Chapter II: Part 2

Implements of this class are generally made from the lower part of large univalves. They were probably used in a variety of ways, with handles and without. The spine-like base of the shell forms the shaft, the blade being cut from the broadly expanded wall of the lower whorl. Nearly all the specimens in the national collection have been obtained in this way. In Plate XXV three very fine examples are figured. The specimen illustrated in Fig. 1 is more than usually well fashioned, and is extremely massive, having the proportions and almost the weight of typical stone celts. It is five inches in length, two and three-fourths in width, and nearly one inch through at the thickest part.

The edge is even and sharp, and but slightly rounded; the beveled faces are quite symmetrical, and meet at an angle of about 35°; the faces are curved slightly, following the original curvature of the shell, and the sides are evenly dressed and taper gently toward the upper end which shows some evidence of battering. The surface of the specimen is slightly chalky from decay. It has been made from a _Strombus gigas_, or some equally massive shell. It was collected at Orange Bluff, Fla., by T. S. Barber. A profile view of the same specimen is presented in Fig. 2. The specimen shown in Fig. 3 was found in Madison County, Ky., and is the only one in the national collection from the Mississippi Valley. It was obtained from a mound, but in what relation to the human remains I have not learned. It is fashioned much like the specimen just described; it is one and a half inches in width at the upper end, and two inches wide near the cutting edge. It has also been made from a very massive shell.

Fig. 4 illustrates a specimen from St. Michael's Parish, Barbadoes, West Indies. It is made from the basal portion of a _Busycon perversum_. The handle is curved and neatly rounded, and the edge is beveled or sharpened on the inside only.

In the national collection there are about twenty of these objects; six are from Tampa, Fla.; four of these are fragmentary; the remaining two are short and triangular, and have been made, one from a _Busycon perversum_, the other from a _Busycon_ or _Strombus_. The cutting edge is wide and well sharpened. Two are from Cedar Keys, Fla., and are made from thin-walled specimens of the _Busycon perversum_. The larger is six and one-half inches in length by three in width toward the base; the other is about one-half as large. Both are rudely made, and show the effects of use. Five came from East Pass, Choctawhatchie Bay, Fla. Two of them are fragmentary; one of the entire specimens is very well made, and has a regularly beveled, oblique edge, while another is remarkable in having a curiously worn edge, which is deeply serrated by use or weathering. The majority of these specimens are from ancient shell heaps. Three are from St. Michael's Parish, Barbadoes, West Indies, one of which has already been described.

Professor Wyman, in the Naturalist for October, 1868, illustrates two of these celt-like implements from the fresh-water shell heaps near St. Johns, Fla. One is made from a triangular piece cut from a _Busycon carica_, so as to comprise a portion of the rostrum, which serves as a handle, and a portion of a swollen part of the body, which terminates in the cutting edge of the tool. The sides and apex are smoothed and rounded, while the base is regularly rounded and ground to an edge like that of a gouge, but with the bevel on the inside.

This author states that another specimen, obtained at Old Enterprise, shows clearly that it was detached from the shell by first cutting a groove and then breaking off the fragment. He also gives two views of a small shell celt which, from the exterior markings and the thick ridge on the inside, is thought to have been cut from the base of a _Strombus gigas_. "The broad end is ground to a blunt edge like that seen in most of the stone chisels from the other States, and the other is ground to a blunt point."

These implements are frequently mentioned by early explorers. In Plate 12 of the "Admiranda Narratio," an Indian is represented[38] with a shell implement, scraping away the charred portions from the interior of a canoe which is being hollowed out by fire. The same implement was employed for removing the bark from the tree trunks used.

Catlin, in speaking of the Klahoquat Indians of Vancouver's Island, says that "a species of mussel-shell of a large size, found in the various inlets where fresh and salt water meet, are sharpened at the edge and set in withes of tough wood, forming a sort of adze, which is used with one hand or both, according to its size; and the flying chips show the facility with which the excavation is made in the soft and yielding cedar, no doubt designed and made for infant man to work and ride in."[39]

Wood, speaking of the Indians of New England, says that "their Cannows be made either of Pine-trees, which before they were acquainted with _English_ tooles, they burned hollow, scraping them smooth with Clam-shels and Oyster-shels, cutting their out-sides with stone-hatchets."[40]

The method of hafting these implements, when used for axes and adzes, was doubtless the same as that employed for stone implements of similar shapes. This is illustrated in Fig. 2, Plate XXVII, the handle being securely fastened by cords or sinews. It will be seen that but one of the specimens mentioned comes from the interior, and that from Madison County, Ky.

SCRAPERS.

The great majority of the scraping implements obtained from the mounds, graves, and shell heaps are simply valves of _Unio_ or clam-shells, unaltered except by use; yet there is a widely distributed class of worked specimens, which have been altered by making a rough perforation near the center of the valve, and by the grinding down and notching of the edges. A very fine specimen is illustrated in Fig. 3, Plate XXVI. It is formed of the left valve of a _Unio tuberculosus_. It was taken from a mound at Madisonville, Ohio, and is now in the national collection. A similar specimen from the same locality is illustrated in an account of the exploration conducted by the Scientific and Literary Society of Madisonville.[41] I have seen four other fine specimens from the same locality; all are made of the shell of the _Unio tuberculosus_ (?). It will be seen by reference to Fig. 3 that the posterior point of the shell is much worn, as if by use, while at the opposite end, near the hinge, the margin has been slightly notched. The large specimen, figured in the Madisonville pamphlet, as well as all other examples from this locality, are also much worn at the posterior end, and slightly notched on the anterior margin. The perforations are roughly made, and nearly one-half an inch in diameter.

