Fig. 3 represents a specimen from the Brakebill Mound, East Tennessee. The mouth is not indicated, and the nose is but slightly relieved. Each eye, however, is inclosed by a figure which extends downward over the cheek, terminating in three sharp points.
PL. LXIX—THE HUMAN FACE.
1. McMahan Mound, Tenn.
2. McMahan Mound, Tenn.
3. Brakebill Mound, Tenn.
4. Lick Creek Mound, Tenn.
5. Aquia Creek, Va.
6. Mound, Ely County, Va.
So far as the specimens at hand show, this peculiar embellishment of the eyes and mouth is characteristic of Virginia and East Tennessee. A small specimen from Georgia, now preserved in the Natural History Museum at New York, has a somewhat similar ornamentation of the eyes. This specimen is shown in Fig. 6, Plate LXX.
In Fig. 8 of the same plate we have the representation of a face modeled in clay, on which a number of incised lines, similar to those engraved on shell, have been drawn. The crown of notches is also present. The specimen has been illustrated by Professor Jones.[152] It is now in the museum of Natural History at New York, and was probably obtained from the Etowah Valley, Georgia. Examples in stone are also numerous, and show certain features in common with those in shell.
Fig. 9 is from Northern Ohio, and is carved from a nodule of iron ore.
The very beautiful little head shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is from a cave at Mussel Shoals, Ala. It is made of shell, and is somewhat altered by decay. The crown is peculiarly notched, and resembles a very common Mexican form. The notch in the middle of the forehead can be traced to a division in the head-dress noticed in the more elaborately carved Mexican specimens.
The example shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is copied from a rather rude cut given by Schoolcraft, who describes it as follows: "This well-sculptured article was discovered in the valley of the Kasauda Creek, Onondaga County. The material is a compact piece of sea-shell. It still preserves in a considerable degree the smoothness and luster of its original finish. * * * At the angle of the temples are two small orifices for suspending it around the neck. The entire article is finished with much skill and delicacy."[153]
The very rude specimen presented in Fig. 7 is from a mound at Franklin, Tenn. It seems to have been some natural form, but slightly changed by art. A somewhat similar specimen from a mound in Tennessee may be seen in the Peabody Museum.