CASE 

I 




















m ~\ 










*->/y 




THE 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE 



AND THE ADJACENT STATES 



AND THE 



STATE OF ABORIGINAL SOCIETY IN THE SCALE OF 
CIVILIZATION REPRESENTED BY THEM 



A SERIES OF HISTORICAL AND ETHNOLOGICAL STUDIES 



BY 

GATES P. THRUSTON 

1 1 

VICE-PBESIDENT OF THE TENNESSEE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



SECOND EDITION 

WITH NEW CHAPTERS, NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS 



CINCINNATI 
THE ROBERT CLARKE COMPANY 

1897 



COPYRIGHT, 1890, 
BY GATES P. THRUSTQN. 



TO THE 



OFFICERS AND MEMBERS 



TENNESSEE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 



AND ESPECIALLY TO 



JOHN M. LEA, ITS HONORED PRESIDENT, 



THEIR ENCOURAGING WORDS FIRST SUGGESTED ITS PUBLICA 
TION, AND HAVE CONSTANTLY RELIEVED THE 
LABORS OF ITS PREPARATION. 



M13S885 



PREFACE. 



The main purpose of this volume is to present the results of 
recent archaeological investigations in Tennessee. When the large 
aboriginal cemetery near Nashville was discovered and explored 
several years ago, at the instance of the Tennessee Historical 
Society, I undertook the duty of preparing a pamphlet illustrating 
some of the fine types of pottery and other objects from the stone 
graves; but the material worthy of illustration accumulated so rap 
idly that it was found impracticable to do justice to it in the modest 
way contemplated, and the " pamphlet " has grown gradually into 
its present proportions. It became necessary to consider the general 
subject of ancient monuments and antiquities in Tennessee, in order 
to properly introduce the new material discovered, and thus render 
the publication useful to a larger class of readers. It seemed also 
desirable to include a more complete summary, for the benefit of 
the large number of students in Tennessee specially interested in its 
antiquities. 

As the aboriginal remains of some portions of the neighboring 
states are very similar in character, I have illustrated specimens 
from these states, when convenient and of interest, and have felt at 
liberty to include them in the title to this publication. 

The subject has been presented in a series of historical and ethno 
logical studies. 

Unfortunately, engrossing business engagements and duties 
have seriously interrupted the leisure necessary to the satisfactory 
preparation of the work. Most of the chapters have been written 
in the office of the " President and Attorney " of the State Insur 
ance Company of Tennessee, where contracts and mortgages, and 
old flints and vessels from the graves, have been piled upon the 

(v) 



Vi PREFACE. 

same office desk, during the past year or more ; but my antiquarian 
friends may be assured that the " old relics and pots " have received 
an ample share of consideration, and have been regarded as fully as 
interesting and important as the more commercial treasures. These 
double duties, I trust, may be accepted as my apology for a few 
repetitions and an occasional lack of care and consistency in the 
preparation of some portions of the volume. 

The preparation of the engravings (which will, of course, be re 
garded as the most useful part of the work) has been an arduous 
task. I regret that many of them are inartistically, and even 
crudely, executed, but it has been impracticable to send the delicate 
and valuable specimens to the centers of the engraving arts to be 
sketched and illustrated. I have, therefore, been compelled to con 
tent myself with such facilities in this department as were afforded 
at borne. I have endeavored, however, to illustrate the objects 
with exactness of details and truthful expression, I have also had 
many of the specimens photographed in groups and photo-engraved 
by the Moss Engraving Company, of New York, directly from these 
impressions, thus reproducing the original objects with photo 
graphic fidelity. These plates are admirably executed. 

The genuineness of the new specimens illustrated may be relied 
upon. As a rule, collectors of experience and observation are less 
likely to be imposed upon by " archaeological frauds " than more 
learned " scientists " and theorists, who are, occasionally, too ready 
to reject evidence as to new discoveries. 

We are under obligations to many friends and others for assist 
ance in this work. To the valuable researches of Dr. Joseph Jones, 
the pioneer of arch geological investigation in Tennessee, we are 
greatly indebted, as we are also to Prof. F. "W. Putnam, of the Pea- 
body Museum, and to Colonel C. C. Jones, Jr., of Georgia, author of 
the Antiquities of the Southern Indians. We are under special ob 
ligations to Mr. W. II. Holmes, of the National Bureau of Eth 
nology, and to Dr. Cyrus Thomas, Mayor J. W. Powell, and also to 
Prof. Langley, of the Smithsonian Institution. 

These useful public institutions are more than fulfilling the ex- 



PREFACE. Vll 

pectations of the government and the public, in the advancement 
and dissemination of useful scientific knowledge. 

Since the foregoing preface was written, the first edition of this 
work has been disposed of by the publishers; and a number of new 
archaeological discoveries of much interest having been made in 
Tennessee and the adjacent States, the author feels justified in 
reporting and illustrating them, in a second edition. 

Two new supplemental chapters have been added to the volume, 
with numerous notes and also several new plates and engravings. 

G. P. T. 
NASHVILLE, TENN., 

March, 1897. 



LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS. 



FRONTISPIECE. Images of Terra Cotta, from the Stone Graves 1 

CHAPTER II. 

FIG. 1. Burial Casket of Pottery, Hale s Point, Tennessee 30 

2. Plan of Sumner County Earth-works 33 

3. Plan of Earth-works near Lebanon 34 

4. De Grafienreid Earth-works 36 

5. Earth-works at Old Town, Tennessee 39 

6. West Harpeth Earth-works 40 

7. Stone Fort, near Manchester 41 

8. Plan of Entrance to Fort 42 

9. Earth-works near Savannah, Tennessee 43 

10. Plan of Battle of the Horseshoe 57 

CHAPTER III. 

11. Ground Plan of Mandan House 75 

12. Cross Section of Mandan House 75 

13. Plastering Trowels, from the Stone Graves 76 

14. Navajo House. 78 

CHAPTER IV. 

15. Engraved Banner Stone 87 

16. Moqui Vessel 87 

17. Ornamented Mexican Pottery , 88 

18. Inscribed Stone Disc 89 

PLATE II. A Group of Mound Builders 90 

FIG. 19. Pottery Head, from Grave 93 

20. The Riggs Portrait Bowl 94 

21. Terra Cotta Head, from Grave 98 

22. Female Head, White s Creek Cemetery 99 

23. Image or Effigy Vessel 100 

PLATE III. Images of Terra Cotta, from the Stone Graves 102 

FIG. 24. Terra Cotta Fragments 102 

(ix) 



X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PLATE IV. Stone Idols and Terra Cotta Image 104 

FIG. 25. Head of Stone, Front and Profile Views 104 

26. Head of Image, Henry County 106 

27. Stone Idol, Knox County 106 

28. Stone Idol, Smith County 107 

29. Small Image of Stone, Davidson County. 109 

30. Image Found in Sea Shell 110 

31 . Cradle Board Image 112 

32. Toy Cradles of the Zunis 114 

33. 34. Crania from the Stone Graves 116 

35. Typical " Short " Cranium 117 

36. Typical Skull, Tennessee 118 

37. Typical Skull, Missouri 118 

38. Typical Peruvian Skull 120 

39. Cliff Dweller s Skull, New Mexico 121 

CHAPTER V. 

PLATE V. Vases, Jars, and Bottle-shaped Forms 132 

FIG. 40. Decorated Pottery 136 

41. Small Decorated Bowl , 136 

42. Decorated A^ase 137 

43. Pottery Vessel or Vase 137 

44. Effigy Vessel 138 

45c Three-legged Jar, Lebanon Works 139 

46. Pottery, Animal Form 140 

PLATE VI. Vessels of Pottery, from the Graves 140 

Fig. 47. Ornamented Bowl, Indented 141 

48. Terra Cotta Head and Bowl 142 

49. Bowl Heads 143 

50. Ornamented Bowl 144 

51. Animal and Head Handles 145 

52. Terra Cotta Chicken Head 145 

53. Arkansas Pottery 146 

54. " Dog and Bone " Bowl Handle 147 

55. Grotesque Bowl Handle 147 

56. Animal Head of Pottery 148 

PLATE VII. Vessels of Fish and Animal Forms, of Pottery 148 

FIG. 57. Turtle Bowl, Noel Cemetery 149 

PLATE VIII. Vases and Vessels of Pottery, from the Graves 150 

FIG. 58. Medallion Bowl, Noel Cemetery 151 

59. Bowl, Grotesque Human Form 151 

PLATE IX. Vessels and Images of Pottery 152 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XI 

FIG. 60. Fine Terra Cotta Head 154 

61. Ornamented Bowl, Scalloped 154 

62. Fine Mississippi Pottery 157 

63. Typical Peruvian Vessels 158 

63A. Arkansas and Missouri Types 158 

PLATE X. Sections of Large Vessel of Pottery (Diameter, Thirty-one inches). . . 158 

FIG. 64. Large Kettle of Pottery 161 

65. Pottery Implements, Small Trowels 162 

66. Plastering Trowels , 163 

67. Terra Cotta Rattle 164 

68. Terra Cotta Marbles 164 

69. Turtle Totem, Pottery 165 

70. Serpent Totem 166 

71. Small Terra Cotta Figures 167 

72. Ear-rings and Amulets 167 

73. Terra Cotta Ear-ring 167 

74. Terra Cotta Ring or Ear-ring Pendant 168 

75. Stone Ring, Plated with Copper 169 

76. Small Terra Cotta Bottle 171 

77. Pottery of the Fiji Islanders 173 

CHAPTER VI. 

78. Typical Clay Pipes 180 

79. Animal Head Pipe of Pottery 181 

80. Image Pipe, Montgomery County 182" 

81. Stone Pipe, Lebanon Works 183 

82. Stone Pipe, Etowah Mound, Georgia 184 

83. Image Pipe, Etowah Mound, Georgia 185 

84. Panther Pipe, Carthage Mound, Alabama 187 

85. Image Pipe, East Tennessee 188 

86. Duck Pipe, Sumner County 189 

87. Leg and Foot Pipe, Davidson County 190 

88. Tube Pipe of Pottery, Williamson County 190 

89. Tube Pipe of Stone, Overton County 191 

90. Tube Pipe of Stone, Clay County 192 

91. California and Pueblo Tube Pipes 193 

92. Kentucky Tube or Tube Pipe. 194 

93. Tube or Tube Pipe, Unfinished 195 

94. Curved Base or Platform Pipe, Tennessee 195 

95. Curved Base or Platform Pipe (Broken), Tennessee 196 

96. Long Platform Pipe of Steatite, Tennessee 197 

97. Eagle or Bird Pipe, Stone 198 



Xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

FIG. 98. Duck Pipe, Alabama 198 

99. Ancient Catlinite Pipe, Noel Cemetery 199 

100. Kentucky Disc Pipe, of Catlinite 200 

101. Tennessee Disc Pipe 201 

102. Large Calumet, Duck Form 202 

103. Large Bird Calumet 202 

104. Flying Bird Pipe 203 

105. Flying Bird Pipe 203 

106. Flying Bird Pipe, Georgia 204 

107. Large Calumet, Animal Head, 205 

108. Large Bird Pipe 205 

109. Bird Pipe . . 206 

110. Stone Pipe 206 

111. Bird Pipe 207 

112. Alligator Pipe, Davidson County 207 

113. Square Stone Pipe, Sumner County . . . 208 

114. Modern Pipe, of Catlinite 210 

115. Modern Pipe, Indian Chief Keokuk 210 

116. Chinook Bird Pipe .211 

117. Iroquois Pipe, of Pottery 211 

118. Pipe of North-west Coast Indians 212 

CHAPTER VII. 

PLATE XI. Chipped Flint Implements 218 

FIG. 119. Fine Flint Points 219 

PLATE XII. Unusual Types of Flints 220 

FIG. 120. Agricultural and Mechanical Implements 220 

PLATE XIII. Agricultural and Mechanical Implements , 222 

FIG. 121. Flint Adze 222 

122. Probable Method of Hafting Implements 223 

123, 124. Rude Flint Implements 223 

125. Small Flint Tools 224 

126. Scrapers, Side Views 224 

127. Chipped Flint Plummet 225 

128. Small Flint, Rectangular Form 225 

129. Flint Chisel 226 

130. Two Implements, Chisels 226 

131. Part of Set of Tools, from Grave 227 

132. Flint Cutting Knife 228 

133. Flint Cutting Knife and Handle 228 

134. Flint Knife, Davidson County 229 

135. Flint Knife, Davidson County . . . 229 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XJl l 

FIG. 136. Flint Knives, Davidson County 230 

137. Flint Implements 230 

138. Flint Celt or Hatchet, Davidson County 231 

139. Flaked Spear-head, Maury County 232 

140. Flint Dagger, Humphreys County 232 

141. Small Flint Dagger, Marshall County 233 

142. Flint Dagger, Davidson County 234 

143. Flint Dagger or Spear-head, Dickson County 235 

144. Flint Implement, Williamson County 235 

145. Double-barbed Spear-head 236 

146. Barbed Spear Points, Davidson County , 237 

147. Long Sword or Ceremonial Implement 237 

148. Flint Needle 237 

149. Long Scepter or Implement 237 

PLATE XIV. Ceremonial Implements of Flint 240 

FIG. 150. Long California Flint 243 

151. Ceremonial Implement or Scepter 244 

152. Ceremonial Implement 244 

153. Chipped Stone Hooks, Stewart County 245 

154. Chipped Stone Hooks, Humphreys County 246 

155. Chipped Stone Claw, Stewart County , 247 

156. Craw-fish Totem, Stewart County 249 

157. Chipped Stone Turtle, Smith County 250 

158. Chipped Flint Disc, Humphreys County 250 

PLATE XIVA. Ceremonial Implements and Totems 252a 

PLATE XIVB. Scepters or Maces of Flint 2526 

FIG. 158a. Ceremonial Club from Florida Mound 252c 

CHAPTER VIII. 

159. Grooved Stone Axes 255 

160. Typical Celts or Ungrooved Axes 256 

161. Historical Society Axe or Celt 257 

162. Stone Hammer, with Handle 257 

163. Stone Axe, with Stone Handle 259 

164. Large Stone Adze 259 

165. Hatchets and Chisels 260 

166. Swiss Implement, with Horn Handle 260 

167. Chisel and Knife 261 

168. Cutting Implements 262 

169. Rude Cutting Implements 262 

170. Sharpening or Smoothing Stone 263 

171. The Discoidals 264 

172. The Barrel or Cheese-shaped Disc 266 

173. Unusual Types of Discoidals 267 

174. Fabric Impressed upon Pottery 270 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

Kecent Discoveries in Tennessee Accounts of the Early Historians The Native 
Tribes Apparently Homogeneous Theories of Bancroft and Morgan Different 
Types of Indians A Summary of the Eesults of Investigation Traces of 
the Village or Pueblo Type The Shawnees The Natchez The Arts and 
Industries of the Mound Builders. 

The prehistoric cemeteries of the Stone Grave race of Tennes 
see are among the most interesting memorials of aboriginal life in 
America. The mortuary remains were placed in cists or box- 
shaped graves built of stone slabs, and sometimes constructed with 
much care. 

A hundred or more of these rude sarcophagi are occasionally 
found, deposited in several tiers or layers, in a single burial mound. 
In accordance with the ancient and modern mortuary customs of 
the native races, vessels containing provisions, and various utensils, 
were placed in the graves beside the dead, to supply them on their 
journey to the spirit land. Within these enduring cists of stone, 
are also found many other archaeological treasures, illustrating the 
arts and industries of the ancient inhabitants of Tennessee. They 
were thus sealed up and protected from the waste of time, nearly as 
effectually as the elaborate tombs of Pompeii and Cumee preserved 
the fragile vases of Roman porcelain. 

They tell the story of ancient domestic life in the Cumberland 
and Tennessee valleys with remarkable exactness, and unravel 
secrets that the most imposing monuments of the native races have 

(i) 



2 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

failed to disclose. One of the largest and richest of these aborigi 
nal cemeteries, about five miles south of Nashville, lying along 
the waters of Brown s creek, and in the midst of the historic 
battle field, has recently been explored, in fact, devastated by relic 
hunters and collectors. It is situated upon the farm of Mr. 0. F. 
Noel, adjoining Glendale Park, between the Franklin and the 
Middle Franklin turnpikes, and in one of the most fertile, well- 
watered, and beautiful sections of Tennessee. 

Upon this favored site, centuries ago, there was a large town 
or city, probably the ancient metropolis of the Stone Grave race 
of Middle Tennessee. Not less than three thousand closely laid 
stone graves were found in the adjacent cemetery, and at least a 
thousand more were discovered upon the adjoining farms Many 
towns, villages, and settlements were located in the surrounding 
country, and the smaller cemeteries upon nearly every large farm 
in this general section, establish the fact that a widely distributed 
population once occupied this fertile territory, and buried its dead, 
for several generations at least, m various local or family burial 
grounds. 

Notwithstanding its rough usage, the large central cemetery 
has proved a valuable treasury of antiquities. Some six or seven 
hundred perfect specimens of well-burned pottery have been 
obtained within its limits; many of them unique in form, and so 
finely finished that they may be said to be semi-glazed. Nearly 
every familiar natural object, animate and inanimate, is represented 
in the forms of this ware. Animals, birds, and fish in great 
variety, the human figure in many attitudes, sea-shell forms, and 
grotesque and fanciful figures are all represented, and many of the 
vessels have been colored and decorated with considerable artistic 
skill. There are cooking vessels, drinking cups, water jars, hang 
ing; vessels, sets of ware, ornamented and plain, basins, bottles, 
vases, spoons, and, indeed, every variety of equipment for a well- 
stocked aboriginal cuisine. Many of the images and terra-cotta 
heads doubtless show approximately types of the very faces and 



INTRODUCTORY. 3 

lineaments of the race buried beside them; evidently the ancient 
Indian aristrocracy of the Cumberland valley. 

No specimens of the kind of superior workmanship, or more 
distinctly outlining features, expression, and dress have been found, 
so far as we are informed, within the territorial limits of the United 
States. In a child s grave of the ancient cemetery was found a 
remarkable terra-cotta figure nine inches long, representing a little 
child or papoose tied to its hanging board, after the historic Indian 
style, showing that this custom also prevailed among the prehistoric 
tribes. Sets of toy plates, dainty little vases and bowls, and terra 
cotta rattles, and marbles for the children were found within their 
graves ; doubtless, placed there by the hands of the ever-loving 
mothers. It seems also that some of the inhabitants of this ancient 
city must have followed special trades or occupations, as sets of 
tools and implements of pottery, stone, and bone were discovered. 

Five clay implements of different sizes, probably plastering 
trowels, two of them quite large, were found in a single grave 
evidently the outfit of some plasterer, who worked upon the ancient 
adobe or clay-plastered houses that once dotted the picturesque 
valley of Brown s creek. The implements of the pottery makers 
were also abundant. 

A set of eight finely ground chisels of chipped flint were found 
in one grave, probably the equipment of some old artisan, perhaps 
a lapidary or wood-worker. A set of five peculiar and carefully 
made bone implements like little spatulse, or paddles, with long 
handles, looked like they might have been used to mix nostrums in 
some aboriginal medicine shop. An engraved disc of stone of some 
significance was also discovered in this old cemetery, and in some 
of the neighboring stone graves were small symmetrical wheels of 
stone and terra-cotta that looked like little pulleys, most skillfully 
plated with a thin coating of native copper. Beautiful quartz 
discs, rare and unique implements, and ceremonials of chipped and 
polished stone, were among the objects found. The presence of 
many articles from other sections of the country also indicates that 
in the prehistoric period there .must have been commercial inter- 



4 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

course or contact with tribes living at a great distance from this 
ancient town or city. Many of the drinking cups, ornaments, and 
utensils were made of marine shells from the gulf or the South 
Atlantic coast. The native copper found came from the horders of 
Lake Superior. The mica from Virginia and North Carolina. 
The material for the beautiful implements of steatite, hematite, 
porphyry, jasper, and cannel coal must have come from other, and 
in some instances, very distant sections. A pipe of brilliant red 
catlinite, found only in situ in "Western Minnesota, was one of the 
objects discovered. 

The vessels, ornaments, and implements, discovered in the 
graves of the smaller cemeteries of the surrounding country, show 
that the villagers and farmers, or gardeners, who were buried there, 
had probably lived nearly as comfortably as the townspeople on 
Brown s creek, and had been supplied with many domestic con 
veniences and even with luxuries. Notwithstanding the large 
population that occupied the central city and the adjacent country, 
no ancient defensive or military works or earth-works of magni 
tude have been discovered in the immediate vicinity of Nashville. 
There is a large artificial mound a half a mile north-east of Noel 
cemetery, about twelve feet high, but it does not appear to have 
been a place of burial or to have been connected with any system 
of earth-works. It was doubtless used for some public or religious 
purpose. It may have been a mound of observation or the 
residence site of some old chieftain. 

A cordon of frontier forts, or fortified towns, however, pro 
tected this central and thickly settled district, and probably enabled 
its population to live in peace and security for generations. This 
may in some measure account for the comparatively advanced state 
of native society in this section in the prehistoric time. There 
were two of these large forts on the north, in the adjacent county 
of Sumner, one about thirty miles to the eastward, in "Wilson 
county, and three or four in Williamson, the adjoining county on 
the south, distributed along the waters of the Harpeth river, thus 
inclosing the more advanced settlements of the Stone Grave race, 



INTRODUCTORY. 5 

near Nashville, with a line of outlying forts, nearly equidistant 
from this common center. On the north-west, and down the 
Cumberland river, were their kindred of the same race, and 
defensive works are not found, and were probably not necessary. 
Plans and descriptions of several of these fortified towns will be 
found in the succeeding, chapter. 

The remains of forts, villages, and settlements of the Stone 
Grave race have been discovered in several other portions of the 
state outside of this central district. There were also extensive 
settlements in the valleys of East Tennessee, in Northern Georgia, 
in the lower valley of the Cumberland, in Southern Kentucky, 
Southern Illinois, and perhaps other sections ; but the most popu 
lous centers of this interesting race seem to have been in the 
vicinity of Nashville. It is within the bounds of truth to state 
that, after a century of occupation by the whites, the burial 
grounds of its aboriginal inhabitants, within a radius of thirty 
miles from this center, contained a greater number of graves than 
the aggregate of the present cemeteries of the whites within the 
same limits. 

To the archaeologist they offer an inviting field for investiga 
tion. We know of no other portion of the Mississippi valley where 
the monuments and remains of the arts and industries of the native 
races can be studied with the hope of a better reward. 

Although essentially primitive and Indian in their character 
istics, the remains of " the mound builders," or fort builders, of 
the Cumberland valley indicate that this progressive race belonged 
to a more advanced type of North American Indians than the 
nomadic tribes of the early frontier. In the scale of civilization 
it should probably be classed with the best types of sedentary or 
village Indians of New Mexico or Arizona. The temperate climate 
of this section, its healthful, fertile, and well-watered valleys, 
favored development. The struggle for the necessities of life was 
not so severe as in the North. If modern Tennesseeans are per 
mitted to pride themselves upon the comparatively advanced state 
of their aboriginal predecessors, we may assure them, that the 



6 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

latter moved in the highest circles of respectability and barbaric 
comfort known to the ancient valley of the Mississippi. No native 
Americans north of Mexico, in the prehistoric period, came nearer 
to the confines of semi-civilization. 

Here, doubtless, the magnates of the Stone Grave tribes, upon 
public occasions, carried with dignity some of the remarkable 
scepters and maces of authority, and displayed the beautiful cere 
monial implements, engraved gorgets of shell, and family insignia, 
illustrated in succeeding chapters of this work. Here an indus 
trious and progressive race was slowly working its way along 
humble paths of progress toward a higher state. 

In an evil hour, unhappily, the spoilers came, perhaps the ( 
ancestors of the rapacious and vindictive Iroquois of the North, 
the Goths and Vandals of the Western World, arresting develop 
ment and rudely shocking and dispersing these less warlike com 
munities. The period of this catastrophe or succession of disasters 
was probably not very remote. 

If we could have been given a glimpse of the fair valley of the 
Cumberland in 1492, the date of the Columbian discovery, it is 
quite probable that we should have found some of these ancient 
settlements full of busy life. We might have learned the story of 
the mounds and graves from some of their own builders ; but 
nearly three centuries elapsed before the pioneers of civilization 
reached the confines of Tennessee. It is true that, about fifty years 
after the discovery, De Soto and his army (A. D. 1540) brushed along 
its southern border, rudely startling the native inhabitants, but they 
passed on across the great river and probably never came within 
the actual bounds of Tennessee. A hundred and thirty-two years 
then elapsed. In this long interval no European stepped within 
our limits, so far as we know. In 1673, Marquette came in his 
shallow bark, floating down upon the broad waters of the Missis 
sippi, its first white explorer. 

A few years later came that intrepid French discoverer, La 
Salle, but he only looked upon the swamps and forests of the river 



INTRODUCTORY. 7 

margin. Nearly a century intervened before the hardy pioneers 
of Virginia and Carolina scaled the mountains and claimed a home 
in the valley of the Watauga, or Daniel Boone started on the 
"wilderness trail" for the far West. 

In all these years, Tennessee, infolded in her ancient forests 
and mountain harriers in her insulation, remote from ocean, lake, 
and gulf was as unknown to the outer world as Central Africa. 
France claimed her territory by right of discovery as part of 
Louisiana and Illinois. Spain called it Florida and set up her 
right. England assumed sovereignty over it as part of Virginia 
and Carolina, but none of them took possession. Even its Indian 
claimants had to fight for their titles. Vincennes in Indiana, 
Kaskaskia in Illinois, and New Orleans were founded. Texas and 
Missouri were colonized. Santa Fe, in New Mexico, a thousand 
miles and more to the west, had become an old Spanish town ; yet 
Tennessee was still without name or description, save that it was 
marked on the New World maps as " the unexplored land of the 
ancient Shawnees." 

These facts are stated to show how little history can tell us 
directly of ancient Tennessee or of the Stone Grave race, yet for 
nearly four hundred years, Spanish, French, and English travelers 
have published chronicles and manuscripts relating to the natives 
of the South Atlantic And Mexican Gulf coasts, neighbors and 
allies of the tribes of the interior country, now known as Tennessee, 
and presumably akin to them in race and manner of life. Ponce de 
Leon came to Florida in 1512. De Ayllon, another Spaniard, 
visited the coast of South Carolina in 1520, and again in 1524. An 
Italian discoverer, Verrazano, visited the coast of North Carolina 
in 1524. He reported that he found the natives primitive in their 
habits, uncivilized, and numbering a large population. Narvaez, 
who vainly attempted in 1528 to conquer the country then called 
Florida (embracing Tennessee), found there populous towns, well 
fortified, and surrounded by extensive fields of corn and maize. 
Volumes of narrative and manuscript have also been left us by 
the chroniclers of De Soto s expedition. 



8 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

About 1540, Cartier and Roberval, French pioneers of dis 
covery, visited Canada, then claimed by Spain as their Florida of 
the North. The French Huguenots came under Ribaut, and 
attempted to plant a colony on the Carolina coast, in 1562, nearly 
fifty years prior to the Virginia settlement at Jamestown. 
Ribaut s published journal describes in detail the character and 
habits of the natives on the coast and in the interior ; describes 
their villages, their agricultural habits, and their cultivated fields. 
Champlain and others gave faithful accounts of the native Amer 
icans of the North. La Salle describes the natives of Arkansas 
and Texas as he found them in 1673. Other early French and 
Spanish writers describe with much particularity the habits, dress, 
and manners of the ancient tribes living on the Gulf coast. 

From these journals and manuscripts, sometimes buried for 
centuries in the great libraries of Europe, we have reasonably 
faithful information as to the history, traditions, and mode of life 
of the ancient inhabitants of the territory adjacent to and sur 
rounding Tennessee. 

The testimony of all, added to that of the Virginia and New 
England colonists, establishes the fact that these native Amer 
icans, called by Columbus " Indians," were alike in their main 
characteristics, and belonged to a race apparently homogeneous. 

The swarthy red or copper or olive complexion, the dark eyes, 
the coarse, straight black hair, the high cheek-bones, were com 
mon to all, from the St. Lawrence river to Texas. Their half- 
nakedness, their simple and primitive habits, the drudgery of the 
women, the generally aquiline nose, the absence or scantiness of 
beards, their love of smoking, of gay colors, painted faces, feathers, 
plumes, feasts, dances, were noted by these writers, and indicate 
the probable ethnic unity of the race recalling the remark of 
Ulloa, the early Spanish governor of Louisiana, quoted by Robert 
son, that " If we have seen one American, we have seen all, their 
color and make up are so nearly alike." * 

* " But among all other inhabitants of America, there is such a striking simili 
tude in the form of their bodies, and the qualities of their minds, that, notwith- 



INTRODUCTORY. 9 

The fact that these early records show no traces of an advanced 
civilization, or of a race essentially different or superior, affords at 
least the presumption of a common ancestry and of an inherited 
state of savagery or harharism. A number of the early writers 
state, however, that the native trihes of the South and South-west 
lived in larger towns, were milder and more docile in disposition, 
and were more advanced in the primitive arts than the trihes of 
the North. 

Passing from this brief historical review, to the interesting 
problems relating to the origin of the ancient mound and grave 
builders of Tennessee, their race relation, their tribal affinities, and 
their culture-status in the scale of civilization as represented by 
their monuments and art, we enter upon more uncertain ground. 

It is a difficult task to construct exact history out of the ashes 
of buried villages, and the debris of ancient mounds and ceme 
teries. We can only approximate the truth, and no one can hope 
to acquire even a limited comprehension of this subject, without 
fully realizing the complications that environ it. 

The gifted Palgrave assured us " that we must give up that 
speechless past, whether fact or chronology, doctrine or mythology, 
whether in Europe, Asia, Africa, or America; at Thebes, or 
Palenque, on Lycian shore or Salisbury plain ; lost is lost ; gone is 
gone forever." Yet we, as Americans, can not but feel an inter 
est in unraveling the history of the ancient " First Americans," 
whose remarkable and suggestive remains are found in the fertile 
fields and along the river sides of Tennessee, and, indeed, almost 
every-where throughout the Mississippi valley. They afford a 
field for archaeological research useful, fascinating, and near at 
hand. 

standing the diversities occasioned by the influence of climate or unequal progress 
in improvement, we must pronounce them to be descendants from one source. "- 
Robertson s History of America, page 69. 

Humboldt says the aborigines of Mexico, out of which its civilization was 
developed, resembled those of Canada, Florida, Peru, and Brazil, and that they evi 
dently descended from the same stock or stocks. New Spain, A. D. 1808, page 105. 



10 ANTIQUITIES OP TENNESSEE. 

At the very threshold of the subject, however, the inquirer 
will meet with a number of difficulties. 

The problems to be dealt with carry us back into a remote 
and unmeasurable antiquity. All standard authorities agree, that 
our western continent had been peopled at least two or three 
thousand years prior to the date of its discovery. This fact must 
be fully realized, and accepted without question, before progress 
can be made in the investigation. Geology, history, ruins upon 
ruins, tradition, moral and physical characteristics, the great variety 
of languages, the wide-spread dispersion all unite in establishing 
the remoteness of the period. It must be measured by the epochs 
of geologic time, rather than by the years of chronology. A long 
night of oblivion has cast an impenetrable veil over the earlier 
centuries of aboriginal life in America. Only scattered and uncer 
tain vestiges remain. The ancestry of our native races, whether 
of single, dual, or varied origin, can not be traced with certainty 
to other continents.* Prehistoric life in Tennessee, as elsewhere, 
is wrapped in mysteries. 

The second great difficulty in the way, is the vast area over 
which the monuments and remains of ancient life in America are 
distributed. There is no portion of the double continent that does 
not appear to have had its human habitations at some period in 
the past. Evidences of occupation, stone implements paleolithic 
and neolithic fragments of pottery, mound remains, are found 
almost every-where, indicating innumerable conditions of life and 
environment, and various degrees of development. Major J. W. 
Powell, of the Ethnological Bureau, says the native races of ]N~orth 
America had not less than seventy-five stocks of languages, and 

* Many volumes have been written as to how America was originally peopled, 
without reaching any definite or satisfactory solution of the problem. After pains 
taking investigation, the author is disposed to agree with H. H. Bancroft, that 
America might have been peopled in so many ways that it is a hopeless task to 
seek to discover the "one particular way." Bancroft confesses that he has, there 
fore, no special theory to offer as to how it was first settled. Native Races, Vol. V. 
pajze 6. 



INTRODUCTORY. 11 

South America as many more. H. H. Bancroft has classified some 
six hundred of these languages and dialects, but the whole number 
has been estimated at thirteen hundred. It will be necessary, 
therefore, in considering the problems of ancient American history, 
that the mind shall firmly grasp the idea of a long -continued and 
widely-spread occupation by ancient tribes in various stages of develop 
ment. A third difficulty, almost as embarrassing as the others, 
arises from the conflicting views and classification of our principal 
writers and ethnologists, who, by confusion of terms, and widely 
differing theories and nomenclature, have made it a serious task to 
acquire clear views of the subject. 

For instance : The most valuable contributions to the eth 
nology and ancient history of the native races of America have 
been made by Lewis H. Morgan and Hubert H. Bancroft. There 
are no more eminent authorities upon this general subject. In the 
classification of Bancroft, the ancient Mayas, Quiches, and Aztecs 
are designated as " civilized nations," and the Pueblo tribes of 
Indians of New Mexico, as " semi-civilized." * Morgan, on the 
contrary, says : " There was neither a political society, nor a state, 
nor any civilization in America when it was discovered, and 
excluding the Eskimos, but one race of Indians, the Red Race." f 

Bancroft, in his elaborate volumes, pictures the high state of 
civilization in Mexico, the royal palace and court of Montezuma, 
lordly manners, and an advanced state of society; while Morgan, 
with much learning and force of reasoning, insists that what Cortez 
and his Spanish chroniclers chose to dignify as the palace of 
Montezuma, was in fact a great and rude communal dwelling, only 
a grade above the pueblos of New Mexico, and that Montezuma 
was but " a cacique or principal war chief over tribes of red 
Indians in the middle status of barbarism," and that the much 
over-estimated Aztecs were a "breech clout" lot of advanced 
Indians of the stone age. 

It seems that civilization, barbarism, and savagery are but 

* Native Eaces, Vol. II, page 2 ; Vol. IV, page 685. 

t Smithsonian Contributions (Morgan), Vol. IV, page 250. 



12 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

comparative terms, as used by various authors, and that even the 
word Indian or " red Indian," unless analyzed and defined, has a 
very indefinite signification. 

The American Indian family, considering the great number of 
tribes included in the term in its general acceptation, presented 
several types, some of them marked and distinct, others more 
difficult to classify. The Shoshones, the Chinooks of the 
Columbia river, the Digger Indians, and the wilder tribes of 
Canada and Mexico, in the scale of savagery, were below the 
standard of semi-agricultural tribes like the Iroquois, the Natchez, 
or the Shawnees. Some of the Shoshonean sedentary tribes of 
California were lower in the scale than many of the nomadic 
tribes. In military and tribal organization, and in the arts of war, 
diplomacy and eloquence, the Iroquois or the Creek was as much 
superior to the Indian of the village or pueblo class as the latter 
was superior to the former in some of the arts and industries of 
domestic life. We find tribes like the Navajos of New Mexico and 
the Pimas of Arizona of the sedentary or village type, herding 
flocks, and subsisting mainly upon the products of the soil, yet 
living in rude dwellings, painting their faces, and scalping their 
enemies, like their more predatory neighbors of the Apache family. 
They have linguistic affinities, and are sometimes classed together. 

Other village Indians on the Colorado river, of the pueblo type, 
the Maricopas, and Mohaves, do not live in pueblos, but in rude 
communal houses or huts, similar to those built by some of the 
eastern Indians yet all are designated as Indians.* 

The Iroquois and Hurons presented the finest types of the red 
Indian family of the North. Parkman calls the Hurons " a 
stationary tribe." f 

When first visited by the whites, the Iroquois manufactured 
twine, nets, and cordage from fibers of bark, and wove belts, with 
warp and woof from the same material. They manufactured 

* Smithsonian Contributions (Morgan), Vol. IV, page 130. 
t The Jesuits in North America. Parkman, XXXVI. 



INTRODUCTORY. IB 

earthen vessels and pipes from clay mixed with silicious material, 
and hardened by fire some of which were ornamented by rude 
medallions and elaborate markings. 

They cultivated maize, beans, squashes, tobacco, and other 
products in fields and garden beds, and made unleavened bread, 
from pounded maize, which they boiled in earthen vessels. They 
tanned skins into leather, with which they manufactured kilts, 
leggins, and moccasins.* Parkman says the Hurons also culti 
vated and spun hemp, from which they made their twine and 
cordage. f 

In the organization of their famous confederacy, in their 
military operations, and in the erection of defensive work, the 
Iroquois showed intelligence and ability of the highest order.! 

These tribes must, therefore, be classed, in the ethnical scale, a 
full degree above the ordinary status of savagery. The Natchez, 
Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and other tribes of the southern 
family, belonged to the same general class of high-type red Indians. 
They were still further advanced in some of the domestic arts. 
They made a better quality and greater variety of earthenware and 
cloth fabrics. They lived in larger towns, and, as a class, under 
the influence of a milder and more favorable climate, they were 
more devoted to agriculture. There is a popular impression that 

* Smithsonian Contributions (Morgan), Vol. VI, page 6. 

t Jesuits. Parkman, XXX. 

t Governor DeWitt Clinton, of New York, in an elaborate lecture, in 1811, upon 
the history of this Indian nation, stated : 

" The proceedings of their grand council, assembled annually at Onondaga, 
were conducted with great deliberation, and were distinguished for order, decorum, 
and solemnity. In eloquence, in dignity, and in all the characteristics of personal 
policy, they surpassed an assemblage of feudal barons, and were not, perhaps, far 
inferior to the great Amphictyonic council of Greece." 

President Dwight, of Yale College, also said of them : 

"Their conquests, if we consider their numbers and their circumstances, were 
little inferior to Rome itself. In their harmony, in the unity of their operations, 
the energy of their character, the vastness, success, and vigor of their enterprises, 
and the strength and sublimity of their eloquence, they might be fairly compared 
with the Greeks." 



14 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

the historic Indians paid little attention to the cultivation of the 
soil, as a means of living ; and therefore, that as a race, they had 
not the ability to support a population sufficiently dense for the 
erection of the imposing earth- works of the Mississippi valley. 
This is an error. All the best representative tribes, north and 
south, the Iroquois, the Ohio, and Illinois tribes, and the whole 
family of southern tribes, cultivated large fields of maize and other 
products, especially during periods of repose and freedom from 
wars. The Choctaws, in their ancient home east of the Mississippi 
river, were called " a nation of farmers." Adair mentions a maize 
field of the Catawbas of South Carolina, " seven leagues long," a 
field that would do credit to the prairie farms of the West. The 
granaries and caches of the natives, we are told by De Soto s 
historians, furnished his soldiers and horses with their main sup 
plies, and often in abundance.* 

In his expedition against the Cherokees, in 1779, General 
Shelby is said to have destroyed more than twenty thousand bush 
els of corn. Maize, or corn, was indigenous. It was one of 
America s gifts to civilization ; and, from all Accounts, hominy 
succotash, and mush were included in the general aboriginal menu. 
What better proof do we need of the ability of the Southern In 
dians to support themselves by agriculture than the progress made 
by the tribes removed to the Indian Territory ! The Creeks, the 
Cherokees, the Choctaws, the Chickasaws, have not only demon 
strated their ability to become a nation of farmers, but are already 
far advanced on the march toward civilization. These instances of 
Indian success in * agriculture might be multiplied indefinitely. f 
They clearly establish the fact that the advanced tribes of historic 
Indians, under favorable conditions, had the ability to support a 
very large population. 

Another element in the character of the historic Indian, not 

* Historical Collections of Louisiana, Part 5, page 203. 

t See Mounds of Mississippi Valley (Lucien Carr), page 7. Lallemont mentions 
twenty-nine tribes living south of the lakes, as " sedentary " and cultivators of the 
soil. Jesuit Relations for 1640, page 35. 



INTRODUCTORY. 15 

generally credited to him, is a certain instinctive knowledge or 
appreciation of art, natural not only to the sedentary tribes, but 
even to the more nomadic tribes. ~No one who has seen the handi 
work of the village Indians of the Far West territories, of the 
Cherokees or Shawnees, or even of their degenerate kindred of the 
modern frontier, has failed to observe that as a race they have 
a natural taste and dexterity in making certain classes of useful 
and ornamental articles. This was also a characteristic of the 
ancient Mexican races, and of the Pueblo tribes. 

It seems a mysterious Providence that, notwithstanding their 
natural abilities, the North American Indians made slow progress 
toward a better condition. Their history illustrates the infinite 
pathos of human life. They were a numerous race, occupying a vast 
and productive territory through long ages, and in many centers of 
partial development ; yet whether we consider them in their most 
advanced state, as an Aztec confederacy, crumbling " like a race of 
pigmies" before a few Spaniards, or as humble villagers on the 
banks of the Cumberland, a prey to Iroquois invasion, they never 
seemed to reach a stage of growth necessary to permanency and 
practical civilization. 

The spirit of individual, family, and tribal independence, a 
characteristic of the red Indian so fatal to organization and de 
velopment, was doubtless at the root of their constant failures. 
There was a natural tendency to disintegration in the Indian 
system. Haughty, taciturn, impracticable, impatient of reproof, 
faithful friends, implacable enemies, they never seemed able to 
grasp the principle of order, submission, and union necessary to 
stability and enduring progress. 

Many causes led the early settlers and writers to underrate the 
natural abilities and capacities of the Indian race. The tribes that 
wasted their numbers and strength in the vain effort to stay the 
mighty march of the Western pioneers, became more savage in this 
very frontier warfare. Revenge and despair, the occasional viola 
tion of treaties, the destruction of their towns and crops, often led 
them to abandon the pursuit of agriculture. Contact with the 



16 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

whites upon the frontier also sowed the seeds of discord and 
degeneration. 

Thus, to the eyes and imagination of our pioneer settlers, the 
modern Indian appeared chiefly in his savage character the type 
of a wild race of hunters and warriors. He could give to the whites 
only uncertain traditions as to the strangely formed earth-works. 
He knew little or nothing of the uses of many of the stone imple 
ments and antique images. He shook his head mysteriously, and 
said they belonged to a strange and unknown race. The French 
trading explorers had come with their convenient wares of iron, 
brass, and copper; and the manufacture of pottery soon became one 
of the lost arts. Arrow points and implements of iron supplanted 
those of flint. 

Thus, also, many writers were led to draw a broad distinction 
between the race of mound builders and the modern Indians, and 
to magnify the works and intelligence of the former in contrast 
with the uncivilized condition of the latter. Modern investigation 
has broken down many of these theories, and greatly lessened this 
contrast. The deeper this subject is probed the more closely they 
are found to be related, until we are forced to the conclusion that 
they can not be divided into two entirely distinct and separate 
races. 

Passing from the characteristics of the historic Indians, to an 
investigation of the mounds, implements, pottery, images, pipes, 
tablets and pictographs of the ancient inhabitants of Tennessee and 
the Mississippi valley, as a test of their civilization, or stage of 
development we enter a field rich in archaeology. The investiga 
tion in the main tends to strengthen the historic presumptions as 
to their status in the ethnical scale. 

The results reached may be briefly summarized as follows : 

First. The mounds and other earth-works of Tennessee and 
Southern Kentucky are simply the remains of ancient fortified 
towns, villages, and settlements once inhabited by tribes of Indians, 
some of whom were more devoted to agriculture, more stationary 



INTRODUCTOKY. 17 

in their habits, and more advanced in culture than the nomadic 
tribes generally known to the whites. 

Second. Nothing has been found among the prehistoric monu 
ments and remains in Tennessee, or, indeed, elsewhere in the Mis 
sissippi valley, indicating an ancient civilization or semi-civilization. 
There are many indications, however, of a state of native society, 
primitive and rude, yet, in some respects, more progressive and 
advanced than that found existing among the historic red Indians 
at the date of European settlement. 

Third. The remains of the arts and industries and the 
cranial remains evidently connect the ancient tribes that occupied 
the Cumberland and Tennessee valleys with the native tribes of the 
West or South-west, of the sedentary or village Indian type. 
They place them in the ethnic scale in the same class as to culture 
as the village Indians of New Mexico and Arizona, and as the 
village tribes of old Mexico. The cranial remains and the remains 
of the arts, homogeneous among the mound tribes, also appear to 
separate the advanced tribes of mound builders from the more 
barbarous tribes of northern and north-eastern Indians. 

Fourth. The pottery from the ancient graves in Tennessee is 
of the same general character, and is frequently identical in forms 
with that found in South-east Missouri, Arkansas, Southern 
Illinois and Indiana, indicating that these districts were, at some 
period in the past, occupied by the same tribe or closely allied 
tribes. There are also evidences of the most intimate tribal and 
trade relations between the inhabitants of these sections. 

Fifth. The remains of art and industry found in Tennessee, 
including pottery, manufactured cloth, implements of stone, pipes, 
shell-work, and other useful and ornamental articles, as a whole, 
indicate that the ancient inhabitants of Tennessee probably reached 
as high a state of development as any of the native races within the 
present territory of the United States. 

Sixth. The accumulation of a dense population in favored 
localities, and the progress made toward civilization, were probably 
2 



18 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

the results of periods of repose and peace, that enabled certain 
tribes to collect in more permanent habitations, and to pursue for 
a time more peaceful modes of life than some of their neighbors 
and successors. These periods of peace and advancement were 
probably succeeded by years of wars, invasions, migrations, or 
changes which arrested the limited development in the arts of 
peace and civilization, and left the native tribes in the status in 
which they were found by the whites. 

These conclusions have been briefly stated in serial order, that 
they may be kept in mind as the basis for the more particular 
statements of facts and illustrations to be presented in subsequent 
chapters. 

The primitive manifestations of art and industry found among 
the remains in the Cumberland and Tennessee valleys, and in 
adjacent states, were evidently in the main of indigenous growth. 
They may have been the results of centuries of gradual develop 
ment within these boundaries, or they may have had an origin, 
borrowed in part through migration or inter-tribal intercourse, 
from the sedentary or village Indians of New or Old Mexico or 
elsewhere. We are inclined to the latter view. The evidences of 
a widely extended aboriginal trade and iriter-comrnunication are 
constantly increasing, and will be presented in a subsequent 
chapter. 

New Mexico and Arizona were centers of a very ancient 
population. Ko ruins in America offer evidences of greater age 
than the remains found there. Domestic life in some of the 
pueblos bas shown no material change in the centuries that have 
intervened since the Spanish expedition under Coronado visited 
them in 1540, a date contemporaneous with De Soto.* 

It can scarcely be possible that the ancient inhabitants of the 
Central Mississippi valley, especially those along the lower Arkan 
sas river, could have been entirely ignorant of the pueblo builders 
living along and near its upper tributaries in New Mexico. From 

* Contributions to Ethnology (Morgan), Vol. IV, page 150. 



INTRODUCTORY. 19 

this highland pueblo district the Arkansas flows across the plains, 
down into the very heart of mound and pottery development in the 
Mississippi valley.* 

That the primitive culture centering in the States of Arkansas, 
Missouri, and Tennessee can be thus easily traced to the ancient 
semi-civilization of the village tribes of the "West and South-west, 
offers at least one most reasonable hypothesis as to its origin. 
Further evidences of this connection will be presented in analogies 
and illustrations relating to the arts and domestic life of these two 
sections. f 

It is difficult to ascertain the exact relation of the Stone Grave 
race of Tennessee, and its near kindred of the neighboring states, 
to the historic red Indian. At the period of early European settle 
ment upon the Atlantic coast, and for more than a century later, 
the French discoverers inform us that the Indian occupants of this 
interior section were involved in constant and exterminating war 
fare.;]; It was a period of tribal " reconstruction." Whether the 
fort builders and pottery makers of the valleys of the Cumberland 
and Tennessee were overwhelmed, dispersed, and became practically 
extinct, or whether they were absorbed by more powerful or savage 

* Prof. Cyrus Thomas, of the Bureau of Ethnology, in charge of mound explo 
rations, states that "as we approach the Arkansas river, thence to Louisiana, the 
native pottery improves in character and ornamentation," and we find that the 
entire Mississippi district lying nearest to New and Old Mexico, and necessarily 
having relations more or less intimate, most advanced in the special branch of art, 
which, from a remote period, has been one of the leading industries of both Mexico 
and the Pueblos. 

t Lewis H. Morgan regarded the mound builders of the Mississippi valley as 
village Indians of the same status, as to culture, as the village Indians of New Mex 
ico and Arizona. Contributions to Ethnology, Vol. IV, page 198. 

t Discovery of Mississippi (Shea), page 4. There was no tradition of a time 
when the Miamis were at peace with their ancient enemies, the Cherokees and the 
Chickasaws. " We can not live without war. Should we make peace with the Tus- 
caroras, we must immediately look out for some other with whom we can engage in 
our beloved occupation." Reply of the Cherokees to an offer to bring about a paci 
fication between them and the Tuscaroras. Ramsey s Hist, of Tenn. (Charleston, 
1853), page 83. 



20 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

conquerors, and became members of the Shawnee, Natchez, or other 
tribes, by adoption, may never be known. Prof. Cyrus Thomas, of 
the Bureau of Ethnology, insists that recent investigations establish 
the fact that the stone grave builders of Tennessee were the ances 
tors of the Shawnees.* 

It is possible that this once powerful nation of Indians, and its 
adherents, who are reported to have at one time occupied the 
greater portion of the vast central district between Lake Erie and 

* " The proof is equally conclusive that to the Shawnees are to be attributed the 
box-shaped stone graves, and mounds and other works directly connected with 
them, in the region south of the Ohio ; especially those of Kentucky, Tennessee, 
and Northern Georgia, and, possibly, also some of the mounds and stone graves in 
the vicinity of Cincinnati." Work in Mound Exploration, Bureau Ethnology 
(Cyrus Thomas), page 13. "Their mode of sepulture," he states, "is so marked 
in its peculiarities, as to warrant us in believing it to be an ethnic type, limited in 
its use to a single stock or a few tribes." 

Dr. Thomas endeavored to trace the remains of the wandering tribes of Shaw 
nees into several other sections; into North Georgia, Southern Illinois, and por 
tions of Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia, and even into Eastern Pennsyl 
vania, and to identify them or their tribal kindred as the builders of the scattering 
stone graves in these sections. American Antiquarian (Thomas), May, 1885. 

His reasoning and summary of facts connecting the Stone Grave race with the 
Shawnees, present a plausible theory, but we think they do not satisfactorily prove 
his conclusions. The Shawnees belonged to the Algonkin family of Indians, a no 
madic and hunting race ; and the vestiges of art and industry left by them and their 
kindred Algonkins in New England, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, are, as a class, much 
inferior to the remains found within the well-known area occupied by the mound 
builders. According to Dr. Daniel Wilson, and other authorities, the crania of the 
Algonkin Indians are dolichocephalic, or long, while those of the Stone Grave race 
are brachycephalic, or short. Prehistoric Man, Vol. II, page 184. The tribes most 
closely related to the stone grave builders of Tennessee, as will be shown later, also 
resided in Arkansas and Missouri. There is no evidence that they were of Shawnee 
stock. They did not construct stone graves, for the reason that convenient slabs of 
stone could not be found in those sections of country. Prof. Thomas also claims 
that " the proof is conclusive that the Cherokees were mound builders, and that 
to them are to be attributed most of the mounds in East Tennessee and Western 
North Carolina; also that the ancient works in Northern Mississippi were built 
chiefly by the Chickasaws." Work in Mound Exploration, Bureau of Ethnology 
(Thomas), page 13. 



INTRODUCTORY. 21 

the Savannah river of Georgia, experienced reverses that resulted 
in the partial abandonment of agriculture, and their consequent 
degeneration into a more savage state. 

Consider the influence of a century of peace upon tribes of 
Indians like the Natchez, the Shawnees, or the Hurons. Peace and 
agriculture in a fertile territory might have enabled them to de 
velop the highest culture represented by the ancient remains of art 
and industry in the Mississippi valley. Consider the effect of a suc 
ceeding century of wars, invasions, pestilence, famine, and we may 
have the key to the apparent decadence of the North American In 
dians. These vicissitudes have marked the pathway of the most 
civilized nations. Conquest and progress followed by degeneration 
and decay is the lesson of history.* 

There is no mystery in the disappearance of some of the mound 
building aborigines. Scores of tribes have become extinct during 
the last three centuries. An Indian trail is now almost unknown, 
even on the plains of the far West. 

The Mandans, of the North-west, a modern tribe, lived in 
dwellings probably somewhat similar in character to those of the 
Stone Grave race. Catlin describes one of their villages, in the 
bend of a river, protected by a solid stockade and ditch. It resem 
bled, in other respects, one of our ancient fortified villages in Ten 
nessee. The Mandans burned, in kilns, an excellent variety of pot 
tery. They played the game of " Chungke," with discoidal stones, 
as did the southern Indians a century and more ago. They were 
once a strong tribe ; yet, under the fatal effects of disease and the 
unrelenting persecutions of the Sioux tribes, they have become 
nearly extinct, f Here, doubtless, is an epitome of the life and fate 
of some of the mound building tribes. 

The Shawnese have had a pathetic history. Dr. Brinton calls 

* The most civilized nation of our ancient western world, the Mayas of Central 
America, who built the imposing and almost noble structures at Palenque, have 
lapsed into a state bordering upon savagery since the Spanish conquest. Native 
Races (Bancroft), Vol. IV, page 280. 

t Mound Builders (Force), page 76. 



22 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

them the " Gypsies of the forest." Their eccentric wanderings, 
their sudden appearances and disappearances, perplex the antiquary 
and defy research.* "We first find them in actual history about the 
year 1660, living along the Cumberland river, or along the Cumber 
land and Tennessee rivers. f Tradition tells us they had come from 
the far Sewanee, or Shawnee river, of Florida, and from the Sa 
vannah, in Georgia. An ancient Shawnee village and stockade 
fort was built upon the present site of Nashville. J They were a 
fine type of the native American the tribe, later, of Logan and 
Tecumseh.|| 

For a century or more they held sway. Their domain ex 
tended from the Ohio to the Tennessee river ; but these fair posses- 
ions were the constant envy of their neighbors. They were never 
at peace. No wonder their ancient homes upon the Cumberland 
were fortified like the walled towns of feudal Europe ! Each settle 
ment, probably, had its castle of security. The Iroquois, on the 
north, pressed them through years of unrelenting hate. The 
Chickasaws and Choctaws preyed upon them from the south ; the 
Cherokees from the south-east. The Shawnees were finally over 
whelmed and scattered. They fled beyond the Ohio. Their towns 
and villages were desolated and left in ashes, and they were com 
pelled to pay tribute to that powerful confederacy of warriors the 
Six Nations. 

They occasionally stole back to their ruined homes in the land 
of their fathers. The Iroquois, their ancient enemies, sometimes 
hunted the Cherokees even to the banks of the Tennessee, yet no 
claimant dared to build a permanent home in all this fair territory ; 
and for sixty years or more, prior to its first settlement by the 

* Life of Pontiac (Parkman), Vol. I, page 32. 

t American Antiquarian (M. F. Force), April, 1881. 

t Kamsey s History of Tennessee (Charleston, 1853), page 79. 

|j Tecumseh s father was a Shawnee Indian, his mother a Creek an indication 
of the intermixture of tribes. 

In the vicinity of Nashville we have found a number of relics of iron, French 
traders pipes, and other evidences of modern Indian occupation. 



INTRODUCTORY. 23 

whites, Tennessee was an uninhabited wilderness. The trees grew 
still larger upon its mounds and earth-works. Its maize fields 
again became a forest. President William Henry Harrison, an emi 
nent antiquarian in his day, tells us, in a paper relating to the his 
tory of the Indians, that even " the beautiful Ohio rolled its amber 
tide until it paid tribute to the Father of Waters, through an un 
broken solitude for nearly a century." 

Dr. D. Gr. Brinton, in a carefully prepared paper, maintains 
that the ancestors of the Chatta-Muskogee tribes were probably the 
original mound building stock or family. These tribes embraced 
the Choctaws, Chickasaws, Natchez, and other allied southern In 
dians. Within the historic period, as we learn from early writers, 
they were builders of earth- works and mound defenses. The 
widely spread traditions of the northern Indians, indicating that 
the race that built the imposing structures in the Ohio valley were 
driven to the southward, also favored this view; as does the fact 
that the mounds of Tennessee do not appear to be of so early a 
period as the Ohio mounds. 

The Natchez were one of the oldest and most advanced tribes 
among the southern Indians.* . 

Their own traditions, as reported by the French and Spanish 
explorers, and by DuPratz, the early historian of Louisiana, seem to 
confirm the view that they may have been descendants of one of the 
prehistoric tribes of mound builders. DuPratz resided among the 
Natchez Indians. He had the confidence of the " Great Sun " and 
of the " Keeper of the Temple," and ample opportunity to obtain 
full knowledge of the history and legends of this interesting tribe. 
"According to their traditions," he states, "they were the most 
powerful nation of all North America, and were looked upon by 
the other nations as their superiors." Their territory, as reported 

* Dr. Joseph Jones, eminent authority on this subject, regarded the Natchez as 
probably belonging to the ancient family of mound builders. Aboriginal Eemains 
(Jones), page 125. Dr. Rau, of the Smithsonian Institution, stated that the Natchez 
were "perhaps the most civilized among the North American Indians." Smithson 
ian Report, 1866, 



24 ANTIQUITIES OP TENNESSEE. 

by DuPratz, extended from the River Manchac, or Iberville, near 
the Gulf, to the River "Wabash, and they had eight hundred " suns," 
or princes; but the multitude of rulers, their pride and jealousy of 
each other, their inhuman practice of sacrificing their subjects, and 
" the prejudices of the people," finally contributed more to the de 
struction of the Natchez than their long and bloody wars.* 

Their traditions dated back to a period before the advent of the 
first Spaniards. They also appear to indicate a knowledge of the 
pueblos of New Mexico, as early as the year 1730, when DuPratz 
resided among them, and before information as to the pueblo dis 
tricts was generally distributed, as they gave accounts to DuPratz 
of a people to the west or south-west " who had a great num 
ber of large and small villages, which were all built of stone, and 
in which there were houses large enough to lodge a whole tribe." f 

Whether the manifestations of the limited culture discovered 
among the mound-remains of the Mississippi valley were of indige 
nous growth, or in part or whole of exotic origin, it seems a most 
reasonable hypothesis, that it descended upon or left its impress 
upon tribes of southern Indians like the Natchez, who, when first 
discovered by the whites, retained many evidences of this culture, 
and in the humble arts of domestic life were much in advance of 
the red Indians of the North. 

This appears to be more in accord with the truth than the 
more popular theory that the mound builders belonged to some 
superior and very advanced race, and that they and their arts and 
industries became wholly extinct, or were spirited away to some 
unknown region. 

The remains found sometimes show strange contradictions, 
evidences of apparent culture in the midst of real rudeness ; but 
upon investigation, they do not indicate an advanced state of 
society . Rare and unique forms of stone, clay, bone, shell, and 
copper, mysterious objects whose exact uses we can not always dis- 

* History of Louisiana, Vol. II, p. 146. 
t History of Louisiana, Vol. II, p. 113. 



INTRODUCTORY. 25 

cover; beautiful implements, wrought with infinite labor and no 
little skill, have been found ; yet all are consistent with the theory 
of a comparatively rude condition of society. 

No well authenticated prehistoric implement, or article of iron, 
or evidence of manufactured iron, has been found, excepting objects 
made from the unmelted ores. Objects of native copper, hammered 
into form, and an occasional ornament of hammered silver, have 
been discovered, but none of melted copper, or bronze, or silver. 
Even the uses of melted galena, or lead, the most easily worked of 
all the native ores, were not discovered. 

~No writing or intelligible inscription indicating a written 
language or decipherable symbol language, no pictograph, or tablet, 
or inscription in the higher grades of hieroglyphic writing, no cloth 
or fabric of the finer grades of manufacture, no piece of regular 
masonry or of well-built stone Wall, or house, or house foundation 
of stone, or walled well, or house or wall of brick, or remains of 
architecture worthy of the name, have been found in all the vast 
territory of the Mississippi valley.* 

The idols and images of stone found are usually very rude and 
of a low grade of sculpture. Vessels and other objects of well- 
burned and of sun-dried clay are found in abundance, of original, 
varied, and even artistic forms, indicating, probably, the highest 
development attained north of Mexico. Occasionally, some Indian 
artisan seems to have reached almost the standards of modern art 
in clay. We are surprised at the quaint vessels and figures, and at 
their graces of outline. They have almost the ring of vitrified 
ware ; but, upon surveying the pottery as a whole, it is found to be 
essentially primitive. It is without glaze. It shows no knowledge 
of the potter s wheel, and was of necessity manufactured and used 
amid rude surroundings and in simply constructed huts or houses 

* The remains of the supposed burned brick wall of the ancient mound at Selt- 
zerville, Mississippi, have been found to be only fragments of burned clay from the 
ancient clay hearths of the mound, or clay plaster from the sides of the primitive 
dwellings. Some remains of house walls of stone have been found in Missouri, but 
they are very rude in character. 



26 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

of a character so temporary and perishable that scarcely a trace of 
them remains. The aristocratic villagers who used the ornamented 
vessels of clay found in the cemeteries near Nashville doubtless 
dined after the Indian style on clay floors, and certainly used 
muscle shells fcr spoons, and chipped stone knives as these articles 
were found carefully laid in their graves beside the vessels of clay 
containing provisions to feed them on their way to the spirit land. 

Indeed, all the infinite variety of articles and antiquities found 
within the limits of the mound area, once occupied by a widely 
spread native population, after centuries of exploration, tell only 
the same positive story of primitive barbaric life, the life of the 
town, village, and hunting Indian. 

The author has personally assisted in exploring many mounds 
and ancient cemeteries. He has also carefully examined a large 
number of collections and museum^ of American archaeology. The 
result is disappointing to any one searching for evidences of ancient 
civilization among the remains of the Mississippi valley. He will 
find only the remains of ancient savagery or barbarism, with here 
and there a glimpse of semi-civilization. The illustrations in the 
chapters following present some of the highest types of prehistoric 
art yet discovered north of Mexico, and, therefore, in themselves, 
offer the strongest argument possible in favor of " the superior race, 
and advanced culture," theory ; nevertheless, we are of opinion that 
they are not sufficient to modify the general views expressed upon 
this subject. 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 27 



CHAPTER II. 

THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH- WORKS. 

The Stone Graves Sunnier County Earth-works The Lebanon Works The Big 
Harpeth Works Old Town The West Harpeth Works The Stone Fort The 
Savannah Works Other Ancient Works Rock Houses The Age of the Stone 
Graves The Chronicles of De Soto Description of Native Towns Visited 
Other Historic Testimony Battle of the Horseshoe Mounds Constructed 
Since the Discovery Who were the Mound Builders? The Relation of the 
Stone Grave Race to the Mound Builders of Illinois, Arkansas, and Missouri. 

THE ancient tumuli, embankments, and defensive works found 
in Tennessee, present the general physical characteristics of the 
earth-works of the mound building tribes of the central district of 
the Mississippi valley. They are found along all the main streams, 
and in nearly every section of the state. In East Tennessee, they 
vary in form and construction. A number of them have been ex 
plored by the assistants of the Bureau of Ethnology, and interesting 
details regarding them have been published in its annual reports 
and in the reports of the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Joseph 
Jones and Prof. F. "W. Putnam, two most intelligent archaeologists, 
have explored several of the mound groups of Middle Tennessee, 
and published the results of their investigations.* 

The earth-works of Tennessee and the Cumberland valley are 
usually simpler in form than the elaborate works in the Ohio valley 
or the larger works along the Mississippi river. They spring up 
from the green sward, or in the cultivated fields, or in the depths of 
the forests ; sometimes in the steep, cone-shaped forms of their 
original outlines, but more frequently the elevations are slight and 
scarcely noticeable. Occasionally, a mound is found alone, and 

* Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee. J. Jones. Published by the Smithsonian 
Institution. Eleventh Annual Report of the Peabody Museum, page 305. 



28 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNKSSEB. 

apparently apart from any system of defenses or connecting works , 
but they are generally in groups, with inclosures or embankments, 
or near the remains of defensive works that appear to have been 
occupied as fortified towns, villages, or camps. The usual height of 
the chief mounds of the groups was probably originally from 
fifteen to thirty feet. A few mounds in the state, however, are 
much higher. 

The stone grave cemeteries constructed by the ancient inhabit 
ants of the Cumberland and Tennessee valleys indicate the presence 
at one time of a very large population. Like their successors of the 
white race, the aborigines usually selected the most fertile, well 
watered, and accessible locations for their homes. Here they had 
healthful and picturesque surroundings. The burial grounds on 
Brown s creek, near Nashville, recently discovered, contain three or 
four thousand graves, and smaller cemeteries have been found on 
nearly all the adjoining farms. Prof. Putnam and his assistants 
explored about six thousand graves, the majority of them in the 
vicinity of Nashville. Dr. Jones examined a large number, in some 
fifteen different cemeteries. Dr. Troost, the learned geologist of 
Tennessee, reported six very large cemeteries near Nashville. He 
stated, " that the ancient burial grounds on the banks of the Cum 
berland river, opposite Nashville, extended, in 1844, more than a 
mile along the river." * 

These remains of the Stone Grave race are found in other 
sections of the state, but their most populous villages were in the 
valleys of the Cumberland and Tennessee, and in Southern Ken 
tucky. Graves of similar construction have also been discovered in 
several localities in Southern Illinois, in Southern Indiana, in 
Georgia, and in Ohio. Doubtless, they would be found in West 
Tennessee, and in the mound and pottery districts of Arkansas and 
Missouri, but the necessary stone could not be obtained in these 
alluvial regions. f 

* Transactions of the American Ethnological Society, Vol. I, page 359. 
t A few stone cists have been found in Perry county, and near Fenton, Mis 
souri. Conant, pages 45, 46. There were no quarries of stone of easy cleavage in. 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 29 

The rude cists or box-shaped coffins are made of thin slabs of 
stone. Sometimes the stones are broken or cut, or rubbed down so 
JIB to fit evenly and form a well-shaped case, but more frequently 
they are rudely joined together. Occasionally, they are found in 
mounds or layers, four or five tiers of graves deep. The graves are 
usually six or seven feet long, a foot and a half to two feet wide, 
and eighteen inches deep ; but graves of greatly varying sizes and 
shapes are found intermingled with those of more regular form. 
The children s graves are proportionately smaller. Frequently, the 
same cist contains two or three skeletons, and is not more than 
three or four feet long, the bones having been placed in a pile 
irregularly within it, indicating that they were probably interred 
long after death, and after some intermediate preparation or cere 
monies similar to the burial customs of some of the historic tribes.* 

Many of the graves in the vicinity of Nashville are lined with 
large, thick fragments of broken pottery, as neatly joined together 
as if molded for the purpose. The author recently excavated 
several graves of this kind on Hon. "W. F. Cooper s farm, near 
Nashville. The pottery burial cases were symmetrically formed, 
and seemed to be molded in single pieces, until an attempt was 
made to raise them, when they fell apart, and were found to be 
composed of neatly-joined fragments of large vessels ; the heavy 
rims of the vessels, more than an inch and a half thick, having 
been used as rims or borders for the burial cases. 

A small burial case of well-baked clay, carefully molded in two 
sections, was found some years ago by Captain "W. P. Hall, in a low 
mound at Hale s Point, Tennessee, and is shown in Figure 1. 

the New Madrid district. Conant, page 60. A few stone graves have been found in 
McNairy county, West Tennessee. 

* There is no foundation whatever for the popular myth that the graves of a 
race of pigmies were found near Sparta, or elsewhere in Tennessee. The finding of 
a large number of short stone graves doubtless gave rise to this erroneous idea. 
Haywood, the early historian of the state, who sometimes wove fables into his 
history, confirmed the statement; but it is not true. Dr. Joseph Jones reports that, 
" he examined the bones of fifteen aboriginal cemeteries, without discovering a 
single skeleton of an adult of unusually small size." 



30 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



Prof. "W. H. Pratt gives the following description of it : " It is 
of rude, irregular, quadrangular form, made in two parts. The 
lower, or case proper, is twelve inches long, seven inches wide, and 
five inches deep, inside measure, the upper edge being slightly bent 
inward all around. The upper part, or lid, is of similar form and 
dimensions, being very slightly larger, so as to close down over the 
other part about one and a half inches, and is somewhat more 




FIG. 1. BURIAL CASKET OF POTTEUY (MALE S POINT, TENNESSEE).* 

shallow. As the lid does not fit very perfectly, the joint around 
the edge has been plastered up with clay. When found, it con 
tained the remains of a very small child, reduced to dust, except 
that some of the skull, jaw, and limbs retained their form, crum 
bling rapidly, however, upon removal and exposure to the air. 
There were also found two or three dozen small shell beads. Ex 
cepting the remains described, the case was entirely empty. The 
case weighs six and a quarter, and the lid just six, pounds." This is 

* It is now in the collection of the Davenport Academy of Sciences. 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 31 

one of the very few vessels that would seem to have been con 
structed especially for mortuary purposes.* 

Nearly all the stone graves are found to be filled with earth 
inside, by infiltration. The roots of trees have penetrated them. 
The very skulls are usually packed solid with earth, but now and 
then the iron pick will strike a hollow cist in its original state, and 
the fortunate explorer may be rewarded by finding a vessel or bowl 
of clay, perhaps two or three, within easy grasp, beside the still un 
covered skeleton, and he will thus secure a better opportunity of 
observing at his leisure all the interesting details of the buriaL 

The vessels of pottery, which probably once contained food and 
drink for the journey to the "happy hunting ground," are usually 
in some convenient place beside the body sometimes within the 
very bones of the hand ready for use. Spoons of shell, generally 
inside the vessels, implements for eating, and valued mementoes, 
are also found, f 

These stone graves are not always discovered in cemeteries or 
large groups. Their location upon almost every large farm in the 
central counties of Tennessee indicates not only the presence of a 
very large population, but that it was generally and widely dis 
tributed throughout the country, probably in peaceful settlements 
through a long period of time, thus doubtless enabling this ancient 
race to make progress in the simpler arts and industries, beyond the 
status of the more savage tribes. 

Sometimes a little cluster of stone graves is found, with the 
usual accompaniments of pottery and rude ornaments, like many 
modern plantation burial places, containing the remains of a single 

* W. H. Holmes, in Report Ethnological Bureau, Vol. IV, page 381. 

t For further information as to the methods of burial and construction of 
graves, the reader is referred to the valuable publications of Dr. Jones and Prof. 
Putnam. A number of cave burials in Tennessee were reported by Haywood and 
the early writers. The bodies were discovered wrapped in skins, mattings, cloth, 
and feather fabrics, somewhat resembling the mummy burials of Mexico, Peru, and 
Alaska. The saltpeter of the caves preserved them from decay. The author has 
not been able to find any trace of the remains of these cave burials in the public or 
private antiquarian collections of Tennessee. 



