The stone age in North America, vol. 2 of 2

2 b. Beveled points. Of these only a small number of examples have been recovered. They are distinguished from the most frequent flat, stemmed form by a distinct bevel of generally uniform width which extends along the edges on both faces of the blade. Sometimes this bevel is nearly one half inch in breadth. The shape of the blade varies considerably. The known specimens range from two and a half to five inches in size. Examples are to be seen in the Field Museum, H. P. Hamilton, and other collections.

2 c. Eyed points. The base of the stem in this rare form is provided with an eye, opening outward and probably intended for the reception of a rivet. Otherwise these points do not differ from the flat, stemmed types. Only a very small number of specimens have been found.

2 d. Notched points. These bear a close resemblance to a numerous class of flint arrow- and spear-points, after which they are probably patterned. No two of them are exactly alike. They differ from each other in the shape of the blade and shape and position of the notch. A few are traversed by a median ridge. Some have indented bases. They vary in size from less than two and up to six inches in length. Such points are of infrequent occurrence. Specimens are in existence in the Milwaukee Public Museum, Field Museum, Logan Museum, and other collections.

2 e. Toothed points. These are rather remarkable and interesting implements, and are distinguished from all others by the peculiar angular toothing or serration of the edges of the stem, the purpose of which is evidently to facilitate the fastening of the point to the wooden shaft or handle, into which it was inserted, by means of sinews or strips of hide. A greater solidity of attachment was thus secured. The number of opposite notches on the stem varies in different examples, from two to as many as six or seven. The usual number appears to be two or three. Most examples of this type are long and narrow. A few, however, are short and broad, and elliptical in outline. The largest known example of this form is about nine and a half inches and the smallest about two inches in length. The average size appears to be about three and a half inches. In many specimens a central ridge or elevation extends along either side from extremity to extremity, or only from the base of the stem to the point of the blade. (Fig. 599.)

In both the F. M. Benedict and H. P. Hamilton collections are large and fine series of these points. Upon a specimen in the latter collection indications of cloth wrappings are to be seen. Other collections also possess one or a number of examples. The greater part of the known specimens are from the Fox and Wolf river valleys in northeastern Wisconsin. Now and then flint spear-points of somewhat similar pattern have been found in and about the same district. Michigan has furnished a few specimens of the copper points. Slate points of very similar form occur in New England, where they are regarded as knives. A small number of copper points of this pattern are also reported to have been found there.

3. Spatula-shaped points. (Fig. 596, central ones, and Fig. 600.) These peculiar points have obtained their name from the resemblance which the typical form bears to a chemist’s spatula. They are also locally known as “rat-tailed points.” In the most frequent form the blade is rather flat and somewhat elliptical in outline. It does not generally exceed three inches in length, being usually less than one half the total length of the implement. A small number have an elliptical, lanceolate or very rarely elongated lozenge-shaped blade. The usually long, tapering stem is generally circular or nearly circular in section, and is well adapted for insertion into a perforation or socket in a wooden shaft or handle. Several specimens have near the tips of their pointed stems a succession of rudely cut opposite notches, probably intended to prevent the easy withdrawal of the point from the shaft. A very small number have the blade traversed by a median ridge. The smallest specimen of this type of copper point now known is four inches and the largest nine and a half inches in length. A large number attain the size of eight inches. Fine specimens are to be seen in the State Historical Museum, Logan Museum, Field Museum, Hamilton, and other collections. The Reverend Mr. Beauchamp has noted the occurrence of a limited number of specimens in New York. A small number of iron trade points of similar shape have been found.

4. Short-stemmed points. The blade is generally long and triangular in shape, the stem short, cylindrical, and pointed at the end. The average size of these points appears to be about six inches. (Fig. 596.)

The largest example now known is twelve inches in length, the stem measuring only about three inches. This is not a frequent form of copper point. Fine specimens are to be seen in the Field Museum, Hamilton, and other collections. A cache of four of these singular points found at Chilton, Calumet County, is to be seen in the Milwaukee Public Museum. The Reverend W. M. Beauchamp has described similar spear-points from New York.

