32 PECKED, GROUND AND POLISHED STONE. 



club-heads, and the manner in which some of them, perhaps, were utilized, 

 is illustrated by a number of weapons obtained from existing tribes. There 

 is, for instance, a Sioux war-club with a round stone head about three 

 inches in diameter, and a wooden handle nearly two feet long, the stone 

 as well as the handle being enclosed in a tightly fitting covering of raw-hide 

 sewed together with strong sinew. A loop at the end of the handle serves 

 for attaching the Aveapon to the wrist. Another kind of stone war-club, 

 represented by a number of specimens in the collection, is still in use among 

 the Apaches, Shoshonees, and other tribes. It consists of a skin-covered stone 

 ball, from two to nearly three inches in diameter, and connected by short 

 thongs with a wooden handle, from eight to twelve inches in length, likewise 

 covered Avith leather, and provided with a loop at the lower end. The raw 

 hide casing of these Aveapons, which resemble the &quot;morning-stars&quot; seen 

 in European collections of medieval armor, consists of one piece, taken 

 from the caudal portion of a bovine. The handle is encased in the close- 

 fitting skin of the animal s tail, a dangling tuft of its hair occasionally form 

 ing an ornamental appendage to the weapon. 16 



It may not be amiss to mention in this place certain stones of quartzite, etc., 

 Avorkcd into a regular egg-shape, from two to three inches in longitudinal 

 diameter, and slightly truncated at the more pointed end, so as to allow the 

 stone to stand upright on its base. They may have been employed as club- 

 heads, though it appears just as probable that they were used in some game, 

 or perhaps as targets to be shot at with arrows for the sake of practice. 

 Placed upright on a pole, they would fall down when touched by a missile. 

 The specimens in the collection are all derived from Georgia. 17 



12, Pierced Tablets and Boat-shaped Articles, A rather numerous class 



of aboriginal relics consists of variously shaped tablets of great regularity 

 and careful finish, pierced with one, two, or more round holes. They are 

 mostly made of slate, and the greenish striped variety before mentioned seems 

 to have been preferred by the makers. A very common form is that of a 

 rectangle, Avith sides exhibiting a slight outAvard curve. Other tablets are 

 lozenge-shaped with inwardly curved sides, oval, cruciform, etc. Most of 

 them have tAvo perforations, though specimens with only one are not rare, 

 Avhile those that have more than tAvo holes are of less frequent occurrence. 

 The holes are drilled either from one side or from both, and, accordingly, of 

 conical or bi-conical shape. They seldom have more than one-eighth of an 

 inch in diameter. In some tablets the edges are marked with notches, Avhich 

 may be either ornamental, or designed for enumeration. (Fig. 127, slate, 

 ISTeAV York; Fig. 128, slate, Pennsylvania; Fig. 129, cast, Louisiana; Fig. 

 130, slate, Tennessee; Fig. 131, slate, Tennessee; Fig. 132, striped slate, 



16 The clubs here mentioned will be figured hereafter. 



&quot;These egg-shaped stones have been noticed in the &quot;Antiquities of the Southern Indians&quot; by Charles C. 

 Jones. 



