296 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. 



shell is perfectly plain, and still preserves its liigii polish, though the 

 right portion of the face on the carved or convex side shows the sad ef- 

 fects of time and exposure." 



Although I have not had an opportunity of examining this specimen 

 closely, I am inclined to the opinion, judging by its outlines, that the 

 shell from which it was made has been sinistrally whorled, and hence 

 a Busycon perrersum. I should also prefer to consider the hole beneath 

 the nose as representing the mouth, as it certainlj" does in many other 

 cases, and the peculiar figure — the three vertical lines which extend 

 downward from the hole and the two banded figures that cross them 

 at right angles — as a representation of some painted or tatooed design 

 characteristic of the builders of the mound. 



Other examples of these objects are represented in Plate LXIX. Of 

 especial interest I may mention the specimen shown in Fig. 4, obtained, 

 with other similar examples, by Professor Putnam, from the Lick Creek 

 mound, in East Tennessee. The perforations which represent the eyes 

 are surrounded by two concentric circles, and the zigzag lines beneath 

 are supplemented by two sets of pendant figures formed of notched 

 lines, the two longer of which extend down the sides of the nose, the 

 others being connected with the lower margin of the eye. In one ex- 

 ample four parallel lines pass from the mouth downward over the chin. 



Fig. 3 represents a specimen from the Brakebill Mound, East Ten- 

 nessee. The mouth is not indicated, and the nose is but slightly re- 

 lieved. Each eye, however, is inclosed by a figure which extendsdown- 

 ward over the cheek, terminating in three sharp jioiuts. 

 ,So far as the specimens at hand show, this peculiar embellishment of 

 the eyes and mouth is characteristic of Virginia and East Tennessee. 

 A small specimen from Georgia, now preserved in the Natural History 

 Museum at New York, has a somewhat similar ornamentation of the 

 eyes. This specimen is shown in Fig. C, Plate LXX. 



In Fig. s of the same plate we have the repi'esentation of a face mod- 

 eled in clay, on which a number of incised lines, similar to those en- 

 graved on shell, have been drawn. The crown of notches is also pres- 

 ent. The specimen has been illustrated by Professor Jones.' It is now 

 in the museum of Natural History at New York, and was probably ob- 

 tained from the Etowah Valley, Georgia. Examples in stone are also 

 numerous, and show certain features in common with those in shell. 



Fig. 9 is from Northern Ohio, ami is carved from a nodule of iron ore. 



The very beautiful little head shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is from a cave 

 at Mussel Shoals, Ala. It is made of shell, and is somewhat altered by 

 decay. The crown is peculiarly notched, and resembles a very common 

 Mexican form. The notch in the middle ot the forehead can be tracid 

 to a division in the head-dress noticed in the more elaborately carved 

 Mexican specimens. 



The example shown in Pigs. 3 and 4 is copied from a rather rude cut 



'Jones: Antiquities of the Southern Indians, p. 430. 



