380 ' NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



An Indian model in the national museum shows how these gor- 

 gets were worn, with the concave side outward. A string or 

 knotted cord, drawn tight through the holes, would keep them in 

 position, and -it is probable that the stone gorgets were similarly 

 fastened to the clothing as ornaments. Mr Holmes figured (pi. 50) 

 a large, keystone-shaped shell gorget of the historic period, from an 

 'ossuary of the Neutrals in Canada West. It has four holes and the 

 four edges are slightly convex. The number of holes varies much. 

 In New York such gorgets may be either of bone or shell. They 

 were too conspicuous to be easily lost^ and their number is not 

 large. All which are made of shell are recent, but some of bone are 

 earlier. They are either plain or very slightly ornamented as com- 

 pared with those of Tennessee, which often have fine carvings and 

 grotesque groups suggestive of Mexican work, and even of Budd- 

 hist mythology. A few Canadian shell gorgets in the Toronto col- 

 lection are also plain, and two of these are very long. In the report 

 of that collection for 1899 is a fine engraved one, which has been 

 recut and is now half the original size, being now 4.5 by 2 inches. 

 At first it was oval, but one side is now straight, and two holes are 

 near this and two more near the convex margin. 



Fig. 208 is a reduced figure of the largest shell gorget yet re- 

 ported in New York. It is in the Bigelow collection and came from 

 Pompey, being made from the outer whorl of a large shell. The 

 diameter is 5.25 inches. The shell was dead and somewhat eaten, 

 which may account for its lack of ornament. There are two small 

 perforations. Fig. 209 is a much smaller one from the same town, 

 which has been much corroded since it was used. It is over 3 

 inches wide, and has two nearly central holes, with another begun 

 between them. The inner ornaments are circles, points and dots, 

 with some indefinite grooves on the convex surface. Fig. 155 pro- 

 duces this in full size, to show more clearly the interior design. 

 There have been vague reports of other engraved shells in that 

 town, but as far as the writer knows this is the only engraved shell 

 gorget yet found in New York. Morgan figures a later form. 

 Those described below are of actual size. 



Fig. 122 is a plain gorget from Mapleton, or East Cayuga, hav- 



