rule the larger and more important pendants are employed as gorgets, but vast numbers of the smaller specimens are strung with beads at intervals along the strings, attached as auxiliary pendants to the larger gorgets, suspended from the nose, ears, and wrists, or form tinkling borders to head-dresses and garments. These pendants con- sist either of entire shells, or of parts of shells, pierced or grooved to facilitate suspension. The purely artificial forms are infinitely varied. The character of the shell, however, has much to do with the form of the finished ornaments, deciding their thickness and often their outline. In size they range from extremely minute forms to plates six or more inches in diameter. The perforations, in position and number, are greatly varied, but as a rule the larger discoidal pendants will be found to have two marginal perforations for suspension. These nicely-polished shell-disks afforded tempting tablets for the primitive artist, and retain manj' specimens of his work as an engraver. The engraved specimens, however, should be treated separately, accord- ing to the class of design which they contain. Plain pendants need but a brief notice, and may be treated together as one group, with such subdivisions only as may be suggested by their form, their derivation, or their geographical distribution. .. Plain pendants. — It will be unnecessary to cite authorities to show that our ancient peoples were fond of pendant ornaments, and wore them without stint, but to illustrate the manner in which they were used and the methods of combining them with other articles of jewelry in necklaces, bracelets, &c., I shall refer briefly to the literature of the period of American discovery. The inhabitants of Mexico are said to have been very simple in the matter of dress, but displayed much vanity in their profuse employ- ment of personal ornament. Besides feathers and jewels, with which 256 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. they adorned their clothes, they wore pendants to the ears, nose, and lips, as well as necklaces, bracelets, and anklets. The ear ornaments of the poor were shells, pieces of crystal, amber, and other brilliant stones, but the rich wore pearls, emeralds, amethysts, or other gems, set in gold.' The priestly personages so graphically delineated in the an- cient Aztec manuscripts are as a rule loaded down with pendant orna- ments. In traveling north along the west coast of Mexico the Friar Niza encountered Indians who wore many large shells of mother of pearl about their necks, and farther up toward Cibola the inhabitants wore pearl shells upon their foreheads ;^ and Cabeja de Vaca when among the pueblos of New Mexico noticed beads and corals that came from the "South Sea." Ornaments made from marine shells are found in many of the ancient ruins to-day. They are also highly valued by the modern Indians of this region. In the earliest accounts of the Indians of the Atlantic coast we find frequent mention of the use of pendants and gorgets, and the manner of wearing them as ornaments. Beverly, after having described, beads made of a shell resembling the English buglas, says that they also make "runtees" of the same shell, and grind them as smooth as peak. " These are either large like an oval Bead, diill'd the length of the Oval, or else they are circular and flat, almost an Inch over, and one Third of an Inch thick, and drill'd edgeways. Of this Shell they also make round Tablets of about four Inches Diameter, which they X)olish as smooth as the other, and sometimes they etch or grave there- on Circles, Stars, a half Moon, or any other Figure suitable to their Fancy. These they wear instead of Medals before or behind their Neck, and use the Peak, Buntees, and Pipes for Coronets, Bracelets, Belts, or long Strings hanging down before the Breast, or else they lace their Garments with them, and adorn their lomahawJcs, and every other thing that they value."^ The "Pipes" here spoken of were probably long, heavy cylindrical beads. In referring to this class of ornaments, Lafitau says : " The collars which the savages sometimes wear around the neck are about a foot in diameter, and are not different from those which one now sees on some antiques,* on the necks of statues of barbarians. The northern savages wear on the breast a plate of hollow shell, as long as the hand, which has the same effect as that which was called ^wHa among the Eomans."* Wood, speaking of the Indians of Northern New England, in 1634, says : "Although they be thus poore, yet is there in them the sparkes of naturall pride, which appeares in their longing desire after many kinds of ornaments, wearing pendants in their eares, as formes of birds, beasts, and fishes carved out of bone, shels, and stone, with long brace- 'Clavigero: History of Mexico, Trans, by CuUen, vol. I, p. 437. •Davis: Spanish Conquest of New Mexico, p. 121. Beverly : History of Virginia, p. 196. ■•Lafitau : Moeurs des Sauvages Ameriquains, p. 61. BUltBAU OF KTHNOLOGV ANNUAL REl'OUT 1881 PL. XLV 1 ], 2. Necklarea, from Lafltau. •A. From De Bry. 4, 5. From Mexican paintings. 6, 7, 8. From ancient sculptures. 9. Bracelet from a Peruvian grave. ANCIENT PENDAXTb. H0LMK8.J ANCIENT PENDANT ORNAMENTS: 257 lets of their curious wampompeag and mowhackees, which they put about their necks and loynes."' Kalm says of the Indians of Lorette, near Quebec, Canada, that " round their necks they have a string of violet wampums, with little white wampums between them. These wampums are small, of the fig- ure of oblong pearls, and made of the shells which the English call clams. At the end of the wampum strings many of the Indians wear a large French silver coin, with the king's efiSgy, on their breasts ; others have a Jarge shell on the breast, of a fine white colour, which they value very high, and is very dear ; others, again, have no ornament at all round the neck."* Pendants of metal and medals of European manufacture soon replaced in a great measure the primitive gorgets of shell ; and early in the his- tory of the tribes a heterogeneous collection of native beads, silver crosses, and traders' medals, ornamented the breasts of the simple savages. In studying the' habits and customs of our native peoples we look with a great deal of interest upon the earliest historical records, but generally find it prudent to remember that the " personal equation" was unusually large in those days, and in studying the illustrations given in the works of early writers we must make due allowance for the well- known tendency to exaggerate as well as for the fact that the artist has more frequently drawn from descriptions than from sketches made on the spot. In Plate XLV two examples are given which seem to me to be trust- worthy, as they agree with the descriptions given, and are in a general way characteristic of the American aborigines. Fig. 1 is reproduced, original size, from Plate 2, Volume II, of Lafitau, and shows a broad necklace ornamented with figures that resemble arrow heads. From this, by means of a cord, is suspended a large circular disk with con- cave front, which undoubtedly represents a shell gorget. In front of this and suspended from the necklace are two long strands of beads of various sizes and shapes, which give completeness to a very tasteful ornament. In the same plate is a pretty fair drawing of a native in costume. He is represented wearing a necklace similar to the one just described. An enlarged drawing of this ornament is given in Fig. 2. In Fig. 3 I reproduce a necklace from a plate in De Bry, which consists of a string of beads with two large disks that look more like metal than shell. A similar ornament is shown in Fig. 4, but with figured disks and secondary pendants. It is copied from the Codex of the Vatican. A common form of necklace among the ancient Aztecs con- sisted of small univalve shells suspended from a string. One of these, with other pendants, is shown in Fig. 5. It is also copied from the Vatican Codex. Others of a much more complex nature may be found ' Wood : New England Prospect, p. 74. •Kalm: Travels in North America, 1772, vol. ii, p. 320. 17 E 258 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. in the same manuscript. Of even greater interest are the beautiful necklaces, with their pendants, found in the sculptures of Mexico and Yucatan. ' Three of these are shown in Figs, 6, 7, and 8. One has a disk with human features engraved upon it, another has a cross with equal arms, and another a T-shaped cross. AH have more or less auxiliary ornamentation. In Pig. 9 I present a bracelet of beads and pendants from Peru which illustrates one of the simpler uses of pendants. I have not learned whether the parts of this ornament were originally arranged as given in the cut or not ; the original stringing may have been some- what different. The beads are mostly of shell, and are of a variety of colors, white, red, yellow, and gray. The discoidal and cylindrical forms are both represented. The former range from one-eighth to three-eighths of an inch in diameter ; the latter are one-eighth of an inch in thick- ness and three-eighths in length. The larger pendants, made of whitish shell, are carved to represent some life form, probably a bird; a large perforation near the upper end passes through the head, two oblique notches with deep lines at the sides, define the wings, and a series of notches at the wide end represent the tail. Two smaller pendants are still simpler in form, while another, with two nearly cen- tral perforations and notched edges, resembles a button. Eastern forms. — The great number of elaborately carved and engraved gorgets of shell found among the antiquities of the Atlantic slope, all of which need careful descriptions, so overshadow the simple forms illustrated in Plate XL VI, that only a brief description of the latter need be given. Rudeness of workmanship and simplicity of form do not in any sense imply greater antiquity or a less advanced state of art. The simpler forms of plain pendants constitutedtheevery-day jewelry of the average people and, like beads, were probably used freely by all who de- sired to do so. Many forms are found — circular, oval, rectangular, tri- angular, pear-shaped, and annular. The more ordinary forms are found in mounds and graves in all parts of the country ; other forms are more restricted geographically, and probably exhibit features peculiar to the works of a particular clan, tribe, or group of tribes. Even these simple forms may have possessed some totemic or mystic significance ; it is not impossible that the plainer disks may have had significant figures painted upon them. Such of the forms as are found to have definite geographic limits become of considerable interest to the archaeologist. In method of manufacture they do not differ from the most ordinary implements or beads, the margins being trimmed, the surfaces polished and the perforations made in a precisely similar manner. In Plate XL VI I present a number of plain circular disks. The larger specimens are often as much as four or even five inches in diam- eter and the smaller fraternize with beads, as I have shown in Plate XLV. Figs. 1 and 2 are from a mound at Parat Eock Ferry, Tenn. They are neat, moderately thin, concavo-convex disks, with smooth sur- • Vide Kingsborough, Waldeok, Bancroft, &o. Ill Ill.Al- OF KTHKOIOOY AXXIAI. IIF.I'OIIT H-81 i'L. XI.Vl ff'- V PENDANT ORNAMENTS— EASTERN FORMS. Houms.! PENDANT ORNAMENTS OP THE M0UND-BUILDEE8. 259 faces and rounded edges. The first lias two perforations at the upper edge, while the other has similarly placed but much smaller ones, be- sides a small central perforation surrounded by an incised circle. The national collection contains similar specimens from most of the Atlantic States ; they differ from the larger discoidal beads only in the method of perforation. A typical specimen of this class, four and a half inches in diameter, is shown in Fig. 3. It was associated with the remains of a number of children in a mound in Hardin County, Ohio. Disks of this class were usually suspended upon the breast with the concave side out. That many of the specimens described were suspended in this way is indicated by the character of the abrasion produced by the cords. On the concave side the cord of suspension has worn deep grooves between the perforations, and on the opposite or convex side similar grooves extend obliquely upward from the holes toward the margin of the disk, indicat- ing the passage of the cord upward and outward around the neck of the wearer. A large white disk, similar to the one just described, was obtained from a grave at Accotink, Va. It is five inches in diameter and has one central and three marginal perforations. It is made from a Busyconper- versum, and is neatly shaped and well polished. A fine specimen two inches in diameter was obtained from a mound on the French Broad Eiver, Tenn., and, with many other similar speci- mens, is now in the national collection. The central perforation is often very much enlarged. A number of specimens, recently sent to the National Museum, from a mound in Auglaize County, Ohio, show several stages of this enlargement. One specimen five inches across has a perforation nearly one inch in diame- ter, while in another the perforation is enlarged until the disk has be- come a ring. These gorgets show evidences of long use, the surfaces and edges being worn and the perforations much extended in the man- ner described above. They have been derived from the Buaycon per- versum. In Fig. 4 I illustrate an annular gorget from a mound in Alexander County, 111. It was found associated with ornaments of copper by the side of a human skull, and is hence supposed to have been an ear or- nament. It is fragmentary and has suffered greatly from decay, the surface being mostly covered with a dark film of decomposed shell sub- stance, which when broken away, exposes the chalky surface of the shell. These shell rings, so far as I can learn, have been found in the States of Ohio and Illinois only. Rectangular pendants are much more rare. The national collection contains one rude specimen from Texas. It is about two inches wide by two and a half long, and is made from the base of some large dex- tral-whorled shell. A similar but much more finished specimen comes from Georgia, and is preserved in the New York Natural History Mu- seum. 260 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. A large keystone-shaped gorget with rounded corners was obtaioed from an ancient burial place at Beverly, Canada. It is illustrated in Plate L, Fig. 1. The small pendant shown in Fig. 5 is given by Schoolcraft in "Notes on the Iroquois." It represents rudely the human figure, and is orna- mented with eight perpendicular and four or five transverse dots. It was found on the site of an old fort near Jamesville, K". T. In the same work Mr. Schoolcraft illustrates another small pendant, which is repro- duced in Fig. 6. The body is heart-shaped, the perforation being made through a rectangular projection at the upper end. It was found at Onondaga, N. T. The small pendant presented in Fig. 7 is from West Bloomfield, N. Y. It has been suspended by means of a shallow groove near the upper end. It is made from the basal point of a dextral-whorled shell. The handsome little pendant shown in Fig. 8 was found with similar specimens in Monroe County, New York — probably on some ancient vil- lage site. It is well preserved and has been made from the columella of a dextral-whorled shell. An ornamental design, consisting of lines and dots, is engraved upon the face. A small, deeply countersunk perfora- tion has been made near the upper end. These objects have appar- ently been strung with beads, as the perforations show evidence of such abrasion as beads would produce. Many of the New York specimens have a new look, and their form suggests the possibility of civilized in- fluence. They are certainly more recent than the western and southern specimens. A small cylindrical pendant is illustrated in Fig. 9. A large, neat perforation has been made at the upper end, and the middle portion of the body is ornamented by a series of encircling grooves. This speci- men has been made from a large Unio and was obtained from a mound in Union County, Ky. Western forms. — In variety of form the plain pendants of the Cali- fornia coast excel all others. Specimens from the graves are generally well preserved, not having lost their original iridescence, although so much decayed as to suffer considerably from exfoliation. As indicated by the present well preserved condition of these shell ornaments, they are probably not of very ancient date; indeed it is highly probable that many of them are post-Columbian. Cabrillo visited the island of Santa Rosa in 1542 and found a numer- ous and thriving people. In 1816 only a small remnant of the inhabi- tants remained, and these were removed to the main-land by Catholic priests. Their destruction is attributed to both war and famine. The history of the other islands is doubtless somewhat similar. Articles made from shell are found to resemble each other very closely, whether from the islands or the main-land. All probably belong to the same time, and although the peoples of the islands are said to have ispoken a different language from those of the main-land, their arts were BUBEAU OF KTUKOLOOr ANSIAJ. UEPOET 1881 PL. XLVn PLAIN PENDANTS— PACIFIC COAST FOKMS. (I) HOLMES.] PENDANT ORNAMENTS OP THE ANCIENT CALIFORNIANS. 261 apparently pretty much the same. They do not differ, as far as works in shell are concerned, from the modem tribes of the main-land. There is also a noticeable resemblance between the art of the ancient Cali- fornia Islanders and that of the present inhabitants of the great Pacific archipelagoes. The record of many of the specimens obtained from these islands seems to be very incomplete, scarcely more being tnown than the fact that they were obtained from the ancient graves. Since, however, they are almost exclusively ornaments belonging probably to a single period, detailed accounts of their methods of occurrence would not add greatly to their value. In previous chapters vessels, hooks, and beads made of the Haliotia have been described, and the higli estimation in which they are every- where held briefly noted. The variety of ways in which this shell is utilized is indeed remarkable and the multitude of forms into which it is worked for ornament is a matter of surprise. All are neatly and effect- ively worked, and evince no little skill and taste on the part of the makers. The HalioUs is not the only shell used, but it has no rival in point of beauty. Bivalve shells are utilized to a considerable extent, many tasteful things being made from the Mssurella,ili6 Mytilus, the Pachydes- ma, and the Pecten. The perforations are generally neatly made and are more numerous than in similar eastern specimens ; besides those for suspension there are frequently many others for the attachment of sec- ondary pendants and for fastening to the costume. Many specimens are ornamented with edgings of notches and crossed lines but very few have been found on which significant characters have been engraved, and we look in vain for parallels to the curious designs characteristic of the gorgets of the mound-builders. A glance at the numerous examples given in Plates XL VII, XLVIII, and XLIX will give a good idea of the multiplicity of forms into which these ornaments are wrought. A rather remarkable group of pendants is represented by Fig. 1. They are characterized by a deep scallop at the left, with a long curved hook- like projection above. They take their form from the shape of the lip of the Saliotis, from which they are made — the hook being the upper point of the outer lip where it joins the body, and the scallop the line of the suture. The body of the ornament ,is formed from the lip of the shell. In size they vary to some extent with the shells from which they are derived. The body is at times quite oval and again slender and hooked like the blade of a sickle. The perforations are generally very numerous, a fact that indicates their use as central pieces for composite pendants. It is apparent that the wearers thought more of the ex- quisite coloring of these ornaments than of the outline or surface finish. This is only one of many instances that prove the innate and universal appreciation of beauty of color by savage peoples. 