HOLMES] UNIO SPOONS. ^ 199 



of small circular depressious has been added to the upper surface. In 

 the fiuisbed implement the binge, ligament, and teetlubave been cut 

 away, the thick dorsal margin carefully ground down, leaving a smooth, 

 'neat edge, and the anterior point, which was presented to the lips in 

 eating or drinking, was well rounded and polished. The whole sui'face 

 of the shell in the more finished specimens has been most carefully 

 dressed. Altogether, the fashioning of these spoons must be regarded as 

 a very ingenious performance for savages, and has cost much more labor 

 than would the attachment of a handle, for which purpose it is not im- 

 probable the lateral notches may at times have been used. Our col- 

 lections furnish no examples of marine univalves worked in this man- 

 ner; a few slightly altered specimens, however, have been reported. 

 Nearly all the specimens of carved sjioons that have come to my notice 

 are made from a few species of Unio. 



It is a curious fact that most of these utensils have been made from 

 the left valve of the shell, which gives such a j^osition to the handle that 

 they are most conveniently used by the right hand, thus indicating 

 right-handedness on the part of these peoples. In the national collec- 

 tion there are two left-handed specimens, one from Nashville, Tenn.,and 

 one from Union County, Ky. 



Professor Putnam states that he has " examined over thirty of these 

 shell-spoons now in the museum [Peabody], and all are made from the 

 right [left] valves of Unionidee, and so shaped as to be most conven- 

 iently used with the right hand." ' 



By reference to Fig. I, Plate XXIV, the probable manner of grasp- 

 ing and using the spoon will be seen. It will also be observed that the 

 left valve of the shell is used to make the right-handed simoon, supi>os- 

 ing of course that the point of the spoon is presented to the lips, the 

 hinge corner being much less convenient for that purpose. 



In regard to the use of these objects, which have occasionally been 

 taken for ornaments, it should be mentioned that very many of them 

 have been found within earthen vessels placed in the graves with the 

 dead. The vessels, in all i^robability, were the recejitacles of food, the 

 spoons beiug so placedthat they could be used by the dead as they had 

 been used by the living. 



The specimen shown in Fig. 3, Plate XXIV, was obtained by Pro- 

 fessor Powell, from a mound near Nashville, Tenn. It is made from 

 the left \'alve of a very delicate specimen of the Dmo ovatus,- and 

 has been finished with more than usual cai'e. The entire rim is arti- 

 ficially shaped, the natural shell being much reduced, and six notches 

 ornament the outside of the handle. The bowl of the spoon is nearly 

 foiu" inches in length and two and one-half in width. Eight other speci- 

 mens were obtained from the same locality by Professor Powell. All 

 are made from the Unio ovatus, one only being left-handed. All are 



'Putnam, in Eleventh Annual Report, Peabody Museum, p. !J35. 

 -I am indebted to Dr. Charles A. White, of the Geological Survey, for the identifi- 

 cation of the numerous specimens of Unionidai mentioned in this paper. 



