SMITHSONIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. il 



Returning' to the objects of shell of jjurely ornamental character, we wonlcl 

 mention flat discs with a central hole, which were probably not strung like the 

 ordinary beads, but arranged in some other way. Quite a number of these 

 discs, made of fluviatile shells, were found some years ago in the now leveled 

 "Big Mound" at St. Louis. Some of them measure more than an inch in 

 diameter. The collection contains similar discs perforated with several holes, 

 and sometimes ornamented around the circumference, which were obtained 

 from California (Figs. 270 and 271, Santa Cruz Island) . They are cut from 

 the Jlaliotis-sheW. Increasing in size, the shell discs assume the character 

 of gorgets, which were worn suspended from the neck, or attached in some 

 way to the dress. They are round or oval plates, from two to four inches and 

 more in diameter, on wliich designs are engraved or cut through. The orna- 

 mentation is traced on the concave side, which formerly exhibited the shining 

 part of the shell. The collection contains, among other specimens, an or- 

 namented shell gorget from Tennessee, which is now perfectly bleached by 

 age, but evidently formed a beautiful decoration while in its original state 

 (Fig. 272). It is pierced with two holes for suspension and with tAvo lateral 

 holes, probably intended for farther fastening. The ornamental tracing on 

 this specimen bears a striking resemblance to the pattern engraved on a 

 shell gorget figured on Plate XXX of the ^'Antiquities of the Southern In- 

 dians" by Charles C. Jones. The similarity in the designs of such shell 

 plates has been pointed out l^y the late Professor Jeffries Wyman.' Some 

 shell discs are ornamented with regularly disposed perforations, and others 

 are entirely plain, showing only the holes for suspension (Fig. 273, mound in 

 Kentucky). Such specimens, whitened by having lain for centuries in the 

 ground, offer now little attraction to the eye, though they must have consti- 

 tuted beautiful ornaments when exhibiting the peaily coating of the shell. 



The round or oval gorgets just described are made from Bt/sicon-sheUs, 

 which Avere also employed in the production of another class of large orna- 

 ments, representing very rudely executed human faces. They are pear- 

 shaped, from five to six inches long, and about four inches wide in the 

 broadest part, Avhere they are pierced with tAVO small holes, evidently intended 

 for eyes. A slight elevation marks the nose, below which there is sometimes 

 seen a third hole indicating the mouth. In addition, the surface is often 

 ornamented with incised lines. The decoration in these typical objects, Avhich 

 probably served as gorgets, is executed on the convex part of the shell. They 

 have been found in mounds of Tennessee, and elseAvhere. 



Shell-matter Avas Avrought into a variety of other ornaments designed for 

 suspension or attachment. In most instances the fiistening Avas effected by 

 perforations, but exceptionally by grooves, as in the case of a small pendant, 

 pear-shaped in outline, A\-hich may have formed an appendage to a string of 



'The tracing often shows the flgiirc of a coiled rattle-snake.— Fifth Annual Report of the Trustees of 

 the Peabody Museum, Boston, 1872, p. 17. 



