SINKERS. 



169 



As these two specimens are not specially prepared for the attachment of the 

 line, it must be assumed that it passed around the tapering ends and along 

 the sides of the objects. This operation was easily performed, as I have found 

 out by experiment. 



Fio. 282. Ohio. (11486). Fia. 283. Illinois. (59580). Fid. 284. California. (23062). Fio. 285. Louisiana. (10024). 



Alii. 

 FIGS. 282-285. Stone sinkers. 



Fig. 284. A specimen of very slender form, made of fine-grained mica- 

 schist. The surface is tolerably smooth, but not polished. Both ends are covered 

 with asphaltum, which shows the impression of strings. Obtained by Mr. Bowers 

 on Santa Rosa Island, California. There are other Californian specimens of the 

 same kind in the National Museum, some of them likewise encrusted with 

 asphaltum at the extremities, and one of them, moreover, has a distinct groove 

 passing around the more pointed end. It measures more than eight inches in 

 length. 



Fig. 285. A cast of an apparently well-polished stone object, which was in 

 1871 in the Louisiana State Seminary, at Baton Rouge. It does not strictly 

 belong to the kind of relics just described, being provided with a smooth, nearly 

 semi-circular indentation at the lower part ; but I notice it in connection with 

 these specimens, because it comes nearest to them in other respects. The inden- 

 tation would have presented a firm hold for the line. However, I am not at all 

 convinced that it really was a sinker, as it may have been a tool for rounding 

 and smoothing articles of yielding material, such as wood, etc. 

 E22 



