284 ANCIENT MONUMENTS. 



discovered entire in excavating at difterent points in tlie Scioto valley. In digging 

 the Ohio and Erie canal, there was found near Portsmouth, its southern terminus 

 on the Ohio river, a cluster of five or six, which appeared to have been thus care- 

 fully deposited by the hand of man. They were about three feet beneath the 

 surface. The columellse of some large shell, probably the strombus gigas, have 

 also been discovered. Most of the shell beads and ornaments from the mounds 

 appear to have been manufactured Irom them. 



All these shells are found in the Gulf. The strotnbKs is observed on the shores 

 of the West Indies and Florida ; the cassis occurs in the same localities, as do 

 also the pynda and the minor shells above mentioned. A very large number of 

 the marsineUa were taken I'rom the Grave creek mound.* 



Fluviatile Shells. — Examples of the unios of the Western rivers also occur 

 in the mounds, generally entire, but sometimes manufactured. The unio clUptlcus, 

 crnssvs, rectus, vcrrucoyiis, and orahis have been identified, all existing, at the 

 present time, in the neighboring streams. They occur side by side with the 

 marine shells and other remains heretofore noticed. 



Minerals. — This deparlmmt is very rich, and comprises some very interesting 

 and beautiful varieties, — mica, transparent, opaque, silvery, and graphic ; obsidian ; 

 quartz, many varieties ; serpentine ; porphyry, several beautiful kinds ; manga- 

 nesian garnet, in crystals ; variegated slate, beautifully colored ; cathnite or red 

 pipe-stone (?) ; limestone, common and coralline, etc., etc. 



Mica is abundant in the mounds and in the vicinity of ancient works, where it 

 is often ploughed up. It seems to be extensively disseminated, south as well as 

 north. The common, transparent, silvery or opaque, and graphic or hieroglyphical 

 varieties, have been discovered ; some specimens have a golden color, much 

 resembling " Dutch leaf." It is in general neatly cut into ornamental figures, 

 scrolls, discs, and oval plates. These plates are frequently a foot or more in 

 diameter, and a fourth or half an inch in thickness. In a mound at Circleville, 

 a plate is said to have been found, three feet in length, one foot and a half in 

 breadth, and one inch and a half in thickness. It has been suggested that these 

 plates were designed as mirrors ; but there seems to be no good foundation for 

 the supposition.t The opaque varieties, from their beauty, seem to have been 

 uniformly applied to ornamental purposes, having often, as appears from the 

 holes occasioned by the process, been worked into scarfs or attached to the martial 

 or priestly robes of the ancient people. The mineral seems also to have been 

 consecrated to some religious purpose. It appears at various points in the 

 mounds, and is sometimes found resting on the breasts or above the heads of 



* American Pioneer, vol. i. p. 200. 



f ("apt. Lyon mentions fuidinir ainonf^ tiie Esquimaux, on the North-east coast, '• a mirror composed 

 of a bioad plate of black mica, fitted into a Icatlier frame, so as to be seen from either side." — yairative, 

 p. 6P. • 



