Fig. 127.—Hemispheres.
The specimen, illustrated in [figure 128] (yellow quartz, from a mound in Kanawha valley) is intermediate between cones and hemispheres. The sides are polished, while the flat bottom and rounded top are roughened. As it has faint red stains, it may have been used as a paint-muller.
Fig. 128.—Hemisphere.
Paint Stones.
The articles known as paint stones scarcely come under the head of implements. Some of the hematite pieces are incipient celts, hemispheres, or cones; but most of them were used merely to furnish paint, at any rate until rubbed down quite small. They are of every degree of firmness, some being as brittle as dry clay, others like iron. Most pieces in the collection are from Kanawha valley, but others are from southeastern Tennessee, northeastern Arkansas, and Caldwell county, North Carolina. From the last-named section, as well as from Chester county, South Carolina, and McMinn county, Tennessee, come pieces of graphite more or less rubbed; and one has been sent in from Elmore county, Alabama.
Fig. 129.—Paint stone.
The specimen illustrated in [figure 129], from a mound, is a good example of the manner in which the harder hematite was ground.