294 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. 



by a specimen from a mound at Sevierville, Tenn. It is a plain, pear- 

 shaped fragment, with evenly dressed margin and two perforations, 

 which take the ijosition of the eyes. A sketch of this is presented in 

 Fig. 1 , Plate LX IX. Si milar specimens have been obtained from mounds 

 in other States. A little further advance is made when the surface of 

 the most convex part is ground away, with the exception of a low ver- 

 tical ridge, which represents the nose. Further on a boss or node ap- 

 pears below the nose, which t^akes the place of the mouth, as seen in 

 Fig. 2. 



From the elementary stages exhibited in these specimens a gradual 

 advance is made by the addition of details and the elaboration of all the 

 features. A corona encircles the head, the ears are outlined (Fig. .5, 

 Plate LXX), the eyes are elaborated by adding one or more concen- 

 tric circles -or ovals, brows are placed above, and groups of notched and 

 zigzag lines extend downward upon the cheeks. The node at The month 

 is perforated or cut in intaglio in circular or oblong figures, and the 

 chin is embellished by a variety of incised designs. Illustrations of the 

 various forms are given in Plates LXIX and LXX. 



These objects are especially numerous in the mounds of Tennessee, 

 but their range is quite wide, examples having been reported from Ken- 

 tucky, Virginia, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas, and smaller ones of 

 a somewhat different type from Xew York. In size they range from 

 two to ten inches in length, the width being considerably less. They 

 are generally found associated with human remains in such a way as to 

 suggest their use as ornaments for the head or neck. There are, how- 

 ever, no holes for suspension except those made to represent the eyes, 

 and these, so far as I have observed, show no abrasion bj* a cord of 

 suspension. Their shape suggests the idea that they may have been 

 used as masks, and as such may have been placed upon the faces of the 

 dead in the same manner that metal masks were used by some oriental 

 nations. 



Among the large number of interesting objects of shell obtained from 

 the McMahon Mound at Sevierville, Tenn., were a number of these shell 

 masks. In the notes of the collector they are mentioned as having been 

 found on the breast or about the heads of skeletons. The example 

 shown in Fig. 1, Plate LXVII, is a medium-sized, rather idain specimen 

 from the above-named locality. It is seven and one-fourth inches long 

 and nearly six inches wide, and has been made from a Bunycon perversum. 

 The margins are much decayed, and the convex surface is pitted and 

 discolored. The inside is smooth, and has a slight design rudely en- 

 graved upon it. Of a very different type is the specimen shown in Fig. 

 2. It is new looking, and well preserved. The slightly translucent sur- 

 face is highly polished, and the engraved lines are quite fresh looking. 

 It was collected by J. D. Lucas, and is labeled Aquia Creek, Va. It is 

 five and one-half inches iu length by five in width, and is apparently 

 made from some dextral-whorled shell. The outline is somewhat rec- 