I have carefully examined all the specimens of this class within my reach, probably twenty-five in all, most of which are in the national collection, and I find them all very much alike. They are from two to five inches in length, have rude central perforations, and are worn by use at the posterior point, and notched on the anterior margin. The blunting of one end by use calls for no explanation, but the purpose of the perforation is a little obscure. It may have been used for convenience in transportation, but more probably for attaching a handle. On discovering that a notch had in all cases been made at the upper end, I became convinced that the latter use was intended. Whether the supposed handle has been long or short, or attached longitudinally or transversely, I am unable to determine.

In Plate XXVI, Figs. 4 and 5, two methods of hafting are illustrated. If used for striking, the long handle would be the more suitable, but if for scraping, dressing skins, scaling fish, or shaping wood or clay, the handle suggested in Fig. 5 would be the most convenient. The clam-shell agricultural implements, so frequently mentioned by explorers along the Atlantic coast, were attached to handles in the manner of hoes or adzes, as shown in Fig. 2, Plate XXVII. It is possible that the specimens under consideration may have been hafted in this manner.

A perforated valve of a _Unio gibbosus_, which has probably been used as a knife or scraper, is shown in Fig. 1, Plate XXVII. It was obtained from a cave near Nashville, and is now in the national collection.

Another interesting variety of shell implement is shown in Fig. 1, Plate XXVI. It was obtained from the Oconee River, near Milledgeville, Ga., and is made from the left valve of a _Unio vericosus_. Its perfect state of preservation indicates that it is of quite recent manufacture. A deep, sharply cut groove encircles the beak and hinge of the shell, and the posterior margins are considerably worn. A few shallow lines have been engraved on the smooth convex surface of the valve. The position of the groove suggests the method of hafting shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 6, Plate XXVI, represents a perforated _Pecten_, which may have been used as an implement or as part of a rattle. It was collected by Mr. Webb on the west coast of Florida.

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.

The first explorers of the Atlantic seaboard found many of the tribes cultivating the soil to a limited extent, corn being the chief product. The methods and appliances were exceedingly primitive, and the implements employed, whether wood, bone, stone, or shell, possess but little interest to art.

Unworked shells, lashed to rude handles, served all the purposes as well as if wrought out in the most fanciful manner. The large, firm valves of clam-shells were most frequently used, as the following extracts will show.

"Before the Indians learned of the English the use of a more convenient instrument, they tilled their corn with hoes made of these shells, to which purpose they are well adapted by their size."[42]

A further reference to this shell is found in Wood's New England Prospect: "The first plowman was counted little better than a Juggler: the _Indians_ seeing the plow teare up more ground in a day, than their Clamme shels could scrape up in a month, desired to see the workemanship of it, and viewing well the coulter and share, perceiving it to be iron, told the plowman, hee was almost _Abamocho_, almost as cunning as the Devill."[43] And again the same author says: "An other work is their planting of corne, wherein they exceede our _English_ husband-men, keeping it so cleare with their Clamme shell-hooes, as if it were a garden rather than a corne-field, not suffering a choking weede to advance his audacious head above their infant corne, or an undermining worme to spoile his spurnes."[44]

Other writers make but the most casual mention of this subject. De Bry gives, in Plate XXI, Vol. II, a picture in which a number of natives are engaged in cultivating their fields. In Fig. 3, Plate XXVII, I give an enlarged cut of one of the implements employed; the original drawing has probably been made from memory by the artist, and the cut serves no purpose except to give an idea of the general shape of the implement and to suggest the manner of hafting, if indeed the implement is not made wholly from a crooked stick.

FISHING APPLIANCES.

The use of shell in the manufacture of fishing implements seems to have been almost unknown among the tribes of the Atlantic coast, and with the exception of a few pendant-like objects, resembling plummets or sinkers of stone, nothing has been obtained from the ancient burial mounds of the Mississippi Valley. Hooks of shell, however, are very plentiful in the ancient burial-places of the Pacific coast, and are frequently so well shaped as to excite our admiration. Hooks and other fishing apparatus, in whole or in part made of shell, are extensively employed by the present natives of the Pacific islands and among the numerous tribes of the northwest coast, although bone and ivory are in much higher favor for these purposes.

We cannot say with certainty for what purpose the various sinker-like objects of shell were used. In all cases they are so perforated or grooved as to be suspended by a string; but it is the custom of all savage peoples to employ very heavy pendants as ornaments for the ears or for suspension about the neck, and where stone could be secured for such ordinary uses as the sinking of nets or lines, it seems improbable that objects of shell, which form superb ornaments, would be so employed.

That hooks were used to some extent by the Atlantic coast Indians is proved by the association of bone hooks with other ancient relics. I am not aware that their use has been noticed by early writers, who describe at length, however, the capture of fish by means of arrows, spears, and nets. The ancient Mexican manuscripts contain many drawings showing the use of nets in fishing, but the use of hooks and lines is not suggested.

