102 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



associated, as they were, with the large flint spearheads illustrated 

 in plate 15, c, /, the conclusion that they were intended as weapons 

 would be almost irresistible. 



The number of these objects found at each of the 11 sites which 

 have been described varies from 1 to 64. On 5 of the 11 occa- 

 sions they were undoubtedly associated with human interments; 

 in 4 of the remaining 6 they were found lying, superficially placed, 

 on the summits of mounds, which for various reasons were not 

 thoroughly excavated, and may or may not have been sepulchral in 

 function; in the two remaining finds the flints were placed closely 



adjacent to sculptured stelae, and 

 these again may have been used^to 

 mark the grave of some priest or 

 cacique, though they more fre- 

 quently marked the lapse of cer- 

 tain time periods. The common- 

 est form assumed by these objects 

 is the crescent or some variant of 

 it. Of the 11 sites excavated, 

 this form was found in no fewer 

 than 8. The crescent is in some 

 cases quite plain, in some indented 

 or spiked along the convexity, and 

 is in one instance furnished with 

 long spines on tach side. 



In every instance (except that of 

 the chambered mound at Douglas) 

 where these implements were found 

 in mounds they were placed quite 

 superficially at the summit of the 

 mound; indeed at Benque Viejo, 

 Seven Hills, and Santa Rita it seems 

 probable that they had not been 

 buried originally at aU, but merely 

 placed upon the summit of the mound and in course of time became 

 covered with a layer of humus from decaying vegetation in the 

 vicinity. 



Similar flint objects have been found in other parts of the world, 

 notably at Brionio in Italy and in Stuart, Smith, and Humphrey 

 Counties, Tennessee. In figure 49, h-n, are shown somewhat 

 rough outhne sketches of the Tennessee objects, and in figure 50, 

 a-f, are represented a selection of the most important objects 

 found at Brionio, now in the collection of the late Professor Gigholi 

 at Florence. The Tennessee objects are to be seen at Wasliington. 

 The latter are small when compared with the largest of the Maya 



Fig. -19.— Flint objects from Tennessee. 



