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
Rectangular pendants are much more rare. The national collection
contains one rude specimen from Texas. It is about two inches wide by
two and a half long, and is made from the base of some large
dextral-whorled shell. A similar but much more finished specimen comes
from Georgia, and is preserved in the New York Natural History Museum.
A large keystone-shaped gorget with rounded corners was obtained from an
ancient burial place at Beverly, Canada. It is illustrated in Plate L,
Fig. 1.
The small pendant shown in Fig. 5 is given by Schoolcraft in "Notes on
the Iroquois." It represents rudely the human figure, and is ornamented
with eight perpendicular and four or five transverse dots. It was found
on the site of an old fort near Jamesville, N. Y. In the same work Mr.
Schoolcraft illustrates another small pendant, which is reproduced in
Fig. 6. The body is heart-shaped, the perforation being made through a
rectangular projection at the upper end. It was found at Onondaga, N. Y.
The small pendant presented in Fig. 7 is from West Bloomfield, N. Y. It
has been suspended by means of a shallow groove near the upper end. It
is made from the basal point of a dextral-whorled shell.
The handsome little pendant shown in Fig. 8 was found with similar
specimens in Monroe County, New York--probably on some ancient village
site. It is well preserved and has been made from the columella of a
dextral-whorled shell. An ornamental design, consisting of lines and
dots, is engraved upon the face. A small, deeply countersunk perforation
has been made near the upper end. These objects have apparently been
strung with beads, as the perforations show evidence of such abrasion as
beads would produce. Many of the New York specimens have a new look, and
their form suggests the possibility of civilized influence. They are
certainly more recent than the western and southern specimens.
A small cylindrical pendant is illustrated in Fig. 9. A large, neat
perforation has been made at the upper end, and the middle portion of
the body is ornamented by a series of encircling grooves. This specimen
has been made from a large _Unio_ and was obtained from a mound in Union
County, Ky.
[Illustration: PL. XLVI--PENDANT ORNAMENTS--EASTERN FORMS.]
_Western forms._--In variety of form the plain pendants of the
California coast excel all others. Specimens from the graves are
generally well preserved, not having lost their original iridescence,
although so much decayed as to suffer considerably from exfoliation.
As indicated by the present well preserved condition of these shell
ornaments, they are probably not of very ancient date; indeed it is
highly probable that many of them are post-Columbian.
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