34 



THE PROBLEM OF THE OHIO MOUNDS. 



Lawsou, who traveled tlirougli iS'ortli Caroliua iu 1700, says' " they 

 [the Indians] oftentimes make of this shell [a certain large sea shell] a 

 sort of gorge, which they wear about their neck in a string so it hangs 

 on their collar, whereon sometimes is engraven a cross or some odd sort 

 of figure which comes next in their fancy." 



According to Adair, the southern Indian priest wore upon his breast 

 "an ornament made of a white conch-shell, with two holes bored in the 

 middle of it, through which he ran tlie ends of an otter-skin strap, and 

 fastened to the extremity of each a buck-horn white button."^ 



Beverly, speaking of the Indians of Virginia, says : " Of this shell 

 they also make round tablets of about 4 inches in diameter, which they 

 polish as smooth as the other, and sometimes they etch or grave thereou 

 circles, stars, a half-moon, or any other figure suitable to their fancy." ^ 



Now it so happens that a considerable number of shell gorgets have 

 been found in the mounds of western North Carolina and east Tennes- 

 see, agreeing so closely with those brief descriptions, as may be seen 

 from the figures of some of them given here (see Figs. 2 and 3), as to 



Fifi. 2. Enjiiaved shell jrorget from n Ti'iiuesHtH mound 



leave no doubt that they belong to the same type as those alluded to 

 by the writers whose words have just been quoted. Some of them were 

 found in the North Carolina mound from which the iron articles were 

 obtained and in connection with these articles. Some of these shells 

 were smooth and without any devices engraved upon them, but with 

 holes for inserting the strings by which they were to hv held in posi- 

 tion ; others were engiavcd with figures, which, as will be seen l>y ref- 

 erence to the cuts referred to, might readily be taken for stars and half- 

 moons, and one among the number with a cross engraved upo n it. 



' Hist, of N, C, Raleigli, reprint 18G0, p. 31.'). 



'^ Hist. Am. Iiidiiiiis, p. 8-1. 



=> Hist. Vir^iuia, London, 1705, p. 58. 