32 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

family, or group of families, that doubtless lived an agricultural life 
in its own farm dwellings. The remains sometimes found in these 
small isolated burial grounds show that some of these villagers or 
country people must have been supplied with many of the domestic 
conveniences enjoyed by the inhabitants of the larger towns. 

The cemeteries of the fortified towns and villages were usually 
within the lines of defense, although scattering graves are found 
outside. 

The system of fortifying these settlements may not have been 
adopted in the earlier stage of occupation, but probably grew nec 
essary later, as a protection against the inroads of more powerful 
neighbors, and may indicate the beginnings of the wars and changes 
that ultimately forced the Stone Grave race from its home in Middle 
Tennessee. The apparent absence of the remains of forts, inclos- 
ures, or defensive works, and the evidences of the very large popu 
lation that centered in the immediate Cumberland valley, and within 
a radius of ten miles from Nashville, seem to indicate that the 
well-fortified settlements in the adjoining counties of Sumner, 
Wilson, and Williamson, were outlying or frontier forts or defenses, 
especially designed to protect this large interior population in the 
neighborhood of Nashville from attack on the north, east, and 
south. Forts were probably not needed on the western and north 
western sides, already occupied by villages and settlements of the 
same race. Within the protecting semi-circle of these outlying 
forts it appears from the remains found, that the industrious and 
somewhat progressive race of stone grave builders lived through 
several and perhaps through many generations. 

Groups of earth- works, representing several of these outlying 
forts or fortified villages, may still be seen in the adjacent counties, 
in a good state of preservation. A ground plan or map of the 
works on the Kutherford-Kiser farms, in Sumner county, near 
Saundersville, Tennessee, about twenty miles north-east of Nashville, 
as they now appear, will give a tolerably correct idea of one of these 
ancient forts. 

This work incloses about fourteen acres. The earth lines and 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 



33 



smaller mounds in the cultivated field are nearly obliterated, but in 
the woodland they are well preserved. The chief mound near the 
center, nearly twenty-six feet high, has still its flat top plat 
form, its sharp outlines and steep sides. It is about three hundred 
and eighteen feet in circumference, and is entirely artificial, having 
been constructed of earth excavated near its base. The small ele 
vations represented on the plan are burial mounds, with stone 
graves radiating from the center. The mounds next in size were 



/, 




Section afearULlme, Section of large man?idl L*ow 1110111114 

FIG. 2. MAP OF THE EARTH-WORKS IN SUMNER COUNTY, TENNESSEE.* 

probably formed by the debris of the ancient dwellings. They are 
circular or elliptical in form, averaging about thirty feet in diame 
ter, with the remains of burnt clay or ancient fire hearths in the 
center. At irregular intervals along the earth lines in the wood 
land, angles of earth project about ten feet beyond the general line, 
indicating the location of towers or rude bastions in the stockade or 
wall line. Some of them were doubtless protected openings or 
gateways. In the burial mounds have been found many fine imple- 

* Surveyed by W. H. Edwards, Esq., and drawn by the writer. 
3 * 



34 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



ments and vessels of pottery. At Castalian Springs, or Bledsoe s 
Lick, in Sumner county, aboriginal works of much interest may 
also be found. 

The ancient earth-works on the Lindsley farm, near Lebanon, 




FIG. 3. THE EARTH-WORKS NEAR LEBANON, TENNESSEE/* 

Tennessee, about thirty-five miles east of Nashville, are of the same 
general character. 

This is a good type of an ancient fortified or walled settlement. 
It contains about ten acres of land. The usual great mound is near 
the center (A). A large number of the smaller elevations were 

* Map reduced from Prof. Putnam s plan in the Eleventh Annual Eeport Pea- 
body Museum, page 338. 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 35 

found to be the remains of dwelling-houses or wigwams. When 
the earth was cleared away, hard, circular floors were disclosed, 
with burnt clay or ancient hearths in the center, indicating that 
these habitations were probably very similar in form to the circular 
lodges of many tribes of modern Indians, arranged for fires in the 
center, and doubtless they had openings in the roof to let out the 
smoke. 

The fact that the houses or wigwams were irregularly scat 
tered within the inclosures, also establishes the primitive character 
of the settlement ; yet, beneath the floors of these rude structures,* 
and within the adjacent burial mounds, were found some of the 
finest specimens of pottery and ancient art yet discovered in the 
mounds, indicating that these villagers of the Stone Grave race 
had probably reached a stage of development as advanced as that of 
any of the aboriginal inhabitants of the Mississippi valley. Some 
of these fine specimens will be illustrated in subsequent chapters.f 

On the south-west bank of the Big Harpeth river, in William 
son county, Tennessee, on the De Graffenreid farm, about two and a 
half miles from Franklin, the county seat, and twenty miles south 
of Nashville, vestiges of the ancient ditch and embankment of a 
fortified settlement are still visible, although the land has been 
under cultivation for nearly a century. The inclosure contains 
about thirty-two acres of land. 

"The earth-work," as described by Dr. Joseph Jones, who 
carefully surveyed it, " is in the form of a crescent or semicircle, 
three thousand eight hundred feet in length, with the ends resting 
on an impassable, almost perpendicular bluff of the river, rising 
about forty feet from the water s edge. The land slopes gradually 

* In exploring the remains of the ancient pueblos, in Arizona, in 1887, Frank 
Gushing and Dr. TenKate found it was the common practice of pueblo Indians to 
bury the dead under their dwellings. It was also a custom of the Creeks, Chicka- 
saws, and other historic tribes. 

t In the Eleventh Annual Eeport of the Peabody Museum, will be found Prof. 
Putnam s interesting account of his explorations in this group of works, with illus 
trations of the relics discovered. 



36 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



away from the earth-work. The situation was admirably chosen 
for defense, and for the maintenance of a protracted siege, as there 
is an abundant supply of drinking water, and the soil of the 
inclosure is of great fertility. 

" Within the earth-works are nine mounds ; the largest, marked 
A in the following plan, resembling a parallelogram, the sides and 
angles of which have been rounded by the plowshare, is two hun 
dred and thirty feet in length, one hundred and ten feet in breadth, 




FIG. 4. PLAN OF THE DE GRAFFENREID WORKS, WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE.* 

and sixteen feet in height ; the remaining mounds vary from one 
hundred to twenty-five feet in diameter, and from one to four feet 
in height. 

"When the ground inclosed by the earth-work was cleared, 
about forty years ago, the mounds and ditch are said to have been 
covered with large trees, equal in size and age to those in the sur 
rounding forests. A white oak four feet in diameter is said to have 

* From Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee (Jones), page 56. 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 37 

stood in the ditch. There were seven passways > over the works, 
at convenient distances from each other, and about eight feet wide, 
as long as the earth remained as the aborigines had left it. At that 
time, the ditch was five or six feet wide and three or four feet deep. 
The earth forming the embankments appears to have been thrown 
upon the outside, so that the ditch was within the line of fortifica 
tions. Both the earth wall and ditch have been greatly altered by 
the weather and by the plowshare, so that at present they are in 
some places scarcely visible, and it is impossible to determine either 
the original height of the one or the depth of the other. Near 
where the intrenchment strikes the river bank, at the commence 
ment of the steep bluff, is a large and never-failing spring of excel 
lent water. At another portion of the inclosure, indicated on the 
plan, there is a covert-way, or ditch, leading to the bluff, and down 
through a crevice to the river s edge. 

" The large, oblong mound, A, had no stone graves in its upper 
layer, but a shaft sunk into its center, through its entire depth, re 
vealed, near the bottom and close to the original surface of the 
earth, a hard, red, burned surface or altar, with ashes and charcoal 
resting on it. It appears that the mass of earth composing the 
mound had been erected upon the altar. 

" The four next largest mounds (B, C, D, and F) in like man 
ner contained no stone coffins or human bones, but appeared to 
have been used for similar purposes as the large oblong mound ; the 
interior giving evidence of having been burned with very hot fires, 
the red burnt stratum resembling bricks in hardness, so that it 
was possible to dig out with a pick-ax compact pieces of it a foot 
thick. 

" The burial mounds were four in number and smaller in 
size, and lay between this outer chain of sacrificial mounds and 
the river." 

The main tumulus contained nothing of interest, excepting the 
burnt clay hearth, with ashes and charcoal, near the natural surface, 
doubtless the remains of the ceremonies or sacrifices incident to its 
erection. From other sources and recent investigations, we learned 



38 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

that these large and generally central mounds were probably raised 
foundations, upon which were erected the houses of the chief and 
his family or retainers, or perhaps the council-houses of the tribes. 
From their commanding position, they were doubtless also used for 
observation and for directing forces in case of an attack. 

The elevations next in size (B, C, D, and F), averaging about 
two feet high, were oblong, and from thirty- three to sixty- six feet 
in diameter. They contained no burial remains. Recent mound 
explorations disclose the fact that the hard burned clay found must 
have formed the ancient walls and fire-places, or the hearths, of 
large family or communal dwellings, and that these low mounds are 
simply the debris or remains of these large houses. 

From burial mounds H and I, Dr. Jones obtained a number of 
remarkable relics. In the center of mound H, was a carefully con 
structed stone grave, octagonal in form. It contained a skeleton, 
which appeared to have been buried in a sitting posture.* On the 
right side, and within the very bones of the hand, was found a re 
markable flint knife or sword blade, the fingers resting around the 
tapering end or handle. This beautiful implement was twenty-two 
inches long, and about two inches in width at the broadest portion. 
It is probably the longest and finest chipped stone knife known to 
archaeology. An illustration of it will be found in the chapter upon 
chipped flint implements. 

An earthenware vessel, seven inches high, was found on the 
left side, as if held in the hand, and two large sea shells lay on the 
right. Around this central octagonal grave were nine other stone 
graves, a form of burial frequently observed in Middle Tennessee. 
In one of them, four small, thin copper plates were found, stamped 

* Bandalier reports that, in exploring the ruins of the pueblos in the valley of 
the Pecos, he found that the ancient Pueblo Indians buried their dead in stone 
graves, and in a sitting position. Papers Archaeological Institute of America, No. 1, 
page 98. The practice of burying some of their dead in a sitting posture was com 
mon among the mound building tribes, and also among several tribes of modern 
Indians. 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 



39 



with rude crosses. They had probably been used as pendants or 
ornaments.* 

Unique images, and many fine specimens of painted pottery 
and of shell-work, were found in these graves. Dr. Jones was of 
opinion, from the location of burial mounds H and I nearest the 
large mound, from the care exhibited in the burial, and from the 
fine quality of the relics found there, that these graves contained 
the remains of some persons or family of high rank in this ancient 
tribe of villagers. 




FIG. 5. PLAN OF WORKS, MOUNDS, AND GRAVES AT OLD TOWN, WILLIAMSON COUNTY, 

TENNESSEE.! 

The greater number of graves found in the adjacent fields and 
without the lines of defenses, seemed to indicate that the fort may 
have been used as a place of refuge for the neighboring population 
in times of danger, rather than as a place of permanent residence. 

There is also an ancient fort at Old Town, on the Big Harpeth 
river, about six miles south-west of Franklin, Tennessee. 

The works extend from the steep bluff of the river in a crescent 
form two thousand four hundred and seventy feet in length, and in 
close twelve acres. They have been partly worn down by cultivation, 
but old residents state that thirty years ago the embankments were 

* See illustration of these plates in the chapter upon objects of copper, No. 9. 
t From Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee (Jones), page 82. 



40 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



so steep that it was impossible to ride across them. A fine stream 
issues from the river s bank, within the lines. Two pyramidal 
mounds and a small burial mound are situated in the south-west 
corner of the works. The largest (A) is one hundred and twelve 
feet in its long diameter, sixty-five feet in its short diameter, and 
eleven feet high ; the next in size (B) is seventy by sixty feet at the 
base, and nine feet high ; and the small burial mound is thirty by 
twenty feet in diameter, and two and five-tenths feet in height. A 
large aboriginal population occupied the surrounding country. 




FIG. 6. PLAN OF THE WORKS AND MOUNDS ON WEST HARPETH RIVER * 

A circular fort or inclosure, one thousand nine hundred and 
seventy feet in circumference, containing about seven acres, may 
also be seen on the north bank of the West Harpeth river, about 
three miles distant from the works at Old Town. (Fig. 6.) 

The embankments and mounds are covered with large forest 
trees. Dr. Jones found an old oak stump within the inclosure, 
which showed some three hundred rings of growth. f 

The main pyramidal mound is one hundred and ten feet in 

* From Aboriginal Remains (Jones), page 79. 

t This ancient tree may have been growing within the inclosure when occupied 
by its aboriginal builders. 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 



41 



diameter at the base, and thirty -five feet at the summit. Its mean 
height is but nine feet. 

Dr. Jones also reports that: "Fortifications several miles in ex 
tent, inclosing two systems of mounds and numerous stone graves, 
lie along the Big Harpeth river, about sixteen miles below Old 
Town, at Mound Bottom and Osborne s Place. Within these ex 
traordinary aboriginal works, which inclose the sites of two ancient 




FIG. 7. PLAN OF STONE FORT NEAR MANCHESTER, TENNESSEE.* 

cities, are found three pyramidal mounds, about fifty feet in eleva 
tion, and each one exposing about one acre on its summit; and be 
sides these are lesser mounds. The old road or trail which con 
nected these ancient towns can still be recognized in the forest, the 
well-worn and compact path being in some places a foot or more 
lower than the general surface of the surrounding soil." f 

* From plan in Aboriginal Remains (Jones), page 100. 
t Aboriginal Remains (Jones), page 36. 



42 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

The largest and most elaborate ancient fortification of Middle 
Tennessee is known as the " Stone Fort," and is situated in the 
forks of Duck river, near Manchester, in Coffee county. The main 
wall, now varying from four to six feet high, is partly constructed 
of irregular, loose stone from the river bed or the adjoining bluffs. 
There is no regular wall or masonry, but the rocks and earth are 
heaped together promiscuously, forming a strong embankment, 
connecting with the precipitous river bluffs. (Fig. 7, page 41.) 

A wide, deep ditch in the rear of the works separates and pro 
tects them from the commanding ridge opposite. The entrance at 
the north end exhibits considerable engineering skill, and is similar 
in plan to some of the fortified gateways of the strongest ancient 
works in Ohio. Mounds of stone about three feet 

JS* higher than the general wall, doubtless founda- 

<^te 6 tions for towers or extra defenses, were erected on 

f *5 

fc* each side of the entrance. On the inside, double 

protecting walls extend back from the opening, as 
shown in the small plan (Fig. 8), terminating at 
both ends in raised mounds of the same character, 
opposite the main entrance and the rear .opening, 
the latter being concealed at the side. The enemy 

FIG. 8. PLAN OF O nce within the main gateway, would find him- 
ENTRANCE. J 

self in cid de sac in this interior inclosure. 

Explorations made within this ancient fortress have revealed 
no stone graves or other remains of interest, or connecting it 
with aboriginal life in other fortified works. The Stone Fort was 
probably a military or defensive inclosure, not used as a permanent 
settlement. 

There is a large mound, elliptical in form, thirty feet high, and 
six hundred feet in circumference, about a half-mile from the main 
entrance of this fort. It is constructed of earth and loose stone, 
but partial excavations have brought to light nothing of special in 
terest regarding it. 

On the east side of the Tennessee river, on the high ground ad 
joining the town of Savannah, Tennessee, there are extensive 




THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 



43 



earth-works, inclosing a group of mounds, some sixteen in number. 
They are of very great archseological interest. The largest mound 
is thirty feet high, over one hundred yards in diameter, and has a 
level area or platform on top. It occupies a central, commanding 
position, and probably overlooked nearly the entire line fcf works. 
The other mounds of the group ranged from twelve feet in height 
down to small elevations. The main lines of works measure, 
" north and south," one thousand three hundred and fifty yards, 




FIG. 9. PLAN OF THE EARTH-WORKS AT SAVANNAH, TENNESSEE. 

and are distinctly traceable. At intervals of eighty yards along the 
works, the remains of redoubts are found, extending to the front 
about twenty yards, and at the main angles, thirty yards. In front 
of the main line about fifty-five yards, and parallel to it, there is a 
second and less elevated line, probably the remains of an advanced 
line of stockades, now partly obliterated, but still traceable. The 
redoubts of the outer lines projected about forty feet in front of it, 
and alternated with those of the main line. 

The plan of these works, from the Smithsonian Report of 1870, 



44 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

(page 408), will give a more correct idea of its construction than 
the description. 

Extensive excavations were made in these mounds, in 1870, by 
J. Parish Stelle, and from his valuable report made to that institu 
tion, we lave obtained the information relating to it. 

He " sunk an eight-feet shaft in the center of the large mound, 
down to the solid earth," and made a number of excavations in 
various parts of it, but discovered nothing of interest, excepting 
near the surface, the remains of a level burned clay or " tile " floor, 
in the form of " a crescent," about sixteen feet wide and forty-four 
feet long. It " seems to have been made by spreading tempered 
clay smoothly upon a leveled space of earth, and then hardening it 
by means of fire built on the top of it. There are no seams to indi 
cate that it was made otherwise and laid in sections." 

Mr. Stelle s experience in excavating this large mound does 
not differ materially from that of other explorers. The large 
central mounds of these southern groups of earth-works usually 
yield little treasure or information of importance, excepting burned 
clay hearths, ashes, and charred bones. They are the mounds for 
the chief s residence or for the council-house, or mounds of obser 
vation and for giving commands. 

The burned clay surface was probably carefully prepared for 
use as a floor in some important building or residence. A few ves 
sels of pottery, some implements, several skeletons, a number of 
copper ornaments, and a string of copper beads were found in exca 
vating the smaller mounds. 

Mr. Stelle discovered in one small "double mound" of the 
group, what appeared to be the remains of three furnaces, or fur 
nace flues, built of clay, about six feet apart. They were about two 
feet wide and eighteen inches high. He states that, " over these, 
rude arches had been thrown, formed of irregular masses of tem 
pered clay, probably sun dried. Some of these masses we took out 
entire. They were about as large as a man could handle conven 
iently, and, having been immediately in contact with the fire, were 
burned very hard. 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 45 

" From the three main furnace trenches, went up a number of 
small flues, eight or ten inches in diameter, whose walls had also 
been formed of tempered clay, and were now burned very hard. 
At some points, they rose directly toward the surface of the mound, 
while from others they wound and twisted about through it in 
various directions, all skillfully planned, with a view to conveying 
the heat to all parts of the pile. 

" Running through the mound horizontally, at different eleva 
tions, were large logs, still retaining their entire shape, but com 
pletely charred. We traced one from end to end, eighteen inches 
in diameter and twenty-two feet long. The ends had been burned 
off by fire. There were also a number of upright charred wooden 
posts, which appeared to have been used to support or give 
strength to the furnaces. There were no indications of the use of 
the ax or other means of cutting the timbers than by fire. The 
whole earth about the furnaces showed evidences of having been 
heated and baked. 

" There were no fragments of pottery, or dross, or cinders, or 
any thing else, upon which a hypothesis could be based touching 
the object for which the mound had been used. Ashes in the fur 
naces, bones, burned earth, and charred timbers, as already men 
tioned, were the only things found, after a most careful and exhaust 
ive examination." 

The only bones found in the furnace mound were two small 
piles of human bones dug up near the furnace flues. 

No satisfactory explanation as to the remarkable features of 
this furnace mound has been offered, so far as we are informed. 
We have endeavored to present the main facts relating to it. The 
interested reader is referred to the original account in the Smith 
sonian Report for further particulars.* 

* The Force pamphlet, on Prehistoric Man, Darwinism, and the Mound Builders,, 
published by Robert Clarke & Co., 1873 (page 81), states that "it is not easy to be 
lieve that the intrenchments and charcoal mound were not made by Europeans." 
He thinks they might have been the work of De Soto and his men, who went into 
winter quarters in that general section after the battle of Chicaca. (Savannah is- 
north of the route usually attributed to De Soto.) 



46 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

A number of ancient pottery ovens or kilns have been found 
within the mound districts, of simpler character and smaller. We 
have discovered the remains of two small kilns in the vicinity of 
Nashville. 

Squier and Davis report the discovery of pottery kilns in 
Panola county, Mississippi, " in which were masses of vitrified mat 
ter, frequently in the form of rude bricks, measuring twelve inches 
in length by ten in breadth . * 

In Maury county, twenty-one miles south-west of Franklin, 
there is a large tumulus, known as the " Parish Mound," situated in 
the bend of Rutherford creek, near Duck river, a position most 
favorable for defense. Dr. Jones states that it is a beautiful square 
mound, twenty-five feet in height, six hundred and nine in circum 
ference, and one hundred and fifty-two in diameter on the summit. 
There are two smaller mounds not far distant, but no traces of fortifi 
cations or stone graves are now visible. There is an ancient mound 
on the high bluff at the intersection of Piney and Duck rivers, near 
Centerville, Tennessee. It is said to have an altitude of about 
thirty-five feet. A line of breast-works, now about seven feet high, 
runs across the angle formed by the junction of the two rivers, in 
closing the mound. It was a fine position for defense. There is 
also a group of mounds on Duck river, at Indian Ridge, in Hum 
phrey county, Tennessee. One of them is said to be forty-seven 
feet high, another twenty feet, and a third fifteen feet high. At 
Hurricane Rock, on Duck river, near its mouth, there are two 
mounds; and on the east bank of the Tennessee river, near John- 
sonville, Tennessee, there is a group of mounds. 

There is a very extensive system of mounds in Madison county, 
in the western district. Mr. John G. Cisco, of Jackson, informs us 
that Mt. Pinson, the largest of the group, is about seventy-two feet 
high, and one thousand feet in circumference at its base. A pen 
tagonal mound, with an altitude of about thirty-eight feet, lies 
about a half-mile west of Mt. Pinson. 

* Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, page 195 ; Smithsonian Contri 
butions, Vol. I. 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 47 

There are also several mounds in Sequatchee valley, and 
mounds and defensive earth-works upon Caney fork of the Cumber 
land river, and in Smith county, Tennessee. 

Three ancient stone barrows, conical in form, were found by 
the early settlers standing on a high bluff on Buffalo river, near the 
north border of Lawrence county, but time and the relic hunters 
have nearly destroyed them.* 

It seems there were " cliff dwellers," or rock shelf houses, in an 
cient Tennessee. About eight miles from Jamestown, in Fentress 
county, upon the lands of Mr. Ben. R. Stockton, and in the midst of 
an apparently primeval forest, there is a projecting ledge of rocks, 
about one hundred and forty feet long, the overhanging stone cover 
being about thirty feet wide, and varying in height above the floor 
or surface of the ground from ten to twenty-five feet, forming a nat 
ural roof or shelter. At some period in the past, these sheltering 
rocks have been utilized as a fortress or a communal dwelling, as 
the entire floor beneath is a bed of ashes, averaging about five feet 
deep, and extending a considerable distance beyond the rock wall 
line. Mr. Stockton, the owner, states that he has hauled from 
three hundred to four hundred wagon loads of ashes from the 
" Rock-house," to use in fertilizing his farm, and that there are 
probably from eight hundred to one thousand more loads, and that 
nearly as much more had been washed down the hill. Thousands 
of trees must have been burned in creating this immense ash bed, 
yet the surrounding forests show no evidences of their removal, 
indicating that centuries must have elapsed since this ancient house 
or fort was inhabited. 

There is a running stream at the foot of the hill, about two 
hundred yards from the Rock-house. 

In excavating the ashes, two skeletons have been discovered, 

* Dr. T. S. Evans and John M. Bass, Esq., recording secretary of the Tennessee 
Historical Society, visited these remains some years since. They discovered evi 
dences of fire and of a duct, flue, or opening leading from the base of the stone 
mounds, but no relics of interest, and they reached no satisfactory conclusions as to 
the purpose for which they were erected. 



48 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

partly surrounded by stone slabs, and indicating that the remains 
were buried in a sitting posture. Earthenware vessels of well- 
burned clay and crushed shells, and other relics have been found, 
showing that this natural castle had probably been occupied by 
the people of the Stone Grave race. 

It must have been inhabited for a long time, and by a consid 
erable force or family, as the ash bed approximates in size some of 
the prehistoric shell heaps along the sea shore. Doubtless walls or 
pickets made it a strong and comfortable fortress home during some 
long period of warfare or danger. Mr. Stockton informs us that 
there are a number of smaller " rock houses " in that vicinity.* 

Having given a brief description of the main features of some 
of the ancient tumuli, inclosures, and defensive works in Tennessee, 
we pass to a consideration of the state of aboriginal society, as rep 
resented by them. Regarded simply in the light of their physical 
characteristics, they do not necessarily indicate a status more ad 
vanced than that of certain tribes of historic Indians. In fact, it 
has often been found impossible to separate the works of the mound 
building tribes from more modern known Indian works, or to draw 
absolute lines of distinction between them.f 

From the excellent state of preservation of many of the skele 
tons, shell, bone, and horn ornaments and implements, sun-dried 
pottery, and articles of wood, found in some of the mounds and 
stone graves of Middle Tennessee, it can not be believed that all of 
the latter antedate the Columbian discovery, the visit of Pamphilo 
de Narvaez in 1528, or of De Soto in 1540. A greater number of 
skulls in a good state of preservation have probably been taken 
from stone graves of Middle Tennessee than from any other section 

* Hon. W. A. Henderson, of Knoxville, visited this interesting rock house in 
Fentress county, and kindly called our attention to it. 

t The earth-works of Western New York, long regarded as the unquestioned 
remains of an ancient race of mound builders, were, after careM exploration, 
declared to be the remains of the stockade forts of the Iroquois Indians, or their 
western neighbors, and of no great antiquity. Aboriginal Monuments of New York 
(Squier), page 83; Smithsonian Contributions, Vol. II. 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 49 

of the mound area ; an indication that the Stone Grave race prob 
ably belonged to a late mound building period. A considerable por 
tion perhaps one-sixth of the skulls examined by the author in 
his archaeological explorations, have been found to be in very good 
condition, and a large number have been carefully removed and 
preserved. Prof. Putnam and his assistants obtained, for the 
Peabody Museum, a most valuable collection of sixty-seven skulls 
from the valley of the Cumberland. Frail, sun-dried vessels of 
clay are often found in the graves, in the damp loam and sand 
along the bank of the Cumberland river, in a better state of 
preservation than the burned ware found in the Ohio mound dis 
trict. Leather thongs, or strings, not yet decayed, were found in a 
stone grave near Nashville, by Dr. Joseph Jones.* Prof. F. W. 
Putnam found the fragment of a string in a stone grave on Fort 
Zollicoffer.f In both cases, the copper ornaments to which they 
were attached aided in preserving them. 

The author found in a stone grave in the same ancient ceme 
tery, on the bank of the Cumberland, a small, well-preserved, 
carved wooden wheel. A thin film of copper covering a portion of 
it had probably partly preserved it. In an adjoining stone grave 
was found a small, but perfect, specimen of pottery, indicating a 
contemporaneous burial. We also found in a stone grave of the 
Noel cemetery, near Nashville, a small half-decayed ornament or 
piece of wood, partly covered with fragments of oxydized copper. 

Fragments of wood not entirely decayed are frequently found 
in the burial mounds of Tennessee, also charred matting, burned 
corn-cobs, and other remains of perishable materials. These indica 
tions point to the comparatively modern origin of at least some of 
the graves and tumuli of the Cumberland valley. J 

* Aboriginal Remains (Jones), page 45. 

t Eleventh Annual Report Peabody Museum, page 307. 

t Dr. Joseph Jones reports, that in exploring the large mound near " Stone 
Fort," in Coffee county, he found the remains of a white man, deposited there only 
about twenty years prior to that time an intrusive burial ; and that he " was surprised 
4 



50 ANTIQUITIES OP TENNESSEE. 

Hay wood, in his "Aboriginal History of Tennessee," states that 
in 1819, a white oak tree growing on the top of the " Stone Fort/ 
near Manchester, Tennessee, was cut down, and contained three 
hundred and fifty-seven " annulars" or rings.* This ancient land 
mark was therefore but seventy-eight years old when De Soto 
landed on the coast of Florida. An elm tree about four feet in 
diameter is still standing on the earthwork near Lebanon. These 
trees indicate a very considerable age, yet there are familiar old 
elms at Salem and in the suburbs of Boston and elsewhere in New 
England elms planted since the advent of the Europeans that 
probably equal in size the Lebanon elm or the largest trees now 
found growing upon the mounds. f 

Assured, therefore, that some of the mounds and stone graves 
of Tennessee do not antedate the dawn of history, we naturally 
turn to the chronicles of the early Spanish discoverers for the key 

to find the bones so much more decayed than those of many of the aborigines in 
the stone graves." Aboriginal Eemains (Jones), page 102. Dr. W. C. Blackman, an 
intelligent observer and physician, who resides in the midst of the stone grave cem 
eteries south of Nashville, and has been present at a large number of grave explor 
ations, agrees in opinion with the author, that some of these stone graves are prob 
ably not more than three hundred or three hundred and fifty years old, and may be 
of considerably later date. They can not be less than about two hundred years old, 
as that is probably about the latest date of permanent Indian occupation. Dr. 
Rau, of the Smithsonian Institution, a noted expert in archaeology, dug up a num 
ber of vessels of pottery at Cahokia creek, Illinois ware of the same character and 
forms as some of the Tennessee and Missouri pottery which he ascribed to the 
Indians, and stated that he regarded these remains as of comparatively modern 
origin. 

"Only a hundred years," says Dr. Rau, "may have elapsed since they (these 
vessels) were made, yet it is also possible that they are much older." Smithsonian 
Report, 1866 (Rau: Indian Pottery), page 349. 

Dr. Wm. M. Clark found a well-preserved piece of string, or hemp fiber, wrap 
ped around a copper spool, or ornament, in a stone grave near Brentwood, Tennes 
see. Smithsonian Reports, 1877. 

* Aboriginal History of Tennessee, page 170. 

t The centennial of the elm tree planted at New Haven, Connecticut, in 1790, 
in memory of Benjamin Franklin, was recently celebrated. It was found to be four 
feet in diameter. 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 51 

that shall unlock the uses and mysteries of some of these remains. 
The results fully justify our expectations. Narvaez, who attempted 
the conquest of Florida,* in 1528, with a well-appointed force, 
captured and detroyed several fortified Indian towns, surrounded hy 
extensive fields of corn, but was finally compelled hy the constant 
attacks of the natives to abandon the enterprise. Cabeza de Yaca, 
who accompanied him, makes a statement noticeable in this con 
nection, " that the natives were accustomed to erect their dwellings 
on a steep hill, and around its base to dig a ditch as a means of 
defense. f 

The testimony of De Soto s followers is more direct and com 
plete. It has been three hundred and forty-nine years since these 
Spanish adventurers marched through Georgia, Alabama, Missis 
sippi and Arkansas, states bordering upon Tennessee. The antiq 
uities of these southern states being similar in their main features, 
De Soto s Spanish records contain historic evidence of great im 
portance. 

The meager accounts of Biedma, the more, extended statement 
of " the gentlemen of Elvas," a Portugese soldier of much intelli 
gence, and the romantic narrative of Garcilasso de la Vega, con 
sidered together, are entirely in harmony with antiquarian research, 
and afford information unattainable elsewhere, as to the character 
of the towns, villages, houses, and of the interesting domestic life 
of the tribes in the territory through which De Soto s army passed. 

Garcilasso de la Vega, in his history, says : " The town and 
house of the Cacique (or chief ) of Osachile are similar to those of all 
other caciques in Florida, and, therefore, it seems best to give one 
description that will apply generally to all the capitals, and all the 
houses of the chiefs in Florida. I say, then, that the Indians 
endeavored to place their towns upon elevated places, but because 
such situations are rare in Forida, or that they find a difficulty in 
procuring suitable material for building, they raise eminences in 


* Florida, at that time, included Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. 

t Brinton : Nationality of Mound Builders. 



52 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

this manner. They choose a place to which they bring a quantity 
of earth which they elevate into a kind of platform, two or three 
pikes in height (from eighteen to twenty-five feet), of which the flat 
top is capable of holding ten or twelve, fifteen or twenty houses to 
lodge the cacique, his family, and suite." * 

Biedma also states, in speaking of the same province : " The 
caciques of this country make a custom of raising near their 
dwellings very high hills, on which they sometimes build their 
huts." " We journeyed two days, and reached a village in the 
midst of a plain, surrounded by a wall and a ditch filled with water, 
which had been made by the Indians." f 

The principal towns of the natives were found by De Soto to 
be well fortified, and are described as "walled towns." They were 
surrounded by palisades formed by the trunks of trees, plastered 
with clay and straw, and surmounted at intervals with towers. 
They had protected openings or gateways. They sometimes con 
tained a population of several thousand inhabitants. One town is 
mentioned containing six hundred houses. Some of the houses de 
scribed were large enough to lodge a thousand or fifteen hundred 
people great family or communal dwellings. 

The house of the cacique, or chief of the settlement or tribe, 
was often built upon an artificial mound or raised foundation of 
earth. The so-called temples, or altars of worship, were also built 
upon raised foundations or mounds. A mound or temple is de- 

* Archaeology of United States (Haven), page 57. As translated by Irving, La 
Vega says: "The natives constructed artificial mounds of earth, the top of each 
being capable of containing from ten to twenty houses. Here resides the cacique, 
his family and attendants. At the foot of this hill, was a square according to the 
size of the village, around which were the houses of the leaders and most distin 
guished inhabitants. The rest of the people erected their wigwams as near to the 
dwelling of their chief as possible." Conquest of Florida (Irving), pages 129, 317, 
241.) 

t Historical Collections of Louisiana, Part II, page 105. 

The cacique s house stood near the shore upon a very high mount made by 
hand for strength." Historical Collections of Louisiana (Gentlemen of Elvas), Part 
II, page 123. Historical Collections of Louisiana (Biedma), Part II, page 103. 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 53 

scribed as the place of burial of their dead chieftains.* The com 
mon houses or huts were built of poles or rude timbers, were 
plastered with clay and straw, and thatched with bark and cane. 
A number of towns were environed by artificial ditches filled with 
water. La Vega s description of the towns of Mauvila, in Alabama, 
may be of interest : " This was the stronghold of the cacique, 
where he and his principal men resided, and being on the frontiers 
of his territory, it was strongly fortified. It stood in a fine plain, 
and was surrounded by a high wall, formed of huge trunks of trees 
driven into the ground side by side and wedged together. These 
were crossed within and without by others, smaller and longer, 
bound to them by bands made of split reeds and wild vines. The 
whole was thickly plastered over with a kind of mortar, made of 
clay and straw trampled together, which filled up every chink and 
crevice of the wood-work." 

" Throughout its whole circuit, the wall was pierced at the 
height of a man with loop-holes, whence arrows might be dis 
charged at an enemy, and every fifty paces it was surmounted by a 
tower, capable of holding seven or eight fighting men." " There 
were but two gates to the place one to the east, the other to the 
west. In the center of the village was a large square, around which 
were erected the principal dwellings." f 

A careful consideration of these features, with a map in hand, 
showing the present appearance and condition of any one of the 
many groups of ancient earth-works in Middle Tennessee a group 
011 the Harpeth river, or the works near Lebanon, Tennesse, or in 
Sumner county will readily indicate the striking similarity of 
these remains to the ancient fortified towns described, and, indeed, 
will be conclusive of the fact that some of these earth- works are 
simply the remains of towns or villages, similar to those through 

* Conquest of Florida (Irving), page 231. 

t Conquest of Florida (Irving), pages 261, 262. See also Gentlemen of Elvas, 
for description of fortified towns. Historical Collections of Louisiana, Part II, pages 
157, 158, 173. Also Historical Collections of Louisiana (Biedma), Part II, page 103. 



54 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

which De Soto and his army passed in 1540-41, and then found 
active with busy life. 

The long lines of earth that outlined the old walls, with their 
well-selected openings and projections, the ditches, the raised foun 
dation mound, or pyramid of the chief s house perhaps the mound 
that supported the rude temple or altar of worship the rows of 
graves or burial mounds of the ancient cemetery, will still be found. 
Sometimes, the outlines of the low circular floors upon which the 
common houses or wigwams were placed may be seen, as in the 
Lebanon and Sumner county groups. 

It requires little effort of the imagination to picture ancient life 
in one of these settlements in Tennessee; to crown the long, low 
lines of earth again with their strong palisades ; to place the rude 
house of the chief upon its high pyramid overlooking the village 
and the far country; to repeople the council-house, the family 
dwellings, humble and spacious, hives of busy life ; to replace the 
altar of the sun worshipers in its rude temple ; to see the near-by 
burial mounds consecrated by the bones of their heroes ; the gay 
colors of the warriors, the trappings of the hunters, the toiling of 
the women, the basket and cloth makers, the throng of the hall- 
naked children and yelping dogs ; the medicine man, with his herbs 
and kettles ; the dealer in implements and vessels of stone, clay, 
and shell ; the trader, perhaps from a far country, with his wares 
and strings of shells ; the pottery makers, the pipe makers, the flint 
chipper and arrow makers, the fisherman all necessary features 
of ancient town and village life in the South, as described by early 
writers in their accounts of the southern Indians. 

Now, picture this town swept by the desolation of war or rudely 
pillaged by the marauding soldiery of De Soto ; picture it after the 
lapse of three or four centuries ! Fire and decay have consumed 
its strong palisades, its great houses, and all that was left of wood. 
The raised foundations and pyramids of earth, with their steep 
sides, may have become common-place hillocks. The dense forest 
has again spread over the scene. Giant trees are covering its 
graves and ditches. Time, and probably the plowshare of the 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 55 

pioneer, have almost obliterated the earth lines of the crumbled 
wall. 

You may thus have the true story of ancient life in Tennessee, 
and of many of the monuments and remains of the Stone Grave 
race 

The young oaks that sprung up on the mounds that De Soto 
left desolate and unoccupied, in 1541, would now be three hundred 
and forty-nine years old old enough, indeed, to be lords of the for 
est. Most of the earth-works in Tennessee and the Mississippi val 
ley doubtless date from a period anterior to that time, some of them 
probably many centuries anterior. The testimony of his followers 
is given, however, to show their objects and uses, and to solve some 
of the apparent mysteries of their construction. Although De Soto 
did not visit the territory of the Stone Grave race in Middle 
Tennessee, his expedition penetrated into North-east Arkansas, 
where their near kindred, the pottery makers of that district, resided, 
tribes most intimately related to the inhabitants of the Cumberland 
valley, as indicated by many identities and analogies. De Soto 
found there, as his chroniclers state, " walled towns within a 
league or a league and a half of each other." This was the terri 
tory of the Capahas, where Fathers Douay and Charlevoix found 
them in 1687 and 1721. The Peabody Museum of Archaeology, 
some years ago, conducted a series of explorations in North-eastern 
Arkansas, under Mr. Edwin Curtis, who reported that he found the 
mounds there "were usually surrounded by earth-works and ditches, 
forming inclosures of from three to eighteen or twenty acres." * 
These remains in Arkansas are very similar in character to the an 
cient fortified villages of Tennessee. 

We learn from Dumont s Memoirs, that near the mouth of the 
Yazoo river, in Mississippi, were the villages of the Offogoulas and 
other southern Indians built upon mounds artificially macle.f 

Dumont also says the cabin of the chief of the Natchez Indians 

* Fourteenth Annual Report of Peabody Museum, page 19 ; Mounds of Missis 
sippi Valley (Carr), page 105. 

t Historical Collections of Louisiana, Part V, page 43. 



56 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

" was on an elevated mound." La Petit, a missionary among the 
Natchez Indians, mentions that u the residence of the great chief, or 
brother of the sun, as he was called, was erected upon a mound of 
earth carried for that purpose." Du Pratz, the early historian of 
Louisiana, states that the house of the Great Sun of the Natchez 
stood upon a mound " about eight feet high, and twenty feet over 
on the surface," and that the temple of the priest was on a mound 
about the same height.* 

It is a matter of comparatively recent history, that when the 
French and Choctaws defeated the Natchez Indians, in Mississippi, 
in 1730, the latter established themselves upon the Black river, 
where they erected mounds and embankments for defense. These 
defenses covered an area of four hundred acres, and could still be 
seen as late as 1851. f The pyramids of earth raised by the Choc- 
taws over their dead when collected together, as described by Bar- 
tram, who traveled among these Indians, in 1777, are in the form of 
some of our southern burial mounds. J The Iroquois, nearly three 
centuries ago, had acquired a knowledge of military defense that 
the armies of the North and South .had to learn during the late war 
by costly experience. || 

La Salle tells us they built a rude fort of earth and timbers 
every night they encamped near the enemy. 

Cartier found the site of modern Montreal occupied by a 
strongly fortified Indian town in 1535. On approaching it, nothing 
could be seen but its high palisades. They were made of the 
trunks of trees set in triple rows. Transverse braces formed galler 
ies between them to assist the defenders. Lewis and Clark describe 

* Brinton : Nationality of the Mound Builders. 

t Pickett s Alabama, Vol. I. page 166. 

+ Bartrarn s Travels, pages 514. 515. 

ii Their forts are often counterparts of our fortified works in Tennessee. One of 
these stockade forts of the Iroquois is minutely described by Champlain, who 
attacked it in 1610. A familiar print of this remarkable structure is given in the 
Documentary History of New York, Vol. Ill, page 15. The lines of stockades, the 
ditches, the great house inside, all recall some of the descriptions in the chronicles 
of De Soto, and show a marked similarity to our Tennessee remains. 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 



57 



the forts built by the Mandans and other Indians of the North 
west in 1805, with raised stockades, ditches, and fortified gateways. 
Captain John Smith, the founder and historian of the first Virginia 
colony, writes that the Indians of Virginia had " palizadoed towns." 
Bienville, of Louisiana, in 1735, attacked a Chickasaw village pro 
tected by a strong fort. He was repulsed, with heavy loss. The 
palisade wall was six feet thick, arranged with loop-holes, covered 
with heavy timbers.* 




FIG. 10. PLAN OF BATTLE OF THE HORSESHOE. 

The plan of the "Battle of the Horseshoe," where the Creeks, 
protected by breast-works, fought General Andrew Jackson in 1814, 
indicates that these Indians possessed considerable knowledge of 
military defensive works. The original sketch drawn by the gen 
eral, is appended to his interesting report of the battle, made to 
Governor JBlount of Tennessee. f 

* Historical Memoirs of Louisiana, Part V, page 110. 

t Traced by the writer from the original report in the possession of the Tennes 
see Historical Society at Nashville. 



58 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

General Jackson states, in his report, that " Nature furnishes 
few situations so eligible for defense, and barbarians never rendered 
one more secure by art. Across the neck of land which leads into 
it from the north, they had erected a breast-work of great compact 
ness and strength, from five to eight feet high, and prepared with 
double rows of port-holes very artfully arranged. The figure of 
this wall manifested no less skill in the projectors of it than its con 
struction. An army could not approach it without being opposed 
to a double and cross fire from the enemy, who lay in security 
behind it." Surely no prehistoric defensive work could receive a 
higher compliment from higher military authority ! 

We have, moreover, direct testimony that some of these 
mounds, long regarded as the exclusive work of an ancient and 
more civilized race, have been built by modern Indians since the 
period of European discovery. There are a number of instances, 
well authenticated, where articles, certainly of modern European 
manufacture and origin, have been found in mounds, undistinguish- 
able in general character from more ancient mounds, and under cir 
cumstances affording no presumption of a possible intrusive burial. 

Colonel C. C. Jones, in his Antiquities of the Southern In 
dians,* reports at least one absolutely certain instance where * a 
portion of a rusty, old-fashioned sword," evidently of European 
manufacture, was found in a mound with decayed bones of a skele 
ton alongside of pottery, and a stone celt. Atwater, a well-known 
archaeologist, tells us of his discovery, in an Ohio mound, of articles 
of silver and iron of modern European origin. Prof. F. W. Put 
nam, in the fourteenth annual publication of the Peabody Museum, 
reports the discovery, by Dr. Mack, in Florida, of glass beads and 
ornaments of silver, brass, and iron, deeply imbedded and associ 
ated with pottery and stone implements of native manufacture, all 
found in a burial mound, and furnishing conclusive evidence that 
the Indians of Florida continued to build mounds over their dead 
after contact with the Europeans. 

* Antiquities of the Southern Indians, page 131. 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 59 

The National Bureau of Ethnology also reports, in detail, a 
number of similar discoveries in mound explorations in Tennessee, 
North Carolina, Mississippi, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Arkansas.* 

* In a mound in East Tennessee, some six feet high, and which showed no signs 
of disturbance, an old-fashioned case knife was discovered near the bottom. Far 
down in another mound (in Tennessee) of large size, and also in comparatively mod 
ern Indian graves at widely different points, have been found little sleigh-bells, 
probably what were formerly known as "hawk bells," made of copper, with pebble 
and shell bead rattles, and all of precisely the same pattern and finish. "At the 
bottom of a North Carolina mound, part of an iron blade and an iron awl were dis 
covered in the hands of the principal personages buried therein : with these were 
engraved shells and polished celts." A silver plate with the Spanish coat-of-arms 
stamped upon it, and the iron portions of a saddle, quite certainly articles that had 
belonged to De Soto s followers, were found, by the agents of the Smithsonian Insti 
tution, in an ancient mound explored in Northern Mississippi. Work in Mound 
Exploration, Bureau of Ethnology (Cyrus Thomas), page 9. 

Col. C. C. Jones, writing of the earth-works of Georgia, which approximate in 
size the largest tumuli of the Ohio valley, states: "We do not concur in the opin 
ion so often expressed, that the mound builders were a race distinct from, and supe 
rior in art, government, and religion to, the southern Indians of the fifteenth and 
sixteenth centuries. Antiquities of the Southern Indians (Jones), p. 135. 

Lewis H. Morgan, a most original and learned ethnologist, in an article upon 
the Houses of the Aborigines of America, states: "It will be assumed that the 
tribes who constructed the earth-works of the Ohio valley were Indians. No other 
supposition is tenable. The implements and utensils found in the mounds indicate 
very plainly that they had attained to the middle status of barbarism. They fairly 
belonged to the class of sedentary village Indians, though not in all respects of an 
equal grade of culture and development." Contributions to North American Eth 
nology, Vol. IV, pages 198, 199. 

In preparing the later chapters of this work, and in investigating the remains of 
art and industry of some of the mound tribes, the dividing lines that seemed to 
separate the culture of the mound builders from that of the modern or historic 
Indians, appeared to the author to become more marked, as he continued his inves 
tigations. As stated in the concluding chapter of the first edition, " We confess we 
have been writing with an increasing respect for the culture represented by some of 
the objects discovered." The lines of demarcation separating the two ethnic con 
ditions, are at times confusing, and difficult to follow, but we think the conclusions 
reached by the writer and set forth in the last chapter are in the main correct. 

The two states of culture suggested, seem to indicate the existence in prehistoric 
times of two branches of the American Indian family, between the Northern lakes 
and the Mexican Gulf, one representing the more sedentary or village Indian Class, 



60 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

It has thus become a well-settled fact in American archaeology, 
that some of the modern tribes of Indians have built earth-works 
and mounds within the historic period, and that it is not necessary, 
upon the evidence of the mounds alone, to attribute these works to 
any other, or more civilized, or more ancient race than the ancestors 
of some of the advanced tribes of southern Indians. 

The ancient earth- works of Tennessee, and the states adjacent, 
must be regarded as fairly presenting characteristic types of the 
structures of the mound building tribes. The Etowah and Messier 
mounds of Georgia, the mound at Seltzerville, Mississippi, and the 
group in Madison county, Tennessee, are not less, in average height 
and cubical capacity, than the large mounds of the Ohio valley. 
The remains of the arts and industries found in the Tennessee 
mounds and graves, also show a state of development as advanced 
as that of any of the ancient inhabitants of the mound area; in 
deed, it is believed that the subsequent chapters of this volume will 
show that the interesting remains of the Stone Grave race, taken as 
a whole, indicate a more advanced state of art and industry in an- 

deriving its origin probably, from the West or South-west, perhaps from Mexico ; 
the other representing a somewhat less advanced and more savage branch of the 
Indian family, whose home was in the North and North-east. 

As shown in Chapter IV, the ancient cranial remains of the mound tribes, and 
of the more northern tribes, also seem to indicate the existence of these two ethnic 
divisions. 

In their migrations, the two branches doubtless met and passed and crossed 
each other. They became intermingled here and there. The lines of separation 
can not always be traced; still the facts as to the existence of the two divisions 
of the Indian race or family and of the two differing states of culture, seem to be 
clearly indicated. 

Professor F. W. Putnam, the well-known archaeologist, who has spent more than 
a quarter of a century in archaeological research in the field, thinks the builders of 
the Ohio mounds were a branch of the great south-western race, represented by the 
ancient Mexicans, and the builders of the old cities of Central America, and by some 
of the Pueblo tribes of Arizona and the adjacent territories. 

Professor Putnam also expresses the opinion that many of the customs, ceremo 
nies, and phases of art found among the historic tribes of the Mississippi valley were 
simply survivals by contact between the old earthwork builders, a branch of the 
south-western stock, and the later Indian tribes that succeeded them. Abstract of 
Lecture, Popular Science News, January, 1896, page 13. 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 61 

cient Tennessee, than existed elsewhere within the limits of the 
Mississippi valley, not even excepting the mound districts of Cen 
tral and Southern Ohio. 

The mound huilders of Tennessee probably belonged to the 
same aboriginal stock as the builders of the great mound at Caho 
kia, Illinois, the largest in the Mississippi valley. No one can com 
pare the pottery from the stone graves of the Cumberland valley 
with the vessels dug up at the base of this great mound, and at 
New Madrid, Missouri, without observing that the majority of 
them are identical in form and material, and some of the pieces 
found in the two districts seem to have come from the hands of the 
same aboriginal potter. The author obtained about four hundred 
and fifty perfect vessels and images from the ancient cemeteries re 
cently excavated near Nashville. Not less than one half of them 
are of the familiar New Madrid and Cahokia pattern, and many of 
them are almost exact duplicates of the vessels found by Mr. Mc- 
Adams arid others at the base of the great mound, as will be seen 
from the illustrations in chapters following.* 

The intimate relationship that existed between the stone grave 
builders of Tennessee, and the other tribes of the Central Missis 
sippi district, that probably built the system of large earth-works at 
Cahokia, Illinois, and the burial mounds near New Madrid, Missouri, 
and in North-eastern Arkansas, is further shown by the existence 
of similar stone graves in Illinois and elsewhere in this district, 
wherever suitable stone slabs could be conveniently obtained ; also 
by the house ring or hut ring remains of the rude circular dwellings 

* See illustrations and duplicate specimens in Contributions to the Archeology 
of Missouri, published by the St. Louis Academy of Science, and in Footprints of 
Vanished Races, Conant, pages 79 to 93, and Records of Ancient Races, McAdams, 
pages 47 to 57. The single cemetery explored near Nashville, produced good exam 
ples of every one of the fifty-one forms illustrating Mr. Conant s article on the an 
cient pottery of Missouri, excepting four, and produced many new and original 
forms not shown in either of the two last-named volumes. The publication of the 
St. Louis Academy of Science contains one hundred and forty-eight illustrations of 
Missouri pottery. Seventy-three almost exact duplicates of these forms were found 
in the cemetery near Nashville. 



62 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

usually found in the ancient works of this district, by the similar 
forms of burial, and by the constant presence of the large, high, 
oblong, central mounds, characteristic of these works.* 

There are features common to all the works of the mound build 
ing tribes. The differences are generally only in degree, and are 
not believed to be sufficiently radical to make it necessary to attrib 
ute them to different or distinct races. 

There are also some traces connecting these tribes with the 
ancient pyramid builders of Mexico, with the pueblo builders and 
pottery makers of New Mexico and Arizona, and other "Western 
tribes. These may be in the main but the outgrowths of a common 
inheritance, and of tendencies and beliefs springing from the same 
ancestry, and developing through long periods in different paths 
and under varied conditions. 

Doubtless some offshoot of the race or races that built up the 
ancient civilization of Mexico or the semi-civilization on the banks 
of the San Juan and Rio Grande rivers, finally pushed across the 
wide plains to the eastward, and colonized the Mississippi valley. 
Another wave of immigration, probably a more barbarous race, ap 
pears to have come from the far north-west. The date was too re 
mote for chronology. Centuries of time, migrations, changes, wars, 
extinctions, absorptions, must have succeeded. 

The more sedentary village or partially village Indians of the 
South, and their industrious kindred of the Ohio valley, were 
probably the progeny of an ancient race from the South-west.f 

* See description of an .ancient fortified village, similar to our Tennessee works, 
in Union county, Illinois. American Antiquarian, May, 1885 (Dr. Cyrus Thomas), 
page 133. 

Also descriptions of the house rings in Missouri works. Footprints of Vanished 
Races (Conant), page 60. Mr. Conant, who has written most intelligently on this 
subject, regarded the pottery makers of New Madrid, Missouri, and the builders of 
the Cahokia mounds as one and the same people. 

The chroniclers of De Soto s expedition also describe a walled town, similar to 
our Tennessee fortified villages, in North-east Arkansas. Historical Collections of 
Louisiana, Part II, page 172; Conqueest of Florida (Irving, page 322. 

t Explorations among the ancient remains of Mexico, prove them to be of very 



THE ANCIENT GRAVES AND EARTH-WORKS. 63 

The special influences of climate, soil, and environment 
that caused certain tribes of Indians to adopt the semi-agricult 
ural state and others to adopt the hunter state, may readily be 
imagined; nor is it difficult to account for their military and 
defensive works, simple or elaborate, wherever they exist. The 
particular development, and religious or social rites, that led to 
the construction of the so-called effigy or figure mounds of Wiscon 
sin and Ohio, and the groups of more exact forms, circles, squares, 
and the systems of terraced pyramids of the Ohio valley and of 
the South, offer some minor problems more difficult of solution, 
yet these mysteries are being unraveled. The rude effigy works 
seem a natural outgrowth of the religious rites and of the myths 
and superstitions of the Indian race, and Mr. Lewis II. Morgan, in 
an elaborate treatise, briefly considered in the next chapter, has 
offered a most reasonable explanation of the peculiar features of the 
Ohio structures.* 

The author has visited a number of the great mounds in the 
Ohio valley. They are remarkable structures monuments of labor 
and patience ; and evidently the remains of a progressive and indus 
trious race. Imagine a thousand Indians of the semi-agricultural 
class women and children, men also with baskets of willow and 
skins, bearing on heads and shoulders the alluvial soil from the 
river side, to raise a mighty memorial to some great warrior, or to 
build a strong defensive work as a protection against a dreaded en 
emy, or a towering home for an honored chief, and it will not be 
difficult to account for most of these large earth-works in Ohio, 
Georgia, or Tennessee. f 

great age. Ruins of cities and towns are found, like the ancient cities of Asia 
Minor and Greece, to have been built upon still more ancient ruins. The remains 
of the ancient stone pueblos of the San Juan and Rio Grande valleys, are also very 
ancient. It, therefore, appears to the author that, measuring by the evidences of 
age, it is much more probable that the mound building tribes, who left some traces 
of Pueblo or Toltec culture, were of Pueblo or Toltec origin, than that they were 
ancestors of the Toltecs, a theory supported by a number of writers. 

* Contributions to American Ethnology (Morgan), Vol. IV, page 202. 

t Mr. Gerard Fowke, who has been conducting mound explorations for the Na- 



64 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

We have seen the busy throng of a hundred or more Italian 
women and boys with baskets, removing the earth that covered an 
cient Pompeii. The ashes of Vesuvius, nearly nineteen centuries 
old, buried the city twenty feet deep; yet about one-half of the en 
tire ruins has been uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of the trav 
eler. Less than a tithe of this vast labor of removal would have 
erected the largest purely artificial mound in the Mississippi valley. 

The highest of the great mounds of America, at Cahokia, Illi 
nois, is but one-fifth of the height of the solid stone pyramid of 
Gizeh, on the bank of the Nile ; and how insignificant does the 
largest system of native American earth- works appear, when com 
pared with a work of antiquity like the Chinese Wall, built long 
prior to the Christian era ! 

tional Bureau of Ethnology in Ross county, Ohio, the center of the Ohio mound 
district, recently reports the details of his investigations as to its construction as fol 
lows: "The mound was raised to the height of fifteen feet, with a diameter of 
ninety feet. The earth was carried in baskets or skins holding from a peck to two 
pecks each. Hundreds of little, lens-shaped masses could be traced, where each 
had thrown his burden ; the weight of that thrown by the next comer flattening it 
out." See report in Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, July 23, 188S. 



THE ANCIENT HOUSES ABORIGINAL TRADE. 65 



III. 

THE ANCIENT HOUSES ABORIGINAL TRADE. 

The Houses of the Mound Builders of Tennessee ; of Arkansas, Missouri, and 
Illinois Their House and Home Life The Testimony of the Early Writers 
The remains of House Sites The Larger Houses Mandan Houses Trowels 
for Plastering The Navajo House Store-houses Aboriginal Trade Obsidian 
Native Copper Catlinite Marine Shells. 

The remains of the houses occupied by the mound building 
tribes of the Mississippi valley indicate that they were probably 
simple in form, and that they were constructed of perishable ma 
terial. No tenement or dwelling known to belong to their period, 
no rude chimney, or house of adobe or brick, or of stone or wood, 
is left standing among their earth-works, or has been discovered in 
its original form within the wide area of their territory, to aid us 
in interpreting their unwritten domestic history. The pueblo 
tribes of New Mexico and Arizona, who were not in advance of 
the Stone Grave race in the general scale of civilization, built vast 
communal houses, indeed fortresses, of sun-dried brick, grouting, 
and stone, that have withstood the waste of centuries, and in their 
magnitude, at least, offer an analogy to the great mounds. The an 
cient Mexicans of the stone age, and their southern neighbors, built 
imposing mound or pyramid temples, of almost noble architecture, 
now famous in ruins, but the northern mound builders, living amid 
different surroundings, so far as we are able to determine, did not 
erect dwellings very much more substantial than the rude struct 
ures of some of the historic Indians. 

To the original researches of Lewis H. Morgan we are proba 
bly more indebted for our knowledge of house and home life among 
the aborigines of America than to any other investigator. 

The discovery of the immense pueblos in the valleys of the San 
5 



66 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

Juan and Rio Grande rivers, and the later scientific reports regard 
ing them made by Bandelier and others, interpreting their uses 
and the social system that existed in them, have also greatly con 
tributed to our knowledge of ancient Indian society, and its family 
and tribal systems. According to Morgan, aboriginal society in 
America was organized upon the basis of kinship. The weakness 
of the single family, and its inability to protect itself in the strug 
gle for existence, led to the union of related families to " the gens, 
the phratry, the tribe, and the confederacy of tribes." It led also 
to a communal system of living, and necessarily to the erection of 
joint tenement or apartment dwellings, like the long houses of the 
Iroquois, the large family houses of the Mandans and other tribes, 
and the houses of the pueblo communities.* The great pueblo 
houses, of adobe and stone, have from fifty to five hundred rooms, 
average from eight hundred to one thousand six hundred feet in cir 
cumference, and are sometimes five or six stories high. 

Morgan traces this system through all the grades of Indian so 
ciety, from the lodges of the more savage tribes to the great pueblo 
or communal house in the ancient city of Mexico, in which Monte- 
zuma, as an Aztec chief, gathered about him his relatives and at 
tendants, f A single pueblo structure in !N"ew Mexico often housed 

* In describing the houses of the Iroquois, Parkman says : " These singular 
structures were about thirty to thirty-five feet in length, breadth, and height, but 
many were much larger, and a few were of prodigious length. In some of the vil 
lages, there were dwellings two hundred and forty feet long, though in breadth and 
height they did not much exceed the others." The Jesuits in America, page xxvi. 
Champlain says he saw them in 1615 "thirty fathoms long," and Vanderdonk 
reports that he saw one from actual measurement five hundred and forty feet long. 
The houses of the Mandans of the Upper Missouri river were circular in form, 
about forty feet in diameter, and were divided into separate stalls or apartments. 
Each lodge would accommodate from five to six families, embracing thirty to forty 
persons. Contributions to Ethnology (Morgan), Vol. IV", page 126. According to 
Rev. J. O. Dorsey, oi the Bureau ot Ethnology, the Dakota word for "gens," or 
the family division, came from a word signifying " fire-place," indicating that the 
ancient families were counted by the number ot fire-places. 

t Cortez, in his dispatches to Spam, did not call Montezuma " El Roy," or king, 
but "Senor," or cacique. Contributions to Ethnology (Morgan), Vol. IV, page 223. 



THE ANCIENT HOUSES ABORIGINAL TRADE. 67 

the entire population, and constituted a town or village, as the an 
cient fortified inclosures of Tennessee formed the villages of the 
mound builders. Some of the houses of the cliff dwellers in the 
rugged canons of Colorado also contained more than a hundred dif 
ferent apartments or rooms. 

The first stories of the pueblos were without outside doors or 
openings. The villagers scaled the sides or walls to reach their 
separate rooms, and lived upon the upper terraces of these struct 
ures, which were sometimes five or six stories high. Even chim 
neys were unknown to them prior to the Spanish conquest, and the 
smoke from their fires found its way through holes in the roof, after 
the Indian wigwam style.* 

The elaborate systems of earth-works and inclosures in the 
Ohio valley suggest many analogies to these pueblo structures. The 
raised embankments afforded a means of defense, and also elevated 
platforms for dwellings, thus combining the defensive and com 
munal features of the pueblos. Both were similarly located along 
never failing streams. Within the ramparts of these large Ohio 
works, which Morgan styles " high bank pueblos," f there was room 
for stores, fuel, games, and recreation in times of danger, and some 
times for gardens. The lesser works, without the main structures, 
may have been fortified inclosures for horticulture or other pur 
poses. 

The houses of wood and clay, that must have crowned the 
embankments, have decayed and disappeared; the clay or sun-dried 
brick probably used by these tribes have crumbled in the moist, 
frosty climate of Ohio, and left few traces behind. The views pre 
sented by Morgan offer the first and only reasonably satisfactory 
hypothesis as to the probable use of many of these remarkable re 
mains. Morgan regarded them as the works of tribes of Indians 
of the village or sedentary class of the same grade as the pueblo 

* No chimneys were discovered in the ancient stone houses of Central America, 
and chimneys as now built were unknown to our European ancestors until about 
five hundred years ago. 

t Contributions to Ethnology (Morgan), Vol. IV, page 210. 



68 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

tribes of New Mexico. According to Frank Gushing, the original 
ancient pueblo dwelling was probably a circular wigwam, or " brush 
hut," somewhat similar to a modern Navajo house or hut. He says 
the large pueblo structures were probably developed by evolution 
from these primitive houses by "a sequence of architectural types," 
the result of the location of weak and scattered tribes in the midst 
of " an almost waterless area," where stone was abundant, and 
where they were finally compelled to erect these stone and clay 
fortress-houses for safety, as the cliff dwellers were forced to build 
their homes in inaccessible cliffs.* Had some of these natives mi 
grated at an early period from the pueblo districts, near the head 
waters of the Arkansas river, in New Mexico, down into the primi 
tive forests of the lower Arkansas, a well-watered, fertile, and 
heavily-timbered country, or into Tennessee, it seems natural that 
their new environment would have led to methods of house life, and 
defensive works different from those adopted in the almost treeless 
and waterless highlands of New Mexico. Houses of wood and 
clay, or earth, raised earth-works, and stockade defenses would 
seem to be the natural outgrowth of these new and different sur 
roundings. 

The ancient works of Tennessee were apparently of simple con 
struction, but they indicate the existence of large family dwellings 
as a characteristic of aboriginal society. Early historical records are 
also in harmony with this view. From Garcilasso de la Vega we 
learn that some of the houses in the fortified native towns visited 
by De Soto were very large. He says "the whole, number of 
houses " (in Mauvila, Alabama) " did not exceed eighty, but they 
were of size capable of lodging from five to fifteen hundred persons 
each," a statement probably extravagant, but generally sustained by 
the other chronicles. f 

Joutel, one of La Salle s companions in 1687, tells us that when 
they visited the village of the Cenis, west of the Mississippi, u The 

* Report Bureau of Ethnology, Vol. IV, pages 473, 481. 

t Garcilasso de la Vega, L. Ill, C. 20; Conquest of Florida (Irving), page 262. 



THE ANCIENT HOUSES ABORIGINAL TRADE. 69 

Indian town, with its large thatched lodges, looked like a cluster of 
gigantic haycocks." He declares that u some of them were sixty 
feet in diameter." * Joutel s description of one of these dwellings 
illustrates the house life of the southern Indians at that early period. 
" These lodges of the Cenis," he says, " often contained eight or ten 
families. They were made by firmly planting in a circle tall, 
straight, young trees, such as grew in the swamps. The tops were 
then bent inward, and lashed together, and the frame thus con 
structed was thickly covered with thatch, a hole being left at the 
top for the escape of the smoke. The inmates were ranged around 
the circumference of the structure, each family in a kind of stall, 
open in front, but separated from those adjoining by partitions of 
mats. Here they placed their beds of cane, their painted robes of 
buffalo and deer skin, their cooking utensils of pottery, and other 
household goods ; and here, too, the head of the family hung his 
bow, quiver, lance, and shield. There was nothing in common but 
the fire, which burned in the middle of the lodge, and was never 
suffered to go out." f 

In Iberville s Journal, it is stated that the cabins of the Bayo- 
goulas, a tribe of Louisiana, were circular in form, about thirty 
feet in diameter, and plastered with clay to the height of a man.J 
Adair says the winter cabins, or hot houses of the Cherokees, 
and several other tribes, were circular, and covered six or seven 
inches thick with tough clay, mixed with grass. Father Gravier, 
speaking of the Tounicas of Arkansas, says : u Their cabins were 
round and vaulted. They were lathed with cane, and plastered with 
mud from bottom to top, within and without, with a good covering 
of straw." || Tonti, who accompanied La Salle, in 1682, describes 
his visit to the town of Taensas on the Lower Mississippi. He says 
the natives had " large square dwellings, built of sun-baked mud, 
mixed with straw, arched over with a dome-shaped roof of canes, 

* La Salle (Parkman), pages 415, 417. 

t La Salle (Parkman), page 417. 

t Prof. Cyrus Thomas, Magazine of American History, February, 1884. 

i| Early French Voyages (Shea), page 135. 



70 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

and placed in regular order around an open area. Two of them 
were larger and better than the rest. One was the lodge of the 
chief, the other was the temple or house of the sun. The house of 
the chief was about forty feet square, with no opening but the door. 
The temple where they kept the bones of their departed chiefs, 
in construction, was much like the chief s house; a strong mud wall 
planted with stakes surrounded it. In the middle of the temple 
was a kind of an altar, before which a perpetual fire, composed 
of large logs, was burning, and was watched by two old men de 
voted to their office."* The "temple" in Georgia, described by 
La Vega, was much larger at the entrance, and inside were large, 
rude, wooden statues, one twelve feet high. Wooden chests, skill 
fully wrought, contained " the bodies of the departed caciques and 
chieftains of Cofachiqui, left to their natural decay, for these edi 
fices were merely used as charnel houses." Annexed to this 
" mausoleum " were other buildings, which served as " armories," 
containing weapons, all arranged in order, and maintained with 
care.f 

Turning from these historical accounts to an examination of 
the traces of the house remains found in the ancient settlements of 
Tennessee and the neighboring states, we find they verify the state 
ments of the early discoverers. 

Prof. F. W. Putnam, of the Peabody Museum, in his report upon 
the ancient earth-works at Lebanon, Tennessee, says : " Scattered 
irregularly within the inclosure are nearly one hundred more or less 
defined circular ridges of earth, which are from a few inches to a 
little over three feet in height, and of diameters varying from ten 
to fifty feet. An examination of these numerous low mounds, or, 
rather, earth-rings (as there could generally be traced a central de 
pression), soon convinced me, that I had before me the remains of 
the dwellings of the people who had erected the large mound, made 
the earthen embankment, buried their dead in the stone graves, and 

* La Salle (Parkman), page 281. 

t Conquest of Florida (Irving), page 231. 



THE ANCIENT HOUSES ABORIGINAL TRADE. 71 

lived in this fortified town, as I now feel I have a right to desig 
nate it. Nineteen of the best defined of these earth circles were 
carefully explored, with very gratifying results, and proved to my 
satisfaction that the ridges were formed by the decay of the walls 
of a circular dwelling, about which had accumulated, during its 
occupancy, such materials as would naturally form the sweepings 
and refuse of a dwelling of a people no further advanced toward 
civilization than were these mound builders of the Cumberland 
valley. These houses had probably consisted of a frail circular 
structure, the decay of which would leave only a slight elevation, 
the formation of the ridge being assisted by the refuse from the 
house." 

Prof. Putnam states that " the houses of the people were 
from fifteen to forty feet in diameter, and probably made entirely 
of poles, covered with mud, mats, or skins, as their decay has left 
a ring of rich black earth mixed with refuse, consisting of broken 
bones, broken pottery, etc." * 

He also states: "After the recent soil within the ridges 
had been removed, hard floors were discovered, upon which fires 
had been made ; while in the dirt forming the ridges were found 
fragments of pottery, broken and perfect implements of stone, 
several discoidal stones, most of which were made of limestone, 
bones, teeth, charcoal, etc. On removing the hardened and burned 
earth forming the floors of the houses, and at a depth of from one 
and a half to three feet, small stone graves were found in eleven of 
the nineteen circles that were carefully examined." These were 
graves of children, and from them " were obtained the best speci 
mens of pottery found within the earth-works, with shell beads, 
pearls, and polished stones of natural forms, which were probably 
playthings." f 

The house site rings discovered by the author within the forti 
fied works in Simmer county, Tennessee, near Saundersville, were of 

* Eleventh Annual Report Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts, pages 
205, 347. 

t Eleventh Annual Report Peabody Museum, page 301. 



72 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

the same general character, averaging from twenty to forty feet in 
diameter, and having burned clay fire hearths in the center. 

The agents of the Smithsonian Institution, who have explored 
the earth-works of Arkansas, Missouri, and sections of Illinois, have 
made similar reports as to the character of the dwellings occupied 
by the tribes of pottery makers of these districts. Prof. Thomas 
states that " in numerous instances, probably hundreds, beds of 
hard burned clay, containing impressions of grass and cane, were 
observed ; these were generally found one or two feet below the 
surface of the low flat mounds, from one to five feet high, and from 
fifteen to fifty feet in diameter, though by no means confined to 
mounds of this character, as they were also observed near the 
surface of the large flat topped and conical mounds." 

