If one will reflect on the beginnings of human culture, it may seem to one that the earliest man picked up a flat bit of bright stone without irregular edges—perhaps it was oval—and drilled a little hole in the top, and wore it about his neck as an ornament. It is not to be supposed that man began with the specialized forms, or a ridged ornament, which must have been of later development. Whether by later, one means a few generations or a thousand years, is immaterial, for, as we have observed in other places in this book, some tribes progressed rapidly, while others did not. Among the latter, the period of development in ornamental stones would be practically nil, for there are no problematical forms among such Indians as the Seris, whom McGee found in the stone age as late as 1901.[8] [Illustration: FIG. 291. (S. 1–2.) Peabody Museum, Harvard University, collection. Further development of the single-perforation stone ornament. The circular disc is seldom found, and was probably an ear-ring. ] [Illustration: FIG. 292 ] Now, while such Indians as the Seris have not progressed, we must not imagine that the rate of progress among other tribes was always very low. It may have been rapid or it may have been retarded; no man can affirm with reference to this. But it is to be supposed that the progress was considerable, for the Indian is superior to most other tribes of barbarians. [Illustration: FIG. 293. (S. varying.) Andover collection. Three ovate pendants drilled at either end. The one to the right is decorated with eight incised lines on the right end, and seven at the left. The specimen to the left is full size, the centre one, a pendant of veined quartz, is two thirds size, while the smaller one is one third size. ] It is not necessary to point out that the Indian brain is finer than the Australian or African brain. The Indian is bright, he is alert, he is quick to avail himself of natural advantages. I have always been of the opinion that, had the Indian discovered the properties of iron, and constructed more permanent dwellings, he would have developed a high culture peculiarly his own, on this continent. [Illustration: FIG. 294. (S. 1–1.) Ohio State Archæological and Historical Society collection. An ornament made of strips of ocean shell about one inch wide at the centre and gradually tapering to about three fourths of an inch at the end. Ornaments of this kind varied in length from six inches to four inches. The ends were cut square, into which a small hole was bored, about the centre of the ornament, to a depth of one fourth of an inch. A second hole was bored from the concave side to connect with the first hole, thus forming a means of attachment that could not be seen from the convex side. The strips were cut from the body of the shell and conform to the general curve of the shell. ]