STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 367 



Squier and Davis,* in describing these discoidal stones, make 

 mention of information given them b^^ Eev. J. B. Finley, who states 

 "that among the tribes with which he was acquainted, stones identical 

 with those described were much used iu a popuUir game resembling the 

 modern one of " ten-pins." The form of the stones suggests the manner 

 in which they were held and thrown, or rather rolled. The concave sides 

 received the thumb and second finger, the forefinger clasping the periphery.-' 



This last sentence applies perfectly to the description of our specimen. 

 The concavity on each side, although shallow, is well defined ; that of 

 the right side, or the one which the thumb occupies when held iu the 

 right hand, beiug somewhat larger. Of course the stone can be 

 reversed so as to bring the second finger into this larger cavity, but it 

 would naturallj" be grasped in the manner described by Mr. Finley. 



Figure 209, while not polished to any degree, is very smooth, an 

 accurate circle in outline, and has the beveled margin very uniform 

 throughout. The most elevated portion of the beveled edge is not iu 

 the middle, so that when standing on edge the stone naturally falls on 

 the right or more deeply concave side. When rolled, it generally 

 tends to the right and falls with what we have considered the " right" or 

 upper surface down. 



Squier and Davis t figure a great variety of this class of relics, 

 and while giving many reasons and quotations tending to show that 

 they were " game stones," add, " they are certainly enigmatic in their 

 purposes." 



These disks are not abundant in Xew Jersey, but in every considerable 

 collection of "Indian antiquities" we have visited, we have seen one or 

 more specimens, all exhibiting about the difl'erence shown in the 

 illustrations given by Squier and Davis of those found in the western 

 mounds, except that none were perforated. 



Figure 210 is a disk of very compact stone, measuring two and a 

 half inches in diameter, and one inch in thickness. The sides are 

 finely polished, and the edge beveled, having a sharp central ridge, 

 not straight, and somewhat nearer one side than the other. In out- 

 line this disk is not a perfect circle, and will only roll a short distance, 

 unless thrown with much force. 



This specimen is much ruder in detail than the preceding implement ; 

 and while it may be such a stone as Du Pratz describes, being " one 

 inch thick, with the edges somewhat sloping,^'' it does not seem sufticiently 

 finished for such a purpose. 



This disk, figure 210, bears a marked resemblance to a " stone object" 

 found at the Cape of Good Hope, " probably an car-ring, or rather 

 lutton, for insertion into the lobe of the ear." The African specimen is 

 smaller than that from New Jersey, being an inch and a half in diam- 

 eter and only three-eighths of an inch thick. Col. Lane Fox|, iu 



* Anc. Mon. Miss. Valley, p. 223, fig. 121. t L. c, p. 221. 



t Journ. Etbnol. Soc. of Loudon ; uew series, 1870, vol ii. p. 41 ; pi. 1, fig. 2. 



