That hooks were used to some extent by the Atlantic coast Indians is proved by the association of bone hooks with other ancient relics. I am not aware that their use has been noticed by early writers, who describe at length, however, the capture of fish by means of arrows, spears, and nets. The ancient Mexican manuscripts contain many drawings showing the use of nets in fishing, but the use of hooks and lines is not suggested.
In the absence of positive proof as to the exact manner in which the plummet-like objects were utilized, I shall for the present follow the custom of the best authors and classify the heavier specimens as sinkers. The smaller specimens will be described as pendant ornaments.
In Fig. 8, Plate XXVIII, a very handsome specimen from a refuse heap on Blennerhasset Island, Ohio River, is shown. It has been cut from the columella of a Busycon perversum, the reverse whorl being indicated by the well-preserved spiral groove, and was suspended by means of a small, well-made perforation near the upper end. The surface is weathered and chalky with age.
Another specimen, from the same locality, differs but slightly from this; the perforated end is broken away; the surface is deeply weathered, and the more compact laminæ stand out in high relief.
Two specimens from Sarasota Bay, Fla., resemble these very closely in shape and size; instead of a perforation, however, they are grooved near the upper end. They are made from the columellæ of the Busycon perversum. One of them is shown in Fig. 9, Plate XXVIII.
It is possible that a number of the small shells usually supposed to be perforated for use as ornaments have been used for sinkers. One such specimen, collected by Professor Velie in Florida, is preserved in the national collection. It is made from an almost entire specimen of a small but compact univalve—a dextral-whorled Busycon or a Strombus. A shallow groove has been cut near the basal point for the purpose of attaching a line.
A fourth specimen, from Florida, is represented by a cast presented by Professor Velie; it is three inches in length and nearly one inch in diameter, and has been derived from the columella of a Busycon perversum. It has a broad groove near the upper end, with a long, sloping shoulder, the body being somewhat conical below. Other specimens of similar character have recently been added to the national collection. A grooved specimen of medium size was obtained from a mound at Madisonville, Ohio, and is figured by the explorers.[45] A few smaller specimens come from New York, and others from Kentucky, but they were probably intended for ornaments, and as such I prefer to class them.
From the Pacific coast we have a large number of examples, one of the finest being illustrated in Fig. 7, Plate XXVIII. It is a flattish, somewhat pear-shaped pendant, and has a neatly cut groove near the upper end. It was collected by Bowers on the island of Santa Rosa, Cal., and was probably made from a Pachydesma or Amiantis.
A new-looking specimen from Santa Barbara, carved from a flat bit of pearly Haliotis, represents a fish, the mouth, gills, body, and tail being distinctly shown. It may have been used as a bait.
By far the most interesting examples of fishing implements of ancient date have been obtained from graves in California; these are well represented in the collections made by Schumacher and Bowers. A number of specimens may be seen in the National Museum; one sinker from this collection has already been described. Fish-hooks, however, constitute the great majority of the specimens, and many of them are of such unprecedented forms that they have been mistaken for ornaments. The marked peculiarity consists in the great width of the body of the hook, and the deeply involuted character of the barbless point, making it seem impossible that a fish should be impaled at all. It may be that this hook was intended only as a contrivance for securing bait, and that the fish, having swallowed this, was unable to disgorge it, and in this way was secured by the fisherman.