PREHISTORIC AKT. 



453 



^ 



7', 



'M 



is introduced because of the material, wliicli is jiorpbyritic diabase 

 and comes from Michigan. It lias two holes and may have been worn 

 either on the arm or the breast. No. (i2578, U.S.N.M.^ is of soap- 

 stone, and from Tennessee. A third (No. 97423, 

 U.S.N.M.) is of red Jasper from east Tennessee. 

 The other two are of slate and show their respec- 

 tive decorations. The sixth specimen of hematite, 

 though classed as a i)endant, the justilication for 

 which is the little groove aronna the small end 

 apparently intended for a string or cord by which 

 it was suspended, belongs to a class distinct from 

 the others. They are always round, are sym- 

 metrical, and with all their hardness are made 

 smooth and usually well polished. They have 

 been classed as plummets and charms, as well as 

 pendants. Occasional specimens have a hole 

 drilled throngh the small end instead of the 

 groove, while others have the lower end made 

 the same as the upper, also grooved or drilled. 

 Archicologists are far from being agreed as to the 

 use of these implements, the disagreement being- 

 indicated by the different names given to them, 

 bnt all will agree as to the beauty of the speci- 

 mens and the propriety of classing them as works 

 of art. 



Fig. 108 from Norwich, Connecticnt, is of green- 

 ish gray trap rock, with convex edges. It has 

 one hole drilled near the end as though for suspension from the neck 

 and to be worn on the breast. It has been gi-ound and sinoot ;cd all 

 over and is decorated on one side and around the edge by a row of 

 extremely small dots with zigzags of the same. 

 The opposite side is plain. 



The great mass of these gorgets and pendants 

 are plain, a few have been scratched with figures 

 which might be hieroglyphs or ideographs, but 

 they are so extremely rude as to be of slight value 



from an artistic point of view, and so manv are of 



1 1^. . .:. 



PENDANT, WITH DECORATION 



OF ZIGZAG POINTS. 



Norwich, Conuecticiit. 



Cat. No. 17905, U.S.N.M. 1, nal- 

 ur.ll size. 



PENDANT, OVAI. FLATTENED 

 PEHBLE WITH DECORATIO.N' 

 OK INCISED LINES. 



Tiverton, Rhode Island. 



Cat. No. n.Wli, U.S.N.M. k nat- 

 ural size. 



doubtful authenticity that none are presented. 



Fig. 109 represents another of these objects 



which, while evidently used for suspension, may 



have served in any place. It is from Tiverton, 



Newport County, Ehode Island. It is an oval 



flattened pebble with incised lines as represented. ' 



Chimf/l-ee sfones.~If the civilization or sociology of the prehistoric 



man was being presented these objects would be classed with games or 



athletics, but because of the hardness of the material and difficulty of 



