SMITHSONIAN AECII^IEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 



57 



The flat back of this diminutive representation of a skull is perforated at each 

 side with a diagonal hole. The material appears to be silicified wood.'" 



A very curious class of Indian sculptures are the imitations of human foot- 

 prints which occui', cut on solid rocks and sometimes on boulders, in various 

 parts of I^orth America. These artificial tracks have elicited much unprofita- 

 ble speculation, being considered by some as real impressions of human feet, 

 and consequently dating from a time when the rocks w^ere still in a state of 

 softness. Though this view is now entirely abandoned by intelligent observ- 

 ers, there are some persons who, being unacquainted with the residts of 

 geology, still adhere to it. The foot-prints of man which are found, either 

 isolated or in connection with other designs, on many rocks in the United 

 States belong to the pictographical system of the aborigines, and probably 

 relate to incidents worthy of their remembrance. Among the remarkable ob- 

 jects of the collection are three large stone slabs bearing impressions of human 



22-3 



SCULPTURED FOOT-TKACKS (^). 



feet. On two of these slabs, which have been carefully cut out of the rocks, 

 may be seen, respectively, two impressions of feet represented as being covered 

 with moccasins of a pattern still in use among the Sioux and other western 

 tribes (Fig. 222). These slabs consist of sandstone, probably pertaining to the 

 carboniferous formation, and were obtained from the banks of the Missouri 

 Eiver. The third specimen of this description (Fig. 223) is a flatfish block 

 of quartzite (probably a boulder), which bears on one of its flat sides the im- 

 pression of a naked foot, each toe being distinctly marked by a cavity of 

 proportionate depth. The foot is surrounded by a number of cup-shaped 

 depressions. This relic was obtained in Gasconade County, Missouri. 



''This relic is described iu tlic Smithsonian Report for 1871, p. 423. 



