Distribution of Pearls and Peart-shelt, Tle 
pearls were originally thought to have been brought from 
fisheries in southern waters, but are now considered as 
having been derived, partly, if not entirely, from the fresh- 
water mussels (Uzzo) so abundant in the rivers of the 
region of the mounds. W. C. Mills, in his “ Explorations 
of the Edwin Harness Mound,”'’ also speaks of the large 
quantities of freshwater pearls made into beads which 
were found in every section of the Harness Mound. In 
one instance more than two thousand of these beads were 
found with one burial. They are all small, some being 
perfectly round. Several hundred were obtained ranging 
in diameter from a quarter to half an inch. In some cases 
the large pearls had been flattened on one side and set in 
copper; in others, the pearls were often flattened and 
pierced with two holes, as if for attachment to fabrics, 
etc. The most curious discovery, however, in this mound 
was that of imitation pearls made of clay, and apparently 
modelled from real ones. These clay imitations appear 
to have been coated with mica and then burned so as to 
preserve a pearly appearance. This remarkable discovery 
is of great interest as recalling the clay pellets used by 
the Chinese in their artificial pearl-making industry. 
At the Gartner Mound, in the same region, a shell 
vorget was found with a hole cut in the centre and a 
pearl cut and mounted to fill it."* And gorgets and 
crescents made from fresh-water pearl-shells were by no 
means uncommon in this and other Ohio mounds. 
In his description of “The Seip Mound,” "” situated 
within the largest prehistoric earthworks of the Paint 
117 Ohio Archeol. and Hist, Quart., vol. Xvi., no. 2, 1907. 
118 Mills, ‘* Explorations of the Gartner Mound and “Village Site,” 
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Quart., vol. xill., no. 2, 1904. 
119 Mills, ‘‘ The Seip Mound,” Putnam Anniversary Volume. N.Y., 
1909, pp. 110, I14.and 122. 
