220 



THE MUSEUM. 



ing to accompany this paper. This 

 pipe, if pipe it be, as its use as such 

 has heen questioned, i' is 3| inches 

 in greatest length with a diameter of i 

 inch at the edge of the bowl, of which 

 the perforation is | of an inch in 

 depth; is finely finished, and has but 

 one attempt at ornamentation, a small 

 boss or shield in relief, as can be seen 

 in the illustration. 



It is possible that these objects of 

 alabaster were fashioned from material 

 derived from sources nearer at hand 

 than Wyandot Cave, but to my knowl- 

 edge, no deposits of alabaster showing 

 traces of ancient quarry work have as 

 yet been reported from this vicinit}', 

 or from any section of New York state. 

 It is possible that some such quarries 

 may yet be found. A large cavern 

 only partially explored and compara- 

 tively unknown (not Howes) located in 

 Schoharie County, has bean described 

 as containing "vast slabs of alabaster" 

 and in the future perhaps some evi- 

 dences of ancient search for the ma- 

 terial may be discovered in this, or in 

 some one of the numerous half-explor- 

 ed caverns which abound in the Hel- 

 derberg limestones of Albany and Scho- 

 harie Counties, N. Y. 



Lying directly west from the cit\- of 

 Albany is the picturesque Helderberg 

 plateau with its percipitous cliff edge 

 leading for miles in sinuous curves and 

 bays, resembling on a somewhat small- 

 er scale that mysterious region of cav- 

 erns. The Causses in southern France, 



t It has been .suggested that the object 

 might have beeu fashioned for use as a whis- 

 tle as it bears ia its outlines and disposal of 

 perforations some resemblance to certain ob- 

 jects of bone, discovered at the same camp 

 site by Mr. Louis Albrand, which are suppos- 

 ed to be whistles; but as yet all manipulations 

 have been without avail in extracting from it 

 a musical n: te. 



now famous through the subterranean 

 researches of Messrs. Martel, Pons and 

 associates. 



Here in this rough limestone region 

 of the Helderbergs, must certainly ex- 

 ist large caverns, perhaps inaccessible, 

 but still there, as is evidenced by the 

 arched outlets of subterranean torrents 

 and by the numerous sink-holes (avens) 

 which are to be met with on the sur- 

 face of the plateau. 



The gorget of alabaster spoken of in 

 this paper was found in immediate as- 

 sociation with a fine axe of native cop- 

 per, and other implements, and the 

 grave from which these objects were 

 recovered was situated on the higher 

 portion of a naturally dry, gravel bank 

 or ridge. ']'. For this reason this gorget 

 might easily have escaped the liability 

 of decay, spoken of by Mr. Hovey as 

 a characteristic of alabaster. Mr. 

 Hovey also suggests this, — the perish- 

 able nature of the material when ex- 

 posed to the elements, — as a reason 

 why so few objects manufactured from 

 it have been found. Judging from an 

 outgrowth of stalagmitic alabaster, 

 partly healing as covering the incision 

 made by the ancient Wyandot workers 

 in the enormous columns of alabaster, 

 known as the Pillar of the Constitu- 

 tion. Mr. Hovey argues very justly 

 for a long abandonirient of this subter- 

 ranean quarry. The finding in east- 

 ern New York of the two examples of 

 worked alabaster, of which I have 

 spoken, prove nothing against the an- 

 tiquity of this quarry even could it be 

 shown that they had been derived 

 from this source, as they both were 

 found under conditions pointing to a 



X Amer. Antiquarian, March, 1894. De- 

 scription of this find in article, The Mutila- 

 tion of Archn'ologic Finds. 



