198 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. 



1819, speaks of a large shell which seems to have been reverenced as a 

 kind of oracle. This may have been one of the large, brilliantly-colored 

 fossil Baculites so common in the upper Missouri region. His descrip- 

 tion will be given in full in treating of the sacerdotal uses of shells. 



In the Naturalist for October, 1879, Mr. Frey describes a sea-shell 

 drinking vessel, somewhat modified by art, having a length of four and 

 one-half inches. This, with other relics, among which were many shell 

 beads, was found in ancient grave in eastern New York, probably in 

 the Mohawk Valley. 



These vessels of shell have also served as models for the primitive 

 potter. The ancient peoples of the middle Mississippi district were 

 extremely skillful in the reproduction of natural objects iu clay, and it 

 is not surprising that they should imitate the form of the shell. 



In the Peabody Museum is an earthen vessel copied from a shell vessel 

 of the class just described, the characteristic features being all well im- 

 itated. It is about nine inches wide, eleven long and four deep. It is 

 neatly made, and ornamented with the red and white designs peculiar 

 to the pottery of this region. It was taken from one of the Stanley 

 mounds. Saint Francis River, Ark. 



A small earthen vessel made in imitation of these shell vessels is il- 

 lustrated in Fig. 2, Plate XXII. It is of the ordinary blackish ware so 

 common iu the middle Mississippi district. The general shape of the 

 shell is well represented ; the sides, however, are nearly symmetrical 

 and tbe spire is represented by a central node, surrounded by four in- 

 fei'ior nodes. It is four inches wide and five and one-half long. Three 

 others represent shell vessels, somewhat less closely, the spires and 

 beaks being added to the opposite sides of ordinary cups. 



SPOONS. 



As domestic utensils bivalve shells have held a place hardly inferior 

 in importance to that of the large univalves. Marine and fluviatile 

 varieties have been used indiscriminately, and generally iu the natural 

 state, but occasionally altered by art to enhance their beauty or add to 

 their convenience. The artificial utensils do not, however, present a 

 very greatvariety of form, the alteration consisting chiefly in the carving 

 out of a kind of handle, by which device hot food could be eaten with- 

 out danger of burning the fingers. The handle, which may be seen in 

 all stages of development, is produced by cutting away portions of the 

 anterior and basal margins of the shell, leaving the salient angle pro- 

 jecting ; this angle is then undercut from the opposite sides so that it 

 is connected with the body of the valve by a more or less restricted 

 neck. The outer edge of the handle is frequently ornamented with 

 notches, and in a few cases a round perforation has been made near the 

 anterior tip for the purpose of suspension. In one case a rude design 