In the absence of positive proof as to the exact manner in which the plummet-like objects were utilized, I shall for the present follow the custom of the best authors and classify the heavier specimens as sinkers. The smaller specimens will be described as pendant ornaments.

In Fig. 8, Plate XXVIII, a very handsome specimen from a refuse heap on Blennerhasset Island, Ohio River, is shown. It has been cut from the columella of a _Busycon perversum_, the reverse whorl being indicated by the well-preserved spiral groove, and was suspended by means of a small, well-made perforation near the upper end. The surface is weathered and chalky with age.

Another specimen, from the same locality, differs but slightly from this; the perforated end is broken away; the surface is deeply weathered, and the more compact laminæ stand out in high relief.

Two specimens from Sarasota Bay, Fla., resemble these very closely in shape and size; instead of a perforation, however, they are grooved near the upper end. They are made from the columellæ of the _Busycon perversum_. One of them is shown in Fig. 9, Plate XXVIII.

It is possible that a number of the small shells usually supposed to be perforated for use as ornaments have been used for sinkers. One such specimen, collected by Professor Velie in Florida, is preserved in the national collection. It is made from an almost entire specimen of a small but compact univalve--a dextral-whorled _Busycon_ or a _Strombus_. A shallow groove has been cut near the basal point for the purpose of attaching a line.

A fourth specimen, from Florida, is represented by a cast presented by Professor Velie; it is three inches in length and nearly one inch in diameter, and has been derived from the columella of a _Busycon perversum_. It has a broad groove near the upper end, with a long, sloping shoulder, the body being somewhat conical below. Other specimens of similar character have recently been added to the national collection. A grooved specimen of medium size was obtained from a mound at Madisonville, Ohio, and is figured by the explorers.[45] A few smaller specimens come from New York, and others from Kentucky, but they were probably intended for ornaments, and as such I prefer to class them.

From the Pacific coast we have a large number of examples, one of the finest being illustrated in Fig. 7, Plate XXVIII. It is a flattish, somewhat pear-shaped pendant, and has a neatly cut groove near the upper end. It was collected by Bowers on the island of Santa Rosa, Cal., and was probably made from a _Pachydesma_ or _Amiantis_.

A new-looking specimen from Santa Barbara, carved from a flat bit of pearly _Haliotis_, represents a fish, the mouth, gills, body, and tail being distinctly shown. It may have been used as a bait.

By far the most interesting examples of fishing implements of ancient date have been obtained from graves in California; these are well represented in the collections made by Schumacher and Bowers. A number of specimens may be seen in the National Museum; one sinker from this collection has already been described. Fish-hooks, however, constitute the great majority of the specimens, and many of them are of such unprecedented forms that they have been mistaken for ornaments. The marked peculiarity consists in the great width of the body of the hook, and the deeply involuted character of the barbless point, making it seem impossible that a fish should be impaled at all. It may be that this hook was intended only as a contrivance for securing bait, and that the fish, having swallowed this, was unable to disgorge it, and in this way was secured by the fisherman.

In Plate XXVIII, three of these hooks are illustrated. The method of fastening them to the line is not well known, and the form does not suggest it, except in a few cases in which the shaft is enlarged slightly at the upper end. The head is never perforated, but is frequently pointed, and may have been inserted in a head of some other material and secured by means of asphaltum. The fact that portions of this material still adhere to the upper part of the shaft confirms this conjecture. None of these hooks are barbed. Similar hooks of bone, exhibited in the national collection, have barbs on the outside, near the point. Hooks resembling these are used by some tribes to secure the ends of strings of beads.

Prof. F. W. Putnam has described a number of these hooks which belong to the Peabody Museum. The largest is two and three-fourths inches in length and one inch wide at the middle of the shank. These came from San Clemente, San Miguel, and Santa Cruz islands, and the mainland about Santa Barbara, and are accompanied by stone implements used in their manufacture.[46]

The natives of Tahiti had fish-hooks made of mother-of-pearl, and every fisherman made them for himself. They generally served for the double purpose of hook and bait. "The shell is first cut into square pieces, by the edge of another shell, and wrought into a form corresponding with the outline of the hook by pieces of coral, which are sufficiently rough to perform the office of a file; a hole is then bored in the middle; the drill being no other than the first stone they pick up that has a sharp corner; this they fix into the end of a piece of bamboo and turn it between the hands like a chocolate mill; when the shell is perforated, and the hole sufficiently wide, a small file of coral is introduced, by the application of which the hook is in a short time completed, few costing the artificer more time than a quarter of an hour."[47]

The specimens illustrated are made from the thicker portions of species of the _Haliotis_ or of the valves of the dark purplish _Mytilus californianus_. They are handsome objects, their surfaces being well rounded and polished. In the collection there are specimens which illustrate very well the process of manufacture. A series of these is given in Plate XXVIII. Fig. 1 shows a small fragment broken out roughly from the shell, probably by a stone or shell implement. Fig. 2 shows a similar specimen in which an irregular perforation has been made. In Fig. 3 we see a considerable advance toward completion; the hole has been enlarged by rubbing or filing with some small implement, and the outline approximates that of the finished hook. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 represent typical examples of the completed hooks. These range in size from one-half to three inches in length, the width being but slightly less. The skill acquired in the manufacture of such objects of use is of the greatest importance in the development of art. It is only through the mastery of material thus engendered that the arts of taste become possible.

WEAPONS.

