Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate specimens of roughly finished concavo-convex disks, much used by both ancient and modern tribes of California, Arizona, and New Mexico.
I essayed at one time to purchase a long necklace of these homely ornaments from a Navajo Indian in Arizona, but soon discovered that it was beyond my reach, as my best mule was hardly considered a fair exchange for it. These beads are made from the Oliva chiefly, but to some extent from small bivalves.
This bead is not common in the mounds of the Mississippi Valley, but is used by many modern savages. It seems to be the form called, by the Indians of Virginia, "roenoke," which, according to Beverly, is made of the cockle-shell, broken into small bits, with rough edges, and drilled through in the same manner as beads.
Fig. 7 represents a smoothly cut bead of medium size, said to have been obtained from a grave at Lynn, Mass. It has been cut from the curved wall of some large univalve, and is very similar to modern specimens in use over a greater part of the United States.
Fig. 8 belongs to a necklace brought from the northwest coast, and is very much like the specimen shown in Fig. 7.
Fig. 9 is a well-made specimen from Sevierville, Tenn. The sides are ground perfectly flat and the edges are well rounded. The shell is very compact, and well preserved, and bears a close resemblance to bone or ivory.
Fig. 10 represents a thin, fragile disk, from a mound in Southern Illinois. It is made of a Unio, and separates into thin sheets or flakes, like mica.
Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate two compact, nearly symmetrical specimens from a mound at Paint Rock Ferry, Tenn.
Fig. 13 is from the same locality, and is hemispherical in shape.
Fig. 14 represents a button-like disk, with large conical perforation, from a mound at Paint Rock Ferry, Tenn. It has probably been made from the wall of a large marine univalve.