Fig. 49.—Flint objects from Tennessee.
The number of these objects found at each of the 11 sites which have been described varies from 1 to 64. On 5 of the 11 occasions they were undoubtedly associated with human interments; in 4 of the remaining 6 they were found lying, superficially placed, on the summits of mounds, which for various reasons were not thoroughly excavated, and may or may not have been sepulchral in function; in the two remaining finds the flints were placed closely adjacent to sculptured stelæ, and these again may have been used to mark the grave of some priest or cacique, though they more frequently marked the lapse of certain time periods. The commonest form assumed by these objects is the crescent or some variant of it. Of the 11 sites excavated, this form was found in no fewer than 8. The crescent is in some cases quite plain, in some indented or spiked along the convexity, and is in one instance furnished with long spines on each side.
In every instance (except that of the chambered mound at Douglas) where these implements were found in mounds they were placed quite superficially at the summit of the mound; indeed at Benque Viejo, Seven Hills, and Santa Rita it seems probable that they had not been buried originally at all, but merely placed upon the summit of the mound and in course of time became covered with a layer of humus from decaying vegetation in the vicinity.
Similar flint objects have been found in other parts of the world, notably at Brionio in Italy and in Stuart, Smith, and Humphrey Counties, Tennessee. In figure [49], b-n, are shown somewhat rough outline sketches of the Tennessee objects, and in figure [50], a-p, are represented a selection of the most important objects found at Brionio, now in the collection of the late Professor Giglioli at Florence. The Tennessee objects are to be seen at Washington. The latter are small when compared with the largest of the Maya specimens, but are neatly chipped, whereas the Brionio objects are very crudely blocked out, mostly from black flint.
Fig. 50.—Flint objects from Italy.
It will be observed that figure [49], c, d, g, from Tennessee, shows specimens almost identical with figure [50], p, from Brionio, and with the turtle, pictured in plate [15], g, from the Douglas chambered mound; again the spiked crescents, figure [50], b, c, n, from Brionio, closely resemble the very much larger spiked crescent illustrated in plate [15], e, from the Douglas chambered mound, and still more closely the spiked crescent figured in "Flint Chips" (from Wilson, Prehistoric Man, op. cit., p. 214). Though these objects are not found in Central America outside the Maya area, the Aztec were sufficiently expert in the art of flint and obsidian chipping to have produced them had they wished. In figure [49], a, is seen the outline of a type of labret worn by the Aztecs, chipped out of both flint and obsidian, which compares favorably in workmanship with any of the objects from the Maya area.