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 — John Shaqi
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
For the purpose of showing the very wide distribution of vessels made
from large seashells, especially the _Busycon perversum_, I introduce
here descriptions of most of the specimens heretofore reported.
Dr. Rau, in his paper on ancient aboriginal trade in North America,
states that in the collection of Colonel Jones, of Brooklyn, there is a
vessel formed from a _Cassis_ which is eight and a half inches long, and
has a diameter of seven inches where its periphery is widest. It was
obtained from a stone grave near Clarksville, Habersham County,
Georgia.[7]
Two fine specimens of the _Cassis flammea_ were taken from mounds in
Nacoochee Valley, Georgia. They were nearly ten inches in length and
about seven inches in diameter. The interior whorls and columellæ had
been removed, so that they answered the purpose of drinking cups or
receptacles of some sort.[8]
From a stone grave mound near Franklin, on the Big Harpeth River, Prof.
Joseph Jones took two large sea-shells, one of which was much decayed.
The interior surface of these shells had been painted red, and the
exterior had been marked with three large circular spots.[9]
In the grave of a child, near the grave just mentioned, the following
relics were found: "Four large sea-shells, one on each side of the
skeleton, another at the foot, and the fourth, a large specimen, with
the interior apartments cut out and the exterior surface carved, covered
the face and forehead of the skull."[10]
In a small mound opposite the city of Nashville, Tenn., Professor Jones
found "a large sea-conch." The interior portion or spiral of which had
been carefully cut out; it was probably used as a drinking vessel, or as
the shrine of an idol as in a case observed by Dr. Troost.[11]
Two large shells of _Busycon_, from which the columellæ had been
removed, were obtained from the Lindsley mounds, sixty miles east of
Nashville, by Professor Putnam.[12]
Professor Wyman, writing of the mounds of Eastern Tennessee, says that
"among the implements are well-preserved cups or dishes, made of the
same species of shell [_Busycon perversum_] as the preceding, but of
much more gigantic size than those now found. One of them measures a
foot in length, though the beak has been broken off. When entire its
length could not have been less than fourteen or fifteen inches. These
shells probably came from the Gulf of Mexico, and found their way into
Tennessee as articles of traffic. The dishes are made in the same way,
and not to be distinguished from those found in Florida at the time of
the first visit of the Europeans, or from those, as will be seen
further, found in the ancient burial mounds. The great similarity in the
style and make of these dishes renders it quite probable that they were
manufactured in Florida."[13] A number of similar dishes, made from the
same shell, were obtained from mounds at Cedar Keys, Florida, by
Professor Wyman.[14]
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