rounding country, and in indicating their various positions on a map of Tokio, 

 the coincidence between the shaded line of an embankment, and the position ot 

 the deposit is at once seen. 



SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OMORI DEPOSITS. 



The shell mounds, or deposits, iu various parts of the world have many fea- 

 tures in common. They also have their distinguishing peculiarities. Their 

 similarity arises from the fact that they are the refuse piles of savage races who 

 came to the shore at certain times of the year, or who occupied the shore perma- 

 nently and there availed themselves of the food so easily secured from the water, in 

 the shape of mollusks and fishes. That they were hunters as well as fishermen is 

 attested by the presence of the bones of wild animals, such as the deer, bear, 

 and wild boar, as well as the bones of certain birds. The bones being in nearly 

 every case broken into fragments, show that they did this to secure the marrow, 

 or to more conveniently get them into their cooking pots. That they cooked 

 their food in clay vessels, is evident from the carbonized remains of the food 

 found on certain fragments of pottery. In all these deposits various primitive 

 implements are found, fabricated out of either bone, horn, stone or shell. 



The horn, bone and shell implements are generally iu the shape of gouges, 

 bodkins, needles and other pointed instruments. The stone implements are usual- 

 ly of the rudest kind, and consist of hammers, celts, axes, arrows, and spear points. 

 The pottery is rude, and in all parts of the world bears the impression of the 

 well known cord mark. Beside this ornamentation, if indeed it was intended for 

 that purpose, there are often rude designs, (rarely, if ever imitative of natural 

 objects) made hy incised lines in the soft clay, or impressed upon the clay by 

 stamps. While these features are common in deposits of this nature, even iu 

 those most widely removed, the deposits of each country and region seem to 

 have their distinguishing peculiarities, so that one familiar with the description 

 of them might tell with considerable accuracy the place of each deposit by an 

 examination of a mass of material from it. The Danish deposits contain a great 

 many flint chips and rude flint implements. The pottery does not appear to 

 be common, and is of the simplest description. No evidences of cannibalism 

 have been noticed. The New England deposits resemble greatly the Danish 

 deposits in the character of the animal remains. The stone implements are very 

 much fewer however, and the pottery is not common. 



Simple horn and bone implements occur in both. In the New England 

 deposits, Prof. Wyman found a few evidences of cannibalism. In the Florida 

 mounds, as studied by Prof. Wyman, the pottery is again very rude, and besides 

 1 lie cord mark and incised lines, presents an ornamentation produced by stamps 