262 ART IN SHELL OP THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. In Fig. 2 a fine example of the subtriangular or keystone-shaped pendants is presented. The edges are very neatly cut and the corners slightly rounded. The back is ground smooth, but on the front the original surface of the shell is preserved, the colors being extremely rich and brilliant. A single perforation has been drilled near the upper end. It is made from a Haliotis rufescens, and was obtained from the island of Santa Eosa. The handsome specimen shown in Pig. 3 was obtained from a grave on the island of San Miguel. It has suffered much from decay. There are four neatly made perforations near the center. It has apparently been cut from the same shell as the preceding. Pig. 4 is a small keystone-shaped specimen having two perforations. Pig. 5 represents a small, delicate specimen of rectangular shape, having two minute perforations. This, as well as the preceding, was obtained from a grave on the island of San Miguel. Pig. 6 illustrates a small oval, wafer-like specimen, the edges of which have been ornamented with a series of crossed lines. It has three neat perforations on the line of the longer axis. It is from the island of Santa Cruz. Pig. 7 represents a small button-like disk with a central perforation; the margin is ornamented with a series of radiating lines. It was ob- tained from Santa Barbara. A pendant of very peculiar form is shown in Fig. 8. The oval body has three marginal projections, all of which are perforated ; there is also a perforation near the center. The surface retains a heavy coating of some dark substance, which gives the ornament much the appearance of corroded metal. It was obtained from San Miguel Island. In a number of cases advantage has been taken of the natural per- forations of the shell, both to give variety to the outline of small pend- ants and to save the labor of making artificial perforations. A very handsome little specimen is shown in Pig. 9. The two indentations above and below represent two of the natural perforations of the shell; artificial perforations are made in each of the four comers or wings. It was also obtained from the island of San Miguel. Pig. 10 represents a leaf-shaped pendant with notched edges and a single perforation. It comes from the island of Santa Cruz. The examples given are typical of the very large class of ornaments derived from the Saliotidm. The striking specimens shown in Plate XLVni are, with one exception, made from shells of this class. The two sickle-shaped pendants illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 are made from the broadened inner lip of the Haliotis californianus (?). In one a single perforation has been made near the upper end ; in the other there are two, one near each end. The faces have been neatly dressed and the corners ornamented with minute notches. They are from graves on Santa Cruz Island. Two exquisite specimens, also from Santa Cruz Island, are presented in Pigs. 3 and 4. They have been cut from the body of a BUBSAU OP BTHXOtOOY ANNUAt, nBrORT 1881 PI. XLVin "■'^"^^'^^^iiifeii^i^idk^i.,^ 1-7. Pendants made of the Haliotis. i\) 8. Pendant made of a Cyprea. (J) PENDANT ORNAMENTS OF THE PACIFIC COAST. H0LMB8) PENDANT ORNAMENTS OF THE ANCIENT CALIFORNIANS. 263 Haliotis splendem (?), and finished with much care. Two perforations have been made near the upper margin, which is arched or curved while the lower is nearly straight. The edges are neatly notched. Although somewhat altered by exposure these objects are still very pretty. A very neat, well preserved little pendant is shown in Fig. 6. The specimen presented in Fig. C is peculiar in having a series of five per- forations, one near the middle and the others near the ends. The ex- ample given in Fig. 7 has two perforations, one at each end. These are all made from species of the Haliotis. The specimen presented in Fig. 8 is made from the lip of a Cyprea spadicea with very little change except the carefully made perforation. It is from the island of San Miguel. The idea of beautifying orna- ments made from the Saliotis and other shells by notching the edges may have been suggested by the natural notches characteristic of the Cypreas. Figs. 1, 2, and 3, Plate XLIX, illustrate a group of small, delicate, ladle-shaped pendants. The perforation for suspension is at the upper end of the handle and the body has an oval or circular perforation, which is often so enlarged as to leave only a narrow ring, like the rim of an eyeglass. The specimen shown in Fig. 3 has two lobes, with a large perforation or opening in each. In one instance the handle is quite wide at the upper end and ornamented by two deep lateral notches. The edges of these specimens are nearly always adorned with notches or crossed lines. All are fashioned from the Haliotis, and although con- siderably stained are still well enough preserved to show the pearly lusters of that shell. Circular and oval disks are also numerous and vary much in finish; some have a great number of perforations or indentations, and nearly all are neatly notched around the margins. Examples are given in Figs. 4 and 6. The national collection contains a number of rings and pieces of rings made from the valves of a large clam, probably a Pectunculus, one ex- ample of which is shown in Fig. 6. The convex back of the shell is ground off until a marginal ring only remains. A perforation is made near the angle of the beak. The shell is from the California coast, but the rings were collected mostly if not entirely from Arizona and New Mexico. It is not impossible that the tribes of the interior procured these articles from white traders, as they are known to have secured other shell ornaments in this way. The natives of the California coast were not slow in taking advantage of natural forms to aid their art or to save labor. The sheUs of the FissurellidcB as well as of the Haliotidce have been in great favor. They have been used as beads and pendants in their natural state or the nat- ural perforations have been enlarged until only a ring has been left, or the margin and sides have been ground down untU nothing of the origi- nal form or surface remained. Two of these forms are shown in Figs. 7 264 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. and 8. They are from graves on San Miguel Island, and are made from the Imcupina crenulata; others come from Santa Cruz Island, and proba- bly also from the adjoining islands as well as from the main land. Eings are also made from other shells. Examples made from the Aemcea mitra and Gyprea spadicea are shown in Figs. 9, 10, and 11. They come from San Miguel. PEEFOEATED PLATES. We find that pendant gorgets grade imperceptibly into another group of objects, the use or significance of which have not be fully determined. These objects are more frequently made of stone or copper, but good examples in shell have been found. As a rule they take the form of thin oblong plates which exhibit great variety of outline. The perfora- tions are peculiar, and have not been designed for ordinary suspension, but are placed near the middle of the specimen as if for fixing it to the person or costume by means of cords. Many theories have been ad- vanced in attempting to determine their use. They have been classed as gorgets, badges of authority, shuttles, armor plates, wrist protectors, and as implements for sizing sinews and twisting cords. Objects of this class in stone have been frequently illustrated and described. They are made of many varieties of stone, some of which seem to have been selected on account of their beauty. They have been neatly shaped and often well-polished. The edges are occasionally notched and the surfaces ornamented with patterns of incised lines. The perforations vary from one to four, the greater number of speci- mens, however, having only two. In the early days of mound explora- tion objects of this class were even greater enigmas, if possible, than they are to-day. Even the material of which a number of them were formed remained for a long time undetermined. Schoolcralt has published an illustration of a large specimen from the Grave Creek Mound, Va. This drawing is reproduced in Fig. 3, Plate L. The original was six inches long, one and three-tenths inches wide, and three-tenths of an inch in thickness. He expresses the opinion that it was one of those ancient badges of authority formerly in such general use among the Indians.* Another specimen, very much like the lastin size and shape, but made of shell, supposed at the time of discovery to be ivory, was found asso- ciated with human remains in the Grave Creek Mound. It is described by Mr. Tomlinson in the American Pioneer,^ and the cut given in Plate L, Fig. i, is copied from that work. A remarkable specimen of this class is given in Pig. 5. It is made ' Schoolcraft, in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc, Vol. II, Plate 1. 'Tomlinson, in The American Pioneer, Vol. II, p. 200. BURBill) OF BTIINOLOOY \NNl'AI. UEPOHT 1881 VI, XLIX PLAIN PKXDANTS-PACIFIC COAST FORMS. (0 aoLMKs.] CENTRALLY PERFORATED TABLETS. 265 from the body of a large Busycon perversum, and is nine and a half inches long by three inches in width at the widest part. The concave surface has been highly polished, but is now somewhat roughened by weathering; the back has been slightly ground to take off the rougher ridges of growth; the edges are even and rounded and in many places quite thin. The peculiarity of its shape is such as to give it very much the appearance oif the sole of a sandal. The perforations are three in number, one being near the middle and the others near the broader end, about one and a half inches apart ; they are very neatly made and are slightly bi-conical and a little countersunk. There appears to be no evi- dence whatever of abrasion by use. It was found associated with human remains in a mound at Sharpsburg, Mercer County, Ohio. A similar specimen from the same locality is nearly nine inches in length, and lacks but a little of three and a half inches in width. As in the speci- men illustrated, one perforation is placed near the middle and two others near the broader end. This specimen is highly polished on the broader part of the back, and is evenly smoothed on the concave side. It bears evidence of considerable use, and the two holes are much worn by a string or cord, which, passing from one hole to the other on the concave side of the plate, gradually worked a deep groove between them. On the back or convex side, the perforations show no evidence of wear. The central perforation is not worn on either side. The letter of Mr. Whitney, transmitting this relic to the National Museum, states that there were in the mound " about ten pairs of the shell sandals of dififerent sizes, and made to fit the right and left feet." From the latter remark I should infer that some were made from dextral and others from sinis- tral shells; the two described are made from the Busycon perversum. An extremely fine specimen, much like the preceding, was exhumed from an ancient mound in Hardin County, Ohio. It was found on the head of a skeleton which occupied a sitting posture near the center of the mound. It is nine inches in length by three and one-half inches in width, and in shape resembles the sole of a moccasin, being somewhat broader and less pointed than the specimen presented in Fig, 5. It had been placed upon the skull with the wider end toward the back, but whether laid there as a burial offering simply or as constituting a part of the head-dress of the dead savage we have no means of determin- ing. The perforations are three in number, and are placed similarly to those in the specimen illustrated in Fig. 5. Two other skeletons had similar plates associated with them, which differed from the one de- scribed in size only, the smaller one being less than six inches in length. Lithographs of two of these specimens are given by Mr. Matson, in whose very excellent report they were first described.' The gorget presented in Fig. 1 of this plate is copied from School- craft.* It was taken, along with many other interesting relics, from I Matson, in Ohio Centennial Report, p. 131. 'Schoolcraft: History of the Indian Tribes, &c., part I, plate XIX. 266 AKT IN SHELL OP THE ANCIENT AMEEICANS. one of the ossuaries at Beverly, Canada West. It is formed from some large sea shell, and is three inches in width by three and three-fourths inches in length. Its perforations are four in number, and are so placed as to be conveniently used either for suspension by a single cord or for fixing firmly by means of two or more cords. It seems to hold a mid- dle place between pendants proper and the pierced tablets under con- sideration.' The unique specimen given in Pig. 2 is from Cedar Keys, Florida, but whether from a grave or a shell-heap I am at present unable to state. In its perforations, which are large and doubly conical, it resembles very closely the typical tablet of stone. The outline is peculiar; being rounded at the top, it grows broader toward the base like a celt, and terminates at the outer corners in well-rounded points, the edge between being ornamented with a series of notches or teeth. It has been cut from the wall of a Busycon perversum, and is sharply curved. The sur- face is roughened by T;ime, but there is no evidence of wear by use either in the perforations or in the notches at the baso. In studying these remarkable specimens the fact that they so sel- dom show marks of use presents itself for explanation. Dr. Charles Eau, whose opinions in such matters are always worthy of considera- tion, remarks " that at first sight one might be inclined to consider them as objects of ornament, or as badges of distinction; but this view is not corroborated by the appearance of the perforations, which ex- hibit no trace of that peculiar abrasion produced by constant suspen- sion. The classification of the tablets as ' gorgets,' therefore, appears to be erroneous."^ The same argument could, however, be brought with equal force against their use for any of the other purposes suggested. The perfo- rations, if not used for susi)ension or attachment, would be subject to wear from any other use to which they could be put. But, as we have already seen, one of the specimens in shell exhibits well-defined evidence of wear, and that of such a character as to indicate the passage of a cord between the perforations in a position that would produce abrasion be- tween the holes on the concave side of the plate, but would leave the back entirely unworn. This peculiar result could only be produced by attachment in a fixed position, concave side out, to some object perfo- rated like the plate, the cord passing directly through both. The per- forations of pendants necessarily show wear on both sides; a like result would follow from the use of these plates in any of the other ways men- tioned. Those made of shell could not, on account of their warped ' The ossuaries here mentioned are in the township of Beverly, twenty miles from Dondas, at the head of Lake Ontario. They are situated in a primitive forest, and were discovered upwards of thirty years ago through the uprooting of a tree. Large numbers of skeletons had been deposited longitudinally in trenches, with many imple- ments, utensils, and ornaments. Two brass kettles were found in one of the graves. (Schoolcraft: Red Races of America, p. 326.) » Eau : Archseological CoUeotion of the National Museum, p. 33. BUBEAU OP ETHNOLOGY ANNUAL llEVORT 1881 PL. L 1. Omameut from Beverly, C. "W". 2. Ornament from Florida. 3, 4. Objects from the Grave Creek Mound, Va. 5. Perforated plate from Ohio. PERFORATED PLATES. BouiBs.] CLASSIFICATION OF PENDANT GORGETS. 267 shape, be used for shuttles; besides, they show no evidence of marginal wear, such as would result from this use. The fact, too, that the mate- rial had to be brought from the distant sea-shore would seem to render it too rare and precious to be employed in the ordinary arts when wood, stone, and bone would serve the purpose as well. Owing to the care- lessness or negligence of collectors we have but little information in regard to their relation to the human remains with which they were deposited. Such facts as we have, however, tend, I believe, to show that they were used for personal decoration. Again, the material of which they are formed is, on account of its beauty, especially adapted for ornament, and for this use it has been almost exclusively reserved by peoples as distant from the sea as were the ancient peoples of the Ohio Valley. ENGRAVED GORGETS. J It has already been suggested that the simpler forms of pendants with plain surfaces may have had particular significance to their pos- sessOTS, as insignia, amulets, or symbols, or that they may have re- ceived painted designs of such a character as to give significance to them. For ornament the natural or plainly polished surface of the shell possessed sufficient beauty to satisfy the most fastidious taste — a beauty that could hardly be enhanced by the addition of painted or incised figures. But we find that many of the larger gorgets obtained from the mounds and graves of a large district have designs of a most interest- ing nature engraved upon them, which are so remarkable in conception and execution as to command our admiration. Such is the character of these designs that we are at once impressed with the idea that they are not products of the idle fancy, neither is it possible that they had no higher office than the gratification of barbarian vanity. I have given much time to their examination, and, day by day, have become more strongly impressed with the belief that no single design is without its significance, and that their production was a serious art which dealt with matters closely interwoven with the history, mythology and polity of a people gradually developing a civilization of their own. Although these objects were worn as personal ornaments they proba- bly had specialized uses as insignia, amulets, or symbols. As insignia^ they were badges of office or distinction. The devices en- graved upon them were derived from many sources and were probably sometimes supplemented by numeral records representing enemies killed, prisoners taken, or other deeds accomplished. As amulets, they were invested with protective or remedial attributes and contained mystic devices derived £rom dreams, visions, and many other sources. 