ORNAMENTS. 261 



cluck, grouse, and many others. The most interesting of these, 

 perhaps, is the manatee or lamantin, of which seven represen- 

 tations have been found in the mounds of Ohio. These are 

 no mere rude sculptures, about which there might easily be a 

 mistake, but we are assured that " the truncated head, thick 

 semicircular snout, peculiar nostrils, tumid, furrowed upper 

 lip, singular feet or fins and remarkable moustaches, are all 

 distinctly marked, and render the recognition of the animal 

 complete."* This curious animal is not at present found 

 nearer than the shores of Florida, a thousand miles away. 



The ornaments which have been found in the mounds 

 consist of beads, shells, necklaces, pendants, plates of mica, 

 bracelets, gorgets, etc. The number of beads is sometimes 

 quite surprising. Thus the celebrated Grave Creek mound 

 contained between three and four thousand shell-beads, besides 

 about two hundred and fifty ornaments of mica, several brace- 

 lets of copper, and various articles carved in stone. The beads 

 are generally made of shell, but are sometimes cut out of bone 

 or teeth ; in form they are generally round or oblong ; some- 

 times the shell of the Unio is cut and strung so as to "exhibit 

 the convex surface and pearly nacre of the shell." The neck- 

 laces are often made of beads or shells, but sometimes of teeth. 

 The ornaments of mica are thin plates of various forms, each 

 of which has a small hole. The bracelets are of copper, and 

 generally encircle the arms of the skeletons, besides being 

 frequent on the " altars." They are simple rings " hammered 

 out with more or less skill, and so bent that the ends approach, 

 or lap over, each other." The so-called "gorgets" are thin 

 plates of copper, always with two holes, and probably there- 

 fore worn as badges of authority. 



The earthworks are most abundant in the central parts of 

 the United States. They decrease in number as we approach 



* Squier and Davis, 1. c. p. 252. 



