[72 PERFORATED STONES. 



being about 3 inches thick and 3J in diameter. The top is polished, and 

 the hole is smoothed by long-continued use. It differs from the last three 

 described in the character of its perforation, inasmuch as the hole is straight 

 and of nearly a uniform diameter of about 1J inches from end to end. 



Another of these, also from a shellheap, and of "serpentine," is fash- 

 ioned from a block of stone that was not quite large enough to enable 

 the worker to carry out a symmetrical design of the size he desired, and 

 hence there is left a flattened and indented portion on one side. This is of 

 about the same size as the specimen last mentioned ; but the hole is much 

 smaller and tapers from both ends to its centre, where it is only three- 

 fourths of an inch wide ; and although the sides of the hole are consider- 

 ably worn the marks of the boring-tool are visible. 



Still another from the shellheap is made of dark talcose slate or ser- 

 pentine, which is capable of receiving a high polish, as is shown by the 

 lustre covering about a third of the surface of this example. This stone is 2^ 

 inches thick and 3 J in diameter, and in shape, approaches the much-flat- 

 tened forms which will be described further on. The polished surface of 

 one end extends over the edge of the perforation, which is also very much 

 worn and smooth throughout, and was made by boring and pecking from 

 opposite ends. A longitudinal section through the • perforation shows that 

 the diameter in the centre of the hole is 1^ inches, and that it is regularly 

 increased to about If inches at each end; and yet the wear on the sides 

 is nearly the same in the widened portions at the ends as in the centre, 

 which could hardly occur if this stone had been simply placed on a rod of 

 wood, for in that case the wear would have been confined to the narrowest 

 portion of the hole, as is the case with many of the specimens. If, on the 

 contrary, the stone had been fastened by a material like leather, or even by 

 strips of raw-hide or other more or less pliable substances, passing through 

 the hole, the wear would be nearly equal on all its parts, as is shown to 

 have been the case in this specimen. 



The two smallest of these depressed globular forms are from the island 

 of Santa Catalina. One is from Pots Valley, and is made of basalt. Only 

 one-half of this specimen was found. It is If inches thick and 2J in diam- 

 eter. The perforation was made by working from both ends, though its 



