No. 50.] 73 



CATALOGUE OF INDIAN RELICS, 



OBTAINED IN THE VALLEY OF THE CONNECTICUT RIVER BY THE 

 LATE DEXTER MARSH OF GREENFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS j 



And Purchased at the Administrator's Sale of his Cabinet in September 1853. 



No. 1. A Card, on which are fastened thirty-six arrowheads. 



These arrowheads are all made of hornstone of various shades of color, 

 and vary in length from two to five inches : they present several forms 

 of the arrowhead. From the Connecticut-river valley. 



No. 2. A Card containing forty-nine arrowheads, varying in length 

 from one to three inches, made of hornstone of various shades 

 of color and forms of workmanship. 

 There are also on the card twelve arrowheads made of subhyaline 

 quartz, varying from one to two inches in length. 

 From the Connecticut-river valley. 



No. 3. A Card containing sixteen arrowheads, from one to three 

 inches in length, made of hornstone ; three spearheads made 

 of the same material, four inches in length ; and also three 

 singular-shafed specimens made of hornstone, and respective- 

 ly three, four and five inches in length, the largest of which is 

 three inches in width, and only half an inch in thickness. 

 Their form is a lengthened oval, with one end suddenly brought to a 

 pfoint. From the Connecticut-river valley. 



Specimens similar in form have been found in the Western mounds. In 

 the Description of the Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley by 

 E. G. Squibr and E. II. Davis, published in Vol.! of the Smithsonian 

 Contributions to Knowledge, on page 211, fig. 100, is an exact represen- 

 tion of these specimens. This figure was copied from a specimen found in 

 a mound on the banks ef the Scioto river, three miles above the town of 

 Ohillicothe. The uses to which these relics were applied, are not fully 

 understood. On page 211, above referred to, the authors remark : * It 

 has been suggested that they were perhaps designed to be used in the 

 construction of swords, or offensive weapons, on the plan of those made 

 %■ the ancient Mexicans. They were formed by slitting a cane or other 

 slender piece of tcugh wood, and inserting blades of stone, usually slips 

 of obsidian, upon either side. These were retained in their place by firmly 

 lashing the separated wood together, and filling the cavities with some 

 hard variety of gum. 



