264 ABORIGINAL SITES ON TENNESSEE RIVER. 
by a covering of very thin plates of copper, which were firmly united by pounding 
and rubbing until an even and smooth surface was secured. Through the upper 
end a hole was made by which the pendant was fastened to the ear.’ These 
were found, one on either side of the skull of a skeleton, in a stone grave mound, 
Harpeth River, central Tennessee. At the time that the above description 
was written, but one of the pendants had been opened. This had probably 
been done in the field by Mr. Curtis. Noticing that the ornament represented 
the seed pod of some species of the genus Asclepias I opened the other specimen 
with the result shown in Fig. 37, where the ornaments are pictured with a pod 
Fig. 37.— Pair of ear-ornaments. Harpeth River, Central Tennessee. То the right, pod of As- 
clepias cornuti. (Full size.) 
of Asclepias cornuti. As will be seen, the pebbles, which represent the seeds, 
are carefully placed in position just within the walls of the pod, upon a mass of 
fiber, which fills the remaining space in the cavity. The fiber undoubtedly 
represents seed down, which is especially conspicuous in the milkweed. This 
fiber is now of a deep brown color. It may have been from the stalk of the 
Asclepias, the fiber of which was used for cordage, although less extensively 
than that of Apocynum. The milky juice of this plant was used by some of 
the California Indians to make the pattern of tattoo marks on the skin, and 
to hold the soot while being pricked into the surface. Unfortunately but 
little is known of the ethno-botany of primitive America, and the extent 
to which various plants entered into the ceremonial life of the Indians can only 
be surmised. It is probable, however, that some mystic significance was at- 
tributed to the milkweed and that these pendants embodied that power. 
