NOTES ON ABORIGINAL RELICS KNOWN AS PLUMMETS. . 645 
the Museum of the Antiquarian Society of Worcester). From 
its shape it appears to have been used as a plumb or for an orna- 
ment, as near one of the ends is a circular crease or groove for 
tying a thread; it is round, two inches and a half in length, one 
inch in diameter at the centre, and half an inch at each end. It 
is composed of small pieces of native copper pounded together ; 
and in the cracks between the pieces, are stuck several pieces of 
silver, one nearly the size of a half dime. A piece of ochre or 
paint, and a piece of iron ore (hematite) which had the appearance 
of having been partially vitrified (polished) were found.” “ The 
body of the person here buried was laid upon the surface of the 
ground, with his face upwards, and his feet pointing to the south- 
west. From the appearance of several pieces of charcoal and bits 
of partially burned fossil coal, and the black color of the earth, it 
would seem that the funeral obsequies had been celebrated by fire ; 
and while the ashes were yet hot and smoking, a circle of flat 
stones had been laid around and over the body. * * * 
“The mound had every appearance of being as old as any in the 
neighborhood and was, at the first settlement of Marietta, covered 
with large trees. It seems to have been made for this single per- 
sonage, as the remains of one skeleton only were discovered. 
The bones were much decayed, and many of them crumbled to 
dust on exposure to the air.”* 
About ten years ago one of these implements was found, under 
remarkable circumstances, in Woodbridge County, California. 
From a paper read by Dr. J. W. Foster before the American Asso- 
ciation for the Advancement of Science, at Chicago, 1868, I extract 
the following description. ‘The workmen after digging thirty 
eet below the surface struck a plummet composed of sienite, ground 
smooth and formed into a double cone, showing that it was sus- 
pended by a string and used to determine perpendicular lines. 
It affords an example of the lapidary’s skill superior to anything 
furnished by the stone age in either continent.” The well was 
sunk by Jeremiah Wood, on the premises of Mr. McNeely. But 
if the depth in the earth, at which this specimen was found, 18 
calculated to impress us with the great antiquity of these imple- 
ments, what shall we say of those found in Table Mountain, 1n 
the same state? Ina paper read by Professor W. P. Blake, before 
* Aboriginal Monuments of New York, by E. G. Squier. 