268 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. As symbols they possessed, in most cases, a religious olxaracter, and were generally used as totems of clans. They were inscribed with char- acters derived chiefly from mythologic sources. A few examples con- tain geometric designs which may have been time-symbols, or they may have indicated the order of ceremonial exercises. That these objects should be classed under one of these heads and not as simple ornaments engraved with intricate designs for embel- lishment alone is apparent when we consider the serious character of the work, the great amount of labor and patience shown, the frequent recurrence of the same design, the wide distribution of particular forms, the preservation of the idea in all cases, no matter what shortcomings occur in execution or detail, and the apparent absence of all lines, dots, and figures not essential to the presentation of the conception. In describing these gorgets I have arranged them in groups distin- guished by the designs engraved upon them.' They are presented in the following order : The Cross, The Scalloped Disk, The Bird, The Spider, The Serpent, The Human Face, The Human Figure: and to these I append The Frog, which is found in Arizona only, and although carved in shell does not appear to have been used as a pendant, as no perforations are visible. Within the United States ancient tablets containing engraved designs are apparently confined to the Atlantic slope, and are not found to any extent beyond the limits of the district occupied by the stone-grave peoples. Early explorers along the Atlantic coast mention the use of engraved gorgets by a number of tribes. Modern examples may be found occasionally among the Indians of the northwest coast as well as upon the islands of the central Pacific. THE CROSS. The discoverers and early explorers of the New World were filled with surprise when they beheld their own sacred emblem, the cross, mingling with the pagan devices of the western barbarian. Writers have specu- lated in vain — ^the mystery yet remains unsolved. Attempts to con- nect the use of the cross by prehistoric Americans with its use in the Bast have signally failed, and we are compelled to look on its occur- rence here as one of those strange coincidences so often found in the practices of peoples totally foreign to each other. If written history does not establish beyond a doubt the fact that the cross had a place in our aboriginal symbolism, we have but to turn 'The handsome illustrations presented in the accompanying plates were mostly drawn by Miss Kate C. Osgood, who has no superior in this class of worli. BUBIAU OK ETIINOLOOY AXSUAL liKPORT 1881 PL. LI I. From a monnd, Union County, 111. 2. rrom Charleston, Mo. SHELL GORGETS— THE CBOSS. w B0UIB8.J THE CROSS OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 269 to the pages of the great archsBologio record, where we find that it occupies a place in ancient American art so intimately interwoven with concep- tions peculiar to the continent that it cannot be separated from them. It is found associated with other prehistoric remains throughout nearly the entire length and breadth of America. I have the pleasure of presenting a few new examples of this emblem, obtained from the district at one time occupied by the mound-builders. The examples are carved in shell or engraved upon disKs of shell which have been employed as pendant gorgets. In the stady of these particu- lar relics, one important fact in recent history must be kept constantly in mind. The first explorers were accompanied by Christian zealots, who spared no effort to root out the native superstitions and introduce a foreign religion, of which the cross was the all-important symbol. This emblem was generally accepted by the savages as the only tangible feature of a new system of belief that was filled with subtleties too profound for their compreheQsion. As a result, the cross was at ouce introduced into the regalia of the natives; at first probably in a European form and material attached to a string of beads in precisely the manner that they had been accustomed to suspend their own trinkets and gorgets; but soon, no doubt, delineated or carved by their own hands upon tab- lets of stone and copper and shell, in the place of their own peculiar con- ceptions. From the time of La Salle down to the extinction of the sav- age in the middle Mississippi province, the cross was kept constantly be- fore him, and its presence may thus be accounted for in such remains as post-date the advent of the whites. Year after year articles of European manufacture are being discovered in the most unexpected places, and we shall find it impossible to assign any single example of these crosses to a prehistoric period, with the assurance that our statements will not some day be challenged. It is certainly unfortunate that the American origin of any work of art resembling European forms must rest forever uuder a cloud of suspicion. As long as a doubt exists in regard to the origin of a relic, it is useless to employ it in a discussion where import- ant deductions are to be made. At the same time it should not be for- gotten that the cross was undoubtedly used as a symbol by the prehis- toric nations of the South, and consequently that it was probably also known in the Korth. A great majority of the relics associated with it in ancient mounds a,nd burial places are undoubtedly aboriginal. In the case of the shell gorgets, the tablets themselves belong to an Ameri- can type, and are highly characteristic of the art of the Mississippi Val- ley. A majority of the designs engraved upon them are also charac- teristic of the same district. Wo find at rare intervals designs that are characteristically foreign ; these, whether Mexican or European, are objects of special interest and merit the closest possible examination. That the design under con- sideration, as well as every other engraved upon these tablets, is sym- bolic or otherwise significant, I do not for a moment doubt; but the 270 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. probabilities as to the European or American origin of the symbol of the cross found in this region are pretty evenly balanced. In its de- lineation there is certainly nothing to indicate its origin. By reference to Plate LIII it will be seen that in all the examples given it is a sim- ple and symmetrical cross, which might be duplicated a thousand times in the religious art of any country. A study of the designs associated with the cross in these gorgets is instructive, but does not lead to any definite result. In one case the cross is inscribed upon the back of a great spider; in another it is surrounded by a rectangular framework of lines, looped at the corners, and guarded by four mysterious birds, while in others it is without attendant characters ; but the workman- ship is purely aboriginal. I have not seen a single example of engrav- ing upon shell that suggested a foreign hand, or a design, with the exception of this one, that could claim a European derivation. Some very ingenious theories have been elaborated in attempting to account for the presence of the cross among American symbols. Brin- ton believes that the great importance attached to the points of the compass — the four quarters of the heavens — by savage peoples has given rise to the sign of the cross. With others the cross is a phallic symbol, derived, by some obscure process of evolution, from the veneration ac- corded to the reciprocal principle in nature. It is also frequently asso- ciated with sun-worship, and is recognized as a symbol of the sun — the four arms being remaining rays left after a gradual process of elimination. Whatever is finally determined in reference to the origin of the cross as a religious symbol in America will probably result from the exhaustive study of the history, language, and art of the ancient peoples, combined with a thorough knowledge of the religious conceptions of modern tribes, and when these sources of information are all exhausted it is probable that the writer who asserts more than a probability will overreach his proofs. Such delineations of the cross as we find embodied in ancient aborigi- nal art represent only the final stages of its evolution, and it is not to be expected that its origin can be traced through them. In one instance, however, a direct derivation from nature is suggested. The ancient Mexican pictographic manuscripts abound in representations of trees, conventionalized in such a manner as to resemble crosses ; these appa- rently take an important part in the scenes depicted. By a compari- son of these curious trees with the remarkable cross in the Palenque tablet, I have been led to the belief that they must have a common sig- nificance and origin. The analogies are indeed remarkable. The tree- cross in the paintings is often the central figure of a group in which priests offer sacrifice, or engage in some similar religious rite. The cross holds the same relation in the Palenque group. The branches of these cross-shaped trees terminate in clusters of symbolic fruit, and the arms of the cross are loaded down with symbols which, al- though highly conventionalized, have not yet entirely lost their vege- UUltKAU OK BTIINOIXWIY ANNUAL HKPOBT 188] PL LII 1. Shell gorget, Fain's Island, Tenn. 2. Sliell gorget. Lick Creek, Tenn. 3. Shell gorget. Lick Creek, Tenn. 3. Shell gorget, I^ick ( 4. Copper plate, Ohio. THE CROSS OF THE MOUND BUILDERS. HOLMKs] THE CROSS OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 271 table character. The most remarkable feature, however, is not that the crosses resemble each other in these respects, but that they perform like functions in giving support to a symbolic bird which is perched upon the summit. This bird appears to be the important feature of the group, and to it, or the deity which it represents, the homage or sacri- fice is offered. These analogies go still farther ; the bases of the cross in the tablet and of the crosses in the paintings are made to rest upon a highly conventionalized figure of some mythical creatare. A consid- eration of these facts seems to me to lead to the conclusion that the myths represented in all of these groups are identical, and that the cross and cross-like trees have a common origin. Whether that origin is in the tree on the one hand or in a cross otherwise evolved on the other I shall not attempt to say. The gorget presented in Fig. 1., Plate LI, belongs to the collection of Mr. F. M. Perrine, and was obtained from a mound in TJniou County, 111. It is a little more than three inches in diameter and has been ground doWn to a uniform thickness of about one-twelfth of an inch. The surfaces are smooth and the margin carefully rounded and polished. Near the upper edge are two perforations for suspension. The cord used passed between the holes on the concave side, wearing a shallow groove. On the convex side, or back, the cord marks extend upward and out- ward, indicating the usual method of suspension about the neck. The cross which occupies the center of the concave face of the disk, is quite simple. It is partially inclosed on one side by a semicircular line, and at present has no other definition than that given by four triangu- lar perforations which separate the arms. The face of the cross is orna- mented with six carelessly drawn incised lines, which interlace in the center, as shown in the cut — three extending along the arm to the right and three passing down the lower arm to the inclosing line. I have not been able to learn anything of the character of the interments with which this specimen was associated. Fig. 2 of the same plate represents a large shell cross, the encircling rim of which has been broken away. The perforations are still intact. The cross is quite plain. This specimen is very mnch decayed, and came to the National Museum inside of a skull obtained from a grave at Charleston, Mo. Beyond this there is no record of the specimen. In Fig. 1, Plate LII, 1 present a large fragment of a circular shell ornament, on the convex surface of which a very curious ornamental design has been engraved. The design, inclosed by a circle, represents a cross such as would be formed by two rectangular tablets or slips, slit longitudinally and interlaced at right angles to each other. Be- tween the arms of the cross in the spaces inclosed by the circular bor- der line are four annular nodes, having small conical depressions in the center. These nodes have been relieved by cutting away portions of the shell around them. In the center of.the cross is another small node or ring similarly relieved. The lines are neat and deeply incised. 272 AET IN SHELL OP- THE ANCIENT AMEEICANS. The edge of the shell has been broken away nearly all around. The accompanying cut represents the ornament natural size — one and a half inches in diameter and one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness. It was obtained from a mound on Fain's Island, Tennessee. The small gorget presented in Fig. 2, Plate LII, is of inferior work- manship and the lines and dots seem to have a somewhat haphazard arrangement. The cross, which may or may not be significant, con- sists of two shallow irregular grooves which cross each other at right angles near the center of the disk and terminate near the border. There are indications of an irregular, somewhat broken, concentric line near the margin. A number of shallow conical pits have been drilled at rather irregular intervals over most of the surface. One pair of per- forations seems to have been broken away and others drilled, one of the latter has also been broken out. A triangular fragment is lost from the lower margin of the disk. This specimen was obtained from a mound on Lick Creek, East Tennessee, by Mr. Dunning. The gorget shown in Fig. 3 contains a typical example of the cross of the mound-builder. The cut was made from a pencil sketch and is probably not auite accurate in detail. The border of the disk is plain, with the exception of the usual perforations at the top. The cross is inclosed iu a carelessly drawn circle, and the spaces between the arms, which in other crosses are entirely cut out, or are filled with rays or other figures, are here decorated with a pattern of crossed lines. The lines which define the arms of the cross intersect in the middle of the disk. The square figure thus produced in the center contains a device that is probably significant. A doubly-curved or S-shaped incised line, widened at the ends, extends obliquely across the square from the right upper to the left lower corner. This figure appears to be an elementary or unfinished form of the device found in the center of many of the more elaborate disks. Intersected by a similar line it would form a cross like that upon the back of one of the spiders shown in Plate LXI, or somewhat more evenly curved, it would resemble the involuted figure in the center of the circular disks given in Plate LIV, This specimen was obtained from a mound on Lick Creek, Tenn., and is now in the Peabody Museum. In Fig. 4 a large copper disk from an Ohio mound is represented. The specimen is eight inches in diameter, is very thin, and has suffered greatly from corrosion. A symmetrical cross, the arms of which are five inches in length, has been cut out of the center. Two concentric lines have been impressed in the plate, one near the margin and the other touching the ends of the cross. It is now in the Natural History Museum at New York. In Plate LIII I present a large number of crosses, most of which have been obtained from the mounds, or from ancient graves, within the district occupied by the mound-builders. Eight are engraved upon shell gorgets (illustrations of which are given in the accompanying nURRAU OF RTriNOI,0(iY ANNIAI. TIKI'OIIT ISRl I'L. l.UI THE CROSS. II0LMB8.1 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SCALLOPED DISKS. 273 plates), one is cut in stone, three are painted upon pottery, and four are executed in copper. With two exceptions they are inclosed in circles, and are hence symmetrical Greek crosses, the ends being rounded to conform to the circle ; the remaining two (Pigs. 14 and 15) represent forms of the Latin cross, and resemble the crosses attached to the rosa- ries of the Catholic priesthood. A silver cross similar to the last given was obtained from a mound in Ohio. The plate itself is instructive, and may be presented without further remark. SCALLOPED DISKS. In making a hasty classification of the many engraved gorgets, I have found it convenient to place in one group a numerous and somewhat ex- traordinary class of designs which have been engraved upon scalloped disks. Like the cross, the symbol here represented is one that cannot with certainty be referred to an original. The general shape of the disks is such as to suggest to most minds a likeness to the sun, the scallops being suggestive of the rays. As this orb is known to be an ob- ject of first importance in the economy of life — the source of light andheat — ^it is naturally an object of veneration among many primitive peoples. It is well known that the barbarian tribes of Mexico and South Amer- ica had well developed systems of sun-worship, and that they employed symbols of many forms, some of which still retained a likeness to the original, while others had assumed the garb of animals or fanciful creatures. These facts being known, it seems natural that such a sym- bol as the one under consideration should be referred to the great orig- inal which it suggests. The well-known fact that the district from which these gorgets come, was, at the time of discovery by the whites, inhabited by a race of sun- worshipers — the Natchez — gives to this assumption a shadow of con- firmation. So far as I am aware, however, no one has ventured a posi- tive opinion in regard to their significance, but such suggestions as have been made incline toward the view indicated above. I feel the great necessity of caution in such matters, and while combating the idea that the designs are ornamental or fanciful only, I am far from at- tributing to them any deeply mysterious significance. They may in some way or other indicate political or religious station, or they may even be cosmogenic, but the probabilities are much greater that they are time symbols. Before venturing further, however, it will be well to describe one of these disks, a typical example of which is presented in Plate LI V. The specimen chosen as a type of these rosette-like disks was ob- tained from a mound near Nashville, Tenn., by Professor Powell. It was found near the head of a skeleton, which was much decayed, and had been so disturbed by recent movements of the soil as to render it difllcult to determine its original position. The shell used is appar- ently a large specimen of the Busycon perversum, although the lines 18 E 274 AKT IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. of growth are not sufficiently well preserved to permit a positive deter- mination of the species. The substance of the shell is well preserved ; the surface was once highly polished, but is now pitted and discolored by age. The design is engraved on the concave surface as usual, and the lines are accurately drawn and clearly cut. The various concen- tric circles are drawn with geometric accuracy around a minute shal- low pit as a center. These circles divide the surface into five parts— a small circle at the center surrounded by four zones of unequal width. The central circle is three-eighths of an inch in diameter, and is sur- rounded by a zone one-half an inch in width, which contains a rosette of three involuted lines ; these begin on the circumference of the inner circle in three small equidistant perforations, and sweep outward to the second circle, making upwards of half a revolution. These lines are somewhat wider and more deeply engraved than the other lines of the design. In many specimens they are so deeply cut in the middle part of the curve as to penetrate the disk, producing crescent-shaped perfo- rations. The second zone is one-fourth of an inch in width, and iu this, as in all other specimens, is quite plain. The third zone is one- half an inch in width, and exhibits some very interesting features. Placed at almost equal intervals we find six circular figures, each of which Incloses a circlet and a small central pit ; the spaces between the circular figures are thickly dotted with minute conical pits, somewhat irregularly placed ; the number of dots in each space varies from thirty- six to forty, which gives a total of about two hundred and thirty. The outer zone is subdivided into thirteen compartments, in each of which a nearly circular figure or boss has been carved, the outer edges of which form the scalloped outline of the gorget. Two medium sized perforations for suspension have been made near the inner margin of one of the bosses next the dotted zone ; these show slight indications of abrasion by the cord of suspension. These perforations, as well as the three near the center, have been bored mainly from the convex side of the disk. Whatever maybe the meaning of this design, we cannot fail to recognize the important fact that it is significant — that an idea is ex- pressed. Were the design ornamental, we should expect variation in the parts or details of different specimens resulting from difference of taste in the designers ; if simply copied from an original example for sale or trade to the inhabitants we might expect a certain number of exact reproductions ; but in such a case, when variations did occur, they would hardly be found to follow uniform or fixed lines ; there would also be variation in the relation of the parts of the conception as well as in the number of particular parts ; the zones would not follow each other in exactly the same order ; particular figures would not be confined to particular zones j the rays of the volute would not always have a sin- istral turn, or the form of the tablet be always circular and scalloped. It cannot be supposed that of the whole number of these objects at one time in use, more than a small number have been rescued from decay, IIURBAU- OK BTHNOLOQ^ ASSUAL EKTOBT 1881 PL. UV SCALLOPED SHELL DISK. Nashville, Teun. B0L1IE8.J SCALLOPED DISKS. 