And now we come to the question of the origin of these objects, and especially of the example most closely resembling Mexican work. The Missouri gorget is in many respects quite isolated from known works of the Mississippi Valley. Must it be regarded as an exotic, as an importation from the South, or does it belong to the soil from which it was exhumed? In order to answer this question we must not only determine its relations to the art of Mexico, but we must know just what affinities it has to the art of the mound-builders. In the first place, gorgets of shell are a marked characteristic of the personal embellishment of the northern peoples. They may have been in use among the Aztecs, but do not appear among southern antiquities, and no evidence can be derived from history. This gorget belongs, in its general character as an ornament, to the North. It is circular in form, it has two small perforations near the margin for suspension, and is made from the wall of a large univalve. The design occupies the central portion of the convex side of the disk and is inclosed by a number of incised lines. In all of these features, together with its technical execution and its manner of inhumation, it is identical with the well-known work of the mound-builders. These analogies could hardly occur if it were an exotic. It is true, however, as we have already seen, that the design itself has a closer affinity to Mexican art than to that of the North. It represents a sacrificial scene, and has many parallels in the paintings and sculpture of the South, whereas no such design is known in the art of any nation north of Mexico. The engravings of the mound-builders represent legendary creatures derived from the myths of the fathers, and in this respect have their parallels in the bird-man of the Haidahs, the war-god of the Zuñis, and the mythical deities of other countries; but they are never illustrative of the customs or ceremonies of the peoples themselves. As an ornament this Missouri gorget is a member of a great family that is peculiarly northern, but the design engraved upon it affiliates with the art of Mexico, and so close and striking are the resemblances, that accident cannot account for them, and we are forced to the conclusion that it must be the offspring of the same beliefs and customs and the same culture as the art of Mexico. [Illustration: PL. LXXVII--FROGS, ARIZONA. Carved from _pectunculus_ shells. (1/1)] FOOTNOTES: [1] I am greatly indebted to Prof. W. H. Dall, of the Coast Survey, for assistance in the identification of Pacific coast varieties. [2] Putnam: in Surveys West of the 100th Meridian, Vol. VII, p. 251. [3] Reiss and Stübel: Necropolis of Ancon, Peru, Plate 83. [4] De Bry: Collectio Pars 2. Brevis Narratio, 1591, Plate 29. [5] Kohl: Kitschi-Gami, vol. I, p. 186, Rau, trans. [6] Cabeça de Vaca: Relation et Naufrages. Paris, 1837, p. 121. Spanish ed., 1555.