it, or a horse killed at a single blow. It is described as a "twohanded staff, about three feet and a half long, in which at regular distances, were inserted transversely, sharp blades of itzli (obsidian)." Some accidental discovery of this kind may sometime indicate to us the use of these strange "plummet" implements, wrought with so much care, and bearing such a striking similarity to each other, whether found in the débris of the mountains of California, the mounds of Ohio, or on the banks of the Mississippi. In the meantime we can only speculate upon the uses made of them, and in this paper I propose to enumerate, describe and figure some of them, show the circumstances under which they were found and offer some conjectures upon their uses.

Fig. 132 represents what may be styled the typical form of these implements. It is made of iron ore, ground down and polished, until it is almost as smooth as glass. It is one of eight found by Henry Root, Esq., of Quincy, Illinois. "They were found two miles north of Quincy, at the foot of the Mississippi Bluff, about two feet from the surface, embedded in solid clay. Two were found in digging one post hole, and six others within a few feet." The one figured * above is in my possession, another one of the same number very much like it, is deposited in the State Geological collection at Springfield, Illinois. Prof. Worthen informs me that the iron ore, out of which they were manufactured, was obtained from Iron Mountain in Missouri.

A fragment of one found in Scott County, Illinois, upon the surface of the earth was also made of iron ore. The broken ends are very much worn, as if ground down by hand or by time.

Another one (Fig. 133), having the general shape of figure 132, except that it is much wider in the widest part, was also found on the surface of the earth near the Illinois River in Scott County. The dotted lines are the restoration of the small end, which was broken off. This was found in a field on top of the bluff by Mr. Gardner. Within a mile of where it was picked up is the site of an old Indian village, where pottery, arrow heads, axes, etc., are found. In the burying ground, upon a hill near by, I found traces of funeral ceremonies which were not practised by the Indians of this locality, when discovered by the French in the latter part of the seventeenth century. Upon opening a mound about ten feet in diameter and three feet in height, I found as many as eight

* All the cuts here given are of the exact size of the implements.

They were

There were

skeletons, all showing distinctly the marks of fire. thrown together without any regularity whatever. no ashes nor cinders in the mound, which led me to believe that the bodies had been burned near by and the charred remains thrown upon the tomb of the person whose remains were found below them. The bones of this single individual were found at the base of the mound. He (or rather she, for from the skull I judge that it was a female) was buried originally in a sitting

posture, but the weight of the superincumbent earth had forced or crowded the vertebræ of the neck into the bifurcation of the lower jaw, and had twisted the head down to one side, so that when found the skull was resting on its side with the face to the east. A skull remarkably flattened by artificial means, or distorted, was found, similar to that of the Peruvian Child, plate No. 10, of Dr. Morton's "Crania Americana." We here see evidence of two practices, that of sacrificing the living upon the

grave of the dead, and the distortion of the skull, both of which were common among the Natchez and other tribes upon the lower Mississippi, but neither of which was practised by tribes living upon the banks of the Upper Mississippi, since its discovery. Whether the "plummet" found near their village belonged to them, or to some older population, can only be a matter of conjecture. The implement is made of a whitish limestone containing numerous small joints of Crinoids.

A much smaller implement, but evidently used for the same purpose (Fig. 134), was found sixteen feet below the surface of the

It is made of green stone.

earth, in Brown County, Illinois. With it were found a small stone scraper and a small disk. The locality where it was found was the bed of a ravine which had been filled up by soil washed from higher ground.

The one represented in figure 135 is copied from Schoolcraft's work, Vol. IV, 175. He describes it as "a fisherman's sinker, of the Penacook tribe, accurately wrought in stone."

66

In a mound at Marietta, Ohio, " near the feet of a skeleton was found a piece of copper (Fig. 136) weighing three ounces (now in

the Museum of the Antiquarian Society of Worcester). From its shape it appears to have been used as a plumb or for an ornament, as near one of the ends is a circular crease or groove for tying a thread; it is round, two inches and a half in length, one inch in diameter at the centre, and half an inch at each end. It is composed of small pieces of native copper pounded together; and in the cracks between the pieces, are stuck several pieces of silver, one nearly the size of a half dime. A piece of ochre or paint, and a piece of iron ore (hematite) which had the appearance of having been partially vitrified (polished) were found." "The body of the person here buried was laid upon the surface of the ground, with his face upwards, and his feet pointing to the southwest. From the appearance of several pieces of charcoal and bits of partially burned fossil coal, and the black color of the earth, it would seem that the funeral obsequies had been celebrated by fire; and while the ashes were yet hot and smoking, a circle of flat stones had been laid around and over the body.

**

"The mound had every appearance of being as old as any in the neighborhood and was, at the first settlement of Marietta, covered with large trees. It seems to have been made for this single personage, as the remains of one skeleton only were discovered. The bones were much decayed, and many of them crumbled to dust on exposure to the air."*

About ten years ago one of these implements was found, under remarkable circumstances, in Woodbridge County, California. From a paper read by Dr. J. W. Foster before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, at Chicago, 1868, I extract the following description. "The workmen after digging thirty feet below the surface struck a plummet composed of sienite, ground smooth and formed into a double cone, showing that it was suspended by a string and used to determine perpendicular lines. It affords an example of the lapidary's skill superior to anything furnished by the stone age in either continent." The well was sunk by Jeremiah Wood, on the premises of Mr. McNeely. But if the depth in the earth, at which this specimen was found, is calculated to impress us with the great antiquity of these implements, what shall we say of those found in Table Mountain, in the same state? In a paper read by Professor W. P. Blake, before the same meeting of the Association held at Chicago, 1868, we

* Aboriginal Monuments of New York, by E. G. Squier.

find the following description of the mountain and the relics of art found in it, among which were "some instruments resembling plummets." Where the mountain now stands was a valley traversed by a river. Here ages since, there commenced a deposit with gold, pebbles, mud and sand. Volcanic action encrusted these with ashes, and at last all was covered by the lava. As the valley filled up, the water of the river cut on each side of the accumulating mass a channel commencing at the base of the deposit of lava. In time it washed its way until the Table Mountain stands erect and two valleys are formed, one on either side of it. This mountain extends with its flat summit for miles, its surface edge being a bold bluff of black appearing rock, with little or no vegetation upon its plane. The thickness of the entire deposit averages from one to two hundred feet, the height of the lava above the newly formed valleys being from one thousand to fifteen hundred feet. The miner seeking the auriferous deposit, having, by sinking a shaft, ascertained the greatest depth of the whole deposit, tunnels from the side of the valley, and this process has brought to light teeth of extinct mammalia as well as relics of human art. Among these were two stone objects which were supposed to be shovels used in cooking, by placing them upon or into the burning fuel; a mortar or dish, some instruments resembling plummets, and several spear heads."*

In all the specimens thus far described, no effort whatever was made by the artist to modify the form of the implement for the sake of either ornament or novelty, except the Marietta specimen, which had silver worked in the crevices. Whether of stone, copper or iron ore, it consists simply of a double cone, with the bulge nearer the base than top, and a very slight groove around the small end, for the purpose of tying the string by which it was suspended. Not even a line or mark is found upon their smooth polished surfaces, but the following relic (Figs. 137 and 138) is an exception to the above rule. The profile is neatly cut as if the artist had worked with a sharp cutting instrument. The vertical occiput, retreating forehead and massive jaws, give to it a strong Indian look, which is increased when viewed in front, and shows that the aboriginal artist was attempting to carve in stone a portrait, or at least, that he had succeeded in presenting the characteristic features of the Red Indian. The streaks of black paint

*AMERICAN NATURALIST, vol. II, p. 388.