REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I916 IJl 



has a wooden core and stem, has an earher prototype in certain 

 forms of prehistoric Onondaga clay pipes, the bowl of which is 

 extended forward and backward to resemble a canoe. (See plate 5). 



Another use of the banner stone is that of a helmet ornament 

 suggested by certain human figures embossed on sheet copper from a 

 mound (see figure 2). There is some merit in this conjecture when 

 a study is made of the elaborate head dresses of the mound-building 

 period. The Sioux and other Indians within modern times have 

 decorated their heads with horns and the Iroquois cap had a spool- 

 shaped socket at the crown in which an upright feather was placed 

 in such a manner that it would revolve. 



The allusion to the fish tail shape of the banner stone made by 

 Dr George Byron Gordon, curator of the University Museum, Phil- 

 adelphia, is given further significance by the conclusions of Dr Clar- 

 ence B. Moore in his reports^ in the Journal of the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, volume 16. The results of Doctor 

 Moore's expedition along the Green river, Kentucky, were made 

 remarkable by the numerous banner stones which he discovered in 

 graves, especially on " Indian Knoll," Ohio county, Kentucky. 

 Here the banner stones were found associated with heavy hooked 

 implements of antler, called by Doctor Moore " net knitting- 

 needles." The winged stones are called " mesh spacers " and a 

 considerable argument is given supporting the theory. This idea 

 is new to most American archeologists but the theory has some 

 merit. We are not convinced, however, that it is without difiicul- 

 ties nor that it is quite so apparent that one is warranted in giving 

 a ''use-name" to the object hitherto called "problematical." 



Some observers have suggested that the " knitting needles " were 

 atlatls or parts of them and used as auxilliary devices for project- 

 ing javelins. Doctor Moore argues that this supposed use would 

 also necessitate explaining the reason of the close association of 

 the " mesh spacer " banner stone with the hook. He presents a 

 valid objection when he says that no points of antler or flint were 

 found that could have been used as " tips " for the shaft and fur- 

 ther says that the hooked antlers are too short for use as atlatls. 

 We may not be convinced of this entirely in view of our experi- 

 ments Vv/^ith the banner stone as a tail weight to a spear shaft. 



It is interesting to note that banner stones have been found in 

 considerable numbers during the past two years. We mention 

 again the discoveries^ of E. \¥. Hawkes and Ralph Linton in New 



^ Philadelphia, 1916. 