4 a. Barbed or pronged points. This type of copper point is of rather infrequent occurrence. The blade is usually of an oval or somewhat triangular shape. A few specimens have long narrow blades. Situated just below the base of the blade on either side is a single barb or prong. These prongs are sharply or obtusely pointed and as a general thing do not extend out to a point in line with the outer edge of the base of the blade. The stem is short, flat, or cylindrical, and usually tapers to a sharp point. (Upper left-hand specimen, Fig. 592.)

In some examples the blade is traversed on one or both faces by a well-defined median ridge. The prongs probably served the double purpose of barbs and of projections, by means of which the point could be more firmly secured to the wooden shaft into which it was inserted. Such points are to be seen in the Hamilton, Field Museum, and other collections.

The smallest specimen known is three inches and the largest about seven and one half inches in length. The average size appears to be about four inches.

This interesting form of spear-point also occurs sparingly in surrounding states, and has been recorded from as far east as New York and New England, where a few specimens have been found.

Large iron spear-points of somewhat similar form, but with the projections squared at the ends, have been found in Wisconsin. Some of these have hearts and other devices cut or punched through the face of their blades. These were probably introduced among the Indians by the early fur-traders.

5. Conical points. A very large number of these have been collected from the extensive Lake Michigan shore village-sites in Wisconsin, of which locations they appear to be more or less characteristic, replacing to a large extent all other types of copper points. Some fine examples have also been obtained from other sites in counties farther inland; from the Lake Superior shore, and from the Lake of the Woods region in Minnesota. Fine series of these points are to be seen in the A. Gerend, Hamilton, Kuehne, and other collections. (Fig. 598, three lower figures.)

These points vary in length from less than one inch up to six inches or more. The majority, however, are of small size and do not exceed two inches in length. The most prevalent form is fashioned in the shape of an attenuated hollow cone of small diameter. Other specimens have the point solid for an inch or more back from the tip. Less frequently they are furnished with an open angular socket and hip like that of the ordinary socketed copper spear. In a few examples the flanges of the socket are pierced with a square or round hole, as if for the reception of a rivet, or possibly for the attachment of a light line. A few have a rivet-hole also at the base of the socket. It has been stated that these points have occasionally been found with fragments of the wooden shaft filling or extending beyond the socket. Their presence in numbers upon the sandy lake shore sites where the aboriginal residents appear to have depended largely upon the fishing industry for subsistence, appears to indicate their employment in such a connection. Possibly in the shooting or spearing of fish.

6. Ridged socketed points. If we except from consideration the very numerous small awls and fish-hooks, we may truthfully state that this is by far the most common type of copper implement occurring in Wisconsin.

Thousands of these points have been collected in Wisconsin, and probably as many or an even greater number are yet to be recovered from the soil.

They are represented in greater or less numbers in every Wisconsin and in many other collections.

This type and its varieties are too well and widely known to require much of a description. They are frequently symmetrically and beautifully wrought, indicating a degree of skill on the part of their aboriginal makers that is unsurpassed. The blade varies considerably in length and breadth. The stem is provided with flanges which are bent straight upward or inward, thus forming an angular socket for the reception of the wooden shaft. Some points having fragments of this shaft still in place have been found. This form is rarely if ever provided with a rivet-hole. In most examples there is a dip or shoulder in the socket at the connection of the stem and blade, against which the head of the wooden shaft abutted. A distinctive feature of these points is the pronounced central ridge which traverses the back of the implement from end to end. It is this feature which has gained for this style of point the local name of “bayonet-backed spear-point.” The tip of the stem is also usually angularly pointed. A small number of these points have the upper surface of their blades ornamented with indentations variously arranged in double rows or lines. This type of copper point has been found as far to the south as the Gulf, as far east as New England, westward to the Missouri, and northward into Canada.

The largest example known to have been found in Wisconsin measures thirteen inches in length. It is in the E. C. Perkins collection. The average size is between three and five inches.

6 a. Rolled socketed points. (Fig. 601.) This form is almost if not quite as common as the preceding, from which it is distinguished mainly by the fact that the back of the blade and stem are not usually upon the same plane. The central ridge also is absent. Many examples are provided with a rivet-hole (very rarely with two, one above the other) within the socket near the base of the stem. Specimens with a small copper rivet or nail still in place in the socket are of not infrequent occurrence in Wisconsin collections.