275 and these have been obtained from widely scattered localities and doubt- less represent centuries of time, yet no variants appear to indicate a leading up to or a divergence from the one particular type. A design of purely ornamental character, even if executed by the same hand, could not, in the nature of things, exhibit the unifornuty in variation here shown. Fancy, unfettered by ideas of a fixed nature, such as those pertaining to religious or sociologic customs, would vary with the locality, the day, the year, or the life. I have examined upwards of thirty of these scalloped disks, the majority of which are made of shell. I shall not attempt to describe each specimen, but shall call attention to such important variations from the type as may be noticed. In Fig. 1, Plate LV, we have a well-preserved disk which has four involute lines, the others having three only; these lines are deeply cut and, for about one-third of their length, penetrate the shell, producing four crescent-shaped perforations. The circles in the third or dotted zone are neatly nfade and evenly spaced, and inclose circlets and coni- cal pits. The dots in the intervening spaces are closely and irregularly placed, and in number range from forty to forty-five, giving a total of about three hundred and forty. Other features are as usual. The spec- imen was obtained from a stone grave in Kane's Field, near Nashville, Tenn., and is now in the Peabody Museum. It is possible that the specimen presented in Fig. 2, Plate LV, should not be placed in this group ; but as there are many points of resem- ■ blance to the type, it may be described here. At first sight it appears that one of the outer zones is lacking, but it will be seen that through some unknown cause the two have been merged together, alternating bosses of the outer line being carried across both zones. The whole de- sign has been carelessly laid out and rudely engraved. The lines of the involute are arranged in four groups of two each and occupy an unusu- ally wide belt. There are near the margin two sets of perforations for suspension. The specimen was obtained from the Brakebill mound, near Knoxville, Tenn., and is in an advanced stage of decay. In Plate LVI, Fig. 4, 1 present a small specimen, which has the ap- pearance of being unfliiished. The zones are all defined, but, with the exception of the outer, which has thirteen bosses, are quite plain. The lines are deeply but rudely cut. It was obtained from a stone grave at Oldtown, Tenn., and is now in the Peabody Museum. Besides the type specimen already presented, there may be seen in the National Museum two very good examples, from a mound near Frank- lin, Tenn. The smaller is about three inches in diameter and is nearly circular ; it has suffered much from decay, but nearly all the design can be made out. The lines of the involute penetrate the disk producing short crescent-shaped perforations; the circles in the dotted zone are seven in number and inclose the usual circlets and conical pits ; the dots in the intervening spaces are too obscure t6 be counted. The spec- 276 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. imen has sixteen marginal scallops. The larger specimen is somewhat fragmentary, portions being broken away from opposite sides. It is nearly four and a half inches in diameter, and the design has been drawn and engraved with more than ordinary precision. The central circle incloses a perforated circlet, and the involute lines are long and shallow. The dotted zone has seven circles with inclosed circlets and pits. The outer zone contains fifteen oval figures. Another example of these shell disks is illustrated by Professor Put- nam, in the eleventh annual report of the Peabody Museum, page 310. It is said to have been found near N'ashville, Tenn., although its pedi- gree is not well established. According to Professor Putnam, it is made from the shell of a Busycon, and is apparently in a very good state of preservation. It is about four inches in diameter and is inscribed with the usual design, a central circle and dot surrounded by a triple invo- lute and three concentric zones. The narrow inner zone is plain, as usual ; the middle dotted zone has six circles with central dots, the spaces between being closely dotted, and the outer zone contains thirteen of the oval figures, the outer edges of which form the scalloped margin of the disk. The perforations for suspension are placed as usual near the in- ner margin of the outer zone in the spaces between the oval figures. A fine example of engraved disks has been figured by Dr. Joseph Jones, from whose work the illustrations given in Figs. 1 and 2, Plate LVI, have been taken. As his description is one of the first given and quite graphic, I make the following quotation: "In a carefully con- structed stone sarcophagus, in which the face of the skeleton was look- ing toward the setting sun, a beautiful shell ornament was found resting upon the breast-bone of the skeleton. This shell ornament is 4.4 inches in diameter, and it is ornamented on its concave surface, with a small circle in the center, and four concentric bands, differently figured, in re- lief. The first band is filled by a triple volute ; the second is plain, while the third is dotted, and has nine small round bosses carved at un- equal distances upon it. The outer band is made up of fourteen small elliptical bosses, the outer edges of which give to the object a scalloped rim. This ornament on its concave figured surface had been covered with red paint, much of which was still visible. The convex smooth surface is highly polished and plain, with the exception of three con- centric marks. The material out of which it is formed was evidently derived from a large flat sea-shell. * • • The form of the circles or 'sMJw' carved upon the concave surface is similar to that of the paint- ings on the high rocky cliffs on the banks of the Cumberland and Har- peth, » • • This ornament, when found, lay upon the breast-bone, with the concave surface uppermost, as if it had been worn in this posi- tion suspended around the neck, as the two holes for the thong or string were in that portion of the border which pointed directly to the chin or central portion of the lower jaw of the skeleton. The marks of the thong by which it was suspended are manifest upon both the an- DUKEAU OF KTRKOLOOT ANNUAL REPORT 1881 PL. LV 1. Frum a mound near K'ashville. ()) 2. From the Brakebill Mound. (|) SHELL DISKS. Teunessce. HOLMES.) STONE DISKS. 277 terlor and posterior surfaces, and in addition to this the paint is worn off from the circular space bounded below by the two holes." ' Fig. 2 represents the back or convex side of the disk, the long curved lines indicate the laminations of the shell, and the three narrow cres- cent-shaped figures near the center are perforations resulting from the deep engraving of the three lines of the volute on the concave side. The stone grave in which this ornament was found occupied the sum- mit of a mound on the banks of the Cumberland Eiver opposite Nash- vUle, Tennessee. Professor Jones, also represents in the same work, page 109, a large fragment of a similar ornament which has apparently had seven circlets in the dotted zone and thirteen marginal bosses. This specimen, which is three and one-half inches in diameter, was ex- humed by Dr. Grant, from "a small rock mound" near Pulaski, Giles County, Tennessee. Prof. C. C. Jones describes a number of stone disks containing designs which evidently belong to the class under consideration. He inclines to the opinion that they were designed for some sacred ofi&ce, and suggests that they were used as plates to offer food to the sun god. The specimen of which I present an outline in Fig. 3, Plate LVII, is fig- ured by Mr. Jones, and his description is as follows : It is " circular in form, eleven inches and a half in diameter, an inch and a quarter in thickness, and weighing nearly seven pounds. It is made of a close- grained, sea-green slate, and bears upon its surface the stains of centu- ries. Between the rim, which is scalloped, and the central portion, are two circular depressed rings, running parallel with the circumference and incised to the depth of a tenth of an inch. This circular basin, nearly eight inches in diameter, is surrounded by a margin or rim a lit- tle less than two inches in width, traversed by the incised rings and beveled from the center toward the edge. The lower surface or bot- tom of the plate is flat, beveled upward, however, as it approaches the scalloped edge, which is not more than a quarter of an inch in thick- ness. • • * The use of these plates from the Etowah Valley may, we think, be conjectured with at least some degree of probability. It is not likely that they were employed for domestic or culinary purposes. Their weight, variety, the care evidenced in their construction, and the amount of time and labor necessarily expended in their manufacture, forbid the belief that they were intended as ordinary dishes from which the daily meal was to be eaten, and suggest the impression that they were designed to fulfill a more unusual and important ofiBce. The com- mon vessels from which the natives of this region ate their prepared food were bowls and pans fashioned of wood and baked clay, cala- bashes, pieces of bark, and large shells. Flat platters, made of an ad- mixture of clay and pounded shells, well kneaded and burnt, were ordinarily employed for baking corn-cakes and frying meat ; but it does ■Jones : Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee, pp. 42-3. 278 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. not anywhere appear that ornamental stone plates were in general use." ' This specimen, or one identical with it, is in the possession of the N"at- ural History Museum in 'New York. It was plowed up in 1859 on the lower terrace of a large mound near Cartersville, Ga. Other specimens somewhat similar to the one described by Professor Jones have been obtained from the same region, two of which are now in the K"ational Museum. One of these from a mound on the Warrior Eiv. is made of gray slate, and is about eight inches in diameter. It is smooth, symmetrical, and doubly convex. There are three shallow, irregular lines jiear the border, and the periphery is ornamented with twenty-one scal- lops. Another specimen, a cut of which has already been published by Dr. Eau in " The Archaeological Collection of the National Museum," p. 37, is illustrated in Plate LVII, Pig. 1. It is nearly one-half an inch in thickness, and about ten inches in diameter. A single incised line runs parallel with the circumference, which is ornamented with nine rather irregularly placed notches. The stone disk, of which an outline is given in Pig. 2, Plate LVII, was obtained from the Lick Creek mound, in East Tennessee. Its resemblance to the shell disks is so striking that it must be regarded as having a similar origin if not a similar use. The division into zones is the same as in the shell disks ; the outer is divided into twelve lobes, and the cross in the center takes the place of the involute rosette with its central circle. The fact that this particular design is engraved on heavy plates of stone as well as upon shell gorgets is suflQcieut proof that its origin cannot be attributed to fancy alone. I have seen at the ];f ational Museum a curious specimen of stone disk, which should be mentioned in this place, although there is not sufficient assurance of its genuineness to allow it undisputed claim to a place among antiquities. It is a perfectly circular, neatly-dressed sandstone disk, twelve inches in diameter and one-half an inch in thickness. Upon one face we see three marginal incised lines, as in the example just described, while on the other there is a well-engraved design which represents two entwined or rather knotted rattlesnakes. An outline of this curious figure is given in Plate LXVI. Within the circular space inclosed by the bodies of the serpents is a well-drawn hand in the palm of which is placed an open eye ; this would probably have been omitted by the artist had he fully appreciated the skeptical tendencies of the modern archaeologist. The margin of the plate is divided into seventeen sections by small semicircular indentations. This object is said to have been obtained from a mound near Carthage, Ala. The reverse is shown in Fig. 4, Plate LVII. A similar specimen from a mound near Lake Washington, Mississippi, is described by Mr. Anderson.^ The short time at my disposal has barely permitted me to collect the 1 Jones : Antiquities of the Southern Indians, pp. 373-5. ^Anderson, in the Cincinnati Quarterly Journal of Science, October, 1875, p, 378. UUUKAU OP ETHNOLOGY ANNUAL REPOBT 1881 FL LVI 1. NashTille, Tenn. 2. Nashville, Tenii. (reverse). 3. Nashville, Tenn. 4. Oldtown, Tenn. 5. Nashville, Tenn. 6. Pulaski, Tenii. SCALLOPED SHELL DISKS. HOLMES.) ANCIENT AMERICAN CALENDARS. 279 facts, and I shall have to leave it to the future or to others to follow- out fully the suggestions here presented. I had expected to find some uniformity in the numbers or ratios of the various zones, circles, and dots, and by that means possibly to have arrived at some conclusion as to their significance. I have already shown that certain elements of the design are fixed in position and number, while others vary, and the following table is presented that these facts may be made apparent. The list is quite incomplete. It will be seen by reference to the fourth column that the involute symbol of the inner zone is, with one exception, divided into three parts. The second zone is not given in the table, as it is always plain. The third or dotted zone contains circlets which range from six to nine, while the dots, which have been counted in a few cases only, have a wide range, the total number in some cases reaching three hundred and forty. The bosses of the outer zone range from thirteen to eighteen. The examples in stone seem to have a different series of numbers. The student will hardly fail to notice the resemblance of these disks to the calendars or time symbols of Mexico and other southern nations of antiquity. There is, however, no absolute identity with southern examples. The involute design in the center resembles the Aztec sym- bol of day, but is peculiar in its division into three parts, four being the number almost universally used. The only division into three that I have noticed occurs in the calendar of the Muyscas, in which three days constitute a week. The circlets and bosses of the outer zones gives them a pretty close resemblance to the month and year zones of the southern calendars. My suggestion that these objects may be calendar disks will not seem unreasonable when it is remembered that time symbols do very often make their appearance during the early stages of barbarism. They are the result of attempts to fix accurately the divisions of time for the reg- ulation of religious rites, and among the nations of the south constituted the great body of art. ISTo well-developed calendar is known among the wild tribes of North America, the highest achievements in this line consisting of simple pictographic symbols of the years, but there is no reason why the mound-builders should not have achieved a pretty ac- curate division of time resembling, in its main features, the systems of their southern neighbors. 280 AET IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. SHELL. lUastTated in— Collection. Locality. Divisions of invo- lute. Circlets in 2d zone. Bosses in marginal zone. Dots in 2d zone. Peculiar features. PI. LIT PI. LT, 1 PI. LTI, 1.... PI. LTI, 3... PI. LTI, 4.... N.M., 32060... P.M., 15247... J. Jones P.M., 11801... P.M., 15969... P.M., 15896... P.M P.M., 15906... P.M., 15835... P. M., 15916.. . K.M., 19976... IT. M., 19975... Tenn... ..do -do ..do ..do ..do ..do ..do ..do ..do ..do ..do 3 4 3 B 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 6 8 9 6 Plain.... 8 6 8 6 6 7 7 13 14 14 13 13 17 16 13 14 18 16 16 340 (?) Three central per- forations. Unfinished (!) 100 (?) 250 (?) Two central per- forations. Three crescent per- forations. 280 (!) STONE. PI. LVli, 1 . N. M., 9334 ... P.M., 2962.... N. T. Nat. Hist. M. N. M., 9332 ... N. M (Ja Plain.... ..do ..do ..do, ..do ..do 9 12 24 21 17 18 PI LTII 2 ..do -do -.do Ala Miss Cross in center. PI. LTn, 3.. PI. LXVI .. Serpent, obverse. Serpent, center. Anderson N. M., National Mnsenm. P. II., Peabody Mnsenm. THE BIRD. With all peoples the bird has been a most important symbol. Pos- sessing the mysterious power of flight, by which it could rise at pleas- ure into the realms of space, it naturally came to be associated with the phenomena of the sky — the wind, the storm, the lightning, and the thunder. In the ferTid imagination of the red man it became the act- ual ruler of the elements, the guardian of the four quarters of the heaTens. As a result the bird is embodied in the myths, and is a prominent figure in the philosophy of many savage tribes. The eagle, which is an important emblem with many civilized nations, is found to come much nearer the heart of the superstitious savage ; its plumes are the badge of the successful warrior ; its body a sacred offering to his deities, or an object of actual veneration. The swan, the heron, the woodpecker, the paroquet, the owl, and the dove were creatures of unusual consideration: their flight was noted as a matter of vital im- portance, as it could bode good or evil to the hunter or warrior who consulted it as an oracle. The dove, with the Hurons, is thought to be the keeper of the souls BUBKAU OF ETIINOLOOT AMnJAL BEPORT 1881 PL. LVn 1 . Stone, "Warrior Eivor, Ala. 2. Stone, Lick Creek Mound, Tenu. 3. Stone, Etowah Valley, Ga. 4. Stone, Carthage, Ala. 5. Stone, Sun symbol, XTxmal. SCALLOPED DISKS. BouffiB.] BIRD MYTHS. 