160 PREHISTORIC FISHING. 



kind of pebble of convenient form was notched and utilized as a sinker, the 

 native fishermen availing themselves of the suitable material nearest at hand. 



FIG. 259. Stone sinker. Susquehanna Valley (Muncy). 



There are other sinkers exhibiting notches not produced by blows, but by 

 cutting or grinding. 



Fio. 260. Tennessee. (59259). Fio. 261. Mexico. (61035). 



FIGS. 260 and 261. Stone sinkers. 



Fig. 260 shows such a specimen from Tennessee, made of a piece of pot- 

 stone and provided with two deeply-cut notches. It was sent by Mr. C. L. Strat- 

 ton. I represent in Fig. 261 a nearly oval pebble, five-eighths of an inch thick in 

 the middle, and apparently consisting of fine-grained gray wacke. The notches are 

 carefully ground, and form sharp angles. This sinker, presented to the National 

 Museum by Mr. August Shmedtie, of Washington, D. C., was found, with other 

 relics, in a cave near Santo Domingo, a place not far distant from Santa Maria 

 Petapa, on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. The cave was examined during 

 the survey of the isthmus in 1851, and has been described by Mr. J. J. Williams.* 



* " Santo Domingo, a mile and a half westerly from Petapa, once constituted a part of the old city ; at present 

 it contains 900 inhabitants, who annually produce a considerable quantity of vanilla, indigo, and sarsaparilla. 

 The chief attractive features of this vicinity are the mountain-caves, which merit some attention from their con- 

 nection with the past history of the indigenous people. The entrance to the principal cave, called that of Santo 