At least two well-defined varieties of these points may be recognized:—

1. The first of these is provided with a short, broad, oval, or almond-shaped blade. The stem and socket in this form is usually broadest at the base, tapering or narrowing toward the blade. The average length of these specimens is about four inches. A large specimen found at Ripon, Fond du Lac County, measures seven inches in length, and two inches in breadth near the base of the blade. Specimens of this type may be seen in the Hamilton, State Historical Museum, Logan Museum, and other collections.

2. The second form is furnished with a long, narrow, lanceolate blade, often twice or more than twice as long as the stem. The socket and stem rarely taper upward and are of more nearly equal width throughout. In both this and the preceding form the flanges of the socket are rolled inward, in some instances nearly meeting. The average length of these points appears to be about five inches. The largest specimen known measures eleven and one half inches in length. Such specimens are to be seen in nearly every Wisconsin cabinet.

In the very limited number of the smaller specimens the face of the blade, rarely the back, is ornamented with indentations. The edges of the blade are also sometimes beveled.

Among the smaller specimens is observed a variety in which the length of the stem equals or exceeds that of the blade. In some specimens the socket has the appearance of having been formed by excavating the stem, the narrow flanges being continuous with the blade instead of cut and turned inward as in the ordinary form. A small number of iron socketed spear-points, not differing greatly from the ordinary socketed copper point, have been found.

Peculiar points. In several Wisconsin collections are several spear-points of curious form not included under any of the foregoing descriptions or represented, so far as can be learned, in other Wisconsin cabinets.

One of these in the H. P. Hamilton collection has a long slender blade and a very short socket. It is seven and one quarter inches in length and comes from Two Rivers, Manitowoc County. Its blade is ornamented with a row of nine indentations.

In the Milwaukee Public Museum is a series of three peculiar socketed spear-points of an average length of about eight and one half inches. The blade of each of these is very long and narrow, with straight edges, and terminates in a sharp point. The stem is very short and narrow in comparison with the blade and broadens into a short socket at its base. One specimen has the middle of its blade, from near the base toward the middle, ornamented with a continuous zigzag indentation. Another has upon its blade a series of dots arranged in a triangular form. Two of these points come from Fond du Lac County, and the other from Sheboygan County.

Harpoon-Points

The purpose of these implements is too plain to make any explanation necessary. Four distinct types of harpoon-points, none of which are as yet known to be of other than very infrequent occurrence, have been obtained in Wisconsin. What special application any of these several patterns may have had is not yet clear. The following is a brief description of them:—

1. The first are short, flattish points seldom exceeding two and a half inches in length. (Fig. 605, to the left.) One edge of these implements is either straight or presents a continuous curve from extremity to extremity. The other edge is curved or straight from the point downward to about opposite the middle of the implement, where it terminates in a barb. From thence it narrows to the other extremity, thus forming a stem. Occasionally this is notched on either side near its base. Small numbers of these points have been recovered from the village-sites along the Lake Michigan shore.

2. A second and less frequent form is cylindrical in section and tapers to a sharp point at each extremity. (Fig. 604, second from right.) Removed from one extremity by several inches, more or less, is a stout and very pronounced barb. All are of large size. A particularly large specimen measures ten and three fourths inches in length and about one half inch in diameter at the middle. Others are to be seen in the State Historical Museum and H. P. Hamilton collections. Mr. Clarence B. Moore has figured and described a large example obtained by him in Florida.

Iron harpoons of similar form, but frequently possessing from two to three barbs, sometimes alternating on opposite sides of the implement are still in use by Wisconsin Indians for spearing large fish.

3. Another form of harpoon is represented by a specimen in the Milwaukee Public Museum. This implement is somewhat triangular in section, about eight and a half inches in length and about three fourths of an inch in breadth at the middle. The ends taper to a blunted point. The thinner edge of the implement is furnished with four stout, broad barbs, separated from each other by a distance of about one and a half inches. Bone harpoon-points of this pattern occur in New York and Ontario. (Like Fig. 606.)

