A large proportion of the articles found in the mounds may be classed as ornaments. It is not undertaken to say, however, that all which follow under this head were really designed as such. The purposes of the remains of the mounds generally are so apparent, that little doubt can exist as to the place which they should occupy in the simple classification here attempted; but there are a few to which it is extremely difficult to assign a position. For all essential purposes, approximate conclusions are sufficiently exact; and although a good deal of ingenuity and much space might be expended in speculations upon the probable purposes of relics of doubtful use, it is not likely that the final result would be of much importance in its bearings upon archæological science.
BEADS.—The number of beads found in the mounds is truly surprising. They may be counted in some instances by hundreds and thousands,—each one the product of no inconsiderable amount of labor, unless our estimate of the means and facilities at the command of the makers is greatly underrated. The character of some of these beads, made of shell and enveloped in metal, has already been noticed. Others are composed of shell, worked into every variety of shape, round, oblong, and flattened; others still of animal bones and tusks, and many of pearls and small marine shells,—as the marginella, natica, oliva, etc. The perforated teeth of the wild cat, wolf, and shark, as well as the claws of animals and sections of the small bones of birds, were also used in the manner of beads, either for purposes of distinction and decoration, or as amulets. In all these we observe remarkable coincidences with the decorations of the existing tribes of Indians, who are extravagant in their use of beads and pendants.148
The beads found with the skeletons, so far as observation has extended, are composed of shell or tusks of animals,—those of shell greatly predominating. The surfaces of some of these are much discolored and corroded; many, however, p232 retain their polish and appear quite sound. They resemble sections cut from the ends of rods or small cylinders, and subsequently more or less rounded upon the edge: some are quite flat, and resemble the bone buttons of commerce; others are perfectly round. Their diameter varies from one fourth to three fourths of an inch; the size of the perforation is also variable, usually, however, about one tenth of an inch. Many exhibit circular striæ upon their surfaces, identical with those produced by turning in a lathe; and it is possible they were formed by some such process, instead of being slowly and laboriously worn into shape by rubbing on stones, as was the practice of the modern Indians. These are composed of the solid portion, the columella, of large marine shells. In some of the mounds, the unworked columella has been found,—heavy and compact; probably that of the strombus gigas, which shell is common upon the coasts of Florida.149
In the sacrificial or altar mounds a much greater variety of beads is found than in those devoted to sepulture; a fact for which we cannot account, unless by supposing that the articles most valued for their rarity or beauty were those especially dedicated to their superstitions. It is unfortunate, however, that those placed upon the altars, like everything else thus disposed of, are so much injured by the fire as to preserve but little of their former beauty.
Fig. 129. The bead here represented is composed of shell, and is well wrought. Some of this description have been obtained, which are not less than two inches in length by half an inch in diameter. Abundance of others have been found of similar material but different shape: some are round, but most are oblong; a few are lens-shaped.
But the most interesting and remarkable of the whole series are the pearl beads, of which a large number have been found in the altar or sacrificial mounds. By exposure to the heat, they have lost their brilliancy and consequent value as ornaments; most of them, indeed, are so much injured that they crumble under the touch. The peculiarities of their form, and their concentric lamellæ, joined to the lingering lustre which some retain, place their character beyond dispute. Several hundreds in number, and not far from a quart in quantity, are in our possession, which retain their structure sufficiently well to be strung and handled. The largest of these measures two and a half inches in circumference, or upwards of three fourths of an inch in diameter. They are of all intermediate sizes, down to one fourth of an inch in diameter. Most are irregular in form, or pear-shaped; yet there are many perfectly round. They have been obtained from separate localities, several miles apart, and from five distinct groups of mounds. Great numbers were so much calcined, that it was found impossible to recover them, and a large number crumbled in pieces after removal from the mounds. It is no exaggeration to say p233 that a number of quarts of pearls were originally deposited in the mounds referred to; probably nearly two quarts were contained in a single mound.