It would hardly seem at first glance that shells or shell substance could be utilized for weapons to any advantage. A close examination, however, of some of the more massive varieties will convince us that they could be made available. The specific gravity of some varieties, such as the _Strombus_ and _Busycon_, is equal to that of moderately compact stone, and with their long, sharp beaks they would, with little modification, certainly make formidable weapons.

Dr. Charles Rau seems to have been the first to call attention to the use of shells as club-heads by the tribes of Florida. In his valuable paper on the archæological collections of the National Museum he gives a very good description, which I copy in full:

"It further appears that the Florida Indians applied shells of the _Busycon perversum_ as clubs or _casse-tetes_ by adapting them to be used with a handle, which was made to pass transversely through the shell. This was effected by a hole pierced in the outer wall of the last whorl in such a manner as to be somewhat to the left of the columella, while a notch in the outer lip, corresponding to the hole, confined the handle or stick between the outer edge of the lip and the inner edge of the columella. The anterior end of the canal, broken off until the more solid part was reached, was then brought to a cutting edge nearly in the plane of the aperture. A hole was also made in the posterior surface of the spire behind the carina in the last whorl, evidently for receiving a ligature by means of which the shell was more firmly lashed to the handle."[48]

Mention of these objects is also made by Knight in a recent pamphlet, the method of hafting being illustrated.[49]

Professor Wyman, in the Naturalist for 1878, describes and illustrates an object of this class, made from a _Busycon_, which he is inclined to regard as one of the conch-shells said to have been used by the Indians for trumpets. It is presumably from one of the shell heaps on the St. Johns River, Fla.[50]

In Fig. 4, Plate XXVII, I illustrate one of the National Museum specimens. The posterior point is much reduced by grinding, the apex and nodes are somewhat battered, and the whole surface of the shell is worn and discolored. There are about a dozen specimens in the National collection; in nearly all cases they are made from heavy walled specimens of the _Busycon perversum_, and range from three to eight inches in length. They are described as coming from three localities, St. Johns River, Clearwater River, and Sarasota Bay, Fla. All were probably obtained from shell heaps, and although ancient, two of the specimens still retain rude and insignificant-looking handles of wood.

It will be seen from the foregoing that shells have actually been employed as weapons, a use, however, which would probably never have been suggested but for the great scarcity of stone along the southern coast.

TWEEZERS.

A rather novel use of shells by the ancient Indians is mentioned by early writers. The two valves of small mussels or clams were made to do service as tweezers for pulling out their hair.

Adair, speaking of the Choctaws, says that "both sexes pluck all the hair off their bodies with a kind of tweezers, made formerly of clam shells."[51] Strachey states that shells were used by the Virginian Indians for cutting hair. Beverly says of the Virginia Indians that they "pull their Beards up by the Roots with Muscle-shells, and both Men and Women do the same by the other Parts of their Body for Cleanliness sake."[52] Heckewelder states that "Before the Europeans came into the country their apparatus for performing this work consisted of a pair of mussel-shells, sharpened on a gritty stone, which answered the purpose very well, being somewhat like pincers."[53]

Fig. 5, Plate XXVII, reproduced from a plate in the Necropolis of Ancon[54] represents two small _Mytilus_ shells pierced at the beak and bound together with a cord. They were found in one of the ancient graves of Peru, and may have been used for a similar purpose.

ORNAMENTS.

PINS.

Having studied the application of shell material to the various utilitarian arts, I turn to the consideration of what may, with more or less propriety, be called the arts of taste.

The skill acquired by the primitive artisan in shaping the homely spoon or the rude celt served a good purpose in the more elegant arts, and opened the way to a new and unique field for the development and display of the remarkable art instincts of these savages. It probably required no great skill and no very extended labor to fashion the various utensils and implements of the outer walls of the univalves or the thin valves of clams and mussels; but to cut out, grind down, and polish the columellæ of the large conchs required a protracted effort and no little mechanical skill. Of the various objects shaped from the columellæ, beads are probably the most important; but a large class of pin-shaped articles naturally come first, as they consist of entire or nearly entire columellæ dressed down to the desired shape.

The use of these objects is still problematical. As they are found in most cases deposited with human remains, they were doubtless highly valued. They must have served a definite purpose in well-established and wide-spread customs, as they are found distributed over a district almost co-extensive with that occupied by other shell vestigia of marine origin.

Let us first study the process of manufacture. A considerable number of the larger species of marine univalves have been brought into requisition. Various species of _Busycon_, _Strombus_, and _Fasciolaria_ offer almost equal facilities; the former, however, seems to have been decidedly the favorite, the _Busycon perversum_ having furnished at least three-fourths of the columns used. This result may be attributed, however, to the fact that, for reasons already mentioned, the _perversum_ was so universally employed for vessels, the axes extracted from these being then ready for further manipulation. The outer case of the shell being somewhat fragile it is probable that the sea has very frequently broken it away, leaving the dismantled columella to be washed ashore in a shape convenient for manufacture or for inland trade. If the demand for these objects was very great, it is to be presumed that on shores where they abound these shells were broken open and the columns extracted for purposes of traffic. The State of Tennessee is found to be the great store-house of these as well as other ancient objects of shell. This is probably owing to two causes: first, that far inland, where they were difficult to procure, and very costly, they were highly esteemed, and hence consecrated to the use of the dead; and, second, the conditions under which they were buried had much to do with preserving them from rapid decay, while on the coast or when exposed to the atmosphere they soon disappeared.

