The fine specimen shown in Fig. 15 comes from a mound in Cocke County, Tenn., and is unusually well preserved. It is very compact, having the appearance of ivory, and has probably been made from the basal portion of a large univalve. The perforation is extremely large, and is conical, having been bored entirely from one side.
Figs. 16 and 17 represent two fine specimens from California. They are nearly symmetrical, the faces being flat or slightly convex. The smaller one has been coated with some dark substance—the result, probably, of decay—which has broken away in places, exposing the chalky shell. The edges are ornamented with shallow lines or notches. Such disks, when used as ornaments, probably formed the central piece of a necklace, or were fixed singly to the hair, ears, or costume. As long as these larger specimens retained the color and iridescence of the original shell, they were extremely handsome ornaments, but in their present chalky and discolored state they are not prepossessing objects.
This plate will serve as a sort of key for reference in the study of beads of this class, as the specimens are typical.
PL. XXXIII—DISCOIDAL BEADS.
(1/1)
MASSIVE BEADS.
Beads made from the columellæ of univalves have generally a number of distinguishing characteristics. They are large and massive, and rarely symmetrical in outline, being sections of roughly dressed columns. They are somewhat cylindrical, and often retain the spiral groove as well as other portions of the natural surface. In cases where the form is entirely artificial they may be distinguished by the sinuous character of the foliation. The perforation is nearly always with the axis of the bead, and is in most cases bi-conical. In Plate XXIX a series of cuts is given which illustrates the various methods of perforation and shows very distinctly the differences between the rude work of savages and the mechanically perfect work of modern manufacturers. Beads of this class are more decidedly aboriginal in character than those of any other group, and are without doubt of very ancient origin. They are widely distributed, and have been found in graves and mounds covering an area outlined by Massachusetts, Canada West, Minnesota, Missouri, and the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.
Figs. 1, 6, 7, 11, and 14 of Plate XXXIV represent typical specimens of this class. In every case they are considerably altered by decay, rarely retaining any of the original polish. All come from ancient burial mounds, some of the interments of which probably antedate, while others post-date, the coming of the whites.
The bead shown in Fig. 1 is made from the columella of a Busycon perversum. It is a rude, tapering cylinder, with rounded ends and deep spiral groove. The perforation is bi-conical and somewhat irregular. This, with many similar beads, made of both dextral and sinistral shells, was associated with human remains in the great mound at Sevierville, Tenn.