281 of the dead, and the Navajos are said to believe that four white swans dwell in the four quarters of the heavens and rule the winds. The storm-bird of the Dakotas dwells in the upper air, beyond the range of human vision, carrying upon its back a lake of fresh water ; when it winks its eyes there is lightning ; when it flaps its wings we hear the thunder ; and when it shakes out its plumage the rain de- scends. Myths like this abound in the lore of many peoples, and the story of the mysterious bird is interwoven with the traditions which tell of their origin. A creature which has sufficient power to guide and rule a race is constantly embodied in its songs, its art, and its philosophy. Thus highly regarded by the modern tribes, it must have been equally an object of consideration among prehistoric races. We know that the Natchez and the Creeks included the bird among their deities, and by the relics placed within his sepulchers we know that it held an important place in the esteem of the mound-builder. Our prehistoric peoples seem to have taken special delight in carving its form in wood afid stone, in modeling it in clay, in fashioning it in copper and gold, and in engraving it upon shell. One of the most in- teresting of all the specimens preserved to us is illustrated in Plate LVIII. The design with which this relic is embellished possesses no little artistic excellence, and doubtless embodies some one of the many charming myths of the heavens. I am perfectly well aware that a scientific writer should guard against the tendency to indulge in flights of fancy, but as the myths of the American aborigines are highly poetical, and abound in lofty rhetorical flgures, there can be no good reason why their graphic art should not echo some of these rhythmical passages. To the thoughtful mind it will be apparent that, although this design is not necessarily full of occult mysteries, every line has its purpose and every figure its significance. Yet of these very works one writer has ventured the opinion that "they do but express the individual fancy of those by whom they were made ;" that they are even without " indications of any intelli- gent design or pictographic idea." I do not assume to interpret these designs; they are not to be interpreted. Besides, there is no advantage to be gained by an interpretation. We have hundreds of primitive myths within our eaSy reach that are as interesting and instructive as these could be. All I desire is to elevate these works from the category of trinkets to what I believe is their rightful place — the serious art of a people with great capacity for loftier works. What the gorgets themselves were, or of what particular value to their possessors, aside from simple ornament, must be, in a 282 AET IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. measure, a matter of conjecture. They were hardly less than the totems of clans, the insignia of rulers, or the potent charms of a priesthood. The gorget in question is unfortunately without a pedigree. It reached the ISTational Museum through the agency of Mr. C. F. Williams, and is labeled "Mississippi." On it face, however, there is sufficient evidence to establish its aboriginal origin. The form of the object, the character of the design and the evident age of the specimen, all bespeak the mound-builder. It was in all probability obtained from one of the multitude of ancient sepulchers that abound in the State of Mis- sisippi. The disk is four and a quarter inches in diameter, and is made from a large, heavy specimen of the Busycon perversum. It has been smoothly dressed on both sides, but is now considerably stained and liitted. The design has in this case been engraved upon the convex side, the concave surface being plain. The perforations are placed near the margin and are considerably worn by the cord of suspension. In the center is a ueai'ly symmetrical cross of the Greek type inclosed in a circle one and one-fourth inches in diameter. The spaces between the arms are emblazoned with groups of radiating lines. Placed at regu- lar intervals on the outside of the circle are twelve pointed pyramidal rays ornamented with transverse lines. The whole design presents a re- markable combination of the two symbols, the cross and the sun. Sur- rounding this interesting symbol is another of a somewhat mysterious nature. A square framework of four continuous parallel lines, sym- metrically looped at the corners, incloses the central symbol, the inner line touching the tips of the pyramidal rays. Outside of this again are the four symbolic birds placed against the side of the square opposite the arms of the cross. These birds, or rather birds' heads, are care- fully drawn after what, to the artist, must have been a well recog- nized model. The mouth is open and the mandibles long, slender, and straight. The eye is represented by a circlet which incloses a small conical pit intended to represent the iris, a striated and pointed crest springs from the back of the head and neck, and two lines extend from the eye, down the neck, to the base of the figure. In seeking an original for this bird we find that it has perhaps more points of resem- blance to the ivory-billed woodpecker than to any other species. It is not impossible, however, that the heron or swan may have been in- tended. That some particular bird served as a model is attested by the fact that other specimens, from mounds in various parts of Tennessee, exhibit similar figures. I have been able to find six of these specimens, all of which vary to some extent from the type described, but only in detail, workmanship, or finish. The specimen presented in Pig. 2, Plate LIX, was obtained by Mr, Cross from a stone grave on Mr. Overton's farm near Nashville, Tenn. Professor Putnam, who secured it from Mr. Cross, has published a cut of it in the Eleventh Annual Eeport of the Peabody Museum . It is made from a large m arine shell , probably a Busy- con, and is represented natural size both by Mr. Putnam and myself. nUEBAU OF ETHNOLOOY AKSUAL KBPOET 1881 PL. LVIII SHEIX GORGET— THE BIRD. MlsBiasippi. nouim.l ENGBAVINGS OF THE BIRD. 283 Tlie design is essentially the same as that shown in the type specimen, but is much more rudely executed. A circlet with a central pit takes the place of the cross and sun. The looped rectangular figure has but two lines and the birds' heads are not so-fullof character as those on the otber specimens ; they resemble .the heads of chicks with a few piu- feathers sprouting from the back and top of the head rather than full-fledged birds. The design is engraved on the concave side. The ])erforations are much worn. This specimen is now in the Peabody Museum, The same collection contains a large fragment of another small disk about two inches in diameter. The central part seems to be plain, but the looped figure, which has four lines, resembles very closely that en- graved on the other plates. It is mentioned by Professor Putnam, on page 309 of the Eleventh Annual Eeport of the Peabody Museum. It is said to have been found on the surface in Humphrey Couuty, Ten- nessee. A much larger specimen, which resembles my type specimen very closely, is shown in Fig. 1, Plate LIX. It was obtained by Professor Putnam and Dr. Curtis from a stone grave on Mrs. Williams' farm, Cum- berland River, Tennessee. It is nearly circular, and about two and a half inches in diameter. A small piece has been lost from the upper margin. It is neatly made and quite smooth, and the lines of the de- sign are clearly and evenly engraved. The small cross in the center is inclosed by a plain narrow zone, and is defined by four triangular per- forations between the arms. In this respect it resembles other shell crosses found within the Mississippi Valley. Surrounding the plain zone are eight pyramidal rays with cross-bars ; in this feature, and in the drawing of the looped square and the birds' heads, there is but lit- tle variation from the type specimen. The surface upon which the en- graving is made seems to be slightly convex. Another specimen of this class was obtained from a stone grave near Gray's mound, at Oldtown, Tenn. It is shown in Fig. 3, Plate LIX. The design is very much like that of the type specimen, from which it differs in having four large perforations near the center. Although the engraved design which once occupied the central space is almost totally effaced, one or two of the tips of the pyramidal rays may be detected. It is probable that the four round perforations correspond to the four triangular ones by which the arms of the cross in the preceding exam- ple are defined. The perforations for suspension are near one margin, and seem to be very much worn by use. The whole object is fragile from decay. This specimen is also in the Peabody Museum. One more very imperfect specimen obtained from a stone grave in the Cumberland Vallejjr is nearly five inches in diameter and very irregular in outline. Barely enough of the engraved design remains to show that it belongs to the class under consideration. It will be observed that the specimens of this class obtained from 284 AKT IN SHELL OP THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. Tennessee are confined to a limited area. It thus seems especially un- fortunate that so little is knowij.of the history of the type specimen given in Plate LVIII, as without^ assurance of the correctness of the statement that it is from Mississippi vre cannot make use of it to show- geographical distribution. In reference to this point, however, we have a few very interesting facts which make the occurrence of specimens in localities as widely separated as the "Cumberland Eiver" and "Mis- sissippi " seem inconsequential. I refer now to two specimens described by Dr. Abbott in " Primitive Industry." One of these is a remarkable slate knife, the striking features of which are a " series of etchings and deeply incised lines of perhaps no meaning. Taken in order, it will be noticed that at the back of the knife are four short lines at uniform dis- tances apart, and a fifth near the end of the implement. Besides these are fifteen shorter parallel lines near the broader end of the knife and about the middle of the blade. A series of five zigzag lines are also cut on the opposite end of the blade. * * * More prominent than the numerous lines to which reference has been made, are the clearly de- fined, unmistakable birds' heads, placed midway between the two series of lines. * » * Did we not learn from the writings of Hecke- welder, that the Lenap6 had ' the turkey totem,' we might suppose that this drawing of such bird heads originated with the intrusive southern Shawnees, who, at one time, occupied lands in the Delaware Valley, and who are supposed by some writers to have been closely re- lated to the earliest inhabitants of the Southern and Southwestern States. Inasmuch as we shall find that, not only on this slate knife, but upon a bone implement also, similar heads of birds are engraved, it is probable that the identity of the design is not a mere coincidence, but that it must be explained either in accordance with the statements of Heckewelder, or be considered as the work of southern Shawnees after their arrival in New Jersey. In the latter event, the theory that these disks were the work of a people different from and anterior to the Indians found in the Cumberland Valley at the time of the discovery of that region by the whites is, apparently, not sustained by the facts.'" A cut of the bone implement referred to above is reproduced from Dr. Abbotf s work, in Plate LIX, Fig. 4. It has probably been made from a portion of a rib of some large mammal and is thought to be somewhat fragmentary. "The narrow portion has been cut or ground away to some extent, and the edges are quite smoothly polished. Near the end of this handle-like portion, there is a countersunk perforation, and upon the concave side of the wider part there are rudely outlined the heads of two birds.'" These resemble somewhat closely the heads depicted on the other specimen described by Dr. Abbott. The specimens re- ferred to are both from New Jersey, and are probably surface finds. 'Abbott : Primitive Industry, pp. 70, 72, and 73. ''Ihid., p. 207. BUREAU OF ETIINOI.Or.Y AXXUAI. UEPOUT 1881 PL. LIX 1. Shell gorget from stone grave, Tenn. 2. Shell gorget from stone grave, Tenn. 3. Shell gorget tiom stone grave, Tenn. 4. Bone implement, N. J. 5. Design from Aztec painting THK BIRD. BOLMEg.] COMPARISON OP BIRD GORGETS. 285 Although the heads represented on these specimens do certainly in some respects suggest that of the turkey, the characters are not suffi- ciently pronounced to make it impossible that some other bird was intended, so that the original in the mind of the ancient artist may have been the same as that from which the examples on shell were drawn. In comparing the northern examples with those of Tennessee I ob- serve another feature that is more conclusive as to the identity of origin than the rather obscure resemblance of the birds' heads delineated. I have not had the opportunity of examining the specimen illustrated in Fig. 4 ; but in the cut given by Dr. Abbott a rather indefinite figure can be traced which has a striking resemblance to the looped rectangle characteristic of the designs on shell. This resemblance could hardly be owing to accident, and if the peculiar figure mentioned is actually found in conjunction with the birds' heads upon the New Jersey speci- men, it will certainly be safe to conclude that the bone, stone, and shell objects belonged to the same people, and that they constituted the to- tems of the same clan, or were the insignia of corresponding offices or orders.' As bearing upon the question of the species of bird represented in the preceding specimens, I present in Plate LX an illustration pub- lished by Dr. Eau in the Smithsonian Eeport for 1877. This remark- able ornament (represented in Fig. 3) was obtained from a mound in Manatee County, Florida. It is a thin blade of gold, pointed at one end and terminating at the other in a highly conventionalized representa- tion of a bird's head, the general characteristics of which are much like those of the examples engraved upon shell. The crest is espe- cially characteristic, and, as pointed out by Dr. Eau, suggests a proto- type in the ivory-billed woodpecker, an inhabitant of the Gulf States. The significance of the looped figure which forms so prominent a feature in the designs in question has not been deterinined. I would offer the suggestion, however, that, from the manner of its occurrence, it may represent an inclosure, a limit, or boundary. It may be well to point out the fact that a similar looped rectangle occurs several times in the ancient Mexican manuscripts. One example, from the Vienna Co- dex,* is presented in Fig. 5, Plate LIX. It is not a little remarkable that a cross occupies the inclosed area in all these examples. I shall close this very hasty review of the bird in the art of the Mound Builders by presenting the remarkable example of shell carving shown in Fig. 1, Plate LX: Like so many of the National Museum specimens, it is practically without a record — a stray. It is labeled " B. Pybas, Tuscumbia, Ala." It is old and fragmentary, the shell substance being, however, quite well preserved. It is the right-hand half of a > Since this paragraph has been in type I have seen the specimen, and find that the looped figure is clearly defined. » Kingshorough : vol. II, Plate 20. 286 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. gorget whicli represents an eagle's head in profile. The still of the ancient artist is shown to great advantage; nothing can be found, even in the most elaborately carved pipes, equal to the treatment of .this re- markable head. To overcome the difQculty of cutting the flinty and massive shell was no small triumph for a people still in the stone age. To conceive and execute such a graphic work is a still more marvelous achievement.^ The lines of the mandibles and protruding tongue are strongly and correctly drawn. The eye and the markings of the head are executed in smooth, deeply incised lines, and are conventionalized in a manner peculiar to the American aborigines. THE SPIDER. Among insects the spider is perhaps best calculated to attract the attention of the savage. The tarantula is in many respects a very extraordinary creature, and is endowed with powers of the most deadly nature, which naturally places it along with the rattlesnake in the category of creatures possessing supernatural attributes. Its curiously constructed house with the hinged door and smoothly plas- tered chamber must ever elicit the admiration of the beholder. But the spider, which spins a web and projects in mid-air a gossamer struct- ure of marvelous symmetry and beauty, and builds an ambush from which to spring upon his prey, was probably one of the first instructors of adolescent man, and must have seemed to him a very deity. It is not strange, therefore, that the spider appears in the myths of the savages. With the great Shoshone family, according to Professor Powell, the spider was the first weaver, and taught that important art to the fathers. The Cherokees, in their legend of the origin of fire, "represent a portion of it as having been brought with them and sacredly guarded. Others say that after ctossing wide waters they sent back for it to the Man of Fire from whom a little was conveyed over by a spider in his web."^ The spider occurs but rarely in aboriginal American art, occasionally it seems, however, to have reached the dignity of religious considera- tion and to have been adopted as a totemic device. Had a single example only been found we would not be warranted in giving it a place among religious symbols. Four examples have come to my notice; these are all engraved on shell gorgets and are illustrated in Plate LX. Two are from Illinois, one from Missouri, and the other from Tennessee. ^ The example shown in Fig. 1 was obtained by Mr. Croswell from a mound near New Madrid, Mo. It is described as a circular ornament, "Let any one who thinks lightly of such a work undertake, without machinery or weU-adapted appliances, to out a groove or notch even, in a moderately compact specimen of Busyeon, and he wiU probably increase his good opinion of the skill and patience of the ancient workman if he does nothing else. 2E. G. Squier: Serpent Symbol, page 69, quoting MSS. of J. H. Payne. 'I am very much indebted to Prof. F. F. Hilder, of Saint Louis, for photographs of three of these specimens as well as for much information in regard to their history. DUBKAU OP KTHNOLOaV ANNUAL UEPOKT 1881 I'L. LX 1. Fragmentof shell gorget, Alabama, (f) 2. Gold ornament, Florida. (J) 3. Head of ivory -billed woodpecker. THE BIRD. "0"'=^.] SPIDER GORGETS. 