li REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY. 



mound are of superior design and excellent finish, and indeed 

 the relics found in the burial mounds are, on the average, 

 finer than those found on the surface ; but in most of the 

 mounds articles of ordinary and even decidedly inferior work- 

 manship are not uncommon. On making allowance for the 

 selection exercised in connection with Indian burial customs, 

 whereby the finest possessions of the deceased are most likely 

 to be inhumed or destroyed, it became e\'ident that the surface 

 relics and the historical articles are alike in the grade of cul- 

 ture represented. This similarity in art products is one of the 

 lines of evidence linking the mound-builders with the histori- 

 cal Indians. 



One of the collaborators of the Bureau engaged in surveys 

 and examinations of the mounds was Mr Gerard Fowke. To 

 him the task of arranging and classifying the stone art pro- 

 ducts was intrusted. One of the results of his excellent work 

 is the accompanying paper on stone art. In classifying the 

 material Mr Fowke followed tlie usage of archeologists in 

 this and other countries, arranging the objects in part by pro- 

 cesses of manufacture, in part by form, and in part by func- 

 tion ; and in every class the functions Avere ascertained by 

 comparison with the observations of anthropologists through- 

 out the world, as recorded in tiie literature of the subject. 



As will be seen from the tables and illustrations incorporated 

 in the paper, the body of material with which Mr Fowke had 

 to deal, and on which his descriptions are directly based, was 

 quite rich. Thus the grouping of the grooved stone axes is 

 founded on more than 200 specimens; the descriptions of celts 

 rest on over 600 polished and 400 chipped specimens, or more 

 than 1,000 in all. Of even so rare a class of relics as the 

 hematite celt there are nearly a score of specimens; of the 

 bulky and elaborate implements known as spuds there are 10 

 good examples, and of the beautifully finished articles com- 

 monly designated plummets 26 are described; while of the 

 laboriouslv carved wheel-shape gaming articles known as 

 discoidal stones there were no fewer than 800 in the collection. 

 Of the articles classed as ceremonial, including gorgets, banner 

 stones, etc, nearly 200 are described in detail or b}- type. 