4. A fourth type, the so-called “socketed harpoon-point” (Fig. 604), has one edge of its blade prolonged into a barb at the base. This barb may be on either the right or left side. Otherwise this type does not differ in shape from some of the flat-backed, socketed spear-points. Only a small number of these points have been found. All these are provided with a rivet-hole in the socket. An example in the Logan Museum is about four inches in length, and comes from Mequon, Ozaukee County.

Pikes and Punches. (See Fig. 602.)

In this class of objects, which are as yet alluded to by students and collectors by either of the above or other names, are included the largest copper implements found in Wisconsin. They are rod-like in form, usually circular or square, less frequently rectangular in section, and taper to a point at one or both ends. Large specimens of each of these several patterns have been found. The largest is in the Field Museum. It is about forty inches in length, one inch in diameter at the middle, and tapers to a point at either extremity. It weighs five and a quarter pounds and was obtained from a burial-mound on the Abraham place, at Peshtigo, Marinette County.

A specimen in the H. P. Hamilton collection is twenty-nine inches in length, seven eighths of an inch in diameter, and weighs two and three fourths pounds. About one inch from the pointed extremity there is a broken projection which Mr. Hamilton believes to have been a barb. The other end terminates in a small claw or broken out eye. It comes from Maple Creek, Outagamie County. In the T. W. Hamilton collection there is another fine specimen which is eighteen and a half inches in length and weighs one and a half pounds. A specimen found at New Haven, Adams County, is fourteen and a half inches in length and weighs one and three eighths pounds. Other large specimens are to be seen in the Logan Museum, State Historical Museum, and Milwaukee Museum collections. Some of these are rather flat, rectangular in section and one inch in width and less than three eighths of an inch in thickness. They are pointed at one extremity and rounded or blunted at the other. Some other large specimens are known to have been cut in two and otherwise maltreated by the persons who found them.

In the Field Museum collections implements of this pattern ranging from eight inches or less up to the largest size are classed as “pikes.” That they were employed as weapons is extremely doubtful. It has been suggested that they may have been heated and employed in the burning-out of wooden canoes or wooden vessels. There is reason to believe that some of the lighter forms were mounted in wooden handles, at least one example with an accompanying copper ferule having been found at Milwaukee.

Awls and Drills. (See Figs. 593 and 603.)

These have been obtained nowhere in greater numbers than in the Lake Michigan coastal region in Wisconsin. They vary in size from about one to six inches or more, and in thickness from one sixteenth to one half an inch. The greater number are of very small size.

The simplest and most frequent form is a slender cylindrical piece of metal pointed at one or both extremities. A second and usually stouter form is either round or square in section and tapers from a well-marked shoulder at or near the middle to both extremities. Sometimes one end only is pointed. Occasionally also the upper half of the implement is straight and the lower half tapers to a point. Many of these small implements were probably mounted in handles of wood, bone, or antler, the object of the shoulder being to prevent their passing too far into the handle. Several specimens mounted in antler handles have been found. Similar implements of bone and stone have been found in Wisconsin. Most of them were probably employed in drilling holes in wood, bone, or stone, in piercing skins, and for similar purposes. The Eskimo are said to employ somewhat similar implements of bone for catching waterfowl. They are used by attaching a line to the centre, the bone spindle being baited with a small fish into which the implement is inserted lengthwise. Large fish are captured by them in the same manner. We have no record of the employment of such methods by Wisconsin Indians.

Spikes. (See Fig. 580, lower left-hand specimen.)

In a number of Wisconsin cabinets are to be seen copper implements locally known as “spikes,” taking their names from the close resemblance which they bear to the modern articles. These vary somewhat in shape and size.

One specimen is four and a half inches in length, one fourth of an inch in thickness, with one extremity pointed and the other enlarged and blunted to form a head. Another is seven inches in length and tapers gradually downward from the head, where it is three fourths of an inch in diameter, to the point.

A few specimens are decidedly square in section.

An examination of the heads indicates that they are not the result of pounding while in use, but constitute an intentional feature of these implements. No suggestion has been offered as to their function. They may be simply perforators or drills. Some of the stouter implements, with broad, flattish points, may have been employed as chisels.