So common were these burned clay beds in the low, flat 
mounds, and so evidently the remains of former houses, that the 
explorers generally speak of them in their reports as " house 
sites." * 

These evidences of the character of the dwellings of the Stone 
Grave race, and their pottery making kindred of the Central Mis 
sissippi district, might be multiplied indefinitely, but they are suf 
ficient to show the methods of their construction, and that they 

* Magazine of American History (Prof. Cyrus Thomas), February, 1884. Prof. 
W. B. Potter, of the St. Louis Academy of Science, who explored a large number of 
mounds in South-east Missouri, found inclosures similar to those found in Middle 
Tennessee, with the large central mounds of about the same size, and thus refers to 
the house sites : "A marked feature of all the inclosed groups of mounds found in 
South-east Missouri is the occurrence of a large number of circular depressions, 
which seem to mark the sites of huts or dwelling-places. The average depth of 
these depressions is about two feet, and the diameter thirty feet. The centers are 
fifty to sixty feet apart. There is no systematic arrangement or grouping of the de 
pressions. In the center, and occasionally at one side, of these depressions, there 
can be found, at a depth of about fifteen inches below the present surface, a square 
of burned or partially burned clay, about thirty inches by twenty-five inches. The 
clay was evidently placed there designedly, for it is entirely different from the 
sandy clay or loam which occurs elsewhere throughout the settlements. Small 
pieces of charcoal and fragments of bone have been obtained from these hearths." 
Archaeology of Missouri (Potter), page 10. 



THE ANCIENT HOUSES ABORIGINAL TRADE. 73 

were necessarily built of wood or other perishable materials, and 
could not have been very much more elaborate or substantial than 
the dwellings of the Indians known to history. We have also some 
valuable information from arch geological sources as to the larger 
or public houses of the mound building tribes, and confirming the 
historical accounts of their erection upon the mounds.* 

Doubtless, systematic explorations will reveal further facts re 
garding them. 

* Colonel Morris, an agent of the Bureau of Ethnology, some time since ex 
plored a group of earth-works in Butler county, Missouri, consisting of "an inclosing 
wall and ditch, two large outer excavations, and four inside mounds." The largest 
mound had an average diameter of about one hundred and thirty -five feet, and was 
twenty feet high. Deeply imbedded within the central portions of the mound were 
found two large upright charred posts, near the charred and decaying remains of 
horizontal or cross timbers, and in connection with burned clay, ashes, charcoal, 
and charred bones, indicating almost certainly the remains of a large house struct 
ure, built upon or in connection with this mound, or upon the smaller mound, upon 
which the main mound appears to have been subsequently erected. Within the 
different strata or layers of the mound were the remains of nine large fire-beds, in 
dicating altars, sacrifices, burial ceremonies, or, possibly, merely the fire-hearths 
used at different periods of occupation. Magazine of American History (Thomas), 
February, 1884. Gerard Fowke, an assistant of the Bureau of Ethnology, also re 
ports that recently, in exploring a large mound on the Scioto river, in Ross county, 
Ohio, he discovered the remains of wooden " posts set in pairs around the edge; 
other posts at intervals within assisted " (or may have assisted) " in holding up the 
roof. The interior space was nearly forty feet across. A streak an inch thick of 
mingled ashes, charcoal, and black earth, spread over the floor, indicated the usual 
untidy appearance of the aboriginal housekeeping." The skeleton remains of an 
elaborate burial were inclosed in the mounds, and appearances indicated that the 
house had been torn away or burned, and the mound subsequently increased in size 
over the remains. Gerard Fowke s Report, in the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, 
July 23, 1888. In 1876, Prof. Carr, of the Peabody .Museum, in exploring a large 
mound in Lee county, Virginia, discovered a series of decaying cedar posts, imbed 
ded in a circle around the top of the mound, which the intelligent explorer regarded 
as the remains of a large house structure similar to the council-house Adair saw on a 
mound in the old Cherokee town of Cowe, Georgia, in 1773. Tenth Annual Report 
Peabody Museum, page 75. Prof. Putnam also found an upright cedar post still 
standing deeply planted in the large ancient mound of the Lebanon group, in Ten 
nessee. 



74 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE, 

Researches among the remains of the ordinary dwellings the 
dirt or clay floors invariably found; their width and generally cir 
cular form, the fire beds in the center; the traces of perishable ma 
terials used in their construction ; the irregular manner in which 
they were scattered within the fortified inclosures all seem to iden 
tify them as of the same general character as some of the houses 
and huts of the natives described by the Spanish and French dis 
coverers.* 

We have, unfortunately, from historic sources, few illustrations 
of the better class of Indian houses of the early frontier. A ground 
plan and cross section of one of the typical dwellings of the Man- 
dan Indians of the Upper Missouri country (Figs. 11 and 12), will 
show a method of house construction employed by that tribe, by 
which homes of considerable comfort were provided. 

They doubtless differed materially from the clay-plastered 
dwellings occupied by some of the advanced tribes of southern In 
dians ; yet, after centuries of abandonment and decay, such habita 
tions would have left remains, not unlike some of the house site re 
mains now found within the ancient earth-works of Tennessee. 

The illustrations explain themselves sufficiently for our pur 
pose, and show the circular forms, the upright timbers, and the fire 
pits or hearths in the center of these houses. 

They were about forty feet in diameter, and were scattered ir 
regularly within the fortified village sites, like the circular house 
floors found within the works at Lebanon and Saundersville. 

No traces or remains of a more advanced system of house con 
struction than that observed by the early explorers have been found 
within the mound or embankment works of Tennessee or elsewhere 
within the mound area, yet, under the floors and about these primitive 
homes, and within the adjacent cemeteries of the Stone Grave race, 
have been found many of the most elaborately wrought implements, 
vessels of pottery, and ornaments of stone and shell, yet discovered 

* The Huron Iroquois town covered a space of from one to ten acres, "the 
dwellings clustering together with little or no pretension to order." The Jesuits 
(Parkman), page xxvi. 



THE ANCIENT HOUSES ABORIGINAL TRADE. 



75 



within the Mississippi valley, showing that the ancient towns 
people and villagers who lived in these primitive dwellings of Mid 
dle Tennessee had reached a state of development not inferior to 
that of the mound tribes of Ohio or the most advanced Indian 
tribes of the pueblos of New Mexico and Arizona. 




FIG. 11. GROUND PLAN OF MANDAN HOUSE.* 




FIG. 12. CROSS SECTION.* 



The remains of art and industry indicate that the dwellings, al 
though simple in form, and of comparatively temporary character, 
must have heen constructed with considerable care, and were 
doubtless sufficiently substantial to securely house their various 



* From Smithsonian Contributions to Ethnology (Morgan), Vol. IV, pages 126, 



127. 



76 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



articles of domestic use, some of which were delicate and costly. 
The earthern floors, we find, were sometimes covered with mats, 
after the historic style. The adobe or clay-plastered walls of the 
Arkansas tribes were also often ornamented with molded work of 
reeded patterns, and even painted, as we know from the clay re 
mains found on the circular house floors, and now preserved in the 
National Museum at Washington. 

Since this chapter was originally written, a discovery was made 
by one of the writer s assistants (in January, 1890), in exploring the 
large aboriginal cemetery, near Nashville, that throws considerable 
light upon the ancient houses. In a single grave were found five 





FIG. 13. PLASTERING TROWELS (ONE-FOURTH), NOEL CEMETERY, NASHVILLE.* 

implements of well burned clay, which we are satisfied were used 
as plastering trowels. They were evidently the outfit or set of tools 
of an aboriginal plasterer of the old city upon Brown s creek. The 
two largest of these trowels, measuring about six inches in diam 
eter, are illustrated in Fig. 13. 

The flat smoothing surfaces, circular in form, are burned nearly 
as hard as stone, as if made to stand hard usage. The three smaller 
trowels of the set, four or five inches in diameter, are oblong in 
form, and have similar handles. All show evidences of use, and are 
somewhat worn. Indeed, a very thin polished outside coating of 
clay may still be seen upon three of them, indicating very clearly 
that they were used in smoothing some clay surface or wall. 



* Author s collection. 



THE ANCIENT HOUSES ABORIGINAL TRADE. 77 

The different sizes were probably suitable for finishing the va 
rious kinds of plastering work. Some of the smaller ones may 
have been used in making the large vessels of pottery. The subject 
of pottery and plastering trowels will be considered in the chapter 
upon implements of pottery, where other illustrations of these ob 
jects will be presented. 

This set of plastering tools is a most interesting and suggestive 
discovery. No one would have gone to the trouble of procuring or 
making these fine trowels to plaster a single residence. They must 
have been the tools of some artisan engaged in this occupation, and 
they were probably placed, with his other worldly treasures, in the 
grave in which he was buried, after the aboriginal custom. Such 
objects would not have been placed there as a tribute of affection or 
esteem. They indicate that in the prehistoric period, men followed 
the business of plastering, and that some of the adobe or clay plas 
tered houses were plastered with care by skillful workmen, and 
were probably of a better character than has been generally sup 
posed, and better also than we have represented them. 

Fine clay abounded throughout this section, and there is no 
reason to believe that such mechanics were less skillful in their work 
upon the houses of the stone grave settlements than were the pot 
tery makers of the same tribe, w r ho made the fine vessels of earthen 
ware. The houses were probably made of adobe 0r grouting, in 
part, as were some of the houses of the pueblo tribes. Unoccupied 
and uncared for, they could not long have withstood the moist at 
mosphere of Tennessee. A single century, with the aid of fire and 
frost, would have been more than sufficient to destroy them, and 
leave to the archaeologist only the " house site " remains now found. 

Doubtless many of the implements, ornaments, and utensils, 
showing evidences of some refinement, were made and used in these 
clay plastered dwellings. 

Among the historic Indians, it is not unusual to find varieties 
of good ware and well-wrought implements and fabrics manufact 
ured in rude dwellings and amid wild surroundings. The Navajos 
of New Mexico and Arizona live in common lodges or huts, made 



78 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



of rough logs, and thatched, or covered with earth. Like the 
houses of the mound building tribes of Tennessee, their houses are 
circular in form, and from twenty to fifty feet in diameter. Ac 
cording to Frank Gushing, the remains of their ancient dwellings 
show that they were also circular in form. The sketch of a modern 
Navajo hut (Fig. 14), will show its rude and primitive construction. 
Yet the Navajos make beautiful and finely woven blankets, 
with home-made dyes and of rich and varied designs, in these corn- 




FIG. 14. A NAVAJO DWELLING.* 

mon dwellings and in the open air, under the neighboring trees. Of 
late years, they have also become expert silversmiths, and, with the 
aid of rude forges, they manufacture jewelry that would be a credit 
to civilized artisans. They make fine basket and feather work, and 
excel in several of the arts and industries of domestic life.f Some 

* From Report Bureau of Ethnology (Powell), Vol. IV, page 473. 

t The Navajos and Pimas of the village Indian class are similar in many of their 
habits and characteristics to the mound tribes of the Mississippi valley. They 
tattoo their faces ; they made pottery ware sometimes representing animal forms ; 
they used stone implements not unlike those of the Stone Grave race ; they culti 
vated maize and beans a*nd tobacco, and were a docile and progressive tribe. 



THE ANCIENT HOUSES ABORIGINAL TRADE. 79 

of the Indian tribes of the north-west coast of America, that live 
in rude huts, excel all other native tribes north of Mexico, in artistic 
carvings in wood and stone. 

It seems that there were, probably, general storehouses, in the 
prehistoric period, in the larger towns of the Mississippi valley. 

We are told by the " Portugese Narrative," that, at the date of 
De Soto s expedition, some of the towns visited contained " store 
houses" filled with rich and comfortable clothing, such as mantles 
of hemp and feathers of every color, exquisitely arranged, forming 
admirable cloaks for winter, with a variety of dressed deer-skin 
garments, and skins of the marten, bear, and panther nicely packed 
away in blankets.* 

The extent of aboriginal trade, and of the interchange of com 
modities among the natives of the Mississippi valley, can scarcely 
be realized without some investigation. Among the remains dis 
covered in the ancient cemeteries near Nashville, as heretofore 
stated, were many articles showing intercourse or commercial rela 
tions with the tribes of distant sections. Objects of native copper 
from the shores of Lake Superior, ornamented sea shells from the 
gulf and south Atlantic coast, finely wrought articles of cannel 
coal, and implements of polished hematite from distant mines, and 
of quartz, steatite, syenite, and slate were found. 

That obsidian or volcanic glass, copper, and catlinite, originally 
found only in special known localities, should be unearthed thou 
sands of miles from their native beds, and often in considerable 
quantities, has been a matter of surprise, even to archaeologists, 
and indicates the very great extent of ancient intertribal com 
munication. 

* Historical Collections of Louisiana, Part II, page 172 ; History of Alabama 
(Pickett), Vol. I, page 55. There were found in the town many mantles and deer 
skins, lion-skins, and bear-skins, and many cat-skins; many came so far poorly ap 
pareled, and there they clothed themselves. Of the mantles they made them coats 
and cassocks, and some made gowns, and lined them with cat-skins, and likewise 
their cassocks. Of the deer-skins some made them also jerkins, shirts, hose, and 
shoes ; and of the bear-skins they made them very good cloaks." Portugese Narra 
tive, page 711. 



80 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

Obsidian in situ is not found east of Mexico or Colorado, yet 
Dr. Troost, the former learned geologist of Tennessee, and Dr. 
Joseph Jones, both report its discovery in Tennessee.* 

Copper in its native state, suitable for hammering into imple 
ments or ornaments, is found in situ in the upper peninsula of 
Michigan, along the borders of Lake Superior. It has not been dis 
covered elsewhere in this form south of this general district, ex 
cepting in very small quantities in one or two localities. The 
ancient copper pits or mines along the southern shore of the lake, 
worked by aboriginal miners, have frequently been described.f 

It is a remarkable indication of the far-reaching extent of 
aboriginal trade, that native copper, necessarily from these northern 
mines, has been found in nearly every section of the country, east 
of the Rocky Mountains, including the Gulf states. It is discov 
ered in the mounds and graves, and elsewhere, in the form of im 
plements, ornaments, knives, spear-heads, and other objects. 

A number of interesting articles of native copper found in Ten 
nessee will be described in subsequent chapters. 

The widely spread use of catlinite also indicates the extent of 
aboriginal trade. The identity of its original location is more 
marked than that of native copper. This beautiful and easily 
worked red pipe stone is only found in situ in the ancient quarries 
of the " Coteau des Prairies " on the western border of Minnesota. 
Carver, who visited the Upper Mississippi region, in 1766-68, 
marked it on his maps as the " Country of Peace," because all 
the tribes met there in peace to obtain pipe stone, J an illustration 
of the reasonable and gentle side of the Indian character ex- 

* Troost s "Ancient Remains in Tennessee," in Transactions of the American 
Ethnological Society, Vol. I, page 361 ; Aboriginal Remains (Jones), page 76. Squier 
and Davis found obsidian arrow points and fragments in five ancient mounds in the 
Scioto valley, in Ohio. Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, page 306. 
It has also been discovered in Mississippi and Wisconsin. 

t The writer visited these mines years ago, and discovered a grooved stone ax, 
used by the natives in their mining work. 

i Carver s Travels, page 78. 



THE ANCIENT HOUSES ABORIGINAL TRADE. 81 

quisitely pictured by Longfellow in his " Song of Hiawatha." 
There the Great Spirit 

" Smoked the calumet, the Peace pipe, 
As a signal to the nations," 

to come as brothers from near and far to this famous neutral ground, 
bury their feuds and hatreds, and quarry the pipes of peace.* 

Catlinite pipes must have been used by most of the ancient 
and modern tribes. The Delawares, Iroquois, and New England 
Indians, far to the east, used them. They have been found in the 
mounds of Ohio and Illinois. 

The catlinite pipe found in a stone grave in the Noel cemetery, 
near Nashville, and now in the author s collection, is a typical 
specimen of prehistoric art. It offers positive proof of ancient re 
lations or intercourse with the tribes of the far North-west, the 
ancient home of the Mandan and Dakota Indians. f There is no 
difficulty in identifying the well-known clay stone of which this 
pipe is made. It is only found in the locality mentioned, and is 
familiar to all collectors. J 

The extent of intercourse and traffic among the ancient tribes 
is also well illustrated by the widely distributed marine shells found 
in the prehistoric cemeteries of Tennessee. Vast stores of them are 
discovered, in an unusual variety of forms. Whether from their for 
tunate preservation in the stone graves, or from their more recent 

* The poet Longfellow says they came 

"From the vale of Tawasentha, 
From the valley of Wyoming, 
From the groves of Tuscalusa, 
From the far off Rocky Mountains, 
From the Northern lakes and rivers; 
All the tribes beheld the signal, 
Saw the distant smoke ascending, 
The Pukwana of the Peace Pipe." 

t Some authorities have suggested that the Mandan s were probably descendants 
of the mound building tribes. 

+ The catlinite pipe is illustrated in a subsequent chapter. 
6 



82 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

date of deposit, no other state can compare with Tennessee in the 
number and beauty of the shell ornaments and utensils found 
among its ancient remains. Beads, pendants, gorgets engraved and 
plain, pins, ear-rings, implements, cups, and spoons, are found in 
great numbers, a large proportion of which must have come from 
the distant Atlantic or gulf coasts, showing not only intercourse 
with the coast tribes, but intimate and extensive trade relations 
with them.* 

There is also ample historical evidence of intertribal traffic at a 
very early period. After the failure of Narvaez s expedition into 
Florida, in 1528, Cabeza de Yaca, who was left. behind, found little 
difficulty in supporting himself as a trader or peddler in his long 
circuitous journey from Florida to Mexico. He reports that he 
gathered and exchanged the wares of the country and the coast 
flints, skins, mineral paint, medicine, conch-shells, sea-beans, and 
Dther merchandise. f 

De Soto found the natives at the Saline Springs of Tulla, 
Arkansas, making salt, which was "made into small cakes, and 
vended among the other tribes for skins and mantles." J 

La Salle, Marquette, Hennepin, and Charlevoix traveled long 
distances through the interior of the Indian country with little or 
no other protection or introduction than the calumet or pipe of 
peace. The natives were a trading people, and as De Vaca says, 
he always received fair treatment, out of regard for " his com 
modities." From the many identities, and marked resemblances 
found in the images and pottery forms of Arkansas, Missouri, and 
Tennessee, there is but little doubt that the native traders came 
from the ancient focus of this pottery district on the Mississippi, 

* In illustration of Indian exchanges, Schoolcraft says, " he saw, at the foot of 
Lake Superior, Indian articles ornamented with the shining white Dentalium eli- 
phanticum, from the mouth of the Columbia river." Ancient Monuments (Squier 
and Davis), page 254. 

t Eelation of Cabeza de Vaca, translated by Buckingham Smith, page 85, et seq. 
New York, 1871. 

t History of Alabama (Pickett). Vol. I, page 70. 



THE ANCIENT HOUSES ABORIGINAL TRADE. 83 

near the mouth of the Ohio river, with canoes laden with wares, 
up the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Ohio rivers. Perhaps the 
aristocratic ancient town near Nashville, whose remains have re 
cently been unearthed, was a colony from this main center. Like 
some of the Greek colonies that settled in Italy, it surpassed the 
parent stock in some of its manifestations of art. 

Father Membre, in 1681, saw a fleet of one hundred and fifty 
canoes at one of the towns on the Mississippi river. Some of 
them were forty to fifty feet long.* 

De Soto met a fleet of two hundred pirogues or large canoes, 
manned by the natives, on discovering the Mississippi. " It was a 
pleasing sight," says the Portugese narrator, " to behold these wild 
savages in their canoes, which were neatly made, and of great size, 
and with their awnings, colored feathers, and waving standards, ap 
peared like a fleet of galleys," f Armed Indians, carrying shields 
made of buffalo hides, sheltered the rowers, while others stood in 
battle array with their bows and arrows. 

That these native fleets could assemble upon the Mississippi, 
almost without warning, is an indication of the ease with which 
the ancient tribes were able to traverse the great rivers, and 
communicate with distant sections, either in their wars or peaceful 
exchanges. Bands of Iroquois from central New York came all 
the way down the tributaries of the Ohio in their light canoes, 
and up the winding Cumberland, to enjoy the pleasure of pillag 
ing and burning the houses of the less warlike Shawnees near 
Nashville. They sometimes pursued the Cherokees and Chickasaws 
to the banks of the Tennessee river. They came west with La Salle, 
and drove the Illinois tribes beyond the Mississippi. 

Carver, more than a hundred years ago, learned from the Win- 
nebagos, of Wisconsin, that their war parties sometimes traveled as 
far to the south-west as New Mexico, " the land of the Spaniards," 
and that it required months to make the journey. J Similar excur- 

* Discovery of the Mississippi (Narrative of Father Membre), page 181. 

t Portugese Narrative, C. 22 ; Conquest of Florida (Irving), page 314. 

i Carver s Travels, New York, 1838, page 42. Du Pratz mentions the fact that 



84 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

sions or migrations were doubtless not uncommon in the prehistoric 
period. 

Pipes, flints, axes, and ornaments of stone are rarely found near 
their original beds. Beautiful pipes, wrought out of steatite, por 
phyry and serpentine from East Tennessee and ^"orth Carolina, 
found their way far down the Mississippi into Louisiana, and into 
the shell heaps of Florida and Alabama. Three pipes, of the well 
defined north-west coast forms, have been unearthed in New Eng 
land. Plates of mica, from Xorth Carolina and Virginia, are found 
in great abundance in the mounds and graves of the Mississippi 
valley. To understand the ethnic status of the prehistoric tribes, 
therefore, and to clearly comprehend ancient life in Tennessee, these 
widely extended relations should be fully realized. The aborigines 
were evidently a trading, traveling, warring, and migrating race. 

We are told by Hubert Bancroft that the ancient Mexican 
traders made long journeys to distant sections, occupying months 
of time, and we have no good reason for supposing that either the 
Toltecs, the Aztecs, or the pueblo tribes were wholly ignorant of the 
vast population inhabiting the Mississippi valley, especially as the 
remains found occasionally exhibit traces of Mexican and pueblo 
culture.* 

one of the Yazoo Indians of Mississippi (Montcacht-ape), in one of his journeys to 
the Far West, reached the Pacific coast, and returned to his tribe in Mississippi 
after an absence of five years. History of Louisiana, Vol. II, page 128. London, 
1763. 

* Herrera, the Spanish historian, describes the cargo of a large trading canoe 
that came from Yucatan, at the time of Columbus, to one of the islands in the gulf, 
"forty leagues" distant from the mainland; showing how easily Cuba and Florida 
could be reached by the natives of Central and South America. 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 85 



CHA.FTER 

INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 

Ancient Inscribed Stones Found in Tennessee The Sumner County Pictograph 
The Riggs Face Bowl Images of Clay Stone Idols The Troost Idol The 
Cradle Board Image Crania from the Graves of Tennessee Ancient Crania 
from Missouri Peruvian Skulls Pueblo and Cliff Dwellers Skulls Tables of 
Measurement. 

One of the surest indications that the state of ancient society 
in the Mississippi valley was essentially rude and primitive is found 
in the fact that few prehistoric inscriptions of archselogical value, 
or picture writings of interest, have been discovered within this 
widely extended area. None have been found approaching the 
higher grades of hieroglyphic writings, such as marked the civiliza 
tion of the Mayas of Central America, or even equaling the ruder 
Runic characters or alphabet of the ancient Northmen. 

The North American Indians excelled all other barbarous 
tribes in the efficient and general use of sign language, and in ex 
pressing conceits, recording events, and conveying information by 
rude markings or inscriptions; yet the antiquarian will search in 
vain among the pictographs and inscriptions that illustrate the 
large volumes of Squier and Davis, Catlin, Schoolcraft, or the more 
recent valuable publications of the Bureau of Ethnology * for traces 
of an ancient native written language, or decipherable symbol lan 
guage. The large number of pictographs and inscriptions illus 
trated are rarely above the grade of the rude archaic animal 
sketches and markings, or rock carvings, of the historic tribes, and 
are of comparatively little ethnic value. A few inscriptions or 

* In the Fourth Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (Powell), page 13, will be 
found a long and valuable illustrated paper by Colonel Garrick Mallery upon the 
pictographs of the North American Indians. 



86 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

pictures of a higher type have been discovered. The Cincinnati 
tablet,* the figures on copper from the Etowah mound in Georgia, 
and several of the engraved shell figures and pictures from the 
mounds of Tennessee, Georgia, and Missouri, are objects of much 
archaeological interest, and must be excepted from the mass of ruder 
prehistoric pictographs. Although these expressions of art are es 
sentially Indian and primitive, they point to a state of society, or 
of local or individual development, in certain ancient centers of 
population, a degree above the general culture status of the his 
toric tribes. This proof is positive, and must be accepted. These 
evidences of ancient culture could not all have been borrowed or 
exotic. They do not indicate a state of society beyond the reach 
of the ancestors of the historic tribes in the natural progress of 
development, nor are they above the general state of art and culture 
of progressive tribes like some of the advanced pueblo villagers. 
They merely mark the highest points or stages of culture prob 
ably reached in the slow processes of evolution, and suggest that 
there has been a slight decadence since the dawn of history, or the 
best prehistoric period, probably resulting from wars, migrations, or 
other natural causes. Illustrations of some of these interesting 
objects will be found in subsequent chapters. A few ancient carv 
ings or inscriptions upon stone of considerable interest have in re 
cent years been found in Tennessee. 

The carefully engraved stone, both sides of which are fairly 
well illustrated in Fig. 15, was found some years ago near Peters 
burg, in Lincoln county, Middle Tennessee, and is now in the col 
lection of the Tennessee Historical Society. The stone is of dark, 
hard, and compact slate. It is a little larger than the illustration, 
and bears such marks of age and use that there can be no question 

* We are aware that the genuineness of this tablet has been questioned. We 
have carefully examined the original and investigated its history, and also that of 
the two ruder Ohio tablets of somewhat similar character. We have known Mr. 
Gest, the owner of the Cincinnati tablet, many years, and we see no good grounds 
to doubt that it is a genuine prehistoric relic. 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 



87 



as to its genuineness.* The ornamentation engraved upon it is of 
the familiar Greek key or classic fret pattern, frequently found 





FIG. 15. ORNAMENTED "BANNER STONE" (LINCOLN COUNTY, TENNESSEE). 

among Mexican antiquities. The same pattern, in more regular 
forms, ornaments the front of the ancient " Governor s House," at 




FIG. 16. A VESSEL OF POTTERY FROM THE MOQUI PUEBLO. 

Uxmal, in Central America. More exact examples of the orna 
mentation upon this stone are, however, to be found upon the an- 

* It was presented to the Tennessee Historical Society, in 1883, by Mr. E. A. 
Parks, an intelligent and reliable gentleman of Lynchburg, Tennessee. He writes 
that, " it was found in the sand on the bank of a small stream in Lincoln county, 
near Petersburg, by the children of the Marshall family." 



88 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

cient pottery from the Moqui pueblos in the province of Tusayan, 
Arizona. The handsome old Moqui vase (Fig. 16) is ornamented in 
patterns almost duplicating the lines engraved upon this stone. It 
may be found in the collection of the National Museum, with many 
other articles of pottery of similar ornamentation from the same 
province.* 

A fine specimen of a higher type of this form of ornamentation 
is presented in Fig. 17. It was taken from a fragment of very an 
cient pottery found in Mexico, and shows the more advanced cult 
ure of the Aztecs or Toltecs.f The rare little engraved " banner 
stone " was doubtless long worn or carried as an ornament, token, 




FIG. 17. A FRAGMENT OF ANCIENT MEXICAN POTTERY. 

or amulet, or, perhaps, was used for some ceremonial purpose. It 
may have been a long-treasured keepsake of the Fatherland in the 
Far West, as it was probably an importation, centuries ago, from 
the Moqui pueblo section. No similar tracery or ornamentation 
has been discovered among the antiquities of Tennessee, or of the 
Mississippi valley, so far as \ve can learn. It establishes with con 
siderable certainty the existence of intercourse between the ancient 
inhabitants of Middle Tennessee and the tribes of the pueblos, evi 
dently village Indians of the same general class. 

An inscribed stone of an interesting character was recently 

* See the larger illustration of this vase and others in Reports Bureau of Eth 
nology, Vol. IV, pages 320-336. 

t The illustration is copied from Prehistoric Man (Wilson), Vol. II, page 30. 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 



89 



found by Geor.ge Wood, a colored man, while "digging for pots" 
in the large aboriginal cemetery on the Noel farm, near Nashville. 
The stone is a sandstone, yellowish-gray in color, and of rather 
coarse grain. It is about two inches in diameter, and nearly an 
inch thick. On the reverse side, it is hollowed out like a " cup 
stone." An engraving of it, representing both sides, is shown in 
Fig. 18. 

The inscription, well and deeply cut into the hard stone, is evi 
dently ideographic, and a painstaking attempt at hieroglyphic or 
sign writing. It was certainly intended to have some special signif- 




FIG. 18. INSCRIBED STONE FOUND NEAR NASHVILLE.* 

icance, or to record some specific idea, as the characters are not 
careless incisions or markings. It may have represented some con 
tract, or totem, or memorial, or some money idea, or value. 

The characters happen to be somewhat similar to some of the 
letters of the old Phoenician alphabet, and to the Runic inscriptions 
of the ancient Scandinavians. Dr. M. W. Dickinson, in his valua 
ble work upon American Numismatics, gives a number of illustra- 

* Author s collection. The unevenness of the surface rendered it impracticable 
to present a photo-engraving directly from a photograph of the stone ; but no one, 
upon examining it, will doubt the genuineness of this antique. We obtained it 
from the workman the day it was found, and washed away the clay adhering to it. 



90 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

tions of small, inscribed disks of stone, clay, coal, and galena, 
in form somewhat like this inscribed stone, objects discovered 
by him in exploring the mounds of the lower Mississippi valley, 
and which he designates as " aboriginal money " of the mound 
building tribes.* A few small disks of the same kind have been 
found in Tennessee. Dr. Dickinson was excellent authority upon 
this general subject, but w T e do not find it considered elsewhere, and 
we can not be certain that these little " discoidals " were used as 
money. 

The prehistoric tribes probably had no medium of exchange 
corresponding with our modern idea of money or currency. Even 
the Aztecs of ancient Mexico had no regular metallic currency in 
general use. Barter and interchange of commodities constituted 
their principal method of exchange. The nearest approach to a 
system of currency among the historic tribes, was the use of wam 
pum or shell money, a use doubtless originally derived from the 
value of shells or shell beads as ornaments. The unique stone il 
lustrated, however, is of interest as indicating an effort at sign writ 
ing much above the ordinary types of Iiidian inscriptions. 

Some of the North American Indians, so expert in conveying 
their ideas by signs and sign writing, were evidently making slow 
but certain progress toward a written alphabet. 

There has also been discovered, in Sumner county, Tennessee, 
near the stone graves and mounds of Castalian Springs, a valuable 
pictograph, the ancient engraved stone illustrated in Plate II, which 
we have taken the liberty to entitle A Group of Tennessee Mound 
Builders. 

This engraved stone, the property of the Tennessee Historical 
Society, is a flat, irregular slab of hard limestone, about nineteen 
inches long, and fifteen inches wide. It bears every evidence of 
very great age. A plate engraved directly from a photograph of it 
would have been made for this publication, but the surface of the 
stone was uneven, and it was found impossible to get a strong pho- 

* Dickinson s American Numismatics, page 37. 



92 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

by a belt around the waist and reaching to the knees." (The italics 
are used to call attention to the latter part of the statement.) 

Mr. Conant s prediction is fully realized in this pictograph. 
Here are portrayed, evidently with considerable correctness, the 
dresses arid figures of leading personages of the Stone Grave race, 
the mound builders of Tennessee, as they appeared upon some im 
portant occasion. Unfortunately, the faces of two of the four 
upper figures, the fanciful hair or head ornaments, the lower shield 
and some other details are partly lost by the disintegration of the 
stone, owing to its great age. Only faint outlines can now be seen. 
It would probably have been wiser to have made no attempt to 
illustrate these portions of the pictograph. The implements or 
objects in the hands of the separate figure below have also become 
somewhat obscure, but the pictograph, as it now appears, has been 
copied from the original stone, with truthful expression and exact 
ness of details. It was well and deeply graven, probably with some 
implement of quartz or flint upon the softer limestone surface. 
The aboriginal art was even slightly superior to the art of the 
copyist, as represented in the illustration presented. Some slight 
analogies or resemblances to the figures in this pictograph are 
found in other prehistoric picture writings from the mounds. 

In the figures on copper from the Etowah mound of Georgia, 
illustrated in the Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 
and in the two fine shell gorgets in the same report, the waist 
bands and garters invariably appear, and there are traces of the 
pointed fashion of the skirts. The back hair-knot is frequently ob 
served on the pottery heads, and shell gorgets from the stone 
graves, and may be seen elegantly arrayed in the Etowah plate 
figures. The rude head in clay (Fig. 19) found within the ancient 
earth- works, near Hickman, Tennessee, offers an illustration of two 
of the long and peculiarly formed back hair-knots in the stone 
picture.* 

Judge Haywood, in describing a large stone idol found in 

* This illustration is from Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee (Dr. Jones), page 63. 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 93 

Wilson county, Tennessee, says : " On the back of the head is a 
large projection, so shaped as to show, perhaps, the manner of 
tying and wearing the hair." * 

Fanciful head-dresses were worn by all Indians upon occasions 
of ceremony, from the eagle plumes of the wilder tribes to the 
elaborate feather crowns of the Aztec chiefs. 

One of the branches of the Cherokee tribe was named the 
family of the " Long Hair." This was the badge or totem of the 
clan.f Bartram reports that the women among the southern In 
dians "made diadems "| for the men s heads, and Parkman tells us 
that the northern tribes " wore their hair after a variety of gro- 




FIG. 19. POTTERY HEAD, WITH LONG HAIR KNOT. 

tesque and startling fashions," || a statement that might be justly ap 
plied to some of the fashionable head-dresses of more civilized 
races. 

The neatly dressed female in the picture seems content with a 
chignon of modern style. Her prominence upon this public occa 
sion, and the fact that she seems to have possession of the belt of 
wampum, are both indications of progress in the direction of civili- 

* Natural and Aboriginal History oi Tennessee, page 438. 
t Ancient Society (Morgan), page 164. 
J Bartram s Travels, page 511. London, 1792. 
|| The Jesuits, page xxxiii. 

$ " Tufts of deer s hair, dyed of scarlet color, were worn as head-dresses." Rela 
tion of Cabeza de Vaca, page 121. Paris, 1837. 



94 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



zation. De Soto found " the beautiful young Indian princess, 
Xualla," ruling over the province of Cofacheque, on the Savannah 
river.* The tattoo marks on the faces of two of the chief fig 
ures are significant. We find, from a series of rude drawings or 
" counts " of the Dakota Indians, illustrating the fourth annual 
report of the Bureau of Ethnology (page 174), that the principal 
chiefs of the Dakotas were marked by three tattoo lines of paint 
across their cheeks ; and that, in the Indian picture writings, the 
holding of a war club or pipe was a sign of authority, and indicated 




FIG. 20. THE RIGGS FACE BOWL (ONE-THIRD). 

that these special chiefs had at some time led independent war 
parties.f 

According to the interesting pictograph presented, the chiefs 
among the mound builders of Tennessee had four lines of paint, or 
tattoo marks, on their faces upon occasions of ceremony. The prev 
alence of this custom among the pottery makers of Tennessee and 
Arkansas may also be established by testimony, independently of 
the pictured stone. 

* Conquest of Florida (Irving), page 219. 

t Pictographs of the North American Indians (Colonel Garrick Mallery), page 
175. The Mandans, who have been mentioned by several writers as probable de 
scendants of some of the mound building tribes, are a branch of the Dakota or 
Sioux tribe of Indians. 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 95 

One of the finest, if not the finest, face or portrait bowl yet dis 
covered among the mound graves of Arkansas, and well illustrated 
in Fig. 20, as will be observed, is strongly marked with the four 
tattoo lines upon its face, thus confirming the story of the interesting 
pictograph from Sumner county. This terra cotta bowl was re 
cently discovered in or near a mound on the St. Francis river, in 
Arkansas, near the mouth of the Tyronza river, by Mr. C. W. 
Riggs, an enthusiastic mound explorer, who kindly furnished us 
with excellent photographs of it, from which, with the aid of 
sketches from the original bowl, these illustrations were made. It 
is five and one-half inches high. The face of the bowl is so marked 
and well executed that one is astonished at its life-like appearance. 
Its expression is indeed so natural and human that it is not alto 
gether agreeable. In color the face is a light clay, probably the tint 
of the natural clay of which it was made. The rest of the head is 
stained or painted red. The forehead is low, but prominent. The 
eyes small. The ears are finely modeled. The lips, which are 
tinted red, are parted, as if about to speak. What a history this 
little bowl could unfold, if permitted to tell the story of its life ! * 

Returning to the pictograph, it will be observed that the pipe 
in the lower banner is of the familiar square pattern often found in 
Tennessee, and illustrated in the chapter upon pipes. 

Captain Carver, who spent three years traveling through the 

* The writer saw this fine bowl in the Riggs collection, at the Cincinnati Cen 
tennial Exhibition, in 1888, and takes pleasure in presenting to the antiquarian pub 
lic probably the first good engraving of it. It is now in the Riggs collection, at the 
Cincinnati Art Museum. Mr. Riggs regarded it as worth more than the entire bal 
ance of his pottery collection of several hundred perfect specimens. He called the 
ancient cemetery from which it was taken " The Royal Mound," as it appeared to 
have been the burial place of persons of distinction in their day and generation. 
Earth-works embracing about twelve acres (about the average area of our Tennessee 
works) inclosed the mound group. This bowl, well marked with the face and tattoo 
marks of some distinguished personage, perhaps belonged to the aboriginal set of 
terra cotta of some old chief. The physiognomy of this ancient gentleman, how 
ever, like the heads and faces of the royal Peruvians and Central Americans, ex 
hibits no special marks of a high blooded pedigree. 



96 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

interior of ^"orth America, 1776-8, says the pipe " was used as an 
introduction to all treaties, as a flag of truce is among Europeans." 
A third banner or shield is faintly traced upon the reverse side of 
the stone tablet. They seem larger than ordinary battle shields, 
and may have been ceremonial shields or banners. De Soto found 
a native chief, the haughty Tuscaluza, using a large ornamented 
banner.* 

The double serpent emblem or ornament- upon the banner may 
have been the badge or totem of the tribe, clan, or family that oc 
cupied the extensive earth-works at Castalian Springs in Sumner 
county, near where the stone was found. The serpent was a 
favorite emblem or totem of the Stone Grave race of Tennessee, 
and is one of the common devices engraved on the shell gorgets 
taken from the ancient cemeteries, as will be observed in subse 
quent illustrations. A serpent totem in pottery, found in David 
son county, but near the border of Sumner county, is also illus 
trated in the next chapter. The circles or sun symbol ornaments 
on the banners and dresses, are the figures most frequently graven 
on the shell gorgets found near Nashville. Father Membre in 
formed us that the natives on the Red river, in 1686, wore " gala 
dresses," ornamented with " painted suns," and that they worshiped 
the sun,f and when Bartram visited the southern Indians, in 1773, 
he reported that the Indian women " make moccasins, spin and 
weave curious belts and diadems for men, fabricate lace, fringe, 
embroider and decorate their apparel." J 

Hubert Bancroft tells us that the Navajos and Pimas, village 
Indians of New Mexico and Arizona, wore girdles around their 
waists, neat moccasins, leggins, aprons, and short petticoats of deer 

* " Beside him (Tuscaluza) was his standard bearer, who bore on the end of a 
lance a dressed deer-skin, stretched out to the size of a buckler. It was a yellow 
color, traversed by three blue stripes. This was the great banner of this warrior 
chieftain." Conquest of Florida (Irving), page 256. Shields of wood, skin, and 
hides were used by the natives. History of Alabama (Pickett), Vol. I, page 58. 

t Discovery of the Mississippi (Shea), pages 217, 228. 

t Bartram s Travels, page 511. London, 1792. 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 97 

skins, and necklaces of beads and shell-work.* We are also told 
that belts and garters were a specialty of Navajo manufacture^ all 
indicating that the dresses of the figures on the engraved stone 
resemble the dresses of the old southern Indians and the village In 
dians of the Far West. 

The details of this interesting pictograph, and the location in 
which it was found, clearly identify it as a relic of the Stone Grave 
race. It is entirely in harmony with our knowledge of the race 
derived from other sources. It is also in harmony with the gen 
eral views expressed elsewhere in this volume as to the culture 
status of this ancient race. While it presents a true picture of In 
dian life in its rude and barbaric state, its details, and the art which 
engraved it, indicates a status slightly above that of the historic 
Indians of the early frontier. We doubt whether any inscribed 
stone of more arch geological value has been discovered among the 
prehistoric remains of the Mississippi valley. It is to be regretted 
that the disintegration of the stone has partly obliterated some of the 
outlines of the faces and heads. Like the stone idol types, the faces 
are too rudely executed to be of ethnic value, yet prehistoric picto- 
graphs are so rare north of Mexico, that all their details are of 
interest. 

The images and effigy vessels of clay, from the stone graves of 
Tennessee and the burial mounds of Missouri and Arkansas, are, 
also, among the most interesting antiques yet discovered. They 
call back to life the personalty of the old mound builders more viv 
idly than any other remains. While they can not be regarded as 
presenting individual or exact types of this ancient race, some of the 
faces are so marked and expressive that they must be at least par 
tial imitations or reproductions of the lineaments and features be 
fore the eyes or in the mind of the native artisans who made them. 
It is remarkable that they represent no uniform or particular type. 
The varieties of features and expressions are, indeed, as great as one 

* Native Races (Bancroft), Vol. IV, pages 531, 532. 
t Bureau of Ethnology Report, Vol. II, page 434. 

7 



98 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

would observe along the streets of a metropolitan city. Noses, 
Roman, plebeian, and Ethiopian, are all represented. Features of 
almost Caucasian regularity, the high cheek bones of the Indian, 
heavy African features, foreheads high and low, close fitting caps, 
and high pointed hats, may all be noticed among the characteristics 
of these statuettes of clay.* 

A group from the author s collection, all found in the ancient 




FIG. 21. TERRA COTTA HEAD, FROM CEMETERY NEAR NASHVILLE. 

cemeteries near Nashville (one-third natural diameters or sizes), is 
presented as the frontispiece of this volume. It is engraved by the 
" Moss process," directly from a photograph of the objects, and 
is, therefore, an exact and truthful presentation of these images. It 
does not give the full strength of some of the faces and outlines, 
owing to their light color, but it is a faithful reproduction of the 

* Charnay reports, as a remarkable fact, the great variety of types of faces and 
features in the terra cotta figures found among ancient Mexican remains. Ancient 
Cities of the New World, page 132. 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 99 

photograph. The clay paste of which they were made, as will be 
observed, is of different colors. The majority of them are reddish- 
brown. Some are of a light cream or clay color ; and, occasionally, 
one is found of a rich and finely polished surface, nearly black. 
Like most of the earthenware from the graves, the clay paste has 
been mixed and tempered with pounded shells from the rivers, but it 
is usually finely ground and well burned. A front view of the lit 
tle dark head in the upper line of the frontispiece is shown in Fig. 
21. It is one of the best and hardest pieces of ware, as well as one 




FIG. 22. FEMALE HEAD, FROM CEMETERY NEAR NASHVILLE. 

of the best specimens of art, found in the Noel cemetery. The il 
lustration does not quite equal the original, either in. outlines or ex 
pression. The light female head, on the upper line of the frontis 
piece, is presented in profile in Fig. 22. The photo-engraving does 
not do justice to it, owing to its light color. In fact, neither of the 
pictures fully illustrates the dignity and grace of the original. The 
head belongs to an image or effigy vessel, and the hole, through 
which the string was passed to hang or carry it, may be observed at 
the back of the neck. The holes for the earrings may also be seen, 
and a curious little loop or hole over the forehead, possibly intended 
to represent some custom of wearing a ring or ornament there. 
This fine female head was obtained from an ancient cemetery, on 



100 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

the Byser farm, on White s creek, about five miles north of Nash 
ville.* 

The square crown or ornament rising to a point in a series of 
layers on the large light head in the frontispiece was a favorite head 
dress of the Stone Grave race. We have not observed it on the 
pottery heads from other sections. It was, doubtless, copied from 




FIG 23. TERRA COTTA IMAGE, FROM CEMETERY NEAR NASHVILLE. 

the fashions of the times, in the Cumberland valley, and is not un 
like some of the modern conceits of the white race. 

The rather rudely engraved figure (No. 23) will be also recog 
nized as one of the statuettes of the frontispiece. He bears the 
historic name of " Sitting Bull " in our catalogue. The face of the 
original in its characteristics is of a marked red Indian type. The 

* It was kindly presented to the author by Mrs. J. M. Leech, of Nashville. 
There was a large cemetery on this farm, and a sepulchral mound, with layers of 
graves three or four deep, from which we obtained a number of fine relics; but, like 
most of the burial grounds near Nashville, no evidences of military or defensive 
works remain. 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 101 

next figure on his left we call " Mrs. Sitting Bull," as both were 
found in the same grave, and appear to have been the work of the 
same aboriginal artist. The two smallest images in the frontispiece 
are solid, and may have been toys or charms; the smallest the 
tiny little fellow at the end being quite perfect, but only about an 
inch and a half high. The rest of the figures are hollow, and all 
have holes in the backs of the heads, and may have been used as 
vessels or for some purposes useful as well as ornamental. 

Plate III is a reproduction directly from the photograph, pre 
senting different views of some of the images of the frontispiece 
group, with others, that the reader may have a better idea of these 
interesting objects. It will be observed that the dark figure front 
ing on the upper line has a contracted forehead, and features some 
what resembling the Ethiopian type. This resemblance is much 
stronger in the original, and invests this unique image with special 
interest. The owl or bird-shaped vessel, with the well-painted 
feathers (Plate III), was taken from a grave in the Noel cemetery. 
A similar one, of finely polished surface and bette-r burned ware, 
w T as dug up by Prof. H. H. Wright, of Fisk University, in the same 
cemetery. Prof. Cyrus Thomas, of the Bureau of Ethnology, 
recently exhibited a handsomely painted one to the writer, of the 
same form, found in East Tennessee. 

The ancient graves in Missouri and Arkansas have also fur 
nished a number of similar figures,* and types almost identical of 
light clay, and with the same feather marks, are to be seen among 
the modern pottery of the Zuni Indians of the pueblos. f A well- 
formed owl, carved out of hard stone, and about four inches high, 
was found within the mound works, near Saundersville, in Sumner 
county, Tennessee. Nearly all the images and effigy vessels of light 
clay were probably orignally painted or decorated in various colors, 
but the coloring has faded, or become very indistinct. 

It will be observed that a number of these statuettes are hunch- 

* Bureau of Ethnology, Vol. IV, page 422. 

t Bureau of Ethnology, Vol. IV, pages 364, 365. 



102 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



backs. This is also a characteristic of many of the clay figures 
representing the human form found in Missouri and Arkansas. 
The hump is so large, so invariably of the same form, and so com 
mon a feature, that there must have been some special design or 
object in its use, but we have not been able to discover it. 

The humps are generally beaded or ornamented, perhaps in 
imitation of vertebrae. 

The two outside images on the upper line of Plate III are 
solid,* but nearly all the large images are hollow, and have open 
ings at the backs of the heads, as if used for bottles or other useful 
purposes. Possibly, they may have contained some kind of pre 
historic " Worcestershire sauce," or aboriginal vinegar, or other 




FIG. 24. FRAGMENTS IN TERRA COTTA (TWO-THIRDS). t 

luxuries of the ancient cuisine. They are generally called " idols." 
It is difficult to understand why they should be molded into incon 
venient human forms for use as ordinary bottles or vases ; yet the 
fancy for the grotesque and for animal forms was so strong among 
the ancient races of America, that convenience of use was probably 
frequently sacrificed to gratify the desire for these peculiar forms. 
A large proportion of the pottery used by the ancient Peruvians 
was of grotesque and animal forms. This was also a characteristic 
of ancient Pueblo and Mexican pottery. These quaint figurines of 
terra-cotta found in the stone graves of Tennessee vary from about 

* The larger one (found near Nashville) is from the fine collection of the Ten 
nessee Historical Society. The smaller one is the property of Mrs. James L. Gaines, 
of Nashville, and was found in West Tennessee. The rest are in the author s col 
lection, and were taken from the Noel cemetery. 

t Author s collection. 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 103 

an inch to a foot in height. Illustrations of their various and 
peculiar forms might be multiplied almost indefinitely. The large 
hand and foot in well -burned clay (Fig. 24), found in Stewart 
county, indicate that some of these images must have been several 
times larger than any complete pottery figures yet discovered, and 
that they were probably well-modeled. 

More images or idols of stone have also been found within the 
limits of Tennessee than in any other state or section north-east of 
Mexico. Colonel Charles C. Jones, of Georgia, says that " Tennes 
see, above all her sister states, seems to be most prolific of them." * 
While we can not be certain that any of these images were wor 
shiped as idols, it is believed that they must have been in some way 
connected with religious or sacred ceremonies, or have been used as 
part of the religious machinery of the ancient native priests or medi 
cine men. It does not seem probable that so much labor would have 
been expended upon these large and elaborately wrought figures 
of stone for purposes of mere ornament or amusement. They are 
ruder than most of the large stone images found in Mexico and 
Central America, yet the latter are usually of the same coarse, 
clumsy, and grotesque characters, and often so similar to our Ten 
nessee images, that we are struck with the resemblance. With the 
analogy of idol worship in these countries before us, we think 
there can be little doubt but that the large images of stone found 
here were worshiped or venerated as sacred objects, or used in some 
form of religious service. 

Three of the larger class of stone images or idols are illustrated 
in Plate IV by the photo-mechanical process, and are, therefore, 
more accurately presented in the picture than by any description we 
could give of them. The little figure on the left is an image in clay 
of a child bound to its cradle or hanging board, found in a stone grave 
of the ISFoel cemetery. It will be more fully described hereafter. 
The three idols are in the collection of the Tennessee Historical 
Society. They are of gray sandstone, and are from twelve to thir- 

* Antiquities of Southern Indians, page 436. 



104 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

teen inches in height. The image on the left is from Trousdale 
county, the center one was found by Dr. Frost, of Nashville, in 
Williamson county, and the one on the right is from Smith county; 
all within the general section occupied by the Stone Grave race in 
Middle Tennessee. A large and well formed female head, of dark- 
gray sandstone, doubtless belonging to a similar image, was plowed 
up near the earth-works and stone graves of Castalian Springs 
(Sumner county), in the summer of 1888, and is now in the Smith 
sonian Institution. These " idols " are usually u surface finds," but 




FIG. 25. STONE HEAD FOUND NEAR CLARKSVILLE (FRONT AND PROFILE VIEWS.)* 

most of them have been discovered within or near the stone grave 
settlements. Dr. W. M. Clark, of Nashville, found one weighing 
twenty-seven and one-half pounds, in a grave near Nashville, lying 
beside a large skeleton. f 

Images and idols of stone and clay are found in great numbers 
in the ancient graves of Mexico and Central America, as we learn 
from Hubert Bancroft, Charnay, and others.]: Their use as objects 
of worship in these countries is amply authenticated. 

* Johnson collection, Nashville, 
t Smithsonian Report, 1877, page 276. 

t Native Races, Vol. IV, page 385 ; Ancient Cities of the New World, Charnay, 
page 181. 



;ii)F a <: 




I 





INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 105 

The head of a large image of marble or crystalline limestone, 
illustrated in Figure 25, was found by Mr. H. L. Johnson, in 1887, 
in a mound on the Wallace farm, near Clarksville, Tennessee. The 
head had been broken from its body. The latter could not be 
found, though diligent search was made for it. The face was 
also considerably injured. The outlines of the head show very 
clearly the flattened or vertical occiput, a distinguishing character 
istic of the crania of the Stone Grave race, the transverse or 
parietal diameter being fully as great as the longitudinal.* The 
features of the face are of a heavy Ethiopian cast, somewhat similar 
to those of the dark image in Plate Ill.f 

The strong peculiar lines across the face were probably intended 
to represent tattoo marks, or, possibly, wrinkles. Similar marks are 
found on the faces of some of the fine Ohio and Illinois stone pipes, 
and also on the face of the figure engraved on the fine shell gorget 
from Missouri, illustrated in Chapter IX. 

The hood or head cap resembles the head-dress of many of the 
clay images, and of the idol in the center in Plate IV. The original 
head, nearly life size, we have had carefully photographed and en 
graved, that archaeologists may have the benefit of the type in con 
sidering the characteristics of the ancient race inhabiting the Cum 
berland valley. 

One of the finest stone images discovered in Tennessee was 
plowed up, in 1845, by Mr. Hartsfield, within the mound works 
about eight miles north of Paris, in Henry county.! Its face (front 
and profile) is illustrated in Fig. 26. The features are well formed, 
strong, and expressive. It was carved out of compact white fluor 
spar, a mineral unknown in this portion of the Mississippi valley. 

* The ancient Egyptian sculptures showed the forms of the heads of the succes 
sive races that peopled Lower Egypt. 

t According to Biart, who writes very intelligently concerning the ancient Mexi 
cans, the Aztecs were a " flat nosed " race. The Aztecs (Biart), page 46. 

t The illustration and description are from Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee 
(Jones), page 130. 



106 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



The head only is now preserved, the image having been broken and 
partly destroyed by fire. It offers another illustration of the va- 




FIG. 26. HEAD OF STONE, FROM HENKY COUNTY (ONE-FOURTH). 

riety of types of faces found among the ancient remains in Ten 
nessee. 

The stone idol, rather rudely represented in Fig. 27, was dis 
covered in a cave on the bank of the Holston river, near Strawberry 




FIG. 27. STONE IDOL (KNOX COUNTY). 

Plains, in Knox county, Tennessee. It is composed of crystalline 
limestone, and was evidently made out of one of the large stalactites 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 



107 



of the cave. Dr. Joseph Jones was of opinion that the cave was 
used as a place of worship.* 

A numher of stone images have been discovered in Smith 
county, Tennessee. The fine specimen from that county, repre 
sented in Fig. 28, has unfortunately been burned and destroyed. It 
belonged to the collection of Mr. W. E. Myer, who kindly sent us 
good photographs of it, from which we have had the illustrations 




FIG. 28. STONE IDOL (SMITH COUNTY, TENNESSEE).! 

engraved, in order to preserve a likeness of it. It was plowed up 
in a field some years ago. 

Traces of the garments upon the body are sometimes to be 
found upon the images of clay. The hands of the clay figures are 
also frequently found in the same position. The holes in the back 
of the head were evidently made for suspension. Similar holes are 



The illustration and description are from Aboriginal Remains (Jones), page 



128. 



t W. E. Myer collection. 



108 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

found upon the back of the hollow clay images. The stone idol 
probably hung by a cord passed through the upper hole, in order to 
keep it in a vertical position. It was about fifteen inches high. 

Haywood and other early writers record interesting accounts 
of similar images discovered by the pioneer settlers. Some were 
" surface finds," others were found in caves, or within the mounds 
or mound works.* 

*In the beginning of this century, Mr. Jefferson was presented with two 
" Indian busts," which were unearthed by some laborers who were excavating along 
the bank of the Cumberland river, near Palmyra. They are described thus: " The 
human form extends to the middle of the body, and the figures are nearly of the 
natural size. The lineaments are strongly marked, and such as are peculiar to the 
copper colored aboriginal inhabitants of America. The substance is extremely hard. 
It has not been ascertained whether they are idols or only images of distinguished 
men. It will be an interesting object oi research for antiquarians to discover who 
were the ancestors of the present Indians capable of executing such a good resem 
blance of the human head, face, neck, and shoulders." Antiquities of Southern In 
dians (C. C. Jones), page 435. 

Judge Haywood, the early historian of Tennessee, also gives the following ac 
count of an antique idol : " Upon the top of a mound at Bledsoe s Lick, in Sumner 
county, Tennessee, some years prior to 1823, was plowed up an image made of sand 
stone. On one cheek was a mark resembling a wrinkle, passing perpendicularly up 
and down the cheek. On the other cheek were two similar marks. The breast was 
that of a female, and prominent. The face was turned obliquely up toward the 
heavens. The palms of the hands were turned upward before the face, and at some 
distance from it, in the same direction that the face was; the knees were drawn near 
together, and the feet, with the toes toward the ground, were separated wide 
enough to admit of the body being seated between them. The attitude seemed to 
be that of adoration. The head and upper part of the forehead were represented as 
covered with a cap or miter, or bonnet, from the lower part of which came horizon 
tally a brim, from the extremities of which the cap extended upward conically. 
The color of the image was that of a dark infusion of copper. If the front of the 
image were placed to the east, the countenance, obliquely elevated, and the up 
lifted hands in the same direction, would be toward the meridian sun." Natural 
and Aboriginal History of Tennessee, pages 123, 124. 

Haywood describes another image, dug up on the McGilliam farm, on Fall 
creek, in Wilson county, as follows: "The figure is cut out of a hard rock, of what 
kind Mr. Rucker could not determine. It was designed for a female statue. The 
legs were not drawn. It only extended a little below the hips. It is fifteen inches 
long, and thick in proportion. It has a flat head, broad face, a disproportionately 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 



109 



The little head of sandstone, nearly two inches high (Fig 29), 
was recently found by Mr. John Blunkall, in a stone grave cemetery 
a few miles west of Nashville. We present back and front views of 
it, as the cap and dressing of the hair are quite interesting. A wide 
band or tassel seems to fall from the back of the cap or head-dress. 

Dr. Gerard Troost, the learned geologist of Tennessee, also de 
scribed a number of Tennessee images and idols. One of these 
images of sandstone is now in the fine archaeological collection of 
Mr. A. E. Douglass, at the Museum of Natural History, in New 





FIG. 29. SMALL STONE HEAD (R. A. HALLEY COLLECTION). 

York City. In its general form and appearance, it resembles the 
image on the right of Plate IV. Haywood, Dr. Troost, Dr. Ram 
sey, and Dr. Jones all report evidences of the existence of phallic 

long aquiline nose, low forehead, thick lips, and short neck. The chin and cheek 
bones are not prominent, but far otherwise. On the back of the head is a large pro 
jection, so shaped as to show, perhaps, the manner of tying and wearing the hair. 
(See Historical Society pictograph.) The nipples are well represented, though the 
breasts are not sufficiently elevated for a female of maturity. The hands are resting 
on the hips, the fingers in front, and the arms akimbo ; around the back and above 
the hips are tw r o parallel lines, cut, as is supposed, to represent a zone or belt. The 
ears project at right angles from the head, with holes through them. It was found 
a few inches beneath the surface of the earth. No mounds are near, but an exten 
sive burying ground of great antiquity." Natural and Aboriginal History of Ten 
nessee, pages 162, 163. Some of the pottery images are marked with two belts or 
parallel lines across the back above the hips, like this stone image. 



110 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

rites or worship in ancient Tennessee. In some of the images and 
objects discovered, the membrum generationis is prominent. The 
latter is sometimes found separately carved or molded with much 
labor and skill in stone and clay.* 

The most interesting image from Tennessee described by Dr. 
Troost t is illustrated in Fig. 30. 




FIG. 30. IMAGE FOUND IN A SEA SHELL. 

It represents a small, nude human figure In clay in a large 
tropical shell (Cassis nammea), from which the interior whorls and 
column, and the front have been removed, to form the shrine or 
sanctuary within which the image was placed. The point of the 
shell w r as also cut, or ground off, to form a pedestal for it to stand 
upon. The image occupied its place in this large shell when 
plowed up in the Sequatchie valley. 

* Dr. Troost had in his collection a number of carefully carved representations 
of the male organ of generation. Similar objects have been found in Georgia and 
other adjacent states. Antiquities of Southern Indians (C. C. Jones), page 439; 
Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee (J. Jones), page 135. 

t Transactions of the American Ethnological Society, Vol. I, pages 355-365. 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. Ill 

This curious relic presents evidence of some value that the 
ancient inhabitants of Tennessee were addicted to the worship of 
idols or images, or regarded these objects with special veneration ; 
and the presence of the large number of figures of stone would 
seem conclusive on this point. It is certain that the ancient Mexi 
cans and Central Americans worshiped similar objects, some of 
them equally rude. Images of stone and little earthenware figures, 
like the rude idols of Mexico, have also been found in the graves of 
the pueblo districts and other sections north of Mexico.* 

According to the testimony of Adair, Bartram, and Timber- 
lake, the Cherokees and most of the modern tribes of southern 
Indians were not given to idolatry. Some of the southern tribes 
venerated the sun, the moon, and other material divinities, and 
nearly all Indians appeared to have some general, but rather ob 
scure, conceptions of a Great Spirit, and " a happy hunting ground " 
in a future world. f 

It was the custom of all American aboriginal tribes, savage, 
barbarous, and semi-civilized, to bury their dead with provisions, 
vessels, implements, or other evidences, of their faith in some kind 
of a future existence. 

Statues of wood, we are told by De Soto s chroniclers, were 
found at the entrance to the temple or mausoleum at Talomeco. 
They were of gigantic size and were carved with considerable skill. J 
Adair describes " a carved human statue of wood " at the chief 
town of the upper Muskogee country, but this, like the wooden 
statues at the temple, was doubtless regarded as a memorial, or 
venerated only as the effigy of some hero. Among the modern In 
dians, the Natchez, one of the most ancient and advanced tribes, 

* Prehistoric America (Nadaillac), page 239; Native Races (Bancroft), Vol. II, 
page 800. 

t According to Colonel Garrick Mallery, the " Spirit Land " or " Happy Hunting 
Grounds " of the North American Indians, like the Paradise of the Japanese, had 
neither a heaven nor a hell, and, in fact, was an abode without very well defined 
limits as to time or place. 

t Narratives of De Soto (Buckingham Smith), page 31. New York, 1866. 



112 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



were probably worshipers of idols, as we learn from Father Petit 
that " the Natchez have a temple filled with idols. These idols are 
different figures of men and women, for which they have the deep 
est veneration." In another passage he is more explicit : " Their 
idols are images of men and women made of st^ne and baked day, 
heads and tails of extraordinary serpents, stuffed owls, pieces of 
crystal, and the jaw-bones of great fishes ; " * a startling unorthodox 





FIG. 31. IMAGE IN CLAY, FROM STONE GRAVE NEAR NASHVILLE.! 

and polytheistic assortment of divinities, indeed ; but Father Petit s 
statement is not wholly at variance with the strange mythology and 
religious beliefs of the Indians. J 

* Quoted by C. C. Jones (Antiquities of Southern Indians, page 427). 

t Author s collection. 

J We are informed that the Kiowa Indians, now living in the Indian Territory, 
"are idolaters, having ten idols symbolizing the stars; and an eleventh, about the 
size of a large doll, is called the Pleasant Life, and is regarded with great venera 
tion. The priestly office is hereditary in the family of the tribe by whom the wor 
ship and ministrations to the gods are performed." Philadelphia Presbyterian, Jan- 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 113 

Among the archaeological treasures found in the --tone graves 
of the Noel cemetery, recently discovered near Nashville, was the 
unique little image, in clay, of a child or papoose strapped to its 
cradle-board, photo-engraved in Plate TV, and also illustrated in 
Fig. 31. 

It was found in a child s grave by Mr. George T. Halley, of 
Nashville, an intelligent young explorer and collector, from whom 
we obtained it. The illustrations are correct in their details, but 
slightly magnify its rudeness, as will be observed by turning to the 
more exact photo-engraving. It is nine inches long, and four 
inches wide, and was doubtless placed by the hands of some weep 
ing Indian mother in her child s grave, as a memorial tribute, or 
as a toy or doll of which the child was fond. 

It establishes the fact, heretofore only presumed, of the use of 
the cradle-board, in infancy, by the natives of the Stone Grave race, 
and aids in explaining the form of their crania the flattened occi 
put being the most marked cranial characteristic. The little pa 
poose presents the appearance of a flat head, as if the head board 
to the cradle had also been used to depress its frontal, after the 
manner of the Chinooks or Flathead Indians; but, as there is 
little or no evidence of frontal depression among the crania found 
in the stone graves, the flattened forehead of this little image may 
represent an unusual type, or may have resulted from accidental 
modeling, rather than from design. 

The illustrations of the toy cradles of the Zunis of the Arizona 
pueblos (Fig. 32), Indians of the village or sedentary class, will give 

uary 26, 1889. Some of the Indians on Puget Sound are also known to worship idols 
made of wood. Smithsonian Report, 1886, Part I, page 294. James Stevenson says : 
" The clay images or statuettes obtained from the Shinumo pueblos are not objects 
of worship, as supposed by many persons, but appear to be used to adorn their 
dwellings, just as similar articles are used by civilized races." "If they are objects 
of worship, it must be in the family only, or a secret worship, of which I have no 
information. Images are used, however, in their dances and religious rites, but 
these are of wood," etc. Second Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, page 387. 
8 



114 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



a better idea of the use of the cradle or papoose board than the 
image.* 

The custom of fastening their infants to these boards or cradles 
was probably universal among all known tribes of North American 
Indians, and the discovery of this little image adds another link to 





FIG. 32. TOY CRADLES OF THE ZUNIS. 

the chain of identities connecting the prehistoric race of mound 
builders with the modern Indians. 

CKANIA. Having presented various types of heads in clay and 

stone, it will be of interest in this connection to consider the crania 
of the Stone Grave race. As may be expected, they will be found 
to be similar in general conformation to the types represented in 
the images. They are fortunately in a better state of preservation 
than the crania of the mound building tribes in most other portions 
of the mound area. The rude, box-shaped sarcophagi from which 

* Second Report Bureau of Ethnology (Powell), page 371. 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 115 

they are obtained have protected them from pressure, and from the 
injuries incident to other methods of burial, and the explorer usu 
ally finds them in their original form, free from post-mortem distor 
tion. There is, therefore, little difficulty in obtaining crania in good 
condition and in sufficient numbers for comparison and classifica 
tion. The Smithsonian Institution has published the results of Dr. 
Joseph Jones s faithful explorations and studies in this department.* 
The Peabody Museum has also published the very intelligent ob 
servations of its assistant curator, Mr. Lucien Carr, upon some 
sixty-seven crania carefully taken from the stone graves and mounds 
of Middle Tennessee.f Careful measurements are given, and types 
compared and classified. The results are of great interest, but in 
the present somewhat confused state of the science of craniology, 
there is still much work to be done in this general department 
before satisfactory conclusions as to the ethnic status and connec 
tions of the Stone Grave race can be reached by cranial evidence. 

The characteristic type of nearly all the skulls found in the 
ancient graves of Middle Tennessee is well defined. It is short and 
round, or, in scientific parlance, it is brachycephalic in form.J 

The frontal bones are elevated, but somewhat retreating. So 
far as we have observed, they show little or no evidence of artificial 
depression. The parietal bones are round and full. The occiput 
is almost invariably flattened. This is one of the distinguishing 
features, and most marked peculiarity, of the great majority of 
these crania. In many cases the occiput stands almost perpendic 
ular. The vertical diameter is nearly the same as the parietal. 

* Aboriginal Remains (Jones), page 110. 

t Eleventh Annual Report Peabody Museum, page 361. 

t The scientific principle upon which the classification is made, is as follows : 
Taking the length of the skull to be 100, as an index : 

First. When the breadth is as 73 or less, to 100, they are called dolichocephalic, 
or long skulls. 

Second. When they are from 74 to 79 in breadth, as compared with the length 
(100), they are orthocephalic, or oval. 

Third. When they are 80 or more in breadth, as compared with the index 
length (100), they are brachycephalic, or short. 



116 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



Comparatively few of the crania are symmetrical in outline, and 
sometimes the posterior flattening is so irregular or one-sided as to 
constitute actual deformity. 

The cheek-bones are large and prominent. The lower jaw is 
also large and projecting, or prognathic. Some of the skeletons are 
over six feet in length, and must have belonged to men of unusu 
ally large and powerful physical structures, but the majority of them 
do not materially differ in size or form from the remains of the 
aborigines of other sections. 





FIGS. 33 AND 34. TYPICAL CRANIA FROM THE STONE GRAVES. 

The most common forms of crania* are rather rudely illus 
trated in profile in Figs. 33 and 34. The outlines of Fig. 34 scarcely 
do justice to the upper or intellectual features of these crania. 

Comparatively few of them have a relatively greater longitu 
dinal diameter than is represented in these figures. In some of 
the types, the occiput is even more flattened, indicating how uni 
versal must have been the use of the cradle-board among the an 
cient inhabitants of the Cumberland valley, a custom evidently con 
tinued through many generations. Three crania in our small col 
lection have transverse of parietal diameters greater than the longi- 

* These crania have been sketched from types in the author s collection. The 
latter is numerically small, consisting of but fourteen well-preserved crania, but 
they have been selected from many times that number of imperfect or broken ones, 
dug up by the author and his employes from the cemeteries and mounds in the im 
mediate vicinity of Nashville. 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 



117 



tudinaj diameters, showing the enforced swelling or bulging out of 
the parietal bones, consequent upon this posterior pressure in in 
fancy. One of these types is represented by Fig. 35, an engraving 
copied from photographs of the original. It gives a much more 
correct impression of the forms of these skulls than the profile il 
lustrations. 

Regarding these crania, Dr. Jones states : " The vertically flat 
tened occiput is by no means characteristic of the entire series of 
crania of the Stone Grave race ; and I have been led to regard this 
peculiarity, not as a typical characteristic dependent on the specific 




FIG. 35. A TYPICAL SHORT SKULL.* 

differences of race, but as pre-eminently, if not entirely, the result 
of artificial modification during infancy." f 

The irregular and un symmetrical forms of these crania, re 
sulting from unequal pressure on the head, is shown in Figs. 36 
and 37. 

Fig. 36 represents a Tennessee skull dug up by Dr. Jones, in 
the ancient cemetery on the bank of the Cumberland river, opposite 
Nashville; and Fig. 37 is from a mound grave in south-east Missouri. 

* Ideographic Encyclopedia, Vol. I, Plate 52. 
t Aboriginal Remains (Jones), page 115. 



118 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

The crania of the pottery making tribes of south-east Missouri and 
Arkansas are very similar in form to those of the Stone Grave race 
of Tennessee, as might be presumed from the many other indica 
tions of their near relationship. This abnormal deformity of the 
occiput characterizes a large proportion of the crania of both of 
these sections.* 

The detailed results of Dr. Jones s measurements and classifica 
tion ot the crania collected by him will be found in a note at the 
end of this chapter; also a table of measurements of the author s 
collection. The twenty-one crania measured by Dr. Jones were 





FIG. 36. TYPICAL SKULL, FROM FIG. 37. TYPICAL SKULL, FROM 
TENNESSEE MOUND. t MISSOURI MOUND.! 

classified by him as short and round, or brachycephalic in form. 
Under the rule of measurement laid down, the crania in the author s 
collection also belong to the same type. The few skulls from the 
stone graves in the vicinity of Nashville, in the collection of the 
Tennessee Historical Society, are of the same general form. One 
similar in type, found in a cave near McMinnville, and thickly in- 
crusted with stalactital or crystallized lime, deposited in the cave, is 
also to be seen in the same collection. This can not be regarded as 
a reliable indication of very great age, as the crust of lime may have 
been formed within a comparatively recent period. 