287 three inches in diameter, that had, apparently, been cut from a Bust/- con. Mr. Orosswell says that "the convex face was entirely plain, but the concave side bears the figure of a tarantula, or large spider, very skillfully engraved, the body being formed by a circle inclosing a cross, showing beyond doubt its satired and symbolic character. This orna- ment, when found, lay on the breast-bone of a skeleton, with the concave or ornamented side uppermost. Two holes in the upper part were evi- dently intended for the thong or string by which it had been suspended from the neck. A circumstance that renders this relic still more inter- esting is the fact that two other shell ornaments, bearing precisely simi- lar devices, have recently been found in Illinois within seven miles of this city, thus proving that the figures were not a mere fanciful inven- tion, but had some symbolic meaning."' The disk thus briefly described by Mr. Crosswell is so much like the example shown in Fig. 3 that I shall not describe it further, but shall refer to its peculiarities in the descriptions of others that follow. The handsome gorget illustrated in Fig. 3 was obtained from a mound in Saint Clair County, Illinois, seven miles from the city of Saint Louis. It was found upon the breast of a skeleton, and was very much discol- ored and quite fragile from decay, but no part of the design, which is engraved upon the concave side, has been obliterated. Ifear the margin and parallel with it three lines have been engraved. The spider is drawn with considerable fidelity to nature and covers nearly the entire disk, the legs, mandibles, and abdomen reaching to the outer marginal line. As in the specimen described above, the thorax is placed in the center of the disk, and is represented by a circle; within this a cross has been engraved, the ends of which have been enlarged on one side, producing a form much used in heraldry, but one very rarely met with in aboriginal American art. The head is somewhat heart-shaped and is armed with palpi and mandibles, the latter being ornamented with a zigzag line and prolonged to the marginal lines of the disk. The eyes are represented by two small circles with central dots. The legs are correctly placed in four pairs upon the thorax, and are very graph- ically drawn. The abdomen is large and heart-shaped, and is orna- mented with a number of lines and dots, which represent the natural markings of the spider. The perforations for suspension are placed near the posterior extremity of the abdomen. It will be observed that this is also the case with the three other specimens. Having described this specimen somewhat carefully, it will be unnecessary to give a de- tailed description of the very similar specimen shown in Fig. 2. The latter was found in a stone grave in Saint Clair County, Illinois, and does not differ in any essential feature from either of the other specimens, one of which was found near by, and the other about one hundred miles farther south. In reference to the cross it has been suggested that it may have been ' Croswell, in Transactions Academy of Science of Saint Louis, vol. Ill, p. 537. 288 ART IN SHELL OP THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. derived from the well-defined cross found upon the backs of some species of the genus Atta, but there appears to be good reason for believing otherwise. The cross here shown has a very highly conventionalized character, quite out of keeping with the realistic drawing of the insect, and, what is still more decisive, it is identical with forms found upon many other objects. The conclusion is that the cross here, as elsewhere, has a purely symbolic character. Spider gorgets are also mentioned by A. J. Conant in the Kansas City Eeview, Vol. I, page 400, and in his work on the Commonwealth of Missouri, page 96, bat no details are given. It is probable that the objects referred to by Mr. Conant are the same as those more definitely placed by Prof. Hilder. The specimen shown in Fig. 4 was obtained from a mound on Fain'a Island, Tennessee. The disk is somewhat more convex on the front than is indicated in the engraving. It is two and a half inches in diameter, and is quite thin and fragile, although the surface has not suffered much from decay. The margin is ornamented with twenty- four very neatly made notches or scallops. Immediatelyinsidethe border on the convex side are two incised circles, on the outer of which two small perforations for suspension have been made; inside of these, and less than half an inch from the margin, is a circle of seventeen sub-tri- angular perforations, the inner angle of each being much rounded. In- side of this again is another incised circle, about one and one-fourth inches in diameter, which incloses the highly conventionalized figure of an insect resembling a spider. In a general way — ^in the number and arrangement of the parts — this figure corresponds pretty closely to the very realistic spiders of the three other disks; in detail however, it is quite unlike them. It is much more highly conventionalized — the natural markings of the body being nearly all omitted, and the legs being without joints and square at the tips. The cross does not appear on the body, but its place is taken by a large conical perforation, made entirely from the convex side. The central segment of the body is round, as in the other cases; to this the four pairs of legs are attached. Without reference to the other specimens, it would be diflcult to dis- tinguish the anterior from the posterior extremity, and even with this aid we cannot be quite certain. The larger extremity is somewhat tri- angular in outline and' is ornamented with two cross lines and two eyes. Were it not for the fact that these eyes resemble so closely those found in the other specimens I should call this the posterior extremity, as the opposite end terminates in a pair of well-shaped mandibles, the triangular space between them being cut quite through the disk. The section of the body between this and the central circle also resembles the head, which suggests the conclusion either that the eyes are misplaced or that, as drawn, they are only intended to represent the bright spots of the insect's body. The rarity of these spider gorgets makes it seem rather remarkable that specimens should occur in localities so widely separated as Fain's BUBIAU or KTHNOLOQT ANNUAL BErORT 1881 PL. LTr 1. From a monDd, Missouri. 2. From a atpne-grave, lliioois. 3. From a mound, Illinois. 4. From a mound, Tennessee. SPIDER GOKSETS. HotMEB.l THE SRRPENT IN ART. 289 Island and Saint Louis, but the races inhabiting this entire region, are known to have had many arts in common, and besides this it is not impossible that the same tribe or clan may, at different times, have occupied both of these localities. The marked differences in the de- sign and execution of these specimens, however, indicate a pretty wide distinction in the time or art of the makers. THK SERPENT. The serpent has had a fascination for primitive man hardly surpassed by its reputed power over the animals on which it preys. In the minds of nearly all savages it has beeu associated with the deepest mysteries and the mosit. potent powers of nature. No other creature has figured so prominently ia the religious systems of the world, few of which are free from it ; and as art, in a great measure, owes its exist- ence to an attempt to represent or embellish objects which are sup- posed to be the incarnations of spirits, the serpent is an important ele- ment in all art. Wherever the children of nature have wandered its image may be found engraved upon the rocks, or painted or sculptured upon monuments of their own construction. It is found in a thousand forms; beginning with those so realistic that the species can be de- termined, we may pass down through innumerable stages of variation until all semblance of nature is lost. Beyond this it becomes embodied in the conventional forms of art or looks back from its obscure place in an alphabet through a perspective of metamorphism as marvelous as that visible to the creature itself could it view the course of its evolu- tion from the elements of nature. So well is the serpent known as a religious symbol among the Amer- ican peoples that it seems hardly necessary to present examples of the curiously interesting myths relating to it. We are not surprised to find the bird, the wolf, or the bear placed among representatives of the "Great Spirit," and hence to find them embodied in art; but it would be a matter of surprise if the serpent were ever absent. With the mound-builders it seems to havebeenof as much importance as to other divisions of the red race, ancient or modern. It is of very frequent occurrence among the designs engraved upon gorgets of shell, a multitude of which have been thus dedicated to the serpent-god. It is a well-known fact that the rattlesnake is the variety almost uni- versally represented, and we find that these engravings on shell pre- sent no exception to this rule. From a very early date in mound ex- ploration these gorgets have been brought to light, but the coiled ser- pent engraved upon their concave surfaces is so highly conventionalized that it was not at once recognized. Professor Wymau appears to have been the first to point out the fact that the rattlesnake was represented; others have since made brief allusion to this fact. Two exam])les only have been illustrated ; one by Professor Jones,' who regards it as being without intelligent design^ and the other by Dr. Eau,^ who does notsug- ' Jouos : Autiguities of the Southern Indian, plate XXX-. ^Archasological Collection of the National Museum, p. 69. 19 E 290 ART m SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. gest an interpretation. Among the thirty or forty specimens that I have examined, the engraving of the serpent is, with one exception,placed upon the concave side of the disk, which is, as usual, cut from the most dis- tended part of the Busyeon perversum, or some similar shell. The great uniformity of these designs is a matter of much surprise. At the same time, however, there is no exact duplication ; there are always differ- ences in position, detail, or number of parts. The serpent is always coiled, the head occupying the center of the disk. With a very few exceptions the coil is sinistral. The head is so placed that when the gorget is suspended it has an erect position, the mouth opening toward the right hand. As at first glance it will be somewhat diflScult for the reader to make out clearly the figure of the serpent, even with the well defined lines of the drawing before him, I will present the description pretty much in the order in which the design revealed itself to me in my first attempt to decipher it. The saucer like disks are almost circular, the upper edge being mostly somewhat straightened — the result of the natural limifof the body of the shell above. All are ground down to a fairly uniform thickness of from one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch. The edges are evenly rounded and smooth. Two small holes for suspension occur near the rim of the straighter edge, and generally on or near the outline of the engraved design, which covers the middle portion of the plate. The diameter ranges from one to six inches, To one who examines this design for the first time it seems a most inexplicable puzzle ; a me.mingless grouping of curved and straight lines, dots and perforations. We notice, however, a remarkable simi- larity in the designs, the idea being radically the same in all specimens, and the conclusion is soon reached that there is nothing haphazard in the arrangements of the parts and that every line must have its place and purpose. The design is in all cases inclosed by two parallel border lines, leaving a plain belt from one-fourth to three-fourths of an inch in width around the edge of the disk. All simple lines are firmly traced, although somewhat scratchy, and are seldom more than one-twentieth of an inch in width or depth. In studying this design the attention is first attracted by an eye-like figure near the left border. This is formed of a scries of concentric circles, the number of which varies from three in the most simple to twelve in the more elaborate forms. The diameter of the outer circle of this figure varies from one-half to one inch. In the center there is generally a small conical depression or pit. The series of circles is par- tially inclosed by a looped band one-eighth of an inch in width, which opens downward to the left ; the free ends extending outward to the border line, gradually nearing each other and forming a kind of neck to the circular figure. This band is in most cases occupied by a series of dots or conical depressions varying in number from one to thirty. The BUREAU OF KTHTfOLOOT AKXUAL BEPOET 1881 PL. LXII 1. Shell gorget from Georgia, (i) 1- McMahan Moand, Temi. (J) RATTLESKAKE GORGETS. UUIIKAU OF ETIINOLOOY ANNUAL UKPOET 1881 I'L. LXni 1. McMabaD Mound, Tenn. 2. McMaban Motmd, Tenn. RATTLESNAKE GORGETS, (i) B0LMB8.1 RATTLESNAKE GORGETS. 291 neck is decorated in a variety of ways ; by dots, by straight and carved lines, and by a cross-liatching that gives a semblance of scales. A cu- rious group of lines occupying a crescent shaped space at the right of the circular figure and inclosed by two border lines, must receive par- ticular attention. This is really the front part of the head — the jaws and the muzzle of the creature represented. The mouth is always clearly defined and is mostly in profile, the upper jaw being turned ab- ruptly upward, but, in some examples, an attempt has been made to represent a front view, in which case it presents a wide V-shaped fig- ure. It is, in most cases, furnished with two rows of teeth, no at- tempt having been made to represent a tongue. The spaces above and below the jaws are filled with lines and figures, which vary much in the different specimens ; a group of plume-lilie figures, extends back- ward from the upper jaw to the crown, or otherwise this space is occu- pied by an elongated perforation. The body is represented encircling the head in a sipgle coil, which appears from beneath the neck on the right, passes around the front of the head, aud terminates at the back in a pointed tail with well defined rattles. It is engraved to represent the well-known scales and spots of the rattlesnake, the coiiventional- ized figures being quite graphic. In the group of specimens repre- sented in Plate LXIV areas of cross-hatched lines, representing scales, alternate with circular figures, contaiuing two or three concentric circles and a central dot. In some cases one or more incised bands cross the body in the upper, part of the curve. The examples shown in Plate LXV have many distinctive features. The markings of the body consist of alternating areas of scales and chevrons or of chevrons alone. These figures are interrupted in the upper part of the coil by a number of lines which cross the body at right angles. The body is in many cases nearly severed from the rim of the disk by four oblong perforations, which follow the border line of the design. In most cases three other perforations occur about the head ; one represents the mouth, one defines the forehead and upper jaw, and the third is placed against the throat. These may be intended merely to define the form more clearly. The curious plume- like figures that occur upon the heads of both varieties may indicate the natural or reputed markings of the animal represented. It is pos- sible that the group shown in this plate may be intended to represent the common yellow rattlesnake, the Crotalus horridus, of the Atlantic slope, the characteristic markings of which are alternating ligjit and dark chevrons, while the diamond rattlesnake, the Crotalus adamanteus, of the Southern States may have served as a model for the other group. In Plate LXII I present two of these rattlesnake gorgets. The spec- imens shown in Fig. 1 is from Georgia and is the smallest example that has come to my notice. It is represented natural size. The design is quite obscure, but enough remains to show that it does not differ es- 292 AET IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. sentially from the type already presented. There appear to be no holes for suspension, but it is probable that two of the oblong perforations upon the border of the design had been used for that purpose. The handsome specimen given in Fig. 2 was obtained from the great mound at Sevierville, Tenn., and is in a very good state of preserva- tion. It is a deep, somewhat oval plate, made from a,Busycon perverstim. The surface is nicely polished and the margins neatly beveled. The marginal zone is less than half an inch wide and contains at the upper edge two perforations, which have be€Sn considerably abraded by the cord of suspension. Pour long curved slits or perforations almost sever the central design from the rim; the four narrow segments that remain are each ornamented with a single conical pit. The serpent is very neatly engraved and belongs to the chevroned variety. Tlie eye is large and the neck is ornamented with a single rectangular intaglio figure. The mouth is more than usually well defined. The ujiper jaw is turned abruptly upward and is ornamented with lines peculiar to this variety of the designs. The body opposite the perforations for suspension is interrupted by a rather mysterious cross band, consisting of one broad and two narrow lines. As this is a feature common to many specimens it probably has some important ofBce or significance. In Plate LXIII I present two of the best examples of these serpent gorgets yet brought to light. They were obtained from the JVTcMahan Mound, at Sevierville, Tenn., in 1871, and are in an excellent state of preservation. Both are made from large heavy specimens of the Busy- con perversum. The example given in Fig. 1 is but slightly altered by decomposition, the translucency of the shell being still perceptible. The back retains the strongly marked ridges of growth. The interior has been highly polished, but is now somewhat marked, apparently by some fine textile fabric which has been buried with it and has, in decaying, left its impress upon the smooth surface of the shell. The design is very much like the type described, but has some peculiar features about the neck and under the head of the serpent. The specimen shown in Fig. 2 may be regarded as a type of these gorgets, and is the one chiefly used in the general description given on a preceding page. It is six inches long by five wide, and has been neatly dressed and polished on both sides. As every detail is clearly and correctly shown in the cut I shall not describe it further. For convenience of comparison I have arranged two plates of outlines. The specimen shown in Fig. 1, Plate LXIV, is almost identical with the one last mentioned in size and shape. This, with the similar but some- what smaller specimen given in Fig. 2, is also from the McMahan Mound. Figs. 3 and 4 are outlines of the specimens already given in Plate LXIII. The fine specimen shown in Fig. 5 is from the Brakebill Mound, near Knoxville, Tenn., and is now in the Peabody Museum. It is five inches in length and a little more than four and one-half in width. It is very nURRAU OP ETHXOLOOV AN-XUAL r.EPOKT 18S1 I'L. hXI\ 1. Mcirraian jMoiiikI. 2. McMabRn Mouod. 3. McMaban Mound 4. ^McMaban Mound. 5. Brakebili Mound. G. Williams Island. RATTLESNAKE GORGETS. Tennessee. HLKSAU or RTH.NOIX)OY ANNUAL KRI'OUT 1881 I'L. 1,XV 1. MoMahan Mound. 2. Lick Creek Mound. 3. HcMahan Moand. 4. McMaban Mound. 5. Green Connty Mound. 6. Liot Creek Mound. RATTLESNAKE GORGETS. Tennessee. BUBBAU OP BTHNOLOOT ANNUAL BEPOUT 1881 PL. LXTI 1 . Shell gorget, Georgia. 2. Shell gorget, Tennessee. 3. 4. Painting, Peru. 5. From an Aztec painting, (j. Stone disk, Carthage, Ala. 7. Painted on rock, Nicaragua. THE SERPENT. noLMK».l THE SERPENT — THE HUMAN FACE. 293 mucli like the Sevierville specimens and is made of the same species of shell. The markings of the space beneath the head are peculiar, and in some other details it differs from the other specimens. Fig. 6 illustrates a large specimen now in the National Collection. It is also from Tennessee, and resembles the preceding examples quite closely. The specimens illustrated in Plate LXV represent a somewhat differ- ent type of design, but are found associated with the others. The three shown in Pigs. 2, 6, and 7 belong to the Peabody Museum, and are from mouncis in East Tennessee. The others are in the National Collec- tion, and come from the same region. It was my intention to pursue this study somewhat further, and the illustrations presented in Plate LXVI were partially prepared for the purpose of instituting comparisons between these northern forms and others of the south, but the time at my disposal will not permit of it. Fig. 1 is an outline of a rattlesnake gorget, probably from Georgia, which is preserved in the Natural History Museum of New York. It is four inches in length by three and one-half in width. The same spec- imen is figured by Jones in Plate XXX of his "Antiquities of the South- ern Indians." Fig. 2 represents a large specimen from Tennessee, which is now pre- served in the National Collection. The design is placed upon the gorget somewhat differently from the other specimens, the mouth of the ser- pent being near the top and the neck below at the right. There is also a dotted belt at the right of the head which is not found in any of the specimens described. Figs. 3 and 4 represent drawings of serpents' heads found in the an- cient city of Chimu, Peru.' Fig. 5 is copied from one of the codices of Goldsborough, and is a very spirited representation of a plumed and spotted rattlesnake. The tablet shown in Fig. 6 has already been described under " scal- loped disks." The remarkable plumed and feathered serpent given in Fig. 7 is painted upon the rocks at Lake Nijapa, Nicaragua.