Needles

These are obtained from the same sites as the foregoing and are frequently associated with them, though not nearly as numerous. All are provided with eyes, and except in their somewhat ruder fashioning do not differ from the needles in ordinary domestic use at the present day. Their purpose requires no explanation.

These implements range in size from less than two to as much as eight and an eighth inches. The average size appears to be between two and three inches. Such implements are to be seen in many of the eastern Wisconsin collections. In the Milwaukee Public Museum is a small series of copper needles from Mexico.

Fish-Hooks. (See Fig. 603.)

Hundreds of these and fragments of many others have been collected from the aboriginal village- and camp-sites on the west shore of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. They have also been obtained in numbers from the village-sites at Green Lake and at various other localities along the upper Wisconsin, Fox, Wolf, and Little Wolf rivers, and elsewhere in this part of the state where good fishing was to be had. Some have also been found far to the north along the Lake Superior shore.

Most specimens are of small size, from less than an inch up to two inches in length. The largest known example is four inches in length. They are generally circular, though sometimes decidedly square in section. The points curve and slant outward and inward at all angles and degrees of curvature. None possess any indication of a barb.

The shank at the point of attachment to the line is most frequently straight. Sometimes, however, it is notched, flattened, bent over and flattened, or bent over to form an eye. A few specimens have been collected which have bits of sinew or twisted fibre still attached to the shank. Fine series of these useful articles are to be seen in many local collections.

In the H. P. Hamilton collection there is a series of ten fish-hooks obtained from the bank of the Little Wolf River, in the township of Muckwa, in Waupaca County. These are from two and a half to two and three fourths inches in length, the strongly and broadly curved hook reaching up to about opposite the middle of the shank. Some are circular and others square in section, and all are of a nearly uniform thickness of one fourth of an inch. Several have the tips of the shank flattened, and all are heavily incrusted with soil and verdigris, plainly indicating the manner in which they had lain upon and across each other.

Peculiar Implements

In a few of the large Wisconsin cabinets are to be seen a very small number of implements whose exact functions are unknown and which cannot be placed in any of the various classes here described.

One of these, in the H. P. Hamilton collection, is eight and one quarter inches in length. It is circular in section and tapers to a point at either extremity. It is seven eighths of an inch in diameter near the thicker extremity and is knotty all over the surface. Mr. Hamilton suggests that it may have been employed as a club or bludgeon. It weighs eight and one half ounces and comes from Little Chute, Outagamie County. In the same collection there is also to be seen a long, curved, flattish implement which, it has been suggested, may have served as a sword. It is about twenty inches in length and about one inch in width near the middle. It was obtained with a cache of six other copper implements at Oconto, Oconto County, Wisconsin.

Banner-Stones

The only specimens in native copper of this interesting and widely distributed class of ceremonial objects are in the H. P. Hamilton collection. One is of the ordinary butterfly pattern with expanding wings. Both specimens were found at Oconto, Oconto County, and were included in a remarkable cache of copper implements and ornaments, consisting of a crescent, sword, chisel, leaf-shaped blade, and two arrow-points. This specimen, weighing five ounces, is three and one half inches in length, and one and one fourth inches in width across the elevated part at the middle. The broad wings are one and one fourth inches in length and one and one half inches in width across their outer edges. The perforation at the middle is of one inch in length and has a short diameter of half an inch. A second specimen in the same cabinet is of the so-called “pick” shape. It weighs two and one fourth ounces. It is five inches in length and only one inch in width across the widest part, near the middle. The narrow wings are two and one fourth inches in length and taper to a rounded point, the perforation at the middle being half an inch in diameter.

Beads. (See Figs. 569, 570.)

The most common local form of copper bead is somewhat spherical in shape and was fashioned by rolling together a small, narrow strip or welt of native metal, varying in thickness from less than one eighth to one fourth of an inch or more, only one or two turns of which were necessary to make a rude bead of quite large size. Beads of this kind have been obtained in large numbers from Wisconsin village-sites, graves, and, sometimes, from the mounds. Quantities of them, as many as one hundred or more, have occasionally been taken from a single grave.

In several Wisconsin collections fine strings or necklaces of such beads may be seen. Beads of this form have also been obtained in Ohio, northern Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota. The Reverend W. M. Beauchamp has mentioned their occurrence in New York.