* Conant, page 104. 

t The illustration is reduced from a similar one in Conant s Footprints of Van 
ished Races, page 106. 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 119 

Professor Carr, after a careful examination of the sixty-seven 
crania collected by Professor Putnam from the stone graves near 
Nashville, states that, while the " mean " measurement brings them, 
as a whole, within the round or short class, there are some crania in 
the collection that can not be regarded as brachycephalic. After 
an elaborate analysis, in his table of measurement he finally classes 
five as dolichocephalic or long ; eighteen as orthocephalic or oval ; 
and forty-four as short or brachycephalic.* 

In exploring the extensive cemeteries of the Ohio mound build 
ers, at Madisonville, near Cincinnati, Prof. Putnam and Dr. Metz 
examined about one thousand four hundred crania, and of this num 
ber about one thousand two hundred were pronounced short or 
round. The rest were oval or long, indicating the introduction of 
these latter types among the Ohio mound tribes in somewhat the 
same proportion as they were found in the ancient cemeteries of 
Tennessee. 

Prof. Carr pays our prehistoric Tennesseeans a rather doubtful 
compliment, in stating that their crania, judged by the ordinary 
rules of measurement, would rank higher than those of the ancient 
Peruvians, the Australian, or the Hottentot. f 

He also states that the crania from Tennessee, in the Putnam 
collection, show little or no evidence of artificial frontal flattening 
or depression. Our observations have led us to the same conclu 
sion. The prevalence of the custom among the Natchez and neigh 
boring tribes of flattening the foreheads of their children in infancy 
by artificial means, as reported by Adair, Du Pratz, and other early 
writers, would seem to indicate that the Natchez were probably 
not closely related to or descendants of the mound building tribes 
of Tennessee. This test, however, can not be regarded as con 
clusive. 

One of the skulls found by Dr. Jones in the burial mound on 
the bank of the Cumberland river, opposite Nashville, had an 
internal capacity of one hundred and three cubic inches, nearly 

* See tables at the end of this chapter. 

t Eleventh Annual Report of the Peabody Museum, page 384. 



120 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

equaling the capacity of the largest recorded Caucasian skull. 
Prof. Carr also reports one of extraordinary size, far above the 
European average, in the Putnam collection. The capacity of the 
smallest adult skull in the list was less than sixty per cent of this 
one, showing the great variations in brain measurement among 
crania, probably of the same tribe. It is reported that the crania 
of the modern Indians show a greater average cubical capacity 
than those from the mounds, but the size of the brain and the 
shape of the skull are now regarded as affording no certain indi 
cations of the intellectual capacity of persons or races ; and, unless 
the quality, as well as the quantity, of brain can be determined, it 




FIG. 38. TYPICAL PERUVIAN SKULL. 

seems that no satisfactory conclusions can be reached by such 
evidence. 

The crania of the northern Indians the Iroquois, the Hurons, 
the Chippewas, the Algonkin tribes are relatively long in form, 
and are usually classed as dolichocephalic, although a few short or 
round types are found among them. A large proportion of the 
skulls from the ancient graves of Peru have a striking similarity in 
form to those of the Stone Grave race, as may be seen from the 
illustration presented, Fig. 38. 

Dr. Ten Kate, who accompanied Frank Gushing, in 1887, in his 
explorations among the ancient pueblos of Arizona, and carefully 
examined and preserved the cranial remains, reports that the crania 
discovered did not differ from those of the modern pueblo Indians, 
and " were round or brachycephalic and flattened at the occiput." 
" There was no exception to this rule." * 

* Frank Gushing, in Science, July 11, 1889. 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES. IDOLS, CRAMA. 



121 



Prof. 0. C. Marsh also stated " that in a series of comparisons 
of Indian skulls, he had been struck with the similarity between 
those of the pueblo Indians of New Mexico and the mound 
builders. As the shape of the mound builder s skull is very 
peculiar, the coincidence is a striking one." * 

The flattened occiput is also a very marked characteristic of 
the crania discovered among the remains of the cliff dwellers of 





FIG. 39. CUFF DWELLER S SKULL, FROM NEW MEXICO.! 

New Mexico, who were neighbors and kindred of the pueblo 
builders, as is shown in Fig. 39. 

The variations in the forms and capacity of the crania found 
in the stone graves and in the burial mounds of the Mississippi 
valley have led to much controversy. Types nearly as different as 
the average Caucasian and Ethiopian skulls have occasionally been 
found in the same ancient cemeteries, and sometimes in adjoining 
graves, within the mound area of Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, 
and Ohio. It is difficult to classify some of them. The predomi 
nant type, however, is the short and round or brachycephalic.J 

* Smithsonian Contributions (Morgan), Vol. IV, page 202. 

t Engraving copied from Harper s Weekly of September 7, 1889. The skull of 
the cliff dweller is artificially distorted in infancy ; the papoose boards are so well 
preserved as to show plainly the marks of the cords used to tie the head firmly in 
place, and all of the skulls found present the back of the head perfectly flat, with 
abnormally high foreheads, where the skull has been crowded forward. The skulls 
and bones were all found covered with debris, back of the cliff dwellings, between 
the house wall and the wall of the cave. A. F. Willmarth, Colorado Letter, Febru 
ary 19, 1890. 

t Under the leadership of Dr. Daniel Wilson, of Toronto, supplemented by the 



122 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

This is the typical form of the crania of the ancient inhabitants 
of the southern portion of the United States, of the ancient Peru 
vians, the Old Mexicans, the pueblo tribes, and the cliff dwellers. 

The mound builders, and the stone grave builders of Tennessee, 
and the ancient peoples of the South-west were evidently closely re 
lated, or were originally of the same general family stock, if their 
origin or relationship can be determined by the similarity in the 
forms of their crania. As a general rule, the crania of the ancient 
tribes of northern Indians belonged to the long or dolichocephalic 
type.* 

results of recent investigations, the theories of Dr. Morton, of Philadelphia, the 
eminent craniologist, as to " the ethnic unity " of the aboriginal races of America, so 
long accepted by scientists, have in part been set aside. Dr. Wilson insists that 
there is "no uniform cranial type," and, therefore, that no unity among the red 
races of America can be established by the crania. Prehistoric Man (Wilson), Vol. 
II, pages 172, 200. 

* The most satisfactory theory yet offered in explanation of these variations in 
cranial types, is that of Prof. Putnam, the intelligent archaeologist and curator of the 
Peabody Museum, at Cambridge, Massachusetts. In a lecture before the Western 
Reserve Historical Society of Cleveland, Ohio, he stated in substance that: " There 
were four great antique races on this continent, or the people, if of one race, show a 
greater diversity than any other on earth. For instance, we found in one cemetery in 
Ohio one thousand five hundred skeletons, and these were of various sizes and dif 
fered in their characteristics. The four great races can be resolved into two the 
long-headed people and the people with short and broad heads. There is evidence 
that the long-headed people came from Northern Asia, and crossing Behring Strait, 
continued their way downward as far as California. Then they crossed the great 
lakes, went down the St. Lawrence, made their w T ay along the Atlantic coast as far 
south as North Carolina, and spread themselves into Ohio and Pennsylvania. 
There is evidence that they resembled the people of Northern Asia in face and 
form. The short-headed people had characteristics of the people of Southern Asia, 
and resembled the Malay race. The first traces of them we find in Peru and Cen 
tral America. From there, they worked toward the north into Mexico, New 
Mexico, Arizona, and, following the rivers which empty into the Gulf of Mexico, 
notably the Mississippi, they mingled at last with the long-headed people in Tennes 
see and Ohio, and were finally absorbed by them. The Indian is a descendant of 
those two races." 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLS, CRANIA. 



123 



DR. JOSEPH JONES S TABLE OF MEASUREMENTS OF CRANIA. 

From the Stone Graves of Tennessee, Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee, page 110. 



Number 
of the 
Cranium. 


1? 

^ 

CD 




$ 

5 gL 
o 

H 


Longitudinal di 
ameter, inches. 


Parietal Diame 
ter, inches. 


Frontal diame 
ter, inches. 


Vertical diame 
ter, inches. 


Intermastoid 
arch, inches. 


Intermastoid 
line, inches. 


Occipito-frontal 
arch, inches. 


Horizontal pe 
riphery, inch s. 


1 


76.5 


75 


6.3 


5.4 


4.3 


5.5 


15 


5 


13 5 


19 


2 


80 


78 


6 


5 6 


4 4 


5 4 


14 6 


5 1 


13 9 


i o q 


3 


75 


78 


6 1 


5 7 


4 3 


5 6 


15 


5 2 


13 


10 


4 




82 


6.2 


5 7 


4.1 


5 5 


15 2 


5 4 


14 


10 


5 


77 


84 


6.5 


5.8 


4.4 


5 8 


15 5 


5 2 


14 3 


iq q 


5 


76 


68 


6 4 


4 9 


3 9 


5 5 


13 9 


4 5 


1 q 


109 




81 


103 




5 9 


4 8 


6 4 


16 8 


5 3 


157 


on Q 


8 


80 


80 


6 6 


5 6 


4 3 


5 5 


15 


4 6 


13 8 


iq q 


9 


78 


79 


7 


5 2 


3.9 


5 8 


14 7 


4 6 


15 9 


IQ ^ 


10 


81 


76 


6 3 


6 


4.4 


5 4 


15 7 


4 6 


13 8 


iq 4 


11 


80 


90 


6 9 


5 6 


4 3 


5 


15 7 


4 8 


Ho 


on q 


12 


77 


80 


6 8 


5 2 


4 1 


5 8 


15 


4 7 


M4 


iq K. 


13 ... . 


82 


81 


6 9 


5 5 


4 3 


5 7 


15 


4 8 




IQ ft 


14 




92 


6 1 


6 4 


4 4 


6 


16 5 


5 4 


iq Q 


iq Q 


15 




79 


6 1 


5 8 


4 6 


5 5 


i c; 


4 ft. 


1 q 4 


1 ft q 


16 






7 2 


5 7 


4 6 


5 9 


16 


4 fi 


i s: o 


OA Q 


17 






6 1 


5 5 


4 1 


4 5 


14 




1 q A 


1 Q 


18 






6 5 


5 8 


4 5 


4 6 


15 






1 Q 4 


19 


82 


79 2 


6 7 


5 5 


4 2 


5 5 


1 "> 


44. 


-iq c 


1 Q 1 


20 


75 


81 4 


6 5 


5 7 


4 


5 Q 


14 4 





i q q 


ly .1 
1 Q 9 


21 


82 


80.5 


6 4 


5 9 


4 6 


5 7 


15 


4 Q 


14 


1 Q 
























Maximum 
Minimum. . . . 


82 

75 


103 

68 


7.2 

6 


6.4 

4 9 


4.8 
3 9 


6.4 
4 5 


16.8 
iq q 


5.4 
4 -1 


15.7 
1 3 


20.8 

1 ft 9 


Mean 


78.8 


81.44 


6 5 


5 68 


4 21 


5 56 


15 


4 ^7 


1 ^N 


1 Q ft 

























124 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



TABLE OF MEASUREMENTS. 

Author s Collection. 



Number 
of 
Cranium. 


Longitudinal di 
ameter, inches. 


vg 

j-< o> 

5-E 

o 

fft 

? 

B 

? 


Frontal diame 
ter, inches. 


] Vertical diame 
ter, inches. 


1 


6 3 


5.6 


4 9 


6 1 


2 


5 9 


6 


4 3 


5 7 


3 . . 


6 1 


5 8 


4 1 


5 6 


4 


B 


5 


4 1 


5 4 


5 
6 


5.7 
5 5 


5.2 
5.2 


3.8 
3 6 


5.3 
5.3 


7 

8 


6.1 
6 


6.4 

5 7 


4.4 

4 7 


6.2 
5 9 


9 


6 3 


5 7 


4 2 


5 8 


10 


7 


5 8 


4 1 


6 2 


11 


6 3 


5.6 


4 3 


5.7 


12 :.. 


5 8 


6 


4 9 


5.8 


13 


6 1 


5 6 


4 6 


o 


14. 


6 1 


5.1 


4 1 


5.5 












Maximum . . . 
Minimum . . . 
Mean 


7 
5.5 
6 1 


6.4 
5 
5.62 


4.7 
3.6 
4 ?, 


6.2 
5.3 
5.7 













There are three unusually small crania in 
the collection ; No. 6, was that of a young per 
son, not fully grown, judging from the denti 
tion. An ordinary pair of calipers and a fine 
decimal rule were used in making the measure 
ments. They are made with accuracy ; but the 
writer makes no claim whatever to scientific at 
tainments as a craniologist. 

These crania were selected and placed in 
our collection mainly because of their good state 
of preservation, and without reference to their 
forms. 



INSCRIBED STONES, IMAGES, IDOLb, CRANIA. 



125 



LUCIEN CARE S TABLE. 

Mean Measurements of sixty-seven Crania, from the Stone Graves of Tennessee. 
(Capacity in cubic centimetres ; length, breadth, etc., in millimetres.) 







o 










1 


E 

ct> 




t t 
p 

fr 


p 


SI 










O 


-^ 


u 


Cr 


x 


^ 


EJ* 








o 





P 


& 




o 





o 


Index 






p 
















of 






p. 










? 


P* 


^ 


breadth. 

















P 


d5 


p 





















pr 


E 




1 


Dolichocephali 


5 


1325 


184 


139 


14^ 


716 


775 


94 


730 and under 
























2 


Orthocephali 


18 


1346 


179 


134 


141 


775 


819 


89 


740 @ 800 




Brachycephali .... 


99 


1284 


165 


141 


149 


856 


865 


90 


800 @ 900 
























4 


Much flattened 


15 


1461 


156 


159 


145 


973 


907 


93 


.900 and over. 

























Since the preceding chapter was written, a number of images of pottery and 
stone have been discovered in Tennessee, but they do not differ greatly in form from 
the types already illustrated. 

Two large stone images recently discovered in Humphreys county, Tennessee, 
west of Nashville, were executed with more skill, and have better features and faces 
than the specimens presented in Plate IV. They were found in the same grave with 
the remarkable collection of flints illustrated in Plate XIVA. 

Dr. Cyrus Thomas also illustrated a small clay image from Sumner county, Ten- 
nesse, with long hair or hanging head-dress behind, in the American Anthropologist 
of December, 1896. 

In the Anthropologist of February, 1897, Prof. Frederick Starr, of Chicago Uni 
versity, presents illustrations of a number of images of stone from Mexico, very 
similar in general form to our Tennessee specimens. They have round flat upturned 
faces, hands close to the body, and rude clumsy bodies not unlike our Tennessee 
images. 



126 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 

The Art Instinct in Ancient America The Pottery of the Historic Tribes Superior 
ity of Southern Ware Methods of Manufacture Bottle and Jar Shaped Ves 
sels The Coloring Decorated Vessels Bowl and Kettle Forms The Fine 
Head Handles Animal Forms The Best Types The Indian Dog The Large 
Vessels The Trowels, Rattles, Implements, Totems, and Ornaments in Pottery 
Earrings, Wheels, Medicine Bottle Fiji Pottery. 

The rude forms of art in. clay were probably among the earliest 
inventions of the human race. Birch, in his work on "Ancient 
Pottery," states that " clay is a material so generally diffused, and 
its plastic nature so easily discovered, that the art of working it 
does not exceed the intelligence of the rudest savage."* The Hot 
tentots and Fuegians, races grading very low in the scale of civili 
zation, made and used pottery. f The cannibals of the Fiji Islands, 
one of the most savage tribes of the Pacific, made fine vessels of 
pottery, of varied and graceful forms, some of them resembling the 
best grades of Peruvian ware. Schoolcraft tells us the arts of plant 
ing corn and making pottery came together. Writing of this natu 
ral artistic faculty among certain savage tribes, Sir John Lubbock 
states " that their appreciation of art is to be regarded rather as 
an ethnological characteristic than as an indication of any particu 
lar stage of civilization." J 

This artistic faculty seems to have been a characteristic of the 
aboriginal races of America. The Toltecs, the Aztecs, the Mayas, 
the Peruvians, and Quichuas illustrated it in its highest state. The 
pueblo builders of the West, the mound builders and pottery makers 

:!: Introductory, page 1. 

t Prehistoric Times (Lubbock), pages 551, 555. 

+ Prehistoric Times, page 549. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 127 

of the Mississippi valley, the north-west coast Indians, and the more 
nomadic tribes of Red Indians, possessed the same natural gift in 
varying degrees. Even the Esquimaux, in their hyperborean homes, 
execute carvings with force and fidelity, surpassing any similar 
work found among the remains of the mound building tribes. This 
natural art instinct doubtless belonged to the parent stock or stocks 
of native Americans, an inheritance, at a remote period, perhaps, 
from Northern or Southern Asia, or both. It has been a character 
istic of the eastern races of Asia from time immemorial. It fol 
lowed them out into the far islands of the Pacific ocean.* 

These precedents and reflections are suggested in advance, 
to enable us to form a more correct estimate of the condition 
of society that existed in ancient Tennessee, as represented by 
the remains of the potter s art. In no other branches of industry, 
or artistic work, had its prehistoric people made such advances. 
Through these remains, therefore, we may hope to unlock some 
of the secrets of ancient domestic life, and perhaps discover traces 
of the ethnic history of the mound builders of Tennessee. The 
stone graves of our old cemeteries, those enduring receptacles of 
archaeological treasures, have fortunately preserved, for our in 
spection, the remains of the native ceramic arts. 

Nearly all tribes of modern Indians also manufactured pottery 
when first visited by the Europeans, and it is not always easy to 
distinguish the historic from the prehistoric ware. The northern 
tribes made clay pipes and utensils of the ruder class, sometimes or 
namented with medallions and decorative markings. Nature kindly 
contributed to the ease of living at the south, and seemed to have 
favored a higher development in the humbler arts and industries. 
According to the accounts of the early writers, the pottery of some 
of the southern tribes was finely finished, and of varied and sym 
metrical forms. The Gentleman of Elvas, one of the journalists of 
De Soto s campaign, declares that the vessels of pottery used by the 

* Sir Daniel Wilson has suggested that the forms of ancient Peruvian pottery 
may yet be traced back into Mongolian and Eastern art. Prehistoric Man, Vol. II, 
page 43. 



128 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

natives of Arkansas, and elsewhere, in 1541, equaled standard Span 
ish ware, "little differing from that of Estremoz or Montemor;"* 
and that " they had great store of walnut oil, clear as butter, and of 
good taste, and of the honey of bees preserved in pots." Mar- 
quette, the discoverer of the Mississippi, in his account of his visit 
to the Indians in Arkansas and Mississippi, in 1673, writes that 
"they used, in cooking, large earthen pots, very curiously made; 
also, large, baked earthern plates, which they used for different pur 
poses." f 

Adair and Lieutenant Timberlake both mention the use and 
manufacture of pottery by the Cherokees. The former states that 
when he visited them as late as 1774 they made " earthern pots 
containing from two to ten gallons, large pitchers to carry water, 
bowls, dishes, platters, basins, and a prodigious number of other 
vessels of such antiquated forms, as would be tedious to describe 
and impossible to name;" a statement that certainly accurately de 
scribes the motley assortment of pottery we find in our Tennessee 
mounds and graves. The Natchez Indians were so skillful in mak 
ing their "red-stained pottery," that Du Pratz, the historian of 
Louisiana, states that he had them make for him a set of plates 
for his table use. I 

Captain John Smith says, " the Indians of Virginia used pot 
tery of clay made by women," and Bartram also mentions the fact 
that the Indians of Georgia made and used utensils of earthenware 
in 1773, the date of his visit among them.|| 

* Historical Collections of Louisiana, Part II, page 201 ; Narratives of De Soto 
(Buckingham Smith), page 165. 

t Historical Collections of Louisiana, Part II, page 295. 

t The women make pots of an extraordinary size, jars with medium size open 
ings, bowls, two pint bottles with long necks, pots or jugs for containing bear s oil, 
which hold as much as forty pints, and, finally, plates and dishes in the French 
fashion. Histoire de la Louisane (Du Pratz), Vol. II, page 279. 

|| Bartram s Travels (London, 1792), page 511. In Hariot s Virginia, we are in 
formed that "their women know how to make earthern vessels with special cun- 
ninge, and that so large and fine, that our potters, with thoye wheles, can make noe 
better ; and then remove them from place to place, as easelye as we can do our 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 129 

The Mandan Indians of the Upper Missouri, we are told by 
Catlin, manufactured excellent pottery. " Earthen dishes or 
bowls," he states, " are a familiar part of the culinary furniture of 
every Mandan lodge, and are manufactured by the women of this 
tribe in great quantities, and modelled into a thousand forms and 
tastes. They are made by the hands of the women from a tough, 
black clay, and baked in kilns which are made for the purpose, 
and are nearly equal in hardness to our manufacture of pottery, 
though they have not yet got the art of glazing, which would be to 
them a most valuable secret. They make them so strong and 
serviceable, however, that they hang them over the fire as we do 
our iron pots, and boil their meat in them with perfect success. I 
have seen some few specimens of such manufacture which have 
been dug up in Indian mounds, and tombs in the southern and mid 
dle states, placed in our eastern museums, and looked upon as a 
great wonder, when here this novelty is at once done away with, 
and the whole mystery ; where women can be seen handling and 
using them by hundreds, and they be seen every day in the summer 
also, molding them into many fanciful forms and passing them 
through the kiln where they are hardened." * 

These historic accounts of the manufacture and general use of 
pottery ware, even in its ornamental and fanciful forms, among the 
later tribes, arrest the attention, and show us how narrow are the 
lines of distinction that separate the arts of the mound building 
tribes from the arts of some of the modern Indians. f 

The custom of placing food vessels, utensils, and implements in 
the graves with their dead having been almost universal with the 

"brassen kettles." Quoted by C. C. Jones in Antiquities of the Southern Indians, 
page 448. 

* Illustrations of the Manners, Customs, etc., of the North American Indians, 
Vol. II, page 116. 

t Prof. Cyrus Thomas states that, at a recent date, Indians residing on the gulf 
near Mobile, remnants of the modern Alabama tribes, made pottery of good quality 
and glazed it. Specimens of this ware may be found in the National Museum, at 
Washington. 

9 



130 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

ancient and modern tribes, the foregoing citations admonish us that 
we can not be certain that all the pottery found in the graves and 
mounds is prehistoric, or necessarily of very ancient date, notwith 
standing the popular impression to the contrary. 

The superiority in art and industry of the more advanced tribes 
of southern Indians at the dawn of history would seem to 
strengthen the traditions of the northern tribes, that the mound 
builders of the Ohio valley had been forced to the southward. A 
culture above that of the nomadic tribes of the North, and not of 
very ancient date, has, without doubt, left its impress upon these 
southern tribes. 

The decline of the potter s art among the historic tribes dates 
from the introduction of European ware. It could not compete 
with the better utensils of the early traders, and pottery making 
soon became one of the lost arts. It is now unknown among the 
native tribes, excepting the pueblo Indians of New Mexico and 
Arizona, who still continue the manufacture of earthenware, in its 
quality, coloring, methods of fabrication, and, indeed, in many of 
its forms, not unlike some of the ware now T found in the stone 
graves of Tennessee, and in the pottery districts of Missouri, 
Arkansas, Mississippi, Illinois, and other sections of the mound 
area.* 

A number of early writers have also favored us with minute ac 
counts of the methods adopted by the southern Indians in manufac 
turing earthenware. Dumont, in his Historical Memoirs of Louisi 
ana, published in 1753, states "that, having amassed the proper kind 
of clay, and carefully cleaned it, the Indian women (of Louisiana) take 
shells, which they pound and reduce to a fine powder ; they mix this 
powder with the clay, and, having poured some water on the mass, 

* Mr. James Stevenson, of the Bureau of Ethnology, who, in 1879, in company 
with Frank H. Gushing, made a valuable collection of the pottery of the Zunis and 
other pueblo tribes for the National Museum, reports : " The resemblance of this 
Indian ware, in the form of the vessels, to that found in the ancient mounds of this 
country, is so marked, that it is scarcely necessary to remind the reader of the fact." 
Reports Bureau of Ethnology, Vol. II, page 333. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 131 

they knead it with their hands and feet, and make it into a paste, 
of which they form rolls, six or seven feet long, and of a thick 
ness suitable for their purpose. If they intend to fashion a plate 
or a vase, they take hold of one of the rolls by the end, and fix 
ing here with the thumb of the left hand the center of the vessel 
they are about to make, they turn the roll with astonishing quick 
ness around this center, describing a spiral line ; now and then 
they dip their fingers into water, and smooth with the right hand 
the inner and outer surface of the vase they intend to fashion, 
which would become ruffled or undulated without that manipula 
tion. In this manner they make all sorts of earthern vessels, plates, 
dishes, bowls, pots, and jars, some of which hold forty to fifty 
pints. The burning of this pottery does not cause them much 
trouble. Having dried it in the shade, they kindle a large fire, and 
when they have a sufficient quantity of embers, they clean a space 
in the middle, where they deposit their vessels, and cover .them 
with charcoal. Thus they bake their earthenware, which can now 
be exposed to the fire, and possesses as much durability as ours. 
Its solidity is doubtless to be attributed to the pulverized shells, 
which the women mix with the clay.* 

It will be observed that in mixing pounded shells with the 
clay, and in other details of the potter s art, the processes used 
within the historic period, could not have substantially differed 
from the earlier methods of manufacture, f 

* Dumont s Memoirs, Vol. II, page 271. 

t The methods of pottery making among the Zunis and other pueblo tribes, as 
described by Stevenson and others, are somewhat similar to those adopted by the 
southern Indians. The pueblo women, as usual, are the potters. Not having a sup 
ply of wood for charcoal, Stevenson says, the Zunis cover their ware ready for burn 
ing, with an oven made of dried manure. In the absence of shells, the pueblo In 
dians mix their clay with fragments of old pottery ground up, and with crushed 
lava and other materials. Similar colors are also used in ornamentation. Like the 
Stone Grave race ot Tennessee, they also use smoothers or little trowels of clay. 
Annual Reports Bureau of Ethnology, Vol. II, pages 329, 330. Hunter also describes 
the methods of making pottery adopted by the modern Western tribes, as follows : 
" In manufacturing their pottery for cooking and domestic purposes, they collect 



132 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

Having very briefly reviewed the accounts of the potter s art 
among the modern Indians, we will defer further comparisons and 
suggestions as to the relative merits of the old and the modern 
ware, and proceed to examine the remains of this art found in the 
stone graves and burial mounds of Tennessee. Recent explorations 
in the ancient cemeteries near Nashville have fortunately yielded 
collections that will enable us to present, with convenience, speci 
mens of most of the varieties of pottery heretofore discovered in 
the state. 

In order to present some of the types with accuracy of form 
and appearance, the author has had a number of plates of the pot 
tery in his collection engraved by the new photo-mechanical pro 
cesses of engraving, which illustrate the objects with photographic 
accuracy. 

The accompanying plate (No. V) presents various forms of 
vases, bottle-shaped vessels, and jars (a little less than one-fourth 
natural diameters or sizes). Some of the forms are common, others 
are rare. All of the vessels with fanciful, animal, or human heads 
have holes at the backs of the heads, doubtless for practical use. 
The top-knots, rather faintly shown on two of the heads, were evi 
dently molded in imitation of the head-dresses of that time. The 
owl, the bear, the fox, and the human face are familiar types. 

There is no evidence of the use of the wheel or lathe by the 
ancient pottery makers of Tennessee or the Mississippi valley. The 
ware is hand made, and has been built up with the aid of rude 
molds, and in baskets, and in cloth and matting bags. Clay trowels 

tough clay, beat it into powder, temper it with water, and then spread it over blocks 
of wood which have been formed into shapes to suit their convenience or fancy ; 
when sufficiently dried, they are removed from the molds, placed in proper situa 
tions, and burned to a hardness suitable to their intended uses. Another process 
practiced by them is to coat the inner surface of baskets made of rushes or willows 
with clay to any required thickness, and, when dry, to burn them as above de 
scribed. In this way, they construct large, handsome, and durable ware ; though 
latterly, with such tribes as have intercourse with the whites, it is not much used 
because of the substitution of cast-iron ware in its stead." Hunter s Manners and 
Customs of Indian Tribes, Philadelphia, 1823, page 296. 



sr e- 

~ 0* 




THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 133 

were used in smoothing and rounding the open vessels. The ex 
actness and graceful outlines of many of the forms were prohably 
due mainly to acquired dexterity and correctness of measurement 
by the eye, doubtless aided by various simple mechanical appliances, 
such as convenience would suggest. The wheel was unknown to 
the pottery art of the pueblo Indians, and there is no evidence of its 
use in ancient Mexico or Peru. The vitreous glaze was also un 
known to the potters of the Mississippi valley. Various devices 
were used in substitution. The ware was rubbed, oiled, and pol 
ished, and doubtless the finer grades of clay paste were applied to 
the surface to give it a fine and glossy finish. Some of the vessels 
have almost the ring of glazed ware. The absence of a vitreous 
glaze is a characteristic of all or nearly all the pottery of ancient 
America, even in the localities of its highest development. A few 
glazed fragments have been reported to have been discovered 
among the ancient ware of Central America and Mexico. The 
pueblo Indians had no knowledge of it. Some of our Tennessee 
and Mississippi vessels have as hard and fine a gloss and finish, as 
we have noticed upon any of the ware of the pueblos. 

Nearly all of the pottery from the stone graves of Tennessee 
has passed through some process of burning or hardening by fire, 
as may be presumed from the good condition in which much of it 
is found. Some of. it is as compact and well-burned as vitrified 
ware. It is not probable that it would have retained its form and 
hardness in the moist climate of Tennessee and in graves, often in 
the sandy loam of the river terraces, if originally only sun dried ; 
but we have succeeded in taking from the graves some perfect ves 
sels that have evidently never been subjected to the action of fire.* 

About half of this earthenware is of a grey or stone color, the 
familiar color of much of the Missouri and Arkansas ware. The 

* In cleaning some pottery from burial grounds on the river bank near Nash 
ville, the writer s wife, who was assisting him, dipped a fine, and apparently hard 
frog-shaped bowl, into warm water to wash it. In a moment it was almost dis 
solved into its original clay, and she only saved it from total destruction by jerking 
it out and partly remodeling it while in its pliable condition. 



134 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

finest vessels found in the large Noel cemetery, near Nashville, and 
in some of the neighboring burial grounds, were generally reddish 
brown, a specialty of this section representing the best develop 
ment in the pottery art. Others are of a very light clay color, the 
vessels usually retaining the coloring of the clay of which they are 
made. Occasionally a vase or head is found, of fine and nearly 
black ware. 

A large proportion of the finer vessels and images of light clay 
were originally painted or decorated with colors, some of them well 
burned or painted into the clay ; but, in the intervening centuries 
of burial, the paint has faded and become indistinct. Vases hand 
somely decorated, when lifted from their beds in the graves, soon 
lose most of their colors by exposure to the air, unless protected by 
a coating of shellac, or some other impermeable substance. 

Ochre, in its several shades, and other pigments and dyes, some 
of them purple or bluish tints, were used in coloring. Vessels con 
taining finely-powdered mineral paints have occasionally been found 
in the caves and graves.* 

The coarse, red mineral paint decorations, frequently found on 
the light clay-colored ware from Arkansas, are rare in Tennessee ; 
indeed, fewer vessels ornamented with colors have been discovered 
in the Cumberland valley than in the pottery districts west of the 
Mississippi. The Tennessee ware, as a class, is darker, but the deco 
rations on the light-colored vases appear to have been usually skill 
fully and deeply burned or painted into the clay, and polished or 
burnished in finishing, instead of being laid or painted on the out 
side, and left unpolished, as seems to have been the custom in Ar 
kansas. A few vessels of lustrous black ware have been found in 
Tennessee. They are, however, more common in Mississippi and in 
the lower Mississippi valley. They are symmetrical in form, well 

* Colonel W. A. Henderson, of Knoxville, has an ancient vessel of earthenware 
found in a cave near McMinnville. When discovered, it was partly filled with pow 
dered red ochre. We are indebted to him for a good sample of it. Du Pratz men 
tions the fact that the Natchez Indians colored their pottery a beautiful red by 
using ochre, which becomes red after burning. History of Louisiana, page 179. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 135 

burned, and in quality are above the grade of the average ware of 
the old pottery makers. Adair tells us the method adopted by the 
southern Indians, in "glazing" their vessels of pottery with this 
fine black polish, was by placing " them over a large fire of smoking 
pitch pine, which makes them smooth, black, and firm." * 

The faint outlines of the decorations on some of the vessels 
in Plate V may still be noticed. They were very indistinct in the 
photograph engraved, although still plainly marked upon the orig 
inal objects. 

Better examples of decorated vessels may be seen in Fig. 40. 

The bottle, or water jar, ornamented with the figure of an open 
hand (Noel cemetery), was discovered since Plate Y was engraved. 
Unfortunately, its long burial has partly obliterated the design and 
coloring, but enough remains to show their general outlines. The 
design was evidently ideographic, and probably possessed some pe 
culiar significance. A vessel of the same size and form, and simi 
larly ornamented, but with an up-raised hand, was found in Frank 
lin county, Northern Alabama, near the Mississippi line, and is well 
illustrated in the Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 

* History of the American Indians, page 4. London, 1775. James Stevenson 
informs us that the Santa Clara, and other Indians of the eastern pueblos of New 
Mexico, color their black ware in substantially the same manner. In describing 
their methods of burning in rude kilns, he states: Those (vessels) which the 
artists intend to color black are allowed to remain, and another application of fuel, 
finely pulverized, is made, completely covering and smothering the fire. This pro 
duces a dense, dark smoke, a portion of which is absorbed by the baking vessels, 
and gives them the desired black color. It is in this manner that the black ware of 
these eastern pueblos is produced." Reports Bureau of Ethnology, Vol. II, page 
331. 

Mr. Stevenson also informs us, in the same report, that "the only colors used" 
by the pueblo Indians * in decorating pottery, are black, red, and some shades of 
brown," the colors chiefly used by the old pottery makers of the Mississippi valley. 
His descriptions of the methods of fabricating pueblo pottery show many other 
points of identity. The ancient pottery arts of the tribes living upon or near the 
upper tributaries of the Arkansas river, in New Mexico, were doubtless known to 
the tribes living upon the same river in the State of Arkansas during the prehistoric 
period. 



136 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



page 433. The two vessels are so nearly alike that they appear to 
have been decorated in the same aboriginal paint shop. 

The other two vessels in the figure, painted with circles, are fa 
miliar types of ornamentation in the Nashville district. The black 




FIG. 40. DECORATED VESSELS FOUND NEAR NASHVILLE (ONE-FOURTH).* 

and purplish colors have been so well and smoothly burned or 
worked into the clay that a good washing does not injure them. 

A good example of ancient pottery decoration is illustrated 
in the little bowl, Fig. 41. 




FIG. 41. ORNAMENTED BOWL, NOEL CEMETERY (ONE-THIRD).* 

Another form of ornamentation is shown in Fig. 42, a vessel 
discovered by Dr. Jones, within the ancient inclosure on the Big 
Harpeth river, near Franklin, Tennessee. 

* Author s collection. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 137 

The vase is of a light yellow clay color, and on its sides are 
painted three crosses of dark brown almost black color sur 
rounded by ornamental circles.* 




FIG. 42. DECORATED VASE FOUND NEAR FRANKLIN (ONE-FIFTH). 




FIG. 43. VASE FROM BIG HARPETH WORKS (ONE-THIRD). 

In one of the stone graves of the Big Harpeth works, Dr. 
Jones discovered the vessel fashioned somewhat in the shape of a 
child s foot and leg represented in Fig. 43. It was found beside 

* Aboriginal Remains (Jones), page 57. Mr. J. B. Nicklin, of Chattanooga, 
TVnnessee, has in his fine collection of antiquities an ancient bowl and water bottle, 



138 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

the skull, and was painted, but the faint lines of coloring soon dis 
appeared.* A pipe of somewhat similar form is figured in the next 
chapter. 4 

The effigy vessel, or image, Fig. 44, was found by Dr. Jones in 
a child s grave of the large burial mound on the bank of the Cum 
berland river, opposite the city of Nashville. It is of hard black 
ware, with a polished surface, arid is hollow, with the usual aperture 
at the back of the head, indicating that it may have been utilized 
as a vase or bottle. It is certainly unique in its aiiatomy.f 




FIG. 44. IMAGE FOUND OPPOSITE NASHVILLE (ONE-SIXTH). 

In exploring the ancient earth-works, near Lebanon, Tennes 
see, which he designates "the remains of a fortified Indian village," 
Prof. F. W. Putnam, of the Peabody Museum, discovered, buried 
under the earthen floors of the Indian huts, or houses, a number of 
antiques of clay, stone, and shell, showing the high attainments of 

found in the Coxe mound (near Stevenson, Alabama, a short distance south of the 
Tennessee line), in form and of materials similar to our Tennessee ware ; but the 
painted decorations upon it, in strong red or maroon coloring, are artistically exe 
cuted, and are better preserved than any ornamental work in colors we have ob 
served upon the ancient ware of Tennessee. 

* Aboriginal Remains, page 60. 

t Aboriginal Remains, page 44. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 



139 



these ancient village Indians in some of the arts. In a child s grave 
in one of these houses, near the large mound, Prof. Putnam obtained 
the "water jar" represented in Fig. 45. It is mounted on three 
legs, the cavities of which connect with the body of the jar, while 
the cross-bars between them are solid.* 

A jar very similar in form is illustrated in Plate VIII. Some 
what similar types are also found in Missouri and Arkansas. 




~FiG. 45. JAR FROM HOUSE WITHIN THE LEBANON WORKS. J 

Prof. Putnam also found within the inclosure, near Lebanon, 
Tennessee, the fine jar (Fig. 46) representing a badger or some other 
clumsy animal. It is of a yellow clay color, and when found was 

* Eleventh Annual Report Peabody Museum (Putnam), page 356. 
t Contributions to Archaeology of Missouri, Plate IV ; Reports Bureau of Eth 
nology, Vol. IV, page 420. 

i Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 



140 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

painted with a number of concentric figures, but they soon faded 
and became indistinct.* 

Jars of this form are rare in Tennessee. They have occasion 
ally been found in the pottery districts west of the Mississippi. A 
fine specimen is illustrated in Plate IX. 

Examples of ancient Tennessee pottery of the bowl and kettle 
form (one-fifth actual diameters) are shown in Plate VI. (Author s 
collection.) Nearly all of them were obtained from the stone 




FIG. 46. VESSEL FROM LEBANON WORKS (ONE-THIRD).! 

graves of the Noel cemetery. A larger number of these vessels of 
various shapes might have been presented in the photo-engraving, 
but only a limited selection of standard patterns were placed in the 
group, to avoid confusion of outlines. The kettle-shaped vessels 
found in Tennessee vary in size from little toys an inch wide to 
large pots a yard in diameter. The set of bowls on the right is 
made of excellent well-burned ware. Most of them are sym- 

* Eleventh Annual Report Peabody Museum, page 359. 
t Peabody Museum. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERI. 141 

metrical to exactness. They are polished within and without, and 
some of them are as hard as modern stoneware. 

The largest bowls in this form are about twelve inches in diam 
eter. Well-made vessels in imitation of sea shells are frequently 
found. Since this engraving was made, we obtained from the Noel 
cemetery a double shell with delicate flaring edges, much more 
artistically made than the double shell represented in the picture. 

Tiny shell forms of pottery are also found. They may have 
been toys, or possibly the individual salt-cellars of some aristocratic 
native. 

Attention is called to the painted figures on the little light- 




FIG. 47. ORNAMENTED VESSEL (ONE-HALF).* 

colored bowl, and also to the half-circle lines and ornamentations on 
the kettles in the picture (Plate VI). These indented lines are 
very common styles of decoration. Some of the work of this class 
has been executed with considerable taste and skill, as is shown in 
Fig. 47 from the Noel cemetery. 

The figure with the pointed cap (Plate VI) is unique, and is one 
of the most interesting objects yet discovered within the pottery 
districts of the Mississippi valley. It is of rich, well-finished ware. 
The bowl is as symmetrical as if made on a potter s wheel. The 
cap has a graceful tassel at the top, which falls behind. The arms 
encircle the bowl. The feet and legs project in front. The face 

* Author s collection. 



142 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



of the original is a better specimen of physiognomy than the 
picture represents. 

The head on the bowl or drinking cup to the left is one of the 
best pieces of modeling in terra- cotta from the cemeteries about 
Nashville. The features are so obscure in the photo-engraving that 
we have had a separate engraving made of it (Fig. 48). The cap or 
helmet is a good example of this style of head gear. It is so fre 
quently observed on the pottery heads from the graves that it must 




FIG. 48. THE HEAD OR HANDLE OP TERRA COTTA BOWL (THREE-FIFTHS).* 

have been one of the familiar costumes of the Stone Grave race. 
The graceful form of this fine dark bowl may be seen in the little 
outline sketch. 

These ornamental handles to vessels, modeled in imitation of the 
human head, are a specialty of the ancient pottery of Middle Ten 
nessee. They are found in Southern Kentucky, Illinois, and else 
where within the Middle Mississippi district, but we think not in 
such numbers, and probably not of equal artistic merit. Earthen 
ware bowls, with head handles of the same general form, are also 

* Author s collection. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 



143 



found among the ruins of Central America.* Other pottery han 
dles of this form are illustrated in Fig. 49. 

The head with the hat and tassel is similar to that of the 
" man bowl," in Plate VI. The larger head on the right is hollow, 
and is filled with clay pellets. When shaken, they sound like a 
child s rattle. It forms the handle to a large bowl about eight 







FIG. 49. TERRA COTTA HEADS HANDLES OF DRINKING CUPS (THREE-FIFTHS).! 

inches in diameter. Pottery heads and head handles, filled with 
pellets, are occasionally found. It was doubtless a fancy of the old 
pottery makers to manufacture them in this way. Unfortunately, 
many a fine head has been broken or bored into, from mere idle 
curiosity, to find what treasures it contained. Vessels with hollow 



* Ancient Cities of the New World (Charney), page 443. 
t Author s collection. 



144 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

handles, fashioned in imitation of bird heads and other grotesque 
forms, and filled with clay pellets, are also found in the Missouri 
pottery district, but they are usually not so artistically executed as 
our Tennessee specimens.* 

The same idea is illustrated in the ancient earthenware of 
Mexico and Chiriqui, where rattling clay pellets are found in the 
grotesque figures or legs of the tripods and vessels of pottery. f 

Some of the drinking cups of this reddish brown ware are or 
namented with lines skillfully drawn or cut around the border, as 
represented in Fig. 50. The same beautiful scroll pattern will be 




FIG. 50. A DRINKING CUP (ONE-THIRD). t 

found on some of the engraved shell gorgets from the graves of the 
Nashville district. 

An almost exact duplicate of this vessel from Perry county, 
Missouri, with the same tracing upon the border (in the collection 
of the Chicago Academy of Sciences), was unfortunately destroyed 
in the great fire at Chicago of 1871. || 

The handles of the bowls and cups are often modeled in imi 
tation of animal and grotesque forms, somewhat after the fashion 

* Five of them are illustrated in Plate 15 of Contributions to the Archaeology of 
Missouri. See also page 27. 

t Native Eaces (Bancroft), Vol. IV, pages 19, 388 ; Ancient Art of Chiriqui (W. 
H. Holmes), page 98. 

J Author s collection. 

|| See illustration in Prehistoric Races (Foster), page 246. Similar ornamental 
lines are found on Arkansas ware. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 145 

of ancient Peruvian ware. The heads of ducks, owls, bats, dogs, 
foxes, bears, and even the entire bodies of animals, are sometimes 
represented in these handles, though, like many of the little heads 
of terra-cotta found in Mexico, they are usually broken from the 




t 

FIG. 51. TERRA COTTA BOWL HANDLES (ONE-HALF).* 

vessels and images, and are found as fragments. Examples of these 
head-handles and forms are shown in Fig. 51. Some of them are 
very spirited, and, like the human heads in clay, are executed with 
considerable fidelity to nature. 




FIG. 52. A CHICKEN-HEAD BOWL HANDLE (TWO-THIRDS).* 

It is quite certain that the mound builders of Tennessee must 
have been a sedentary and agricultural people, as the pottery bowl- 
head illustrated in Fig. 52 shows that they had chickens. The 
pottery makers have imitated some old rooster s comb in a very 
creditable way. 

* Author s collection. 
10 



146 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

Head-handle bowls and grotesque ornamentations are also 
found among the ancient ware from the burial mounds of Arkansas. 
Fine examples may be seen in Fig. 53. 

These two vessels were recently discovered in a mound, near 
Nodena, Arkansas, upon the plantation of our friend, James B. 
Craighead, Esq., who kindly sent them to us for examination. 
Nodena is on the Mississippi river, in the center of the ancient pot 
tery district of North-eastern Arkansas. The types illustrated are 
rare ; a little turtle is basking upon one end of the head-bowl. The 
pointed cap was also fashionable in Tennessee. Four lizards orna 
ment the other bowl. This pottery has not been so well burned 





FIG. 53. ARKANSAS POTTERY (ONE-THIRD). * 

and finished as our best stone grave ware, but it is of the same gen 
eral character. 

It seems also that there were, probably, dogs in ancient Ten 
nessee, a fact tolerably well authenticated by one of these pottery 
cup handles (Fig. 54), representing a dog, or perhaps a bear or 
panther, holding a bone or stick in his mouth and paws. The cup 
is nearly perfect, and is of fine, well-burned ware, from the Noel 
cemetery. If intended to represent a dog, the prehistoric canine 
could not have been an ordinary cur of low pedigree, such as be 
longed to the Indian from immemorial times, but a respectable full 
grown mastiff or bull dog. 

* J. B. Craighead collection. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 147 

Since the last paragraph was written, we have obtained from 
the Noel cemetery the perfect and graceful little bowl, illustrated in 
Fig. 55, representing the same idea. A frog or some grotesque ani 
mal grasping a stick forms the handle. The toad or frog was the 




FIG. 54. HANDLE TO DRINKING CUP (THREE-FIFTHS).* , 

totem of one of the families of the Creeks. Such conceits in art, 
so well executed, will be a surprise even to archaeologists, especially 
to those who fail to bear in mind the intuitive artistic faculty that 




FIG. 55. ARTISTIC BOWL HANDLE (ONE-HALF).* 

belongs to some of the native tribes, and their natural capacity 
for progress toward civilization, under favorable conditions. 

Mr. W. II. Holmes, curator of pottery of the National Museum, 
in considering " the forms and ornaments in ceramic arts " in 

* Author s collection. 



148 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



ancient America, states that the same idea is well expressed in the 
handles of wooden bowls from Alaska. A beaver grasping a bone 
or stick in his mouth and paws forms the handle of the bowl. 

He reports that a similar pottery bowl-handle has been found 
in the mound district of Arkansas.* If these unusual and peculiar 
forms and expressions of art can not be regarded as evidences of 
ancient intercourse or contact between these distant sections, they 
are, at least, remarkable coincidences. 

The animal represented in pottery, Fig. 56, was probably de- 




FIG. 56. ANIMAL HEAD (TWO-THIRDS).! 

signed to imitate a wolf or panther, as an effort was evidently made, 
and with some success, to show its large teeth and give it a fierce 
expression. It is well burned, and is still stained with its original 
red paint. The head probably belonged to a full clay figure of the 
animal, as it shows no evidence of having been the handle to a 
vessel, and it is larger than the heads used for that purpose. 

Plate VII presents a photo-engraving of a group of pottery 
from the graves, of fish and animal forms, one-fourth diameters 
(author s collection). These were familar models of the old pottery 
makers, especially the sun-fish and the frog. The latter were favor- 

* Reports Bureau of Ethnology, Vol. VI, page 451. 
t Johnson collection. 




I m 



i 





THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 



149 



ite family names or emblems of the southern tribes. Similar 
forms are also found in Arkansas and Missouri. The uniform 
thinness and regularity of the walls, the careful burning, the ex 
actness of outlines, and the glossy finish of some of these vessels, 
show considerable artistic skill. As the little turtle-bowl on the 
left is an unusual type, separate engravings of it are presented 





FIG. 57. TURTLE BOWL FROM CEMETERY NEAR NASHVILLE (ONE-HALF).* 

(Fig. 57), showing its outside and inside forms. The engravings,, 
unfortunately, are stiff, and lack the graceful lines of the original. 
It will be observed that many of the bowls (Plate VII) are 
pierced with holes for suspension. Some of them were probably 
vessels for cooking, and others were doubtless used as hanging ves 
sels in the ancient homes, and may have contained condiments, 
tattoo paints, bear s oil, or articles of daily use or for the toilet. 

* Author s collection. 



150 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

De Soto s Spanish chroniclers report that they found the resi 
dence of one of the native chiefs hung with festoons of feathers, 
beads, and shells. His soldiers were often struck with the gay ap 
pearance of the inside decorations of the Indian houses. In har 
vest time, the rafters were doubtless lined, after the Indian fashion, 
with a golden tapestry of maize. From the number of hanging 
vessels of terra cotta found, it would seem as if the ancient habita 
tions may also have been festooned with them, as well as with 
shells. Bancroft tells us there were many hanging ornaments and 
vessels in the rooms of the Moqul pueblos.* 

A number of fine types of pottery are illustrated in Plate VIII 
(one-fourth natural diameters). All are from the cemeteries of 
Middle Tennessee, excepting the dark polished jar, ornamented 
with the scroll pattern, which is from Mississippi, as its appear 
ance indicates. f 

The three legged jug was recently obtained from a stone grave 
in a mound on the George P. Allen farm, about six miles south 
west of Clarksville, Tennessee. The handsome " idol pipe," of ser 
pentine, illustrated in the next chapter, was found in an adjoining 
grave. The jug is ornamented with well-painted circles, but they 
have faded, and were very indistinct in the photograph. The light 
colored " water jug," with the elaborate head-dress, is from a 
grave in the Byser farm cemetery, on White s creek, near Nash 
ville. Many fine objects have been obtained from this ancient set 
tlement. 

The other vessels in Plate VIII are from the Noel cemetery. 
They are all fine pieces of ware, especially the bowl-shaped ves 
sels. The little cup with the excellent face has a hole in the 
pointed cap, for hanging. We have had separate engravings made 
of the finely executed medallion bowl, to show its grace and ex- 

* Native Races, Vol. IV, page 668. 

t The Mississippi jar and the light " water jug" with the label on it belong to 
the fine collection of the Tennessee Historical Society, at Nashville. The lower 
bowl with the medallion faces is from Mr. Otto Giers s collection. The remaining 
seven pieces are from the author s collection. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 



1.51 



actness. Vessels with rude medallion faces have been found in the 
mounds of Arkansas,* but not of this form, or so artistically mod- 




FIG. 58. MEDALLION BOWL (ONE-FOURTH). t 

The interesting man, or " leg bowl," is an excellent piece of 
W are well formed and perfect. Its design is a curious conceit. 




FIG. 59. TERRA COTTA BOWL (ONE-THIRD). t 

A vessel of similar form, from a small cemetery near the Cumber 
land river, five miles west of Nashville, is also illustrated (Fig. 59) 
to present another view of this peculiar type. It must have been 

* Report Bureau of Ethnology, Vol. IV, page 414. 

t Otto Giers collection. 

t Author s collection. Mr. Frank Morrow, of Nashville, has in his possession a 
similar bawl, a little larger; and there is another in the collection of Mr. Warren 
Moorehead, in the Smithsonian Institution, from the Missouri mound district. The 
latter is somewhat larger than the specimen illustrated, and, as we remember it, is a 
little more rudely molded. The vessel represented in Fig. 59 was obtained from a 
stone grave by Mr. W. W. Dosier. 



152 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

a clumsy and inconvenient bowl, but like some of tbe more civil 
ized native tribes of America, these old villagers of the Cumberland 
valley were sometimes more devoted to the grotesque in art than 
to practical convenience. 

Since Plate VIII was engraved, the writer has obtained more 
than a hundred new specimens of pottery from the Noel cemetery, 
and other burial grounds in the immediate vicinity of Nashville, 
many of them types of special interest. A number of them are 
presented in Plate IX. 

The light clay-colored ware, and the dark, rich, reddish brown 
ware, the specialty of the Nashville district, appear in contrast in 
the photo-engraving. The decorations upon the light specimens 
can also be plainly seen. The central figure of the plate is unique. 
This nondescript animal is eight and a half inches long; the ves 
sel is nine inches high. The circles and lines with which it is 
ornamented have evidently been painted by a skillful and ex 
perienced hand. It was taken from a stone grave on the Bosley 
farm, about four miles west of Nashville (in January, 1890), by Mr. 
Ed. Carlton, from whom we obtained it.* The body and legs are 
fashioned somewhat like the badger or bear jar figure discovered 
by Prof. Putnam within the earth- works of Lebanon. In its day and 
generation this fine vessel doubtless occupied a conspicuous place 
upon the dining floor or sideboard of some old mound builder s resi 
dence. Were it not for its canine head, and the suggestive curl of its 
tail, its otherwise elephantine form might pose before " the scien 
tists " as a mastodon. The truth requires us to state, however, 
that a fat, waddling Indian dog was probably the animal that 
suggested this design.f A somewhat similar figure in pottery, with 
the head, face, and curled tail of a dog, apparently of the same 

* Prof. F. W. Putnam and Major J. W. Powell conducted explorations upon this 
farm in 1877, and discovered many fine vessels of pottery and interesting remains of 
stone and shell. 

t Among the modern Indians, dog feasts were quite common. Perhaps the 
dogs were fattened for the occasion. We are told that they made Hendrick Hudson 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 153 

pug-nosed pedigree, was found in the New Madrid mound district 
of Missouri, and is illustrated in the Archaeology of Missouri, pub 
lished by the St. Louis Academy of Science (Plate IX), but the 
latter is not so well formed or so artistically decorated. A dog s 
head also appears upon a bowl in Plate IX. These heads give us 
a tolerably accurate representation of the pre-historic canine. The 
type does not appear to differ much from the modern dogs of the 
Cherokees and other tribes. 

Mr. Frank Morrow, of Nashville has in his collection of pot 
tery a bowl with a dog s head handle, and in the wide-spread jaws 
of the dog there is a small, rudely molded human head. 

So far as we can learn, the dog was the only domestic animal 
possessed by the native tribes of North America prior to the Co 
lumbian discovery. The South Americans had also the llama, a 
patient animal, very useful as a beast of burden. The first horses 
and cattle came with the Spanish conquerers. Unfortunately, the 
aborigines of early ages were without these civilizing agencies. 
Their presence would doubtless have contributed greatly to advance 
the condition of society in ancient America. 

The two images in Plate IX must originally have been deco 
rated with some taste and skill, if we may judge from the traces 
of painting still visible. The hands of the larger figure are well 
molded in relief. The hands of the small image are painted. Both 
images are hollow, and have openings at the backs of the heads. 
The large handsome a fish bowl" is nine inches long. Vessels of 
this form are very numerous in the graves, notwithstanding the 
heads, tails, and fins upon some of them, must have rendered them 
inconvenient for practical use. Doubtless, the fish was a totem, or 
family or tribal emblem. Both the Creeks and Chickasaws had a 
" fish " family, or clan in their organizations.* The Creeks had 
also a family branch named after the toad or frog, as stated.* 

welcome, on his first visit to the Hudson river, by " killing a fat dog." The form of 
this vessel was, therefore, very appropriate. Collections New York Historical So 
ciety, Vol. I, Second Series, page 198. 

* Ancient Society (Morgan), pages 161, 163. 



154 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

The handsome eagle bowl, in Plate IX, will also be noticed, and 
the large center bowl (ten and one-fourth inches long) on the lower 
line, with the finely formed head handle. The latter is full of rat 
tling little pellets. We have not seen a finer specimen of the pot- 




FIG. 60. POTTERY HEAD FROM LARGE BOWL (ONE-HALF).* 

ter s or molder s art among the ancient ware of the Mississippi val 
ley. The face and head are very finely formed. The pointed cap 
has a long tassel that falls gracefully behind in a double fold. 
Another of these very finely molded bowl heads, with a strong and 
almost handsome face, is rudely illustrated in Fig. 60. 




FIG. 61. ORNAMENTED BOWL (ONE-THIRD).! 

As the oblong bowl, with an ornamented rim, is but poorly rep 
resented in the plate, we present a better illustration of its form in 
Fig. 61. It is a very symmetrical and graceful piece of ware. 

* Historical Society collection. 
t Author s collection. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 155 

There may be old or modern vessels of pottery from the pueblo 
districts equaling some of these highest standard types from the 
stone graves of Tennessee, but they have not come under our ob 
servation. 

The tiny bowls and jars (Plate IX) were probably used as toys, or 
may have served some useful purposes. They are well molded, and 
as hard as the large ware. The other vessels illustrated in the plate 
will show some of the unusual types. It w r ould be impossible, 
within a single volume, to present illustrations of all the interesting 
vessels and images in the local collections. 

The excellent photo-engravings presented, give a softer and 
more finished appearance to this ware, perhaps, than it merits, as 
they sometimes relieve the coarseness of the materials, and allow 
the graces of form full effect, but they show the objects with photo 
graphic fidelity. We have seen no pottery from Missouri or Arkan 
sas of superior quality, and very little from those sections equaling 
it ; neither have the elaborate mounds or the ancient cemeteries of 
the Ohio valley yielded pottery so well made, and with such graces 
of form, so far as we have been able to judge from the best speci 
mens observed in the various archseological collections in Cincinnati 
and elsewhere.* 

* Sir Daniel Wilson and other writers seem to have the impression that the 
mound builders of Ohio were much in advance of other mound building tribes in 
their knowledge of the ceramic arts. This is an error. The Ohio ware did not sur 
pass the standard earthenware of other sections of the mound area, and was not 
equal to some of the pottery of the Central and Lower Mississippi districts. Squier 
and Davis, in their valuable work on the Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi 
Valley, gave an illustration of an Ohio vase as evidence of an advanced state of art ; 
but Dr. Eau, the able archaeologist of the Smithsonian Institution, who examined 
the Squier and Davis collections, asserts that it was not superior to the Cahokia 
creek pottery of Illinois, the ordinary Illinois and Missouri ware. Smithsonian Re 
ports, 1866, page 349. Comparatively little pottery has been found in the mounds 
or ancient cemeteries of Ohio. A single cemetery near Nashville, or a single burial 
mound of Missouri or Arkansas, has probably yielded more perfect vessels of pot 
tery than have been discovered within the limits of the State of Ohio since its first 
settlement by the whites. The fact that the ancient pottery of Ohio has disap 
peared, or has generally crumbled into fragments, is an additional indication of its 



156 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

The vessels of pottery of each of the various sections of the 
mound area, like the mounds of these several districts, have their 
marked and distinguishing features. The ware of Tennessee, Ar 
kansas, South-east Missouri, and Southern Illinois, and that found 
along some of the water-ways of the lower Ohio valley, is probahly 
of one period, and of the same tribes, or closely allied tribes. Al 
though the local types differ, it is homogeneous, and can generally 
be distinguished from other ware. The ancient earthenware from 
the Ohio mounds is usually of somewhat coarser grades and simpler 
forms. Comparatively few perfect vessels of pottery have been dis 
covered in New York, New England, the middle Atlantic states, 
and other sections outside of the territory of the mound builders, 
and they are generally of a rude character. 

The ancient pottery of Georgia and Florida is well made, but, 
as a class, the vessels discovered appear to be of ordinary types, and 
not equal to the best ware found in the Cumberland valley. As we 
approach the Lower Mississippi district, the remains of the ceramic 
arts improve in character. They reached a state of comparatively 
advanced development within the present limits of the States of 
Mississippi, Louisiana, and Southern Arkansas. The ware of this 
general section is homogeneous, easily identified, and in finish and 
ornamentation appears to be equal to that of any other portion of 
the mound area. It is not surpassed by any pottery yet discovered 
north or east of Mexico. 

A group of unusually fine specimens of the lustrous black ware 
of Mississippi is shown in Fig. 62. 

The ornamented jar of this dark ware, in Plate VIII, looks 
like an exotic. It will be readily recognized as a Lower Mississippi 
type, and shows us how strongly marked are the characteristics of 
the pottery of the different mound districts. 

These general types in fact often differ from each other nearly 
as widely as they differ from the pottery of the pueblos, yet they 

inferior quality, as compared with some of the well-burned southern specimens. 
Some of the Tennessee pottery seems as durable as Etruscan or Egyptian ware. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 157 

all unite in establishing the homogeneous character of the ware 
of the Mississippi valley. 

The similarity of some of the specimens of this ware to 
Peruvian pottery is very remarkable. The author has but four 
ancient vessels from the graves of Peru in his collection. They 
have peculiar shapes, yet vessels of nearly the exact forms of three 
of them have been found in the Middle Mississippi district. 

Engraved sketches of these vessels will show the similarity of 
forms. (Figs. 63, 63A.) The vessel in the center is also a Mexican 
type. Many suggestive coincidences and similarities of form might 
be presented, showing analogies and traces of connection between 




FIG. 62. MISSISSIPPI POTTERY.* 

the ancient ware manufactured in the pueblo districts and the pot 
tery of the Mississippi valley. 

Plate X is a photo-engraving of a section of a large earthen 
ware vessel, about thirty-one inches in diameter, twelve inches high, 
and having a capacity of twelve to fifteen gallons. (Author s col 
lection.) A section of a similar vessel (on the inside) was photo 
graphed, to show more clearly the texture of the basket, matting, 
or cloth fabric in which these large vessels were molded. The 
little pot, an inch and a half in diameter, was placed on the rim, 
in contrast 

The large vessel was found within a few yards of the " Sul- 

* These vessels were obtained from a mound near Lake Washington, Missis 
sippi, by W. M Anderson. The illustration is reproduced from Prehistoric Man 
(Wilson), Vol. II, page 23. 



158 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

phur Spring," or the old " French Lick," at Nashville, in exca 
vating for the foundations of the new spring house. This sulphur 
and salt spring was doubtless the central feature of a populous 
aboriginal settlement for centuries. Extensive burial grounds were 
found on both sides of the " Lick Branch," and many fine imple- 




FIG 63. PERUVIAN POTTERY/ 





FIG. 6BA. VESSELS FROM ARKANSAS AND MISSOURI.? 

ments and specimens of earthenware have been obtained there. 
These large vessels, or "salt pans," were probably used in boiling 
the saline water of the spring, to make salt.J 

* Author s collection. 

t Fourth Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, pages 418,422; Archaeology of 
Missouri, Plate 23. 

J The workmen, in excavating, had removed this large vessel a few yards from 
its original bed in the bank, a short time before the author reached the spot, so that 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 159 

The early white settlers also manufactured salt there in con 
siderable quantities. The vessels were rudely but strongly made, 
being sometimes an inch thick below the heavy rims. Pieces of 
coarsely pounded mussel shells, an inch long, are frequently mixed 
with the clay. As will be shown by the plate, the large earthen 
ware pots or boilers were built up or molded in sacks or bags of 
fine matting or cloth, or of some woven fabric, that has left a last 
ing impression on the surface of the clay. 

When the vessel was molded, it was probably left standing or 
was dried in the sun until it was hard enough to permit the re 
moval of the cloth before burning. From the fineness and regu 
larity of the imprints, some of these fabrics must have been skill 
fully woven. The variations of the thread also show that patched 
or separate pieces of the cloth were used to hold the sides of the 
vessels during the formative process. The large kettles were not all 
used as " salt pans," as we find many sections and fragments of them 
in other aboriginal cemeteries near Nashville. The graves are fre 
quently lined and covered with them, instead of slabs of stone. 
They may have been used as sugar boilers, or cooking kettles, or for 
other purposes in the domestic economy of the Stone Grave race.* 

We have accounts, however, of the use of clay vessels of the 
same character by the pottery making tribes of Southern Illinois 
and Missouri at other saline springs in these states. f 

he was unable to ascertain exact details as to its position. Some bones and frag 
ments of similar vessels were found with it. We are indebted to M. W. Woods, 
Esq., of the Sulphur Spring Company, for this fine specimen. 

* Hunter, in his account of the modern tribes west of the Mississippi, says: 
" When these (pottery) vessels are large, as is the case of the manufacture of sugar, 
they are suspended by grapevines, which, wherever exposed to the fire, are con 
stantly kept covered with moist clay. Sometimes, however, the rims are made 
strong / and project a little inwardly quite around the vessel, so as to admit of their 
being sustained by flattened pieces of wood slid underneath these projections, and 
extending across their centers." Hunter s Manners and Customs of Indian Tribes, 
etc., page 296. Philadelphia, 1823. 

t Colonel George E. Sellers (now of Chattanooga, Tennessee), reported, in 1859, 
the discovery of similar large " salt pans " at the " salt springs " near Saline river, in 
Southern Illinois, a locality where salt was formerly made by the Indians. "Sev- 



160 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

The few large vessels discovered, as compared with the great 
number of small ones, was doubtless mainly due to the preserva 
tion of the latter as food and water vessels, in the graves ; yet it 
also seems to indicate that in prehistoric times the food may have 
been prepared in the big family pot, after the communal fashion, 
and then divided in the small vessels to the many members of the 
household. 

Fragments of pottery ware of various intermediate sizes are 
found in great abundance in the ancient burial grounds and set 
tlements of Tennessee, but entire vessels are comparatively rare. 

A fine large pot is illustrated in Fig. 64. 

Its greatest diameter is eighteen inches. It is seventeen inches 
high, and has four strong handles. The rim and neck are orna 
mented with " finger-nail indentations." * In the collection of the 
Tennessee Historical Society, at Nashville, there is one almost 
identical in form and size, from a mound in East Tennessee. Mr. 
Otto Giers discovered in the Noel cemetery, near Nashville, a vessel 
eighteen inches in diameter in the form of an ordinary flat dinner 

eral acres," Colonel Sellers states, "are covered with broken vessels, and heaps of 
clay and shells indicate that they were made on the spot. They presented the 
shape of semi-globular bowls wdth projecting rims, and measuring from thirty 
inches to four feet across the rim, the thickness varying from one-half to three- 
quarters of an inch. This earthenware had evidently been modeled in baskets. 
The impressions on the outside are very regular and really ornamental, proving 
that these aboriginal potters were also skillful basket makers." Smithsonian Re 
ports, 1866. 

Brackenridge (Views of Louisiana, 1814) states : " The saline below St. Gene- 
vieve, Missouri, cleared out some time ago and deepened, was found to contain 
wagon-loads of earthenware, some fragments bespeaking vessels as large as a barrel, 
and proving that the salines had been worked before they were known to the 
whites." Du Pratz mentions a locality in Louisiana where the aborigines collected 
salt in earthen vessels made on the spot, before they had been supplied with kettles 
of metal by the French. Du Pratz, Vol. I, page 307. And the Knight of Elvas also 
describes the method of making salt employed by the natives at the saline springs 
of Arkansas in De Soto s time (A. D. 1541). 

* Fourth Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, page 397. We are indebted to 
Major Powell for an electrotype of this fine illustration. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 



161 



plate, a very unusual variety. It must have been a strong piece of 
ware to have done service in that form. The skeleton was resting 
upon it when found. 

The stone grave cemeteries of Tennessee have yielded many 
other objects of pottery pipes, trowels, implements, beads, paint 
cups, discs, totems, toys, amulets, and other articles some of them 
unique and of much interest. 




FIG. 64. LARGE VESSEL OF POTTERY (H ALE S POINT, TENNESSEE). 

Fig. 65 represents some of the clay trowels, or smoothers, used 
in molding and manufacturing vessels of pottery. They are often 
found with the large ware, and seem especially fitted for this pur 
pose. In fact, it is difficult to assign them to any other duty. 
Their troweling surfaces are circular and, therefore, unfitted for 
smoothing skins. They are curved according to size, the smaller 
trowels being the most curved, to suit the circular sides of the 
small vessels, and the largest sizes being nearly flat, to fit the curves 
11 



162 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



of the large vessels, boilers or salt-pans. The handles are evidently 
shaped to be held conveniently in the hand in molding. The illus 
tration scarcely does justice to these interesting little implements. 

A few years ago, two smoothing implements or discs of very 
hard pottery, with handles resembling flat-iron handles, were dis 
covered in the large stone grave cemetery on White s creek, about 
five miles north of Nashville (the Byser cemetery). They were pre 
sented to the Tennessee Historical Society and are now in its col 
lection. 

Upon examining them, we supposed they might have been 
used for smoothing skins or some mechanical purposes. The larger 
one, about four inches in diameter, had too flat a surface to trowel, 





FIG. 65. POTTERY IMPLEMENTS SMALL TROWELS. 

or smooth the circular sides of even the largest vessels. Dr. Joseph 
Jones also found one, and described it as an implement " probably 
used for crushing parched corn and beans, or for dressing and 
smoothing hides." * But a short time since, however (January, 
1890), old " Uncle Arthur," one of our exploring " experts," found 
five of these "smoothers" in one stone grave in a cemetery, adjoin 
ing or near the Noel cemetery, and on seeing them, we at once dis 
covered their true character, or what we regard as their true 
character, and pronounced them plastering trowels. 

The two largest, six inches in diameter and circular in form, 
have been already illustrated in the chapter upon the houses of the 
mound builders. Two of the smaller ones are shown in Fig. 66. 

* Aboriginal Remains, page 143. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 163 

One has a flat oval smoothing surface, and is five and one-half 
inches long. The other is disc shaped, and ahout four inches in 
diameter. 

These implements are evidently not suitable for pestles or 
corn-pounders, and the large ones are apparently too heavy for 
smoothing or dressing hides. We do not think we can be mistaken 
in their use. A class of implements entirely different in form were 
used in crushing corn, and will be illustrated hereafter. 

From the well-known mortuary custom prevailing among 
the Indians, of burying their worldly treasures with the dead, it 
seems reasonably clear that these five implements were the tools or 
outfit of a plasterer whose remains were buried with them. The 





FIG. 66. PLASTEEING TROWELS (TWO-FIFTHS).* 

clay of which they are made has a surface finish as hard as stone, 
yet some of them are considerably worn, showing that they were 
probably used upon a harder and more wearing material than hides 
or skins. f 

We have no knowledge of the discovery of similar implements 
in other pottery districts. We, therefore, regard the information 
furnished by this set of old trowels as of much archaeological value. 
Tools of the same general character were doubtless used in building 

* Author s collection. 

t Upon examining these trowels closely, we find a thin film of smooth, hard- 
pressed, red clay adhering to the original hard-burned pottery surfaces of some of 
them, which offers additional evidence of their use as plastering trowels. 



164 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

or finishing the clay plastered, grouting, and adobe houses in Ar 
kansas and other sections. 

The little terra-cotta rattle, Fig. 67, was found by young 
Orrnsby Johnson in the stone grave of a child near the Noel ceme 
tery. It was well burned, but was slightly fractured in digging. 
The hard clay pellets found inside of it, and represented in the little 




FIG, 67. CHILD S RATTLE FOUND NEAR NASHVILLE (ONE-HALF). 

pyramid, may have quieted many an urchin in prehistoric days. 
There is a hole in the end for suspension. Similar rattles are found 
among the remains of ancient Mexico. Tylor, in his Anahuac, 
says : " The terra-cotta rattles in the Museum of Mexico are very 
characteristic. They have little balls in them, which shake about, 
and they puzzle us as much as the apple dumpling did King 
George, for we could not make out very easily how the balls got 




FIG. 68. THE MARBLES THEY PLAYED WITH (ONE-THIRD).* 

inside. They were probably attached very slightly to the inside, 
and so baked, and then broken loose " f a piece of scientific 
reasoning scarcely up to the standard of George III ! 

