378 ANTHROPOLOGY. 



present and local demand they were stored away in the ground, in places 

 known only to the artificers, whence they could be taken as occasion 

 required. 



It must not be forgotten that the occupation of the primitive worker in 

 stone was deemed not only useful but honorable. For the purpose of 

 disposing of his surplus stock he frequently made long journeys, and the 

 knowledge of his mission and avocation secured him a welcome among, 

 and hospitable treatment by, the tribes he visited. 



While along the coast may occasionally be seen nuclei or parent blocks 

 of jasper, transported from a distance, and there kept to be manufac- 

 tured into implements, and while at some points, even in the depths of 

 the swamp region, may still be noted traces of small open-air workshops, 

 it appears entirely probable that the Indians inhabiting the sea-islands 

 and the adjacent territory were largely supplied with arrow and spear 

 points and other stone objects manufactured in the interior and furnished 

 by the ancient trader. Stone implements found along the coast, as a 

 general rule, are beautiful in material and of admirable construction. 

 This suggests and seems to justify the idea that these primitive mer- 

 chantmen brought with them in their trading expeditions articles well 

 selected, attractive to the eye, and calculated to command the highest 

 price in the way of exchange. From the dwellers near the saltwater 

 were obtained beautiful ocean shells, large drinking cups made from 

 conchs, beads, gorgets, shell ornaments, and shell money. This in- 

 terchange of commodities was very extensive, and prevailed from a re- 

 mote antiquity. By means of long rivers traversing vast regions and 

 finally emptying into the sea were these trade relations most easily 

 conducted. Geographically considered, the location of workshops in 

 the region we have indicated was most judicious. The territory per- 

 meated by the Savannah was extensive. Its tributaries, capable of nav- 

 igation by canoes from single trees, were neither infrequent nor indiffer- 

 ent. The population permanently established in this region was con- 

 siderable, and when the mouth of the river was reached, the network of 

 inlets afforded ample opportunity for communicating by water with widely 

 separated communities. All the outer islands guarding the coasts 

 of Georgia and Carolina, and the headlands where these primitive peo- 

 ples delighted to congregate, were thus rendered accessible. In the 

 light of discovered relics it appears impossible to prescribe limits to the 

 peregrinations, by land and water, of these traders of the olden time. 

 To the knowledge of the writer, within a limited area in the heart of 

 Georgia have been found copper implements from the Lake Superior 

 region, a bead and pipe of catlinite, not of recent manufacture, huge 

 heads made of the eoluinns of shells native to the Gulf of Mexico, and 

 stone implements, whose material must have been transported from great 

 distances. 



From hmg experience, and after frequent and careful examination, 

 we are persuaded that we can in many instances designate with cer- 