^ THE HVM4\ FACE. A very important group of shell ornaments represent, more or less distinctly, the human face. By a combination of engraving and sculpt- ure a rude resemblance to the features is produced. The objects are generally made from a large pear-shaped section of the lower whorl of heavy marine univalves. The lower portion, which represents the neck and chin, is cut from the somewhat restricted part near the base of the shell, while the broad outline of the head reaches the first suture of the noded shoulder of the body whorl. The simplest form is represented 'Squier: Peru, p. lo6. s Bancroft: Native Races of the Pacific States, vol. IV., p. 37. 294 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. by a specimen from a mound at Sevierville, Tenn. It is a plain, pear- shaped fragment, with evenly dressed margin and two ijerforations, which take the position of the eyes. A sketch of this is presented in Fig. 1 , Plate LX IX. Si milar specimens have been obtained from mounds in other States. A little further advance is made when the surface of the most convex part is ground away, with the exception of a low ver- tical ridge, which represents the nose. Further on a boss or node ap- pears below the nose, which takes the place of the mouth, as seen in Fig. 2. From the elementary stages exhibited in these specimens a gradual advance is made by the addition of details and the elaboration of all the features. A corona encircles the head, the ears are outlined (Fig. 5, Plate LXX), the eyes are elaborated by adding one or more concen- tric circles or ovals, brows are placed above, and groups of notched and zigzag lines extend downward upon the cheeks. The node at the mouth is perforated or cut in intaglio in circular or oblong figures, and the chin is embellished by a variety of incised designs. Illustrations of the various forms are given in Plates LXIX and LXX. These objects are especially numerous in the mounds of Tennessee, but their range is quite wide, examples having been reported from Ken- tucky, Virginia, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas, and smaller ones of a somewhat different, type from 'Sew York. In size they range from two to ten inches in length, the width being considerably less. They are generally found associated with human remains in such a way as to suggest their use as ornaments for the head or neck. There are, how- ever, no holes for suspension except those made to represent the eyes, and these, so far as I have observed, show no abrasion by a cord of suspension. Their shape suggests the idea that they may have been used as masks, and as such may have been placed upon the faces of the dead in the same manner that metal masks were used by some oriental nations. Among the large number of interesting objects of shell obtained from the McMahon Mound at Sevierville, Tenn., were a number of these shell masks. In the notes of the collector they are mentioned as having been found on the breast or about the heads of skeletons. The example shown in Fig. 1, Plate LXVII, is a medium-sized, rather plain specimen from the above-named locality. It is seven and one-fourth inches long and nearly six inches wide, and has been made from a Busycon perversum. The margins are much decayed, and the convex surface is pitted and discolored. The inside is smooth, and has a slight design rudely en- graved upon it. Of a very different type is the specimen shown in Fig. 2. It is new looking, and well preserved.- The slightly translucent sur- face is highly polished, and the engraved lines are quite fresh looking. It was collected by J. D. Lucas, and is labeled Aquia Creek, Va. It is five and one-half inches in length by five in width, and is apparently made from some dextral-whorled shell. The outline is somewhat rec- H n d > -A >■ a BUKBAU OF ETHNOLOGT AKKUAL EEl'OET 1881 I>L. LXVUI SHELL MASK. Virginia. (i) HOLMEB.] MASK-LIKE GORGETS. 295 tangular, the upper surface heing pretty well rounded and ornamented with a corona of incised lines, wliicb are arranged in six groups of four each. Inside of these a single incised line runs parallel with the edge, from temple to temple. The eyes are represented by small circles with s-mall central pits, and the lids are indicated by long, pointed ellipses. From each of the eyes a group of three zigzag lines extends downward across the cheek, terminating near the edge of the plate, opposite the mouth. These lines may be interpreted in two ways : First, if the ob- ject is a mourning mask, made with especial reference to its use in burial, they may signify tears, since, in the pictographic language of many tribes, tears are represented by lines descending from the eyes, and, with other nations, running water is symbolized by curved or zig- zag lines; in the second place, these lines may represent figures painted upon the face during the period of mourning, or they may simply rep- resent the characteristic lines of the painting or tattooing of the clan or tribe to which the deceased belonged. It is not at all improbable that these objects were further embellished by painted designs which have been obliterated. The nose is represented by a flat ridge, which terminates abruptly below, the nostrils being indicated by two small excavations. The mouth is represented by an oval node, in which a horizontal groove has been made. The most elaborately engraved example of these masks yet brought to the notice of the public is shown in Plate LXVIII. It was obtained by Mr. Lucien Carr from a large mound, knowu as the Blj' Mound, near Kose Hill, Lee County, Virginia, and is described and illustrated by that gentleman in the tenth annual report of the Peabody Museum.' Wishing to present this fine specimen to the best advantage possible, I have had a large cut made from a photograph furnished by Professor Putnam, curator of the Peabody Museum. Parts of the design which were obscure I have strengthened, following the guidance of such frag- ments of lines as were still traceable, or by simply duplicating the lines of the opposite side, as these designs are in all cases bi symmetrical. Having described a great number of relics exhumed from this mound, Mr. Carr goes on to say "that the most interesting of the articles taken from this grave was an engraved shell made from the most dilated por- tion of the Strombus gigas, and carved on the convex side into the like- ness of a human face." It measures 138 millimeters in length, by 120 in breadth. It is perforated with three holes, " the two upper of which are surrounded with circles, and represent eyes ; between these is a raised ridge of shell, in place of the nose, and below this is a third hole, which is just above a series of lines that were probably intended as the month. Four lines, parallel to each other during three-fourths of their length, begin at the outer corner of the eye and are zigzaged to the lower jaw, where they are drawn to a point. The concave side of the 1 Carr, in Tenth Anaual Keport Peabody Museum, p. 87. 296 ART IN SHELL OP THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. shell is perfectly" plain, and still preserves its high polish, though the right portion of the face on the carved or convex side shows the sad ef- fects of time and exposure." Although I have not had an opportunity of examining this specimen closely, I am inclined to the opinion, judging by its outlines, that the shell from which it was made has been sinistrally whorled, and hence a Busycon perversum. I should also prefer to consider the hole beneath the nose as representing the mouth, as it certainly does in many other cases, and the peculiar, figure — the three vertical lines which extend downward from the hole and the two banded figures that ci'oss them at right angles — as a representation of some painted or tatooed design characteristic of the builders of the mound. Other examples of these objects are represented in Plate LXIX. Of especial interest I may mention the specimen shown in Pig. 4, obtained, with other similar examples, by Professor Putnam, from the Lick Creek mound, in Bast Tennessee. The perforations which represent the eyes are surrounded by two concentric circles, and the zigzag lines beneath are supplemented by two sets of pendant figures formed of notched lines, the two longer of which extend down the sides of the nose, the others being cojinected with the lower margin of the eye. In one ex- ample four parallel lines pass from the mouth downward over the chin. Fig. 3 represents a specimen from the Brakebill Mound, East Ten- nessee. The mouth is not indicated, and the nose is but slightly re- lieved. Each eye, however, is inclosed by a figure which extends down- ward over the cheek, terminating in three sharp points. So far as the specimens at hand show, this peculiar embellishment of the eyes and mouth is characteristic of Virginia and East Tennessee. A small specimen from Greorgia-, now preserved in the ^Natural History Museum at 'Sew York, has a somewhat similar ornamentation of the eyes. This specimen is shown in Fig. 6, Plate LXX. In Fig. s of the same plate we have the representation of a face mod- eled in clay, on which a number of incised lines, similar to those en- graved on shell, have been drawn. The crown of notches is also pres- ent. The specimen has been illustrated by Professor Jones.' It is now in the museum of Natural History at New York, and was probably ob- tained from the Etowah Valley, Georgia. Examples in stone are also numerous, and show certain features in common with those in shell. Pig. 9 is from Northern Ohio, and is carved from a nodule of iron ore. The very beautiful little head shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is from a cave at Mussel Shoals, Ala. It is made of shell, and is somewhat altered by decay. The crown is peculiarly notched, and resembles a very common Mexican form. The notch in the middle ot the forehead can be traced to a division in the head-dress noticed in the more elaborately carved Mexican specimens. The example shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is copied from a rather rude cut 'Jones: Antiquities of the Southern Indians, p. 430r BURKAf or ETIIXOLOOT AN.vrAT. i;Frnirr lysi n,. i.m. 1. McMahnn Mound, Tcnii. 2. MtiMatiiiu MuuncI, Tenn. 3. BrakcbJU MoudiI, Tenn. 4. Lick Creek Monnd, Tenn. f). Acquia Creek. Va. (). Mound, Ely County, Va. THK HUMAN FACE. BURRAU OF BTHMOLOGT ANNUAL UEPORT 1881 PL. LXX 1, 2. Sfaell orDament from a care, Alabama. (\) 'A, 4. Shell ornament from New York. (|) 5. Shell oi-nameut, stone grave, Tennessee. 6. Shell ornament from Georgia. (\) 7. Shell ornament from Tennessee. (}) 8. Face modeled in clay, Georgia. 9. Face carved in iron ore, Ohio. THE HUMAN FACK. HOLMRs.] THE HUMAN PACE — THE HUMAN FIGURE. 297 given by Schoolcraft, who describes it as follows: " This well-sculptured article was discovered in the valley of the Kasauda Creek, Onondaga County. The material is a compact piece of sea-shell. It still pre- serves in a considerable degree the smoothness and luster of its origi- nal finish. * * * At the angle of the temples are two small orifices for suspending it around the neck. The entire article is finished with much skill and delicacy." ' The very rude specimen presented in Pig. 7 is from a mound at Frank- lin, Tenn. , It seems to have been some natural form, but slightly changed by art. A somewhat similar specimen from a mound in Ten- nessee may be seen in the Peabody Museum. The cut presented in Fig. 5 is taken from Jones's Antiquities of Ten- nessee, page 48. The specimen was obtained Irom the stone grave of a child at the foot of a mound near Nashville, Tenn. It has diamond- shaped eyes, a feature of very rare occurrence in the art of this region. * THE HUMAN FIGURE. I now come to a class of works which are new and unique, and in more than one respect are the most important objects of aboriginal art yet found within the limits of the United States. These relics are four in number, and come from that part of the mound-building district occupied at one time by the " stone grave" peoples— three from Ten- nessee and one from Missouri. Similar designs are not found in other materials, and, indeed, nothing at all resembling them can be found, so far as I know, either in stone or in clay. If such have been painted or engraved on less enduring materials they are totally destroyed. I shall first describe the specimens themselves, and subsequently dwell at some length upon their authenticity, their significance, and their place in art. First, I present, in Plate LXXI, a shell gorget on which is engraved a rather rude delineation of a human figure. The design occupies the concave side of a large shell disk cut from a Busycon perversum. Near the upper margin are the usual holes for suspension. The en- graved design fills the central portion of the plate and is inclosed by two approximately parallel lines, between which and the edge of the shell there is a plain belt three-fourths of an inch wide. A casual ob- server would probably not recognize any design whatever in the jumble of half obliterated lines that occui)ies the inclosed space. It will first be noticed that a column about three-fourths of an inch in width stands erect in the center of the picture ; from this spring a number of lines, forming serpentine arms, which give the figure as much the ap- pearauc"^ of an octopus crowded into a collector's alcohol jar as of a human creature. A little study will convince one, however, that the central column represents the human body, and the tangle of lines surrounding it will be found to represent the arms, legs, hands, feet, and their appendages — no line within the border being without its ' Schoolcraft : Notes on the Iroquois, p. 235. 298 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. ofSce. The upper extremity of the body is occupied by a circle oue- eighth of an inch in diameter, which represents the eye. The Head is not distinguished from the body by any sort of constriction for the neck, but has evidently been crowned by a rude aurora-like crest similar to that found in so many aboriginal designs. This does not appear in the engraving given, as it, as well as other features, was so nearly obliter- ated as to escape observation until the idea was suggested by the study of other similar designs. The mouth is barely suggested, being repre- sented by three shallow lines placed so low on the trunk that they oc- cupy what should be the chest. From the side of the head a number of lines, probably meant for plumes, extend across the bordering lines almost to the edge of the shell ; below this are two perforated loops, which seem to take the place of ears ; the one on the right is doubly perforated and has a peculiar extension, in a bent or elbowed line, across the border. The arms are attached to the sides of the body near the middle in a haphazard sort of way and are curiously double jointed ; they terminate, however, in well-defined hands againstthe right and left borders, the thumb and fingers being, in each case, distinctly rep- resented. The legs and feet are at first exceedingly hard to make out, but when once traced are as clear as need be. The body terminates abruptly below within an inch of the base of the inclosed space. One leg extends directly downward, the foot resting upon the border line ; the other extends backward from the base of the trunk and rests against the border line at the right ; the legs have identical markings, which, probably represent the costume. Each foot terminates in a single well- defined talon or claw, which folds upward against the knee. This is a most interesting feature, and one which this design possesses in common with the three other drawings of the human figure found in Tennessee. The spaces between the various members of the figure are filled in with ornamental appendages, which seem to be attached to the hands and feet, and probably represent plumes. The numerous perforations in this specimen are worthy of attention : within the border line there are twenty-six, which vary from one-fourth to one-sixteenth lof an inch in diameter. They are placed mostly at the joints of the figure or at the junction of two or more lines. Such perforations are of frequent occur- rence in this class of gorgets and may have had some particular signifi- cance to their possessors. This specimen was found in the great mound at Sevierville, Teun., upon the breast of a skeleton, and is now in the National Collection. It has suffered considerably from decay, the sur- face being deeply furrowed, pitted, and discolored. The holes are much enlarged and the lines in places are almost obliterated. I began the study of this design with the thought that, in reference to this specimen at least, Professor Jones was right, and that the confused group of lines might be the meaningless product of an idle fancy, but ended by being fully satisfied that no single line or mark is without its place or its significance. BVBBAU OF BTHMOLOGY ANNUAL EB1>0KT 1881 PL. LXXI SHELL GOBGET— THE HUMAN FIGURE. MoMahan Monnd, Tennessee. (J) BUHEAU OP ETIIXOLOOy AKKUAL ItEFOST 1881 FL. LXXU SHELL GORGET — THE HUMAN FIGURE Mound, Tennossee. (i) H0LMB8.] ENGRAVINGS OF THE HUMAN FIGURE. 