CALIFORNIA STONES WITH ORNAMENTATION 177 



size throughout, as in the others. The portion of the stone nearest to the 

 small end of the egg-shaped perforation is not so thick as the rest, and 

 this may have caused the peculiar shape of the hole, which was probably 

 circular at first and afterwards worn into its present shape by use. 



The last of those with oval holes is from the shellheap on Santa Cata- 

 lina Island (P. M. 14804). It also is of steatite, and of the flattened form, 

 1 inch thick by 2§ inches in diameter. The surface of the stone is decom- 

 posed, but there are signs of one face having been polished. In this speci- 

 men the perflation, which is 1^ inches in its largest diameter, has parallel 

 sides, and passes through the stone at a slight angle. 



Among these Californian stones which have been described on the 

 preceding pages are a few that have a more or less well-defined rim about 

 the hole on the end which is polished, and this I have considered as a slight 

 attempt at ornamentation, though in some of the conical forms it may also 

 have been made with reference to the mounting of the stone upon a handle 

 of some kind. Be this as it may, there are now to be mentioned nine 

 of these stones, five of which are from the shellheap on the island of Santa 

 Catalina, one from Pots Valley on the same island, two from the island of 

 San Clemente, and one from the mainland, all of which are undoubtedly 

 ornamented by incised lines more or less deeply cut and of several designs. 

 Similar rude attempts at the first stage of savage decorative art have been 

 noticed on the dishes, cooking-pots, pipes, etc., by the same people, and 

 will also be mentioned further on when describing the several masses of 

 pigment found in the graves of the former inhabitants of California. 



The two specimens from San Clemente (P. M. 13522) are of the de- 

 pressed globular pattern. One is of steatite, 2 inches thick and 3J in diam- 

 eter, with a straight circular perforation 1 inch in diameter. One face is 

 smooth, but can hardly be called polished, though the stone is considerably 

 weathered and this may have destroyed the polished surface. The orna- 

 mentation on this stone consists of a simple line cut around the central 

 part of the surface. 



The other specimen from this island is made of a talcose schist, contain- 

 ing grains of chromite, which stand out on the weathered surface of the stone. 

 This stone is 2 inches thick by 3 in diameter, and the straight perforation 

 12 c i 



