THE ARCHEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK 



I I 



more teeth. Decoration at the top is at first simple and generally 



quite lacking. With the coming of cutting implements of steel, 



combs take on an entirely new form, resembling in 



general motive a lady's back comb of modern times. 



These have from fifteen to forty teeth, generally 2 



inches long, above which rises a decorative top or 



handle upon which are fretted out the effigies of 



various birds or the human figure. Combs of this 



character are found in many of the sites of the 



middle colonial period. 



Small effigies of animals were sometimes cut out 

 of flat bone and larger effigies of the human figure 

 were carved from heavier bone. Some of these are 

 apparently precolonial. The modern Seneca say 

 that their ancestors carved small images of the 

 human figure to represent a witch and by placing 

 them in a bag or other receptacle were able to pre- 

 vent the evil influence of the witch after which the 

 effigies were named (see figure 12). 



The carapace of the tortoise or box turtle is com- 

 monly found in graves and fragments are sometimes found in refuse 

 pits. Sometimes the shell is perforated with seven or eight holes. 



Fig. 12 Antler 

 image from Fac- 

 tory Hollow 



Fig. 13. Tortoise rattle from Silverheels site 



These may have been used either as knee rattles or as hand rattles 

 carried in some of the ceremonies (see figure 13). 



It is not uncommon to find arrowheads of both bone and antler 

 and it is quite likely that the Iroquois used projectile tips of this 

 material wherever possible. It is said bv the modern Seneca that 



