520 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 137 



tended as an ornament rather than for defence, though Le Moyne 

 (1875, p. 8) mentions among the Timucua "circular plates of gold 

 and silver as large as a moderately-sized platter, such as they are 

 accustomed to wear to protect the back and breast in war." They 

 were usually, of course, of copper, the gold and silver having been 

 obtained from wrecked Spanish vessels, and, moreover, it is doubtful 

 whether they were actually used as armor though armor of another 

 type was in use. However, both the text and the illustrations of our 

 Florida authorities show that metal gorgets were much in vogue. 

 They are usually represented as round, while the smaller metal orna- 

 ments are more often oval. In one plate Le Moyne represents an 

 Indian wearing two gorgets one over the other. Occasionally several 

 plates of a smaller size were used at the same time, and I was given 

 to understand by an Alabama informant that these were sometimes 

 allowed to fall in front, one from each shoulder, with cross bars 

 between. Alabama men used to hang several around their necks by 

 means of a silk handkerchief. References to metal gorgets farther 

 west seem to be few except for a tradition regarding such objects 

 reported to Gatschet by the Chitimacha (Swanton, 1911, p. 345). 

 A modern Natchez informant affirmed that silver charms in the shape 

 of the sun or moon were formerly worn about the neck. 



One interesting type of metal breast ornament had a crescent shape. 

 Sometimes only one was worn and sometimes several, in which case 

 they might be of equal size or the lower ones might be successively 

 smaller. Many Creek and Seminole chiefs and other men of note 

 illustrated in the collection of McKenney and Hall are represented 

 wearing them. My Alabama informants stated that they had been 

 obtained from the Choctaw, but "silver crescents or gorgets" were 

 observed among the Creeks and Cherokee by Bartram, and "copper 

 crescents" are enumerated among Virginia ornaments by Strachey 

 (1849, p. 66). 



In MacCauley's time silver disks seem to have been worn more 

 by Seminole women than by men : 



Conspicuous among the other ornaments worn by women are silver disks, 

 suspended in a curve across the shirt fronts, under and below the beads. As 

 many as ten or more are worn by one woman. These disks are made by men, 

 who may be called "jewelers to the tribe," from silver quarters and half dollars. 

 The pieces of money are pounded quite thin, made concave, pierced with holes, 

 and ornamented by a groove lying just inside the circumference. Large disks 

 made from half dollars may be called "breast shields." They are suspended, 

 one over each breast. Among the disks other ornaments are often suspended. 

 One young woman I noticed gratifying her vanity with not only eight disks 

 made of silver quarters, but also with three polished copper rifle shells, one 

 bright brass thimble, and a buckle hanging among them. (MacCauley, 1887, 

 p. 488.) 



