BoufEsl PINS FROM THE PACIFIC COAST. 217 



from a mound near Jamestown, Ya. One of these, a small, pointed 

 variety, is given in Fig. 9, Plate XXX. 



In Volume VI of Schoolcraft's Indian Tribes, a pin, probably of shell, 

 is shown in a plate illustrating relics from South Carolina. 



A few localities have furnished bone, stone, and clay pins similar to 

 these in shape. Specimens of the latter may be found both in the Na- 

 tional and Peabody museums. They were probably intended as stop- 

 pers for bottle-shaped earthen vessels. Bone pins are generally head- 

 less, and have in most cases been intended as implements for perforat- 

 ing and for sewing. Mr. Schumacher found a iiiu-like object of bone 

 on the island of San Clemente, Cal. It resembles the shell pins pretty 

 closely, having a somewhat spherical head. It is figured by Professor 

 Putnam in a recent work.' 



As already stated, the exact uses to which these pins were applied 

 by the mound-building tribes are unknown ; various uses have been sug- 

 gested by archaeologists. The favorite idea seems to be that they were 

 hair-pins, used by the savages to dress and ornament the hair. It would 

 seem that many of them are too clumsy for such use, although when 

 new they must have been very pretty objects. The shorter and head- 

 less varieties would certainly be quite useless. Similar objects of bone 

 or ivory, often tastefully carved, are used by the natives of Alaska for 

 scratching the head, although it seems improbable that this should have 

 been their most imiiortant function. 



Professor Dall suggests that some of the shell pins may have been 

 used as were the "blood-pins" of the Indians of the northwest coast. 

 When game is killed by an arrow or bullet, the pin is inserted in the 

 wound, and the skin drawn and stitched over the flat head, so that the 

 much valued blood may be prevented from escaping. A small, very 

 tastefully carved specimen of these pins is given in Plate XXXI, Fig. 4. 

 It was obtained from the Indians of Oregon. A similar specimen 

 comes from San Miguel Island, Cal. 



It is possible that they may have served some purpose in the arts or 

 games of the ancient peoples ; yet when we come to consider the very 

 great importance given to ornaments by all barbarians, we return natu- 

 rally to the view that they were probably designed for personal deco- 

 ration. 



From the Pacific coast we have shell pins of a very different type 

 They also are made from the columellre of large marine univalves, and 

 were probably used as ornaments, doubtless to a great extent as pend- 

 ants. These objects have been obtained in great numbers from the 

 ancient graves of the California coast, at Santa Barbara, at Dos Pue- 

 blos, and on the neighboring islands of Santa Clara, Santa Catalina, 

 San Clemente, and Santa Eosa. Professor Dall is of the opinion that 

 the shell mostly used is the Purpura crispata, the smaller specimens 

 probably being derived from the Mitra maura. 



'Putnam, in Surveys West of the 100th Meridian, Vol. VII, p. '-'30. 



