POLISHED STONE ARTICLES USED BY THE NEW YORK ABORIGINES 4 I 



moderate distribution here, but probably Brewerton, at the foot of 

 Oneida Lake, has furnished more than all the State beside. Even 

 there they mostly occur in a very limited area. They are not 

 rare about Onondaga Lake, and these are the two localities 

 of Central New York. Local specimens differ much from 

 those of the West. It has been surmised that they had a supersti- 

 tious use, but here they seem confined to good fishing places, and 

 may well be classed as sinkers, although some of them seem hardly 

 fitted for this use. 



There are many plummets in the South, having the usual groove 

 but also often perforated. They occur in New England, Ohio, and 

 California. Out of 270 in his collection, Mr. Douglass had but 29 

 from New York. It would be interesting to know from what points 

 these came. None have been reported from New Jersey. Dr. 

 Abbott says that one was found in a mortar in Massachusetts, and 

 Schoolcraft not only speaks of them in New Hampshire, but says 

 that the Pennacook Indians used them as sinkers. The latter state- 

 ment may be taken for what it is worth. The Eskimo have similar 

 sinkers, but they are perforated. Among the California Indians it 

 is said they were used as rain charms, and rude ones are found 

 in the Florida shell mounds. 



Fig. 3 is a small and slender, as well as rather flat slate plummet 

 or pendant, slightly resembling the older ones. It is rather an 

 ornament than anything else, and comes from a recent site in Pom- 

 pey. It is placed here because of a likeness which is more apparent 

 than real. The length is two inches. 



Fig. 90 is a slender curved one, not of the usual form, but grooved 

 in a frequent way. Near each end is an encircling groove to which 

 a cord might have been attached. Across each rounded end is a 

 connecting groove, often seen at the top of plummets. It is of dark 

 sandstone and was found in Elbridge. The length is four and one 

 half, and the thickness one and one eighth inches. A similar curved 

 one of brown sandstone, from the Seneca River, is much flatter, and 

 has tally notches on each side. This is three and seven eighths 

 inches long, and one and five eighths broad the widest way. 



Fig. 91 is a true plummet of fine polished grey sandstone, from 

 Onondaga Lake, beautifully worked and of fine form. The groove 



