220 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. 



a common method of perforation in many widely separated districts, 

 and with a considerable variety of shells. The specimen figured is 

 from a mound in Cocke County, Tenn. It is an Oliva literata from the 

 Atlantic coast. 



Fig. 2 shows a very usual method of treating small univalves. The 

 most prominent part of the lower whorl is ground down until the wall 

 is quite thin, and a small round hole is then drilled through it. The 

 specimen illustrated is a large OKvella biplicata, obtained from the 

 island of Santa Eosa, Cal. 



Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate specimens from Mexico. Some thin-bladed 

 implement, probably of stone, has been used to saw a slit or notch, in 

 the first convolution of the shell near the inner lip. Fig. 3 has one of 

 these perforations, and Fig. 4 has two. The shell is the Oliva literata, 

 from the Atlantic coast. 



Fig. 5 is simjily one-half of an Olivella biplicata with the interior parts 

 extracted. It is made by cutting the shell longitudinally and drilling 

 a central perforation. The specimen figured is from San Miguel Island, 

 Cal. 



Fig. 6 illustrates the manner of breaking out a disk preparatory to 

 making a bead. This disk, when perforated, is frequently used by the 

 Indians of the Pacific coast without additional finish. 



Fig. 7 shows two examples of beads made from small specimens of 

 the Olivella biplicata; both extremities are ground off, leaving a rather 

 clumsy cylinder. The originals are from graves on the island of Santa 

 Rosa. Such beads are frequently worn at the present time. 



One of the specimens shown in Fig. 8 is from a grave in Monroe 

 County, New York, and the other is from a mound in Perry County, 

 Ohio. The shell is the Marginella conoidalis, which has a wide distri- 

 bution in the ancient burial places of the Atlantic slope. In making 

 the perforation the shoulder is often ground so deeply as to expose the 

 entire length of the interior spiral. 



Fig. 9 represents a perforated Cerrithidea sacrata, from Santa Eosa 

 Island, Cal. The method of perforating employed is a usual one 

 with small shells of this form. Similar specimens come from many 

 parts of the United States. Beads of this and the preceding variety 

 are said to have constituted the original wampum of the Atlantic sea- 

 board. 



Fig. 10 illustrates a rude bead made from the spire of a univalve, 

 probably a small specimen of Busycon perversum. Most of the body of 

 the shell has been removed and a perforation made near the border. 

 Three of these specimens were found in a burial mound at Murphys- 

 boro, 111. 



Fig. 11 illustrates a perforated Gyprea from the Pacific coast. This 

 is a recent specimen which illustrates an ancient as well as a modern 

 method of perforation. 



Fig. 12 shows a rather peculiar method of treating Gyprea shells by 