It seems the boys, or the men, probably, played marbles in pre 
historic days, as thirteen well-burned marbles, or pottery balls, were 

t 

* Author s collection. 

t Quoted by H. H. Bancroft. Native Races, Vol. IV, page 557. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 165 

recently found lying together by W. W. Dosier, in a stone grave at 
Glees Ferry, a few miles west of Nashville. Some of them are illus 
trated in Fig. 68. We did not notice any " white alley " in the 
lot. It may have been won by some other fellow . Marbles or 
round balls of pottery and stone are frequently found in the graves, 
but so many have not been heretofore found together. If not 
used as marbles, they were probably some kind of gaming balls. 

Fig. 69, representing a turtle, is not nearly so spirited as the 
terra-cotta original (Noel cemetery, author s collection). 

This little object of rich brown ware was probably a totem or 
badge of an Indian family or gens. The turtle was a favorite fam- 




FIG. 69. TERRA COTTA TURTLE. 

ily emblem among the modern Indians. It is found in their rude 
picture writings, and graven on pipes and shells. It is the model 
for some of the animal mounds of the north. The turtle was also 
a favorite animal figure among the ancient Mexicans. It is found 
among the pottery remains in the graves, and also in stone. In the 
National Museum of Mexico, there are " little stone turtles perfectly 
carved," * and in the Smithsonian Institution there is a fine speci 
men, carved in stone, from New Mexico. f 

The serpent totem, illustrated in Fig. 70, is rather rudely 
molded in blue grey clay. It is about two and a half inches in 
diameter. It was plowed up about nine miles north of Nashville, 
and not far from the ancient works of Sumner county, where the in- 

* Native Races (Bancroft), Vol. IV, pages 590, 601. 
t Smithsonian Report, 1886, Part II, page 108. 



166 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

scribed stone, with the double serpent emblem, was discovered. 
The head was broken by the plow, but has been restored. The 
serpent appears to have figured in the mythology of most of the 
native American tribes, nomadic and semi-civilized. Some of the 
great earth-works are built in its form. It is the figure very 
frequently found upon the shell gorgets from the graves and 
mounds of Tennessee. A very spirited antique in pottery from 
Mexico, representing a coiled serpent, may be seen in the collection 
of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington.* 




FIG. -70. A SERPENT TOTEM (TWO-THIRDS). t 

H. H. Bancroft tells us that numberless little figures of animals 
in terra-cotta are to be seen in the museums of Mexico birds, dogs, 
and serpents, and small idols of clay and stone, and that " many of 
these small images and figures were doubtless worn suspended 
round the neck or hung on the walls of houses, as several were 
pierced with holes for cords." J 

As will be observed, similar customs must have prevailed in 
ancient Tennessee, as a very large number of the small pottery ob 
jects, images, vessels, birds, animals, and totems are pierced with 
holes an analogy of some significance. 

Fig. 71 represents a little terra cotta bat, or some not very well 

* Archaeological Collections (Rau), Smithsonian Institution, page 87. 

t W. D. Buchanan collection. 

t Native Races, Vol. IV, pages 545, 555. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 167 

identified animal (one-half); also, a little toy bird or amulet (actual 
size) 

The little group (Fig. 72) represents a cunning little image of 





FIG. 71. SMALL TERRA COTTA FIGURES. 




FIG. 72. EAR-RINGS AND IMAGES OR AMULETS. 




FIG. 73. TERRA COTTA EAR-RING (ACTUAL SIZE). 

fine terra cotta, well burned and finished (actual size) ; also, a gro 
tesque head (one-half size), an "ear-bob," and an ear-ring of well- 



* Author s collection. 



168 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



finished terra cotta ware. A larger ear-ring of well-glossed pottery 
is shown in Fig. 73 (author s collection). We have a number of 
these ear-rings with holes for hanging. They have a familiar ap 
pearance, and are not unlike the large metal rings worn in modern 
society. All are from the Noel cemetery, or from the stone graves 
of the Sumner county works, near Saundersville. 

Two views of a small terra cotta wheel or ear-ring pendant, 
found in a stone grave in Stewart county, Tennessee, are shown in 
Fig. 74. This symmetrical ring is just two inches in diameter. It 
has been so carefully made of very fine ware that it must have been 





FIG. 74. TERRA COTTA EAR-RING OR WHEEL 

(ACTUAL SIZE).* 



intended for some special purpose. It also bears the marks of use. 
Two of these rings, of the same size and form, were found in the 
same stone grave, in Stewart county, near the Cumberland river, 
and were placed in Miss Killebrew s collection, at Clarksville, Ten 
nessee, where we first saw them. From the careful construction of 
the grave, it evidently contained the remains of some important 
personage, or at least of some one who was honored with a very re 
spectful burial. Miss Killebrew subsequently presented one of the 
rings (the specimen illustrated) to Captain Johnson, who kindly 
gave it to the writer. Portions of the delicate rim were mottled 
with some substance resembling green paint; but it looked so 
foreign to the light colored surface of the ring that it did not then 



* Author s collection. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 



169 



occur to us that the green coloring might be copper. Subse 
quently, however, and since the terra-cotta ring was engraved for 
this volume, Mr. James Cox (January, 1890) discovered a very sim 
ilar ring of stone, well plated with copper, in a stone grave within 
the group of ancient earth-works at Mound Bottom, on the Har- 
peth river, about twenty miles west of Nashville. 

The stone ring was sent to us by Mr. Cox, and is illustrated in 
Fig. 75. It at once revealed the nature of the green coloring upon 
the pottery ring, which, upon closer inspection, proved to be frag- 




FIG. 75. EAR-RING OR ORNAMENT OF STONE PLATED WITH COPPER.* 

ments of copper plating. This remarkable stone ring is two and 
three-eighths inches in diameter, and is perfect in symmetry and 
finish. The projecting flange or rim has been entirely and most 
skillfully covered from center to circumference with a thin plating 
of hammered copper of uniform thickness, which laps around the 
outer edge as if melted into its place. The surface of the copper 
is now green with oxydation, but the plating is still nearly perfect, 
as is shown in the engraving. The copper is the malleable native 
ore from the old mines of Northern Michigan. 

This is a suggestive little ring. It is difficult to realize that it 
was the work of an Indian even of the most advanced sedentarv or 



* Author s collection. 



170 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

village type. It seems to represent the typical arts of the Toltecs 
or the Peruvians. Did we not know of the skill of the Is avajos in 
silver and jewelry work, and of the north-west coast Indians in 
manipulating iron, and, indeed, of the general instinctive art faculty 
of the native American tribes, we would be disposed to attribute the 
art thus illustrated to some race superior to the North American 
Indian of the highest class. It seems, however, to be more con 
sistent to regard such evidences of unusual mechanical skill, as 
representing occasional instances of individual excellence, or local 
development, among known tribes, rather than as the work of some 
superior and unknown race. 

The uses of these rings or wheels we can only conjecture. 
They look something like little pulleys or mechanical appliances, 
but we must remember that they belonged to a period when per 
sonal ornaments were more used than mechanical inventions. Cop 
per wheels, of somewhat similar form, found in the cemeteries and 
mounds of Ohio, have been pronounced ear-rings or personal orna 
ments by Prof. Putnam and other archaeologists. A pair of them 
was found beside the skull in a grave, where ear-rings would be 
naturally placed. Mr. A. E. Douglass, of JSTew York City, has in 
his fine collection of antiquities an ancient stone pipe, from Ohio, 
representing a human head, with ear-ring ornaments carved in the 
stone, circular in form, and nearly as large as these copper and cop 
per-plated rings. It seems to confirm the view that these rings or 
wheels were pendants or ornaments for the ears.* The fact that 
two of them were found in the same grave in Stewart county also 
favors this view.f Very similar and equally symmetric " ear-ring 
pendants " of stone, will also be illustrated in the chapter upon ob- 

* Our friend Mr. Douglass showed us this pipe, and kindly presented a photo 
graph of it. 

t A copper spool or wheel similar to the double copper rings found in Ohio was 
found by Dr. W. M. Clark in a stone grave a few miles south of Nashville, some 
years ago, and is illustrated in the Smithsonian Reports.. Yerrazzano, who visited 
the Atlantic coast of America in 1524, reported to his patron, the French king, that 
he found the natives using ear-rings and other ornaments of copper. Aboriginal 
Trade (Rau), page 90. 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 



171 



jects of polished stone, and copper pendants or ear-rings like the 
copper spools or rings found in the Ohio mounds will be shown in 
the chapter upon copper remains. The ear-ring pendants are among 
the most remarkable antiques found among the ancient remains of 
the Ohio and Tennessee mound builders. Similar discs or rings 
will be seen carefully engraved as ear ornaments upon the human 
figures on the shell gorgets found in the ancient graves of Ten 
nessee and Missouri. They frequently appear upon the figures in 
the Aztec pictures, and upon the idols of Mexico and Central 




FIG. 76. AN ANCIENT TERRA COTTA BOTTLE (TWO-THIRDS). 

America. Beautiful ear pendant discs of copper or terra cotta, 
three or four inches in diameter, are also to be found among the 
antiquities of Peru. These large ear-ring ornaments seem to have 
been worn by all the southern and south-western peoples of ancient 
America. 

A little jug or bottle of unusual interest is illustrated in Fig. 
76. It was found in Stewart county, Tennessee, in a carefully built 
stone grave containing a very large skeleton. A fine clay image 
was also found in the grave, all indicating the burial of some im 
portant personage. The little jug is of light colored clay, but 



172 ANTIQUITIES OP TENNESSEE. 

is well burned and finished. The fairly-well executed head has 
holes at the sides for ear-rings, and one at the usual place at the 
back of the neck for a cord. A roll of curled or plaited hair 
hangs down behind. On the side of the bottle there is a carefully 
molded hole, as represented in the engraving. When laid in the 
grave it doubtless had a stopper, but the latter had probably de 
cayed, as the hole was found to be plugged with the clay that had 
filtered into the grave. 

When discovered,the bottle was nearly filled with dark round 
slate-colored pellets, about an eighth of an inch in diameter. We 
found one hundred and fifty-five of them, when we examined it. 
Dr. W. L. Dudley, professor of chemistry at Yanderbilt University, 
made a careful analysis of them. They were found to contain car 
bonate of lime, and a slight quantity of bituminous shale or clay. 
He reported that his analysis " failed to indicate the presence of 
any drugs or medicines;" also that "a careful microscopic examina 
tion did not reveal any cell structure, which therefore, excludes the 
presence of herbs and barks." 

The latter may have disappeared by decay or absorption. These 
little pellets are soft, small, and wholly unlike those found in the 
pottery rattles and heads. They do not rattle when shaken. 
The modern Indians did not use medicine in the form of pills, yet, 
notwithstanding the absence of herbs, we are inclined to think 
this little terra cotta bottle of pellets may have been used by 
some priest or medicine man for some medicinal purposes, or with 
their decoctions, incantations, or curing ceremonies. Like the 
modern " Indian doctor," the ancient medicine man was probably 
" a fraud," and may have dosed his patients occasionally with 
" bread pills," without either herbs or drugs. In any case, it speaks 
well for him and his friends that they were willing that he should 
take his own medicine, on his way to the spirit-land. This little 
" medicine bottle " is in the collection of Miss Killebrew, of Clarks- 
ville, Tennessee, who kindly loaned it to the author to be examined 
and engraved. 

Many other interesting objects in clay from the ancient graves 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 173 

of Tennessee might be described and illustrated if time and oppor 
tunity permitted. It is, in fact, difficult to select the most useful 
illustrations from the vast store of available material. The native 
art in pottery is richer in details, and apparently more advanced, 
than any other branch of ancient industry. To properly estimate 
it, as an exponent of the culture status of the Stone Grave race, it 
must be surveyed as a whole, and must be considered, also, in its re 
lations to other arts and industries, Races very low in the scale of 
civilization have occasionally developed an almost abnormal state 
of culture in particular arts. For purposes of comparison, we in- 




FIG. 77. POTTERY OF THE FIJI ISLANDERS. 

troduce an illustration from Dr. Wilson s Prehistoric Man (Vol. I, 
page 188), of the pottery of the savages of the Fiji Islands (Fig. 77). 

The double vessel suggests an analogy to some of the peculiar 
Peruvian forms. Notwithstanding their low state of cannibalism, 
the Fijians excelled the other races of Polynesia in the ceramic arts, 
and in a certain subtle appreciation of beauty of form. They are 
artists by nature. The vessels illustrated seem equal, if not supe 
rior, to the best ancient types from Tennessee.* 

Unfortunately, we have not as yet sufficient data to enable us 
to mark the lines of distinction that separate the historic from the 

* "As examples of intuitive art, the pottery of the Fijians is superior in outline 
to the generality of decorated earthenware in civilized countries. They display a 
wonderful power of fertility and originality of design." Uncivilized Eaces (J. G. 
Wood), Vol. II, page 920. 



174 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

prehistoric ware of the Mississippi valley; yet we have no positive 
evidence of the existence within historic times of an art equal in 
excellence of manipulation and in its graces of form to the best ex 
amples from the stone graves. "While this art is not believed to be 
beyond the natural capacity of some of the more advanced tribes 
of historic Indians of the Mississippi valley, under favorable condi 
tions, some of its manifestations certainly indicate a culture un 
known to the historic period, and somewhat in advance of our ac 
cepted ideas of red Indian art. It has many features in common 
with the pottery of the pueblo Indians, and in fixing its relative 
status in the scale of civilization, we think it may be justly classed 
in the same grade with the ceramic arts of tribes like the Zuni and 
Moqui villagers.* 

* The discovery of the fine types of pottery and other antiques in the Noel 
cemetery excited much local interest upon this general subject, and nearly all the 
remaining stone graves in the immediate vicinity of Nashville have been excavated 
and examined. We have greatly regretted that a more systematic exploration of 
these old cemeteries has not been made, but there was no fund in the treasury of 
the Tennessee Historical Society for this purpose, and the archaeological field was 
too extensive to be controlled by individual effort. We have endeavored, however, 
to prevent indiscriminate ransacking and pillaging by inexperienced relic hunters, 
and we have urged upon all the duty of examining the graves with care and intelli 
gence, with a view to preserving all objects and articles, however insignificant, in 
any way illustrating the industries and habits of these ancient tomb builders. 

The writer personally superintended the exploration of a number of cemeteries. 
He also engaged the services of several "experts" in this work, from time to time, 
and thus acquired for his collection a large proportion of the fine specimens re 
cently discovered, embracing some four or five hundred perfect vessels of pottery. 

Messrs. John, Edward, and Robert Blunkall, Frank Lawrence, and "Uncle 
Arthur," who resided near the Noel cemetery, became very expert with the 
trowel, and found some of the finest specimens. Mr. Otto Giers, E. C. Wells, 
Frank Cheatham, Geo. T. Halley, W. W. Dosier, George Wood, and others were 
also enthusiastic explorers. There are a number of collections of pottery in Nash 
ville from the graves and mounds of Middle Tennessee. The Historical Society has 
a large collection. Messrs. Otto Giers, E. C. Wells, W. D. Buchanan, Captain J. R. 
Johnson, Norman Farrell, Frank Morrow, Dr. R. A. Halley, Frank Cheatham, Yan- 
derbilt University, Prof. Wright (of Fisk University), Miss Mary Maxwell, Mrs. J. 
P. Drouillard, Mrs. John Overton, and perhaps others, have collections or small 



THE ANCIENT POTTERY. 175 

cabinets of ancient pottery. J. B. Nickliii of Chattanooga, Dr. J. F. Grant of Pu- 
laski, The South-western University and Miss Killebrew of Clarksville, John G. 
Cisco of Jackson, and the Rev. C. F. Williams of Maury county, have some good 
specimens. One of the largest collections of Tennessee pottery is in the Peabody 
Museum, at Cambridge, Massachusetts. There are some fine specimens, also, in the 
Smithsonian Institution. 



176 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



CHA.FTER VT. 

THE PIPES. 

Tobacco in Ancient America Pipes of Peace Clay Pipes Idol Pipes Animal 
Forms Bird Pipes Tube Forms Platform Pipes Catlinite Pipes Large 
Calumets Flying Bird Types Alligator Pipe Square Form Modern Catlin 
ite Pipes Iroquois Pipe North-west Coast Types Ancient and Modern 
Types Compared. 

The tobacco plant, as is well known, is a native of America. 
The early discoverers report.ed that all the Indian tribes, savage and 
semi-civilized, knew of its uses; and archaeologists have. brought to 
light the fact that smoking was an almost universal and immemo 
rial usage among the aboriginal inhabitants of our western conti 
nent the ubiquitous pipe having been discovered in intimate 
association with its most ancient monuments.* 

The pipe was invested with an interest and importance among 
the historic Indians, above the value of their other possessions. 
The time-honored calumet was sometimes looked upon with venera 
tion by an entire tribe. It was present upon all ceremonial and 
religious occasions Father Hennepin called it the " Pipe of 
Peace." It performed the duty of a flag of truce, and was his 
" safeguard" on his voyage of disco ^ery.f 

* Columbus and other discoverers not only report their astonishment at finding 
the natives " with fire-brands in their mouths and emitting smoke," but we have 
the authority of H. H. Bancroft for the statement that at the date of the Spanish 
conquest they smoked cigarettes and took snuff. Native Races, Vol. II, page 288 ; 
Naidallac, page 160. Willow bark and the roots of herbs were also used by the In 
dians as substitutes for tobacco. 

t " The Pipe such as I have described it," says Father Hennepin, " is a Pass and 
safe Conduct against all the Allies of the nation who has given it; and in all Em 
bassies, the ambassadors carry that Calumet as the Symbol of Peace, which is always 
respected. For the savages are generally persuaded that a great misfortune would 



THE PIPES. 177 

Marquette and Charlevoix found the calumet equally useful as a 
symbol of peace and friendship. Longfellow begins his Song of 
Hiawatha with a beautiful tribute to it. The pipe was the favorite 
companion of its owner, and all the skill of the native lapidary was 
lavished upon it. 

The prehistoric inhabitants of Tennessee were evidently invet 
erate smokers. In no other portion of America have ancient pipes 
been found in greater numbers or varieties, or of more artistic 
forms.* 

The large stone calumets fashioned in the form of animals, 
many varieties of the finely modeled bird pipes, the "idol pipes" of 
human form, the ordinary forms in clay and stone, the disc pipes, 
the tube forms, the stone stem, curved base and platform types, of 
Ohio and West Virginia, have all been discovered in Tennessee. 

It is not always possible to distinguish the ancient from the 
comparatively modern types, although the practiced eye of the old 
collector can generally do so. The pipe makers of some of the his- 

befall em, if they violated the Public Faith of the Calumet, All their Enterprises. 
Declarations of War, or Conclusions of Peace, as well as all the rest of their cere 
monies are sealed if I may be permitted to say so, with the Calumet. They fill that 
pipe with the best tobacco they have, and then present to those with whom, they 
have concluded any great Affair, and smoak out of the same, after them. I had cer 
tainly perish d in my voyage, had it not been for this Calumet or Pipe." A New 
Discovery, etc., Chap. XXIV, pages 93, 94. London, 1698. 

* The beautiful little animal-form pipes discovered in the mounds of the Scioto 
valley, in Ohio, and illustrated by Squier and Davis in the Ancient Monuments of the 
Mississippi Valley, are not surpassed in artistic execution by any ancient pipe work 
or carvings in stone discovered within the mound area. They are generally regarded 
as the best examples of ancient native art in stone. The high praise accorded them 
by Squier and Davis has, in fact, aided in creating the popular overestimate of the 
general state of art in the Ohio valley during the mound building epoch ; yet, after 
a careful examination of some of the originals and of casts of the collection in the 
Smithsonian Institution, the author is of opinion that, as types of the mound build 
ers art, the fine Tennessee and southern pipes are not inferior to the Ohio mound 
pipes; neither are the fine pottery heads found in Tennessee inferior to them as 
examples of art in modeling. 

12 



178 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

toric tribes occasionally made pipes in excellence of carving and 
artistic merit not inferior to the genuine antiques. Adair informs 
us that the Cherokees made beautiful pipes of stone in imitation 
of birds and animals, and sometimes of " nude human figures " that 
could not " much be commended for their modesty." * 

Lieutenant Timberlake, who visited the Cherokees in 1761, re 
ports the additional fact that they made fine pipes of pottery ware. 
He says he was almost suffocated with the great number of peace 
pipes he had to smoke as a pledge of friendship. f 

Captain John Smith, in his quaint " History of Virginia," de 
scribed the stone pipes in which Powhattan and his wild courtiers 
smoke their tobacco pipes like some of our antique western speci 
mens, carved in the form of birds and animals, and, as Smith says, 
" heavy enough to beat out one s brains." 

The large stone calumets and bird-shaped pipes sometimes dis 
covered as " surface finds" are, therefore, not necessarily of ancient 
date, and may be the work of the Shawnees, Cherokees, or other 
modern Indians. It is, in fact, difficult to classify the various types 
chronologically or geographically, and we can only do so in a par 
tial or general way. 

The pipes discovered in the stone graves and burial mounds of 
Tennessee, of course, indicate with considerable exactness the 
typical forms used by the Stone Grave race. They also aid us in 
determining the age of antiques of similar forms plowed up in the 
fields. 

Large funnel-shaped stem holes, sometimes even larger than 
the pipe bowls, appear to the author to have been one of the dis 
tinguishing characteristics of ancient southern clay and stone pipes, 
and we suggest to antiquarians the importance of this feature in the 
proper classification of these objects. 

* History oi the American Indians, pages 423. 424. London, 1775. According 
to Dr, Cyrus Thomas, Adair also states that the Cherokees made pipes that must 
have been of the same general form as some of "the Ohio platform pipes. Problem 
of the Ohio mounds, page 39. 

t Memoirs, pages 38, 39. London, 1765. 



THE PIPESc 179 

The handsome slate and steatite platform pipes of the Ohio 
pattern found in Tennessee, with stone stems or mouth pieces, 
and with the small, carefully drilled stem holes, were also ancient 
types, certainly as old as some of the Ohio and West Virginia 
mounds, in which similar pipes have been occasionally found. The 
stem hole of uniform diameter, for a closely fitting reed or cane stem, 
probably belongs to type comparatively modern, as this appears to 
be the usual form of stem holes drilled by the historic Indians. 

Steatite or talc, in its various colors, from North Carolina or 
the eastern borders of Tennessee, was the material generally util 
ized in the manufacture of fine stone pipes. ~No other stone was so- 
suitable for this purpose. It is not injured by heat, and compact 
steatite is not easily fractured. It can J)e carved or drilled without 
very great labor, and some of the varieties have a surface nearly as 
brilliant as marble, when polished. Fine quarries of steatite are 
found near Iloane Mountain, in East Tennessee. Sandstone, slate, 
limestone, serpentine, syenite, and other varieties of stone, were also 
employed in pipe making. In General Wilder s collection, there is 
a fine specimen made of rich banded jasper with brilliant red 
srripes. Any stone, attractive in its colors, convenient in form, or 
easily worked, seems to have been utilized by the old pipe makers. 

The material was sometimes transported great distances. In 
deed, it would be hard to tell the location of the various quarries 
and ledges that furnished the material for the pipes and implements 
of Tennessee and the states adjacent. Pipes were bartered and ex 
changed for other commodities. Doubtless, the pipe makers of East 
Tennessee and Western North Carolina, where much of the stone 
was quarried, exchanged them in large numbers with the shell 
workers of the coast, and the hunters and pottery makers of Middle 
and West Tennessee. Lawson tells us the southern Indians also 
manufactured tobacco pipes of clay to send to distant regions in 
exchange for skins and other merchandise.* In ante-Columbian 
times, as within the historic period, pipe making, like arrow 

* Carolina (Lawson), page 207. 



180 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

making, was doubtless a special industry, followed by experts in 
the art.* 

We are told by the early writers that it sometimes took the 
native artisans many months to finish a single pipe. As most of the 
drudgery of living was borne by the women, time was plentiful, 
and, as Lawson says, the Indian men were " great enemies to pro 
fuse sweating," or hurrying in their work. 

Fig. 78 represents the pipes of clay found in the stone graves near 
Nashville and in the lower Cumberland valley. (Author s collec 
tion.) 

They are introduced here as typical forms, and will aid us in 
classifying other pipes. The outlines give a fairly correct idea of 




FIG. 78. CLAY PIPES FROM THE STONE GRAVES OF TENNESSEE (ONE-THIRD). 

the originals, but are stiff, and not so graceful as the natural objects. 
The large stem holes will be observed. 

In the Johnson collection, there is a large clay pipe with a plat 
form base, the stem hole of which is large enough to hold the entire 
bowl. 

These clay pipes are of light yellow or blue-gray color, and are 
usually rudely made, as compared with the finer grades of pottery 
from the graves. The pipes of clay found in the burial mounds of 
Arkansas and Missouri are also usually rude, and show little effort at 
artistic molding. It seems singular that so little care was taken by 

* Black marble pipes were made with great labor and patience by one person 
only throughout the whole nation. He lives in Natchez, and, being the only man 
that knows where the stone can be found, monopolizes the business entirely, and 
sells his common pipes at half the price of a blanket. Schoolcraft, Vol. V, page 692. 



THE PIPES. 181 

the artistic potters of the Stone Grave race in making and orna 
menting these easily molded pipes of clay, when so much labor was 
expended in carving the elaborate pipes of stone. The explanation 
may be in the fact that the women of our native races were usually 
the pottery makers, and the men the stone carvers arid flint 
chippers.* 

Ornamented pipes of clay are, however, occasionally found. A 
specimen, evidently of the stone grave period, from the character of 
the pottery, with the face of a wolf, dog, peccary, or some other 
animal, is shown in Fig. 79. It was found on the Rogers farm, at 
Little River, on the Lower Cumberland, in an ancient stone grave 




FIG. 79. ANCIENT PIPE OP POTTERY (ONE-HALF).! 

settlement. Unfortunately, the stem end was partly cut off, to 
enable the discoverer to use the pipe more conveniently with a 
modern wooden stem. 

The great diversity in the forms of stone pipes, resulting from 
the individual fancies and tastes of the pipe-makers, renders it 

* Lawson tells us the Indian women of Carolina were addicted to smoking, as 
well as the men, and this was doubtless the case in other sections. 

An ornamented clay pipe, with a face molded upon it, was recently found in a 
grave on the farm of Robert Chadwell, Esq., near Nashville. It was evidently a 
" commercial pipe," of the pattern sold by the early traders. The grave was proba 
bly that of a modern Indian, as large copper buttons and the remains of woolen 
cloth were found in it. We are indebted to the kindness of Mr. Chadwell for the 
pipe and some of the buttons. 

t Author s collection. 



182 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

difficult to classify them in the order of their probable age. In 
considering this subject, we will, therefore, first present types of 
the stone pipes discovered in the stone graves and burial mounds, 
thus identifying them as types of the mound building tribes. 

The pipe represented in Fig. 80 was dug up, in 1887, by Messrs. 
Winstead and Martin, in an ancient stone grave cemetery near the 
Cumberland river, on the farm of Mr. George P. Allen, about six 
miles south-west of Clarksville, Tennessee. It was found within 
the grave beside the head, having been placed there, doubtless, to 
be ready for smoking. 




FIG. 80. STONE PIPE OF SERPENTINE (ONE-HALF).* 

The three legged vessel (Plate VIII) was found in nearly the 
same position in an adjoining grave. There was a large artificial 
mound, six feet high, on the " upper terrace" of the cultivated field 
containing the burial grounds, and the remains of pottery and shell 
heaps indicated the site of an ancient town or village. The pipe 
is of dark green serpentine, a beautiful semi-translucent mineral, 
finely polished. It represents the human figure and face. The bowl 
and large funnel-shaped stem hole are at the back of the figure. It 
stands well on its feet, but the face is show r n best as engraved, the 
position in which it would naturally be held in smoking. 

* Author s collection. 



THE PIPES. 183 

In the large burial ground, within the ancient earth-works 
near Lebanon, Tennessee, Prof. F. W. Putnam found the interest 
ing pipe, carved from green steatite, represented by Fig. 81. 

The tumulus contained " sixty stone graves arranged in the 
form of a hollow square, about the outer portion of the mound, in 
two or three irregular rows and in three tiers." The pipe was dis 
covered between two of the graves, near the surface. We have not 
seen the original, but three sketches of different views of it appear 




FIG. 81. STEATITE PIPE, FROM WORKS NEAR LEBANON, TENNESSEE (THREE-FOURTHS).* 

in Prof. Putnam s report,f from one of which the illustration was 
copied. The stem hole of the ancient funnel-shaped type is at the 
back of the figure, reaching through to the bowl in front. There 
are four small handles on the sides of the bowl. 

By a singular coincidence, a pipe of the same material, of this 
identical peculiar form, and of about the same size, was found some 
two hundred miles south-east of the Lebanon works, in the great 
Etowah mound, near Cartersville, Georgia, one of the largest artificial 
mounds in the South, and the most remarkable in its physical 
characteristics, and in the richness and variety of the objects of 

* Peabody Museum, Cambridge. 

t Eleventh Annual Report Peabody Museum, page 350. 



184 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



ancient art obtained from it. No other single mound or group of 
mounds north-east of Mexico has equaled it, and the adjacent 
smaller mounds, as treasure houses of aboriginal art, unless it be 
the earth-works at " Mound City," in the Scioto valley, where Dr. 
Davis, nearly a half century ago, struck the well-known archaeo 
logical bonanza, consisting of nearly two hundred beautifully carved 
stone pipes. 




FIG. 82. STEATITE PIPE, FROM THE ETOWAH MOUND, GEORGIA (THREE-FOURTHS).*" 

The pipe from Georgia is represented in Fig. 82. It is of dark, 
rich green steatite, glistening with mica-like particles of talc, and is 
one of the finest specimens of ancient pipe carving discovered in 
the mounds. It is larger than Prof. Putnam s pipe. The outer rim 
of the funnel-shaped stem hole at the back is nearly as large as the 
bowl. The legs of the figures of both pipes are broken in nearly 
the same manner. The three views of Prof. Putnam s pipe show 
such uniformity in both that they appear to be the work of the 
same native sculptor. 

* Author s collection. 



THE PIPES. % 185 

The recent discovery of box-shaped stone cists in the mounds 
of the Etowah group by the agents of the Bureau of Ethnology 
also seems to indicate intercourse or relationship between the 
mound builders of North Georgia and those of the Cumberland 
valley.* 

In this connection, we introduce another ancient stone pipe 
from the same great mound on the Etowah river (Fig. 83) as an 
illustration of the stone carving art of the old southern Indians. It 




FIG. 83. STEATITE PIPE, ETOWAH MOUND, GEORGIA (ONE-HALF).! 

is of light gray steatite. The stem hole in the back is large and 
funnel-shaped. The abnormal, almost grotesque, Roman nose, pre 
sents another instance of the variety of face types in ancient 
southern stone carvings. 

The two stone pipes from G-eorgia, now illustrated for the first 
time, are described from memory by Colonel C. C. Jones, the able 
historian and antiquarian of that state, in his work upon the An- 

* Burial Mounds (Prof. Cyrus Thomas s Fifth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnol 
ogy? P a ge 106). 



t Author s collection. 



186 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

tiquities of the Southern Indians, page 402. These pipes, " the 
best idol pipes we have seen," he states, " were ploughed up near 
the base of the pentagonal mound, within the inclosure formed by 
the moat, and the Etowah, upon the plantation of Colonel Lewis 
Tumlin, near Cartersville, Georgia." " They were obviously very 
old," he continues, " and, in all likelihood, antedated, by an 
indefinite period of time, the occupancy of this valley by the 
Cherokees. So far as recorded observation extends, nothing like 
them was noted in the use or possession of the modern Indians." 
In his valuable work, Colonel Jones figures no other pipes of equal 
interest or so skillfully wrought.* 

For comparison, and in further illustration of the pipe carvings 
of the mound builders of the South, in the states adjacent to Ten 
nessee, we present a unique stone pipe carved in imitation of the 
American panther, or some similar savage animal (Fig. 84). It was 
found in digging a ditch near the base of the large mound of the 
Carthage group on the Warrior river, near Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 
This is one of the largest and most interesting collections of ancient 
mounds in that state. The large Indian town once located there 
was probably visited by De Soto in 1540. The main mound is said 
to be about eighty feet high.f The panther, or puma, was the 

* These two fine pipes from Georgia were kindly presented to the author, a 
number of years ago, by Mrs. J. C. Rice, of Nashville, and her daughter, Miss Ada 
Rice. Mrs. Rice was the daughter of Colonel Lewis Tumlin, of Bartow county, 
Georgia, the owner of the plantation upon which the Etowah mound group is lo 
cated. She brought them to Nashville at the close of the war. The large stone idol 
now in the collection of the Tennessee Historical Society, and the remarkable cop 
per-plate figures and engraved shells illustrated in the Fifth Annual Report of the 
Bureau of Ethnology, are from the same mound or mound group. Colonel Jones 
describes these pipes from recollection, stating that, unfortunately, " ami,d the de 
vastations consequent upon the invasion of Georgia by the Federal armies, in 1864, 
these, with other valuable relics, were either destroyed or carried away by the 
soldiers." As will be observed, this was an error. 

t This pipe is described in a printed address delivered by Thomas Maxwell, 
Esq., before the Alabama Historical Society, at Tuscaloosa, July 1, 1876. The 
author obtained it from Dr. W. H. Harris, of Louisville, Kentucky, to whom it had 
been presented by Mrs. Prince, the owner of the farm upon which the Carthage 



THE PIPES, 



187 



totem or emblem of one of the families of the Creeks or Muskogees, 
a most warlike tribe of southern Indians, found by the whites in 
Alabama and Georgia at the period of discovery, and this fine pipe 
may have been intended to represent the family or clan of the 
panther. The wild cat was also a totem of the Chickasaws. 

The pipe is carved from a heavy, compact, cream colored tal- 
cose stone, and, as shown in the engraving, is decorated with much 
artistic skill. 

Unfortunately, the artist, in preparing the engraving, having 




FIG. 84. STONE PIPE, FROM CARTHAGE MOUND, ALABAMA (TWO-THIRDS).* 

only the photograph before him, failed to properly represent the 
feet and claws, which are as finely carved as the face. 

The tail is curled up over the body, reaching to the back of 
the head. The stem hole is nearly as large as the bowl. The sharp 
angles about the eye appear in some of the Ohio animal pipe faces, 
and were, doubtless, intended to give fierceness to the expressoin. 
It is a most spirited example of ancient carving in stone, skillfully 
and artistically decorated. The ancient art work is fully up to the 

group is located. A larger stone pipe, of an animal form, and many other objects of 
interest, have been obtained from these mounds. See Ancient Society (Morgan), 
pages 161, 163, as to tiger or panther totem. 
* Author s collection. 



188 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

standard of the copyist, and was evidently the work of a master 
among the pipe sculptors of the mound epoch. 

As may be observed, the scroll decorations and the angles 
about the eyes are similar to the decorations on the fine black pot 
tery from Mississippi, illustrated in the preceding chapter, clearly 
identifying the age of this pipe with that of the best southern 
pottery.* 




FIG. 85. IMAGE PIPE (ONE-HALF). 

The pipes heretofore illustrated were obtained from the ancient 
graves and mounds. The large stone pipe (Fig. 85), representing a 
kneeling human figure, is also an ancient type. It is in the fine 
collection of General J. T. "Wilder, now of Johnson City, Ten 
nessee^ and was discovered near Kingston, Tennessee. 

* A clay pipe of the same general form, but of a ruder type, was plowed up on 
the Yazoo river, in Mississippi, and is illustrated in Ancient Monuments (Squier 
and Davis), page 193. 

t General Wilder has one of the largest and most carefully selected collections 
of antiquities in the South, and kindly sent the author a large number of specimens 
for examination and comparison. 



THE PIPES. 189 

The material of which it is composed is a compact, reddish- 
brown stone, probably jasper or shale. It is six inches in height. 
The head-dress is unique and remarkable. The stem hole is large 
and funnel-shaped. The face is peculiar and somber in expression, 
but the high cheek bones and long nose seem to represent a red 
Indian type. The long pointed ear-rings on each side are well 
carved in the original. Prof. John A. Miller, of Oldtown, Tennes 
see, has a large stone pipe, found in the mound district near the 
Harpeth river, of the same general form, representing the human 
figure in a kneeling posture, but it is much more rudely sculptured. 
Pipes of somewhat similar form have also been discovered in Illi 
nois, and in the ancient mounds of Ohio. 




FIG. 86. DUCK PIPE, SUMNEB COUNTY, TENNESSEE (ONE-THIRD).* 

The pipe represented in Fig. 86 we regard as an ancient type. 
It seems to mark the transition state, or the beginnings of the pipes 
of the monitor bowl form. It was recently found on the farm 
adjoining the extensive earth- works in Sunnier county, near 
Saundersville, Tennessee. The head is carved in imitation of a 
duck. It is of lustrous grey steatite, and has a comparatively large 
stem hole. 

Fig. 87 illustrates a pipe in the form of the human foot, of dark 
grey steatite. This, also is probably an ancient type. 

It was plowed up on the Phillips farm in the midst of the 
stone grave settlements, a few miles south of Nashville, and was 
kindly presented to the author by Colonel Thomas Claiborne, of 

* Author s collection. 



190 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

Nashville. The bowl was unfortunately broken by the plow. The 
stem hole is large. The pipe is not of the ordinary monitor pat 
tern, and is not large enough to be regarded as a calumet. In the 
chapter on pottery, a bottle or jug of the same general form, from a 
stone grave, is illustrated. 




FIG. 87. STONE PIPE, FOUND NEAR NASHVILLE (ONE-HALF).* 

Among the most interesting antiques yet discovered in Tennes 
see are the tubes and tube pipes. Their form would not suggest to 
the ordinary observer that they were pipes, as they are unlike the 
smoking pipes generally used by the eastern Indians, and they seem 
quite unfitted for this purpose ; yet the cylindrical tube or conoidal- 
shaped pipe is a well-known type, commonly used by the" ancient 




FIG. 88. TUBE PIPE OF POTTERY.! 

tribes of California. Some of the pueblo tribes, the cliff dwellers, 
and the Utes and Mohaves, also used pipes of this model. 

Fig. 88 represents a tube pipe of pottery from the Harpeth 
mound section, in Williamson county (Middle Tennessee). It was 
presented many years ago to the Tennessee Historical Society, and 
is now in its collection. It is a dainty little tube, with thin walls, 

* Author s collection. 

t Tennessee Historical collection. 



THE PIPES. 



191 



a trifle more than four inches long, and about an inch in diameter 
at the center. The aperture at the small end is less than a quarter 
of an inch in diameter. It bears the evidences of much use, but the 
reddish-brown clay paste, of which it is made, is of the finest 
quality of pottery found in the graves, and it is still glossy and firm. 
It looks very much like a modern cigar-holder. A small quill or 
hollow bone may have been used as a mouth-piece. This seems to 
have been a custom of some of the far west tribes. 

The very symmetrical tube pipe of talcose slate (Fig. 89) was 
recently found in a stone grave in a small cemetery, in Overton 
county (Middle Tennessee), by H. L. Johnson. It is five and a half 
inches long, and an inch and a quarter in diameter at the large end. 
The bore tapers with remarkable regularity, and is but a sixth of 




FIG. 89. TUBE PIPE, OVERTON COUNTY.* 

an inch in diameter at the mouth-piece. The pipe was evidently 
shaped before it was drilled, as the small aperture is not in the 
center of the mouth-piece, the drill having pierced the small end at 
one side near the outer rim. A rotary flint drill must have been 
used, probably with the aid of a bow and string, as a regular series 
of circular striae made by the revolving drill point can plainly be 
seen opposite the fracture. Talcose slate is much harder than 
steatite, the stone generally used in making fine pipes. We have 
never seen a finer specimen of aboriginal mechanical work in stone. 
The old pipe maker who drilled and finished this tube must, also 
have had considerable artistic taste, as the clean cut circular form, 
inside and out, is exact and perfect in symmetry. 

* Author s collection. 



192 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

Another illustrative specimen of the tube pipe form, found on 
the Watson farm, in Clay county (Middle Tennessee), is represented 
in Fig. 90. The pipe is carved from compact limestone, and is 
nearly seven inches in length, and about an inch and a half in 
diameter at the bowl end. It is broken on one side and unfinished, 
having probably been fractured in drilling and thrown aside. (The 
fracture is on the other side, and, to avoid confusion, is not shown in 
the illustration.) The dotted lines in the figure show the size of 
the bore, and indicate very plainly the method of drilling. The 
bore is about an inch in diameter ; and the inside core, nearly a 
quarter of an inch high, and about a half inch in diameter, still re 
maining in the center of the bore, is plainly to be seen, especially 
from the fractured side, showing that a hollow cane or reed-drill, 




F IG . 90. TUBE PIPE, CLAY COUNTY.* 

with sand and water, was probably used in drilling. A hollow 
cane, three-fourths of an inch in diameter, would conveniently fit 
around the central core. We have seen no specimen showing so 
well how the old tubes must have been drilled. These two stone 
pipes give the collector considerable respect for the ancient 
mechanics of the Cumberland valley. Although not so artistic as 
some of the other pipe forms, they are as fine examples of 
mechanical skill. 

The similarity of these tubular pipes to the well-known pipes 
used by the ancient tribes of California, and by the pueblo and cliff 
tribes, also gives additional interest to them. 

Fig. 91 presents typical examples of the latter. Nos. 1 and 2 

* Johnson collection. 



THE PIPES. 



193 



are California tube pipes of stone.* No. 3 represents a Wolpi 
pueblo pipe.f And !N"o. 4, a tube pipe of clay of the ancient cliff 
dwellers. J The pueblo type has been found both in stone and pot 
tery. Curiously enough, the California tube pipes are usually made 
of steatite and talcose slate, the materials of which many of our 
Tennessee pipes are made. These tube pipes of the West, of this 
peculiar form, are ancient types from the graves not now in use, a 
fact that adds interest to them and suggests that the tube pipes of 
Tennessee, or their forms, may have been derived in ancient times 




FIG. 91. ANCIENT TUBE PIPES FROM CALIFORNIA ANCIENT PUEBLO PIPE CLIFF 

DWELLER S PIPE. 

from the California, pueblo, or cliff tribes, among whom they were 
once in very general use.|| 

The tube pipe seems an inconvenient form, but it must be re- 

* Smithsonian Report, 1886, Part I, Plate XV. 

t Second Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, page 379. 

J Prehistoric America (Nadaillac), page 256. 

|| The stone stem pipes (of Calfornia, tube form) are taken from the old graves, 
and this kind are now no longer in use. Otis T. Mason, in Smithsonian Report, 
1886, Part I, page 219. 

"The hollow tube pipes are not in use at the present time (in the pueblos), but 
are frequently found around the ruins and in possession of the Indians." James 
Stevenson, in Second Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, page 378. 

Dr. Cyrus Thomas, of the Bureau of Ethnology, in an argument based upon the 
distribution of pipe forms, states that, " The forms of pipes indicate that the mound 
builders were not connected with the Nahua, Maya, or pueblo tribes." The Prob 
lem of the Ohio Mounds, page 39. The discovery of the tube pipes illustrated will 
correct this statement, so far as it relates to the pueblo tribes. 
13 



194 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

membered that the favorite sitting-place of the Indian was upon the 
floor, and he probably enjoyed his tube pipe in a reclining 
position.* A few tubes, or tube pipes, of a somewhat different 
form, have been occasionally discovered within the mound districts 
of the Ohio and Cumberland valleys. They have an almost uni 
form bore ; and if pipes, were probably used with a separate mouth 
piece of quill or hollow bone, as was the custom of the ancient 
tribes of California. These separate mouth-pieces are found still 
adhering to the tube pipes found in the graves there. It is by no 
means certain that they were used as pipes, but, for want of a 
better classification, they are generally called " tube pipes." 

A very beautiful specimen of this form is illustrated in Fig. 92. 
We have seen no examples of aboriginal stone carving superior to 




FIG. 92. TUBE PIPE OF STEATITE (ONE-THIRD). t 

it in symmetry of form or finish. The pipe is of dark gray steatite. 
Its length is about nine inches. At the larger end it is nearly two 
inches in diameter. It was found in excavating " King s mound," 
near Ashland, Kentucky, a large artificial mound of an ancient 
type. The pipe must therefore be regarded as probably an antique 

* Mr. Paul Schumacher states that the Klamath Indians of California still use a 
tube pipe of steatite, and that it has amused him " to see them bending back their 
heads to bring the pipe in a vertical position, so as not to lose any tobacco. "- 
Wheeler s Survey, Vol. VII, page 133. 

t It is in the fine collection of A. E. Douglass, Esq., now in the Museum of 
Natural History of New York City. It has not been heretofore illustrated, except 
ing in the published transactions of a scientific society of Paris, France, from which, 
by the courtesy of Mr. Douglass, we obtained an engraved copy. 



THE PIPES. 



195 



of the mound building period, and thus gives useful evidence of the 
probable age of similar types. Squier and Davis, in their valuable 
work, present an illustration of a tube or pipe of similar form, with 
a grotesque bird figure upon it.* 




FIG. 93. TUBE PIPE (ONE-THIRD).! 

The pipe or tube of grey-green steatite represented in Fig. 93 
is of the same typical form.! 

It is in a rude and unfinished state, the work of drilling the 




FIG. 94. PLATFORM BASE PIPE, AN OHIO TYPE ( ONE-HALF). || 

hole through the cylinder being also incomplete, but it gives a cor 
rect idea of the general form of these objects. 

Other and somewhat similar cylindrical tubes or " telescopes," 

* Ancient Monuments of Mississippi Valley, page 225. 
t Faller collection, Nashville. 

t Mr. Faller died some years since, and left no information regarding this pipe, 
excepting that it was from Tennessee. 

II Collection of Dr. Thomas Black, of McMinnville. 



196 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

with a uniform bore, will be considered in the chapter upon smooth 
stone implements. 

A beautiful specimen of the " stone stem pipe," with flat or 
platform base slightly curved, is shown in Fig. 94. It was found 
near Short Mountain, Warren county, Middle Tennessee. One of 
the same general form (Fig. 95), unfortunately imperfect, was 
recently found near the ancient cemetery, on the Noel farm, south 
of Nashville. They are of rich black steatite, with a glossy, lus 
trous surface. Dr. J. F. Grant, of Pulaski, Tennessee, south of 




FIG. 95. STEATITE PIPE, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE (ONE-HALF).* 

Nashville, has a specimen in his collection of the same form, from 
that section. 

The stem holes are but about a sixth of an inch in diameter 
some of them even smaller and have been drilled with delicate 
precision. These small stem holes and stone mouth-pieces are 
characteristics of the fine platform curved base, and animal-form 
pipes, discovered in the elaborate mounds of the Scioto valley in 
Ohio. The latter mark the period of the highest development in 
the art of stone carving reached by the mound builders of the 
Mississippi valley. It must have required much skill and practice 
to enable the old pipe makers to execute this fine work with the 
primitive tools at their disposal. A fine needle of wood or reed, or 

* Author s collection. 



THE PIPES. 197 

possibly a needle or drill of bone or hammered copper, may have 
been used for this purpose. With the aid of sand and water, and 
with a bow and string to cause the needle to revolve, these delicate 
perforations might have been made, by an expert artisan, blessed 
with a plentiful store of patience. 

The beautiful stone stem pipe from Geddes Island, on the Ten 
nessee river (Fig. 96), has one of these small, carefully drilled stem 
holes, about eight inches long. It is a marvel of artistic work in 
this line. The stem is flat, thin, and tapering, like some of the 
finest platform pipes of Ohio. Its symmetrical form is not well 
represented in the engraving. 

Platform pipes with stone stems were not common in ancient 
Tennessee, as but few of them have been found, but the presence 




FIG. 96. PIPE FROM EAST TENNESSEE (ONE-THIRD).* 

here of these typical forms indicates intercourse or commercial re 
lations with the ancient inhabitants of the Ohio valley and the 
North-east. 

A few pipes of this type have been found as far to the eastward 
as New England. The general distribution of the various forms of 
pipes is another illustration of the extent of intercourse and com 
munication during the prehistoric period between the widely sepa 
rated tribes of North America. The presence of the platform pipes 
of the Ohio type in Middle Tennessee seems to confirm the tradi 
tions of the northern Indians that the mound builders of the Ohio 
valley, when forced from their homes, retired to the southward. 

The pipe shown in Fig. 97, carved in imitation of an eagle or 

* General J. T. Wilder s collection. 



198 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



hawk, was plowed up on the farm of Mr. E. C. Phillips, near Hills- 
boro, Coffee county, Tennessee. It is of light gray steatite, and is 
of an unusual form, the stem hole being large and in the front or 
breast of the bird. 




FIG. 97. PIPE FROM COFFEE COUNTY, TENNESSEE (ONE-THIRD). 

A much finer pipe of dark gray steatite, modeled in the form 
of a duck or some web-footed bird, with a large funnel-shaped stem 
hole in the breast in front, is represented in Fig. 98. It is eight 




FIG. 98. DUCK PIPE (ONE-THIRD) .* 

and one-fourth inches long, and is one of the best and most 
elaborate pieces of carving we have seen. It weighs three and one- 
fourth pounds. We do not know of a duck or bird having a bill of 
this form. Some variety of water-fowl was, doubtless, in the mind 

* Author s collection. 



THE PIPES. 



199 



of the pipe maker, as the feet are webbed. We have a pottery 
duck or bird head from one of the stone grave cemeteries with a 
similar blunt bill. This fine pipe was found in Etowah county, 
Alabama, one of the northern counties of the state, near Attalla, in 
1885 (on the Smith farm, near Walnut Grove). 




FIG. 99. PIPE OF CATLINITE, NOEL CEMETERY, NASHVILLE (FOUR-FIFTHS).* 

\ 

The broken pipe illustrated in Fig. 99 has an interesting his 
tory. It was carved in bright red catlinite from the pipe stone 
ledge of Western Minnesota, and still has the brilliant jasper- 
colored surface characteristic of that stone. It was found in ex 
ploring the stone grave cemetery of the Noel farm near Nashville. 
We were unable to ascertain with certainty whether it was found 
within a grave or in the adjacent earth, although we obtained it 
from George Wood, one of our employes, on the day he discov 
ered it. 

The bowl is perfect, but the large, thin, circular disc that 
originally surrounded the funnel-shaped stem hole is broken, and 
but a small portion of it remains. This pattern of pipes, although 
rare, is well known to archaeologists. 

* Author s collection. 



200 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



The beautiful disc pipe, found in Kentucky (Fig. 100), shows 
the form of the original disc that belonged to our Tennessee 
pipe. It is about three inches in diameter. This was probably the 
fashionable smoking pipe of its day in certain sections. The disc 
was doubtless a mere conceit, used as an ornamental handle by 
the Indian dandies of the time.* 




FIG. 100. CATLINITE PIPE, KENTUCKY (TWO-THIRDS). 

So far as we are informed, the pipe illustrated in Fig. 99 is the 
only specimen of ancient red pipe stone or catlinite yet discovered 
in Tennessee. When Longfellow in his Song of Hiawatha tells 
us that the dusky sons of the forest came from afar, even "from 
the groves of Tuscaloosa " to the quarries of Western Minnesota for 
this beautiful pipe stone, his imagination was probably responsi 
ble for the expression, but the discovery of a catlinite pipe in an 

* Fig. 100 was copied from an engraving of the Kentucky disc pipe in " Prehis 
toric Remains of Kentucky," Geological Survey of Kentucky (Carr and Shaler), 
Plate VI. It belongs to the collection of R. S. Munford, of Rowlett s Station, Ken 
tucky. 



THE PIPES. 



201 



ancient Tennessee cemetery, not far from the domain of the 
old Alabama chief, Tuscaloosa, in part, at least, verifies the poet s 
statement. 




FIG. 101. Disc PIPE, EAST TENNESSEE (THREE-FOURTHS).* 

A pipe of the same general form (Fig. 101), of oolitic lime 
stone, was found near Chattanooga, Tennessee.f 

We now come to a class of pipes of somewhat doubtful an 
tiquity the large stone calumets. Their unusual size, peculiar 

* General Wilder s collection. 

t These disc pipes, both in catlinite and other stones, although rare, seem, to 
have been widely distributed. Two or three of them have been found in Canada 
(see Report of the Canadian Institute, pages 26, 27. Toronto, 1887-8), and we no 
ticed in the collection of Mr. A. E. Douglass, at the Museum of Natural History in 
New York, a half-dozen very fine specimens, all from three of the central counties 
of Missouri (Boone, Saline, and Chariton), apparently indicating that that section 
may have been the original center, where they were first manufactured and used. 
The stem holes, although small, are funnel-shaped. This we regard as an indication 
of an old type. 



202 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



forms, and the uses to which they have been applied as " pipes of 
peace," and objects of tribal veneration, lend special interest to 
their history. They are usually in the form of birds and animals. 
Some of them are prehistoric, and probably of great age ; others 
are of comparatively modern date. As heretofore stated, the 
early discoverers report that most of the tribes of historic In 
dians manufactured and used them. Even the Indians of Virginia, 
east of the Alleghany Mountains, whose arts were more primitive 
than arts of the tribes within the mound districts, used these large 
pipes. The Cherokees and other tribes of Tennessee and the 




FIG. 102. DUCK PIPE, SMITH COUNTY (ONE-FOURTH).* 

Carolinas manufactured them; therefore, unless found in the 
mounds or stone graves, they may be of comparatively recent date. 
One of the finest specimens of this form, a gray steatite pipe 
from Smith county, Tennessee, is in the collection of the Tennessee 
Historical Society (Fig. 102.) It is sixteen inches long, and weighs 
nearly six pounds. 





FIG. 103. BIRD PIPE, WARREN COUNTY (ONE-FOURTH).! 

As Captain Smith said of the old Virginia pipes, it is plenty 
" large enough to beat out one s brains." The Tennessee Historical 
Society has another fine pipe, in form and size almost a duplicate 
of the one illustrated. 

* Tennessee Historical Society collection, 
t Terry collection. 



THE PIPES. 



203 



The duck was a favorite model of the old pipe carvers and pot 
tery makers of Tennessee. It was a totem or emblem of some of 
the modern tribes. 

In the fine collection of Mr. James Terry, now in the Museum 
of Natural History in New York City, there is a large bird pipe or 
calumet, plowed up on the Patterson farm near McMinnville, Ten 
nessee, of the same general form as Fig. 102, but with the long beak 




FIG. 104. FLYING BIRD PIPE, ANDERSON COUNTY (ONE-FOURTH).* 

of the toucan or some southern bird f (Fig. 103). The beak is also 
somewhat like that of the wild turkey and other home birds. The 
pipe is sixteen inches long, is carved from green steatite, and is 
finely polished. 

In the Terry collection there is also a fine steatite pipe, thirteen 
and a quarter inches long, of the flying bird pattern, from Clinch 
river, Anderson county, Tennessee (Fig. 104). 




FIG. 105. ANOTHER VIEW OF SAME PIPE. 
The illustration shows its form quite correctly. A.nother view, 

* Terry collection. 

t Mr. Terry suggests that the bird represented is the " cava cava ; habitat, 
Texas, Florida, and California." 



204 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



showing the bowl and extended wings, is presented in Fig. 105. 
In the Douglass collection, now in the same museum in Central 




FIG. 106. FLYING BIRD PIPE (ONE-THIRD).* 

Park, New York, there is a flying bird pipe, of talcose schist, of the 
same general form, from Polk county, Tennessee. 

The fine flying bird pipe represented in outlines in Fig. 106, is 
also in the Douglass collection, and is the most perfect specimen of 
this pattern we have seen. It was carved from green steatite, and 
was discovered in Northern Georgia. A similar pipe of steatite, 
with widely extended wings, and as well carved, was found in Smith 
county, Middle Tennessee, and is in the collection of Mr. W. E. 
Myer, of Carthage, but unfortunately it is badly broken. 

Fig 107 presents another type of these large calumets. It 
weighs over five pounds, and is carved from finely colored gray- 
green steatite, in imitation probably of the head of a wolf or fox. 
We noticed it years ago performing humble service in holding back 
the heavy front door at the fine mansion of the Rev. A. L. P. 
Green, D.D., near Nashville. Dr. Green reported that it was plowed 
up at an early period in Maury county, Tennessee.f 

* Douglass collection 

t Mrs. Thomas D. Fite, of Nashville, daughter of Dr. Green, kindly presented 



THE PIPES. 



205 



Fig. 108 is a fine representation of a bird pipe of gray-green 
steatite, of the monitor bowl form. It is so symmetrical in its out 
lines, that it must have been carved by the hand of a master among 




FIG. 107. STONE PIPE, MAURY COUNTY (ONE-FOURTH).* 

the old pipe makers. For a half century or more it has been in 
the Jackson collection, at the Hermitage, and is regarded by the 
Jackson family as a Middle Tennessee pipe, but its label and exact 
history have been lost.f 




FIG. 108. STONE PIPE ( ONE-FOURTH ).J 
The stone pipe of bird form, with the large monitor bowl (Fig. 

this fine pipe to the author. A pipe with nearly the same head and general form was 
found in one of the ancient mounds of the Scioto valley, near Chillicothe, Ohio. 
Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, page 258. 

* Author s collection. 

t It may not be generally known that President Andrew Jackson, at his home 
at the Hermitage, had a most interesting cabinet of relics. It embraced a number 
of fine stone pipes, ancient medals and coins, old china, and many antiques of great 
historical and antiquarian interest. They are now the property of the Hermitage 
Memorial Association Colonel Andrew Jackson, of the Hermitage, kindly loaned 
us this pipe and other relics, to be photographed and engraved. 

t Hermitage collection. 



206 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



109), was plowed up many years ago on the old Donelson farm, 
adjoining the Hermitage farm of President Jackson. It is of light- 
gray steatite, and is the property of Captain Alexander Donelson. 

The pipe with the wolf or fox head (Fig. 110), is in the collec 
tion of the Columbia Institute, at Columbia, Tennessee. It is of 




FIG. 109. BIRD PIPE, DAVIDSON COUNTY (ONE-THIRD). 

dark, rich, well-polished steatite, as we remember it, and was found 
in Hickman county, Tennessee. 

These finely carved stone calumets in the form of birds and 
animals must have been very numerous in ancient Tennessee, both 
in the middle and eastern sections of the state. A great number of 
them have been discovered ; more of the large pipes, indeed, than 
have probably been found in any other state. 




FIG. 110. STONE PIPE, HICKMAN COUNTY (ONE-FOURTH).* 

Dr. Joseph Jones has illustrations of two very fine specimens 
in his work. The Tennessee Historical Society has a half dozen 
of them. There are some of them in the Smithsonian Institution, 
and in the Douglass and Terry collections in the Museum of 
Natural History in New York City (not illustrated). General 

* Columbia Institute collection. 



THE PIPES. 207 

Wilder, Bishop Quintard, Warren K. Moorehead, Dr. Black, 
Captain Johnson, Dr. Duncan Eve, and other collectors, have fine 
specimens, but our time has been so limited that we have not been 
able to present illustrations of them. 




FIG. 111. BIRD PIPE, MAURY COUNTY (ONE-THIRD). 

Fig. Ill is a spirited illustration of an ancient pipe in the fine 
collection of the Rev. C. Foster Williams, of Maury county, Ten 
nessee. It is of blue gray stone, and was found in that county. 
At the bottom of the bowl, there is a small, carefully drilled hole, 
evidently made for the purpose of draining or cleaning it. We 
know of no other ancient pipe having this peculiarity. 

The beautiful pipe carved in imitation of an alligator, Fig. 112, 




FIG. 112. STONE PIPE, DAVIDSON COUNTY (TWO-THIRDS). 

is in the collection of Dr. John B. Lillard, formerly of Nashville. 
It was plowed up on the Bradford farm, in the midst of the stone 
grave cemeteries, a few miles south of Nashville, a number of years 



208 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

ago. It has been carved from slate or shale is finely polished, and 
is one of the most artistic pieces of carving in stone yet discovered. 
In our opinion, it equals the best types of art in pipe carving found 
in the Ohio valley or Iowa. The material of which it is made is 
much harder than the steatite usually used in the manufacture of 
the fine Ohio pipes. 

The stem hole is comparatively small, and of uniform diameter, 
like the stem holes of the pipes of the historic tribes and of the 
early French traders. We do not, therefore, regard this pipe as a 
very ancient type, but it is a genuine antique of much interest. 
Pipes in imitation of alligators were found by Squier and Davis in 
the Scioto mounds. They corroborate the many other evidences of 
ancient intercourse between the mound building tribes of Ohio and 
the tribes of the far South. The alligator was a totem or family 
emblem of both the Creeks and the Chickasaws, and probably of 
other southern tribes.* 

We have presented illustrations of some of the fine stone pipes 
discovered in Tennessee and the states adjacent, and have en 
deavored to classify them in part in the order of their probable age. 




FIG. 113. STONE PIPE, SUMNER COUNTY, TENNESSEE (TWO-FIFTHS). t 

In considering this subject, some attention should be given to 
the more familiar plain, square, and round bowl pipes, quite com- 

* Ancient Society (Morgan), pages 161, 163. 
t Author s collection. 



THE PIPES. 209 

mon in this general section. They do not differ materially from 
the ordinary types found elsewhere in the Mississippi valley. Ex 
pert collectors can usually distinguish the very old pipes from com 
paratively modern specimens by their large funnel-shaped stem 
holes and other peculiarities. 

Fig. 113 represents an ancient pipe of the familiar square form. 
Several varieties of this type and of the round bowl form may be 
found in the Historical Society s collection and in the author s col 
lection. The same pattern may be observed in the pictograph on 
stone of the group of mound builders (Plate II). In investigating 
the arts of the ancient pipe makers, and thereby endeavoring to as 
certain the status of the prehistoric tribes in the scale of civilization, 
we have for many years carefully observed the work of the pipe 
makers among the historic tribes. We have patiently watched the 
Dakota Indians when they were engaged in carving and polishing 
their fine catlinite pipes, generally with the aid of no better tools 
than common pocket knives. The art of pipe carving was one of 
the few prehistoric Indian arts that remained after the advent of the 
Europeans, and after the art of making pottery and flint imple 
ments had been forgotten. 

For purposes of comparison, we have collected specimens of 
the pipes of the Cherokees, and of a number of modern tribes, and 
have arranged them upon a shelf in our cabinet beside the antique 
types. Contact with the whites and with European art has, of 
course, had its influence upon the carving of the historic Indians. 

The theory that the mound building tribes belonged to a dis 
tinct and superior race, and that their arts and industries were 
very much in advance of the historic tribes, we think can not be es 
tablished by comparing the ancient with the modern pipes, as some 
of the latter equal the best specimens of pipe carvings discovered in 
the mounds. Other industries show more marked differences. 

The series of both types show the art instinct or natural appre 
ciation of art among the native tribes, and add to the many other 
indications of the homogeneous character of the red Indian race. 
14 



210 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



To enable our readers to compare the various carvings, we pre 
sent a number of illustrative specimens of modern or comparatively 
modern pipes. 

Fig. 114 is a poor illustration of a beautiful pipe of brilliant red 




FIG. 114. A DAKOTA PIPE (TWO-FIFTHS).* 

catlinite, carved in the form of a hatchet. We obtained it years 
ago in Dakota Territory, from a Sioux chief, who made it. It is 




FIG. 115. PIPES OF A MODERN CHIEF.! 

as symmetrical and as highly polished as if made by a skillful, 
educated lapidary. 

* Author s collection. 

t From Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, page 230. In the Smith 
sonian Eeport of 1885, Part II, page 410, many of the fine catlinite pipes of the 
Mandans and other tribes are well illustrated. Several of them are carved in the 
form of men and animals. 



THE PIPES. 211 



Specimens of the work of the modern Indians in red pipe stone 
are also shown in Fig. 115. The finely carved pipe was used by the 
famous and eloquent Indian chief, Keokuk, of the Sacs and Foxes 




FIG. 116. A CHINOOK PIPE (TWO-THIRDS).* 

of the North-west. We have a number of Sioux pipes of the same 
general form, some of them artistically inlaid with lead. The au 
thors of the Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, expressed 




FIG. 117. AN IROQUOIS PIPE (ACTUAL SIZE). 

the opinion that pipes of this class do not show the high order of art 
displayed in the pipe sculptures of birds and animals discovered by 



* Author s collection. 



212 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

them iii the Scioto mounds. This may be in part true. We have> 
however, in our collection, a bird pipe (Fig. 116), carved by a Chin 
ook Indian, which, as a specimen of carving in stone, equals in 
artistic execution and delicacy of finish, some of the best ancient 
types of Ohio. It is about the size of the Ohio pipes, and was 
carved from rich, dark-green steatite. The Chinooks or Flat- 
heads, of the Columbia river, were a fishing tribe of low grade in 
the scale of civilization.* 

The Iroquois pipe (Fig. 117) was dug in an old Iroquois ceme 
tery in New York, in 1888, by Mr. W. W. Adams, of Mapleton, 
New York. It is a fine specimen of the clay pipes manufactured 
within the historic period by the Indians of that tribe, and belongs 
to a well-known Iroquois type.f 

Fig. 118 is a fine example of the stone carvings of the Haidah 
Indians of the north-west coast of America, It is a pipe of black 
slate, brilliantly polished. In skill and delicacy of execution, and in 




FIG. 118. SLATE PIPE, NORTH-WEST COAST INDIANS (TWO-FIFTHS). t 

its general appearance, it resembles the fine jade carvings of the 
Chinese and Japanese, indicating the probable ancient Asiatic 
origin of this art faculty. It belongs to the Jackson collection at 
the Hermitage, and was doubtless presented many years ago to 

* This fine pipe was presented by the Chinook Indian who made it to Colonel 
Thomas Claiborne, of Nashville, in 1850, when he was stationed in Oregon as an 
officer of the United States army. Colonel Claiborne kindly added it to our 
collection. 

t Mr. Adams kindly sent us the electrotype for this engraving. 

t Hermitage collection, Nashville. 



THE PIPES. 213 

President Jackson. The small stem hole runs through the elab 
orate network of figures to the bowl. We have a carved slate pipe 
made by the Thlinkets, a neighboring tribe of the north-west coast, 
nearly equaling it in artistic execution. 

These Indians, the Haidas, Thlinkets, and other tribes, were 
probably less civilized than some of the historic Indians of the early 
frontier. They lived in rude huts in a semi-savage state, yet in 
some of the arts, especially in wood and stone carvings, they excel 
all other tribes of North American Indians. Some of their pipe 
carvings, we think, surpass the best examples of this art yet discov 
ered in the mounds of the Mississippi valley. The fine typical pipes 
of the mound builders illustrate the culture of the most advanced 
tribes of ^orth American Indians at the period of their highest 
development. They are sometimes remarkable examples of indi 
vidual skill, but in their designs and art they are not measurably 
superior to the best types of modern Indian workmanship. 



214 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



CHAPTER VII. 

CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 

The Stone Age The Flint Chippers of Tennessee The Arrow Makers The Agri 
cultural and Mechanical Implements The Axes The Adze Forms The 
Small Tools The Chisels Cutting Knives The Daggers Double-barbed 
Spears The Long Knives, Swords, and Spears The Large Ceremonials The 
Chipped Stone Scepters Ttje Unique Implements and Family Totems The 
Crawfish Totem The System of Totems The Turtle Totems Disc Forms. 

The bronze and iron ages in the history of the early inhabitants 
of Europe, were unknown in ancient America. There was a lim 
ited knowledge of smelting and of the uses of bronze and copper 
among the Toltecs, Aztecs, and the old Peruvians, and of the malle 
ability of native copper among the ruder tribes, but the uses of iron 
were unknown even to Mexican and Peruvian civilization. The 
ancient Scandinavians, the Lake Dwellers of Switzerland, and other 
primitive inhabitants of Central Europe, learned at a remote period 
to smelt metals in rude furnaces ; a knowledge possibly borrowed 
from Phoenicia or the East : and several of the savage tribes of Africa 
knew something of the smelting and the welding arts, perhaps from 
contact with the early civilization upon the lower Nile; but the 
natives of the isolated double continent of America w T ere slow to 
acquire a knowledge of the arts of metallurgy, especially of the 
more difficult processes of utilizing the ores of iron ; and north of 
Mexico the stone age continued down to the period of European 
settlements. 

With the advent of the whites, the weapons, implements, and 
tools of stone disappeared from use, almost immediately and entirely. 
We, therefore, have little historic evidence regarding them. From 
the ancient remains found within her borders, however, we have 
ample evidence that the inhabitants of ancient Tennessee were ex- 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 215 

pert flint chippers. None of the mound building tribes excelled 
them in this primitive art. In fact, we doubt whether the stone 
implements of this class, in any other portion of ancient America, 
north of Mexico, equal the Tennessee specimens in variety and 
beauty of forms and materials. Many of the types found seem to 
have been unknown, even to the advanced tribes that erected the 
great mounds of the Ohio valley. The best specimens from the 
north-eastern states, described and illustrated by Dr. C. C. Abbott, 
are rude and primitive when compared with them,* and even the 
fine flints of Georgia and other southern states, described by Colonel 
C. C. Jones,f do not appear to equal the art of the flint chippers 
of Tennessee. Nearly all known American types are represented 
here, from the dainty little barbed arrow points of the Pacific coast 
type, to the largest flint axes, spades, and spears. Leaf-shaped and 
agricultural implements, spades, chisels, knives, skinners, scrapers, 
and many other tools used in the primitive industries, and often 
worn smooth by use, may be found in the Tennessee collections. 
The longest double-pointed knife or spear-shaped implement, and 
the longest barbed or notched spear yet discovered in America, or 
elsewhere, as far as we can learn, have been found in Middle Ten 
nessee, and will be illustrated in this chapter. They are finely 
chipped and symmetrical in form. Since this chapter was first 
written, we have seen the pictures and descriptions of the long and 
beautiful flints of the California Indians, illustrated in Vol. VII, 
Wheeler s Geographical Survey, Plates 7, 8, and 9, yet we do not 
hesitate to say, that the flints of the Stone Grave race equal them 
in workmanship, and surpass them in size and variety of forms. 

Unique implements, totems, ceremonials, and tools, unknown 
to even the neighboring states, are found here. Their curious 
shapes often surprise antiquarians from other sections. Like the 
remains of ancient art in pottery, they indicate that the tribes who 
built the mounds and stone graves of the Cumberland and Ten- 

* See Primitive Industry, pages 77, 97. 

t Antiquities of Southern Indians, Plates VII, VIII, IX. 



216 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

nessee valleys were as advanced in culture as any of the aborigines 
within the mound districts. 

The material used in manufacturing these implements abounded 
in East Tennessee arid in the counties of the " Highland Rim " 
that surround the silurian basin of the central portion of the state. 
Many of the ancient flint pits and quarries, and the remains of 
the old work-shops, may still be seen. 