A second and quite common form of copper bead is made of a thin sheet of metal rolled into the form of a cylinder.

They vary in diameter from one eighth to one quarter of an inch or more, sometimes exceed two inches in length. They are of quite common occurrence on the Lake Michigan shore and on some inland village-sites. From aboriginal village-sites at Two Rivers and on the shores of Green Bay small cylinders formed by twisting thin sheets of native copper between the fingers in a spiral shape are found.

Bangles. (See Fig. 569.)

These are also made of thin sheets of native copper. They are of small size, conical or somewhat conical in shape, and open at both extremities. It is believed that these served as bangles, probably taking the place, in the past, of the small metal discs, brass or tin cones, brass thimbles or bells with which it was the custom, among the later Indians, to ornament dress fringes or other articles of wearing apparel. They occur on aboriginal village-sites in the Fox River Valley and in the Lake Michigan shore region.

Finger-Rings

These consist of small, narrow rods or strips of metal bent into the form of a simple circlet, the ends abutting or nearly meeting. Occasionally the rods are thickest at the middle and taper to a point at the extremities. Some may have served equally well as ear-rings. Specimens are occasionally found in the Lake Michigan shore region, as well as elsewhere in the state.

Ear-Rings

The fondness of the later Indians for such ornaments is well known, and it is quite probable that they were also in rather general use among the earlier aborigines.

In the S. D. Mitchell collection is a small crescent-shaped copper ornament which may have served as an ear-ring or nose-ring, being well adapted for such use. It measures one and three eighths inches in extreme width, and was obtained from an Indian village-site in Green Lake County. Similar specimens are in several other local collections.

The Reverend W. M. Beauchamp states that the earliest metallic ear-rings in use among New York aborigines were probably those of copper wire coiled and flattened, and believes it possible that perforated discs and coins may have served the same purpose in early historic times, but that they were more likely to have been employed in some other way. Glass and shell beads, and probably many other things, were so utilized.

Ear-Spools or Ear-Plugs. (See Fig. 612.)

Professor T. H. Lewis has obtained ornaments of this class during mound explorations conducted by him at Prairie du Chien, Crawford County, and Wyalusing, Grant County, in Wisconsin. Ear-spools have been obtained from various localities in Ohio, Illinois, and the South. Some of these are rather elaborately ornamented with embossed figures. In the Field Museum collections are specimens which were taken from the mounds of the celebrated Hopewell Group in Ohio.

A specimen in the Ohio State Archæological and Historical Society’s collections has still attached to it a fragment of the string or cord by means of which it was probably attached to the ear of its aboriginal owner. Similar objects of stone overlaid with sheet-copper have been described by various authors.

Gorgets and Pendants. (See Figs. 570 and 617.)

Careful inquiry has shown the existence of only a small number of these in Wisconsin collections. It is quite possible, however, that such ornaments were in more common use among Wisconsin aborigines than the present limited number would indicate. Being fashioned of sheet-copper, they would even under ordinary conditions be more likely to suffer destruction, through decomposition, than many other less fragile artifacts, which show very plainly the effects of chemical action during their interment. One form of pendant is triangular in shape and is provided at the broad upper extremity with two perforations, by which means it could be attached, by a cord, to the person of its aboriginal owner. Such pendants have been found in Winnebago, Jefferson, Crawford, and Barron counties. One of the largest measures three and one eighth inches in length, and one and one fourth inches in width at the upper edge.

Sheet-copper pendants of circular shape have also been obtained. These have perforations near the edge or at the middle. The largest specimen known is about three and one quarter inches in diameter. Pendants of this form have been obtained in Kenosha, Jefferson, Dane, Columbia, Grant, Crawford, Barron, Burnett, Winnebago, and Brown counties. A few specimens of other forms have also been recovered.

Crescents. (See Figs. 611, 613, 614.)

In this class of copper ornaments are at present included a number of thin, flattish objects, the basis of all of which appears to be the crescent, either plain or variously modified by the addition of prongs or other prolongations arising from the inner or upper edge, near the middle or extremities.

