No. 20.J 89 



were found growing on the embankment, the grains of which indi- 

 cated from three to four hundred years. If, then, this bone needle 

 was buried by those who made the work, it would give to it an an- 

 tiquity of several hundred years. 



The " Stone Tube" of variegated limestone is also a singular relic, 

 and belongs likewise to the Ante-Columbian period. Similar tubes, 

 and of the same limestone, some of which are twelve or fourteen 

 inches in length, have been found in the mounds of the West. The 

 bore lessening in diameter, until it became at the neck about an 

 eighth of an inch; the neck itself being flattened down into a sort 

 of mouth piece. In what manner these tubes were bored, becomes an 

 interesting inquiry. Specimens have been found partially bored, 

 the work having been left unfinished; in which cases the end of the 

 bore terminated with a cone having its apex towards the mouth. 

 This has led to the supposition that it was done with sand, and a 

 reed made to revolve. To what use this singular implement was 

 applied, it is impossible to say. It may have been a mere personal 

 ornament. The specimen in question was found in the town of 

 Springport, Cayuga county. 



Of the same character, in some respects, is the Amulet of Stone, 

 or whatever it may be called. It was evidently bored in the same 

 manner, and belongs to the same period. This was found at Tona- 

 wanda, Genesee county, and was gi^ren to the writer by an Indian. 



The Necklace of teeth was discovered by the side of a skeleton 

 near Avon, Livingston county, in excavating for the Genesee Valley 

 Canal. It is doubtless an Iroquois ornament. 



There is a great diffierence in the pottery, fragments of which are 

 found in all parts of the State. Some of it is coarse, and rudely 

 manufactured like the clay pipe from Aurora, Cayuga county; while 

 other specimens are not only of a harder and firmer texture, but are 

 worked with considerable taste and skill, like the fragment of the 

 bowl of a pipe, painted with a wolf's head. This last was found 

 near Lima, Livingston county. "Whether this black pottery belongs 

 to the Iroquois period, is a matter of great doubt. It seems to be 

 superior to any pottery, which we can with certainty ascribe to 

 them. One of the two other specimens from Fort Hill near Leroy, 

 is probably spurious; but this is not certain. 



In connection with these specimens are furnished a head dress, a 

 light war club used in the dance, and a Calumet. The Gus-fo-weh, 

 or Head Dress, is a simple frame of splint, surmounted with a re- 

 volving feather, inclining backward from the head. This revolving 

 feather is the peculiar feature, and the characteristic of the Iroquois 

 head dress. The specimen presented is not well preserved, or a fair 