Flint, jasper, chert, and cherty, and silicious limestones, were 
generally used, but arrows and implements are found of chalcedony, 
of transparent quartz, and of quartzite and other stones. The jas 
pers occur in many brilliant colors. The old arrow and implement 
makers must have searched far and wide for some of these rich ma 
terials. There is a popular impression that the method of making 
tine flints and flakes is one of the unknown arts. This is an error. 
There were arrow-smiths and flint chippers in most of the modern 
tribes, and arrow points are still occasionally made by some of the 
tribes of the Far West. Good specimens of the stone points of the 
Navajos, Utes, and other Indians, firmly fastened to wooden shafts, 
may be seen in the National Museum, ( and other public collections. 
The methods of manufacturing them have frequently been de 
scribed.* 

* Captain John Smith, writing of the Indians of Virginia in 1606, says : " Hi8 
arrow-head he rnaketh quickly with a little bone which he weareth at his bracert 
(girdle) of any splint of stone or glass, in the form of a heart, and these they glue to 
the end of their arrows." Quoted in Ancient Stone Implements (Evans), page 37. 

" The Hupa Indians, of California, chip arrow-heads with a hard deer-horn fast 
ened to a wooden handle. The work is held in the palm of the hand, which is pro 
tected by a buckskin pad, and the chips are flaked off by pressing the edge of the 
flint with the tool held in the right hand, the ball of the handle resting in the 
palm. The Point Barrow Eskimo also press downward in chipping with a similar 
tool." Otis T. Mason, in Smithsonian Report, 1886, Part I, page 226. 

"The Viard arrow maker," says Stephen Powers, "takes a piece of jasper, 
chert, obsidian, or common flint, which breaks sharp-cornered and with a con- 
choidal fracture ; this he heats in the fire and then cools slowly, which splits it in 
flakes ; then taking one of these flakes, he gives it an approximately right shape, by 
striking it with a rough hammer ; then slips over his left hand a piece of buckskin, 
with a hole to fit over the thumb (this buckskin is to prevent the hand from being 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 217 

In the chipping and flaking processes, sometimes percussion or 
hammering was used ; sometimes only pressure. A small, hard, little 
bone or horn implement was dexterously and steadily pressed 
against the brittle edges of the flint or jasper, and thus by a series 
of delicate flakings, on alternate sides, they were chipped into the 
desired forms. Necessity would soon teach the most inexperienced 
workman to fashion rough stones into convenient shapes; but the 
finer types required careful manipulation, and only experts with 
practiced eye and hand, arid with an unusual natural appreciation 
of artistic forms, could have produced the rare and beautiful im 
plements of flint, jasper, and chert occasionally found in Tennessee. 
Some of them equal the art work in obsidian of the old Mexicans. 

We shall not attempt to present palaeolithic types of flint im 
plements. In the vicinity of Nashville there are no great gravel- 
beds or glacial deposits, such as occur in some other sections of the 
United States, where palaeolithic remains, as distinct from the neo 
lithic remains, might be found. We find many flint implements of 

wounded), and in his right hand he takes a pair of buck-horn pincers, tied together 
at the point with a thong. Holding the piece of flint in his left hand, he breaks oft 
from the edge of it a tiny fragment with the pincers, by a twisting or wrenching 
motion. The piece is often reversed in the hand, so that it may be worked away 
symmetrically. Arrow-head manufacture is a specialty, just as arrow making, medi 
cine, and other arts. These pincers are probably only our compound chipper. 
With the Klamath Indians, a piece of bone is fastened to a wooden shaft, one and a 
half feet in length, the working point of which is crooked and raised to an edge, the 
force employed being all the time solely pushing. To guide the instrument with a 
steady hand, the handle is held between the arm and the breast, while the point, 
with but little play room, assisted by the thumb, works the edge of the flake, which 
again is held, for greater safety, in a piece of deer-skin. After the two sides have 
been worked down to a point, then another instrument is required, with which the 
barbs and projections are broken out. This is a needle or awl of about three inches 
in length, and, by a pushing motion, the desired pieces are broken out, as with the 
first-mentioned tool." Smithsonian Report, 1886 (Otis T. Mason), Part I, page 226. 

See also Geo. E. Sellers, in Smithsonian Report, 1885, Part I, page 871. Mr. 
Sellers now resides in Chattanooga. Tennessee. When recently in that city, Mr. J. 
B. Nicklen handed the writer a number of well-made flint arrow points for examina 
tion. He said that he obtained them from Mr. Sellers, who stated that he had made 
them. They did not differ from the genuine ordinary types. 



218 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

rude character, but we can not feel assured that any of them should 
be assigned to an earlier period or race than the neolithic imple 
ments from the same section. Neither shall we attempt to illus 
trate many of the ordinary forms of chipped stone implements. 
They are found in every section of the country, and indeed, in all 
countries, and have frequently been described.* 

The rare and curious types, some of them found only in this 
state, the implements used by the aboriginal mechanics, and the 
"ceremonials" arid totems, are of more archaeological interest, and 
give more definite evidence as to the condition of society and the 
state of the arts and industries of the prehistoric period. 

We also find it impracticable, with the limited facilities at our 
disposal, to prepare engravings reproducing with exactness the 
natural chipped or flaked surface of many of these implements. 
Some of the engravings are but outline sketches. We have, how 
ever, had a number of good specimens photo-engraved by the 
" Moss process," directly from the objects (Plates XI, XIII, XIV), 
that the reader may have a more correct and exact impression of 
them ; and most of the small engravings have been prepared with the 
aid of photographic outlines. The long, double-pointed implement 
in Plate XI is of cherty flint, and measures twelve inches. It is 
very thin and delicately formed, no part of it being over a third 
of an inch in thickness (author s collection). The sharply pointed 
barbed spear of yellow jasper, eight inches long (Historical Society 
collection), is a marvel of the chipping art. It is symmetrically 
beveled on both sides, in rhombic form, as if to give it a rotary 
motion. Two arrow points are similarly beveled. The beautiful, 
curious, hook-shaped implement, a light brown flint, is seven and 

* Arrow points of stone, antedating the period of earliest Roman history, are 
plowed up on the Campagna, just outside of the walls of ancient Rome. They oc 
cur in the gravel beds of the Thames and Seine, within the limits of London and 
Paris. They were unearthed by Schliemann among the ruins of Mycenae ; and 
chipped flint implements, older than the civilization of Egypt, are found along tho 
banks of the Lower Nile, in the vicinity of Thebes and Memphis. These remains 
of primitive man seem to have been distributed throughout all countries. 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



219 



a half inches long (Historical Society collection). The other objects 
illustrated in Plate XI are of fine jasper and flint (author s collec 
tion). The plate presents them with photographic fidelity. 

Fine examples of the work of the old arrow-makers are shown 
in Fig. 119. The two small points were chipped from translucent 
blue-gray chalcedony. They are very similar to the delicate arrow 
points found in New Mexico and along the Pacific coast. The 




FIG. 119. ARROW AND SPEAR POINTS (ACTUAL SIZE).* 

others are of fine, thin jasper. Arrows with the double or forked 
shank are not uncommon in this section. The largest specimen, 
of red and purple hue, was probably used as a spear point. These 
objects are from Middle and East Tennessee. There seems to be 
no limit to the numbers and varieties of arrow points. It would 
be impossible to describe or illustrate them in an ordinary volume. 
A number of the unusual forms are shown in Plate XII. It in 
cludes also some other objects classified as drills and scrapers.f 

* Author s collection. 

t The specimens illustrated in this plate were selected from the collections of 
Jno. G. Cisco and the author. 



220 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



Chipped flint implements, used for other purposes, are also 
numerous. It is, in fact, difficult to classify or group the large 
amount of this material in the various local collections at Nash 
ville and elsewhere in Tennessee. 

The village Indians who lived in the towns, forts, and settle 
ments of the Cumberland valley, in the prehistoric period, must 
have been sufficiently advanced in the march toward civilization to 
have learned the use of a variety of implements of stone, wood, 
bone, horn, and shell. Sets of tools of chipped and polished stone, 
evidently the outfit of some ancient lapidary or artisan, are occa- 




1 234 5 

FIG. 120. AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL IMPLEMENTS, TENNESSEE (ABOUT ONE- 
EIGHTH). 

sionally found lying together in the same grave. Eight well made 
implements, of various forms, all ground or polished by use, were 
recently found by Mr. W. W. Dosier in a single stone grave on the 
bank of the Cumberland below Nashville, lying beside three usefnl 
implements of bone. Mr. Jno. Blunkall found another set, mainly 
sharp stone chisels, and a horn handle, with a deep socket, in a 
neighboring grave. Caches of new flints, or cherts, in large num 
bers, and of the same peculiar forms, are also found, all apparently 
just as they left the work-shop of some old stone chipper. 

Fig. 120 gives the outlines of a number of large specimens, 
usually classified as agricultural and mechanical implements. The 
originals from which these sketches were made, as they lie on a 
table before the writer, form an interesting group : 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 221 

No. 1. An agricultural implement or " hoe," of flinty chert, 
is from Madison county (J. G. Cisco s collection). It is about eight 
inches long, is slightly curved, and is symmetrical in form. The 
type is unusual in Tennessee. As it is quite common in Illinois, 
this fine hoe may have been an importation, in ancient times, from 
that section. 

No. 2. Is the largest perfect fan-shaped hoe or adze we have 
seen, and is a fine specimen of the chipping art. It is of flinty 
chert from Stewart county, is twelve and one-half inches long, and 
eight inches wide at the blade. Although so large, it is not over 
an inch thick at the center. It is slightly curved or adze-shaped, 
and at the blade end is symmetrically beveled to a thin, sharp edge. 
We have a number of large flints of this form. 

No. 3." A handsome, symmetric leaf-shaped type, from David 
son county, is of fine chert almost a pure flint and is nearly four 
teen inches long. The blade end is beautifully chipped to a fine edge 
all around. Like nearly all of the large implements of this outline, 
it is a "turtle back," or adze-shaped in form. This type is not un 
common in Middle Tennessee. We have several similar specimens. 

Several years ago Dr. Kirkpatrick, who resided near Nashville, 
and in the vicinity of the stone grave cemetery on White s creek, 
plowed into a cache of a dozen or more fine specimens, nearly all 
large, and of this general form. They were as perfect as when 
they left the old stone dripper s shop.* 

No. 4. A paddle-shaped flint from Stewart county, glossy 
with use at the blade end, is ten and one-half inches long, and 
is as symmetrical and delicately chipped as a fine spear point. It 
is also slightly curved or adze-shaped. 

No. 5. Is a small notched hoe, from Davidson county (author s 
collection). This form is not very rare. 

Some of these specimens seem to be too brittle and delicately 
made for use as common or field implements. They may have been 
used as adzes in chipping the charred wood from the trunks of 

* We are indebted to Dr. Kirkpatrick for several of the finest of these speci 
mens. 



222 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



trees burned or hollowed out, in making canoes, and for other me 
chanical purposes. 

After Fig. 120 was engraved, it seemed to represent some of 
these fine flints so indifferently, that we have had four typical speci 
mens (author s collection) photo-engraved (Plate XIII), in order to 
give a more correct and satisfactory impression of them. (The 
plate represents them a little less than one-third actual sizes.) 
The leaf-shaped flint illustrated is fourteen inches long, and the 
large fan-shaped specimen is twelve and one-half inches long and 




FIG. 121. CHIPPED FLINT ADZE, DAVIDSON COUNTY (ONE-HALF).* 

eight inches wide at the blade. These measures will indicate the 
dimensions of the others. These fine types appear to be rare or 
unknown in other portions of the Mississippi valley. We have not 
observed them in the archaeological collections of the North, They 
are not found in Great Britain, and we doubt whether the large 
flints of Scandinavia equal them in size and symmetry of form. 

A fine type of the adze form is illustrated in Fig. 121. The 
most skillful lapidary could not improve upon the model of this 
tool, or cut a more useful adze in stone.f These large and slightly 
curved implements were too large and too long to fasten or haft 
in sockets. They were probably bound to wooden handles after 
the manner shown in Fig. 122. 

* Author s collection. 

t We are indebted to William Watkins, Esq., for this fine specimen. It was 
found on his farm, near Nashville. 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



223 



Rough implements, doubtless used with handles as axes, weap 
ons, or perhaps as hoes, are shown in Figs. 123 and 124. These 
varieties, although rude, are not common. 




FIG. 122. PROBABLE METHOD OF HAFTING THE ADZES AND HOES. 





FIG. 123. STONE IMPLEMENT, CUMBERLAND 
VALLEY (ONE-FOURTH).* 



FIG. 124. STONE IMPLEMENT, 
DICKSON Co. (ONE-HALF). t 



We have selected the spoon and tool-shaped flints and working 
implements, rather stiffly and inaccurately illustrated in outline in 
Fig. 125, from an assortment of a thousand or more Middle Tennes 
see flints and points in our collection, as representative specimens of 
the smaller class of blunt implements and working tools used by the 



* Dr. J. Jones collection, 
t Author s collection. 



224 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



mechanics of the stone age in this section. The general outlines of 
the forms of these peculiar flints are correct. They were found in 
the counties near Nashville. The variety of these small tools or 




FIG. 125. FLINT TOOLS OR IMPLEMENTS, FROM VICINITY OP NASHVILLE (ONE-FOURTH).* 

tool flints indicates that there were probably separate trades or in 
dustries, requiring the use of many different kinds of implements. 
In some of the modern tribes, there were specialists in the different 




FIG. 126. SCRAPERS, SIDE VIEWS (ONE-THIRD).* 

industrial pursuits. We are told that, among the Hupa Indians of 
California, the arrow smith flaked and chipped the flint and obsid 
ian arrow-heads, and that a different workman, an expert, made and 
trimmed the wooden arrow shafts to which the stone points were 
fastened. f 

Fig. 126 gives side views and a somewhat more correct idea of 
some of the "scrapers" and spoon-shaped forms. Most of them 
were notched or prepared for handles, and doubtless they made con 
venient and useful implements. 

The many flint flakes and curious forms found, show that the 

* Author s collection. 

t Smithsonian Report, 1886, Part I, page 000. 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



225 



old flint workers were very dextrous in chipping r.ough stones into 
any shapes that suited their convenience. Fig. 127 represents a 
chipped stone "implement," found in a field adjoining the 
cemetery. It may have heen used as a weight or plummet. 




FIG. 127. CHIPPED WEIGHT OB PLUMMET (TWO-THIRDS).* 

One of the most interesting chipped tools or implements we 
have seen was found in Montgomery county, near the Kentucky 
line. It is illustrated (actual size) in Fig. 128. 




FIG. 128. CHIPPED FLINT IMPLEMENT, MONTGOMERY COUNTY.* 

This pretty little rectangle of rich, clear, yellow flint or jasper, 
is as thin and delicately made as the finest arrow point. It has 
been carefully chipped and beveled to an exact form, with similar 

* Author s collection. 
15 



226 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



flat, sharp edges OH. all four sides, and must have been designed for 
some special use. It is one of the flint types that seems to indicate 
a condition of society and of the industrial arts above the ordinary 
stone hammer and spear stage of barbarism. A side view or section 
of it should have been presented to show its symmetry of form. 




FIG. 129. CHIPPED STONE CHISEL, HUMPHREYS COUNTY (TWO-THIRDS).* 

Much smaller, well-made, square flints, called "gambling flints," and 
doubtless used for that purpose, are found in New York. We have 
good specimens of them. 




FIG. 130. CHISEL-SHAPED IMPLEMENTS, DAVIDSON COUNTY (TWO-THIRDS).* 

The stone chisel (Fig. 129) is chipped to a sharp edge, with 
square corners at the blade end, and would have done good service 
as a cutting tool. 

The chisel-shaped flints more frequently show evidences of use 

* Author s collection. 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



227 



than any other class of chipped stone implements. They are found 
in the stone graves and elsewhere in considerable numbers, and of 
various shapes and sizes, usually being slightly curved, or shaped 
like a flat adze. 

Illustrations of this class are presented in Fig. 130. 

Little short chisels are found that doubtless had handles of 
wood or bone. Others are long, and were probably used without 
separate handles. Five fine specimens of yellow and gray flint, and 
as sharp as an ordinary table-knife at the blade edges, were 
recently found in the same grave. The chisels, or the implements 




FIG. 131. FLINT CHISELS, DAVIDSON COUNTY (TWO-FIFTHS).* 

of that form, must have been favorite tools in the old work-shops, 
if we may judge from the numbers found in the ancient burial 
grounds. Three " chisels " from the set of five, are shown in 
Fig. 131. 

A stone cutting knife, with a well-ground edge, is shown in 
Fig. 132. 

It must have been a serviceable knife in its day, its edge being 
still sharp and well beveled. It was doubtless formerly fastened to 
a handle of wood or horn. 

The chipped cutting-knife, with the double ground edge seven 
inches long (Fig. 133), was recently found by Mr. Blunkall in a 

* Author s collection. 



228 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



grave of a small cemetery a few miles west of Nashville, on the 
Cumberland river. The deer-horn handle was discovered in the 
excavated earth a few feet from the knife. It is partly decayed at 
the end, but from the oval shape of the deep socket in the horn, it 




FIG. 132. A FLINT CUTTING KNIFE (TWO-THIRDS).* 

evidently originally held the knife or some similar implement. The 
knife end of the horn is pierced with rivet holes, in which, perhaps, 
the string was fastened that aided in binding the knife to it. 

A similar handle was found by Mr. Blunkall with a kit of flint 




FIG. 133. FLINT KNIFE AND HORN HANDLE, DAVIDSON COUNTY (TWO-THIRDS). t 

chisels in a grave of the same cemetery. These are the only ancient 
horn handles from this section that have come to our notice. It 
seems singular that they are not more frequently found, considering 
the number of tool handles that must have been used. Perhaps 

* Johnson collection, 
t Author s collection. 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



229 



the latter were chiefly made of wood, that has entirely decayed from 
lapse of time. Ancient chipped flint implements, with horn 
handles, have frequently been found on the Pacific slope and in 
Europe. Many of them were preserved from decay in the caves 
and in the lakes of Switzerland.* 

The implements illustrated in Figs. 134 and 135 (author s col 
lection) were probably not spears, but, judging from their forms, 
were intended for cutting-knives, and doubtless had short handles 
suitable for that purpose. No. 134, as will be observed, is a fine 




FIGS. 134 AND 135. FLINT KNIVES (TWO-THIRDS). 

piece of chipped work. The small flake grooves are rounded or 
arched over the blade, with a regularity and precision that appear 
very remarkable. 

In No. 135 the end of the flint, formerly hafted, still shows the 
different or mottled surface, caused by the glue or handle, while the 
rest of the flint is bright and clean. These knives were found in 
the cemeteries in the vicinity of Nashville, the larger one in a stone 
grave. 

Fig. 136 represents two small implements from the graves, 

* In exploring the houses of the cliff dwellers of Colorado, flint knives with 
wooden handles were recently found. 



230 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



probably knives. The larger one (Giers collection) has a sharp 
blade. 

Most of the large flint and chert implements were probably 





FIG. 136, FLINT KNIVES (ACTUAL SIZE). 

held in the hands without separate handles, as the edges of the 
handle ends are usually not sharp, and could be easily rounded. 
The handles of some of the large implements were also probably 




FIG. 137. FLINT IMPLEMENTS (TWO-FIFTHS) .* 

covered with buckskin or cloth for convenient handling, as was the 
custom of some of the California Indians in using the large imple 
ments of chert and obsidian. f 

* Johnson and author s collections. 

t Smithsonian Keport, 1886, Part I, page 222. 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



231 



Fine types of flint implements, doubtless used without separate 
handles, are illustrated in Fig. 137. They are from the cemeteries 
in the vicinity of Nashville, and were, doubtless, useful tools. 
They might have been employed for many mechanical purposes. 

A handy little hatchet, with finely polished blade and sharp 
edge, is shown in Fig. 138. It was found by the author in a grave 
of the Byser farm cemetery on White s creek, near Nashville. As 
both sides of the blade have the same bevel, we call it a hatchet, 
or axe, or skinning implement, instead of a chisel or adze. It may 
have been mortised into a wooden socket or hafted at the center. 




FIG. 138. STONE HATCHET, WHITE S CREEK, NEAR NASHVILLE (THREE-FIFTHS).* 

Large and small axes, celts, fleshers, knives, awls, hoes, and other 
forms of chipped flint implements, with polished or ground edges, 
are quite common in Tennessee. Some of the axe-shaped forms are 
very large. Specimens a foot or more long, and weighing five or 
six pounds, are occasionally found. One of the finest types may be 
seen in the collection of the Tennessee Historical Society. 

Among the best examples of the flaking and chipping art 
found in Tennessee, are the flints of the type represented in Fig. 
139. No finer flint forms are to be found in the Mississippi val 
ley. They equal the remarkable work of the Aztec obsidian flakers. 

* Author s collection. 



232 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



This specimen ,is of fine lustrous gray color, and shows the same 
flake bed or groove on both sides. The general form is well out 
lined in the engraving, but not the finely chipped surface. A single 
long flake has evidently been first struck from each side, a piece of 
work that would seem to be next to impossible, or an accident, were 
it not for the number of flints found of this special form, and with 




FIG. 139. FLAKED SPEAR-HEAD, MAURY COUNTY (TWO-THIRDS).* 

similarly flaked or grooved sides. The edges were doubtless chipped 
after the flaking operation, and these delicate and symmetrical little 
spears and arrows thus completed. This particular form is a 
specialty of Maury county, and is well represented in the fine col 
lections of Rev. C. F. Williams and Captain Smith, of the Athenaeum 
at Columbia in that county. 

Fig. 140 illustrates a beautifully chipped dagger of compact 




FIG. 140. FLINT DAGGER, HUMPHREYS COUNTY (ONE-HALF).* 

cherty fiint from Humphreys county, Tennessee. It is a sym 
metrical weapon or implement, about eight inches long, with " a 
regulation handle," and a flat, tapering blade, beveled to fine edges, 
and delicately serrated. 

The finely chipped Danish daggers, illustrated by Sir John 

* Author s collection. 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



233 



Lubbock,* do not represent so well the dagger form. Although 
fashioned like some of our modern metal daggers, the old Ten 
nessee flint chippers must have full credit both for the invention 
and workmanship of the fine specimen illustrated. It is so frail 
and brittle, and so carefully chipped, that it was probably not in 
tended for use as a weapon, but was carried or worn as a " cere 
monial " or emblem of distinction upon public occasions. 

Prof. Putnam, of the Peabody Museum, obtained a fine speci 
men of the same form near Nashville. Another one of about the 




FIG. 141. FLINT DAGGER, MARSHALL COUNTY (ACTUAL SizE).t 

same length and shape was found in a grave mound on the 
Warrior river, in Alabama, and is now in the National Museum at 
Washington. J 

A pretty little flint of the dagger form (Fig. 141) offers an 
other illustration of the great variety of unusual types found in 
Tennessee. Although it resembles a modern dagger in form, it 
would be mere conjecture to assign it to any special duty. In the 
journal of the voyage of Cabrillo to the California coast, A. D. 1542, 

* Prehistoric Times, page 101. 

t Rev. C. F. Williams collection. 

t Smithsonian Collection (Rau), page 15. 



234 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



it is stated that the natives there " wore their hair tied up in long 
strings, to which were attached small daggers of flint, hone, and 
wood." * This little flint may have heen used like the California 
flints, and the modern little metal daggers sometimes seen, as an orna 
ment for the hair. The conceit seems to have been an ancient one ! 
Another dagger form is shown in Fig. 142. This unique cere 
monial was recently found in a stone grave cemetery on the Cum 
berland river, a few miles west of Nashville, by W. W. Dozier, one 
of our " explorers." The double points on the sides, doubtless, had 
some significance in the system of tribal or family symbols or 
totems of the native race that once inhabited the Cumberland 
valley. 




FIG. 142. FLINT DAGGER, DAVIDSON COUNTY (ONE-HALF).! 

Special attention is called to the fact that the dagger and cere 
monial forms of this class, and many of the chipped ceremonials 
used for similar purposes, are nearly all from seven and one-half to 
eight inches long, showing that they were probably made to order 
of this length by the old flint experts in accordance with some 
ancient tribal usage or law. This one is exactly seven and one-half 
inches. 

The first dagger illustrated is a delicate, thin, flat flint, scarcely 
a half inch thick at the center. As will be observed from the 
sectional view of this flint, it is re-enforced by a ridge running 
down its center, nearly three-fourths of an inch thick. This is a 
characteristic of most of these fine ceremonials. While not well 

* Wheeler s Survey, Vol. VII, page 21. 
t Author s collection. 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



235 



adapted to practical use as weapons, and showing few marks of 
service, most of them are thicker and stronger than the thin blades 
of the long spears and swords. 

A ruder implement of the dagger form, seven and one-half 
inches long, was found in Dickson county, Fig. 143. It appears to 




Fia 143. DAGGER OR SPEARHEAD, DICKSON COUNTY (TWO-FIFTHS)*. 

be a little worn at the point, and may have been put to some prac 
tical use. 

Another unusual form of flint dagger was found on the Big 
Harpeth river, near one of the stone grave cemeteries of that sec 
tion (Fig. 144). This is a shorter flint, well fitted for some mechan 
ical or domestic use, and may not have been intended for mere 
ceremonial purposes. 




FIG. 144. FLINT IMPLEMENT, FROM BIG HARPETH RIVER (TWO-THIRDS). t 

The finely chipped spear or harpoon, nearly six inches long, 
with double barbs (Fig. 145), was found in Stewart county. It 
may have been used as a fish-spear or lance-head, or perhaps as a 
" ceremonial." A much more effective and durable spear could 
have been made in less time from a sharpened bone or from a shelL 

* Author s collection. 

T Author s collection. Kindly presented by L. H. Freeman. 



236 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

The smaller barbed spear or arrow points of fine flint (Fig. 
146) may have been used in spearing fish or for some special pur 
poses. The forms are rare. 

Among the most interesting " implements " of flint and chert 
found in Tennessee are the long, delicately formed knives and 
lance-shaped forms. So far as we can learned, they are not found 
in other sections of the Mississippi valley. They seem to be a 
specialty of Middle Tennessee. 

A good example of the double pointed blade form may be seen 
photo-engraved from the original, in Plate XI. It is twelve inches 
long and of graceful outlines, its sides being as straight as if ground 
to a fine edge. We have a similar specimen of pure, black flint, a 




FIG. 145. DOUBLE-BARBED SPEAR OR IMPLEMENT (TWO-THIRDS.)* 

half inch longer, but slightly fractured. Some of these double- 
pointed sword-blades or " ceremonials" are much longer. 

Dr. Joseph Jones, in exploring the chief burial mound of the 
De Graffenreid works, on the Big Harpeth river, found beside the 
skeleton of the principal figure of the group, placed in a sitting 
posture in the center of the mound, the magnificent chipped sword 
or "implement" represented in Fig. 147. It lay within the very 
bones of the skeleton hand, as if placed there as a tribute to his 
rank, or as a badge of distinction to be carried into the " spirit 
land." It is twenty-two inches long and but about two inches 
wide* 

No similar implement equaling it in length, and in delicacy of 
form and finish, has probably ever been discovered in any part of 

* Johnson collection. 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



237 






* Author s collection. 
t Dr. J. Jones collection. 
i Johnson collection. 
1 E. D. Hicks collection. 



238 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

the world. It was, of course, useless as a weapon, and too fragile 
for any mechanical service. 

We can not but admire the surprising skill of the old flint chip- 
pers, who could successfully execute this delicate piece of work. 
The flints and fine cherts are so brittle, and required such careful 
manipulation, that these slender forms seem to represent the master 
pieces of the stone age. The ancient experts, however, left many 
examples of their skill. The delicate little flint needle, eight 
inches long (Fig. 148), required the same care and skill in trans 
forming it from a rude flake into its present symmetrical form. 

Fig. 149 represents another of the sword or scepter-shaped 
objects, fourteen inches long, from Humphreys county, evidently an 
emblem or scepter of authority, as it is too brittle and easily broken 
for practical use as a weapon. The notched portion may have 
formed the handle, or the six small raised points on the sides, simi 
lar to one of the daggers illustrated, may have indicated the rank of 
its ancient owner. Mr. Otto Giers, of Nashville, has a much smaller 
flint of analogous form, with four small points on the sides. The 
Rev. C. F. "Williams has a beautifully chipped, double-pointed chert 
spear or sword blade, sixteen and a quarter inches long, from 
Maury county. In the collection of the Historical Society, the 
Johnson collection, and at the Atheriseum in Columbia, there are a 
number of these fine long flints. 

The long notched spear, photo-engraved directly from the orig 
inal in Plate XIV, is in the collection of the Tennessee Historical 
Society. It is seventeen inches long and three and a half inches 
wide at its base. It was found in Franklin county, Middle Tennes 
see, a few years ago, and presented to the society by T. D. Gregory, 
Esq., of Winchester. The photo-engraving presents very clearly 
its exact form and surface. Even the strings by which the writer 
tied it to the card-board to be photographed may be clearly seen, 
and give assurance of the truthfulness of the reproduction. 

We doubt whether a barbed or notched stone spear-head, its 
equal in length and symmetry of form, has been discovered in 
America, or even among the remarkable flint remains of the Scan- 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 239 

dinavian countries of Europe. The largest Danish flint spear or 
dagger mentioned by Lubbock * is but twelve and a half inches in 
length. The longest flint spear or knife of any kind described or 
illustrated by Squier and Davis is but eleven inches long, and 
Schoolcrafb does not mention one longer than seven inches. In the 
elaborately illustrated and valuable volume of Mr. John Evans upon 
the Ancient Stone Implements of Great Britain, we observed no 
specimens even approximating in size the large and long chipped 
stone implements of Tennessee. Dr. Abbott states that the maxi 
mum length of the flint and jasper spears found within the limits 
of New England and the North Atlantic States is but six inches. f 

The only flints in America, north of Mexico, rivaling these fine 
Tennessee implements, have been discovered in the ancient graves 
of the California Indians, and are well described and illustrated by 
Prof. F. W. Putnam and Dr. C. C. Abbott in Wheeler s Survey, 
Vol. VII. The largest one illustrated is but nine and three-quarters 
inches long. Dr. Abbott, however, reports the discovery of a flint 
implement fifteen inches in length, in Oregon. 

As further evidence that these large chipped implements of the 
Stone Grave race are unequaled, even in other southern states, 
Colonel C. C. Jones, of Georgia, one of the most reliable authorities 
upon this subject in the South, states : " The largest spear or lance- 
head we have seen within the geographical limits of Georgia was 
obtained from a grave mound which stood upon the point of land 
formed by the confluence of the Etowah and Oostenaula rivers. It 
is nearly fourteen inches in length and three and one-fourth inches 
in width, weighing two pounds and two ounces avoirdupois. It is 
perfect, with the exception of the point, which was broken off at 
the time this implement was taken from the mound. No spear-head 
of such magnitude, as far as my knowledge extends, has been found 
within the limits of the southern states." J 

* Prehistoric Times, page 100. 

t Primitive Industry, page 250. 

t Antiquities of the Southern Indiana, page 253. 



240 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

From the engraving of this large spear-head in Colonel Jones s 
work, it appears to be a roughly chipped implement, much inferior 
in workmanship to the fine chipped flints and chert specimens of 
the Stone Grave race. It is more than three inches shorter than 
the symmetrical spear-head of the Tennessee Historical Society, and 
would attract little attention if placed beside the finer and larger 
flint implements of the Cumberland valley. 

The long Franklin county flint (Plate XIY) does not appear to 
be fitted for actual use as a spear or weapon of war. It is too long 
and too easily fractured, and the labor required to make it too great 
to justify the belief that it was intended for that purpose. It was 
evidently designed as a halberd or weapon of parade, for some cere 
monial occasion. It may have crowned the staff of a tribal or fam 
ily banner, or it may have "been carried as a sword or an emblem of 
authority. 

The three magnificent chipped stone " implements," with orna 
mental handles, well photo-engraved in Plate XIV, we will take the 
liberty of designating-scepters. To the writer s mind, they offer 
direct and very positive evidence that these large stone objects were 
used for ceremonial purposes of a religious, military, or public char 
acter. They were found in a cache together, in Humphreys county, 
Middle Tennessee, and presented to Edward D. Hicks, Esq., of 
Davidson county, and are now in his fine collection. They are re 
spectively twenty, seventeen and one-fourth, and sixteen and one- 
half inches in length, and are composed of chert or compact silicious 
limestone. The symmetry and beauty of the handles, the exact 
projections on opposite sides, the tapering forms, and the evidently 
important place these rare objects must have held in the religious 
and social life of the old Tennesseeans, all invest them with peculiar 
interest. 

Here we have, in all probability, the scepters or royal maces 
once used by the magnates of the race that built the ancient 
mounds and fortifications of Middle Tennessee. They may have 
been the insignia of chieftainship or of the priesthood. The most 
distinguished personage of the Stone Grave race yet identified, if 



5 

? c 




CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 241 

we may judge by the surroundings and character of his burial, the 
honored chieftain or priest whose remains were unearthed on the 
banks of the Harpeth river by Dr. Jones, was placed in his rude 
sarcophagus with a long flint sword or scepter in his right hand, 
showing very conclusively the use of these large implements. 

If the reader will turn to the subsequent chapter upon shell re 
mains, it will be seen that the " fighting figure, 7 well engraved upon 
a large gorget, grasps in his right hand a double-pointed sword blade 
or knife of almost the exact form of some of these large flints. 
The double-pointed implement photo-engraved in Plate XI is 
nearly its duplicate in shape and size, offering additional evidence 
of the genuineness of both the ancient gorget and the fine flint. 
The old chief or mythological hero engraved upon the shell evi 
dently belonged to the Stone Grave race.* Their remains are found 
in the valleys of East Tennessee and in Northern Georgia, in the 
mounds in which the gorgets have been discovered. 

La Vega tells us that the large wooden statues guarding the 
gates of the rude temple discovered by De Soto on the banks of the 
Savannah river, at Tolomeco, were armed " with clubs, maces, and 
copper hatchets ;" also, that some of them were armed with long 
pikes ; f thus indicating that the southern Indians, within the histo 
ric period, were acquainted with the uses of such objects, as insignia 
of authority. 

Upon public or state occasions, the historic tribes paid consid 
erable attention to forms and ceremonies. The tattoo marks, the 
number of feather plumes, the battle-ax or war club, the engraved 
breast-plates, the upholding of the pipe of peace, were insignia or 
symbols of rank and authority used and respected by them. We 
learn, also, that chipped implements of chert, jasper, and obsidian 
were used by the Indians of California upon public and ceremonial 
occasions. 

* Plate XVI. 

t History of Alabama (Pickett), Vol. I, page G6 ; Garcillaso de la Vega, pages 
274, 282. 

16 



242 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

Writing of the habits and customs of the Hupa Indians, form 
erly one of the finest tribes of Northern California, Mr. Otis T. 
Mason, of the National Museum, states, " that among the articles 
paraded or worn in the ceremonial dance, is a flake or knife of ob 
sidian or jasper, some of which are fifteen inches or more in length, 
and about two and a half inches wide in the widest part. These are 
wrapped in skin or cloth, to prevent the rough edges from lacerat 
ing- the hand, but the smaller ones are mounted on wooden handles 
arid glued fast. The large ones can not be purchased at any price, 
but Mr. Powers procured some about six inches long at $2.50 
apiece. These are not properly knives, but jewelry for sacred pur 
poses, passing current also as money." * 

Upon examining the photographic plates illustrating the long 
ceremonial flints from the graves in California (Wheeler s Survey, 
Vol. VII), we find them to be of the same general character and 
form as the simpler types of the long " ceremonials " found in the 
stone graves in the Cumberland valley. They are the only flints yet 
discovered, so far as we can learn, that seem to bear a close resem 
blance to some of the Tennessee types. They suggest the possibility 
of some ancient kinship or association between the tribes of the 
Far West and the ancient inhabitants of the Mississippi valley. Any 
old collector can distinguish these California and Tennessee flints, 
so nearly alike, from the long flint swords and " daggers " of the 
Scandinavian races, and even from the longest flint types of the 
north-eastern Indians. 

The longest California specimen illustrated is nine and three- 
fourths inches in length, and is almost a duplicate in form of the 
long sword or ceremonial flint photo-engraved in Plate XI (au 
thor s collection). 

The California flint is represented in Fig. 150, one-half actual 
size. The Tennessee flint, twelve inches long, is reduced in the 
plate in the same proportion. 

* Smithsonian Report, 1886, Part I, page 222 ; Powers s Tribes of California. 
Contributions to American Ethnology, Vol. Ill, page 79. 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 243 

In describing the weapons of war of the Yurok Indians of Cali 
fornia, Mr. Powers (p. 52) states that they formerly used large jas 
per and obsidian knives, but " which nowadays are kept only as 
ornaments or objects of wealth, to be produced on occasions of a 
great dance." From recent explorations in the canons of Colorado, 
we learn that the cliff dwellers used long chipped flint knives, with 
flat blades, but their forms and dimensions are not specially stated. 

Very beautiful long spears of obsidian and chalcedony have 
been found in Mexico that were evidently used in ancient times for 
ornamental or ceremonial purposes. There were several in the 
Christy collection, as delicately wrought as a modern onyx or agate 
paper cutter, and of as little use as a weapon.* 




FIG. 150. CEREMONIAL FLINT, CALIFORNIA (ONE-HALF). 

Still more remarkable than the tine " scepters " of the Hicks 
.collection, photo-engraved in Plate XIV, is the scepter of gray 
flint of the same general form, but of somewhat finer texture and 
workmanship, In the collection of Mr. W. D. Buchanan at Nash 
ville (Fig. 151). This splendid piece of ancient art in stone is 
thirteen and one-fourth inches long, and fully five inches wide be 
tween the hilt points. It will be observed that it is wider at the 
hilt and shorter in the blade than the long scepters of the Hicks 
collection. It is also somewhat more artistically executed, being 
but a half inch thick at the center of the handle. Near the end of 
the blunt blade it is thicker than at any other point, showing that 
it was not intended for cutting or for practical use as a weapon, but 
that it was probably used as a halberd or mace. We have never 
seen a specimen of aboriginal art from the valley of the Mississippi 
superior to this fine flint excepting perhaps some of the engraved 

* Prehistoric Man (Wilson), Vol. I, page 193. 



244 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

shell gorgets. It was found in Sumner county, about twenty miles 
north of Nashville, on the old Talley farm, adjoining the Rutherford- 
Kiser farm, upon which the ancient fortifications and settlement 
heretofore described were located. It is evidently a relic of the in 
teresting race that peopled these earth-works. Although perfect 




FIG, 151. CEREMONIAL IMPLEMENT OR SCEPTER, SUMNER COUNTY (ONE-FOURTH).* 

when discovered, it has unfortunately been broken in two places, 
as shown in the engraving. The latter was made from an exact 
outline drawing, but does not show the natural chipped surface of 
the stone. 

Fig. 152 represents another chipped flint of singular form, seven 
and a half inches long and two and one-fourth inches at the wide 




FIG. 152. CEREMONIAL FLINT (ONE-HALF).! 

end. It is unique no similar object having been discovered, so far 
as we can learn but shows traces of similarity to the form of the 
Buchanan scepter. It is evidently a ceremonial, perhaps a small 
mace, as it is blunt at both ends, and has no cutting point or edge. 

* Author s collection, 
t Johnson collection. 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



245 



It may have been used like the smaller ceremonials of the California 
Indians, " mounted on wooden handles, and glued fast." Its length, 
seven and one-half inches, corresponding with the length of many 
of the dagger ceremonials, was evidently the regulation measure of 
these ancient implements. We have a number of delicate spear 
head forms of this length, that were probably used for the same 
purpose. 

Among the most interesting objects yet discovered in Tennes 
see, probably belonging to the ceremonial or totem class, are the 




FIG. 153. CHIPPED STONE " HOOKS," STEWART COUNTY (ONE-THIRD).* 

chipped flint and chert " hooks " or " sickles." One of the most 
beautifully executed specimens is photo-engraved from the original 
(one-half actual size) in Plate XI. It is seven and one-half inches 
long. Two others, of nearly the same length (six and one-fourth 
and six and three-fourths inches), from Stewart county, are illus 
trated in Fig. 153. Two shorter and broader types, from the adjoin 
ing county of Humphreys, are represented in Fig. 154. We can 
only conjecture the uses to which these rare implements were ap 
plied. We classify them under the general title of " implements," 
for want of more definite knowledge of them. Some of them be- 

* Johnson collection. 



246 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

ing of rather rude workmanship, when they first came to our 
notice, we supposed they might have been designed for some me 
chanical purpose, but we now regard them as totems or ceremonial 
objects. The specimens engraved are beveled to a fine edge and 
sharp point at the end, like the knives and spears. Some of them 
were probably held in the hand. The short ones may have been 
attached to wooden handles or staffs, the notches on the sides being 
used in hafting them. The only piece of wood we have discovered 
in the Noel cemetery (in a grave) is a small sickle-shaped object or 





FIG. 154. CHIPPED STONE " HOOKS," HUMPHKEYS COUNTY (ONE-THIRD).* 

ornament, in the form of one of these " hooks." One side of it was 
plated or covered with a thin coating of copper, and thus pre 
served. 

Since the discovery of the chipped stone " hooks," in the adjoin 
ing counties of Stewart and Humphreys, the still more remarkable 
double hook or claw (Fig. 155), of compact flinty chert, has been dis 
covered in Humphreys county, which, we think, throws considerable 
light upon the single " hooks," and fairly well proves that the lat 
ter were totems, and were not used for any mechanical purpose. 
This unique specimen is twelve inches long and four and one-half 
inches wide at the center, it is chipped to a well-beveled edge all 

* Author s collection. 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 247 

around, and is beautifully serrated on the inside of the claw, in 
imitation, we presume, of the natural claw of the craw-fish, after 
which it seems to have been modeled. Its striking likeness to the 
natural claw, and its symmetric form, show the wonderful skill of 
the old stone chippers. 

In the Indian tribal organizations, which seem to have been 
very similar throughout ancient North America, the tribes were 
subdivided into groups of families or gentes. Two or more 
gentes formed the phratry or next larger division; the phratries 
formed the tribe. Each gens was usually named after some favor 
ite animal or object, the latter thus becoming its badge or emblem 




FIG. 155 .CHIPPED STONE CLAW, HUMPHREYS COUNTY (ONE-THIRD).* 

of distinction, or totem, The wolf, the turtle, the serpent, and the 
eagle were among the most familiar totems. The eagle was the 
totem of the ancient Mexicans, and is still emblazoned on the na 
tional banner of Mexico. 

The leading members of the gens or groups of families named 
after the turtle, for instance, would take their names from the 
turtle, as Big Turtle, Little Turtle, Snapping Turtle, and Mud 
Turtle. The family emblem thus became an important feature 
in its religious and social life. Pipes were carved in imitation of 
it. It was doubtless engraved upon the family gorgets of shell. 
It was the distinctive mark by which the family was known, and 
was looked upon with veneration, sometimes amounting to animal 

* Hicks collection. 



248 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

or nature worship. In examining the organizations of some of the 
southern tribes of Indians, we find that the Creeks had twenty-two 
gentes, each represented by an emblem or totem ; the Chickasaws 
had twelve gentes and two phratries ; the Cherokees had ten gentes ; 
the Shawnees, thirteen ; and the Choctaws, eight. All had totems 
or family names. The village Indians of the pueblos were also 
divided into gentes, named after the deer, bear, rattle-snake, and 
other objects, animate and inanimate. 

We find the Choctaws, one of the leading southern tribes, re 
siding at an early period in Alabama and Mississippi, were divided 
into eight gentes, and that one of them took its name from the 
craw-fish, which thus became its totem or family symbol.* Many of 
the ancient remains of pottery, stone, and shell found in Middle 
Tennessee, and in the old Choctaw country, are very similar. It 
therefore appears probable that this humble little fish-animal, found 
every- where in our southern rivers, was adopted as a totem in pre 
historic times, and may have given its Indian name and daw form 
to the ancient chert totem of the craw-fish clan recently discovered 
in Humphreys county. No other satisfactory explanation as to t}ie 
use of this interesting object having been suggested, we offer this 
view as affording a very reasonable solution of the problem. 

A friend, who has always insisted that the mound builders 
were a very advanced race, on seeing this fine specimen on my desk, 
exclaimed : " There, now, I told you they were civilized ; you see 
they had boot-jacks!" But holding the theory, as we do, that the 
aborigines belonged to the moccasin family, and not to a superior 
race, we can not accept the boot-jack hypothesis, though thus plausi 
bly presented. 

The single claws or hooks, and the double claw, having been 
found in the same or adjoining counties, were probably totems of 
the same gens or clan that may have occupied that immediate sec 
tion at some period in the past. The double claw could have been 

* Ancient Society (Lewis H. Morgan), page 162. Dr. Cyrus Byington, a mis 
sionary of high character, resided among the Choctaws as early as 1820, and gave 
to Mr. Morgan the names of the old gentes or totems of that tribe. 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 249 

conveniently held in the hand as a scepter, or, like an eagle upon 
a flag-staff, it might have adorned the ancient banner of the craw 
fish family upon state occasions. We have, however, more direct 
evidence that the craw-fish was a family totem, in the handsome lit 
tle perforated pendant, fashioned somewhat in the form of a claw 
or cray-fish (Fig. 156). The fact that it was found in Stewart 
county (Middle Tennessee), the locality of the discovery of some of 
the hooks, also strengthens the testimony offered hy its form. 

There is no mistaking the use of this little pendant. It was 
doubtless once worn upon the neck or breast of some member of the 
ancient cray-fish or craw-fish family. 




FIG. 156. CRAW-FISH TOTEM, STEWART COUNTY (ACTUAL SIZE).* 

The material of which this polished totem is composed, is a 
compact encrinital red limestone, full of pretty white fossils. The 
incised markings or symbols upon it had no doubt some special 
significance in their day. They might tell an interesting story if 
we could interpret them.f 

The turtle, the familiar totem among several Indian tribes, has 
also been found in flint or chert. A rather rudely chipped exam 
ple from Smith county, Middle Tennessee, is shown in Fig. 157. 

Although a rough specimen, as compared with the spirited lit 
tle terra cotta turtle from the Noel cemetery, there is no mistaking 
its identity. The turtle was evidently one of the family totems of 

* Author s collection. 

t The claw flints and the little claw totem all came separately into the writer s 
hands for examination, and the suggestions as to their use are presented without 
even the knowledge of the owners oi the specimens. 



250 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

the Stone Grave race.* The fish was another most common totem 
among the southern tribes, which may account for the large number 
of fish forms found in the pottery of the graves. 




FIG. 157. CHIPPED STONE TURTLE, SMITH COUNTY (ONE-HALF).! 
To the list of rare and unique flints peculiar to this section, 




FIG. 158. CHIPPED FLINT Disc, STEWART COUNTY (ONE-FOURTH) 4 

must be added the large flint disk found in Stewart county, Middle 
Tennessee, and illustrated in Fig. 158. 

*" In Cooper s entertaining novel, "The Last of the Mohicans," when Uncas, the 
Indian chief, was about to be put to death, he showed the figure of the tortoise, the 
emblem of the Delawares, tattooed upon his breast, and this emblem saved his life. 
The Delawares are called " the Children of the Turtle." Chapter XXX. 

t Author s collection. 

t Hicks collection. 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 251 

This remarkable specimen of lustrous black flint, is nine inches 
in diameter, only an inch and a quarter thick at the center, and 
tapers regularly from the center to its sharp rim or perimeter, like 
an ax blade, forming a beautiful and symmetrical disc. ISTo explana 
tion has been suggested as to its probable use. A smaller and rude 
specimen, somewhat similar in form, has also been found (Johnson 
collection). 

It seems singular that the long, chipped scepters, the single and 
double claw totems, the disc, and many other fine flint and chert im 
plements, have been discovered in two of the least fertile counties 
of the mineral belt on the western border of Middle Tennessee 
Stewart and Humphreys. The Cumberland river, however, flows 
through Stewart, and Duck and Buffalo rivers through Humphreys, 
and in their rich, though sometimes narrow valleys, are to be found 
the remains of many settlements of the Stone Grave race. The 
material of which these fine implements were made also abounded 
in these counties. Doubtless other tribes, in different stages of de 
velopment, have lived in the valleys of Tennessee and Southern 
Kentucky in past ages. They may have erected some of its ancient 
monuments, but it is manifest that the remains of the most ad 
vanced arts and industries found in Tennessee must be attributed 
to the industrious and progressive tribes that built the stone graves 
and erected the adjacent earth- works. They were the skillful flint 
and chert chippers, and the expert pottery makers, and shell en 
gravers of ancient Tennessee. 

We regret to close this chapter without further illustrations 
and descriptions of typical flints, especially of the varieties used in 
the mechanical industries, but the preparation of the engravings 
already presented has been a laborious task, fully one-third of them 
having been inserted in the manuscript since the chapter was orig 
inally written. 

Collectors and archaeologists of experience, however, who look 
with genuine interest upon new and rare types, we are satisfied, will 
at once recognize the rarity and unique character of many of the 
fine specimens engraved, especially of the mechanical and cere- 



252 ANTIQUITIES OP TENNESSEE. 

monial classes. They will probably agree with the writer in the 
opinion that in excellence of workmanship, and in beauty and 
variety of forms, they surpass the remains of art in chipped stone 
work of any other section of the Mississippi valley. We know of 
no antiques equaling them north of the stone and obsidian knives and 
flakes of the ancient Mexicans. These fine forms of the Cumber 
land and Tennessee valleys do not occur in the ancient territory 
of the Iroquois of the north, or of the Indians of Virginia, or of the 
north Atlantic coast, or in Canada. They seem to represent a state 
of society of a higher type than that of the Iroquois or Algonkin 
tribes, more advanced, indeed, than the probable status of the an 
cient Shawnees, the most advanced of the Algonkin tribes, and 
above the culture of the tribes east of the pueblos, at the period 
of early European settlement. 

In 1837, a noted Indian chief of Northern Michigan, presented 
Henry R. Schoolcraft, the historian and archaeologist, an " antique 
javelin " or spear-head of chert, of the ordinary form, seven inches 
long, with the remark that it " was one of the old implements 
of his ancestors." * Such specimens appear to represent the high 
est art in chipped stone work of the northern tribes. 

Doubtless the more advanced tribes of sedentary southern In 
dians, whose large fortified villages, and whose manner of life, are 
described by the journalists of De Soto, and other early discoverers, 
must have been sufficiently devoted to agriculture, and horticulture, 
and to mechanical pursuits, to have required a greater variety of 
convenient stone implements. De Soto did not invade the territory 
of the Stone Grave race of Tennessee, but from the evidences of 
comparatively modern occupation it is not improbable that, at the 
period of his campaign, some of these old flint chippers and pot 
tery makers of the village class of Indians were still residing 
within the fortified camps and stone grave settlements of the val 
ley of the Cumberland. 

* Schoolcraft, Vol. I, page 87. 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 252 



SUPPLEMENT TO CHAPTER VII. 

Since the first edition of this work was published, many rare 
chipped flint objects or implements have been discovered in the 
general district of which Nashville is the center. Probably the most 
remarkable collection ever unearthed, within the territory now oc 
cupied by the United States, was found in 1895, in Humphreys 
county, Tennessee, about sixty miles west of Nashville, near the 
town of Waverly, and not far from the waters of Duck river. 

They were discovered upon the farm of Mr. Banks Link, by 
George Pewett, a laborer, within an aboriginal cemetery of scattered 
graves, and near a number of ancient mounds. Two large stone 
images were found in the earth, beneath the deposit of flints, images 
similar in general character to the types illustrated in Plate IY, but 
more skillfully executed and with better faces and forms. 

In the collection, there were forty seven rare specimens of flint, 
or chert ; most of them, perhaps all of them, in the form of cere 
monial objects or totems. Plate XIYA, reproduced from a photo 
graph, presents a good illustration of these fine types. The length 
or width of each specimen has been marked, and photographed 
upon it. 

We doubt whether all the archaeological collections in the United 
States, taken together, could furnish a larger or better assortment 
of the long, delicate, tapering ceremonial flints, specialties of this 
section, than were found in this single deposit. 

It reminds us of the famous pipe find of Squire and Davis, in 
the mound in the Scioto valley in Ohio, or of Schlieman s discovery 
of the treasury of Priam upon the site of ancient Troy. 

This old flint deposit was probably a memorial left in the grave 
of some noted person, perhaps of some aboriginal flint chipper. 



2526 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

The narrow flint placed at right angles to the others, is twenty-seven 
and one-half inches in length ; by several inches the longest specimen 
of its kind known to archaeologists. Others were twenty-two, 
twenty-one and one fourth, nineteen, eighteen and seventeen inches 
long, all marvels of flint chipping skill. Nearly all the flint forms 
originally illustrated by the author, were found in this unique flint 
bonanza, the " Sickles," turtles, discs, and scepters, besides some 
forms heretofore unknown. 

These rare ceremonials are now in the fine archaeological collec 
tion of the Missouri Historical Society.* 

The purpose for which many of these large ceremonial flints 
were used has recently been shown by a discovery of much interest 
to archaeologists. In 1891 a large well-engraved shell gorget (illus 
trated in Figure 247) was found in a mound in Sumner county, 
Tennessee, about thirty-five miles north-east of Nashville, by Mr. 
W. E. Myer, of Carthage, Tennessee. 

The engraving presents a typical ancient warrior figure, bear 
ing in his hand one of these large and peculiarly formed flint 
ceremonials, which we have heretofore classed as maces, or 
scepters. 

"Within the past few months the author has been fortunate 
enough to discover, in the small collection of Mr. R. B. Evans, of 
Forest Springs, Kentucky (north of Nashville), the very flint cere 
monial represented upon that ancient shell gorget, or its quite exact 
duplicate. (See No. 3, Plate XIYB.) The forms are nearly identical, 
as will be seen by comparing it, with the mace held by the warrior 
in Figure 247. 

This rare flint was discovered some years ago in a grave in 
Southern Kentucky, not far north of the Sumner county mound 
where the Myer gorgot was found. 

The scepter is fifteen and one-fourth inches long and over five 
inches wide at the points. It is made of the fine dark grey chert 
or flint, of which most of the fine ceremonials of Middle Ten- 

* The author was in Europe when the discovery was reported. 



CHIPPED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 252<? 

nessee were manufactured. I do not believe a finer or more 
elaborately wrought specimen of ancient chipped stone work, than 
this old mace, has ever been discovered. The symmetry and ex 
actness of its outlines are somewhat blurred by the shadows on the 
lower side.* 

Specimens No. I and 2 of Plate XIVB, were evidently used 
for the same purpose as No. 3, or were ceremonials of the same 
class. 

When these strangely-formed ceremonials were discovered, we 
supposed the curves at the large ends formed the handles by which 
they were held, but the Myer gorget very clearly indicates that they 
were grasped and held aloft by the small end. 




FIG. 158A. CEREMONIAL CLUB FROM FLORIDA MOUND. 

Among the interesting discoveries recently made by Professor 
Frank Hamilton Gushing in the ancient mounds by the sea in 
Southern Florida, he found what he designates as " Ceremonial 
Clubs," or implements of wood, quite similar in general form to the 
large unique ceremonial flint we have described (No. 3), as will be 
seen by the illustration presented (No. 158A). 

The large maces engraved upon the gorgets in Figure 242, and 
Plate XVII, also suggest the same general forms. 

Through these discoveries and coincidences we are able to learn 

* In the interesting report of the United States Commission upon the Columbian 
Historical Exposition, at Madrid, Spain, in 1893, Professor Henry C. Mercer, 
curator of the Museum of Archaeology of the University of Pennsylvania, reporting 
upon the fine chipped stone and obsidian implements from Mexico, in the ex 
hibit, states that "The Tennessee work in jasper as figured in Thruston s Antiquities 
of Tennessee," might well be compared with the finest Mexican examples in ob 
sidian and stone. 



252^ ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

little by little, but with considerable exactness, something of 
aboriginal life among the mound and stone grave builders of the 
south. 

Through Rev. W. M. Beauchamp, of New York, we learned that one of these 
large flint scepters, fourteen inches long, of somewhat simpler form, has been dis 
covered in Jackson county, Illinois. 

Since the publication of the first edition of this work, the author has added to 
his collection many of the fine specimens illustrated from the collections of Foster 
Williams, the Johnsons and others. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 253 



CHAPTER VIII. 

SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 

Grooved Axes Celts Adzes Tool Handles Chisels Cutting Implements Discs 
Spinning Whorls The Art of Weaving Paint Cups Mortars and Pestles- 
Tubes Whistles of Stone and Bone Funnels Rings and Ornaments Table 
Cones Perforated Tablets Ceremonial Objects Banner Stones Spade- 
shaped Implements Crescent Forms. 

The ground or polished implements, ornaments and tools of the 
stone age in Tennessee, are not so numerous as the objects of 
chipped stone. Suitable materials for the former were not so 
abundant, especially in the limestone basin of the middle district, 
where the largest towns and settlements of the Stone Grave race 
were probably located; neither were the polished implements so 
easily made. 

Ignorance of the uses of iron, arid the scarcity of the malleable 
ores of copper, however, rendered it necessary that the industrious 
inhabitants of the Cumberland and Tennessee valleys should be 
well supplied with implements of stone of the various types; and 
many specimens of the smooth or polished classes, both of the or 
dinary forms, and of the rare and beautiful varieties, are to be found 
among the collections in Tennessee. 

Grooved axes, hammers, celts, fleshers, chisels, knives, cere 
monial implements, adzes, tubes, discs, stone rings, paint cups, 
mullers, beads, pendants, gorgets, amulets, and many other un 
named " relics " are well represented 

Nearly all of the materials .for the fine specimens found in the 
limestone basin of Middle Tennessee, and in the western district, 
must have been transported from the extreme eastern borders of the 
state, or from other distant points in West Virginia, North Caro- 



254 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

lina, or Alabama, a fact that attests the thrift and industry of the 
Stone Grave tribes in exchanging and bartering commodities.* 

Many of the types of polished stone are similar to the speci 
mens found in other mound sections, and show that relations more 
or less intimate must have existed during the prehistoric period be 
tween the various tribes of the Mississippi valley; but some of the 
Tennessee types seem to have belonged exclusively to the Stone 
Grave tribes, or other tribes that once inhabited the central and 
eastern valleys of the state. Several of the remarkable bird and 
boat-shaped forms of stone, and some of the beautiful objects of 
striped slate found in the North, are rare or unknown ; the fine 
types of jasper found in Mississippi are also rare, but, as a rule, the 
Tennessee specimens of polished stone, especially the symmetric 
discs, rings, tubes, and ceremonial implements, are of very great 
interest, and probably exceed in numbers, beauty, and variety, the 
objects of the same class to be found in any one of the adjacent 
states. 

We shall not devote much space or attention to the ordinary 
forms of polished stone " relics," common to this and other sections, 
and usually found among the remains of neolithic man, as our main 
purpose is to present characteristic types, especially of the higher 
class, and specimens when practicable, illustrating the ancient arts 
and industries, that students interested in the subject may be able 
to compare them with the antiquities of other sections, and may 
acquire more definite information as to the state of ancient society 
represented by them. 

Typical examples of the grooved stone axes found in Tennessee 
and the states adjacent may be seen in Fig. 159. They are usually 
made of greenstone, diorite, or other hard stones. The grooves 
show plainly the methods of hafting them, by withes bound around 
them and fastened to the handles. Stone implements of the modern 

* In the most populous mound districts north of the Ohio river, glacial deposits 
of gravel and bowlders were found almost every-where, furnishing ample and con 
venient supplies of granite, jasper, and other fine stones, for the aboriginal imple 
ment makers. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



255 



tribes are still occasionally found with wooden handles fastened in 
the same manner. The grooved or flat surfaces on the handle sides 
were fitted for wedging the handles. 

The specimens found vary in size from little, light hatchets to 
large, unwieldy axes weighing seven or eight pounds. They were, 
doubtless, used for many mechanical purposes, as well as for 
weapons.* Several varieties of grooved stone hammers are also to 
be found in the Tennessee collections, and implements of the 




FIG. 159. GROOVED STONE AXES (ONE-FIFTH).! 

smooth celt class, without grooves, or with but slight traces of 
grooves, pro among the most common types. 

* Most of these forms of grooved axes are also found within the mound area 
north of the Ohio river. Nearly exact duplicates of some of them are also to be 
found among the stone implements of the Zunis and other tribes of the pueblos of 
New Mexico and Arizona. See illustration of similar forms in the Second Annual 
Report Bureau of Ethnology, pages 338-375. The cliff dwellers also used similar 
implements. 

t For convenience in illustrating, Figs. 159, 160, and 163 have been reproduced 
in smaller dimensions from Colonel Jones s valuable work, The Antiquities of 
the Southern Indians. All or most of the types are found in Tennessee. We have 
several of them in our collection. 



256 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

Fig. 160 represents some of the typical forms of celts or smooth 
stone axes. The varieties of this general form can be scarcely be 
numbered. Dainty little celts are found, too small to be held in the 
hands without handles. Others are as large, or nearly as large, as 
the largest grooved axes, and must have been strongly hafted. Mr 




FIG. 160. TYPICAL CELTS (ONE-FOURTH). 

Isidor Bacherig and Mr. Yiser, of Clarksville, Tennessee, have 
specimens of these large oval celts from thirteen to fourteen inches 
long, and weighing four or five pounds. There are also very large 
specimens of this class in the Historical Society s collection. Many 
of the medium sized celts were probably used, without handles, as 
fleshers or skinning implements. 

In the collection of the Historical Society, there is a beautiful 
stone axe of dark, rich greenstone, of unusual size, nearly rectangu 
lar in form (Fig. 161). It is about eight inches long, four inches 
wide, and is shaped like a broad chisel or common chopping axe, 
with flat sides and square-edged rims. The blade has been ground 
to a sharp edge. It is not over three-fourths of an inch thick at 
the center. 

Many of these axe and wedged-shaped implements were prob- 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



257 



ably used with wooden and horn handles as chisels. Indeed, the 
great variety of forms and sizes, and the labor expended upon them, 




FIG. 161. STONE AXE (ONE-HALF).* 

suggest that they were probably used for a number of mechanical 
purposes. The hardest, and often the most beautiful, materials 
were selected in making them. We have one of brilliant red 
jasper. It seems singular that so few of these oval celts are 




FIG. 162. ANCIENT STONE HAMMER (ONE-THIRD).! 

grooved, as many of them must have been used as axes. Various 
devices were probably adopted in hafting them. 

In General Wilder s collection there is a stone hammer with a 
handle of tough withe, fastened securely to the center by a partial 
covering of rawhide. (Fig. 162.) 

This ancient implement was found in a cave in the Ozark 

* Historical Society collection, 
t Wilder collection. 



258 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

Mountains, of Arkansas, near Hot Springs. The edges of the hide 
covering, although partially decayed, bind the stone tightly, and 
keep the handle in place with the aid of a very slight depression 
around the center of the stone. Doubtless many of the large smooth 
celts and axes were thus hafted, originally, by being bound with 
hide coverings about the handles. There is another specimen in the 
Wilder collection that gives very valuable information as to the 
method of making these implements of hard stone in the pre 
historic period, and illustrates the ingenuity of the native me 
chanics. 

It is a typical celt or wedge-shaped implement of compact 
stone, found in East Tennessee, that has evidently been left in an 
unfinished state by some ancient workman, as it is evenly and en 
tirely covered with small indentations or marks of hammering made 
in the process of perfecting its form. It has in fact been bush ham 
mered or pecked into shape by some sharp implement, a pointed flint, 
or possibly a piece of hematite. It must have been very difficult to 
grind or polish these hard celts, axes, and other implements into 
shape, and this method of pecking or bush hammering was a much 
easier way of making them than the slow process of grinding or 
rubbing. After pecking them into shape, the final polishing work 
was probably done. We have a number of specimens that still show 
the fine and regular indentations of bush hammering. Many of the 
fine pipes were probably shaped in this way. The finest axe-shaped 
implement yet discovered in Tennessee is the beautiful specimen of 
polished greenstone, with a stone handle and double edged blade, 
found by Dr. Joseph Jones in a large sepulchral mound on the 
bank of the Cumberland river, opposite Nashville, and illustrated 
in Fig. 163. 

The entire implement was cut from a single piece of stone, and 
is about thirteen and one-half inches long. The blade is over six 
inches in length. There is a hole in the end of the handle for sus 
pension. The grave in which it was found contained the remains 
of a very large skeleton. An axe, similar in form, was discovered in 
York district, in South Carolina, and a third one, a little larger, but 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



259 



not so beautifully made, was found, a few years ago, in Mississippi 
county, Arkansas, and is now in the collection of Mr. Morris, of 
that county. 




FIG. 163. STONE Ax, WITH STONE HANDLE (ONE-THIRD).* 

The stone adze of metamorphic slate (Fig. 164) was found in a 
cave near Citico creek, Tennessee. Much labor must have been be 
stowed upon it, as the stone is very hard. It is one of the few 
specimens discovered with the handle end ground into shape to fit 




FIG. 1(54. STONE ADZE (ONE-HALF).! 

its wooden socket. It must have been a useful implement in its 
day. Adzes of this general form, securely bound to wooden han 
dles, are frequently to be seen among the implements of the savage 
tribes of the Pacific Islands. 

* Dr. Jones collection, 
t Wilder collection. 



260 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

It is sometimes difficult to separate the chisel shaped imple 
ments from the celts and adze and axe-shaped types. Good speci 
mens of these general forms, of the smaller class of tools, are shown 
in Fig. 165. They are made of hard finely-polished stones of rich 







FIG. 165. HATCHETS AND CHISELS (ONE-THIRD).* 

colors. The little greenstone hatchet is slightly notched for haft- 
ing. The two short chisels were probably held by wooden or horn 
handles. 

Very similar short stone chisels are found in the Swiss lakes, 




FIG. 166. IMPLEMENT OF THE Swiss LAKE DWELLERS (ONE-HALF).* 

securely fastened to deer horn handles, after the manner shown in 
Fig. 166. Many of the primitive inhabitants of Switzerland lived 
upon its lakes in rude dwellings constructed upon wooden piles, 
thus isolating them from the attacks of their enemies. Their im 
plements, preserved from decay in the waters beneath, are found in 

* Author s collection. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 261 

great numbers when the lakes are drained.* As will he observed, 
the Swiss stone implement is almost identical in form with our 
Tennessee types. These little chisels are very numerous. Not less 
than twenty-five or thirty implements of this class may be found in 
our collection, many of them finely finished, and of very beautiful 
colors Some of them are almost as thin and symmetrical as a 
modern paper cutter. The Historical Society also has a number of 
them. 

Fig. 167 illustrates other forms of chisels or knives. The rude 
knife was recently obtained in a stone grave near Nashville. The 
ornamented chisel was plowed up in an adjoining field. 




FIG. 167. CHISEL AND KNIFE (TWO-FIFTHS). t 

As might be expected, many common cutting implements of 
stone are found in or about the ancient settlements, or " relic beds." 
Three small specimens are shown in Fig. 168 (actual size). All 
were probably used with handles. Judging from its peculiar form, 
the little knife of chipped flint, with a very sharply ground edge, 
may have been used as a lance possibly as a doctor s or medicine 
man s knife or lance. It was certainly made for some delicate cut 
ting operation. Conveniently shaped stones that could be easily 
sharpened and utilized, frequently found a place in the aboriginal 
workshops or kitchens. 

* We obtained a small collection of the prehistoric implements and pottery of 
the lake dwellers, including two horn handled stone chisels, at Lake Bienne, Switz 
erland, some years ago, when that lake was drained or partly drained. 

T Author s collection. 



262 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



The implements of compact shale, outlined in Fig. 169, were 
originally evidently irregular fragments of stone. The edges have 




FIG. 108. CUTTING IMPLEMENTS (ACTUAL SIZE).* 
been rounded by use, and the natural blades sharpened with little 




FIG. 169. CUTTING OR SKINNING IMPLEMENTS (ONE-HALF).! 

labor, and without changing their general forms. They seem well 
fitted for skinning hides, and other useful purposes. 

* Author s collection, 
t Johnson collection. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 268 

Many grooved stones have also been found that were used in 
the old work-shops, perhaps to sharpen or grind the chisels and 
knives. A flat square specimen of this character, of fine-grained 
sandstone, was picked up in the Noel cemetery, and is represented in 
Fig. 170. We can not be certain that it was intended as a sharp 
ener, however, but it seems to have been shaped for some special 
work. The grooves are slightly furrowed. Somewhat similar 
grooved stones were used by some of the modern tribes to straighten 
and round their arrow shafts, by bending and rubbing. The sand 
stone grooves are well-fitted for smoothing the rough edges and 
knots on the wooden shafts. 

Considered as a class, the most beautiful and symmetric an- 




FIG. 170. SHAKPENING OR SMOOTHING STONE, NOEL CEMETERY (ONE-HALF).* 

tiques of polished stone are the discs. Very great numbers of them 
must have been used in ancient Tennessee. They are, in fact, a spe 
cialty of this section, nearly all of the fine specimens that enrich 
the public and private collections of other states, having been found 
in the valleys of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers. Upon two 
shelves in our collection we have about fifty perfect specimens of 
the finer classes. Typical examples of these discs are shown in Fig. 
171, but they are found in almost innumerable varieties of forms 
and sizes. The greater portion of them are made of quartz, either 
nearly pure or in some of its combinations ; a fact that renders it dif 
ficult to interpret their use, as quartz is one of the hardest, as well 
as one of the most easily fractured stones. How these discs were 

* Author s collection. 



264 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



made of this hard substance, and in such exact forms, and what 
were their uses, are among the enigmas of archaeology. 

There are no specimens of aboriginal stone work, not even the 
pipe carvings, that show more skill or cost more labor. The 
pipes were usually made of steatite, but the discs were carved, 
ground, and polished from the hardest materials. It would re 
quire the practiced eye and hand of the most skillful modern lapi- 




FIG. 171. TYPICAL STONE Discs (ONE-FOURTH). 

dary to duplicate some of them. We doubt whether the average 
discus of the old Greeks was more perfect in form. 

The stones were selected with special reference to beauty and 
color. Many of them are of pure white translucent quartz, and of 
richly colored quartzite. Bluish white chalcedony, and beautiful 
varieties of calico or pudding stones were also utilized. In a grave 
of the Noel cemetery we obtained a fine specimen made of rich 
cannel-coal, with a most brilliant surface polish. The large dies 
are usually bi-concave, and from five to six inches in diameter. 
They are rarely perforated. This is a characteristic of about one- 
half of the smaller specimens. 

It is generally supposed that the large discs were used as gam- 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 265 

ing stones, as similar stone wheels or quoits were used by a number 
of modern tribes for this purpose. Catlin mentions a game (" tchung 
kee ") which they played with poles and a stone ring about three 
inches in diameter.* Adair, who spent considerable time among 
the southern Indians, also describes their manner of playing the 
game of " tchung ke." 

It was played upon a piece of clear level ground, by two or 
four or more players. They used a stone " two fingers broad at 
the edge, and two spans round " (about the average size of the 
large stone discs now found in Tennessee). Each player had a pole 
about eight feet in length, smooth and tapering at each end. 
The players started abreast at a certain distance from the play 
ground, when one of them rolled the stone on its edge through the 
grounds. Each one darted his pole after the stone. If one 
struck or touched it, the owner counted two. The game must have 
been very fascinating, as the Indians often staked their wearing ap 
parel upon the result. 

