140 



ANTIQUITIES IN TENNESSEE. 



The stone spear-head of jasper, Fig. 77, is remarkable for its finish and symmetry. 

 The spear-head represented in Fig. 78, appears to have been one of the most 

 common forms of warlike implements, used by the aborigines of Tennessee. 



Pig. 77. 



Pig. 78. 



Fig. 77. Ja.sper spe.ar-he.ad, from the Cumlierl.arKl valley. One-fourth natural size. 

 Fig. 78. Jasper spe.ar-head, from a stone gr.ave, Tennessee. One-fourth natural »\ze. 



These illustrations might be multiplied almost indefinitely, for there is not a 

 cultivated field along the streams of Tennessee which does not yield various forms 

 of arrow-heads, spear-heads, and scalping knives, of various sizes and forms. The 

 extraordinary number of these weapons scattered over the face of the country, attests 

 at once the warlike character and the vast numbers of the aboriginal inhabitants. 



The implement represented in Fig. 79, fashioned of hard silex, was probably 

 used as a battle-axe, the edges being too thick and blunt, either for thrusting or 

 cutting. 



Fig. 79. 



Stone implement of silex, from the valley of the Cumberland. One-fourth natural size. 



Coi 



ns. 



During my explorations, I discovered no coins nor medals of any kind in the 

 stone graves and mounds of Tennessee. It is probable that the coins described by 

 John Haywood^ and Caleb Atwater,^ as having been found in various parts of 

 Tennessee and Kentucky, were of European origin, and brought over by the early 

 Catholic missionaries and explorers. 



' Aboriginal History of Tennessee, pp. 173-184. 

 ' Archseologia Americana, pp. 114-120. 



