376 ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. 



plained : they were perhaps attached to the head-dress, or worn as orna- 

 ments in some other way. The unwrought coluiuellse of large sea-shells 

 have been found at considerable distances from the coast, as, for in- 

 stance, in Ohio and Tennessee. 



I have seen some very old Indian shell-ornaments, which were worn 

 suspended from ^ the »eck, like medals or gorgets. They are round or 

 oval plates, from two to four inches in diameter, on which various de- 

 signs, sometimes quite tasteful, are engraved or cut through. In some 

 instances their ornamentation consists in regularly disposed perfora- 

 tions.* 



Very large sea-shells of the univalve kind, either in their natural 

 state or more or less changed by art, frequently have been found in In- 

 dian burial-places and in localities generally, where the traces of Indian 

 occupancy are met. Species of the Pyrula and Cassis occur most fre- 

 quently. By the removal of the inner whorls and spines, and other 

 modifications, these shells are sometimes prepared to serve as drinking- 

 vessels and dishes. Professor Wyman speaks in the before-mentioned 

 report of such vessels obtained from Tennessee and Florida, which 

 are made from shells of the Pyrula perversa, Lam. One of the vessels 

 measures a foot in length, though the pointed end is wanting. Dr. 

 Troost gives the description and representation of a large, entirely hol- 

 lowed Cassis flammea, Lam., found in Tennessee, which served as the 

 receptacle of a kneeling human figure of clay, to which he attributes 

 the character of an idol.t I saw in the collection of Colonel Jones, of 

 Brooklyn, a Cassis, likewise hollowed, which is eight inches and a half 

 long, and has a diameter of seven inches, where its periphery is widest. 

 This specimen is one of two which were found near Clarksville, Haber- 

 sham County, Georgia, in one of those Indian stone-graves, which are 

 met, sometimes many of them together, in various parts of the United 

 States.l 



In the State of Ohio, where the former inhabitants have left the most 

 conspicuous traces of their occupancy in the shape of numerous earth- 



* "Thoy ofteutiiiies make, of this shell, a sort of gorge, which they wear about their 

 neck iu a striug; so it hangs on their collar, whereon sometimes is engraven a cross, 

 or some odd sort of figure, which comes next iu their fancy. The gorges will some- 

 times sell for three or four buckskins ready dressed." Lawson, History of Carolina, 

 London, 1714; reprint, Raleigh, 1860, ]). 315. For drawings see Schoolcraft, Vol.1, 

 plate 19, figure 3, and plate 25, figures 29 and 30 ; also, Morgan, League of the Iroquois, 

 ]). 389. 



t Transactions of the American Ethnological Society, Vol. I, p. 361. 



tThe stone-grave in question contained a skeleton, much decayed, and, besides the 

 two Cflssis-shells, stone axes and chisels, some perforated objects of stone, &c. The 

 most important piece, however, was a copper axe, which deserves particular mention. 

 This axe is very long, but narrow and thin, and shows on both sides very distinctly 

 the friction produced by having been inserted into the split end of a wooden handle. 

 The objects found in this grave are all iu the possession of Colonel Jones, who intends 

 to publish au illustrated description of this find in bis forthcoming work on the an- 

 tiquities of Georgia. 



