68 PROBABLE CIIARACTEIUSTICS OF THE TRIBE. 



PROBABLE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TRIBE. 



In describing" these products of aboriginal art it 

 seemed desirable to classify them as to the nature of 

 the material from which they were made. If we wish 

 to study the people to whom the relics once belonged, 

 their mode of life, their habits, and probable tribal 

 relationships, it will serve our purpose better to make 

 our classification on the basis of the known or probable 

 uses for which the relics once served. It is not the pur- 

 pose of the author to say much on this phase of the 

 subject. But a few remarks quite naturallj^ suggest 

 themselves in this direction also. 



It must be remembered that the uses of some relics 

 are uncertain. Notched bones (see page 18) have been 

 variously regarded as records,* as instruments used in 

 making bowsti'ings, and as appliances used in weaving. 

 Recently Professor Starr has shown that some Indians 

 use bones of this kind for producing rattling noises in 

 certain dances. To do this another bone is di-awn 

 across the notches in rhythmic strokes that accompan}"" 

 the movements of the dancers.** 



Disregarding' such uncertainties we may, nevertheless, 

 take into consideration the number of each kind of 

 different relics and make a sort of inventory of the stock 

 in hand, and thus draw some conclusions as to the 

 occupations, customs, and wants of the original owners. 

 Such an inventory is presented in the following table. 



* See "Marked Human Boues from a Prehistoi-ic Tarasco Indian", etc., Vol. X, 

 Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 



** See Notched Bones from Mexico, by Prof. Fredrick Starr, Proceedings of the 

 Davenport Academy of Science, Davenport, la., Vol. VII., p. 101, 