It may be inquired whence these pearls were obtained. Occasional specimens are found in the fresh water molluscs of this region, but they are exceedingly rare. They are very seldom discovered by our indefatigable naturalists on the Scioto, (some of whom annually collect thousands of the living shells,) and are never found of sizes at all comparable to those of the mounds. We know that among the natives of the West Indies, and the tribes of the Gulf, pearls were found in great abundance. Raleigh, Greenville, and others speak of them among the nations on the coasts of Virginia and the Carolinas; and Soto and Ribaulde observed large quantities among the tribes of Florida. It is a curious fact, that the Indians, observing the eagerness with which Soto’s followers sought them, directed him, according to the chronicler, “to search certaine grauves that were in the town, and that he should find many; and that if he would send to the grauves of these dispeopled towns he might load all his horses; and they sought the grauves of the town, and there found fourteen rooxes of perles, [three hundred and ninety-two pounds,] and little babies and birds made of them.” At another place the chronicler observes, they found “some perles of small valew, spoiled with the fire, which the Indians do string them like beads and weare them about their necks and hand wrists, and they esteem them very much.” It is certainly not impossible that the “graves of the deserted towns” were the mounds themselves; for nothing could possibly be more in opposition to the Indian character, than to direct the hand of the invaders to the tombs of their own dead. An extreme and religious veneration and respect for the “graves of their fathers,” universally characterizes the North American tribes.150 They have been known to undertake long journeys to visit their ancient burial-places, and there perform the few simple rites enjoined by their superstitions. Such tributes were supposed to be grateful to the spirits of the dead.
Numerous beads composed of various small marine shells, of the genera marginella, oliva, and natica, pierced longitudinally, have been discovered. These are all found upon our Southern and South-western coasts, and in the West Indies.
Another species of beads found in the mounds, were made from some of the more beautiful varieties of the shells of the unios, so cut and strung as to exhibit p234 the convex surface and pearly nacre of the shell. These must have formed very tasteful ornaments. Some neck ornaments identical in form and appearance with these were obtained by the Exploring Expedition, from Paumotou in the Pacific; they are made of mother of pearl.
Other beads are composed of sections of the small bones of birds. Similar ornaments are common among the Indians to the west of the Mississippi, and have been observed among the natives of the Caribbean islands.
In addition to these several varieties of neck ornaments, may be enumerated the perforated canine teeth of certain animals, the wild cat, wolf, and bear; also, the teeth of the shark and the alligator, and the claws of animals. The latter, separated from the foot at the first articulation, have been found in considerable numbers. Fig. 131 presents examples of these varieties. Some large imperforate teeth of animals have been found with skeletons in such positions as to favor the conclusion that they were inserted into the lobes of the ear. No. 5 of the cut is an example. Several large fossil teeth of the shark, some of them perforated, have also been obtained from the mounds, and will be noticed, together with other singular remains of like character, under the head of “Fossils and Minerals from the Mounds.” These relics were perhaps worn as amulets or charms.151
A very tasteful variety of enamelled beads is frequently found upon the surface or with the recent deposits in the mounds. They are very erroneously supposed by some to have pertained to the race of the mounds; so far is this from being the case, that they are all clearly of European origin. The early voyagers availed themselves, for purposes of traffic with the Indians, of their love of ornament, p235 and “brought from the potteries and glass-houses of Europe various substitutes for the native wampum, in the shape of white, opaque, transparent, blue, black, and other variously colored beads, and of as many various forms as the genius of geometry could well devise. They also brought over a species of paste-mosaic, or curious oval or elongated beads of a kind of enamel or paste, skilfully arranged in layers of various colors, which, viewed at their poles, presented stars, radii, or other figures.”152
