H0LMB8.1 RATTLESNAKE GORGETS. 291 



neck is decorated in a variety of ways ; by dots, hy straight and curved 

 lines, and by a cross-hatching that gives a semblance of scales. A cu- 

 rious group of lines occupying a crescent shaped space at the right of 

 the circular figure and inclosed by two border lines, must receive par- 

 ticnlar attention. This is really the front part of the head — the jaws 

 and the muzzle of the creature represented. The mouih is always 

 clearly defined and is mostly in profile, the upper jaw being turned ab- 

 ruptly upward, but, in some examples, an attempt has been made to 

 represent a front view, in which case it presents a wide V-shaped fig- 

 ure. It is, in most cases, furnished with two rows of teeth, no at- 

 tempt having been made to represent a tongue. The spaces above 

 and below the jaws are filled with lines and figures, which vary much 

 in the different specimens ; a group of plume-like figures, extends back- 

 ward from the upi)er jaw to the crown, or otherwi.se this space is occu- 

 pied by an elongated perforation. The body is represented encircling 

 the head in a single coil, which apjtears from beneath the neck on the 

 right, passes around the front of the head, and terminates at the back 

 in a pointed tail with well defined rattles. It is engraved to represent 

 the well-known scales and spots of the rattlesnake, the conventional- 

 ized figures being quite graphic. In the group of specimens repre- 

 sented in Plate LXIV areas of cross-hatched lines, representing scales, 

 alternate with circular figures, containing two or three concentric circles 

 and a central dot. In some cases one or more incised bands cross the 

 body in the upi)er part of the curve. 



The examples shown in Plate LXV have many distinctive features. 

 The markings of the body consist of alternating areas of scales and 

 chevrons or of chevrons alone. These figures are interru))ted in the 

 upper part of the coil by a lutmber of lines which cross the body at 

 right angles. The body is in many cases nearly severed from the rim 

 of the disk by four oblong perforations, which follow the border line 

 of the design. In most cases three other perforations - occur about 

 the head ; one represents the mouth, one defines the forehead and 

 u^iper jaw, and the third is placed against the throat. These may be 

 intended merely to define the form more clearly. The curious plume- 

 like figures that occur upon the heads of both varieties may indicate 

 the natural or re])uted jnarkiiigs of the animal rejiresented. It is pos- 

 sible that the group shown in this plate may be intended to represent 

 the common yellow rattlesnake, the Crotahis horridus, of the Atlantic 

 slope, the characteristic markings of which are alternating light and 

 <lark chevrons, while the diamond rattlesnake, the Crotaliis adamanteKs, 

 of the Southern States may have served as a model for the other 

 group. 



In Plate LXII I present two of these rattlesnake gorgets. The spec- 

 imens shown in Fig. 1 is from Georgia and is the smallest example that 

 has come to my notice. It is represented natural size. The design is 

 quite obscure, but enough remains to show that it does not differ es- 



