TOLME8.1 CENTRALLY PERFORATED TABLETS. 265 



from the body of a large Bnsyenri perversum, and is nine and a half 

 indies long by three inches in width at the widest part. The concave 

 surface has been highly polished, but is now somewhat roughened by 

 weathering; the back has been slightly ground to take off the rougher 

 ridges of growth ; the edges ;ue even and rounded aud in many places 

 quite thin. The peculiarity of its shape is such as to give it very uuich 

 the appearance of the sole of a sandal. The perforations are three in 

 number, one being near the middle aud the others near flie broader end, 

 about one and a half inches apart; they are very neatly made and are 

 slightly bi-couical and a little countersunk. There appears to be no evi- 

 dence whatever of abrasion by use. It was found associated with human 

 remains in a mound at Shari)sburg, Mercer County, Ohio. A similar 

 specimen from the same locality is nearly nine inches in length, and 

 lacks but a little of three and a half inches in width. As in the speci- 

 men illustrate<l, one i)erforation is ])laced near the middle and two 

 others near the broader end. This specimen is highly polished on the 

 broader part of the back, and is evenly smoothed on the concave side. It 

 bears evidence of considerable use, and the two holes are much worn by a 

 string or cord, which, passing from one hole to the other on the concave 

 side of the plate, gradually worked a deep groove between them. On 

 the back or convex side, the perforations show no evidence of wear. 

 The central perforation is not worn on either side. The letter of Mr. 

 Whitney, transmitting this relic to the National Museum, states that 

 there were in the mound " about ten pairs of the shell sandals of difterent 

 sizes, aud made to fit the right and left feet." From the latter remark 

 I should infer that some were made from dextral and others from sinis- 

 tral shells; the two described are made from the Busycon pervcrsum. 



An extremely line specimen, much like the preceding, was exhumed 

 from an ancient mound in Hardin County, Ohio. It was found on the 

 head of a skeleton which occupied a sitting posture near the center of 

 the mound. It is nine inches in length by three and one-half inches in 

 width, and in shape resembles the sole of a moccasin, being somewhat 

 broader and less i>ointed than the specimen presented in Fig. 5. It had 

 been placed upon the skull with the wider end toward the back, but 

 whether laid there as a burial ottering sim[)ly or as constituting a part 

 of the head-dress of the dead savage we have no means of determin- 

 ing. The perforations are three in number, aud are placed similarly to 

 those in the specimen illustrated in Fig. 5. Two other skeletons had 

 similar plates associated with them, which difi'ered from the one de- 

 scribed in size only, the smaller one being less than six inches in length. 

 Lithographs of two of these specimens are given by Mr. Matson, in 

 whose very excellent report they were first described.' 



The gorget presented in Fig. 1 of this plate is copied from School- 

 craft.2 It was taken, along with many other interesting relics, from 



' Matsoii, in Ohio Centennial Report, p. 13L 



"Schoolcraft: History of the Indian Tribes, &c., part I, plato XIX. 



