Stone tablets. Flat pieces of stone are sometimes found; but they are very rare. One of these found by Montgomery in 1889 is made from pipestone or catlinite and has the figure of an animal carved upon each side. (See Fig. 310.) One of the carvings is probably meant to represent a beaver, and the figure upon the other side of the tablet is a representation of a buffalo cow with open mouth, and the figure of a stone spear-head with shaft attached, pointing to the heart. It would seem to indicate that the buffalo had been shot in the heart by the spear or large arrow, and in consequence the mouth is represented as being wide open. Some, however, interpret the position of the spear and shaft to mean the “line of life,” which may possibly be the correct interpretation. Another tablet found by Montgomery in a burial-mound has the figure of a beaver carved upon each side, one representing the upper surface of the animal, and the other being a side view. _Objects of Copper_ The articles made of copper are few in kind and number. They are chiefly simple cylindrical tubular beads and rudely formed spear-heads of native copper. _Objects of Pottery_ The writer has found a number of vessels of pottery in the burial-mounds of northern Dakota. All of them are small urn-shaped vessels of coiled ware, and almost all of them were found in a perfect condition. In most cases their decoration is a continuous spiral groove around the body of the urn, terminating near the centre of the bottom of the vessel. In a few instances the decorative design is different; and some are provided with four holes in the rim for suspension by cords. On the Mandan village-sites and in the more southern parts of Dakota many fragments of pottery jars and vessels are found. These have various incised decorative designs, and in some cases ears or small handles are present. Much of this pottery closely resembles the pottery of the eastern part of the continent. _Objects of Unbaked Clay_ There have been tobacco-pipes of unbaked clay found by the writer in the burial-mounds of this region. One form of these consists simply of a bowl with a straight tubular passage. (See Fig. 429.) It is nearly of the same design as that of the catlinite pipe. A second kind (see Fig. 429) has stem and bowl in one piece and is bent or curved so that the stem is at right angles with the bowl as in modern pipes. These pipes, like some of the catlinite pipes taken from the ancient mounds, showed evidence of much usage, there being a considerable incrustation or deposit within the bowl from the burning of kinni-kinnic of some kind.