APRIL 11, 1884.] 
In case there should be any question as to 
the place of these objects among true mound 
relies, I present the following facts furnished 
by Dr. Thomas from the observations of his 
The mound from which 
assistant, Mr. Rogan. 
Fie. 1.— Shell gorget from a mound in Missouri. 
they were obtained belongs to the celebrated 
Etowah group at Cartersville, Ga., and is the 
one marked ‘ C’ in plate I. of Jones’s ‘ Antiq- 
uities of the southern Indians.’ The burials 
were in a layer of dark, rich loam, and all 
in well-constructed stone cysts of the usual 
shape. ‘They were not all at the same depth, 
but were near the base of the mound, and in 
every case beneath undisturbed strata of loam, 
sand, and hard-beaten clay. One of the en- 
graved shells and three copper plates, one of 
which is given in fig. 5, were found in one 
grave. They were deposited with a very large 
skeleton, which had 
been wrapped in 
cloth and matting. 
A comparison of 
this pair with the 
examples from Mis- 
sourl and Tennessee 
develops many im- 
portant points of re- 
semblance. Thede- 
signs are clearly the 
work of, or at least 
have their origin 
with, the same peo- 
ple, and that people 
in all probability a Mexican people. This 
result is, however, not satisfactory, and other 
evidence is demanded. This is fortunately 
at hand. From the same mound with the 
articles of shell a number of copper objects 
Fie. 3.—Shell gorget from a 
mound in Georgia. 
SCIENCE. 
437 
were obtained. These contain repoussé fig- 
ures corresponding closely with those engraved 
on shell. They are made from thin, well-pol- 
ished sheets of copper of uniform thickness, 
some of which are a foot in width and twen- 
Fie. 2.— Shell gorget from a mound in Tennessee. 
ty inches in length. The figures have been 
stamped in high relief, and the outlines and 
perforate areas cut with mechanical precision. 
One of these curious images is shown in out- 
line in fig. 5. 
These objects are much corroded, and bear 
evidence of age corresponding to that of the 
other relics with which they were buried. 
Another is almost a duplicate of this, while 
two others represent eagles. Very similar to 
the latter is a copper eagle, made also of sheet- 
copper, obtained by Major Powell from a 
mound in Illinois. <A tracing of this is given 
Lio 63 
Fie. 4. — Shell gorget from a mound in Georgia. 
With these links added to our chain, we are 
able, not only to say that all of these objects 
are identical in time and origin, but to say, 
with a fair degree of confidence, what is the 
