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WILLOUGHBY— ART OF EARTHWORK BUILDERS 



One of the most interesting effigies of this class is represented in 

 g, h, i. This is carved in red slate and was taken from an altar of a 

 mound of the Turner group. It was broken in many pieces, nearly 

 all of which were recovered. This probably represents a mythical 

 water monster analogous to those occurring in the mythology of the 

 Pawnee and other tribes. It has the tail and head of the serpent. 

 The plates of the serpent's head are shown above and below, and the 

 four horns characteristic of the serpent deity north of Mexico are 

 present. Two of the horns are carved in relief upon the top of the 

 head, and two are made separately and inserted into holes drilled 

 in each side. Like most effigies of this class, it is hollow, but the 

 walls are not perforated. 



STONE RINGS 



The beautifully formed stone rings shown on plate xil, a, c, d, and 

 in cross-section in figure 2, are among the most interesting objects 

 recovered from the Ohio mounds. 

 Similar rings were found by Squier 

 * and Davis and others. Those illus- 

 trated were taken, with fragments 

 of others, from the altars of the a c d 



Hopewell group. Fig. 2. — Cross-sections and rings on 



t-1 u li 1 plate xil. a, c, d. 



1 hese are probably ear-plugs. H 



Some of them are perforated laterally with four or eight holes as 

 shown in the side views, c and d. It is not improbable that these 

 perforations were for attaching feathers or other ornaments placed 

 within or hanging from the central opening of the ring. Most of 

 these are made from the brown micaceous mineral called "gold stone" 

 by Squier and Davis, and are beautifully polished. 



The most remarkable thing about them, however, is their sym- 

 metry. Their outlines form true circles and their surfaces are per- 

 fectly symmetrical. They could not have been made without some 

 mechanical device based upon the lathe principle. The only other 

 evidences of the use of the principle of the lathe by this people that I 

 have been able to find is shown by a beautifully finished perforated 

 disc of fossil ivory from a mound in Indiana and by certain shell 

 beads that are altogether too symmetrical to have been made by any 

 other known process. The fourth ring shown in the plate, b, was made 

 by the writer from a piece of slate. The only implements used were 

 stones such as may be picked up on almost any field, and two or three 

 rude chipped knives. After roughly forming and perforating the 

 slate disc, a stick about six inches long was fitted tightly in the 



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