An interesting series of specimens illustrating the various stages of manufacture of articles from the columella is presented in Plate XXIX. In Fig. 1 a section of a _Busycon perversum_ is given. The position of the columella and its relations to the exterior parts may be clearly seen. The reverse whorl of the spire will be noticed, and the consequent sinistral character of the groove. Fig. 2 illustrates the extracted columella in its untrimmed state. A similar specimen is shown in Fig. 3, Plate XXXI. It was obtained from the site of an old Indian lodge on the island of Martha's Vineyard. This, with a number of smaller specimens, may be seen in the National Museum. They show no signs of use, and were probably destined for manufacture into pins or beads.

Columellæ in this state are very frequently found in the mounds and graves of the interior States; a majority probably belong to the _Busycons_, but a considerable number are derived from the _Strombidæ_. A few specimens of large size may be seen in the national collection.

Fig. 3 represents a roughly dressed pin, of a type peculiar to the Pacific coast.

Fig. 4 illustrates a completed pin of the form most common in the middle Mississippi province.

Fig. 5 shows a rather rare form of pin, pointed at both ends. Bone pins of this form are quite common.

Fig. 6 represents a nearly symmetrical cylinder.

Fig. 7 illustrates the manner of dividing the cylinders into sections for beads.

In 1881 some very important additions to the National Museum were made, from the mounds of Tennessee. These include a great wealth of objects in shell. From the McMahan mound at Sevierville, Tenn., there are a dozen shell pins, all made from the _Busycon perversum_. The entire specimens range from three to six inches in length; two are fragmentary, having lost their points by decay. In shape these objects are quite uniform, being, however, as a rule, more slender in the shaft than the average pin. The heads range from one-half to one inch in length, and are generally less than one inch in diameter. They are somewhat varied in shape, some being cylindrical, others being conical above. The shaft is pretty evenly rounded, but is seldom symmetrical or straight. It is rarely above one-half an inch in diameter, and tapers gradually to a more or less rounded point. The groove of the canal shows distinctly in all the heads, and may often be traced far down the shaft. In a number of cases the surface retains the fine polish of the newly-finished object, but it is usually somewhat weathered, and frequently discolored or chalky. These specimens were found in the mounds along with deposits of human remains, and generally in close proximity to the head; this fact suggests their use as ornaments for the hair.

Two illustrations are given in Plate XXX. Fig. 1 represents a fine example, six and a quarter inches in length. The head is deeply grooved, and is apparently cut from the middle part of the columella, the shaft being formed from the spine-like basal point. The spiral canal, which is clearly defined, makes but one revolution in the entire length of the pin. In Fig. 5 a somewhat similar specimen is represented. Two fine specimens come from a mound on Fain's Island, Tennessee River. The larger one is made from the columella of some heavy shell, probably the _Strombus gigas_. The head is cylindrical, and the shaft large, but imperfect. The smaller is a little more than two inches in length, the head being small and conical, and the point more than usually blunt. Another specimen was obtained from a mound at Taylor's Bend, near Dandridge, Tenn. The head is almost spherical, and the point broken off; the whole surface is new looking and highly polished. A number of bone pins pointed at both ends were obtained from Fain's Island, besides many perforators and other well-made implements of bone.

Prof. C. C. Jones describes[55] a number of shell pins without mentioning localities, stating, however, that such pins have been obtained from a mound on the Chattahoochie River, below Columbus, Ga. He publishes illustrations of two varieties. One, of the ordinary type, is five and a half inches in length, one inch of that distance being occupied by the head, which is an inch and a quarter in diameter. The shank is an inch and a half in circumference, and, while tapering somewhat, is quite blunt at the point. The other is of somewhat rare occurrence, being pointed at both ends. An example of this variety is given in Fig. 4, Plate XXX. They are usually small and short, seldom exceeding three inches in length.

In the national collection there are ten fine pins, obtained by C. L. Stratton from a mound on the French Broad River, fifteen miles above Knoxville, Tenn. Four only are made from the _Busycon perversum_. The largest specimen has a very large, cylindrical head, with an extremely deep groove. The shaft has been at least five inches long, and is nearly one-half an inch in diameter. Another fine specimen is five inches long, very slender, and nearly symmetrical. A small, almost headless pin, not quite one and a half inches in length, is peculiar in having a longitudinal perforation. It has probably been strung as a bead. A fourth specimen is five and three-quarters inches in length. The head is well rounded above, and the shaft tapers gradually to a slender symmetrical point. The other specimens from the same locality are in an advanced stage of decay, the points being entirely destroyed.

The Peabody Museum contains a large number of very fine specimens of this class. The most important of these were obtained from the Brakebill, Lick Creek, and Turner mounds of Tennessee, by the Rev. E. O. Dunning. The largest of these is upward of six inches in length. An unusually symmetrical and well-preserved specimen from the Lick Creek mound is nearly seven inches in length. One specimen only in this collection differs from the type already described; this has been made from a dextral-whorled shell; the head is somewhat spherical, but is unusual in having an umbonate projection at the top. It is illustrated in Fig. 6, Plate XXX.

Another small pin, which is about one and one-half inches in length, has a poorly defined head, and would seem useless for the purposes ordinarily suggested for the larger specimens.