PENDANTS.—These ornaments are of frequent occurrence in the vicinity of the ancient works, though seldom found, if indeed found at all, in the ancient mounds themselves. They for the most part resemble the plumbs of the architect, and are usually made of rare and beautiful materials. No. 1 may be taken as the predominant form. It is symmetrically worked from a variety of greenstone, interspersed with large crystals of mica. It is drawn of half the dimensions of the original, which measures three and a half inches in length by one and a fourth in its greatest diameter, and weighs not far from four ounces. No. 2, also of half size, is well worked from a dark brown hematite, and is highly polished. No. 3 is also of hematite. It differs from the others in its shape, which is double conoid, and has the groove around the middle. Hematite seems to have been a favorite material for these ornaments. No. 5 is of quartz, and is much the rudest which has fallen under notice. These articles were all evidently designed for suspension. It has been suggested that they were used as ear ornaments; their weight, however, seems too considerable for such a purpose. To this day some of the savage tribes have the lobes of their ears greatly distended, in the language of the early writers, “like hoops,” and the disfiguration is deemed a great improvement upon nature. “Some of the Indians,” says Lawson, “wear great bobs in their ears, and sometimes in the holes thereof they put eagle’s feathers, for a trophy.”153 p236
GORGETS.—Numerous relics of the description here presented are found in the mounds, generally with the skeletons. They seem to be identical in purpose, (differing only in respect of material,) with the articles of metal, described under this division (Figs. 89 and 90) in a previous page. They consist of plates or tablets of rare or beautiful stones, such as may easily be worked, and which admit of a high finish. In shape they are as diverse as fancy can suggest, but always of tasteful outline. Some are square, others oblong, oval, cruciform, or lozenge-shaped. Some are perforated with one, but most with two holes; the latter have always one, occasionally both, surfaces perfect planes.154 Many have considerable thickness and display one face in relief; those with a single perforation often have both faces slightly convex. They exhibit, in general, much care and labor, and are elegantly finished. A few have been discovered which are quite rude, but possessing the general form of those more elaborately worked.
Fig. 133. No. 1 is composed of a very compact limestone. The surface is much corroded, but there are a few spots where it retains its original condition, and these exhibit a very high polish. Its form is sufficiently well indicated in the sketch. It measures, in length, three and a half inches; in width two inches; in thickness one inch and one tenth. It was found in a sepulchral mound near Chillicothe. (See page 164.) No. 2 is of the beautiful veined slate already described (page 224). Length, three inches; width, one and three fourths; thickness, three fourths of an inch. Found on the surface of the earth near Chillicothe. p237
Fig. 134 is of similar material with that last mentioned. It is three inches long, one and three fourths wide, and three fourths of an inch thick. Fig. 135 (half size) differs in material and shape from those above described. It is composed of a compact ferruginous stone, much altered by heat, and was found on the altar in the remarkable “Pipe Mound,” in “Mound City” (page 152). It has but a single perforation.
It is a singular fact that the holes in the three specimens first noticed, as also in some of those which follow, are placed exactly four fifths of an inch apart. This could hardly have been the result of accident. These relics were found at different localities, several miles distant from each other.
The above engraving presents at one view seventeen figures of as many different relics of this description,—all of which, with the exception of No. 7, and Nos. 12 to 17, are drawn of one fourth the size of the originals. p238
No. 1 is a vertical view of Fig. 133, No. 1, and is introduced here better to illustrate its form. No. 2 was found at Marietta, and is in the cabinet of Dr. Hildreth of that town. It measures: length, three inches and a half; width, one inch and nine tenths; thickness, three fourths of an inch. The material resembles that of which No. 1 is composed. No. 3 is of similar material, and was found beside a skeleton, in a mound formerly standing within the limits of Chillicothe.155 Dimensions: length, six and a half inches; width at centre, two inches; thickness, four fifths. Nos. 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 11, as also Nos. 15, 16, and 17, were found at various points in the Miami valley, and are in the possession of Mr. McBride. Most are of slate, either dark or variegated. No. 7 is cruciform in shape, and is composed of coralline limestone, of a very beautiful variety.
