300 OBSERVATIONS ON A GOLD ORNAMENT FROM FLORIDA. 



ludian, who fashioned it, according to his taste, to serve as a totemic 

 emblem or ornament, perhaps designed to form a part of the head- 

 dress ; for, though a small elongated aperture is formed by the inner 

 curve of the bird's neck, I hardly deem it likely that the object was 

 intended for suspension. The Florida Indians, it is veil known, paid 

 l)articular attention to the decoration of their heads, and hence it is 

 not an improbable conjecture that it once embellished the crown of 

 some chief or brave while living, and was afterward placed in his grave, 

 in accordance with aboriginal custom. 



Whether the figure was brought into shape by hammering a large 

 gold coin or a bar of gold, or was made from a piece of sheet gold, can- 

 not now be decided. The surfaces certainly look as though they had 

 undergone the process of beating; but it is just as likely that the orna- 

 ment was made from a piece of gold plate furnished by whites. That 

 the Indians were skillful in working metal in a cold state is shown by 

 the implements and ornaments of copper found in various parts of the 

 United States, more especially in the neighborhood of Lake Superior, 

 where their supplies of native copper were chiefly obtained. Even 

 modern Indians practise the art of working silver dollars, beating and 

 cutting them into tasteful gorgets, ear-rings, and other objects of per- 

 sonal adornment. On the other hand, there is no ground whatever 

 for supposing that the Indians north of Mexico possessed the skill of 

 casting gold, and far less of producing an alloy like that of which the 

 Florida ornament is composed. 



"While I am of opinion that the material of the relic was obtained from 

 whites, I ascribe (as stated) the work itself— that is, the cutting out of 

 the figure and the tracing of the lines — to the agency of an aboriginal 

 artist. The ornamental lines, though incised with a steady hand, are 

 not uniform in width, and in some places the tracing forms a double 

 line, as though the implement used in lieu of a graver had not been i^ro- 

 vided with a sharp point. A knife which has lost its extreme point 

 would produce such lines; perhaps also a pointed flint. The latter 

 alternative, however, is hardly admissible, considering that at the time 

 when the object was made, implements of such primitive character prob- 

 ably had been superseded by more efficient instruments of iron or steel. 

 The North American Indians, like other savages, were not slow in recog- 

 nizing the superiority of the white man's tools, and adopted them with- 

 out hesitation. 



Though it would be hazardous to pronounce a definite opinion con- 

 cerning the age of the relic, it may be assumed that it is not very old. 

 Its origin may not date back more than a century. It was perhaps 

 made during the second period of Spanish supremacy in Florida, which 

 lasted from 1780 to 1821, when the province was ceded to the United 

 States. The ornament was taken from the centre of the mound, and 

 doubtless formed a part of a primary burial. This fact affords an addi- 

 tional evidence that mound-building was continued in this country after 



