22 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 



conch shells, not stones, were discovered in the shell heap. The edges 

 of these implements were sharpened by artificial means. The whorl 

 of a shell was often perforated and through this hole a wooden handle 

 was inserted. This implement became very effective, especially when 

 semi-fossilized, and was used in the same way as the ax or hatchet 

 made of stone. Very few^stone weapons ' were found throughout the 

 excavation, which was to be expected since there were no stones 

 available for that purpose. Another form of shell implement had a 

 sharp cutting edge like a knife or war celt. It was manufactured from 

 the lip of the conch shell, curved and sharpened at one end and 

 pointed at the opposite extremity. This implement was evidently 

 carried in the hand and not hafted upon a handle. 



There were several other types of cutting implements made of 

 shell, and from the same material the aborigines made needles, 

 bodkins, beads and ornaments. Shell pendants evidently fringed their 

 scanty kilts. Similar pendants of bone or stone were strung along 

 the lower edge of their kilts, and served as rattles in their dances. 

 Some authors have interpreted them as sinkers for fishing nets, but 

 their small size and often beautiful finish belies this explanation. 

 Not only have they been found on the garments of Indians but 

 have also been figured in this position by artists.^ Marine shells lend 

 themselves to ornamentation on account of their pearly luster and 

 the fact that they are soft and can be readily incised or worked 

 into many different forms. Among these ornaments we have circular 

 disks or elongated plates perforated for suspension. Some of the 

 shells were suspended from the neck as a pectoral. 



A few small beads also were found, some of considerable size. 

 In none of the shell disks from Weeden Island was there any 

 example of incised shells, so common in Tennessee and Georgia, 

 although shell beads were sometimes decorated. 



A remarkable cluster of sun shells (pi. 21, D) was found about 

 three feet below the surface. Bone objects bound by some form of 

 vegetable fiber, perhaps Spanish moss, were found placed in a sun 

 shell about five inches long. Another shell served as a cover and 

 thus it was deposited in the ground. 



STONE WEIGHTS FOR NETS 



The prevalent rock of Tampa Bay is a coquina, or limestone, that 

 does not lend itself to the manufacture of finely polished stone 



^ No polished stone celts or grooved axes. 



^ Notably in White's interesting volume so frequently quoted by students of 

 the Floridian Indians. 



