Art in Shell of the Ancient Americans: Second annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880-81, pages 179-306Holmes, William Henry
History
Art in Shell of the Ancient Americans: Second annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880-81, pages 179-306
Holmes, William Henry
Indian art; Indians -- Antiquities
The specimen chosen as a type of these rosette-like disks was obtained
from a mound near Nashville, Tenn., by Professor Powell. It was found
near the head of a skeleton, which was much decayed, and had been so
disturbed by recent movements of the soil as to render it difficult to
determine its original position. The shell used is apparently a large
specimen of the _Busycon perversum_, although the lines of growth are
not sufficiently well preserved to permit a positive determination of
the species. The substance of the shell is well preserved; the surface
was once highly polished, but is now pitted and discolored by age. The
design is engraved on the concave surface as usual, and the lines are
accurately drawn and clearly cut. The various concentric circles are
drawn with geometric accuracy around a minute shallow pit as a center.
These circles divide the surface into five parts--a small circle at the
center surrounded by four zones of unequal width. The central circle is
three-eighths of an inch in diameter, and is surrounded by a zone
one-half an inch in width, which contains a rosette of three involuted
lines; these begin on the circumference of the inner circle in three
small equidistant perforations, and sweep outward to the second circle,
making upwards of half a revolution. These lines are somewhat wider and
more deeply engraved than the other lines of the design. In many
specimens they are so deeply cut in the middle part of the curve as to
penetrate the disk, producing crescent-shaped perforations. The second
zone is one-fourth of an inch in width, and in this, as in all other
specimens, is quite plain. The third zone is one-half an inch in width,
and exhibits some very interesting features. Placed at almost equal
intervals we find six circular figures, each of which incloses a circlet
and a small central pit; the spaces between the circular figures are
thickly dotted with minute conical pits, somewhat irregularly placed;
the number of dots in each space varies from thirty-six to forty, which
gives a total of about two hundred and thirty.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account