15 



by the builders of the Florida mounds. It is difficult to conjecture the use that 

 was made of the os calcis, unless it answered for a handle, — its irregular arti- 

 cular faces perhaps offering certain facilities for binding an instrument to it. 

 With the presence of so many shells of massive size, with thick and dense 

 columellas, such as ßapana, it seems a little singular that not a single work- 

 ed shell, either as an implement, utensil, or oi-nament has yet been found; 

 particularly so, as objects useful and ornamental made from shell are frequently 

 met with in the Florida mounds, and other parts of the Southern States and 

 Mississipi Vallej-, Similar articles are also found in remains of this nature along 

 the coast of California. Of the characteristic wampum, — that is little beads made 

 of shell, so common in the American deposits, no trace was found in the Omori 

 mounds. 



IMPLEMENT* OF STONE. 



It seems remarkable that a people capable of fabricating vessels of such sym- 

 metry in form, such variety in shape, and displaying such varied methods in 

 ornamentation, should have left the few primitive, and ill-shapen implements, 

 that have thus far been discovered in the Omori mounds While thousands of 

 fragments of pottery, a remarkable set of tablets, a bead of curious workman- 

 ship, and other objects have been found, only the few rude implements figured 

 on Plate XVII. have thus far been met with ; and the few among these approach- 

 ing to any symmetry in outline are made of soft stone, and easily worked. 



The stone implements thus far discovered are as follows : three chisel like im- 

 plements made of soft lava rock ; fragments of two rollers, one made from clay 

 slate, and the other of some schistose rock, the latter bearing the marks of fire. 



A portion of one, composed of talcose rock, is the best finished of the 

 lot. It has two grooves transversely marking the blunt and smooth ends of one 

 extremity. Two large and ill shapened implements have been worked out of 

 jasper pebbles. One face is broken away, the other face shows the natural sur- 

 face of the pebble. The constrictions have been chipped out, to accommodate a 

 wooden handle, probably of twisted thorn. The evidence of wear is apparent 

 in both. In the larger one, the rough edges are worn down in those places 

 where the handle would naturally rub against them. The smaller one shows 

 small surfaces in the snme region, highly polished, and one of the worn surfaces 

 shines like glass. I have supposed these to be hammers, from the manner in 

 which one end is broken, as if by repeated blows. It is hardly probable that 

 they were intended for net sinkers. 



As so many finished stone implements of various kinds are found widely dis- 

 tributed in Japan, the absence in the Omori mounds of many groups of imple- 

 ments, and of common forms too, is remarkable, and lends additional evidence 

 to the antiquity of the deposits. 