These illustrations might be indefinitely multiplied. The above will, however, give a very clear conception of the general character of this singular class of relics. Fig. 137 illustrates the manner of the perforation. The holes are bevelled from one or both surfaces, and at the narrowest point are seldom more than one eighth of an inch in diameter. The circular striæ left in the process of boring, are to be observed with great distinctness in almost every instance.
These relics have been classed as gorgets, from their apparent purpose. It is not undertaken to say that such was their real purpose, for none of the many curious remains obtained from the mounds have more successfully baffled scrutiny. At first glance it seems obvious that they were designed for suspension, but there are many circumstances which it is not easy to reconcile with that conclusion. In common with the perforated copper plates, already described, they exhibit slight traces of friction upon the edges of the holes, which for the most part are as sharp as if newly cut. This could hardly be the case had they been worn suspended from the neck or upon any part of the person. Their material, shape, and style of workmanship, would seem to imply an ornamental purpose. It has been suggested that they were designed as implements, probably for condensing the raw hide or sinews used as bow-strings. This hypothesis is founded upon the character of the perforation, which is certainly such as would best subserve the purpose suggested; but the slight evidence of friction, already remarked, constitutes an objection to this conclusion which it is difficult to surmount. p239
The specimen dug up within the limits of Chillicothe, is said to have been found resting upon the breast of the skeleton with which it was deposited. The recollection of different individuals varies upon that point; hence no conclusion can be founded upon the position in which the relic was discovered. Those taken from the sepulchral mounds have uniformly been found by the side of the skeleton, near the bones of the hand.
Whatever their purposes, whether worn as ornaments or badges of authority and distinction, or designed as implements, it is certain they were in very general use. Not far from one hundred have been examined, which were procured from localities extending over the States of Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, and Indiana.156
Fig. 138 (half size) also presents examples of a large class of remains probably of kindred character with those last described, and, like them, always composed of an ornamental kind of stone. The engravings will best illustrate their form, which, in almost every specimen, is slightly varied. They have holes perforated diagonally, at their lower corners, in which marks of wear from suspension or use are distinctly visible. The field of their occurrence is equally extensive with that of the relics last described.
It may reasonably be concluded from the uniform shape of these articles, and from their apparent unfitness as implements, as also from the wide range of their occurrence, that they were invested with a conventional significance as insignia or badges of distinction or as amulets. We know that the custom of wearing certain stones as preventives of disease, or as safeguards against accidents or the malice of evil spirits, has not been confined to one continent or a single age. It is not entirely obliterated among certain classes of our own people. Regal authority is still indicated by rich baubles of gold and gems. It matters little whether the p240 index of royalty be a sceptre, or a simple carved and polished stone, so that it is sanctioned with general recognition.
Fig. 139 (half size) is made of a beautiful variety of quartz, of a white ground, clouded with green. It is smoothly wrought and polished, and is perforated from the ends. The shape is well shown by the engraving and supplementary section. It was probably designed for suspension, as an ornament.
Fig. 140 (quarter size) is wrought from the beautiful variegated slate so often referred to. It is marked upon its upper convex edge with notches, twenty-eight in number. Its purpose must remain entirely a matter of conjecture.
MICA ORNAMENTS.—Thin sheets of mica, cut in the form of scrolls, discs, etc., have been occasionally found in the mounds. Fig. 141 presents examples. The scrolls, in this instance, measure six inches in length, and the discs are two inches in diameter. These are composed of the silvery or opaque mica, and are shaped with the utmost precision. The edges are perfectly smooth, as if cut with a very sharp instrument. They exhibit not the slightest irregularity, but are geometrically correct. Each piece is perforated with a small hole, such as would be formed by thrusting a blunt needle through it. They were probably in some way attached as ornaments to the dress.157 p241
In the Grave creek mound were found, with one of the skeletons, about one hundred and fifty bits of mica, an inch and a half or two inches square, each perforated with two or more small holes. These slips were about the thickness of ordinary writing paper, and it is supposed they were attached together, forming a sort of scarf or ornamental article of dress.158 Many of the mounds, it may here be observed, contain mica, sometimes in plates of considerable thickness, but usually in simple folia, with ragged outlines.
