62797. One of the most instructive finds in this mound is a pair of brass pins, of undoubted European manufacture. The collector makes the statement, with entire confidence in its correctness, that they had been encased in the earth at the time of the interment of the bodies. One was associated with the upper and the other with the lower layer of bones. In size and shape they resemble our ordinary brass toilet pin. The head is formed of a spiral coil of wire, the diameter of which is about one-half that of the shaft of the pin. It is also stated by the collector that an iron bolt was found in the lower stratum of bones. This object was unfortunately lost.
62795. A small brass cylinder, found 3 feet 7 inches below the surface of the mound. The thin sheet of which the coil is made is about 1 inch square. The edges are uneven. It was probably used as a bead.
[ OBJECTS OF SHELL.]
Few mounds have rivaled this in its wealth of shell ornaments. Engraved gorgets cut from the body of the Busycon perversum and large pins from the columellæ of the same shell are especially numerous and well-preserved. Large numbers of beads and unworked shells were also found. All were intimately associated with the skeletons.
While many of the specimens are well-preserved, we find that many are in an advanced stage of decay, and unless most carefully handled, crumble to powder.
Similar shell ornaments are found in mounds in other parts of Tennessee, as well as in neighboring States. These have been pretty fully described in the Second Annual Report.
| Fig. 119. 62831 | Fig. 120. 62831 |
62830-62839. These pins are all made from the Busycon perversum. The entire specimens range from 3 to 6 inches in length; two are fragmentary, having lost their points by decay. The heads are from one-half to 1 inch in length, and are generally less than 1 inch in diameter. They are somewhat varied in shape, some being cylindrical, others being conical above. The shaft is pretty evenly rounded, but is seldom symmetrical or straight. It is rarely above one-half an inch in diameter, and tapers gradually to a more or less rounded point. The groove of the canal shows distinctly in all the heads, and may often be traced far down the shaft. In a number of cases the surface retains the fine polish of the newly finished object, but it is usually somewhat weathered, and frequently
discolored or chalky. These specimens were found in the mounds along with deposits of human remains, and generally in close proximity to the head; this fact suggests their use as ornaments for the hair.
62840-62843. A number of saucer-shaped shell gorgets, the upper edge being somewhat straightened, the result of the natural limit of the body of the shell. Two small holes, for suspension occur near the upper margin. The diameter ranges from 3 to 6 inches.