Adair states that "all the American Indians are much ad 
dicted to this game, which appears to be a task of stupid drudgery; 
it seems, however, to be of early origin. The hurling stones 
which they still use have been from time immemorial rubbed smooth 
on rocks, and with prodigious labor. They are all kept with the 
strictest religious care, from one generation to another, and are ex 
empt from being buried with the dead. They belong to the town 
where they are used, and are carefully preserved." f 

Du Pratz, and several other writers, describe similar pastimes 
among other tribes, and Bartram gives accounts of the " chunky 
yards " of the Creeks, where these games were played. There can, 
therefore, be little doubt but that many of the large discs or " dis- 
coidals " were gaming stones. 

* Smithsonian Report, 1885, Part II, page 304. 

t History of the American Indians (Adair), page 402. The large " hurling " 
discs are rarely found in the stone graves in the vicinity of Nashville. So far as we 
can learn, but a single one has been discovered buried there, and that had been 
broken into two pieces. It was found by John Blunkall. 



266 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



The cheese or barrel-shaped disc of heavy granitic rock, illus 
trated in Fig. 172, seems well fitted for use as a gaming or hurling 
stone. Like most of the large discs of ordinary forms, it can he 
grasped conveniently in the hand. It was found by Thomas Chilton 
near the mouth of ISTickajack Cave, Tennessee. It is three and one- 
fourth inches high, four inches in diameter, and weighs nearly four 
(4) pounds. Large specimens of this type may be seen in the Wilder 
collection, and in the collection of the Athenaeum, at Columbia, 
Tennessee. 

Many of these beautiful and symmetric discs, however, have 




FIG. 172. BARREL OR CHEESE-SHAPED Disc (TWO-FIFTHS).* 

peculiar forms, and are unfitted for rolling in direct lines. Some of 
them have irregularly beveled sides, and were evidently intended for 
other uses, perhaps for other methods of gaming. 

Some of these unusual types are presented in Fig. 173. They 
are from the stone graves and cemeteries near Nashville. The disc 
in the center, of cannel coal, is as symmetrical and as brilliantly 
polished as a piece of velvet-black jet from Tiffany s. The disc 
on the right, with two small artificial depressions on it, is of nearly 
pure yellowish quartz. The third is of compact silicious stone. 
All are smooth and fiat on the lower sides. Their forms seem to 

* Author s collection. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 267 

suggest some special uses. Some of them resemble the well-shaped 
weighing stones, found in the old groceries and apothecary shops of 
Pompeii. Possibly some of them were for similar uses in the abo 
riginal trading shops. Dr. J. M. Safford, of Yanderbilt University, 
many years ago discovered a handsome bi-concave quartz disc, with 
a spherical ball of the same stone, that fitted exactly into the cavity 
on the side of the disc. Discs nearly spherical in form are not un 
common, and occasionally an exact sphere is found. The Rev. C. F. 
Williams has a quite perfect stone sphere, four (4) inches in diam 
eter, in his collection. 

As one views the varied forms and rich colors of these inter 
esting objects grouped in a cabinet, they seem, like some of the 
graceful vessels of pottery, to represent a better state of art and 




FIG. 173. UNUSUAL TYPES OF Discs (TWO-FIFTHS).* 

society than the accepted status of aboriginal life in the Mississippi 
valley. We have constantly to bear in mind the intuitive art in 
stinct, natural to the North American Indians, to reassure ourselves 
that they are not the work of some superior and different race. 

There are also many little discoids, too large for beads, and too 
small for ordinary gaming stones, that must have been intended 
for special purposes. One is occasionally found rich enough in 
color and finish to adorn a collection of gems. Doubtless, some of 
them were used as spinning implements or spindle whorls. 

Spinning and weaving have been among the earliest industries 
of primitive man, and traces of the simple implements used are 
found among the antiquities of nearly all countries. Dr. Schliemann 
discovered hundreds of them among the ruins of Troy. We have 

* Author s collection. 



268 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

a number of the pottery whorls used by the ancient lake-dwellers 
of Switzerland that do not differ in general form from these Ten 
nessee types from the graves. The ancient terra-cotta whorls of 
Mexico and Peru are about the same size and weight. It seems, in 
deed, quite certain, from the remains of cloth found in the caves of 
Tennessee and Kentucky, and from the tracings of woven fabric 
impressed upon the vessels of clay, from the graves, that the 
distaff and whorl were not unknown to the early inhabitants of 
Tennessee. 

From historic accounts, we learn that some of the modern 
southern Indians had some knowledge of the art of weaving the 
coarser grades of fabric. Adair states that " the Muskohge or 
6 Creeks passed the woof with a shuttle ; and they have a couple 
of threadles, which they move with the hand, so as to enable them 
to make good dispatch, something after our manner of weaving." * 
Du Pratz also describes the method of weaving practiced by the 
Natchez Indians : " They plant two stakes in the ground," he 
says, " about a yard and a half asunder, and having stretched a cord 
from one to the other, they fasten their threads of bark double to 
this cord, and then interweave them in a curious manner into a 
cloak of about a yard square, with a wrought border around the 
edges." f 

The remains of ancient cloth discovered in the caves, and the 
impressions upon pottery from the graves, have been of the coarser 
grades of fabric. J 

* History of the American Indians, page 422. 

t History of Louisiana, Vol. II, p. 231. London, 1763. 

J From the description given by Judge Haywood of the cave or mummy 
burials, the remains discovered were wrapped with skins, mantles and cloths of 
feathers, and coarse fabrics made from the inner barks of trees. Natural and Abo 
riginal History of Tennessee, pages 163, 166, 191, 338; Aboriginal Remains of Ten 
nessee, pages 1, 6. La Salle tells us that when he visited the large Indian town of 
the Taensas, upon the Lower Mississippi, he found the men wearing white cloaks 
woven of the inner lining of mulberry bark. La Salle (Parkman), page 281. De 
Soto s journalists report that the natives of Alabama, in 1540, " wore mantles made 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 

It is quite probable that the progressive villagers, who seem to 
have made considerable advances in other arts, and who used the 
various convenient implements found in the graves, acquired some 
knowledge of the art of weaving the finer grades of textile fabrics, 
but we have no positive information of this fact. 

Unfortunately, the original fabric of cloth used by the mound 
building tribes has wholly disappeared. In our explorations, we 
have found in the graves no traces of cloth that could be identified 
with certainty. Perhaps some of our assistants may have unearthed 
fragments of cloth, but they were unobserved or unreported. Dr. 
Jones states that " in the numerous stone graves which I have 
opened, traces of the garments which originally surrounded the 
bodies could be discovered in only one of the most perfectly con 
structed stone coffins." No further particulars are given.* 

The stone sepulchres were too damp and too rudely constructed 
to preserve the remains of ancient cloth fabrics, but the impressions 
left upon the fragile but enduring vessels of pottery have enabled 
as to obtain much valuable information as to its quality and 
texture. 

Hundreds of vessels are found impressed with the coarser 
grades of cloth and matting used in supporting and molding the 
large vessels of pottery. A good illustration of these imprints may 
be seen upon the large vessel from Nashville in Plate X. Fig. 174 
also represents an impression of ancient woven work upon a vessel 
from a mound in Jefferson county, Tennessee. It is very similar to 
the fabric traced upon the Nashville pottery. 

A piece of diagonal fabric is shown in Fig. 175 from an im 
pression upon a vessel from Polk county, Tennessee. 

of the inner rind and bark of trees, and others of a species of grass, which, when 
beaten, was not unlike flax. Conquest of Florida (Irving), page 230. 

* Aboriginal Remains, page 6. Upon the copper ornament or cross found 
by Prof. Putnam in a grave upon Zollicoffer s Hill, near Nashville, he reports that 
there were " slight evidences of its having been in contact with a finely woven fab 
ric, thus showing that this ancient people, who were well advanced in the ceramic 
arts, also possessed the knowledge of weaving." 



270 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



These illustrations of fabrics are from the Third Annual Report 
of the Bureau of Ethnology, where this subject is most intelligently 
considered by Mr. W. H. Holmes in an article upon " Prehistoric 
Textile Fabrics," page 39. Mr. Holmes has taken impressions in 
clay from the molds of the cloth fabric left upon the ancient pot- 






FIG. 174. FABRIC IMPRESSED UPON POTTERY. 




tery, and thus the cords and threads of the cloth are brought out 
in relief, and preserved in the casts of clay, showing the exact 
texture.* 

As stated heretofore, it seems probable that some of the sym- 




FIG. 175. DIAGONAL FABRIC IMPRESSED UPON POTTERY. 

metric, little stone discs found in the graves and ancient settlements 
were spinning whorls. Good examples of these whorls, made of 
highly polished greenstone and diorite, are shown in Fig. 176. 
The natural objects are exact and perfect in form. Several 

* We are indebted to Major J. W. Powell, director of the Bureau, for kindly 
furnishing electrotypes of these illustrations. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



271 



varieties of these fine whorls, of larger and smaller sizes, might 
be presented. The holes in the centers are carefully drilled. Many 
of them are funnel-shaped, or countersunk, as if made to he 
fitted to a wooden stick or spindle, or to enable the thread to 
be fastened with a wedge or pin. Mr. Conant, in his investigations 
among the ancient cemeteries of Missouri, discovered a pierced 





FIG. 176. SPINNING WHORLS (ONE-HALF).* 

wheel of earthenware which he regarded as probably a "spindle- 
whorl." t 

The forms of the pottery whorls of the ancient lake dwellers 
of Switzerland (from Lake Bienne) are illustrated in Fig. 177. Per 
forated stones or whorls of a ruder character, and of irregular 
shapes, are also found in the stone graves and about the ancient 
" relic beds " in the vicinity of Nashville wheels too large for 





FIG. 177. ANCIENT Swiss SPINNING WHORLS )Two-THiRDs)4 

beads. They are generally made of sandstone, and look like the 
pierced wheels found in considerable numbers in the California 
graves. Some of the large types may have been perforated ham 
mers. Specimens of this class are shown in Fig. 178. The per 
forations are countersunk. 

* Author s collection. 

t Footprints of Vanished Races, page 94. 

t Author s collection. 



272 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



Fig. 179 represents other forms of small discs of the finely fin 
ished class. The smallest specimen is of brilliant translucent 
quartz. The fact that a considerable portion of these fine " wheel 
stones " are not perforated seems to be an indication that the pierced 
wheels may possibly not have been used as spinning whorls. The 
flattened sphere form is a very familiar one. It occurs in various 




FIG. 178. PERFORATED Discs OR WHORLS (TWO-THIRDS).* 

sizes. We have beautiful specimens three f or four inches in diam 
eter. The peculiar circular depressions on two of the discs will 
be noticed. Some of these depressions look like mechanical pivot 
sockets. 

One of the specimens is marked with incised cross-lines, but 




FIG. 179. SMALL DISCOIDS (TWO-THIRDS).* 

we do not regard this figure as a symbol of any special significance 
beyond mere ornamentation. Prehistoric cross-shaped ornaments 
and symbols will be considered hereafter. 

One of the most remarkable specimens of the disc shape is 
illustrated in Fig. 180. It is a symmetrical disc of clay iron-stone 

* Author s collection. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 273 

from Carthage, Alabama, evidently artificial in its form, as it be 
longs to a well known type of discoids quite common in Alabama, 
Mississippi, and Tennessee. We have a number of similar forms. 
Since it left the hands of the native lapidary, however, in its pres 
ent form, it has become coated over its entire surface, by some natural 
process, with a thin layer of lustrous limonite or hematite. Parts of 
this brilliant coating have scaled off , and left it, as it appears in 
the engraving an artificial disc with a natural coating of iron. 
We are indebted to Prof. R. B. Fulton, of the University of Mis 
sissippi, for this unique specimen. 

Fine general types of discoids will be found in the collection of 
the Tennessee Historical Society ; also, in the Smithsonian Institu- 




FIG 180. ARTIFICIAL Disc COATED WITH IRON (ACTUAL SIZE).* 

tion, the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Nicklin collection, Genera] 
Wilder s collection, and in various local cabinets. The majority of 
them are from Tennessee or sections adjacent. There are many fine 
specimens in the Johnson collection, and in the Douglass collection, 
in New York City. Captain Johnson recently paddled his canoe 
down the Caney Fork river in search of " relics," and, to our sur 
prise, brought back about twenty-five " discoidals," ten or twelve of 
them of the largest size, and very beautiful, showing how numerous 
tliese discs must have been in ancient Tennessee. 

From the large number of small discoids discovered in the 
graves and cemeteries, it is clear that these interesting objects were 
made and used by the industrious villagers buried there. The 

* Author s collection. 



574 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



large discs, or a considerable portion of them, we think, were also 
probably the work of the same Indians, or closely allied tribes ; but 
nearly all the native tribes appear to have used somewhat similar 
gaming stones. 

There is a class of stone discs found in Alabama and Georgia, 
and occasionally in Tennessee, of the forms represented in Fig. 181. 
We call them " plates," as they are flat, and quite different from 
the ordinary discoidals. These specimens are from Lauderdale 




FIG. 181. Discs OR PLATES (ONE-FOURTH).* 

county, near Florence, North Alabama. They are made of fine 
sandstone, and are respectively five and six inches in diameter. 
The noticeable notches on the rim of the large plate, running regu 
larly, but not entirely around it, are usually found on the large 
discs, and probably had some special significance. It is singular 
that the countersunk holes at the top of the disc do not entirely 
pierce the stone. Two good examples of these stone plate forms 
were found in a mound on the Black Warrior river, in Alabama, 
and are illustrated in the Smithsonian publications.! And a fine 
specimen from the Tumlin mound, in Georgia, appears in Colonel C. 
C. Jones s Antiquities of the Southern Indians (Plate XXII). A 

* Author s collection. The finest specimen of the disc plates yet discovered 
is illustrated in the next chapter (Fig. 236). The serpent design is engraved upon it. 
Smithsonian Collection (Rau), page 3. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 275 

specimen from East Tennessee is also illustrated in the Second An 
nual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. Colonel Jones was of 
opinion that these objects were used for sacred or ceremonial pur 
poses. Their presence in the mounds seem to confirm this view. 
Some of the plainer forms, we think, were probably used for domes 
tic or culinary purposes. We have discovered a rude flat plate, of 




FIG. 182. "PAINT CUP," WITH PESTLE, FROM NEW MEXICO.* 

similar form, ten inches in diameter, in one of the old cemeteries 
near Nashville. Its sides -are as flat and smooth as the Alabama 
plates. 

Among the suggestions as to the uses of the bi-concave or 
saucer-shaped discs, we notice they are frequently labeled " paint- 
cups " by collectors. Many of them seem well fitted for mixing and 
holding paints. 

A well-shaped disc, apparently of the ordinary Tennessee pat 
tern, from New Mexico, with " a paint-pestle " in it, is illustrated 
in the Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (Fig. 182), 
and designated a "paint-cup." The pestle has a hole in the side, 

* National Museum. 



276 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

4 

probably intended to hold the dry paint. We are satisfied, however, 
that most of the symmetrical bi-concave discs were probably not 
designed for paint-cups. 

Ruder forms of discs, concave or cup-shaped on but one side, 
are occasionally found, that were evidently used for mixing paints 
or other materials. 

A specimen of this character, from near Nashville, with the 
little stone muller found with it, is represented in Fig. 183. It is 
made of hard metamorphic stone, and has evidently been pecked 




FIG. 183. STONE PAINT CUP (ONE-HALF).* 

into its present form by some sharp implement. It does not belong 
to the ordinary discoidal class. It is irregular in form, and its base 
is nearly flat. It is so different, in fact, in shape and material, from 
the bi-concave types, that it offers very good evidence that the lat 
ter were not " paint-cups." Most of the large " gaming discs " have 
also thumb-holes or central depressions on the sides, which would 
interfere with their use as paint-cups. Well-formed little cup-shaped 
vessels of stone, very suitable for holding and mixing paints, and 
probably intended for that use, are also frequently found in the 
graves and cemeteries. 

Two of them are represented in Fig. 184. The round bowl- 
shaped cup of compact limestone, from the Noel cemetery, is as 
nicely hollowed out, and finished, as if made to hold the tattoo 

* Historical Society collection. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



277 



rouge upon the toilet-table of an Indian princess. The Historical 
Society has one of dark-red jasper. 

Dr. J. F. Grant, of Pulaski, Tennessee, has a fine specimen, of 
yellowish stone, ornamented in relief with birds -claws (Fig. 185). 





FIG. 184. "PAINT CUPS," DAVIDSON COUNTY (ONE-HALF).* 

A delicate little stone pestle, with a well-ground end, found 
near it, stands in the bowl. Little bowls of pottery- ware, hollow 
iron-stone nodules, and rude and accidental forms of cup-stones, 
were also doubtless used for holding paints, or for similar purposes, 
as they are found about the old cemeteries, and sometimes contain 
the remains of paint or some coloring matter. We can only ap- 




FIG. 185. PAINT BOWL AND PESTLE (TWO-THIRDS). t 

proximate the uses of some of these objects. They may have been 
intended for salt holders, or other conveniences in the domestic 
economy of these villagers. 

Stone bowls of a larger type have also been discovered in Ten 
nessee and the adjacent states. Those found in the eastern section 

* Author s collection. 

t Dr. J. F. Grant s collection. 



:278 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



and in the Carolinas have usually been made of steatite a fire 
proof stone easily worked. A well-shaped limestone vessel twenty- 
two inches in diameter, found in a mound in Northern Mississippi, 
is illustrated in Jones s Aboriginal Remains, page 144. Among 
the antiquities of Utah and New Mexico, large stone mortars or 
" metates " are quite common. Similar vessels were also, doubtless, 
used by the industrious farmers and villagers of the Stone Grave 
race, but, being too large for burial in the graves, they have not 
survived the waste of time and fire. They were probably also re- 




FIG. 186. STONE MORTAK.* 

garded as family property in the communal houses, and, therefore, 
were not buried with the dead as individual effects. 

" Maize pestles " are found in abundance, showing that mortars 
must have been in use. Some of them may have been made of 
hard wood. Rude stones were also, doubtless, hollowed out and 
utilized as mortar cavities. 

One of these large bowls of limestone, found at Hickman s 
Ferry, on the Cumberland river, below Nashville, and probably used 
as a maize mortar, is shown in Fig. 186. 

Examples of the forms of stone pestles quite common in Ten- 

* Johnson collection. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



279 



nessee, may be seen in Fig, 187. "We have a half a dozen good 
specimens in onr collection. Long, solid cylinders, or pestle-shaped 
implements, carefully made of hard stone, that were probably in 
tended for pounding maize or beans, have also been discovered. 
They may have been suspended from the elastic limbs of trees in 




FIG. 187. STONE PESTLES. 

the process of pounding or churning, after the custom adopted by 
some of the tribes of the Pacific coast. General "Wilder has one of 
these large, round pestles, about two inches in diameter and nearly 
two feet long a fine specimen, very similar to the types found in 
California. 




FIG. 188. STEATITE TUBE, SUMNER COUNTY (ONE-SIXTH). * 

Long cylinders or "telescopes" are also found in Tennessee, 
very carefully drilled with holes. Fig. 188 illustrates one of the 
steatite tubes, in the collection of the Tennessee Historical Society. 
It was found in Sumner county, Tennessee, near the ancient earth 
works at Saunderville. 

* Historical Society collection. 



280 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

It is about twenty-three inches long and two and one-half inches 
in diameter. The hole drilled through it is about three-eighths of an 
inch in diameter, and is uniform in size throughout its entire length, 
excepting at one end, where the opening is wider (one and one-half 
inches) arid funnel-shaped. This heavy implement, or the material 
of which it was made, must have been transported three or four 
hundred miles from its native bed on the borders of North Caro 
lina, Mr. D. R. Coward, of Clinton, Tennessee, has kindly sent us 
a sketch of a similar steatite tube recently plowed up near Clinton. 
It was, unfortunately, badly broken. 

A tube of simpler form, in the collection of Rev. C. F. Will 
iams, of Maury county, Tennessee, is illustrated in Fig. 189. 




FIG. 189. STEATITE TUBE, MAURY COUNTY (ONE-SIXTH).* 

It is seventeen and three-fourths inches long, and weighs nearly 
nine pounds. Its outside diameter is three inches at the large end, 
and about a half inch less at the small end. The bore is about a 
half inch in diameter at the latter end, increasing to an inch and a 
quarter at the large end. Since the engraving (Fig. 189) was pre 
pared, Mr. W. E. Myers, of Carthage, Smith county, sent us a very 
similar tube for examination. It is about an inch less in outside 
diameter and a half inch longer than the Williams tube. 

A fine specimen of polished steatite of the hour glass or dice 
box form of tubes is photo-engraved from the original in Plate 
XV. (Author s collection.) It is eight inches long, and about two 
inches in diameter at the ends. The openings at each end are 
about an inch and a half in diameter, are funnel shaped, and taper 
to about a half inch at the center. The inside surface shows 
that the holes were made by a gouge or some sharp instrument 

* Rev. C. F. Williams collection. Photographs of stone tubes almost identical in 
form with this specimen have been received from H. N. Rust of California. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 281 

that has left traces of furrows upon it, and not by a rotary drill 
ing.* 

On opposite sides of one end of the stone there are five little 
arrow or angle-shaped hieroglyphs or symbols carefully carved, in 
tended probably to represent some totemic idea, or possibly the 
name or sign manual of its ancient owner. Markings or symbols 
of ownership upon the implements of primitive races are not un 
common, f 

Since this tube was photo-engraved, we have obtained a very 
fine and a much larger specimen of the same character. It was- 
found by " Uncle Arthur," one of our " explorers," in a stone grave 
of the Noel cemetery, showing that these interesting implements 
were probably made and used by the inhabitants of the ancient 
town or city located there. 

It presents additional evidence that the best art of ancient Ten 
nessee must be attributed to these people. The larger tube has 
small holes on the side near each end, probably intended for hang 
ing cords. These large tubular objects bear some resemblance to- 
the tube pipes of the California Indians illustrated in the govern 
ment reports. J 

It will be observed, however, that the bore in each tube is dif 
ferent, and peculiarly formed. None of them are fitted for con 
venient use as pipes, and two of them are larger and heavier than 
the largest calumet pipes known. Somewhat similar stone tubes 
were used by the California Indians as medicine, healing, or cupping 
tubes, and these Tennessee tubes may have been used for similar 
purposes. 1 1 

* A beautiful tube of this form, found in Georgia, is illustrated in Antiquities of 
the Southern Indians (C. C. Jones), page 359. 

t Prehistoric Times (Lubbock), page 11. 

J Smithsonian Report, 1886, Part I, Plates XV and XVI, where the hour-glass- 
form and other tube forms may be seen. See also Wheeler s Survey, Vol. 7, page 125. 

II Vanegas, in his history of California, mentions the use of stone tubes by the 
medicine men of the California Indians, and states: " One mode was very remark 
able, and the good effect it sometimes produced heightened the reputation of the 
physician. They applied to the suffering part of the patient s body the chacuaco, or 



282 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

The ancient inhabitants of California and the Far West, and 
the inhabitant of the Mississippi valley, appear to have adopted 
many similar habits and customs. 

Judge Haywood, whose History of Tennessee sometimes 
seems more like a romance of wonderful stories than a history, 
gives a most remarkable description of one of these tubes of the 
hour-glass form, discovered many years ago near Rogersville, Ten 
nessee. He says : " When the stone trumpet is blown through, it 
makes a sound that can be heard perhaps two miles," and that 
" probably it was used for similar purposes to those for which the 
trumpets of the Israelites were used, namely, principally to con 
vene assemblies, and to regulate the movements of the army." 
" But a more important question," continues the Judge, " is whence 
could those who made the trumpet have known its properties and 
use? They could not have attained that knowledge through the 
large horns of animals ; there were none such here, or they never 
would have made this stone trumpet. The maker must have 
learned its use from some nation that employed the trumpet in 
sounding charges, or for giving directions to march, or to stop 
the pursuit of an enemy." Three full pages are thereupon de 
voted by the learned judge to an argument that "this nation must 
have been the Israelites of Judea." * 

We have exhausted our blowing powers upon two similar " stone 
trumpets" in our collection, without eliciting any satisfactory re 
sponse in the way of music or noise, and we scarcely think it pos 
sible that these tubular objects could have been designed " for 
martial music," as stated. 

a tube formed out of a very hard black stone, and through this they sometimes 
sucked, and other times blew, but both as hard as they were able, supposing that 
thus the disease was either exhaled or dispersed. Sometimes the tube was filled 
with wild tobacco, lighted, and here they either sucked in or blew down the smoke, 
according to the physician s direction; and this powerful caustic, sometimes without 
any other remedy, has been known entirely to remove the disorder." Vol. I, page 
97. London, 1759. 

* Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee, page 210. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



283 



We may feel assured, however, that the aboriginal Tennesseans 
.were not without musical instruments. The tube or whistle of 
dark gray steatite, eleven and one-half inches long, represented in 
Fig. 190, never fails to respond in ample volume to a good pair of 
lungs, although not always in harmonious notes. The form of this 
interesting tube clearly indicates its use. It was plowed up in a field 
in Pleasant Cove, Warren county (Middle Tennessee), by Mr. John 
Blanks, and presented by him to its present owner, Dr. Thomas 
Black, of McMinnville, Tennessee, who kindly loaned it to the writer. 
The sectional view shows its interior construction, and the artistic 
and mechanical skill with which it was made. This fine relic ap- 




0gg%ggggg?g%3g8%8^^ 



FIG, 190. PREHISTORIC STONE WHISTLE, WARREN COUNTY (ONE-THIRD). 

pears to be unique. We have no knowledge of a duplicate. Hol 
low bone whistles, constructed upon somewhat the same principle, 
and wCth the elliptical holes on the side, were very common among 
the Far West tribes. The California tribes and the cliff dwellers 
used them, and a number of engravings will be found in the gov 
ernment reports illustrating them.* 

Fig. 191 (from Dr. Rau s illustration) shows the general form 
of the bone whistles of the California tribes. 

We have also in Tennessee antiques, akin to the stone tubes 
and hour-glass forms, which we have designated " funnels." A 
specimen seven and a half inches long, carved from light gray 
steatite, is represented in Fig. 192. 

* Smithsonian Collection (Rau), page 64; Smithsonian Report, 1886, Part I, 
Plate XXVI. 



284 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



It was found on an island in the Tennessee river, near Chatta 
nooga. It does not appear to have been intended for use as a pipe, 
as the opening at the large end is wide and flaring like a funnel, 
and not bowl or pipe-shaped. The small end is not well fitted for a 




FIG. 191. BONE WHISTLES.* 

stem, but a small quill or hollow bone might be conveniently in 
serted there. 

An object of the same general character, carved from fine sand- 




FIG. 192. STEATITE "FUNNEL" (ONE-THIRD).! 

stone, was recently discovered in exploring the earth-works at 
Lebanon, Tennessee, by Mr. D. G. Charles. 

* Smithsonian collection, 
t W. R. French collection. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



285 



Outlines of the front and sides, and of the funnel-shaped open> 
ing, are shown in Fig. 193. It is nearly live inches long. The 
major axis of the elliptical opening is about two and one-half 





FIG. 193. SANDSTONE "FUNNEL," LEBANON WORKS (ONE-HALF).* 

incnes. The ornamental work on the sides has been most skillfully 
and artistically executed. The ends of the funnel have a fine sur 
face polish, but the sides are smooth and plain, although sym 
metrically rounded. 




FIG. 194. STONE TUBES (THREE-FIFTHS). 

We can only conjecture the uses of these peculiar objects, but 
they seem well fitted for some domestic or mechanical purposes. 
They may, however, have been used for smoking or for medicine 



Author s collection. 



286 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

tubes. One of the long, hollow cylinders, shaped like an hour 
glass, would form two of these funnels, if divided in the middle, into 
two parts. 

Fig. 194 illustrates two tubes or perforated objects of stone, 
from the vicinity of Nashville, of smaller sizes and of a different 
class. The larger specimen is of green stone (Historical Society col 
lection) ; the smaller is steatite (author s collection). In the John 
son collection, there is an example of the latter form, of bright red 
jasper. 

The symmetrical rings of stone are also among the enigmas 
from the stone graves. Occasionally, one of our " explorers " 
brings in a specimen that looks as if it might have come from a 





FIG. 195. STONE RINGS (TWO-THIRDS). 

modern jewelry or toy store rather than from one of these rude 
sepulchers. Fine types are also found in East Tennessee. 

Examples of these stone rings are shown in Fig. 195. The 
larger ring is from an ancient mound settlement on an island in 
the Tennessee river, above Chattanooga.* 

The original is as well finished and as graceful as a modern 
napkin ring, and looks surprisingly like one. The small ring was 
discovered by Prof. Putnam in a grave within the Lebanon works. 
Both are carved from dark steatite. 

* We are indebted to the kindness of Mrs. E. T. Noel, of Nashville, for this fine 
specimen. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 287 

Two rings of the same material, and a large ring of black shale 
(Fig. 196), were found in the cemeteries near Nashville.* 

The two beautiful rings of steatite look like burnished jet, and 
are as perfect in form as modern art could make them. It is indeed 
difficult to realize that they have been buried for centuries in the 
earth. Like some of the fine pipes of the same material, their long 
inhumation has not affected their polished surfaces. 

One could scarcely be more surprised to see a gold bracelet 
lying in the debris of a stone grave than one of these bright sym 
metrical rings. They look like fine lapidary work, and seem en 
tirely foreign to their surroundings in and about the graves, yet 
they are absolutely genuine antiques, types of the most advanced 





FIG. 196. FINE STONE RINGS, PROM THE GRAVES IN THE VICINITY OF NASHVILLE. 

art of the prehistoric race, buried centuries ago in these old ceme 
teries. They equal some of the best examples of old Mexican art. 
Their uses can not be determined with certainty. They were prob 
ably used as earring pendants suspended by cords, as two of them 
were found in the same grave. They doubtless belong to the same 
class of ornaments as the pottery and copper plated rings described 
in the chapter upon pottery. Copper wheels, somewhat analogous 
in form, have also been found in the graves, and will be illustrated 
in the next chapter. Large circular rings and discs were among the 

* The steatite rings were found by Mr. John Blunkall in a stone grave a few 
miles west of Nashville. The large ring was found by Jas. Cox in a grave at Mound 
Bottom, about twenty miles west of Nashville. They are in the collections of R. A. 
Halley and the author. 



288 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



familiar ornaments for the ears among the advanced races of both 
North and South America. They are to be seen upon the ancient 
tablets, pictographs, and idols. 

The beautiful little wheel of compact limestone, nearly two 
inches in diameter, illustrated in Fig. 197, may also have been de 
signed for an earring ornament, or pendant, to be hung by a cord 
around the central projection. Its proportions are remarkably ac 
curate. It would not be possible to make a more exact wheel 
with the aid of a compass. Two of these rings were found in a 





FIG. 197. SYMMETRICAL STONE RING, SMITH COUNTY. 

grave in Smith county, and were kindly sent to the writer for ex 
amination and representation by Messrs. Myer and Fergusson, of 
that county. 

It seems the progressive villagers that once lived in the vicinity 
of Nashville must have had some knowledge of the use and con 
venience of tables, if we are to judge from the little specimen il 
lustrated in Fig. 198. 

The head of a skeleton rested upon this sandstone table when 
it was found by Mr. Frank Cheatham, in excavating a grave of the 
Noel Cemetery. The little table is about seven inches long, four 
and one-half inches wide, and two inches high. Its outlines are 
exact and well formed, as represented. It doubtless performed some 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



289 



useful service in the lifetime of its owner, who was probably the oc 
cupant of the grave in which it was found. The most highly es 
teemed articles owned by these old Tennesseeans must have been 
buried with them, as the rude sepulchers contain much more valu- 




FIG. 198. SANDSTONE TABLE, NOEL CEMETERY (ONE-FOURTH).* 

able treasures than have been found outside of them, within the an 
cient settlements. 

The cones or " mullers " form another interesting class of ob 
jects of polished stone or ore, quite common in Tennessee. They 
appear to be a specialty of this state, although found also in the ad 
jacent states, and sometimes north of the Ohio river. 

Several types are represented in Fig. 199. 




FIG. 199. CONE-SHAPED OBJECTS (ONE-THIRD).! 

The illustrations, however, lack the rich metallic luster of the 
originals. They are usually made of hematite, but specimens of 
steatite and other stones are found. 

These curious and symmetrical little conoids have generally 
been designated " mullers " or paint grinders, but, after carefully 

* Author s collection, 
t Author s collection. 



290 ANTIQUITIES OP TENNESSEE. 

observing the various types, we do not think they were intended 
for this purpose. They are too exact in form, and well finished, 
and most of them are too pointed for practical use as mullers. 
They also show no evidence of abrasion or grinding at the apices 
or points. The round top specimens are rare, and show no signs 
of rubbing. In a lot of a dozen specimens we have but one suitable 
for use as a paint muller. We have, however, no better theory to 
offer as to the purposes for which they were designed. We noticed 
a rather flat cone in General Wilder s collection, suggestively labeled 
" liver pad," a name probably as near the truth as " muller." 

Akin perhaps to these conoidal forms, are the hematite 
rectangles or segments, very indifferently illustrated in Fig. 200. 




FIG. 200. HEMATITE OBJECTS (TWO-FIFTHS).* 

They are made of lustrous hematite, and are among the most 
beautiful of the specimens of polished ores. Some of them are 
pierced for hanging; others are without holes. Duplicates of the 
smaller specimens are found in the mounds of Ohio.f 

The stone pendants, gorgets, and pierced tablets found in 
Tennessee, that appear to have been suspended by strings or 
worn upon necklaces as breast ornaments are very numerous. It 
would, in fact, be impracticable to illustrate all of the varied forms. 
Many of the types of the mound districts of Ohio and West Vir 
ginia are found here. They are usually made of slate, steatite, or 

* Author s and Johnson s collections. 

t Ancient Monuments, pages 206, 236, 237. Squier and Davis classed them with 
the perforated tablets. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



291 



jasper, but other stones were also used in making them. We shall 
not attempt to present the ordinary forms. Three types from the 





FIG. 201. PENDANTS OR PIERCED TABLETS (TWO-THIRDS).* 
vicinity of Nashville are shown in Fig. 201. All show evidence of 




FIG. 202. BIRD PENDANT (TWO-THIRDS). 

having been used. The object on the right may have been a me 
chanical implement. 

The beautiful pendant, carved from steatite in the form of a 
bird (Fig. 202), is from Smith county (Middle Tennessee), and be 
longs to the collection of Mr. W. E. Myer, of Carthage, who kindly 
loaned it for representation. It was probably a totem or family 
emblem. 



* Historical Society and author s collections. 



292 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

Another fine specimen, of dark talcose slate, from Clay county, 
is shown in Fig. 203. It looks like a chisel or cutting implement, 
but the wide end is not sharp, and the ornamentation shows that it 




FIG. 203. STONE PENDANT (TWO-THIRDS).* 

was not intended for practical use as a tool or implement. It is not 
unlike some of the pendants hanging from the necklaces upon fine 
engraved shells from the mounds, representing the human figure. 

Other objects of stone found near Nashville are illustrated in 
Fig. 204. The larger specimen has been perforated at the ends, but 
it is not a tube, as the holes do not extend through it. Similar 
specimens are found in the Ohio valley. We can not suggest any 
use for the small double-pointed object shaped like a pick-ax. 

Two peculiar objects from Middle and West Tennessee are rep 
resented in Fig. 205, one of gray slate, the other of compact jas 
pery stone. They appear to have been made for some special pur 
poses, perhaps for some mechanical use. They may have been fish 
ing or weaving implements. 

* Johnson collection. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



293 



Among the finest specimens of polished stone found in Tennes 
see are the implements or objects usually classed as "ceremonials" 





FIG. 204. STONE "IMPLEMENTS" (TWO-FIFTHS).* 

from their supposed use as symbols, parade weapons, or insignia of 
authority. The similaritary of many of them to the ancient " cere 
monials" of other sections of the mound area, show that the tribes 





FIG. 205. POLISHED STONE IMPLEMENTS (TWO-THIRDS). t 

of Tennessee must have been connected in origin or customs with 
the inhabitants of widely separated districts. The comparison of 



* Author s collection. 

t Historical Society and J. G. Cisco collections. 



294 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

local types, therefore, may assist in tracing the relations and mi 
grations of the ancient tribes. 




FIG. 206. "BANNER STONES" ONE-THIRD).* 

Two large and beautiful " ceremonials," usually classed as 
" banner stones" or "butterfly stones," are represented in Fig. 206. 




FIG. 207. BANNER STONE OF QUARTZ (Two-THiRDS).t 

The leaf-shaped form of fine gray slate is from the stone grave 
district of Williamson county ; the other, of dark red jasper, is from 
a mound settlement in Hickman county. Both are too fragile for 
any rough or even mechanical use. They were, doubtless, used as 
ornaments or symbols upon occasions of ceremony. The holes may 
have been drilled for wooden handles or staffs. 

A handsome specimen of light-colored translucent quartz, 
found in Montgomery county, Tennessee, is illustrated in Fig. 207. 

* Historical Society and author s collection. 
t Johnson collection. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



295 



Another type, of dark yellowish jasper, found near the Noel 
cemetery, has been photo-engraved in Plate XV (author s col 
lection). 

The labor and skill expended upon these beautiful ceremonials 
indicate that they were highly prized by their owners, and must 
have been made for some special uses. 

The two implements represented in Fig. 208 are also classed 
with the ceremonials. 




FIG. 208. CEREMONIAL IMPLEMENTS (ONE-THIRD).* 

As no other or more practical use has been suggested as to 
them, we call them ceremonial spades, or maces. They are made 
of dark shale or slate, and are respectively about eight and twelve 
inches in length. They are found in the stone grave settlement, 
a few miles south of Nashville, near Brentwood. The fine speci 
men of this form of polished greenstone, eleven inches long (illus 
trated in Plate XY (author s collection), has a larger and more 
delicate blade, ornamented with notches. It seems to be a unique 
type. We know of no duplicate.f 

Captain Johnson has two of these ceremonials in his collec 
tions one fifteen and three-fourths inches long, the other a delicate 
little type, five and one half inches in length the largest and the 

* Historical Society collection. 

t For this fine "spade," we are indebted to our friend, H. H. Wilkerson, whose 
name upon the label is photo-engraved upon the plate. He found it on his farm 
north of Nashville, near the ancient cemetery on White creek. 



296 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

shortest specimens we have yet seen. These implements are too 
dull for cutting purposes, and must have been too valuable for use 
as ordinary agricultural or mechanical tools. 

The long, delicate, crescent-shaped " implement," of highly pol 
ished syenite, represented in Plate XV (author s collection), also 
probably belongs to the ceremonial class. It is eleven and one-half 
inches long. Originally it was probable twelve inches, as the point 
at one end has been broken. It was found by Theodore Haslem, in 
excavating a cellar in the ancient burial grounds of North Nash 
ville.* 

Captain Johnson has a perfect crescent, a little longer than 
the specimen photo-engraved, and another is illustrated in Pre 
historic Remains of Kentucky (Plate VII). Strange to report, all 
of them are made of hard and beautifully colored syenite. 

These symmetrical crescents are too fragile for any practi 
cal use as tools or implements. Their graceful forms suggest 
that they may have been used as symbols by the sun worshiping 
priests of the Stone Grave race. A crescent, carved in stone, two 
inches wide, and eight inches from point to ponit, was discovered 
some } T ears ago in a tumulus near Oakland, California. It was sup 
posed to indicate the prevalence of sun-worship. A large tumulus 
in the vicinity was of the typical Tennessee form.f 

We have endeavored in the present chapter to describe and il 
lustrate characteristic specimens of the better class of smooth or 
polished stone " implements " found in Tennessee. Most of them 
are from the central portions of the state. We regret that we have 
not had leisure and opportunity to make further investigations re 
garding the antiquities of the other sections of the state, and of the 
states adjacent, where ancient remains of much interest are to be 
found, but this has been impracticable. 

* Mr. Haslem kindly presented it to the writer soon after its discovery. 

t The large mound was circular in form, twenty-five feet high, and three hun 
dred feet in diameter at its base. Rev. D. S. Peet, in American Antiquarian, 1889, 
page 361. 



SMOOTH STONE IMPLEMENTS. 297 

Many of the fine types illustrated, probably represent the high 
est stage of culture reached by the aboriginal tribes of America, 
north of Mexico, and they are, therefore, of special value to the 
student of archaeology.* 

* Since this chapter was written we learn from Mr. Gerard Fowke that two 
crescent-shaped objects of the form represented in Plate XV have been found in 
the mounds of the Scioto valley in Ohio. 



298 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



CHAPTER 

COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 

Native Copper Figures of the Cross Ear-rings and Ornaments Copper Imple 
ments Relics of De Soto Implements and Objects of Bone The Fine Spat 
ulaVessels of Shell Shell Spoons- Shell Fork Beads The Shell Gorgets 
or Breast-plates Gorgets Engraved with the Human Figures The Douglass 
Gorget. 

The antiquities of clay and stone, considered in the preceding 
chapters, are riot more interesting than some of the objects and im 
plements of shell, bone, and copper discovered in the rude sepul- 
chers of the ancient cemeteries. Owing to the great distance sepa 
rating Tennessee from the old copper mines along the southern bor 
ders of Lake Superior, articles manufactured from native copper are 
comparatively rare* The ancient tribes of Wisconsin were bounti 
fully supplied with weapons and implements of copper, as might be 
expected from their proximity to these mines, and many fine speci 
mens are to be seen in the archaeological collections of that state. 
The mound builders of Ohio and Illinois were also much better 
provided with implements of native copper than their kindred in the 
Cumberland and Tennessee valleys. The copper ores found in the 
mines of East Tennessee were not malleable, and the natives were 
entirely ignorant of the difficult methods of smelting and utilizing 
them. We have in fact no positive knowledge that the mound build 
ers of any section were able to smelt or mold the pure native copper 
of the north, or even the more easily manipulated galena or lead ore. 

The modern Indians, or their immediate ancestors, must also 
have known of the ancient copper pits of Lake Superior, as the 
early explorers found both the northern and the southern tribes 
using articles manufactured of native copper obtained from that 
section. Verazzano, who visited the southern Atlantic coast, in 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 



299 



1524, reported to his patron, the French king, that he found the 
natives wearing ear-rings and other ornaments of copper,* and the 
Portugese s account of De Soto s expedition tells us that the In 
dians of the province of Cutifachiqui had copper axes, and used 
heated copper spindles to pierce holes in their ornamented shells, f 
We have already mentioned the discovery in the stone graves 




FIG 209. COPPER ORNAMENT OR CROSS (TWO-THIRDS). 

of a number of articles of copper. A few others may be added. In 
the aboriginal cemetery, on " Zollicoffer Hill," upon the banks of 
the Cumberland river, west of Nashville, Prof. F. W. Putnam found 
the rude copper ornament, or cross, illustrated in Fig. 209, and now 
in the Peabody Museum, at Cambridge. His report states that it 
was obtained in a stone grave of the usual form, "with the covering 

* Aboriginal Trade (Rau), page 90. 
T History of Alabama, Vol. I, page 55. 



300 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

stones in place," and with the remains of a skeleton of an adult. 
The copper object was found upon the breast of the skeleton. On 
one side of the grave were the fragments of a broken dish. 

" The cross-like form of this ornament," Prof. Putnam states, 
" may give rise to the question of its derivation ; and had any article 
of European make, such as glass beads, brass buttons, etc., common 
in Indian graves, subsequent to contact with the whites, been found 
in any one of the hundreds of graves I opened in Tennessee, I 
should consider the form of this ornament the result of contact with 
the early missionaries, but, from the total absence of articles de 
noting such contact, I think it must be placed in the same category 
with the tablet of the cross, at Palenque, and be regarded as an 
ornament made in its present form, simply because it was an easy 
design to execute, and one of natural conception. The ornament is 
evidently made from a piece of native copper, hammered and cut 
into shape. The small perforation at the upper border still contains 
a fragment of the string by which the article was suspended, pre 
served by the action of the copper, and on one surface of the copper 
are slight evidences of its having been in contact with a finely 
woven fabric, thus showing that this ancient people, who were well 
advanced in the ceramic art, also possessed the knowledge of 
weaving." * 

Other objects of copper and shell, upon which crosses are rep 
resented, have been discovered in the stone graves of Tennessee and 
will be considered hereafter. 

In a stone grave in the same ancient cemetery, upon "Zolli- 
coffer Hill," now included within the suburbs of " West Nash 
ville," the writer, about twelve years ago, discovered a small carved 
wooden wheel, about two inches in diameter, and not over a fifth 
of an inch thick. It was covered upon one side with a thin cir 
cular plate of copper, much decayed from oxidation. The wooden 
wheel, and a small rod of wood attached to it, untouched by the 
copper, showed little evidence of decay. Although a small vessel 

* Eleventh Annual Report Peabody Museum, page 307. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 



301 



of pottery was found in an adjoining grave, we are of opinion that 
the stone grave in which the wooden wheel was found was of com 
paratively modern date. It seems impossible that delicate pieces 
of wood, without a covering of copper or some preserving material, 
should remain firm and undecayed through a series of centuries of 
burial.* 

Dr. Joseph Jones discovered four small copper plates, or orna 
ments, stamped with rude cross-shaped figures, in a stone grave of 
the principal burial mound within the Big Harpeth Works. One 
of them is represented (two-thirds size) in Fig. 210, No. 1. They 
were found beside the cranium, and as they were pierced with holes 




FIG. 210. OBJECTS AND IMPLEMENTS OF COPPER. 

for suspension, it is probable that they were worn as ear-ring pen 
dants, or as ornaments upon a necklace. f 

A spool-shaped copper object, very similar to the " ear-rings " 
of hammered copper, obtained by Prof. Putnam from the ancient 
mounds of Ohio, was found by Dr. W. M. Clark, of Nashville, in 
Williamson county, Tennessee, south of Nashville. It was about an 
inch and a half in diameter, the size of the typical Ohio specimens. 

* Although Middle Tennessee has probably not been permanently occupied by 
Indian tribes for nearly two centuries, the Shawnees are reported to have lived dur 
ing temporary intervals along the valley of the Cumberland at a later period. We 
have discovered many evidences of modern Indian occupation in the vicinity of 
Nashville, and it is quite probable that some of these Indians may have remained 
for a time in this section, and may have buried their dead upon Zollicofier Hill 
within a comparatively recent period. 

t Aboriginal Remains (Jones), page 59. 



302 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

A small cord, or string, probably of vegetable fiber, was wrapped 
around it, as shown in the illustration (Fig. 210, No. 2). When dis 
covered, it was deeply imbedded in a large mound, in a layer of 
ashes and burned clay, upon a level with the original surface of the 
ground.* 

Similar wheels, or spool-shaped objects of copper, were also dis 
covered in a mound within the Savannah works (Fig. 9). One of 
them is represented in Fig. 210, ~No. 3.f In general form, they are 
not unlike the rings or ear-ring pendants of pottery or stone (some 
of them plated with copper), illustrated in preceding chapters. 
The similarity of these ear pendants, or personal ornaments, from 
the mounds and graves of Ohio and Tennessee, offers additional evi 
dence of the intercourse or relationship that existed among these 
mound building tribes during the prehistoric period. The little 
copper awl, with a horn handle (Fig. 210, No. 4), one-half actual 
size, was found upon Khea s Island, London county, Tennessee. J 
It must have been a most useful little implement for many purposes. 
It may have been one of the "copper spindles" with which, when 
heated, the natives pierced their shell ornaments, as stated by DC 
Soto s journalists. A few well-made celts or hatchets of hammered 
copper have also been discovered in Tennessee. There is a fine 
specimen in the Wilder collection, and one from the Savannah 
mound group, illustrated in Rau s Smithsonian Collection (page 61). 

In a mound about five miles east of Lebanon, Tennessee, Captain 
R. D. Smith, of the Athenaeum at Columbia, discovered two thin 
copper plates, about eleven inches long, four inches wide, and about 
a tenth of an inch thick. The one we were able to examine appeared 
to have been made of hammered native copper, although it was quite 
uniform in thickness, and may have been made from a thin sheet 
of rolled or comparatively modern copper. They were each pierced 
with five holes, two at each end and one in the middle. Captain 
Smith called them " copper sandals." They may have been used 

* Smithsonian Report, 1877, page 273. 
t Smithsonian Report, 1870, page 408. 
t Smithsonian Collection (Ran), page 61. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 303 

for this purpose, as they were conveniently shaped to fit the human 
foot, and were slightly curved in opposite directions. They were 
also considerably worn " at the toe." 

The fragments or ornaments of copper, represented in Fig. 211. 
were discovered by Mr. D. G. Charles, of Florence, Alabama, a civil 
engineer of intelligence, who reports that they were obtained " in 
an isolated stone grave in a small mound twelve feet in diameter, 
situated one hundred and fifty feet from the west bank of Buffalo 
river, about a half mile from Ashland, Wayne county, Tennessee." 
There was a large artificial mound, of the typical Middle Tennessee 
form, about a half mile distant. In the same grave, Mr. Charles 





FIG. 211. COPPER OBJECTS, WAYNE COUNTY (ACTUAL SIZE).* 

found the very fine engraved shell gorget with the four bird heads, 
illustrated in this chapter (Fig. 231), a perfect vessel of well burned 
pottery, and a great number of large, finely-formed shell beads, all 
of which he kindly sent to the writer, with the statement that he 
had sent " the entire contents of the grave, minus the bones, which 
crumbled upon exposure." Very few graves have yielded treasures 
of such value. 

The larger copper disc or ornament, about two inches in diam 
eter, is roughly made, and is shaped somewhat like a low-crowned 
hat with a broad brim. Its appearance indicates that it was prob 
ably made from a thin sheet of rolled copper, but it may have been 

* Author s collection. 



304 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

hammered from the native ore. Fragments of a mold or center 
piece of wood, well preserved, were found inside of it. 

The smaller copper object, about an inch in diameter, is not 
rudely made, like the other, but is evidently the outside plate of a 
button, or beaded ornament, of thin copper of uniform thickness. 
It is apparently of comparatively modern manufacture, and was 
probably stamped by machinery, or made in a mold prepared for the 
purpose. 

"We have no reason to doubt the discovery of these objects of 
copper in the stone grave, as reported, with the other remains of 
shell and pottery. The latter are, beyond all controversy, genuine 
remains of the Stone Grave race and period. The engraved gorget 
of shell, as will be seen later, is a very beautiful specimen of a well 
known Tennessee and Mississippi type. It would be almost impos 
sible to successfully counterfeit it. 

There is but one satisfactory theory that can explain the pres 
ence of these articles of copper in the stone grave of the Wayne 
county mound. They are probably relics of De Soto s campaign. 
They look like harness trappings or ornaments of the old Spanish 
horseman.* 

Wayne county lies upon the Alabama and Mississippi border 
line, not far from De Soto s track across those states, and but a 
short distance from the point where the battle of Chicaca was 
fought. They are somewhat decayed with age and use, and are 
doubtless genuine antiqaes, but they are not pre-Columbian. We 
class them with the relics of De Soto discovered in a mound in 
North Mississippi by the agents of the Smithsonian Institution, and 
reported in "Work on Mound Exploration," by Dr. C. Thomas 

(page 9).f 

BONE IMPLEMENTS. Passing to a consideration of the imple 
ments and objects of bone discovered among the prehistoric re 
mains in Tennessee, we find that these articles are not relatively so 
numerous, or so finely finished, as many of the antiques of stone, 

* See note as to these copper objects at end of supplement to this chapter. 
t Described in Chapter II. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 



305 



pottery, and shell. Bone implements of a rude character, coarse 
needles, sharpened points, and simple mechanical and domestic 
tools, such as necessity would suggest in a primitive state of society, 
are frequently found. A few articles have also heen discovered that 
appear to represent a more advanced condition of the ancient indus 
tries. Doubtless many more objects of bone of great interest might 
have been found by careful and painstaking explorations among the 
stone graves, but in the majority of instances the graves have been 
excavated by unscientific and careless collectors and relic hunters, 




FIG. 212. BONE IMPLEMENTS (TWO-FIFTHS).* 

searching chiefly for vessels of pottery and curiosities of a more 
striking character. 

Some of the bone implements of the ordinary class are shown 
in Fig. 212. They are from the graves in the immediate vicinity of 
Nashville. 

In the grave of an adult in the large cemetery on Brown s 
creek, Mr. Otto Giers found the set of bone implements illustrated 
in Fig. 213. They were found lying together, partly under the 
shoulder or upper part of the skeleton. As they were not objects or 
ornaments that might have been deposited in the grave as N a tribute 

* Author s collection. 



306 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



to the dead, it is possible that they belonged to the person buried 
there, and that they were the tools used and valued by him. In 
another grave Mr. Giers found a great number of very small bone 
implements, similar in form, and about three inches long. They 
looked like little toothpicks. The various needles or implements 
illustrated may have been used in making clothing of skins and 
cloth, in working untanned skins and feather work, in weaving and 
making nets, and in other industries. 

The set of well made and finished little spatulse or spade-shaped 
bone implements (Fig. 214) was discovered by Mr. John Blunkall, 




FIG. 213. SET OF BONE IMPLEMENTS ( TWO-FIFTHS).* 

one of our exploring " experts," in a stone grave on the Bass farm, 
near the Cumberland river, a few miles west of Nashville, in Janu 
ary, 1890. He also found many fine vessels of pottery and stone 
implements in the same burial grounds. Doubtless an important 
village or advanced settlement was located in that vicinity when the 
mound and fort builders were in power in Middle Tennessee. Mr. 
Blunkall discovered five of these " little spades " lying together, but 
one of them was unfortunately destroyed in digging, and he was 
able to secure only its handle and fragments of the blade. The four 
others are represented in the engraving. 

* Giers collection. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 



307 



They were found in a grave about six feet in length, containing 
the skeleton of a full sized adult. The implements were laid ap 
parently within the grasp of the hand. The largest is nine and one- 
fourth inches in length, and has a blade nearly an inch and a half 
wide. The smallest one is five and one-half inches in length. 

These remarkable little implements, like some of the graceful 
vessels of pottery, seem to represent a somewhat advanced culture. 
Indeed, few of the objects discovered in the graves offer such evi 
dence of a settled and sedentary state of society as the little set of 
" spades. The illustration scarcely does credit to them. The 
blades are all slightly curved or shovel-shaped, and they have been 




FIG. 214. A SET OF BONE IMPLEMENTS.* 

laboriously carved from large bones, and finished with nearly as 
much uniformity, care, and skill as a modern mechanic would be 
stow upon a set of implements of ivory or metal They look as if 
they would be much more at home in an apothecary s shop than in 
an Indian wigwam. They surely can not be regarded as belonging 
to the equipment of a typical hunting or fishing Indian. They also 
seem too clean and delicate for use in mixing mineral paints. Per 
haps they were designed as little spatulse for mixing the salves and 
decoctions in the aboriginal shop of some old medicine man. 
Whatever was their use, they at least appear to represent some 
trade or occupation pertaining to a civilized or semi-civilized con 
dition of society. 

* Author s collection. 



308 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



The articles of bone represented in Fig. 215 also have a some 
what more respectable appearance than ordinary " Indian relics. " 
Views of the two sides of the largest object are presented, to show 
the ornamental carvings upon it. It is probably a portion of a 
handle or implement. It was found in the gravel bed of the island 
in the Cumberland river below the extensive burial grounds on the 
east bank opposite Nashville. It is evidently a piece of aboriginal 
work. The bone needle is from a stone grave. The little bird 
amulet or totem is not unlike the types of rude bird heads engraved 
upon some of the shell gorgets from the Nashville district. It was 




FIG. 215. OBJECTS OF BONE (ACTUAL SIZE).* 

found in a stone grave upon Judge Cooper s farm, containing also 
vessels of pottery and beads, by Mr. Buchanan and the writer. 

Among the most numerous objects of bone deposited in the 
stone graves are the vertebrae of animals. Most of them have been 
ground or polished, probably by use as implements. We have two 
from the same grave that have been ground or cut into cubes with 
flat sides. They may possibly have been used in polishing pottery 
or stone implements. As heretofore stated, it seems singular that 
tool handles of bone and horn are not more frequently found. If 
commonly used, more of them should have been preserved. It may 

* Giers and author s collections. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 309 

be that implement handles were usually made of wood, as we hr,ve 
suggested. 

OBJECTS OF SHELL. The objects of shell discovered in the an 
cient cemeteries of Tennessee are of special interest. Indeed, we 
doubt whether any of the antiques of pottery or stone equal in 
archseologieal value some of the remarkable engraved gorgets of 
shell from the ancient graves and mounds of Tennessee and the 
states adjacent. It seems there was an age of shell as well as an 
" age of stone " in ancient Tennessee. The rude sepulchers of 
stone, the faithful depositories of so many objects of aboriginal art 
and industry, have again interposed to save from destruction a vast 
store of materials of shell implements, utensils, vessels, gorgets, 
beads, pendants, pins, ornaments, and other articles in great variety, 
illustrating the manner of life of the ancient inhabitants of Tennes 
see. The unburied objects of shell lost by the waste of time and 
exposure doubtless far outnumbered the remains found in the 
graves. The ancient villagers of the Cumberland and Tennessee 
valleys must have been industrious and thrifty travelers and traders 
to have been able to bring or import from the far Gulf or South 
Atlantic coasts, by purchase or exchange, the vast numbers of arti 
cles manufactured from marine shells. 

According to the journals of the early discoverers, the natives 
of ancient Florida placed large shells from the sea upon the graves 
and burial mounds of the dead. Cabeza de Yaca tells us that sea 
shells and the "hearts" of shells were among the articles of mer 
chandise sold by him and exchanged in his trading expeditions 
through the Gulf States. Adair, Bartram, and Hay wood also men 
tion the use of drinking cups of shell by the modern southern In 
dians. We are told by the old Spanish chronicles, that the great 
Aztec chief, Montezuma, used cups of " natural shells richly set 
with jewels." The far inland Indians of the pueblos of Arizona 
also used large shells from the sea as drinking vessels. We might, 
therefore, reasonably expect that these objects would be deposited 
in the graves of the ancient Indians with their other worldly treas 
ures. They are found in the mounds and ancient cemeteries as far 



310 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



from the seaboard as Iowa and Michigan, but nowhere, it seems, in 
such abundance and in such variety of forms as in Tennessee. 

Mr. W. H. Holmes, of the Bureau of Ethnology, calls Tennes 
see a "great store-house " of ancient remains of shell. More than 
half of the fine engraved gorgets and a large proportion of the 
other objects illustrated in his very interesting and comprehensive 
article upon ancient shell remains, are from the valleys of the Ten 
nessee and Cumberland rivers. 

Of the marine shells, the Busycon perversum, or conch, is 
found in the greatest numbers. Thousands of them must have 




FIG. 216. CONCH SHELL CUPS, NOEL CEMETERY (THREE-FIFTHS).* 

been used in manufacturing the various utensils, ornaments, and 
implements discovered. The interior columns were utilized in 
making pins, beads, and other articles ; the outside shells remaining 
formed useful and convenient vessels and cups. The cassis, the 
strombus, the oliva, and other univalves were also used. The main 
supplies, however, came from the more convenient unios, or mussel 
shells of the rivers. They were pounded into powder to temper the 
fine clays in the manufacture of pottery. They were utilized as 
spoons, forks, paint cups, knives, and mechanical and gardening 
tools. Thousands of them were cut into beads and ornaments. 

t Author s collection. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 311 

Among the most familiar objects made from the conch shells, 
are the cups represented in Fig. 216. The little shell with the hole 
for suspension was probably a toy cup. The interior columns and 
partitions have been skillfully removed. These vessels are light 
and convenient, arid are stronger than the bowls of pottery. The 
larger specimen illustrated is but seven inches long. We have 
others measuring ten inches, and still larger ones are found in the 
graves. 

Many of the shell forms were reproduced in pottery. The ves 
sels represented in Fig. 217 were evidently fashioned after conch 
shell models or suggested by them.* 




FIG. 217. SHELL FORMS IN POTTERY, NOEL CEMETERY (ONE-THIRD).! 

Since the illustrations in the chapter upon pottery were pre 
pared, we have obtained from the Noel cemetery a beautiful vessel 
of pottery molded in imitation of a double shell, suggested, doubt 
less, by the valves of the unio (Fig. 218). It is a line piece of ware, 
with thin walls and more graceful proportions than the engraving 
represents. Many dainty little cups in pottery were also fashioned 
in the shape of the unio. 

The vessels of shell and pottery discovered in the graves were 
probably originally well supplied with food, placed there to be used 
upon the journey into the next world, as nearly all of them were 

* A vessel of pottery from a burial mound in Arkansas, fashioned in almost ex 
act imitation of the conch shell, is illustrated in the Second Annual Report of the 
Bureau of Ethnology, Plate XXII. 

t Author s collection. 



312 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



supplied with spoons. The food has disappeared by absorbtion and 
decay, but the spoons are generally preserved. They are found in 




FIG. 218. DOUBLE SHELL FORM IN POTTERY, NOEL CEMETERY. * 

the vessels, and sometimes within the very bones of the hands, 
Good examples of the shell spoons may be seen in Fig. 219. The 





FIG. 219. TYPICAL SHELL SPOONS, NOEL CEMETERY (ONE-HALF).* 

little spoon was obtained in the grave of a child. It will be ob 
served, from the side of the bivalve selected, that the spoons were 
made for use in the right hand, showing that the mound builder, 
like his white successor, was " righthanded." In our explorations, 



* Author s collection. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 313 

we have not observed a spoon made for use in the left hand ; but we 
are informed by Mr. Holmes that there are two specimens of this 
form in the National Museum (from Tennessee and Kentucky). 

A shell spoon of another type is illustrated in Fig. 220. It is 
a little over four inches long, and about two inches wide. Many 
varieties of these" convenient little utensils are found. The ancient 
tribes of Tennessee were evidently more refined in their manner of 
eating than some of their more savage neighbors outside of the 
mound districts. Their shell spoons were of very proper and lim 
ited size. Beverly, in his History of Virginia, informs us that the 




FIG. 220. SHELL SPOON, NOEL CEMETERY (ONE-HALF).* 

Indians of the Atlantic coast ate with large cockle-shell spoons. 
" The Spoons they do eat with," he states, " do generally hold half 
a Pint; and they laugh at the English for using small ones, which 
they must be forced to carry so often to their Mouths that their 
Arms are in Danger of being tired before their Belly." f 

The forms of the shell spoons from the graves were also used 
as models by the old pottery makers, as is shown by the bowl rep 
resented in Fig. 221. 

The original vessel is a much better imitation of the spoon 
form than the engraving. The walls of this fine bowl are almost 
as thin as the shell after which it was modeled. It is as light and 
delicately formed as modern china ware, and has doubtless per 
formed useful service in its day. It is eight inches wide, and nearly 
ten inches long, 

* Author s collection. 

t History of Virginia, page 154. 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

Among the domestic conveniences of the Stone Grave race, 
knives and spoons seem to have abounded. There were doubtless 
some substitute for forks. Perhaps the pointed bone implements 
supplied their place, or, more likely, aboriginal fingers, in most 
cases, performed the duty now assigned to forks; yet we are not 
without evidence that these progressive villagers, in their march 
toward civilization (for they were evidently making good progress 
in that direction), had begun to realize the necessity for forks, and 




FIG. 221. SPOON-SHAPED BOWL, POTTERY (ONE-FOURTH).* 

had really invented an aboriginal fork of considerable promise (Fig. 
222). This unique implement, carefully carved from the side of a 
conch shell, is a kind of combination spoon and fork. It was dis 
covered in a stone grave by one of our men (George Wood), in ex 
ploring, under our direction, the ancient burial grounds on Judge 
W. F. Cooper s farm, on the bank of the Cumberland river, a few 
miles above Nashville. Its shape was evidently suggested by the 
form of the human hand, which had doubtless generally officiated 
as a fork, or in lieu of a fork, at the aboriginal repast. It is a little 
over three inches long, and about an inch and three-quarters wide. 
This little implement might have developed into a very convenient 
fork in a century or more of progress. The hole was doubtless in 
tended for suspension on the neck or at the girdle of its owner. 
Forks, as part of the equipment of a dining-table, are a modern inven 
tion, but three or four centuries old. The Turks and Chinese have 
not yet learned to use them. They were unknown to the Romans 

* Author s collection. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 315 

and Greeks, arid to Mexican and Peruvian civilization. We may 
therefore regard this embryo fork, or spoon-fork, as a most interest 
ing evidence of progress among the natives of the Cumberland valley. 
It is probably the only pre-Columbian fork discovered in America, 
and may antedate all other forks intended for individual or table use. 




FIG. 222. AN ABORIGINAL FORK OF SHELL (ACTUAL SIZE). : - 

Jt is certainly older than any of the four-pronged forks of civilized 
society, as they are an invention of the nineteenth century. 

Many curious pins of shell are also found in the graves. Some 
of the long, slender forms were probably used as ornaments for the 
hair; others were applied to mechanical uses. We have two 
" pins ^ from a grave in Jackson county, about three inches long, 
with heads shaped like common nails. The columellse of the large 
conchs or busycons furnished most of the material for these pins 
and nail-shaped objects. 

The little shell bracket (Fig. 223) was ingeniously carved from 
the heavy point and the perpendicular column of one of these shells. 

The ingenuity of the mechanic, and the taste that suggested 
this useful little object, seem to indicate a somewhat advanced con 
dition of society. Such articles would not usually be found in the 
temporary lodges of nomadic tribes. They belong to the homes of 
a sedentary and peaceful community. 

* Author s collection. 



316 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



Among the most familiar and interesting objects obtained from 
the stone graves of Tennessee are the beads and personal ornaments 
of shell. This would naturally be expected from the characterises 
of the native races of America, whether savage or semi-civilized. 
All the modern tribes of Indians have adorned their persons and ap- 




FIG. 223. A BRACKET OF SHELL FROM A GRAVE (ACTUAL SIZE).* 

parel with beads and ornaments. The Mexicans, the Peruvians, 
and the tribes of the pueblos were no exceptions to the general rule. 
Captain John Smith, writing of Powhattan, informs us that he was 
" richly hung with manie Chaynes of great Pearles about his 
necke," and that the young women about him wore " a great chaine 
of white Beades over their Shoulders." f 

A large proportion of the beads of shell from the graves do not 
differ materially from the discoidal and tubular forms common 
among the modern tribes. Other types, however, are found, un 
known or unobserved in later times. The greater portion of them 
have lost their gloss and finish, and some of them have crumbled 

* Historical Society collection. 

t True Relation of Virginia, pages 33, 34. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 



317 



into fragments or dust, but we have secured many fine specimens 
apparently in as perfect a state as when first made. It would be a 
labor to count the number of beads on the different strings hanging 
in our collection. 




FIG. 224. SHELL BEADS FROM THE GRAVES (ACTUAL SIZE).* 

Some of the ordinary forms of disc-shaped beads of shell are 
shown in Fig. 224 (actual size). 

The large shell, perforated for suspension, the Oliva literata of 




FIG. 225. LARGE DISCOIDAL BEADS, HICKMAN COUNTY.* 

the Atlantic coast, is frequently found with other beads, and prob 
ably sometimes hung upon the strands of smaller beads, as repre 
sented. 

About fifty of the fine large discoidal beads (Fig. 225) were 

* Author s collection. 



318 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

found by Mr. Henry Nixon, of Centerville, in a single grave in 
Hickman county (Middle Tennessee). He kindly presented them to 
the writer. They are more than three-fourths of an inch in diam 
eter. The holes are exact and carefully drilled, and the beads are 
symmetrical and well formed. The strings that held all these beads 
have long since decayed and disappeared, but many of them are 
found about the necks of the skeletons in the graves, as if they had 
been worn as necklaces. Some of them were probably worn as 
bracelets; others were doubtless placed with the dead as tributes. 
These discoidal beads were typical varieties used by the modern In 
dians of the southern coast, when first visited by the whites. The 
great numbers of them found suggest that many of them were prob 
ably used as wampum in ornamental belts or dress bands, or per 
haps as shell money. 

The historic tribes of both the North and South used certain 
varieties of shell beads as currency. Their value as ornaments 
probably first led to their being adopted as a convenient medium 
of exchange in bartering commodities. It seems scarcely possible 
that so many of them, of exactly the same size and form, would 
have been manufactured for merely ornamental purposes, yet thou 
sands of the smaller classes were sometimes used by the modern In 
dians in a single belt of wampum. The belt delivered by the 
Sachems of the Leni Lenape to William Penn, in 1682, contained 
about three thousand. One of the historic belts of the Onandaguas 
contained nearly ten thousand. It can not be a matter of surprise, 
therefore, that so many beads are sometimes found in a single grave. 
It will be remembered that the female figure in the Simmer county 
pictograph, in the collection of the Historical Society (Plate II), ap 
pears to be holding a belt in her hand, probably a belt of wampum. 

Adair informs us that shell beads had a fixed value as currency 
among the Cherokees and other tribes of southern Indians.* 

* "Formerly, four deer-skins was the price of a large conch shell bead about the 
length and thickness of a man s forefinger, which they fixed to the crown of their 
head as an high ornament, so greatly they valued them." History of the American 
iDdians, page 170. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 



319 



Beverly, in his History of Virginia, tells us that the Indians 
" had nothing which they reckoned riches, before the English went 
among them, except Peak, Roenoke, and such trifles, made out of 
the Cunk Shell. These passed with them instead of gold and silver, 
and served them both for money and ornaments. It was the En 
glish alone that taught them first to put a value on their Skins and 
Furs, and to make trade of them." (Page 95.) 

Great numbers of beads of shell are found in the ancient graves 
of California that do not differ from the wampum or shell money 
used by the modern tribes of that section.* 







FIG. 226. VARIOUS TYPES OF BEADS ( TWO-THIRDS).! 

Various forms of beads are represented in Fig. 226 (two-thirds 
actual size). All are of shell, excepting the little string made of the 
teeth of the wolf, or of some wild animal.^ 

The illustration scarcely does justice to some of the beautiful 
specimens of shell beads in our collection. A few of them have 
not lost their original luster, and many of them are large and 

* Shell beads were used as currency by the Indians of the Pacific Coast. Lewis 
and Clark s Expedition, page 73. 

t Author s collection. 

t We are indebted to Mr. Zach. Patrick, of Rutherford county, for this rare 
string of ancient beads. 



320 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



symmetrically formed. Hanging together in strings, they present 
a very different appearance from the pictures representing them. 

We have not discovered any beads in the stone graves that 
we can with certainty identify as pearls, although many of them 
have the forms of pearls, and even in their somewhat decayed 
state show the glistening laminse of pearly shells, but the laminse 
are flat, and unlike the spherical formation of the pearl. De 
Soto s journalists, and other writers, reported that the natives pos 
sessed great numbers of pearls and necklaces of pearls. Perhaps 
the irridescent shell beads were mistaken by the soldiers of De Soto 









FIG. 227. TERRA COTTA BEADS FROM THE GRAVES (TWO-THIRDS).* 

for pearls. The shells seem more enduring than the delicate pearls, 
and probably most of the latter have dissolved into their original 
lime, and disappeared. Many fine pearls are found in the mussel 
shells of the southern rivers. They do not usually equal the 
oriental and Pacific coast pearls, but some of them are large and 
beautiful. 

