268 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. 



As symbols tbey possessed, in most cases, a religious character, and 

 were generally used as totems of clans. They were inscribed with char- 

 acters derived chiefly from mytbologic sources. A few examples con- 

 tain geometric designs which m.ay have been time-symbols, or they may 

 have indicated the order of ceremonial exercises. 



That these objects should be classed under one of these heads and 

 not as simple ornaments engraved with intricate designs for embel- 

 lishment alone is apparent when we consider the serious character of 

 the work, the great amount of labor and patience shown, the frequent 

 recurrence of the same design, the wide distribution of particular form!-", 

 the preservation of the idea in all cases, no matter what shortcomings 

 occur in execution or detail, and the apparent absence of all lines, dots, 

 and figures not essential to the presentation of the conception. 



In describing these gorgets I have arranged them in groups distin- 

 guished by the designs engraved upon them.' They are presented in 

 the following order: 



The Cross, 



The Scalloped Disk, 



The Bird, 



The Spider, 



The Serpent, 



The Human Face, 



The Human Figure: and to these I append The Frog, 

 which is found in Arizona only, and although carved in shell does not 

 appear to have been used as a pendant, as no perforations are visible. 



Within the United States ancient tablets containing engraved designs 

 are apparently confined to the Atlantic slope, and are not found to any 

 extent beyond the limits of the district occupied by the stone-grave 

 peojiles. Early explorers along the Atlantic coast mention the use of 

 engraved gorgets by a number of tribes. Modern examples may be 

 found occasionally among the Indians of the northwest coast as well as 

 upon the islands of the central Pacific. 



THE CROSS. 



The discoverers and early explorers of the New World were filled with 

 surprise when they beheld their own sacred emblem, the cross, mingling 

 with the pagan devices of the western barbarian. Writers have specu- 

 lated in vain — the mystery yet remains unsolved. Attempts to con- 

 nect the use of the cross by prehistoric Americans with its use in the 

 East have signally failed, and we are compelled to look on its occur- 

 rence here as one of those strange coincidences so often found in the 

 practices of i)eoples totally foreign to each other. 



If written history does not establish beyond a doubt the fact that the 

 cross had a place iu our aboriginal symbolism, we have but to turn 



'The handsome illustrations presented in the accompanying plates were mostly 

 drawn by Miss Kato C. Osgood, who has no superior iu this class of work. 



