holmes] 



EARTHENWARE DISKS AND SPOOLS 



43 



and for ear plugs and labrets (figures 25 and 26), in the same manner 

 as were similar forms in stone and shell, but this use was not common, 

 as the material was not sutEciently attracti\e in appearance to gratify 

 the savage taste. 



^^W^: 



Fig. "26 — Labrets of earthen waro, middle and lower Mississippi valley. 



EARTHENW.iliE DiSKS AND SpOOLS 



From many sections of the country- we have small earthenware 

 disks, general!}' shaped from potsherds, and in .some cases perforated. 

 They average between 1 and 2 inches in diameter, and are in many 

 cases very carefully rounded and finished. They are obtained from 

 dwelling sites, and occasionally from graves. One theory as to their 

 function is that they were used in playing games of skill or chance. 

 The perforate variety may in cases have been used as spindle whorls, 

 but recently Mr Clarence B. Moore has found specimens so related 

 to human remains in burial as to lead to the conclusion that they had 

 served as cores for copper ear disks. Examples are presented in 

 fig-ure 27. 



Fig. 27 — Pottery disks, probably used iu playing some ^ame. 



Among the imperfectly understood varieties of earthenware objects 

 are some spool-like forms found in the Ohio valley. Illustrations of 

 two specimens found near Maysville, Kentucky, appear in figure 2S. 

 The following notes regarding them arc furnished me by Mr Gerard 

 Fowke, of Chillicotho, Ohio: 



I have seen a few, probably I.t or 20, of these "spools," though I am at a loss to 

 classify them. A few are drilled [longitudinally] through the center. The figures 

 engraved represent, perhaps, the extremes of slenderness and thickness in projior- 



