26 AMERICAN MUSEUM GUIDE LEAFLETS 



Polished Stone Articles. 



Gorgets. Two types of the gorget occur. These are the single-holed 



pendant form, which is the less abundant of the two, and the double-holed 

 type. The latter is flat, rectangular in shape and generally well polished. 

 It usually has two perforations a short distance from the middle. The 

 modern Lenape of Canada claim to have used these as hair ornaments. 

 Probably the two-holed variety is typical of the Algonkian peoples of this 

 region, the single-holed form being on the other hand, the most abundant 

 on old Iroquoiarj sites. Specimens of the latter have been obtained in use 

 among the Canadian Iroquois, and some of them are in the Museum col- 

 lections. 



Amulets. Certain problematic articles of the "bar" and even "bird 

 amulet" type have been found, but these are probably exotic in origin and 

 are not characteristic of the archaeology of the region in question. 



Banner Sloucs. These beautiful polished stone implements of unknown 

 use may be divided into three great classes, with several sub-types as follows: 



1. Notched banner stones. 



2. Grooved banner stones. 



a. Groove on both sides. 

 h. Groove on one side. 



3. Perforated banner stones. 

 o. Plain. 



b. Butterfly. 



All three types seem equally abundant, but the notched banner stones 

 appear to be the oldest form and occur under circumstances pointing to 

 great relative antiquity. They are found, however, on the more recent sites 

 as well. Both notched and grooved banner stones arc usually more rough 

 in appearance than the perforated type, and the writer has never seen a 

 polished specimen of the first class. On the other hand, the grooved va- 

 riety frequently exhibits the high degree of finish characteristic of the per- 

 forated forms. Banner stones grooved only on one side are less common 

 than the other forms. While the latter class is generally made of slate, 

 steatite or some similar soft and easily worked material the notched and 

 grooved forms, especially the former, are often formed either from natu- 

 rally-shaped pebbles or chipped roughly into shape. Implements, usually 

 naturally-shaped stones with little working, without notches, grooves or 

 perforations, but greatly resembling the notched and grooved banner Stones 

 in shape, are not infrequently found on aboriginal sites hereabouts and 

 may have served as banner stones. There seem to be neither records nor 

 plausible theories as to their use. 



