The outer zone is subdivided into thirteen compartments, in each of which a nearly circular figure or boss has been carved, the outer edges of which form the scalloped outline of the gorget. Two medium sized perforations for suspension have been made near the inner margin of one of the bosses next the dotted zone; these show slight indications of abrasion by the cord of suspension. These perforations, as well as the three near the center, have been bored mainly from the convex side of the disk. Whatever may be the meaning of this design, we cannot fail to recognize the important fact that it is significant--that an idea is expressed. Were the design ornamental, we should expect variation in the parts or details of different specimens resulting from difference of taste in the designers; if simply copied from an original example for sale or trade to the inhabitants we might expect a certain number of exact reproductions; but in such a case, when variations did occur, they would hardly be found to follow uniform or fixed lines; there would also be variation in the relation of the parts of the conception as well as in the number of particular parts; the zones would not follow each other in exactly the same order; particular figures would not be confined to particular zones; the rays of the volute would not always have a sinistral turn, or the form of the tablet be always circular and scalloped. It cannot be supposed that of the whole number of these objects at one time in use, more than a small number have been rescued from decay, and these have been obtained from widely scattered localities and doubtless represent centuries of time, yet no variants appear to indicate a leading up to or a divergence from the one particular type. A design of purely ornamental character, even if executed by the same hand, could not, in the nature of things, exhibit the uniformity in variation here shown. Fancy, unfettered by ideas of a fixed nature, such as those pertaining to religious or sociologic customs, would vary with the locality, the day, the year, or the life. I have examined upwards of thirty of these scalloped disks, the majority of which are made of shell. I shall not attempt to describe each specimen, but shall call attention to such important variations from the type as may be noticed. [Illustration: PL. LIV--SCALLOPED SHELL DISK. Nashville, Tenn. (1/1)]