U0LUB8.J BEADS USED AS ORNAMENTS. 231 



Gaptaiu Atwater iu describing the contents of a mound at Marietta, 

 Ohio, makes the statement that on the breast of a skeleton " lay a stone 

 ornament, with two perforations, one near each end, through which 

 passed a string, by means of which it was suspended around the wear- 

 er's neck. On the string, which was made of sinew, and very much in- 

 jured by time, were placed a great many beads made of ivory or bone." ' 



A similar necklace is described by Mr. Matson, in the Ohio Centen- 

 nial Eeport, p. 127. It was found on the skeleton of a little girl, and 

 was so made as to be larger in the center of the neck in front, tapering 

 almost to a point at the middle of the back. On page 129 of the same 

 volume much more varied uses of bead ornaments are suggested. Mr. 

 Matson describes four skeletons, on each of which shell beads were 

 found. In three cases they had been placed about the neck only; in the 

 fourth, nearly thirty yards of beads had been used. There were four 

 strands about the neck, crossing over on the breast and back and pass- 

 ing down between the legs. Strings passed down the legs to the feet, 

 and were also found along the arms and around the wrists. 



The arrangement of the various parts of a necklace or string of jiend- 

 ants is found to be much alike the world over, consisting of a strand 

 of beads, small toward the ends and increasing in size toward the mid- 

 dle, where a central bead or pendant of peculiar form or unusual size 

 is placed. 



The i^ractices of modern barbarians in the employment of beads as 

 ornaments are extremely varied. They are employed in dressing the 

 hair, in head-dresses and plumes, and pendants to these; as pendants 

 to the hair, ears, nose, and lips; as necklaces and bracelets; as belts 

 lor the waist and sashes to be thrown across the shoulders ; and as 

 anklets and pendent ornaments to all parts of the costume. 



Father Rasles, writing of the Abnaki Indians of Canada in 1723, 

 says: "If you wish to see him iu all his finery, you will find he has no 

 other ornaments but beads; these are a kind of shell or stone, which 

 they form into the shape of little grains, some white and others black, 

 which they string together in such a way as to represent different showy 

 figures with great exactness. It is with these beads that our Indians 

 bind up and plait their hair on their ears and behind; they make of 

 them pendants for the ears, collars, garters, large sashes of five or six 

 inches iu breadth, and on these kinds of ornaments they pride them- 

 selves much more than a European would on all his gold and jeweliy."^ 



It is related of the New England Indians that more than a hun- 

 dred years ago, they " hung strings of money about their necks and 

 wrists, as also upon the necks and wrists of their wives and children. 

 They also curiously make gii'dles, of one, two, three, four, and five 

 inches thickness, and more, of this money ; which, sometimes, to the 

 value of ten pounds or more, they wear about their middle, and as a 



'At water: Western Antiquities, p. 86. In the early days of mound exploration shell 

 was usually mistaken for bone or ivory. 

 'Kip: Jesnit Missious. p. 25. 



