6ZS ETHNOLOGY. 



On one side, at the extreme end of this specimen, figure 163, is a row of 

 sliort notches carefully cut, and of a size throughout. Such notches 

 being better i)reserved on the next figure, "we will reserve our remarks 

 concerning them until that specimen is described. Figure 1G3 was prob- 

 ably considerably harder when fashioned into a gorget. It has under- 

 gone a process of decomposition which has made it chalky on the sur- 

 face, while the interior has not been unaffected. The specimen is of a 

 reddish-brown slate with a greasy feel, similar to that experienced by 

 the collector in handling milky quartz, but to a greater degree. 



The length and general shape of such breast-plates as figure 163 have 

 rendered them peculiarly liable to be broken, especially when lying near 

 or upon the surface of our long-cultivated fields. Usually such speci- 

 mens, when so found, are but halves, or even smaller fragments ; and 

 whole ones are to be looked for only in the graves. Figure 163 was taken 

 from a grave, in a little natural mound, on the tract of marsh known as 

 Bear Swamp, near Lawrence, Mercer County, New Jersey. Associated 

 with this breast-x)late were several arrow-points and an ax. Figure 

 161 represents a most interesting specimen of breast-plate. Its shape 

 is peculiar, the number of holes unusual, and the series of notches at 

 the rounded end a marked feature of the specimen. The upper mar- 

 gin measures two and three-fourths of an inch in length ; the lower, a 

 trace over one inch and a half. The notched end is rounded at the an- 

 gles, and the curves thence continue as a reversed and longer curve along 

 the sides. The oblique end has been as carefully polishetl as the flat 

 surfaces. The holes, four in number, were roughh- drilled and evi- 

 dently in pairs, and not promiscuously or even at one time. The pair 

 quite near together are larger than the others, irregularly drilled, and are 

 in the center of the plate. The other pair, better drilled, and smaller, 

 are at the angles of the oblique end of the specimen. The chief feature 

 of interest connected with this specimen is the series of carefully cut 

 notches, very regularly distributed along the curved end of the i^late ; 

 eleven on one side and nine on the other. The nine notches upon the under 

 side are not mere continuations of the others, but are distinct, in some 

 instances not being opposite the others. The thought naturally arises, 

 what do these notches indicate ? We believe that, as the specimen was 

 a breast-plate or a breast-ornament, these notches were a record of the 

 number of fights in which the wearer was engaged, or of scalps taken. 

 The notches cannot be said to be either useful or ornamental for a 

 breast-plate, they are not requisite at all, as are holes for suspending the 

 same, while they are too inconspicuous to be considered merely orna- 

 mental markings. The natural inference, therefore, is that they are in- 

 tended as a " record."' 



Figure 165 represents a difterent form of stone ornament which may 

 have been suspended by a cord so as to hang in front of the breast, or 

 was suspended from the terminal lobe of the ear. At any rate, it was 

 designed for ornament and not for any other purpose, as has been sug- 