In a mound excavated a year or two since near Lower Sandusky, Ohio, upwards of twenty oval plates of mica of great beauty were discovered, each perforated with a small hole at one end, evidently for the purpose of suspension. They were of the beautiful variety of the mineral known as “hieroglyphic” or “graphic” mica, and the natural markings were taken by the persons who discovered them to be veritable hieroglyphics—the records of an extinct people.
Most of the relics found in the mounds fall under the foregoing heads of classification. There are many, however, the purposes of which are entirely enigmatical. Whether designed as implements or ornaments, or whatever their particular purpose, it is not easy, and probably of not much importance, to determine. They are only valuable as illustrations of the skill of their makers, and can have but a slight bearing upon the more important questions connected with American archæology.
148 Clavigero says of the ancient Mexicans: “It would be difficult to find a nation which accompanied so much simplicity of dress with so much variety and luxury in other ornaments of their persons. Besides feathers and jewels, with which they adorned their clothes, they wore ear-rings, pendants at the upper lip, and many likewise at their noses, necklaces, bracelets for the hands and arms, and also certain rings like collars around their legs. The ear-rings and pendants of the poor were shells, pieces of crystal, amber, or some other shining little stones; but the rich wore pearls, emeralds, amethysts, or other gems, set in gold.”
149 Several thousands of these beads were found in the Grave creek mound. They are much thinner than those discovered in the Scioto valley; otherwise they closely resemble them. They were for a long time supposed to be ivory. Their true character was first detected by Mr. Schoolcraft. See Transactions of American Ethnological Society, vol. i. p. 398.
150 “The tombs of the dead,” says Charlevoix, “are held so sacred in this country, that to violate them is the greatest hostility that can be committed against a nation.”—Canada, vol. 2, p. 153.
“Notwithstanding the North American Indians inter the whole riches of the deceased with him, and so make his corpse and the grave heirs to all, they never give them the least disturbance;—even a blood-thirsty enemy will not despoil or disturb the dead.”—Adair, p. 178.
The Indians of the Columbia river, it seems, have less faith in the veneration of their race. They take care to bend the gun barrels, break holes in the vessels, and otherwise render valueless the various articles deposited with their dead; thereby removing the temptation to sacrilege.
151 “Amulets and neck and ear ornaments constituted a very ancient and important department in the arcanum of the Indian’s wardrobe. They were connected with his superstitions, and were part of the external system of his religion. The aboriginal man who had never laid aside his oriental notions of necromancy, and believed firmly in witchcraft, wore them as charms. They were among the most cherished and valued articles he could possibly possess. They were sought with great avidity, at high prices, and, after having served their purposes of warding off evil while he lived, were deposited in his grave at his death. Bones, shells, carved stones, gems, claws and hoofs of animals, feathers of carnivorous birds, and above all the skins of serpents, were cherished with the utmost care and regarded with the most superstitious veneration. To be decked with suitable amulets, was to him to be invested with a charmed life. They added to his feeling of security and satisfaction in his daily avocations, and gave him new courage in war.”—Schoolcraft’s Notes on the Iroquois, p. 226.
152 SCHOOLCRAFT, “Notes on the Iroquois,” p. 227. It is undoubted that some of the Indian tribes to the west of the Mississippi have the art, it is not presumed to say how or where acquired, of making a sort of enamelled beads, which they contrive to color of various shades. Some of these, of tolerable workmanship, are in the cabinet of the authors. They were obtained from the celebrated Fond de Bœuf, into which they were thrown under some superstitious impulse. Lewis and Clarke give an account of the manufacture of these ornaments, which is fully sustained by the peculiarities of the beads here mentioned.