There is probably little doubt that the greater number of the objects included in this class were worn by our primitive Indians as breast ornaments, being fastened to the neck by means of cords. In this way several of them may have been worn, one below the other. The adaptability of certain of the pronged forms for use as hair ornaments is noticeable.

Large numbers have been collected in Wisconsin, and others will probably be found as old sites are more thoroughly explored, and new lands opened to cultivation. The existing examples appear to have been obtained, for the most part, from the village-sites and graves, where they sometimes occur in association with copper beads and other articles of personal adornment. But very few have been recovered from the burial-mounds of the state.

A few have also been found in Minnesota, northern Michigan, and Illinois. The finest series of these copper crescents, representing nearly all of the known types, is in the H. P. Hamilton collection. The following is a brief description of the Wisconsin types of copper crescents:—

1. One of the simplest, although uncommon forms, has the upper edge quite straight and the lower ones broadly curved. Specimens have been found in Manitowoc County, and in Houghton County, Michigan.

2. A closely allied type has both edges curved, approaching more nearly the true crescent form. The degree of curvature varies considerably in the small number of specimens known. Specimens have been found in Washington, Sheboygan, Marquette, Crawford, and Barron counties. Minnesota has produced several specimens: one from Monroe County, having both extremities notched to allow for suspension. (Fig. 611.)

3. A third type, the so-called “canoe-shaped” crescent, usually has its lower and upper edges curving equally and formed at the extremities into a short point or embryo prong, directed inward. This is the most frequent Wisconsin type, and examples of it are to be seen in many collections. The largest and finest example now known (10 × 2¼ inches, weight 20 ounces) is in the Hamilton collection, and was found in the city of Oconto, Oconto County. Michigan and Minnesota have also yielded a number of specimens. (See Fig. 611.)

4. A fourth type has the prongs or points at the extremities of greater length and directed upward or inward. Specimens have been found in Calumet, Door, Sheboygan, and Marquette counties. They vary in length from five to seven and one half inches. (One in Fig. 568.)

5. In a fifth type the prolongations, arising from the extremities of the upper edge of the curved base, approach each other and unite to form a central spike, which is usually circular in section and formed by the prolongations being twisted about each other. Specimens have been obtained in Price, Manitowoc, Green Lake, Waukesha, Washington, and Columbia counties. One has been found in Minnesota. (Fig. 614, specimen D.)

6. Another peculiar type is furnished with a pair of spikes or prongs, usually rather long, and either flat or cylindrical in section, which arise on either side of the middle of the curved top (or base). (Fig. 613.) Specimens have been obtained in Columbia, Pierce, Washington, and Vernon counties. One has been found in Ottertail County, Minnesota. These specimens range from four to eight inches in length, the prongs being from three to four inches long. A modification of this type has the prongs united at their points by a short cross-bar. (Specimen G in Fig. 614.)

Other Ornaments

In the Milwaukee Public Museum are two broad, flat strips of native copper which may have been worn as headbands.

Both of these fragments, originally curved, have the appearance of having been straightened, by the finders, and may have formed a part of the same band. The larger (six inches by one inch) and the smaller (three and five eighths inches by one inch), and less than one fourth of an inch in thickness, are ornamented along either edge and down the middle with a row of deep indentations. The locality is Sheboygan County. On the skulls of two skeletons in a mound in Crawford County were found thick copper plates. The larger of these was ornamented along two edges with a double row of indentations, and measured eight inches long by four inches wide. The other plate was about four and one half inches square.

Mr. Brown has called attention to the distribution of copper and has described these objects so thoroughly that no remarks on my part are necessary. However, I wish to offer, briefly, one or two suggestions.

Copper seems to have played an important part in aboriginal life in this country. As the natives possessed neither gold nor silver and because silver ornaments are extremely rare, one may say that silver was not in use; copper appealed to them as being something beyond the ordinary, if not possessing supernatural powers. There was no other substance which they could hammer into shape, or slightly anneal and work more easily. No other malleable material possessed that bright, beautiful color and was capable of such polish. Therefore, copper appealed to the aborigines, and they made general use of it more as an ornament, or a totem, than for ordinary utility; that is, save in the “copper belt,” where it was so common that tools were made of it.