322 CERTAIN ABORIGINAL REMAINS OF THE ALABAMA RIVER. 



those taken by us from Mt. Royal, Florida, or of shell, of the type referred to by us 

 as coming from the mound near Little river. In the mound on the Charlotte 

 Thompson Place were three pairs of shell ear-plugs, each pair taken from near a 

 cranium, and several fragmentary ones decayed and broken. One pair was of the 

 type found in the Little river mound, that is, discs of shell, one smaller than the 

 other, fastened together with a mortar made of clay and pounded calcined shell. In 

 one respect this pair of ear-plugs differs from those at Little river in that one disc 

 of one ear-plug is centrally perforated. The other two pairs have each ear-plug 

 carved from a solid piece of shelly with one flange, doubtless the one worn on the 

 inside, somewhat smaller than the other. Both pairs are perforated centrally 

 through the minor axis. But one ear-plug is sufficiently well preserved to furnish 

 measurements as to original size. This shows one side to have a diameter of 1.6 

 inches; the other, 1.4 inches. 



Fish-hook. — On the base of the mound, associated with human remains, with 



bone piercing implements and a 



bone fish-hook 2.5 inches long, 



was a neatly made fish-hook 



of shell, 2.8 inches in length, 



grooved for attachment of the 



line. In this instance, though 



they are of different materials, 



we shall speak of the fish-hooks 



together. The shell fish-hook 



is shown in Fig. 37 ; the bone 



one, in Fig. 38. 



In relation to fish-hooks in 



North America, Rau, " Prehis- 

 toric Fishing," page 122, saj-s, 



" In the first place I have to 



allude to their great scarcity in 



the eastern portion of North 



America and to state that those 

 which have been found within that area are almost exclusively of bone. They 

 occur more frequently on the Pacific Coast, especially in California latitudes 

 and there they consist of bone or shell." 1 



Professor Rau cites a number of early authors on North America who refer to 

 fish-hooks of bone. 



Professor Holmes, "Art in Shell," 2 page 207 et seg., tells us, " The use of shell 

 iu the manufacture of fishing implements seems to have been almost unknown 

 among the tribes of the Atlantic Coast and with the exception of a few pendant- 

 like objects, resembling plummets or sinkers of stone, nothing has been obtained 

 from the ancient burial mounds of the Mississippi Valley. Hooks of shell, how- 

 ever, are very plentiful in the ancient burial places of the Pacific Coast. ..." 



1 "Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge," 1884. 



2 Second An. Keport of Bureau of Ethnology. 



Fig. 37.— Shell fish-hook. Mound 

 on Charlotte Thompson Place. 

 (Full size.) 



Fig. 38.— Bone fish-hook. Mound 

 on Charlotte Thompson Place. 

 (Full size.) 



