PL. XXIV—SHELL SPOONS.
1. Manner of grasping spoon.
2. From a mound in Kentucky. (1/2)
3. From a mound near Nashville. (1/1)
4. From a mound in Ohio. (1/1)
The seven remaining spoons from this locality have a variety of handles, all of which are notched on the outer margin, while a few only are deeply undercut; all have been made from the left valve of the Unio ovatus (?) and are of medium size and ordinary finish.
Another specimen in the national collection comes from Henderson County, Ky. The shell used is the Unio ovatus; the handle is notched on the outer margin, but is only slightly under-cut; the thick margin of the shell about the hinge has not been removed.
A spoon made from the left valve of a Unio silignoidens (?) has recently been obtained from a mound at Osceola, Ark.; it is but slightly worked, having a series of small notches cut in the basal margin, toward the front.
The Natural History Museum of New York contains a specimen of this class, labeled as coming from Georgia. It has a rounded handle, without either perforation or notches.
The Peabody Museum contains a very superior collection, consisting of specimens from several localities. Six of these, made from Unionidæ, mostly from the Unio ovatus, were obtained from one of the Bowling mounds near Nashville, Tenn.; others crumbled on being handled and were lost. Several others were obtained in the same region.[26] Two more were found in an earthen vessel between two skeletons, in one of the Lindsley mounds at Lebanon, sixty miles east of Nashville.[27]
In a stone-cist mound on the Big Harpeth River, Prof. Joseph Jones found "a few large fresh-water mussel-shells, which were much altered by time. These mussel-shells appeared from their shape to have been artificially carved, and to have been used as ornaments and also as spoons or cups for dipping up food and drink."[28]
Three fine specimens have recently been obtained from graves at Harrisburg, Ark. They are but slightly worked as compared with the more elaborate specimens. The hinge, teeth, and ligaments have been ground down and a portion of the postero-dorsal margin removed, leaving the posterior point and basal margin projecting for a handle. The surfaces are well smoothed. The general outline of the shell is subtriangular; it is three inches wide by four and one-half in length and is probably made from the Unio cuneatus.