The remarkable specimen from Iowa presented in Fig. 367 is the most highly developed bar-amulet that I have seen in any collection.
Fig. 360 in the upper right-hand corner is an engraved spool-shaped object of sandstone. Numbers of these have been found in the United States. They are of various sizes and diameters for the most part engraved in various lines, circles, etc. The best of the shorter articles dealing with these was published in The Antiquarian (Columbus, 1897) page 172, and was written by Mr. A. F. Berlin.
Dr. Thomas Wilson in The Swastika, page 975, speaks of these spool-shaped ornaments and draws comparisons between those found in America and foreign countries. Wilson thought that they were bobbins on which thread was wound. They appear to have been highly appreciated by the aborigines, for they are always carefully made and decorated with Maltese and St. Andrews crosses, zig-zag lines, sun symbols, etc.
Fig. 354. (S. 1–1.) Collection of W. F. Matchett, Pierceton, Indiana.
The “Handbook of American Indians,” page 157, contains brief descriptions of boat-stones, written by Gerard Fowke and Professor Holmes. I quote their remarks:—
Fig. 355 is a group of six objects from the Andover collection. (Size 1–2.) These illustrate the type of problematical form, a straight body sloping toward the ends, and running the perforations invariably at right angles to the grain. The two on either side are ordinary crescent-shape. The one at the bottom is a winged type, but is not cut down on either side to bring the wings into review.
Fig. 356. (S. 1–2.) The evolution of the crescent from the rough block of red slate at the top, which has been pecked into shape, down to the completed crescent at the bottom. Phillips Academy collection, Andover. This series, arranged from the Andover collection, is made up of specimens from Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and Indiana.