299 After having examined this design so critically, it will be an easy matter to interpret that engraved upon the tablet illustrated in Plate LXXIl. Although found in widely separated localities, and engraved in a somewhat difiereut style, they are identical in type, and exhibit but slight differences in detail. At the top of the plate we have the two doubly conical peribratious for suspension, but the double border line is not completed above, being interrupted by the plumes from the head. Tlie head itself is decorated with the usual crown of radiating lines, a small circle with a central pit represents the eye, and below this is a well-defined mouth with a double row of teeth. Extending to the right from the mouth is an appendage consisting of one straight and two in- terrupted lines, which may be a part of the costume, or, since it issues from the mouth, may possibly symbolize speech. The body, which is short and straight, is divided vertically into three parts ; the central space contains a large conical perforation, and is covered with a lace-work of lines; the lateral spaces are ornamented with rows of buttons or scales, which consist of meagerly outlined circles with central dots. The curi- ously folded arms have precisely the same relative positions as the cor- responding members in the other specimc n, and the fingers touch the bordering line on the right and left, the thumb being turned backward against theelbow. The legs are represented in a manner that suggests a sitting posture, the rounded knees coming in front of and joining the base of the body ; in position and decoration they repeat the other speci- men. The feet, or the rounded extremities that represent them, rest upon the border line, as in the case previously described, and terminate in upturned talons that are long, curved, and jointed, and terminate in square or blunt tips. Plume-like appendages are attached to the arms and legs, and fill the spaces not occupied by the members of the body ; these plumes or pendants are always represented by folded bands or fillets which are ornamented on one side with dots. A plume attached to the left side of the head is represented by two curved lines, which reach to the edge of the shell. There are five perforations, two for sus- pension, two at the sides of the face, and one near the middle of the trunk. This specimen is in a very perfect state of preservation, the sur- face being smooth and but little stained. It is somewhat pear-shaped, resembling in this respect the mask like gorgets previously described. It is about seven inches in height and five in width, and has been made from a very thick and compact shell, probably a Busycon. It was ob- tained from a mound in- Meigs County, Tennessee, and is preserved in the Peabody Museum. In mechanical execution this specimen is much superior to the preceding one ; the edges and surface of the shell are nicely dressed, although the lines of the design are indifferently cut. Another uniqueshell gorget is presented in PlateLXXIII. It was ob- tained from a mound in Southeastern Missouri, and is now in the posses- sion of Professor Potter, of Saint Louis. The disk is about four and a half inches in diameter, and was originally nearly circular, but the edges 300 AKT IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. are now much decayed and battered. A cut with a brief description is given by Mr. A. J. Conant in his recent work, "Foot-prints of Vanished Eaces," page 95. My cut is made from a photograph obtained from Professor Putnam, of the Peabody Museum. This is probably the same photograph used by Mr. Conant. The engraved design is of a totally distinct type from the last, and evinces a much higher grade of skill in the artist. It is encircled by six nearly parallel lines, which occupy about half an in(-.h of the border of the disk. P'ortions of these still re- main, the inner one being nearly entire. Between this and the second line are two perforatious for suspension. The idea first suggested by a glance at the engraved design is that it strongly resembles the work of the ancient Mexicans, and the second idea of many archaeologists will probably be that there may be a doubt of its genuineness. Setting this question aside for the present, let us examine the engraving in detail. Placing the plate so that the two perforations are at the left, we have the principal figure in an upright posture. This figure apparently rep- resents a personage of some importance, as he is decked from head to foot with a profusion of ornaments and symbols. He is shown in profile with the arms extended in action, and the feet separated as if in the act of stepping forward. The head is large, occupying about one-third of the height of the design. The elaborate head-dress fills the upper part of the inclosed space, pendant pl-umes descend to the shoulders before and behind, and circular ornaments are attached to the hair and the ear. The conventionalized eye is lozenge or diamond shaped, with a small conical pit for the pupil. The profile shows a full forehead, a strong nose, and a prominent chin. Two lines extend across the cheek from the bridge of the nose to the base of the ear. In and projecting from the mouih is a sym- bolic figure, the meaning of which can only be conjectured. The shoulders and body are but meagerly represented. From the waist a peculiar apron-like object is suspended, which reaches to the knees; it may be a part of the costume or a priestly symbol. The legs and feet are dwarfed, but quite well outlined. There are encircling bands at the knees and ankles, and a fan-like extension of the costume, somewhat resembling the tail of a bird, descends between the legs. Attached to the back, is a figure of a rather extraordinary character. Similar figures may be seen in some of the Mexican paintings, and seem to represent a contrivance for carrying burdens, in which at times elfish figures are accommodated. The right arm is extended forward, and the hand grasps a singular shaft, with which a blow is aimed at the severed head of a victim, which is held face downward by the left hand of the standing figure. The severed head still retains the plumed cap, from which a long pendant descends in front of the face. The eye is lozenge-shaped. A zigzag line crosses the cheek from the ear to the bridge of the nose, and a curious symbolic figure is represented BUUEAL' or KTUNOLOai AMMUAL KEPOKT 1881 PL. LXXill SHELL GORGET — THE HDMAJST FIGUHE. Miasouri. lltUAU 01' ETHNOLOGY AUNUAL KEl'OKT 1881 I'L. LJ ENGKAVED GOKGET— FIGHTING FIGURES. Tennessee. a) noiJiEs] ENGRAVINGS OF THE HUMAN FIGURE. 301 as issuing from the mouth. The shaft held in the right hand seems to issue from a circular figure, doubtless of symbolic character, which occupies the space in front of the head of the standing figure. It is possible that the figure which issues fro:n the mouth of the victim represents the point of this mystic shaft which has penetrated the head, although we should have to allow some inaccuracies in the draw- ing if this were the case. Any one at all familiar with the curious pictographic manuscripts of the ancient Mexicans will see at a glance that we have here a sacrificial scene, in which a priest seems to be en- gaged in the sacrifice of a human being. In the extraordinary manu- scripts of the ancient Aztecs we have many parallels to this design. So closely does it approach the Aztec type that, although no duplicate can be found in any of the codices, there is not a single idea, a single member or ornament that has not its analogue in the Mexican manu- scripts. To make this clear to every one I present, in Plate LXXV, Fig. 4, a single example for comparison. This one is selected from the manuscript of M. De Fiyervary, preserved at Budapest, Hungary.i Fortunately for the credit of this Missouri relic we do not find its dupli- cate — there are only family resemblances; there are similar plumes, with similar ornaments and pendants, similar costume and attitudes ; there are similar features and similar symbols ; but there is no absolute identity, except in motive and conception. Among the multitude of works of art collected within the last de- cade very few will be found to surpass in interest the fragment of a sjiell gorget from the McMahon Mound, at Sevierville, Tenn. The disk, when entire, has been nearly five inches in diameter. A little more than one- third bad crumbled away, and the remaining portion was only preserved by the most careful handling, and by immediate immersion in a thin so- lution of glue. This specimen is the first of the kind ever brought to light in this country, and must certainly be regarded as the highest ex- ample of aboriginal art ever found north of Mexico. The design, as in the other cases, has been engraved on the convex surface of a polished shell disk, and represents two human figures, plumed and winged and armed with eagles' talons, engaged in mortal combat. As in the last specimen described, this has, at first sight, an exotic look, bearing cer- tainly in its conception a general resemblance to the marvelous bas- reliefs of Mexico and Central America ; but the resemblance goes no further, and we are at liberty to consider it a northern work sui generis. The design has apparently covered the entire tablet, leaving no space for encircling lines. The two figures are in profile and face each other in a fierce onset. Of the right-hand figure only the body, one arm, and one leg remain. The left-hand figure is almost complete; the outline of the face, one arm, and one foot being obliterated. The right hand is raised above the head in the act of brandishing a long double-pointed • Kingsborough, Vol. Ill, pi. 22. 302 ART IN SflELL OP THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. knife. At the same time this doughty warrior seems to be receiving a blow in the face from the right hand of the other combatant, in which is clutched a savage-looking blade, with a curved point. The hands are vigorously drawn, the joints are correctly placed, and the thumb presses down upon the outside of the forefinger in its natural effort to tighten and secure the grasp. Two bands encircle the wrists and probably represent bracelets. The arms and shoulders are plain. The head is decorated with a single plume, which springs from a circular ornament placed over the ear; an angular figure extends forward from the base of this plume and probably represents what is left of the head-dress proper ; forward of this, on the very edge of the crumbling shell, is one-half of the lozenge-shaped eye, the dot intended to represent the pupil being almost obliterated. It is cer- tainly a great misfortune that both faces are completely gone ; their exact character must remain conjectural. A neat pendant ornament is suspended upon the well-formed breast, and a broad belt encircles the waist, beneath which, covering the abdomen, is a design that suggests the scales of a coat of mail. The legs are well-defined and perfectly proportioned; the left knee is bent forward and the foot is planted firmly on the ground, while the right is thrown gracefully back against the rim at the left. Double belts encircle the knees and ankles. The legs terminate in wonderfully well-drawn eagle's feet, armed with vigor- ously curved talons. A very interesting feature of the design is the highly conventionalized wing, which is attached to the shoulder behind, and fills the space beneath the iiplifttd arm. A broad many-featherd tail is spread out like a fan behind the legs. The right hand figure, so far as seen, is an exact duplicate of the left. A design of undetermined significance occupies the space between the figures beneath the crossed arms; it may represent conventionalized drapery, but is more probably symbolic in its character. The heads have probably been a little too large for good proportion, but the details of the anatomy are excellent. The muscles of the shoulder, the breast and nipple, the waist, the but- tock, and the calves of the legs are in excellent drawing. The whole group is most graphically presented. A highly ideal design, it is made to fill a given space with a directness of execution and a unity of con- ception that is truly surprising. Let us turn for a moment from this striking eftbrt of the mound-build- ers to the early efforts of other peoples in the engraver's art. Here are the drawings of the Troglodytes of France, scintillations of paleolithic genius, which appear as a iiash of light. in the midst of a midnight sky. They are truly remarkable. The clear-cut lines that shadow forth the hairy mammoth suggest the graphic and forcible work of the Parisian of to-day. The rude Esquimaux of our own time engraves images of a great variety of natural objects on his ornaments and implements of ivory in amanner that commands our admiration. But these shell tablets have designs of a much higher grade. They not only represent natural DUBEAU OK KTHNOLOOY ANMUAL KEPOKT 1881 IT.. I.XXV 1. Shell gorget, STcMaban Monnd, Tenn 2. Sculptured in stoue, Mexico. 3.- Shell gorget, mound, Misaouri. 4. Figure from an Aztec painling. 5. Shell gorget, McMahan Mound, Tenn. 6. Shell gorget. Lick Creek Mound, Tenn. THE HUMAK FIGURE. BL'REAU OF ETIIN'OLOOY AKXUAI. HEPOKT 1861 PL. LXXVl 1. Design on ZuQi wai-shield, painting. 2. TliunJor-ljird of tbo naidalis, painting COMPOSITE riGUKES. HOLMES] AUTHENTICITY OF THE ENGRAVED GORGETS. 303 objects with precision, but they delineate conceptions of mythical crea- tures of composite character for which nature affords no model. In ex- ecution the best of these tablets will not compare with the wonderful works in stucco and stone of Palenque, or the elaborate sculptures of the Aztecs, but they are, like them, vigorous in action and complete in conception. In case the authenticity of these relics be questioned, the facts in re- gard to them, so far as known, are here presented for reference. As to the two specimens from Sevierville, Tenn. (Plates LXXI and LXXIII), the shadow of a doubt cannot be attached to them. Were there no rec- ord whatever of the time or place of discovery, the evidence upon the faces of the relics themselves would show satisfactorily that they are genuine. They were taken from the great mound, which I have called the McMahon Mound, at Sevierville, Tenn. This mound was opened in 1881 by one of our most experienced collectors. Dr. E. Palmer. The specimens when.found were in a very advanced stage of decay, pitted, discolored, and crumbling, and had to be handled with the utmost care to prevent total disintegration. They were dried by the collector, im- mersed in a weak solution of glue, and forwarded immediately to the National Museum at Washington. In this mound a multitude of relics were found, a large number being of shell, many of which are figured and described in this paper. These two gorgets, as well as many others of more ordinary types were found on or near the breasts of skeletons, and it is highly probable that they were suspended about the necks of the dead just as they had been worn by the living. By accurately as- certaining the authenticity of one of these specimens we establish, so far as need be, the genuineness of all of the same class. If one is genuine that is suiBcient; the others may or may not be so, without seriously effecting the questions at issue, yet the occurrence of duplicate or closely related specimens in widely separated localities furnishes confirmatory evidence of no little importance. I do not wish to be understood as cast- ing a doubt upon any of the four specimens described, as I am thoroughly convinced that there is no cause for suspicion. The Missouri gorget, which has already been described and figured, was obtained by unknown persons in Southeastern Missouri. Several years back it came into the hands of Colonel Whitley, and from him it was obtained by its present owner. Professor Potter, of Saint Louis. There has never been a question as to its genuineness, and according to Professor Hilder, who saw it shortly after its discovery, the appearance and condition of the specimen were such that it could not have been of fraudulent manufacture. It was chalky and crumbling from decay, the lines of the design bearing equal evidence with the general surface of the shell of great age. Beside this, even if it were possible to produce such a condition in a recently carved shell, there existed no motive for such an attempt. Nothing was to be made by it; no benefit could accrue to the perpetrator to reward him for his pains, and, further, there was no 304 AET IN SHELL OP THE ANCIENT AMEEICANS. precedent, there was extant nothing that could serve as a model for such a work. In Plate LXXV I have arranged a number of figures for convenience of comparison, Figs. 1, 3, 5, and 6, being outlines of the four examples just described. In regard to the restored part of the outline iu Fig. 1, I wish to say that my only object in filling out the figure on the right was to secure as far as possible the full effect of the complete original. Observing that all that remains of the right hand figure— the arm, the body, the leg and foot, is a duplicate of the left, it is safe to conclude that the design has been approximately bi-symmetrical, slight discrep- ancies probably occurring in the details of head and arm, in the ex- pression of face, or in the character of the weapon. It is much to be re- gretted tiiat the faces are totally destroyed. In Fig. 3 I present a group of two figures from the so-called " sacri- ficial stone " found in the Plaza Mayor, city of Mexico. It seems to represent the submission of one warrior or ruler to his victorious oijpo- nent, and is one of many designs that might be presented to illustrate the analogies of the Tennessee relic with the interesting works of the far South. There is what might be called a family resemblance, a similarity in idea and action, but little analogy of detail. The northern work is by far the more spirited, and is apparently superior in all the essentials of artistic excellence. In the composite character of the personages represented this picture finds no parallel. Composite figures are of frequent occurrence in Pe ruvian art, as in the running figures sculptured on the great monolith at Tiahuanuco, or the mythical combats of the gods of the earth and sea painted on the pottery of Chimu. They are also found in the manu- scripts of the ancient Mexicans, as well as in the paintings of the modern Pueblos of New Mexico (Fig. 1, Plate LXXVI),, and in the totemic art of the Haidahs (Pig. 2, Plate LXXVI). The most frequeiit combinations are of birds with men, the inspiration of the work in all cases being derived from the mythology of the people. The wearing of masks has doubtless given rise to many such conceptions, and where the head alone of the human creature has undergone metamorphosis, we may suspect that a mask has originated the conception ; but the Tennessee example appears to be the only one in which wings are added independently of the arms or in which bird's feet are attached to the otherwise perfect human creature. And now we come to the question of the origin of these objects, and especially of the example most closely resembling Mexican work. The Missouri gorget is in many respects quite isolated from known works of the Mississippi Valley. Must it be regarded as an exotic, as an impor- tation from the South, or does it belong to the soil from which it was exhumed ? In order to answer this question we must not only deter- mine its relations to the art of Mexico, but we must know just what afln- ities it has to the art of the mound-builders. BUREAU OK KTIINOLOOV ANNUAL RKPOBT 1881 PL. LXXVIl FROGS, ARIZONA. Carved from pectunculus shells. ( \) B0LME8.] ORIGIN OF THE MISSOURI GORGET. 305 In the first place, gorgets of shell are a marked characteristic'^^f the personal embellishment of the northern peoples. They may have . been in use among the Aztecs, but do not appear among southern antiquiftifis, and no evidence can be derived from history. This gorget belongs, ftn its general character as an ornament, to the North. It is circular in form, it has two small perforations near the margin for suspension, and is made from the wall of a large univalve. The design occupies the central portion of the convex side of the disk and is inclosed by a number of incised lines. In all of these features, together with its technical execution and its manner of inhumation, it is identical with the weU-known work of the mound-builders. These analogies could hardly occur if it were an exotic. It is true, however, as we have al- ready seen, that the design itself has a closer affinity to Mexican art than to that of the North. It represents a sacrificial scene, and has many parallels in the paintings and sculpture of the South, whereas no such design is known in the art of any nation north of Mexico. The engravings of the mound-builders represent legendar; tsatures derived from the myths of the fathers, and in this respect 1 ^eir parallels in the bird-man of the Haidahs, the war-god of the Zuais,lfti(l the mythical deities of other countries ; but they are never illustrative of the customs or ceremonies of the peoples themselves. As an orna- ment this Missouri gorget is a member of a great family that is pecu- liarly northern, but the design engraved upon it affiliates with the art of Mexico, and so close and striking are the resemblances, that acci- dent cannot account for them, and we are forced to the conclusion that it must be the offspring of the same beliefs and customs and the same culture as the art of Mexico. 20 B