190 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. 



of the country. A very good example of this shell {Janira dentata)^ is 

 shown in Fig. 3, Plate XXI, which represents a paint cup from Santa 

 Barbara, Cal. This cup is still partially fille'.l with dark, j^urplish, 

 indurated paint. Some were receptacles for asphaltum, while others, 

 which are quite empty, were employed probably for domestic purposes. 

 The species chiefly used on the Atlantic coast are the Pccten irradians 

 and P. concentricus. On the Pacific coast the Pecten caurinus and P. 

 hastatus are employed by the Mabah and other Indians for rattles, and 

 it is probable that some of the rudely perforated specimens found in 

 our collections were intended for the same purpose. 



Clams. — Clams formed a very important part of the food of the ancient 

 seaboard tribes, and the emptied shells have been utilized in a great 

 variety of ways. The valves of many species are large and deep, and 

 are available for cups and dishes, and as such are not scorned even by 

 the modern clam-baker, who, like the ancient inhabitant, makes period- 

 ical visits to the sea-shore to fish and feast. They were also used as 

 knives, scrapers, and hoes, and in historic times have been extensively 

 used in the manufacture of wampum. The hard-shell clam, Venus mer- 

 cenaria, on account of the purplisli color of portions of the valves, has 

 been most extensively used for this purpose. A southern variety, the 

 Mercenaria prceparca, is much larger and furnishes excellent dishes. 

 The soft-shell clam, Mya arenaria, has been an important article of food, 

 but the valves are not serviceable in the arts. The hen clam, Mactra 

 ponderosa, which has large handsome valves, has also been used to some 

 extent for utensils. On the Pacific coast the large clam, Pachydesma 

 crassatelloides, is known also to be similarly used. 



Unios. — Shells of the great family of the Unios have always held an 

 imijortant place in the domestic and mechanical arts of the savages of 

 North America. Their chalky remains are among the most plentiful 

 relics of the mounds and other ancient burial-places, and they come 

 from kitchen middens and the more recent graves with all the pearly 

 delicacy of the freshly emptied shell. 



The valves of many varieties of these shells are well adapted to the 

 use of man. Not large enough for food vessels, they make most satis- 

 factory spoons and cups, and are frequently found to retain portions of 

 the pigments left from the last toilet of the jirimeval warrior and des- 

 tined for use iu the spirit land. It is probable, however, that they 

 were much more frequently employed as knives and scrapers, and as 

 such have played their part in the barbaric feast of the primitive village, 

 or have assisted in the bloody work of scalp-taking and torture. They 

 are pretty generally distributed over the country, and their occurrence 

 in the mounds will probably have but little imjiortance in the study of 

 artificial distribution. Very little trouble has been taken by explorers 

 and writers to identify the numerous species collected. 



' I am greatly indebted to Prof. W. H. Dall, of the Coast Survey, for assistance in 

 the identification of Pacific coast varieties. 