153 LAWSON’S Carolina, p. 193. We have discovered none of these ornaments in the mounds, and it is difficult to say whether or not they are genuine relics of the mound-builders. It is possible they were used both by the earlier and later races. In the Museum of the East India Society at Salem, Mass., are a number of articles of similar character, which were found while making excavations in that city. They are larger and of much ruder workmanship than those of Ohio, but of the same shape, and grooved in like manner. It has been suggested that those of hematite, which are most numerous, were carried about the person for the purpose of supplying an ornamental paint. Rubbed upon any sharp grit with water, they furnish a dull red pigment,—much inferior, however, to the French preparations for the toilette. Irregular fragments of the same material are sometimes found bearing the marks of frequent trituration. Such may have been the secondary use of some of these articles; the frequent occurrence of those made from other materials establishes that they were primarily designed for other purposes. One composed of pieces of copper, rudely hammered together with little slips of silver inserted in the crevices, was found at Marietta, and is now in the cabinet of the Worcester Antiquarian Society; another, found at Cincinnati, and composed of quartz crystal, is in the Museum of the Philosophical Society at Philadelphia. Although found in mounds, it is exceedingly doubtful whether they were part of the original deposits.
154 One of these articles, in the possession of Dr. Hildreth of Marietta, Ohio, is fourteen inches in length and is perforated with no less than seven holes. This seems to have been an exception to the general rule, perhaps it was designed for a different purpose.
155 A relic, almost identical in shape with No. 4, was found in the great mound at Grave creek, and was supposed to be ivory, altered by long exposure in the earth. (American Pioneer, vol. ii. p. 200.) Mr. Schoolcraft, who examined it subsequently, describes it as “white, heavy, easily cut, moist, and possessing very much the appearance and feel of certain oxides,” and suggests that a plate of some oxidable metal may still exist in the centre. (Transactions of American Ethnological Society, vol. i. p. 402.) This description would have applied to the articles described in the text, at the period of their removal from the earth. They, however, lost their moist feel and became quite hard upon exposure to the air. The material was a matter of speculation, until the fracture of one of the relics disclosed its character. The Grave creek relic measures six and a half inches in length.
156 ADAIR mentions ornaments worn by the “high priests” of the Southern tribes of Indians, which may have been identical with those here described. He says: “The American archi-magus wears a breast-plate, made of a white conch shell, with two holes bored in the middle of it, through which he puts the ends of an otter-skin strap, and fastens a buck-horn button to the outside of each.” (Adair’s American Indians, p. 84.) Our author does not fail to identify this badge with the sacred urim and thummim of the Jewish high priest, and draws a notable argument therefrom in support of his hypothesis of the Jewish origin of the American Indians. A similar ornament is mentioned by Beverly, as one of the principal decorations of the Indians of Virginia. He describes it as “a tablet of fine shell, smooth as polished marble.” (History of Virginia, p. 141.)
157 Humboldt states that the Guaynares of the Rio Caura in South America are accustomed to stain themselves with arnotto, and to make broad transverse stripes on the body with some unctuous substance on which they stick spangles of silvery mica. Seen at a distance they appear to be dressed in lace clothes (Pers. Narration, ch. xxiv.) Other nations, both of South and North America, used gold dust or other shining material, “with which they sprinkled their bodies and seemed to be gilt.” (Hackluyt, vol. 2, p. 57.)
158 Mr. Schoolcraft observes that some of the Algonquin bands, on the sources of the Mississippi, construct war-scarfs out of the brilliant-colored filaments of skins, ornamented with shells and the quills of the porcupine, and with the fine black points of deer’s hoofs to produce a jingling sound. These are attached by strings to the breast, and are worn only by the warriors.—Transactions of American Ethnological Society, vol. i. p. 400.