A recent collection from Pikeville, Tenn., includes a number of specimens made from the spike-like base of the _Busycon perversum_. They are roughly finished, and taper to a point at both ends. The larger ones are six inches in length and nearly one inch in diameter. All are perforated longitudinally. This perforation is neatly made and about one-eighth of an inch in diameter. In one specimen which has been broken open two perforations may be seen running almost parallel with each other, as if they had been bored from opposite ends and had failed to meet. The length of these perforations is quite remarkable, and it is difficult to understand how, with the primitive tools at the disposal of these people, a uniform diameter could be given throughout. One of these objects is shown in Fig. 3, Plate XXX.

Other States besides Tennessee have furnished a limited number of shell pins. Their occurrence in a mound near Columbus, Ga., has already been mentioned.

The national collection contains a fine specimen from Macon, Ga., collected by J. C. Plant. The Peabody Museum has a number from mounds on the Saint Francis River, Ark. One of these is illustrated in Fig. 8, Plate XXX. They differ from the pins heretofore described, being in all cases unsymmetrical. The shaft is flat and somewhat curved, and joins the mushroom-shaped head near one edge. This results from the peculiar shape of the portion of the shell from which the pin is derived, the head being cut from the peripheral ridge and the shaft from the body below or the shoulder above. Two specimens of this class have recently been obtained from a mound at Osceola, Ark. A profile view of one is shown in Fig. 10, Plate XXX.

A pin of this class, from a burial mound at Black Hammock, Fla., is described and illustrated by Professor Wyman.[56] From the fact of its being perforated at the point, he regards it as a pendant ornament. He states that it is cut from the suture, where a whorl joins the preceding one. In this respect it resembles the specimens from Arkansas. It is made from a _Busycon perversum_.

In the National Museum we have two specimens from Florida. One of these, from Pensacola, is illustrated in Fig. 2, Plate XXX, and is of the ordinary form. The other is a short, broad-headed specimen, illustrated in Fig. 7, Plate XXX.

In the Peabody Museum are two small specimens of the ordinary type, from a mound near Jamestown, Va. One of these, a small, pointed variety, is given in Fig. 9, Plate XXX.

In Volume VI of Schoolcraft's Indian Tribes, a pin, probably of shell, is shown in a plate illustrating relics from South Carolina.

A few localities have furnished bone, stone, and clay pins similar to these in shape. Specimens of the latter may be found both in the National and Peabody museums. They were probably intended as stoppers for bottle-shaped earthen vessels. Bone pins are generally headless, and have in most cases been intended as implements for perforating and for sewing. Mr. Schumacher found a pin-like object of bone on the island of San Clemente, Cal. It resembles the shell pins pretty closely, having a somewhat spherical head. It is figured by Professor Putnam in a recent work.[57]

As already stated, the exact uses to which these pins were applied by the mound-building tribes are unknown; various uses have been suggested by archæologists. The favorite idea seems to be that they were hair-pins, used by the savages to dress and ornament the hair. It would seem that many of them are too clumsy for such use, although when new they must have been very pretty objects. The shorter and headless varieties would certainly be quite useless. Similar objects of bone or ivory, often tastefully carved, are used by the natives of Alaska for scratching the head, although it seems improbable that this should have been their most important function.

Professor Dall suggests that some of the shell pins may have been used as were the "blood-pins" of the Indians of the northwest coast. When game is killed by an arrow or bullet, the pin is inserted in the wound, and the skin drawn and stitched over the flat head, so that the much valued blood may be prevented from escaping. A small, very tastefully carved specimen of these pins is given in Plate XXXI, Fig. 4. It was obtained from the Indians of Oregon. A similar specimen comes from San Miguel Island, Cal.

It is possible that they may have served some purpose in the arts or games of the ancient peoples; yet when we come to consider the very great importance given to ornaments by all barbarians, we return naturally to the view that they were probably designed for personal decoration.

From the Pacific coast we have shell pins of a very different type. They also are made from the columellæ of large marine univalves, and were probably used as ornaments, doubtless to a great extent as pendants. These objects have been obtained in great numbers from the ancient graves of the California coast, at Santa Barbara, at Dos Pueblos, and on the neighboring islands of Santa Clara, Santa Catalina, San Clemente, and Santa Rosa. Professor Dall is of the opinion that the shell mostly used is the _Purpura crispata_, the smaller specimens probably being derived from the _Mitra maura_.

Such a very concise description of these objects is given by Prof. F. W. Putnam in a recent paper that I beg leave to quote it here, omitting his references to figures: "A columella was ground down to the required size and shape, and made into a pendant by boring a hole through the larger end. In order to make this pendant still more attractive, the spiral groove is filled with asphaltum, or a mixture of that material and a red pigment. Sometimes the spiral groove was so nearly, or even wholly, obliterated in the process of grinding the columella into shape as to make it necessary to enlarge or even recut the groove in order to make a place for the much-loved asphaltum." Another form, made from another shell, is described, the whorls of which are "loose and open, so that a natural tube exists throughout the length of the spire; at the same time the spiral groove in the central portion is very narrow; consequently it has to be artificially enlarged for the insertion of the asphaltum, which thus winds spirally about the shell. As the natural orifice at the large end of the shell seems to have been too large for properly adjusting and confining the ornament as desired, this difficulty was overcome by inserting a small shell of _Dentalium_, or by making a little plug of shell, which is carefully fitted and bored."[58]

