Distributian of Pearls and Peart-shell. 1 U7 
creat. wooden coffins, in which the dead lay embalmed, 
and beside them were small baskets full of pearls. The 
temple of Tolomecco, however, was the richest in pearls ; 
its high walls and roof were of mother-of-pearl, while 
strings of pearls and plumes of feathers hung round the 
walls; over the coffins of their kings hung their shields, 
crowned with pearls, and in the centre of the temple 
stood vases full of costly pearls.” 
Though the various accounts relating to the abundance 
of pearls in Florida are probably somewhat exaggerated, 
there seems sufficient evidence to prove that pearls of some 
value were in the possession of the wealthier tribes. That 
they were met with in some numbers in graves seems also 
to be a reliable statement.” 
As to the source of these pearls, most of the narratives 
refer to them as coming from the coast of the South Sea 
or Gulf of Mexico. While possibly this was the case with 
some of the pearls, it is more probable that the majority 
came from the freshwater shells (Unios) of the inland 
lakes and rivers. 
In Alabama, pearls pierced for stringing have been 
found in several of the mounds at Moundville by Clarence 
B. Moore, along with a sheet-copper pendant bearing a 
perforated pearl nearly 7 mm. in diameter, and an elliptical 
gorget of sheet-copper decorated with a pearl.’  Per- 
forated pearl beads have been also found in the Etowah 
Mound, located in Barton County, Georgia.” 
At the pre-Columbian capital of Copan, in Western 
Honduras, evidences have been met with pointing to a 
very early use of pearls. G. B. Gordon’ tells us that in 
12 This question is fully discussed by Kunz and Stevenson (of. ¢2/., 
pp. 252-259). 
t*° Kunz and Stevenson, of. czt., p. 493. 
127 W. K. Moorehead, ‘* Prehistoric Implements,” N. Y., 1900, p. 376. 
; ay G. B. Gordon, ** The Mysterious City of Honduras,” Zhe Century 
Magazine, vol. \v., p. 417. 
