228 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



composed of short incised lines. But one bone needle was found — 

 a broken one. The purpose of 4:he twenty-three bone tubes 3 or 4 

 inches long found with an iron knife piled up near the right knee 

 of the skeleton in pit 64, before described, remains a matter for 

 speculation, nor does the occurrence of parallel transverse notches 

 on the sides of some of them seem to give any clue. It was sug- 

 gested by one of our Seneca visitors that these tubes may have been 

 medicine receptacles. Eight similar ones were found in a pottery 

 vessel near the face of the skeleton in pit 97. Smaller tubes suitable 

 for beads were found in a number of pits, and were probably used 

 as such. The bony part of a turtle shell containing large beads and 

 small pebbles found in front of a folded skeleton in pit 58 indicates 

 that the ancient use of a turtle shell rattle was similar to the Ganowa 

 gustahewesen of the modern Seneca. (Plate 76 shows a similar 

 rattle.) 



The most interesting of the bone objects found was a small 

 numan figure very neatly carved, but with no trace of arms and 

 with the feet missing. It was discovered in pit 33 at the depth of 

 about 18 inches from the surface in a layer of charred bark, where 

 it was associated with small copper beads covered with verdigris 

 and still adhering in strings, scattered glass trade beads, and infants' 

 bones — a typical infant grave. When this figure was shown to the 

 Seneca they informed us that the " ga-ya'-da " or image was a very 

 powerful " witch " charm, and that similar ones had been often 

 used by their men of magic. They even told stories of finding such 

 an image amid the belongings of a deceased mystic, done up in a 

 large ball of cloths and skins, the inner of which was soaked with 

 blood. Personally, I think that if the image had been so highly 

 thought of in ancient times it would never have been buried with an 

 infant, and that it probably was merely a toy — a doll for the child 

 to play w^ith in Spirit Land.^ 



Some mystic purpose, however, may have prompted the placing 

 of several raccoon penis bones with an infant in pit 49, as such 

 objects are still to be found in " mysterious packages " among 

 Iroquoian peoples today. 



A few perforated elk teeth found in another child's grave (pit 

 60) hitherto described, were of the sort highly prized as decorations 

 by the modern western Indians, and were here doubtless tised for 

 the same purpose. 



A fine specimen of antler implement was the spear or harpoon 

 head discovered with the skeleton in pit 24, hitherto described and 

 * Similar effigies were found at Factory Hollow, Ontario county. 



