In the mound were found different kinds of stones,—some isolated specimens showing good workmanship but as yet unclassified, and others, of the common kinds which were, of course, in use at the same time with the more perfect implements.
Those of the first kind were all found in stratum II. One of these is 1-8671, [plate 12], figs. 12a and (front view) 12b. It is made of soft serpentine. Its shape is that of a flat cylinder of not entirely uniform height, with flat or almost imperceptibly curved ends; there is a perforation which extends inward in the form of a cone from both ends.[[109]] In the gentle curving-out of its peripheral surface it is particularly like ear-pegs. It is worthy of note that Moorehead shows two objects from the neighborhood of Stockton analogous to it in many respects and designated by him as lip-pegs,[[110]] and that barbed, bone spear-heads like those used on the northwest coast were found in the vicinity of Stockton, according to Mr. Meredith, in close proximity to a lip-peg[[111]] of the kind used on the northwest coast. The possibility, therefore, of an ethnological connection between the ancient inhabitants of the vicinity of the central California water basins and those of the north cannot well be denied.
The small object, 1-8628, [plate 12], fig. 13, seems similar in size and form to the object shown in [plate 12], fig. 12. This similarity is only a superficial one, aside from the difference in the material of which it is made,—burnt clay, rare in California and not carved but modeled; it is further different in the fact that its cross section is oval and that its slightly arched end is covered with marks of blows, and that the perforation is absent.
[Plate 12], fig. 6, 1-8631, is of quartz-colored material, flat and tongue-shaped. It is broken off at the broad end, the lower surface is flat, the upper slightly arched, and the edge blunt. Judging from its form and the brittle nature of the material of which it is made, it must have been an ornament.
[Plate 12], fig. 5, 1-8850, of chalcedony, looks like a neckless head of a bird resting on a bust-like body; the bill is linear; the eye is represented by a deep hollow. That this object is not an artifact is the conclusion suggested by the presence of a crust over the entire object from beak to eye, formed by its weathering. In relation to other products of human workmanship, such an object has worth only in so far as its shape was of undoubted significance to the inhabitants, and carefully preserved for that reason.
Besides this, various flat, smooth stones of chert and agate were found, one of which, 1-8849, from stratum VII, is shown in fig. 23. It is made of fine grained sandstone, has but one smooth side and was used as a whet-stone. A thin oblong sheet of mica-slate was unearthed, but it must have been used only as an ornament.
Fig. 24 (1-8721 from stratum V) illustrates one of two analogous objects from the upper strata of the mound. It is a common stone with about seven groove-like lines of varying breadth and depth on the sides. Two of them form an angle which though purely accidental might seem to be ornamental. The grooves come probably from its use as a whet-stone for bone awls, etc. To this purpose the hard, sandy substance easily lent itself. Long bars could not have been fixed to this stone, since for that purpose the grooves are neither broad nor straight enough. Several drawings by Rau[[112]] and by Moorehead[[113]] may here be compared.
Fig. 23. × 1/5. Fig. 24. × 1/2. Stones, probably used for whetting.