A shell ring of similar proportions as above, but differing through its inferior material and the absence of decoration, has also been pictured by Holmes as coming from Illinois, and as being an ear ornament presumably, while the object described above could not have served that purpose.
No. 7. Grave of a child about one year old, found in stratum VIII, about 21 feet below the surface of the mound. The body lay upon the usual bed of charcoal and of red earth and all the little bones were thickly covered with red coloring matter. The grave was as rich in artifacts as the preceding one. A number of small shell beads (as in [pl. 11], fig. 6) were found near the wrist. The following objects were taken from the earth about the body:
Three oblong ornaments, bored, of Haliotis shell ([pl. 11], fig. 1), a number of very small shells of Olivella sp. having bored ends, which fact shows that they were used as ornaments; 11 bead-like rings of bone, each being about one inch long and seven-sixteenths of an inch thick; each has a band of asphaltum in which three or four small shells were imbedded ([pl. 11], figs. 10, 11). While these rings may have been mere ornaments, the following unusual object ([pl. 11], fig. 9) taken from the same grave must without doubt have talismanic importance. It is a piece of quartz crystal 2-15/16 inches long and 1-1/2 inches thick, having perfect lateral edges and points; the broken base of the crystal is capped with asphaltum in which numerous small shell beads are set.
All these objects were thickly coated with red coloring matter. For the small ornamental Olivella shells compare similar ones from Santa Rosa Island, California, pictured by Holmes (l. c., fig. 7). The bone ring resembles the thick bead-like bone ring taken from another of the graves, stratum VIIa, of the mound.
No. 8. Burial of an adult, in stratum VII, found above the tunnel. The body in the usual squatting position was placed from north to south, facing east, upon a bed of red earth and was itself colored red. This grave contained besides objects of personal adornment a number of bone implements. The former consisted of a number of beads made of bird bone (types similar to object [pl. 11], figs. 15 to 17) and a like number of Olivella shells bored at the lower end ([pl. 11], fig. 3); they were scattered in the earth about the body. One of the Olivella shells was perforated on its side ([pl. 11], fig. 4). Several of the bone beads were connected in twos by thinner bones ([pl. 11], fig. 15). It may be assumed that the bone beads and shells had been fastened to a garment that served as a shroud for the body but has now disappeared.
The bone implements taken from this grave have the shape of paper cutters; there are five in all, representing two distinct types. Three are made of a hard bone ([pl. 8], fig. 4) and are imperfect at their upper ends; the form is that of a horn, the worn edges show their use as tools; the other two objects ([pl. 8], fig. 5) are made of a much softer bone; they are unfinished at their lower ends. The two types are distinct, although it is difficult to compare them in their very imperfect condition. The upper end of the implement of the second type shows two hooked projections connected by an outward bending of their rims. They have each a hole on the lower edge of such a size as to admit a finger, to facilitate the handling of the tool. Neither of these types was met in other parts of the mound.
An Olivella shell with side perforation similar to that of [plate 11], fig. 4, from a grave on Santa Rosa Island has been represented by Holmes[[54]]. Bone beads similar to that of figs. 16 and 17 on [plate 11] were found in nearly all the strata of the mound; two of these are shown in figs. 13 and 14 of the same plate, the former, 1-8702, from stratum IV, the latter, 1-8743, from stratum V. It also has a remnant of a former axle-like connection with another bead as was shown in fig. 15 from stratum V. Bone beads have been widely used as objects of adornment by the California Indians, as is the case with many tribes in other parts of the world[[55]]. With the Yokuts bird bone pieces of 2-1/2 inches in length at one time represented a value of 12-1/2 cents.
No. 9. A child’s grave, in stratum VIIa, in the tunnel about 18 feet below the surface. The associated objects were convex shell beads (cf. [pl. 11], figs. 5a and 5b) and a cockleshell upon the crown of the head (cf. grave No. 1).
No. 10. Grave of an infant with very delicate bones. It was found in the lowest part of section VIII, 23 feet below the surface.