The national collection contains upward of fifty of these pins, which come from ancient graves at Santa Barbara and Dos Pueblos, Cal., and from the islands of Santa Cruz and San Miguel. These vary in length from one to five inches, the well-finished specimens seldom reaching one half an inch in diameter. At the upper end they round off somewhat abruptly to an obtuse point, but taper to a sharp point at the lower end, something like a cigar. Two fine examples are shown in Figs. 1 and 2, Plate XXXI. All show the spiral groove, and nearly all have portions of the asphaltum remaining. The columellæ from which they are made may be to some extent naturally perforated, but are certainly not sufficiently so to permit the ready passage of a cord. The points are seldom sharp, and are often broken off. A bit of _Dentalium_ inserted into the perforation and set with asphaltum helps to enforce the point and to guard against further breakage. The larger specimens are seldom perforated transversely at either end, while the smaller ones are almost always perforated at the larger end, which is slightly flattened. A good example is shown in Fig. 5, Plate XXXI.

A peculiar bulb-pointed specimen is illustrated in Fig. 6, Plate XXXI. The bulb is made from the upper end of the columella. There are six of these pins in the collection.

The consideration of these pins leads naturally to the presentation of other classes of objects manufactured from the columellæ of marine univalves among which beads are the most numerous and important.

BEADS.

I shall not attempt within the limits of this paper to give more than an outline of this important division of my subject.

The use of beads seems to have been almost universal with peoples of all times and of all grades of culture, and the custom of wearing them is a relic of barbarism that promises to be carried a long way into the future. All suitable natural objects have been brought into requisition--animal, vegetable, and mineral. Shells from the sea, precious stones from the mountains, and fruits from the forest have been utilized; and claws of birds, teeth of animals, and even the nails of the human hand have been worked into ornaments to gratify the barbaric vanity of the "untutored savage." The flinty substance of the shells of mollusks has been a favorite material at all times and with all peoples. Especially is this true of the shell-loving natives of North America, among whom shell beads have been in use far back into the prehistoric ages, and who to-day, from Oregon to Florida, burden themselves to discomfort with multiple strings of their favorite ornament; and this, too, without reference to their value as money or their service as charms. On the necks of brawny and unkempt savages I have seen necklaces made of the highly glazed _Oliva_, or of the iridescent nacre of the pearly _Haliotis_, that would not shame a regal wardrobe, and have marveled at the untaught appreciation of beauty displayed.

Beads made of shell may have three divisions based upon derivation, and three based upon function.

First, they consist of all smaller varieties of natural shells, pierced for suspension, or only slightly altered, to add to beauty or convenience; second, they are made of the shells of bivalves and the outer walls of univalves; or, third, of the columellæ of the larger univalves cut to the desired sizes, and shaped and polished to suit the savage taste.

As to function, they may be classed as personal ornaments, as money, and as material for mnemonic records.

PERFORATED SHELLS.

Under this head I shall examine briefly the manner of piercing or altering the smaller varieties of shells preparatory to stringing. The multitudes of perforated shells exhumed from the graves of our ancient tribes afford a fruitful field of study, and our large collections of more recent specimens serve to illustrate the manner in which they were employed.

In Plate XXXII illustrations are given showing the various methods of manipulation and perforation. In North America the _Marginella_, the _Oliva_, and the _Cyprea_ seem to lead in importance.

Fig. 1 represents an _Oliva_, the apex of which has been broken away and the rough edge ground down, producing a passage for a thread, which may be introduced through the natural aperture below. This is a common method of perforation in many widely separated districts, and with a considerable variety of shells. The specimen figured is from a mound in Cocke County, Tenn. It is an _Oliva literata_ from the Atlantic coast.

Fig. 2 shows a very usual method of treating small univalves. The most prominent part of the lower whorl is ground down until the wall is quite thin, and a small round hole is then drilled through it. The specimen illustrated is a large _Olivella biplicata_, obtained from the island of Santa Rosa, Cal.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate specimens from Mexico. Some thin-bladed implement, probably of stone, has been used to saw a slit or notch in the first convolution of the shell near the inner lip. Fig. 3 has one of these perforations, and Fig. 4 has two. The shell is the _Oliva literata_, from the Atlantic coast.

Fig. 5 is simply one-half of an _Olivella biplicata_ with the interior parts extracted. It is made by cutting the shell longitudinally and drilling a central perforation. The specimen figured is from San Miguel Island, Cal.

Fig. 6 illustrates the manner of breaking out a disk preparatory to making a bead. This disk, when perforated, is frequently used by the Indians of the Pacific coast without additional finish.

Fig. 7 shows two examples of beads made from small specimens of the _Olivella biplicata_; both extremities are ground off, leaving a rather clumsy cylinder. The originals are from graves on the island of Santa Rosa. Such beads are frequently worn at the present time.

One of the specimens shown in Fig. 8 is from a grave in Monroe County, New York, and the other is from a mound in Perry County, Ohio. The shell is the _Marginella conoidalis_, which has a wide distribution in the ancient burial-places of the Atlantic slope. In making the perforation the shoulder is often ground so deeply as to expose the entire length of the interior spiral.

Fig. 9 represents a perforated _Cerrithidea sacrata_, from Santa Rosa Island, Cal. The method of perforating employed is a usual one with small shells of this form. Similar specimens come from many parts of the United States. Beads of this and the preceding variety are said to have constituted the original wampum of the Atlantic seaboard.

Fig. 10 illustrates a rude bead made from the spire of a univalve, probably a small specimen of _Busycon perversum_. Most of the body of the shell has been removed and a perforation made near the border. Three of these specimens were found in a burial mound at Murphysboro, Ill.

Fig. 11 illustrates a perforated _Cyprea_ from the Pacific coast. This is a recent specimen, which illustrates an ancient as well as a modern method of perforation.

Fig. 12 shows a rather peculiar method of treating _Cyprea_ shells by the tribes of the Pacific coast and the Pacific islands. The prominent part of the back is cut or ground away, and the columella is partially or wholly removed, a passage the full size of the natural aperture being thus secured. This is also an ancient as well as a modern method of treatment.

Small bivalve shells are prepared for stringing by drilling one or more holes in the center or near the margin, according to the manner in which they are to be strung. Such beads have been in almost universal use by primitive peoples, both ancient and modern.

Shells with natural perforations, such as the _Fissurellas_ and _Dentalia_, are extensively employed by the west coast peoples, and foreign varieties of the latter have been largely imported by Europeans, and from very early times have been used by the tribes of all sections. The natural perforation of the _Fissurella_ is often artificially enlarged, and additional perforations are made near the margin. Examples may be seen in Plate XLIX.

I shall include under the head of beads all small objects having a central or nearly central perforation, made for the purpose of stringing them in numbers. In shape, they range from straw-like cylinders, three, four, and even five inches long, with longitudinal perforations, to thin, button-like disks, two or more inches in diameter. In general the cylinders are made from the columellæ of univalves, and the disks from the outer walls of the same, or from the shells of bivalves. Of course, there are forms that fall under no classification, such as disks with perforations parallel with the faces, or cylindrical forms with transverse perforations, while many small, pendant-like objects, of varied shapes, are strung with the beads, and might be classed with them; but these are exceptions, and can be described along with the classified objects most nearly resembling them.

The grinding down and the perforating of natural shells is easily accomplished, so that any savage could afford to decorate his person with this jewelry in profusion. But the class of beads illustrated in Plates XXXIII, XXXIV, and XXXV could not have been made without the expenditure of much time and labor, and doubtless owe their existence, in a measure, to mercenary motives. As they were made from the walls or columellæ of massive shells, they must have been broken or cut out, ground smooth about the edges, and perforated; this, too, with most primitive tools.

DISCOIDAL BEADS.

In shape discoidal beads range from the concavo-convex sections of the curved walls of the shell to totally artificial outlines, in such forms as doubly-convex disks, cylinders, and spheroids. In size the disks vary from very minute forms, one-tenth of an inch in diameter and one-thirtieth of an inch in thickness, to two inches in diameter and nearly one-half an inch in thickness. The thickness of the finished beads is governed in a great measure by the thickness of the shell from which they are manufactured.

The _Venus mercenaria_ of the Atlantic coast and the heavier _Unios_ of the Mississippi Valley give a general thickness of from one-eighth to three-eighths of an inch, while others, such as the heavy clams of the Pacific, are very much thicker. The walls of univalves, especially near the base, are often extremely heavy, while the smaller varieties of shells furnish specimens of wafer-like thinness.

In Plate XXXIII a series of beads of this class is given, beginning with the smaller disks and ending with those of large, though not the largest, size.

In Fig. 1 I present two views of a minute disk, obtained, with many others of similar shape and size, from a mound on Lick Creek, Tenn. The perforations in these specimens, as well as in most of those that follow, are bi-conical, and sufficiently irregular in form to indicate that they are hand-made. Beads of this general appearance have been found in a multitude of graves and mounds, distributed over a large part of North as well as of South America. A vast majority of these beads are doubtless of aboriginal make, as they are found in the oldest mounds.

Fig. 2 represents a minute form from Santa Cruz Island, Cal. The peripheral surface is ornamented with a net-work of incised lines.

Fig. 3 illustrates a small cylindrical bead, with large perforation, from a mound near Prairie du Chien, Wis. It was found, with a number of others, near the neck of the skeleton of a child.

Fig. 4 represents a small spheroidal bead from the great mound near Sevierville, Tenn.; it is neatly made and well preserved.

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate specimens of roughly finished concavo-convex disks, much used by both ancient and modern tribes of California, Arizona, and New Mexico.

I essayed at one time to purchase a long necklace of these homely ornaments from a Navajo Indian in Arizona, but soon discovered that it was beyond my reach, as my best mule was hardly considered a fair exchange for it. These beads are made from the _Oliva_ chiefly, but to some extent from small bivalves.

This bead is not common in the mounds of the Mississippi Valley, but is used by many modern savages. It seems to be the form called, by the Indians of Virginia, "roenoke," which, according to Beverly, is made of the cockle-shell, broken into small bits, with rough edges, and drilled through in the same manner as beads.

Fig. 7 represents a smoothly cut bead of medium size, said to have been obtained from a grave at Lynn, Mass. It has been cut from the curved wall of some large univalve, and is very similar to modern specimens in use over a greater part of the United States.

Fig. 8 belongs to a necklace brought from the northwest coast, and is very much like the specimen shown in Fig. 7.