We have a hundred or more river pearls in our collection of 
gems a few of them about a third of an inch in diameter. We are 
very familiar with their forms and appearance, yet, we repeat, we 
have not found them in the graves, either perfect or as beads, and 



* Author s collection. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 321 

we think some of the pearls reported to have been discovered in 
the graves may have been only pearl-shaped beads of shell. 

Many of the forms of shell beads were imitated in pottery, as 
may be seen in Fig. 227. Some of them are perforated ; others are 
grooved in the middle for stringing. We describe them as " terra 
cotta beads," as they are made of the finest clay paste of a dark 
rich color, burned almost to the hardness of stone. They are very 
symmetrical in form 

Fig. 228 represents some of the large beads or bead-shaped ob 
jects of stone from the graves. The specimen on the right is made 
of brilliant red jasper. 

The most beautiful stone beads we have observed are the long, 






FIG. 228. LARGE BEADS OB BEAD-SHAPED OBJECTS OF STONE (THREE-FOURTHS).* 

delicately-formed tubular beads of red and yellow jasper, found in 
Mississippi. The forms and material appear to be a specialty of 
that state. They are fine specimens of lapidary work, some of them 
being two or three inches long. The perforations in the hard jasper 
are as exact as if drilled by machinery.! 

THE GORGETS. We now pass to the consideration of another 
class of ornaments of shell the gorgets. We doubt whether any 
of the ancient remains found within the mound area equal some of 
these antiques in archaeological interest, unless we except the en 
graved plates or gorgets of copper from Georgia and Illinois, which 
are of somewhat similar character. 

* Author s collection. 

t Prof. K. B. Fulton, of the University of Mississippi, kindly sent us a number 
of fine specimens from his collection, for examination. 



322 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

The vestiges of ancient art, by which we may hope to trace the 
state of civilization or semi-civilization reached by the mysterious 
race named for convenience " the mound builders," are often uncer 
tain or contradictory. They have led to much discussion and 
widely diverging opinions. The evidences are very conflicting. 
Here and there, however, archaeologists have been able to discover a 
few quite significant traces of a state of culture above the plane of 
ordinary aboriginal life in the Mississippi valley, as viewed from a 
historic or frontier stand-point. Some of the gorgets of shell from 
Tennessee and the states adjacent belong to this class of testimony. 
They tell a much more exact and intelligible story of the state of 
society in the prehistoric period in certain sections than can be dis 
covered from the pipes and pottery, or even from the remarkable 
forms of the great earth- works. 

The early discoverers inform us that gorgets of shell, orna 
mented with various devices, were worn as breast-plates by the 
natives of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Lawson, who visited 
North Carolina in 1700, states : " They (the Indians) oftentimes 
make of this shell (the conch) a sort of gorge, which they wear 
about their neck in a string, so it hangs on their collar, whereon 
is sometimes graven a cross, or some old sort of figure which comes 
next in their fancy." * 

Beverly, writing of the Indians of Virginia, also states : u Of 
this shell they also make round tablets of about four inches in di 
ameter, which they polish as smooth as the other, and sometimes 
they etch or grave thereon circles, stars, a half-moon, or any other 
figure suitable to their fancy." f 

Gorgets or pendants of shell, stone, or metal are among the 
typical ornaments of the native races of America. They were worn 
by the tribes of California and of the pueblos. They appear in the 
Aztec pictures and upon the Maya tablets. They are suspended 
from necklaces, and are to be seen upon the breasts of the mytho- 

* History of Carolina (Raleigh), 1850, page 315. 
t History oi Virginia (Loudon), 1705, page 58. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 



323 



logical and historic figures. They will also be noticed upon the 
figures of the Sumner county pictograph. We might well expect, 
therefore, to find them in exploring the ancient graves of the Mis 
sissippi valley. Many of the types from the graves are not unlike 
the gorgets worn within the historic period. 

Some of them are entirely plain; others are etched with 
various simple devices ; but a few have been found that are among 
the finest specimens of aboriginal art in engraving, and afford in 
formation of unusual interest to the student of archaeology. 

Types of unengraved shell pendants or gorgets from the cen 
tral portion of the state are shown in Fig. 229. 




1 23 

FIG. 229. SHELL GORGETS OR BREAST ORNAMENTS, MIDDLE TENNESSEE. 

~No. 1, the plain, simple disk, is the most common type found in 
the graves and ancient settlements. We have a number of these 
specimens, ranging from the size of a discoidal bead to four inches 
in diameter. 

Nos. 2 and 3 (Johnson collection) are unusual and beautiful 
types, recently found by H. L. Johnson in a rock grave under a 
cliff in Jackson county, Tennessee. There were about forty conch 
shell beads in the same grave. The unique little ring pendant or 
symbol is unfortunately slightly broken. In the rim there are 
thirteen segments of circles, the usual number of divisions or scal 
lops in this class of gorgets, a characteristic evidently of some sig 
nificance, as will be shown hereafter. The large square gorget is 



324 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

unique. It must have been worn many years, and perhaps during 
more than one generation, as deep furrows have been worn by the 
strings in the hard shell above the original holes drilled for its sus 
pension. 

These unengraved pendants may have been mere ornaments, or 
they may have had some significance as symbols or amulets. Possi 
bly, some of them were painted with totemic devices. We pre 
sume, however, the beautiful colors of the natural shells, and their 
varied forms, were their chief attractions. 

The engraved gorgets are of much greater importance. It 
seems singular that the advanced tribes once occupying the central 
portion of the Mississippi valley, and whose remains show many ev 
idences of a very interesting although limited culture, should have 
left no architectural monuments of stone, or inscriptions or writings 
in pottery or stone, on the plane of their highest development. 
Some of their shell and copper plates, however, and a few inscribed 
tablets, give us a glimpse of their better state, and confirm the 
other evidences of their culture. They establish the fact that it 
actually existed and was of a very interesting character. 

The most familiar type of the engraved gorgets from the graves 
in the vicinity of Nashville are ornamented with circles or circular 
devices. One of the largest and most beautiful specimens of this 
type (Fig. 230) was found by Dr. Joseph Jones in the large mound 
on the bank of the Cumberland opposite Nashville.* 

We quote Dr. Jones s description of this fine gorget and of its 
discovery : " In a carefully constructed stone sarcophagus, in which 
the face of the skeleton was looking toward the setting sun, a beau 
tiful shell ornament was found resting upon the breast-bone of the 
skeleton. This shell ornament is four and four-tenths inches in di 
ameter, and it is ornamented on its concave surface with a small 
circle in the center, and four concentric bands, differently figured, 
in relief. The first band is filled by a simple volute ; the second is 

* We are indebted to the courtesy of Prof. Langley, of the Smithsonian Institu 
tion, for this illustration from Dr. Jones s work, page 43. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS, 



325 



plain ; while the third is dotted and has nine small bosses carved at 
unequal distances upon it. The outer band is made up of fourteen 
small elliptical bosses, the outer edges of which give to the object a 
scalloped rim. This ornament, on its concave figured surface, has 
been covered with red paint, much of which was still visible. The 
convex smooth surface is highly polished and plain, with the excep 
tion of three concentric marks. This ornament, when found, lay 
upon the breast-bone with the concave surface uppermost, as if it 
had been worn in this position, suspended around the neck, as the 
two holes for the thong or string were in that portion of the border 




FIG. 230. ENGRAVED SHELL GORGET, NASHVILLE TYPE (ONE-HALF). 

which pointed directly to the chin or central portion of the lower 
jaw of the skeleton. The marks of the thong by which it was sus 
pended are manifest upon both the anterior and posterior surfaces, 
and, in addition to this, the paint is worn off from the circular 
space bounded below by the two holes." * 

Since Dr. Jones s discovery, many line shell gorgets of the ro 
sette or scalloped-disc design have been obtained from the stone 
graves in the vicinity of Nashville. Prof. Powell, of the Bureau 
of Ethnology, discovered one of the same size in a stone grave on 
the Bowling farm, west of Nashville, and there are several in the 

* Aboriginal Remains of Tennessee, pages 42, 43. 



326 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

Peabody Museum and in the collection of the Tennessee Historical 
Society. 

We have obtained a number of good specimens of the same 
type from the burial ground upon the Noel farm, one of them for 
tunately as firm and durable as when it was made. 

In the same cemetery we found a large shell disc of this pat 
tern, with two sets of holes on opposite sides, above the center, ar 
ranged to hold it in place on the breast more conveniently and 
steadily. 

The circles or sun symbols engraved upon these gorgets evi 
dently had some special significance in the mythology, religion, or 
customs of the ancient people of the Cumberland valley. Upon no 
other theory can we explain their strict adherence to the details of 
these peculiar designs. If intended for mere ornamentation, the 
forms would have been varied to suit the fancy of the engraver, as 
were the forms and ornaments of the pipes. The circles on the rim 
nearly always number thirteen, and are of uniform size. Occasion 
ally one is found like Fig. 230 with fourteen circles. The discs vary 
in diameter from three to four or more inches, but the designs are 
not materially changed. Their uniformity is very remarkable. 
Similar circles or sun symbols will be observed upon the skirts of 
the dresses of the two chiefs and on the banners in the Sumner 
county pictograph. Father Membre tells us they were painted 
upon the dresses of the natives of the Red River country when he 
visited them, in 1681. He also states that they worshiped the sun.* 

The Natchez, and other tribes, were also sun-worshipers. It 
therefore seems probable that these symbols the circles and stars 
upon the ancient discs of shell, and the crescent forms of some of 
the stone implements were in some way connected with the relig 
ious rites of their predecessors. They may have marked the period 
of time or the numbers of sacred observances. 

Another type of the shell gorgets found in Middle Tennessee, 
is illustrated in Fig. 231. 

* Discovery of the Mississippi (Shea), pages 217, 228. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 



327 



This beautiful specimen was obtained by Mr, D. G. Charles in 
a grave in the ancient burial mound on Buffalo creek, in Wayne 
county (Middle Tennessee), one of the southern counties of the 
state. The copper ornaments, or trappings, supposed to be relics of 
De Soto s campaign, were reported to have been found in the same 
grave. Whatever may have been the history of the relics of cop 
per, there can be no doubt as to the antiquity or genuineness of this 
interesting shell disc, or of the other shell and pottery remains 




FIG. 231. SHELL GORGET, WAYNE COUNTY (ACTUAL SIZE).* 

found with it. Its time-honored appearance, its still polished sur 
face, and the spirited figures so skillfully engraved upon it, tell a 
story that no archaeologist or collector can mistake. It belongs to 
a well known type, occasionally found in the vicinity of Nashville. 
One of the largest and finest gorgets upon which this design was 
engraved is from Mississippi, and is in the National Museum, at 
Washington. It is well illustrated in Mr. Holmes s work upon shell 

* Author s collection. 



328 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

remains. The engraving upon the Mississippi shell and Fig. 231 
are almost identical. The latter, although smaller, is even more 
skillfully executed. Its genuineness may well be vindicated in the 
fact that we have had no little difficulty in finding an artist able to 
represent correctly the exactness and beauty of the original en 
graving. 

Conceding that the marks of antiquity upon the shell might 
possibly be produced or imitated, no one but a master could coun 
terfeit the skillfully engraved designs upon it. 

Several gorgets of shell, with similar but generally more rudely 
executed figures, have been discovered in the vicinity of Nashville, 
and in the neighboring counties. The four bird heads with long 
sharp mandibles and tufted crowns, the four-sided figures with the 
straight regular lines, and endless scroll, and circle corners, always 
appear upon the concave side of the disc, showing that, whether rudely 
or elaborately executed, the exact symbols are represented, thus con 
firming their use as family or tribal insignia. We recently re 
ceived a fine specimen with this design upon it, about three and 
one-fourth inches in diameter now on the desk before us. It is 
discolored and incrusted with brown patina, a sure indication of 
great age, but the incised lines of its fine engraving are still visi 
ble. The latter is nearly a duplicate of the design illustrated. Its 
central figure has but eight points or angles, and the shell is not 
perforated in the center. It was found in a stone grave in Smith 
county, near Dixon Springs.* 

The other specimens discovered have been described by Prof. 
Putnam and Mr. Holmes. 

It is probable that the tribe or clan of the Stone Grave race 
that wore this ancient emblem or totem as a breastplate or orna 
ment at one time occupied the territory extending from the Cum 
berland river, above Nashville, into the State of Mississippi, as all 
of these gorgets were discovered within these limits. 

Birds were connected with many of the myths and poetic fan- 

* Mr. W. W. Ferguson, of Smith county, kindly sent it for examination. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 



329 



cies of the modern tribes. They were among the family totems of 
the Chickasaws, the Creeks, and the Cherokees.* 

The eagle, the turkey, the crane, and the heron were totems. 
Perhaps the crested heron may have been the typical bird repre 
sented, or possibly the more humble woodpecker furnished the 
model. The four incised lines, and the endless ornamental scroll, 
were favorite designs of the old pottery makers, and will be ob 
served upon the vessels illustrated in Fig. 50 and Plate VIIL 




FIG. 232. GORGET, WITH SYMBOL OF THE CROSS (THREE-FOURTHS).! 

Mr. Holmes introduces an illustration of a quite similar four- 
sided scroll figure copied from an ancient Aztec picture. J 

The central figure in the disc (Fig. 231), representing the sun, 
has twelve points, the same number engraved upon the fine Missis 
sippi gorget representing perhaps the twelve lunar periods. 

The little cross in the center of the disc is a symbol frequently 
found, in some form, upon the engraved gorgets. 

A better example of this symbol will be found upon the gorget 
illustrated in Fig. 232. 

* Ancient Society (Morgan), pages 161, 163, 164. 

t Buchanan collection. 

} Second Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, Plate LIX. 



330 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

It was recently discovered by Mr. W. D. Buchanan, of Nash 
ville, in a stone grave of the ancient cemetery on Judge W. F. 
Cooper s farm, a few miles east of Nashville, on the bank of the 
Cumberland river. The shell is discolored, incrusted, and mottled 
with age, but the figure of the cross is cut through it, as precisely, 
and with as sharp and straight edges, as if the work were executed 
by a skilled mechanic with metallic tools. 

A large thin gorget of copper, with a marginal band and a 
symmetrical cross cut through its center, of the exact form of this 
cross of shell, was discovered in one of the Ohio mounds, and is 
now in the Museum of Natural History, at New York. Mr. Holmes 
gives a fine illustration of it. The two gorgets from these two 
mound sections, ornamented with designs so similar and peculiar, 
are very suggestive. There can be no question as to the antiquity 
of the Buchanan gorget. It is probably of purely aboriginal origin. 
We assisted in exploring the extensive burial grounds in which it 
was found. Nothing was discovered indicating contact with the 
whites, or early Europeans, unless this device of the cross can be 
considered as evidence of this fact. 

Cross-shaped figures or ornaments have frequently been dis 
covered among ancient remains in America. In considering this 
subject, Mr. Holmes offers the following interesting reflections: 
" The discoverers and early explorers of the New World were filled 
with surprise when they beheld their own sacred emblem, the cross, 
mingling with the pagan devices of the western barbarian. Writers 
have speculated in vain; the mystery yet remains unsolved. At 
tempts to connect the use of the cross by prehistoric Americans 
with its use in the East have signally failed, and we are compelled 
to look on its occurrence here as one of those strange coincidences 
so often found in the practices of people totally foreign to each 
other. If written history does not establish beyond a doubt that 
the cross had a place in our aboriginal symbolism, we have but to 
turn to the pages of the archaeological record, where we find that 
it occupies a place in ancient American art so intimately inter 
woven with conceptions peculiar to the continent that it can not 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 331 

be separated from them. It is found associated with other pre 
historic remains throughout nearly the entire length and breadth of 
America." * 

Another device engraved upon the shell gorgets found in the 
ancient graves and mounds of Tennessee is the serpent. The discs 
with this design appear to have been mainly used by the tribe or 
tribes that occupied the valleys of East Tennessee, as nearly all of 
them have been found in that section. 

The serpent was an important figure or symbol in the my 
thology of the native races of America, and was associated with 
many of their religious rites. The most remarkable effigy mound 
constructed by the mound builders of Ohio was fashioned in its 
form. It was connected with the sacred ceremonies of the Mexican 
and Central Americans. The rattlesnake was a totem or symbol 
of the Moqui and Laguna Indians of the pueblos, f and was promi 
nent in the religious ceremonies of the Zunis. The snake was also 
a totem of the Shawnees, and of a number of the northern tribes. ; 
It is not surprising, therefore, that it was selected by one of the 
tribes of mound builders of Tennessee as the emblem to be engraved 
upon its breastplates of shell. Thirty or forty of these elaborately- 
carved gorgets have been discovered in the ancient mounds along 
the upper valleys of the Tennessee river many of them four or 
five inches in diameter. 

Fig. 233 represents a typical specimen obtained from the great 
mound at Sevierville, Tennessee. || 

The serpent is engraved upon the concave side of the shell disc, 
cut from the Busycon. The holes for suspension will be observed. 
The head with the large eye, and widely-opened mouth, and the scaly 
coil, are carved with considerable spirit. The tail and rattles are 

* Second Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, page 28. 

t Ancient Society (Morgan), pages 179, 180.. 

J Ancient Society (Morgan), page 168. 

|| The illustration is from Mr. Holmes s article in the Second Annual Report of 
the Bureau of Ethnology, Plate LXII. We are indebted to Major J. W. Powell for 
electrotypes of a number of the shell gorgets illustrated in this chapter. 



332 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



behind the head. The uniformity of these peculiar designs, almost 
invariably engraved upon the concave surface of the shell, is remark 
able. All of them have the same general form, although none of 
them are quite alike in details. 

The central head, the coiled body with its complicated and ob 
scure involutions, the scaly surface, and the marginal band, are con 
stantly repeated in the general design. Sometimes the strange coiled 
figures can scarcely be recognized, yet, upon patient examination, 




FIG. 233. RATTLESNAKE GORGET, MCMAHON MOUND, TENNESSEE (ACTUAL SIZE). 

the mythological serpent is always found to be represented. The 
main features of this mysterious design must have been regarded as 
of great significance by the tribe or branch of the Indian family 
that wore these elaborate breastplates. 

Outline engravings of two other familiar types of these mys 
terious designs (Figs. 234 and 235) are introduced to show their re 
markable character. The long diameter of Fig. 234 nearly six 
inches, will give a correct impression of the general dimensions of 
these large gorgets. The examples presented are not exceptional. 
Nearly all of them are equally well carved, and represent the same 
strange symbolism of the mythology or religion of the native races. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 



333 



The central head and eye, the open mouth, the coiled body, tail, and 
rattles, will be observed upon close examination. 

In the collection of the Tennessee Historical Society, at Nash- 




FIGS. 234 AND 235. RATTLESNAKE GORGETS, EAST TENNESSEE. 

ville, there is a fine specimen, nearly six inches in diameter, of the 
type represented by Fig. 234. It is from one of the Harpeth ceme 
teries, south of Nashville. 




FIG. 236. ENGRAVED STONE Disc, CARTHAGE ALABAMA (ONE-SIXTH).* 

In his work upon Art in Shell of the Ancient Americans, Mr. 
Holmes, of the Bureau of Ethnology, presents an illustration of a 

* National Museum. 



334 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

stone disc in the National Museum, from Carthage, Alabama, upon 
which remarkable serpent figures are engraved (Fig. 236). 

Regarding this interesting stone, Mr. Holmes states : " I have 
seen in the National Museum a curious specimen of stone disk, 
which should be mentioned in this place, although there is not suf 
ficient assurance of its genuineness to allow it undisputed claim to a 
place among antiquities. It is a perfectly circular, neatly dressed 
sandstone disk, twelve inches in diameter and one-half an inch in 
thickness. Upon one face, we see three marginal incised lines, 
while on the other there is a well engraved design, which represents 
two entwined, or rather knotted, rattlesnakes ; within the circular 
space enclosed by the bodies of the serpents is a well drawn hand, 
in the palm of which is placed an open eye. This would probably 
have been omitted by the artist, had he fully appreciated the skepti 
cal tendencies of the modern archaeologist. The margin of the 
plate is divided into seventeen sections by small semi-circular in 
dentations. This object is said to have been obtained from a mound 
near Carthage, Alabama." * 

Mr. Holmes reports that " a similar specimen, from a mound 
near Lake Washington, Mississippi, is described by Mr. Ander 
son." f 

We are inclined to regard this engraved disc as a genuine an 
tique. The typical form of the stone ; its discovery at Carthage, 
Alabama, the center of an advanced mound settlement; the coiled 
serpent figures ; the angles or points behind the eyes, which occur 
upon the ancient stone and pottery figures from that section (see 
Figs. 62 and 84) ; the similarity of the open hand to the open hand 
figures upon the vessels of pottery from Tennessee and Alabama 
(Fig. 40) all seem to offer testimony confirming the genuineness 
of this relic. More of these plates or discs have been discovered in 
Alabama than in any other section. The two vessels of pottery 
decorated with the figures of an open hand, in general appearance 

* Second Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, page 278. 
t Cincinnati Quarterly Journal of Science, October, 1875. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 



335 



not unlike the hand engraved upon the stone disc, have been re 
ported or discovered since the publication of Mr. Holmes s article. 

The art in the engraving is of a high character, but the latter 
is not more skillfully executed than the designs upon the highest 
type shell gorgets and the copper plates, illustrated in this chapter. 

The beautiful shell gorget engraved with the figure of a spider 
(Fig. 237) was obtained from a mound on Fain s island, Tennessee. 
It is an unusual type. Specimens upon which this curious figure is 




FIG. 237. SHELL GORGET THE SPIDER DESIGN, FAIN S ISLAND, TENNESSEE (ACTUAL 

SIZE). 

more naturally and elaborately represented have been discovered 
in the mounds at New Madrid, Missouri, and near East St. Louis, 
in Illinois.* 

The symbol or figure of a cross is usually represented upon the 
back of the spider, and the carvings are most skillfully executed. 
The remarkable uniformity of design is also a characteristic of 
these " spider gorgets." It seems strange that they should be dis- 

* The illustration is from the Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnol 
ogy, Plate LXI. 



336 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

covered in mound districts so widely separated as East Tennessee, 
Western Illinois, and Missouri; yet we have already learned that 
both of these sections were once probably occupied by the tribes or 
kindred of the Stone Grave race of Tennessee. Further evidences 
of the similarity of the ancient arts in these distant sections will be 
presented hereafter. 

We now come to the consideration of a series of ancient gor 
gets of shell, engraved with designs representing the human form. 
These antiques we regard as of very great archaeological interest, as 
some of them probably mark the most advanced stages of art and 
development reached by the ancient inhabitants of America north 
of Mexico, and furnish information of a very definite and important 
character, as to the appearance, dress, and manners of the interest 
ing race of mound builders, at the period when they were probably 
at the height of their power. 

A number of these shell breast-plates, carved from the Busy- 
con, representing the human face, have been discovered in the 
mounds of Tennessee, Virginia, and adjacent sections, but they are 
usually crude and of little value to the archaeologist. 

The figures engraved with the human form are also sometimes 
so peculiar and obscure that the devices upon them can scarcely be 
recognized, and are of interest chiefly as examples of mysterious 
symbolism. 

Two of these specimens, from the ancient mounds of East 
Tennessee, are illustrated in outlines in Figs. 238 and 239. 

The gorget from the McMahon mound, when discovered, was 
lying upon the breast of the skeleton. 

The strange coils and folds, engraved in incised lines upon the 
serpent discs, are not more complicated and mysterious than these 
designs. A casual inspection reveals little but a confused mass of 
involutions, but, upon patient observation, the heads, the bodies, 
arms, hands, legs, and feet will be discovered. More elaborate il 
lustrations of these engraved breastplates may be found in Mr. 
Holmes s monograph, but the figures are as obscure as in the out 
line sketches. The strange designs upon the three well-carved tab- 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 



337 



lets of stone found in Ohio the Cincinnati, Wilmington, and 
Waverly tablets probably belong to the same class of mysterious 
symbols or totemic designs. 

A portion of the most remarkable engraved gorget of shell yet 
discovered in Tennessee is shown in Plate XVI. As the illustration 
is from Mr. Holmes s work, we quote his interesting description of 
it : "Among the multitude of works of art collected within the last 
decade, very few will be found to surpass in interest the fragment of 
a shell gorget from the McMahon mound, at Sevierville, Tennes- 





FIG. 238. SHELL GORGET, MCMAHON S 
MOUND, SEVIERVILLE (ONE-HALF).* 



FIG. 239. SHELL GORGET, LICK CREEK 
MOUND, MEIGS Co. (ONE-HALF).! 



see. The disk, when entire, has been nearly five inches in diameter. 
A little more than one-third had crumbled away, and the remaining 
portion was only preserved by the most careful handling, and by 
immediate immersion in a thin solution of glue. This specimen is 
the first of the kind ever brought to light in this country, and must 
certainly be regarded as the highest example of aboriginal art ever 
found north of Mexico. The design, as in the other cases, has been 



* National Museum, 
t Peabody Museum. 



338 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

engraved on the convex surface of a polished shell disk, and repre 
sents two human figures, plumed, and winged, and armed with 
eagles talons, engaged in mortal combat. As in the last specimen 
described, this has, at first sight, an exotic look, bearing certainly, 
in its conception, a general resemblance to the marvelous bas-reliefs 
of Mexico and Central America; but the resemblance goes no 
further, and we are at liberty to consider it a northern work sui 
generis. The design has apparently covered the entire tablet, leav 
ing no space for encircling lines. The two figures are in profile, and 
face each other in a fierce onset. Of the right-hand figure only the 
body, one arm, and one leg remain. The left-hand figure is almost 
complete; the outline of the face, one arm, and one foot being ob 
literated. The right hand is raised above the head in the act of 
brandishing a long double-pointed knife. At the same time, this 
doughty warrior seems to be receiving a blow in the face from the 
right hand of the other combatant, in which is clutched a savage- 
looking blade, with a curved point. The hands are vigorously 
drawn, the joints are correctly placed, and the thumb presses down 
upon the outside of the forefinger, in its natural effort to tighten 
arid secure the grasp. Two bands encircle the wrists, and probably 
represent bracelets. The arms and shoulders are plain. The head 
is decorated with a single plume, which springs from a circular or 
nament placed over the ear; an angular figure extends forward from 
the base of this plume, and probably represents what is left of the 
head-dress proper ; forward of this, on the very edge of the crum 
bling shell, is one-half of the lozenge-shaped eye, the dot intended 
to represent the pupil being almost obliterated. It is certainly a 
great misfortune that both faces are completely gone ; their exact 
character must remain conjectural. A neat pendant ornament is 
suspended upon the well-formed breast, and a broad belt encircles 
the waist, beneath which, covering the abdomen, is a design that 
suggests the scales of a coat of mail. The legs are well defined and 
perfectly proportioned ; the left knee is bent forward, and the foot 
is planted firmly on the ground, while the right is thrown grace 
fully back against the rim at the left. Double belts encircle the 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 339 

knees and ankles. The legs terminate in wonderfully well-drawn 
eagle s feet, armed with vigorously-curved talons. A very interest 
ing feature of the design is the highly conventionalized wing, which 
is attached to the shoulder behind, and fills the space heneath the 
uplifted arm. A broad, many-featured tail is spread out like a fan 
behind the legs. The right-hand figure, so far as seen, is an exact 
duplicate of the left. A design of undetermined significance occu 
pies the space between the figures beneath the crossed arms ; it 
may represent conventionalized drapery, but is more probably sym 
bolic in its character. The heads have been probably a little too 
large for good proportion, but the details of the anatomy are ex 
cellent. The muscles of the shoulder, the breast and nipple, the 
waist, the buttock, and the calves of the legs, are in excellent draw 
ing. The whole group is most graphically presented. A highly 
ideal design, it is made to fill a given space with a directness of ex 
ecution and a unity of conception that is truly surprising." * 

* "As to the two specimens from Sevierville, Tennessee (Fig. 238 and Plate 
XVI), the shadow of a doubt can not be attached to them. Were there no record 
whatever of the time or place of discovery, the evidence upon the faces of the relics 
themselves would show satisfactorily that they are genuine. They were taken from 
the great mound, which I have called the McMahon mound, at Sevierville, Tennes 
see. This mound was opened in 1881 by one of our most experienced collectors, 
Dr. E. Palmer. The specimens, w r hen found, were in a very advanced stage of de 
cay, pitted, discolored, and crumbling, and had to be handled with the utmost care 
to prevent total disintegration. They were dried by the collector, immersed in a 
weak solution of glue, and forwarded immediately to the National Museum at 
Washington, In this mound a multitude of relics were found, a large number be 
ing shell, many of which are figured and described in this paper. These two gor 
gets, as well as many others of more ordinary types, were found on or near the 
breasts of skeletons, and it is highly probable that they were suspended about the 
necks of the dead just as they had been worn by the living. By accurately ascer 
taining the authenticity of one of these specimens, we establish, so far as need be, 
the genuineness of all of the same class. If one is genuine, that is sufficient ; the 
others may or may not be so, without seriously affecting the questions at issue ; yet 
the occurrence of duplicate or closely related specimens in widely separated locali 
ties furnishes confirmatory evidence of no little importance." W. II. Holmes, in 
Second Annual Eeport Bureau of Ethnology, page 303. 



340 ANTIQUITIES OP TENNESSEE. 

The weapon brandished in the right hand, as has been sug 
gested, very nearly resembles the large double-pointed chipped flint 
implements used by the Stone Grave race. Judging from the width 
of the hand holding it, it seems almost a duplicate of the large knife 
or spear in the writer s collection, illustrated in Plate XI. It is 
greatly to be regretted that the whole of this remarkable design was 
not preserved, as each of these rare discs representing the human 




FIG. 240. ENGRAVED SHELL OR GORGET, FROM ETOWAH MOUND, GEORGIA.* 

form adds something to our knowledge of the appearance and man 
ners of the interesting race that wore them. 

Since the publication of Mr. Holmes s monograph, a few other 
gorgets representing the human form have been discovered in the 
ancient mounds. The specimen illustrated in Fig. 240 was recently 
discovered by Mr. Regan, one of the assistants of the Bureau of 
Ethnology, in exploring the smallest of the three large mounds of 
the Etowah group, at Cartersville, Georgia. 

* This illustration and the three illustrations following have been reproduced 
from the fifth annual report of Major Powell, of the Bureau of Ethnology. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 



341 



It will be observed that it resembles the design of the fighting 
figures engraved upon the large gorget from Tennessee, in a few 
particulars. The necklace and pendant of the same fashion, the 
small square or circles ornamenting the dress, the semi-circles or 
wing ornaments at the side, are found upon both. A very similar 
pendant of stone is illustrated in Fig. 203. 




FIG. 241. ENGRAVED GORGET, ETOWAH MOUND, GEORGIA. 

In a stone grave of the typical Tennessee form, in the same 
Etowah mound, Mr. Rogan discovered the portion of an engraved 
shell gorget represented in Fig. 241. 

Two figures appear in the design, one evidently representing a 
victory or triumph over a fallen foe. The typical necklace and 
wristlets of large beads will be observed. They are also to be seen 
upon the legs. The usual large discs or ear ornaments illustrated 
in the chapters upon pottery, stone, and copper also appear 



342 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

Like the other mounds of the Etowah group, the one explored 
by Mr. Rogan proved to be a rich treasury of antiquities. In its 
stone graves were also found a number of copper plates, stamped or 
marked with figures of a very remarkable character. Also, several 
unique and skillfully made copper ornaments for the head or crown. 




FIG. 242. COPPER PLATE, ETOWAH MOUND, GEORGIA. 

Upon the two largest copper plates were mythological figures, in 
design unlike any vestiges of ancient art yet discovered in America. 
They are quite similar, differing only in subordinate details. One 
of them is illustrated in Fig. 242. 

From Mr. Rogan s field notes in Prof. Cyrus Thomas s interest- 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 343 

ing report of these discoveries,* we make the following extracts : 
" Grave A. A stone sepulcher, two and one-half feet wide, eight 
feet long, and two deep, formed by placing steatite slabs on edge at 
the sides and ends, and others across the top. The bottom con 
sisted simply of earth hardened by fire. It contained the remains 
of a single skeleton, lying on its back, with head east. The frame 
was heavy, and about seven feet long. The head was resting on a 
thin copper plate, ornamented with stamped figures ; but the skull 
was crushed and the plate injured by fallen slabs. Under the cop 
per were the remains of a skin of some kind, and under this, coarse 
matting, probably of split cane. The skin and matting were both 
so rotten that they could be secured only in fragments. At the left 
of the feet were two clay vessels, one a water bottle and the other a 
very small vase. On the right of the feet were some mussel and sea 
shells ; and immediately under the feet, two conch shells (Busycon 
perversum), partially filled with small shell beads. Around each 
ankle was a strand of similar beads. The bones and most of the 
shells were so far decomposed that they could not be saved. 

" Grave B. A stone sepulcher, four and one-fourth long, two 
feet wide, and one and one-half feet deep, differing from "A" only 
in size, and the fact that the bottom was covered with stone slabs. 
The skeleton was extended on the back, head east. On the fore 
head was a thin plate of copper, the only article found. 

" Grave C. A stone sepulcher, three and one-half feet long, 
one and one-half feet wide, and one and one-half deep ; the bottom 
being formed by burnt earth. Although extending east and west, 
as shown in the figure, the bones had probably been interred with 
out regard to order, and disconnected, the head being found in the 
north-east corner, with face to the wall, and the remaining portion 
of the skeleton in a promiscuous heap. There was no indication of 
disturbance after burial, as the coffin was intact. Between some of 
the bones was found a thin plate of copper, that had been formed 

* Fifth Annual Report Bureau of Ethnology, page 98. 



344 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



by uniting and riveting together small sections. Some of the bones 
found in this grave were saved." 

There were ten graves in the mound, but these extracts will 
show the general character of the rest. 

According to Mr. Rogan s measurements, this interesting burial 
mound was a truncated cone with a platform top. Its dimensions 
were as follows : "Average diameter at the base, one hundred and 
twenty feet ; diameter of the level top, sixty feet ; height above the 
original surface of the ground, sixteen feet." 




FIG. 243. COPPER PLATE, ILLINOIS MOUND.* 

The copper plate illustrated was thirteen inches in length and 
nine inches wide. We observed these interesting shell gorgets, cop 
per plates, and ornaments, in the National Museum at Washington, 
but were unable at the time to give them a critical examination. 

The spirited figures upon the large plates at once suggest that 
the art represented is of Mexican or Central American origin ; yet 
we do not find that. they are duplicated in the ancient codices of 
Mexico, or upon the tablets of Central America, There are 
glimpses of typical Mexican art in the general designs, but the de 
tails are probably original artistic conceptions, that should be cred- 

* National Museum. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 345 

ited to the advanced race that constructed the great mounds of 
Georgia and the Mississippi valley. 

The necklace and pendant, the ear-rings, and the semi-circles 
upon the large wings, will at once be recognized as features of two 
of the fine shell gorgets. 

The remarkable figure of an eagle engraved upon a thin copper 
plate (Fig. 243), obtained by Major J. W. Powell from an ancient 
mound near Peoria, Illinois, offers a good illustration of the ex 
tended wings, ornamented with the typical semi-circles or Indian 
characters, symbolizing the clouds, or wind. The latter are some 
times found upon the rude pictographs of the modern tribes. 
Another engraved copper plate of the same character was found 
in "an ordinary stone grave" in Jackson county, Illinois. Eagle 
claws also form the feet of the mythological figures engraved upon 
the large shell gorget from Tennessee.* 

In the summer of 1889, we had the pleasure of examining the 
engraved shell gorget from New Madrid county, Missouri, illus 
trated in Plate XVII. 

It is in the fine private collection of Mr. A. E. Douglass 
at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. 
Mr. Douglass informs us that he obtained it from a reliable party 
in Missouri, who reported that " it was taken from a mound in New 
Madrid county, from the skull of a skeleton six or seven feet below 
the surface of the mound, in November, 1887." " Found with this 
object," he states, " and now in my cabinet, are about one hundred 
beads of shell, which are occasionally matted together, a sure proof 
of great antiquity, a human tooth, probably from the skull referred 
to, with a jasper pebble and other debris." 

" Of its authenticity, I repeat, there can not be a doubt, 
though the original discoverer has apparently rubbed the interior 
surface to dislodge the tenacious brown patina (characteristic of long 

* Other objects of copper from the Etowah mound in Georgia and from Illinois, 
illustrating and confirming some of the specimens illustrated, will be found in the 
Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. 



346 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

inhumation) and display the engraving, enough remains upon the 
incisions to prove that they are ancient, and the lines are full of it." 

Mr. Douglass is an archaeologist of high character, and has had 
many years of experience as a collector. We confirm all his 
statements as to the appearance of this gorget. It bears the marks 
of great age. It would seem impossible to successfully imitate the 
incrustations and discolorations upon it, or to invent or counterfeit 
the details of the remarkable design engraved upon it. The illus 
tration was drawn from a photograph kindly presented by Mr. 
Douglass, but we have found it almost impossible to do full justice 
to the good art exhibited in the details of the engraving upon this 
shell disk. 

Many features analogous to the figures already illustrated will 
be observed. The very peculiar pointed skirt or appendage hang 
ing to the waist-belt, appears in both the copper-plate figures from 
the Etowah mound, which had not been published in 1887, when 
this shell gorget was discovered. The curious complicated head 
dress and long hair tie also suggest the Georgia figures, as does the 
long implement or object under the right arm, which appears to be 
a duplicate of the object held in the right hand of the copper-plate 
figure. The fan-shaped scarf hanging from the w T aist appears in 
several of these designs. The ear-ring, the breast ornament, the 
large beads upon the wrists and legs, the half circles on the arms, 
the lips, all suggest analogies. 

The grotesque proboscis-nose is, however, the unique and 
extraordinary feature of this design. It seems next to impossible 
that any other animal or object than an elephant or an ancient pro 
boscidian should have suggested this remarkable nasal appendage. 
It calls to mind the grotesque masks in the Mexican manuscripts, 
imitating the faces and features of animals, but we have searched 
through Lord Kimborough s ponderous volumes illustrating these 
codices, without finding any mask exactly duplicating this pro 
boscis. 

Noses long, turned up and down, pointed, curved, and twisted 



w 

3 

orq 




COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 347 

are numerous, but none of them present a striking resemblance to 
the peculiar type represented in the Missouri gorget. 

In No. 66, Codex Borgianus, Vol. Ill, there is a grotesque fig 
ure presenting a somewhat elphantine appearance (Fig. 244). 
It represents a masked priest in the act of sacrificing a human 
victim. Humboldt copies it in the " Veus des Cordilleres," with 
the following comment : " I should not have had this hideous 
scene engraved, were it not that the disguise of the sacrificing 
priest presents some remarkable and apparently not accidental re 
semblance to the Hindoo Ganesa, the elephant-headed god of wis- 




PIG. 244. GROTESQUE PICTURE FROM ANCIENT MEXICAN MANUSCRIPT. 

dom. The Mexicans used masks imitating the shape of the heads 
of the serpent, the crocodile, or the jaguar. 

" One seems to recognize in the sacrificer s mask, the trunk of 
an elephant, or some pachyderm resembling it in the shape of 
the head, but with an upper jaw furnished with incisive teeth. The 
snout of the tapir no doubt protrudes a little more than that 
of our pigs, but it is a long way from the tapir s snout to the 
trunk figured in the Codex Borgianus. Had the people of Aztlan 
derived from Asia some vague notion of the elephant, or, as seems 
to me, much less probable, did their traditions reach back to the 
time when America was still inhabited by these gigantic animals, 



348 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

whose petrified skeletons are found buried in the marly ground on 
the very ridge of the Mexican Cordilleras ? " * 

Many important scientific discoveries have been made connect 
ing human life with an early period in the geologic history of our 
western continent since Humboldt published his works, and the 
theory that primitive man was a contemporary of the mammoth in 
America is now accepted by a majority of the scientists who have 
given special attention to this subject. 

Father Charlevoix, whose History of New France was pub 
lished in 1744, records a North American legend of a great elk : 
" There is current also among these barbarians a pleasant enough 
tradition of a great Elk, beside whom others seem like ants. He 
has, they say, legs so high that eight feet of snow do not embarrass 
him ; his skin is proof against all sorts of weapons, and he has a 
sort of arm which comes out of his shoulder, and which he uses as 
we do ours." f 

The latter expression is very remarkable. It seems difficult to 
account for such a tradition, excepting upon the hypothesis that it 
originally sprung from the sight of a live proboscidian. 

In the valuable collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences, 
of Davenport, Iowa, there are two stone pipes carved in the form 
of an elephant, or some closely allied quadruped. The representa 
tions are unmistakable. They were evidently the work of some 
person or persons acquainted with the general form of the gigantic 
animals whose remains are frequently discovered in the ancient peat 
and marl beds in many sections of North America.]; 

There is an ancient effigy mound in Wisconsin with outlines 
shaped somewhat in the general form of a mastodon or elephant. || 

* Veus des Cordilleres, Plate XV ; Researches into the Early History of Man 
kind (Dr. E. B. Tylor), page 313. The illustration (Fig. 244) has been reproduced 
from Dr. Tylor s valuable work. 

t Charlevoix, Vol. V, page 187. Quoted by Dr. Tylor. 

t The authenticity of these pipes has been questioned ; but we have carefully 
examined the facts relating to the discoveries, and we find no good reason to doubt 
their genuineness. 

II Concerning the peat beds of Michigan, Prof. Winchell states that: "These 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 349 

Another unique shell gorget has been discovered in a mound in 
South-eastern Missouri, which we regard as of sufficient importance 
to present in this connection to enable our readers to have the 
benefit of the series of engraved gorgets for comparison.* It is il- 
trated in outlines in Fig. 245. f 

The disc is about four and one-half inches in diameter. The 
small outline sketch scarcely does justice to the details of the orig 
inal engraving. The design differs materially from the figures upon 
the other gorgets and the copper plates. There are some similar 
features, however, which seem to verify the genuineness of them all, 
yet all contain original and different characteristics, which are alike 
useful in establishing the authenticity of these interesting antiques. 
The pointed skirt or apron, with the rectangular ornament, appears 
upon the Georgia plates and the Douglass disc. The fan-shaped 
scarf, falling beside the feet, appears in some form upon nearly all 
of them. The circular ear-ring is always present. The single tat 
too mark across the face brings to mind the similar strong lines 
across the face of the large marble head illustrated in Chapter IY 
(Fig. 51). 

They also appear upon the faces represented upon some of the 
stone pipes of the mound builders. Regarding this fine gorget, Mr. 

beds are the sites of ancient lakelets, slowly filled up by the accumulation of sedi 
ment. They enclose numerous remains of the mastodon and mammoth. They are 
sometimes found so near the surface that one could believe they have been buried 
within five hundred or a thousand years." Post Tertiary Phenomenon of Michigan : 
Recent Origin of Man, page 331 ; Annual of Scientific Discovery, 1871, page 239. 

In confirmation of these views, Dr. C. C. Abbott also remarks : " It is unques 
tionable that many of the remains of the mastodon found in New Jersey and New 
York are far more recent than some of the relics of man, and it is simply impossible 
that even so late a comer as the Indian should not have seen living mastodons on the Atlantic 
seaboard of this continent" Popular Science Monthly, July, 1885, page 310. 

* It is in the possession of Prof. W. B. Potter, of St. Louis. An illustration and 
description of it appeared in Mr. Conant s Footprints of Vanished Races, and subse 
quently in Mr. Holmes s monograph upon Art in Shell. 

t We are indebted to Major Powell for electrotypes of the two illustrations pre 
sented in Figs. 245 and 246. There is also an illustration of this gorget, natural size, 
in Mr. Holmes s paper. 



350 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



Holmes remarks : "Any one familiar with the curious pictographic 
manuscripts of the ancient Mexicans will see at a glance that we 
have here a sacrificial scene, in which a priest seems to be engaged 
in the sacrifice of a human being. In the extraordinary manu 
scripts of Aztecs, we have many parallels to this design. So closely 
does it approach the Aztec type that, although no duplicate can be 
found in any of the codices, there is not a single idea, a single mem 
ber, or ornament, that has not its analogue in the Mexican manu 
scripts. Fortunately for the credit of this Missouri relic, we do not 
find its duplicate; there are only family resemblances; there are 




FIG. 245. SMALL GORGET THE HUMAN FIGURE, MISSOURI MOUND. 

similar plumes, with similar ornaments and pendants ; similar cos 
tumes and attitudes ; there are similar features and similar symbols, 
but there is no absolute identity except in motive and conception." 
Mr. Holmes presents an example from a Mexican manuscript for 
comparison (Fig. 246),* which we also introduced to show our 
readers the marks of identity and of contrast in the two designs. 

We have devoted more time and space to the consideration of 
these engraved gorgets of shell, and the copper plates, than we had 
contemplated, as they have constantly presented new features of in 
terest. "Whether we study the simpler forms of the scalloped discs, 

* Fijervary collection, Budapest, Hungary. Kingsborough, Vol. Ill, Plate 22. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 



351 



the symmetrical squares and circles, the complex serpent symbols, 
the spider emblem, or the strange mythological figures in the hu 
man form, the designs all appear to have some serious significance, 
intimately associated with the social and religious life of the ad 
vanced race of mound builders. The artistic features of the en 
gravings command respect. They are the product of serious art, 
both in conception and treatment. Indeed, they are the highest 
types of the prehistoric art of the north. A few of them are as 
vigorous in design and execution as the art in the picture writings 
of Mexico, or upon the tablets of Central America : yet, nothwith- 




FlG. 246. FlGUEE FROM AX AZTEC PAINTING. 

standing the occasional suggestions of a Mexican or southern 
origin, they represent a culture, in the main, of original and inde 
pendent growth. 

Placing them beside the best known pictographs of the historic 
tribes of the Mississippi valley, we are compelled to admit that they 
represent a higher state of society and a better culture than the lat 
ter. They doubtless mark the highest stage of development reached 
by the Indian race of the north-east, a race evidently akin to the 
progressive Indian villagers of the west and south-west, who, under 
more favorable surroundings, were able to build up a better civiliza 
tion in the valley of Anahuac. 



3526 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

excellent condition, though showing unmistakable evidences of age. 
All were well engraved. With the gorgets were found fourteen 
large pearls, skillfully pierced to wear as beads. Some of them still 
show a lustrous surface. Circular ear ornaments of mica, similar to 
those represented upon the figure, were also found, and a wooden 




FIG. 247. MYER SHELL GORGET, SUMNER COUNTY, TENNESSEE (NATURAL SIZE.) 

button and a coiled serpent of wood, both coated with a thin plating 
of copper.* 

The details of the design upon the shell gorget at once call to 
mind the figure upon the Georgia copper tablets, discovered in the 
Etowah mound, and the Douglass gorget; and confirm their gen 
uineness. (See Figure 242 and Plate XVII.) Observe the peculiar 

* See The Archaeologist of January 1894, page 6. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 352c 

ornaments on the heads, the aprons or appendages hanging from 
the waists, the two beads or masks in the hands, the ear ornaments, 
the wristlets, the garters. 

If the reader will turn to Plate XIVs, it will also be observed 
that this fine shell gorget has engraved upon it, and in the hand of 
the old chief, what appears to be the very flint scepter or mace pho 
tographed as No. 3 of the plate. It was found in Southern Ken 
tucky, not far from Castalian Springs, where the gorget was discov 
ered. If that special ceremonial implement is not represented upon 
the gorget, it must have been its duplicate. 




FIG. 248. SHELL GORGET, CASTALIAN SPRINGS, TENNESSEE (NATURAL SIZE). 

This interesting discovery indicates very clearly the purpose for 
which these strangely formed flint implements were used. Maces 
quite similar in form are also represented upon the Georgia tablet 
and the Douglass gorget. 

One of these old war chiefs, arrayed in his lofty and elaborate 
head dress and striking military attire, and holding aloft his flint 
scepter as an emblem of his rank and authority, must have pre 
sented a commanding figure in the wars and councils of his people. 
He doubtless rivaled in martial appearance the ancient warrior 



ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 



crowned with copper-plated stag horns, discovered by Warren K. 
Moorehead in the Hopewell mound in Ohio. 

We have also illustrated one of the other gorgets found with 
the Myer gorget. 

This specimen is of the regulation scalloped disc pattern and 
involute design of the Nashville section, and is beautifully curved in 
open work. The other two shells found in the grave were engraved 
with the square scroll and bird head pattern illustrated in Figure 231. 




FIG. 249. ENGRAVED STONE, SUMNEB COUNTY, TENNESSEE. 

An engraved stone of an interesting character was also found, 
within the lines of the ancient fortified town at Castalian Springs in 
1892, and is illustrated in Figure 249. It is now in the Myer collec 
tion at Carthage, Tennessee. The piece of Trenton limestone upon 
which the figure is engraved is about 9 by 12 inches in size. The 
half circles ornamenting the wings of the strange figure will be 
found upon the Georgia copper tablets and upon the eagle figure 
from the mound in Illinois (Figures 242 and 243). These typical 
Indian characters symbolize the clouds or winds. The hair knot 
upon the head is not unlike some of the types rudely represented 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 



352e 



upon the large engraved stone found near the same place and illus 
trated in Plate II. 

In 1893, the writer discovered in the archaeological collection in 
the Illinois State Building at the Columbian Exposition another 
ancient shell gorget engraved with the human figure. It is illus 
trated in Figure 250. Noticing it in a small case, among a number 
of specimens from Illinois, the writer called the attention of Mr. 
Wm. McAdams, the intelligent curator, to it. He was surprised at 
the discovery, and kindly permitted me to take it from the case and 




FIG. 250. SHELL GORGET, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (NATURAL SIZE). 

make a sketch and pencil rubbing of it, from which the illustration 
has been made. It was without doubt a genuine shell gorget of the 
mound era, showing unmistakable evidences of its age. It was la 
beled from " Southern Illinois." 

A hunter or warrior, with a grotesque head or mask, is repre 
sented as about to strike a wild turkey. The head and spirited 
figures are fairly well copied from the shell or rubbing. The 
similarity in certain well-defined features and characteristics of 
nearly all these shell gorgets engraved with the human figure, 
whether found in Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, or Illinois, is quite 
remarkable. It seems to represent intimate relations and somewhat 



352/ ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

the same state of culture among tribes extending over a vast terri 
tory. In motive and designs they suggest identities and analogies 
most interesting to the student of aboriginal life in America. 

Colonel Thomas Wilson, Curator of Prehistoric Archaeology in 
the National Museum- at Washington, recently found an engraved 
shell gorget from Tennessee in the national collection, which is of 
unusual interest, and which has not heretofore been reported or illus 
trated. (See Plate XVIII.) We give the facts as to its discovery 
and Colonel Wilson s intelligent observations regarding it in his own 
words : 

"In searching the IT. S. National Museum for the objects de 
scribed in the Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 
under the title of Art in Shell among the Ancient Americans, the 
writer discovered a neglected specimen of a mutilated and damaged 
shell, marked as shown on the back, found by Mr. Emmert, an em 
ploye of the Bureau of Ethnology, in the year 1882. Its original 
field number was 267, Professor Thomas s 6,542, the Museum num 
ber 115,562, and it was found in the Big Toco mound, Monroe 
county, Tennessee. It is not figured or mentioned in any of the 
Bureau reports. It is greatly to be regretted that this shell is so 
mutilated. In its present condition no one can say positively what 
it is, whether a statue of Buddha or not; but to all appearances it 
represents one of the Buddhist divinities. Its material, similar to 
the hundred others found in the neighborhood, shows it to have 
been indigenous, yet parts of its style are different from other abo 
riginal North American images. Attention is called to the slim 
waist, the winged arms, the crossed legs, the long feet, breadth of 
toes, the many dots and circles shown over the body, with triple lines 
of garters or anklets. All these show a different dress from the 
ancient North American. The girdle about the waist, and the tri 
angular dress which, with its decorations and arrangement of dots 
and circles, cover the lower part of the body, are to be remarked. 
While there are several specimens of aboriginal art from this part 
of the country which bear these peculiarities of costumes, positions, 
appearance, and manner of work, showing them to have been in use 




PLATE XVIII. The Wilson Shell Gorget. 

(National Museum, Washington. The figure resembles statue of Buddha.) 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 352# 

among a portion of the people, yet they are not part of the usual art 
products. There is a manifest difference between this and the ordi 
nary statue of the Indian or the mound builder of that neighborhood 
or epoch. It is not claimed that this shell proves the migration of 
Buddhism from Asia, nor its presence among North American In 
dians. < One swallow does not make a summer. But this figure, 
taken in connection with the Swastika (found in the same mound), 
presents a set of circumstances corresponding with that possibility, 
which goes a long distance in forming circumstantial evidence in its 
favor." 

" There can be no doubt of the authenticity of these objects, 
nor any suspicion against their having been found as stated in the 
labels attached. They are in the museum collection, as are other 
specimens. They come unheralded and with their peculiar character 
unknown. They were obtained by excavations made by a compe 
tent and reliable investigator, who had been engaged in mound ex 
ploration, a regular employe of the Bureau of Ethnology, under the 
direction of Professor Cyrus Thomas during several years, and 
always of good reputation and unblemished integrity. They come 
with other objects, labeled in the same way and forming one of a 
series of numbers among thousands. Its resemblance to Buddhist 
statues was apparently undiscovered or unrecognized, at least un- 
mentioried, by all those having charge of it, and in its mutilated 
condition was laid away among a score of other specimens of insuf 
ficient value to justify notice or publication, and is now brought to 
light through accident, no one having charge of it recognizing it as 
being different from any of the half hundred engraved shells there 
tofore described. The excavation of Toco mound is described by 
Professor Thomas in the Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of 
Ethnology, pages 379-384." * 

*See Colonel Wilson s interesting article upon the Swastika symbol in the 
Keport of the National Museum for 1894, pages 881-2-3, where other interesting 
facts relative to the discovery of this unique gorget will be found. 

Two shell gorgets engraved with the Swastika, or the peculiar cross shaped em 
blem, well known in the Eastern hemisphere, were found, in the ancient mounds on 



352A ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

The figure engraved upon the Wilson shell gorget shows little 
kinship to the other shell and copper designs illustrated. It pre 
sents a new type, full of interest, and strongly suggesting in its pos 
ture and general appearance an oriental or Buddhist image or idol, 
yet it will be noticed that there are a few points of resemblance 
that identify the aboriginal art and dress of the mound era. 

The circular ornaments upon the dress below the waist, the 
triple garter bands and anklets will be found in the figure upon 
Plate XVI and Figure 240. The remarkable gorget engraved with 
the " fighting figures " was found in the same mound, upon Fain s 
Island, in Monroe county, Tennessee, called by Colonel Wilson the 
Toco mound, and by Professor Holmes the McMahon mound. 

When the two engraved copper gorgets or plates were discov 
ered in the Etowah mound in Georgia, and illustrated in the gov 
ernment reports, they attracted no little attention. The art in the 
remarkable and artistic designs seemed strangely foreign to our 
southern section. It appeared to indicate very marked Mexican 
characteristics and affinities. The art upon a number of the shell 
gorgets discovered later, the fighting figures, the scroll and disc pat 
terns, the Missouri figures, also seemed to suggest a Mexican rela 
tionship. 

Repeating the words of Professor W. H. Holmes relative to the 
Missouri shell design : " So close and striking are the resemblances 
that accident can not account for them, and we are forced to the 
conclusion that it must be the offspring of the same beliefs and cus 
toms, and the same culture as the art of Mexico." 

We have now to report the fact that a shell gorget from, Mexico, 
engraved with the human figure, and similar in several of its char 
acteristics to the types found in our southern mounds, has recently 
been brought to light by Professor Frederick Starr, the well-known 

Fain s Island, East Tennessee, at the time the Wilson gorget was discovered. Beau 
tiful specimens of the Swastika in copper were also discovered by Professor Warren 
K. Moorehead in the Hopewell mound in Ohio. That symbol had heretofore been 
supposed to be of Eastern or Asiatic origin, and to be unknown in America. One 
of the shells engraved with a rude Swastika figure appears upon Plate XVIII. 



COPPER, BONE, AND SHELL OBJECTS. 

archaeologist of Chicago University. The specimen was found in 
the Reyerson collection, now in that university. It is from Morelia, 
in the State of Michoacan, Mexico. There is no question as to its 
authenticity. 

Through the courtesy of Professor Starr, we are able to present 




FIG. 251. 

an excellent illustration of it. (Figure 251.) The gorget is about 
the same size and shape as our southern specimens. The engraving 
is also upon the inner or concave surface of the shell. A circular 
band or border surrounds the figure. The open work in the design, 
represented in black, is frequently illustrated in our Tennessee 
types. The design of the peculiar human figure, the circles in the 
border, the tatoo marks on the face, the ear-ring, also suggest points 



352J ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

of resemblance. It is evidently a shell gorget or breastplate, and 
was doubtless used for the same general purpose as our Tennessee 
specimens. Its Mexican origin gives it special interest, adding 
another strong link to the chain of Mexican and north-eastern affin 
ities and relationships. It seems to the writer also that the vestiges 
of art represented in the ancient shell designs and portraits discov 
ered within the mound area certainly indicate some advancement in 
culture beyond the rude inscriptions and drawings of the modern 
Indians, and above the status of the red Indian of the frontier, as 
viewed from a historic stand-point. 

The author is now inclined to doubt the correctness of the views expressed 
as to the copper relics, illustrated upon page 303 of this chapter. Since the publi 
cation of the first edition of this work, many objects of copper have been dis 
covered by Professor Clarence B. Moore in the mounds of Florida, a number of them 
quite similar in character and appearance to these Tennessee specimens. Upon 
careful analysis the latter appear to have been made of native copper ore, and to be 
prehistoric. The Wayne county specimens are probably not relics of De Soto, as 
first suggested by the author. The large collection of prehistoric copper objects 
discovered by Warren K. Moorehead in the Hope well mound, also include many 
beautiful and finely wrought pieces of aboriginal workmanship. 

Plate XVA illustrated a number of objects of copper or copper-plated (natural 
size). No. 1 of the plate was probably used as a pendant or breast ornament. It 
was hammered from the native ore. It was recently discovered in a large artificial 
mound in Marshall county, Tennessee (south-east of Nashville). A beautiful plat 
form pipe of red Minnesota pipe-stone and other objects of interest were found 
with it. The other specimens are ear ornaments of stone, terra cotta, and wood, all 
originally plated with copper. They were found in the stone graves of the Nashville 
district. Owing to oxydation, very little copper remains upon the terra cotta and 
wood. The two large rings are double grooved. The cross in the center of No. 2 
will be observed. It is not an unusual form in Tennessee. 



CONCLUSION. 353 



CHAPTER X. 

CONCLUSION. 

The Genuineness of the Specimens Illustrated The Superior Types from the 
Mounds and Stone Graves The Evidences of a Western or iSouth-western 
Origin The Crania The Tumuli of Mexico and the South The Analogies in 
Art and Industry The State of Ancient Society The Northern and Southern 
Indians. 

Iii the series of historical and ethnological studies presented in 
the preceding pages, we have endeavored to illustrate and describe 
specimens of the various classes of antiquities discovered in Ten 
nessee and in some of the adjacent states. We have desired, as far 
practicable, to present exact and positive information, in facts 
and illustrations relating to the ancient monuments and the remains 
of art and industry in this general section, as a contribution to the 
fund of archaeological knowledge, that might aid in determining the state 
of aboriginal society in the prehistoric period represented by them. 

We have endeavored to conduct our investigations in a spirit 
of inquiry rather than of advocacy, and we therefore have not hesi 
tated to express opinions independently of theories, and sometimes 
apparently at variance with our general views upon this subject. 
In presenting the illustrated chapters, we confess that we have been 
writing with an increasing respect for the culture represented by 
some of the objects discovered. 

It will be observed also that we have tried to conform to the 
rule laid down by Aristotle, that " no archaeologist should be be 
lieved, unless he preserves the evidences of his assertions." We 
have, therefore, devoted more attention to the illustration of speci 
mens than to theories regarding them. 

As to the genuineness of the new and original specimens pre- 



354 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

sented in the preceding chapters, we desire to state that no shadow 
of suspicion should fall upon any one of them. A large proportion of 
them are from our own private collection, and all of them have 
come from proper custody, and have been carefully examined. 
Regular dealers in antiquities are as yet unknown in Tennessee. 
There are but few " collectors," and "archaeological frauds " have 
rarely found their way into this general section. There has been 
no commercial market for them, and until recently but little de 
mand for genuine specimens at a money value. There has, there 
fore, been no advantage to be gained by counterfeiting relics, and 
the frauds practiced at the North and East are unknown here. As a 
collector, observer, and student of many years experience, the 
writer feels justified in guaranteeing the authenticity of the entire 
list of new specimens illustrated. This statement is, of course, 
mainly based upon the, information presented in the text, regarding 
each one of them. 

It is not our purpose to enter upon an extended consideration 
of the interesting ethnical and archaeological problems naturally 
suggested in reviewing these discoveries, as we have already ex 
ceeded the limits, both of time and space, allotted to this work, but 
a few points of interest will be briefly noted. 

Any antiquarian or collector familiar with this subject, will be 
impressed with the fact that it would be impossible to gather a col 
lection of antiquities of such varied and advanced types as have 
been illustrated, within the limits of the United States, outside of 
the territory occupied by the mound building tribes. They present 
unmistakable evidences of a state of society above the social con 
dition of the prehistoric tribes of Canada and the North-eastern 
States, including New York and Pennsylvania Virginia also. 

In Dr. C. C. Abbott s valuable work upon the Primitive Industries 
of the native races of the north Atlantic seaboard, which illustrates 
the best archaeological specimens of that general section, a very 
different and inferior class of objects are presented. They are much 
ruder, and of more primitive types. This well-recognized fact seems 
to separate the culture of the mound builders from that of the 



CONCLUSION. 355 

V 

ancient tribes of the North-east, the Iroquois, the Hurons, and the 
Indians of the Algonkin stock, by well-defined lines of distinction, 
indicating that the tribes of the North were more nomadic and lived 
in a more barbarous state. 

Unmistakable evidences are also presented in the preceding 
pages of contact, intercourse, or relationship, more or less intimate, 
between the aborigines of the Mississippi valley, and the ancient 
peoples of the South-west and the of pueblo districts. The similar 
ity in the forms of the crania found in the ancient graves within the 
mound area, and the crania of the ancient inhabitants of Mexico, 
Central America, Peru, and the pueblos, suggests a common origin. 
The broad-headed or brachycephalic type is predominant. It ap 
pears to distinguish the cranial types of the old peoples of the South 
and Southrwest from the long or oval crania of the northern tribes. 
The short, broad skulls seem also to have represented the ethnic 
tendencies toward progress and development that characterized the 
ancient Mexicans and the Indians of the village or semi-village 
class. * 

* Bearing upon this point of different peoples, we find that the prevailing form 
of the skulls from the older burial places across the northern portions of the conti 
nent, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, is of the long, narrow type (dolichocephalic), 
while the skulls of the old peoples of Central America, Mexico, and the south-west 
ern and southern portions of the United States, are principally of the short, broad 
type (brachycephalic). Following the distribution of the long and short skulls, as 
th.ey are now found in burial places, it is evident that the two forms have spread in 
certain directions over North America : the short or broad-headed race of the South 
spreading out toward the East and North-east, while the long or narrow-headed 
race of the North has sent its branches southward, down both coasts and toward the 
interior, by many lines from the North, as well as from the East and West. The 
two races have passed each other here and there. In other places they have met ; 
and probably nowhere is there more marked evidences of this meeting than in the 
Ohio valley, where have been found burial places and sepulchral mounds of differ 
ent kinds and of different times. Prof. F. W. Putnam, in The Century, March, 
1890, page 699. 

After personal comparison of Peruvian skulls with authentic mound builders 
skulls from Michigan and Indiana, and Others from dolmens and mounds in Central 
Tennessee, I feel confident that the identity of the race of the mound builders with 



856 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

The presence of a few of the long, narrow, or oval skulls in 
the ancient cemeteries of Ohio, and in the stone graves of Illinois 
and Tennessee, doubtless marks the beginnings of contact with the 
northern tribes, and the interminglings and tribal absorptions nec 
essarily preceding the final struggles that resulted in the overthrow 
and expulsion, or partial expulsion, of the mound builders from 
their homes in the Ohio valley, and later from the valley of the 
Cumberland. Other familiar evidences of ethnic identity connect 
ing the mound tribes with the ancient races of Mexico and the 
South may be traced through the general system of mound and pyr 
amid structures of Mexico and Central America. Nearly all the 
forms of the tumuli of the Mississippi valley are duplicated in the 
imposing teocalli. The elevated terraces, the pyramid temples, the 
truncated cones, the interior tombs, are all to be found among the 
ruins of the more elaborate pyramids and structures of stone and 
earth. Ancient mounds and earth-works also extended along the 
branches of the Red river of the south-west, and through Texas to 
the very banks of the Rio Grande. 

We have already called attention to the fact that some of the 
upper tributaries of the Arkansas river are to be found in the high 
lands of New Mexico. From this ancient pueblo district, it flows 
down into the territory of the mound builders and pottery makers 
of the lower valley. The ancient culture of Mexico and New 
Mexico could not have been entirely unknown to the progressive 
tribes that once peopled the valleys of the Red and Arkansas rivers, 
and their kindred of the neighboring sections. The presence of 
obsidian in several mound centers of the East also confirms the 
other evidences of ancient intercourse. 

The illustrations presented in the preceding chapters have 
called attention to many analogies and identities connecting the an 
tiquities of Tennessee with the ancient arts and industries of Mexico 
and the pueblos. The remarkable mythological figures upon the 

the race of Anahuac and Peru will become fully recognized. Pre- Adamites (Alex 
ander Winchell), pages 339, 340. 



CONCLUSION. 357 

shell gorgets and copper plates surely show unmistakable evidences 
of a Mexican origin or affiliation. The tube pipes from the valley 
of the Cumberland, the large ear ornaments, the images, the idols, 
the grotesque forms, the long ceremonial flints all seem to connect 
the mound tribes with the arts, culture, or religion of the peoples 
of the the west and south-west, and to separate them from the 
tribes of the north and north-east. The better class of pottery 
from the graves and mounds, and the ancient ware of the pueblo 
districts of New Mexico and Arizona, also show decided marks of 
resemblance. The ancient pottery from the Mississippi valley, as 
might well be expected, is much inferior to the finer type of the 
ceramic arts found in Mexico, yet occasional identities in form and 
character are suggested by the illustrations of the north-eastern 
ware in the chapter upon ancient pottery. The specimens from the 
several mound districts greatly vary in form and quality, yet; the 
pottery remains throughout the entire Mississppi valley are homo 
geneous in their general characteristics. 

The remains of ancient arts discovered in the Cumberland and 
Tennessee valleys, as we have stated, were probably in the main of 
indigenous growth the original independent product of the culture 
of the Stone Grave race, the mound builders of Tennessee. The 
traces here and there of Mexican, southern, or pueblo culture, save 
in occasional instances, were probably but the outgrowths of cus 
toms and tendencies derived from a common ancestry. The mound 
building tribes doubtless lived, during many generations, upon va 
rious planes of development, in the fertile and widely extended ter 
ritory in which their monuments are discovered. This progressive 
race was evidently making steady advances toward a better condi 
tion of life. The semi-civilization of the Aztecs was developed, 
through a series of centuries, from humble beginnings of culture 
among tribes of aborigines no further advanced than these mound 
building villagers. The best evidences of this progress among the 
mound tribes are only occasionally discovered. They come to light 
at points remote from other discoveries, yet they indicate that their 



358 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

culture was homogeneous in the several centers of its highest devel 
opment. 

The engraved gorgets of shell from Tennessee, Georgia, Mis 
souri, and Illinois; the incised or engraved copper plates from 
Georgia and Illinois ; the Ohio tablets of stone ; the inscribed stones 
from Middle Tennessee ; the copper-plated rings of stone and pot 
tery from the stone graves; the objects plated with meteoric iron 
from the mounds of Ohio ; the finely sculptured stone pipes from 
the mounds of Ohio, Iowa, and the South; the occasional fine an 
tiques from Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas all are representa 
tive types of this advanced culture. Some of the decorated and 
graceful vessels of pottery, the well-made ornaments and imple 
ments, and sets of implements from the stone graves, must also be 
classed with the other evidences of this more advanced state of so 
ciety. While we do not regard the magnitude of the large mounds 
as necessarily constituting reliable testimony as to this higher con 
dition, the remarkable forms of some of the earth-works in the 
Ohio valley -the circles, squares, and various exact dimensions 
seem certain indications of a state of knowledge above the general 
intelligence of the modern tribes of Indians. 

These evidences do not prove the existence of a race necessarily 
superior to and differing essentially in its characteristics from some 
of the advanced tribes of modern southern Indians. The antiqui 
ties illustrated, considered as a whole, represent a comparatively 
primitive state of society. 

The remains of the arts and industries, in their best manifesta 
tions, are typical of the Indian race, but they certainly indicate 
ethnic conditions, in certain centers of development, considerably 
above the culture status of even the most advanced tribes of the 
Mississippi valley at the period of its first settlement by Europeans. 
The ancestors of some of the historic tribes of eastern Indians may 
have once lived in this more advanced condition of life. They may 
have constructed the great mounds, and enjoyed the limited culture 
represented by the best expressions of prehistoric art ; but, if this 
theory be accepted, it seems clear that the race and their arts, by 



CONCLUSION. 359 

reason of some great catastrophe, or succession of wars, defeats, and 
changes, must have declined or degenerated, and become thereby 
reduced to a somewhat more barbarous state. 

We can not believe that these higher types represent nothing 
more than the ordinary culture of Indian tribes like the Shawnees 
and Cherokees, as this culture was observed and reported " a hun 
dred years ago." Neither do we agree in opinion with the class of 
authors and occasional writers who seem disposed to magnify and 
overestimate the significance of the ancient monuments and remains 
of art, and to insist that they are the work of a superior race of 
Toltecs, Aztecs, or Mayas 

Neither of these views correctly interprets the ethnic condition 
of the mound builders. 

A more careful analysis and comparison of actual discoveries 
should remove the confusion in which this subject has long been in 
volved ; and a better understanding of the meaning of the elastic 
and ill-defined word "Indian" as we have already suggested, would 
also greatly aid in systematizing our knowledge of American archae 
ology. 

It would be a difficult task to classify the various branches of 
the North American Indian family. We shall not attempt it. We 
think it may be safely asserted, however, that it is impossible to 
separate the race or tribes of mound builders from this general 
stock. The innumerable tribes of Indians represented several eth 
nic stages. A single illustration will answer our purpose. The 
Comanches, the Apaches, the Utes, the Pimas, the Mohaves, the 
Maricopas, the Navajos, the Moquis, the Zunis, all lived in the same 
general section in New Mexico and Arizona, or in territory adja 
cent. They represented ethnic conditions widely apart ; yet these 
different tribes had many characteristics and affinities in common. 
We are told that the Navajos, now living in rude huts, before the 
advent of the Spaniards, built and lived in pueblo structures. 

The Comanches are classed with the wildest hunting tribes; 
the Moquis and Zunis with the most progressive and advanced 



360 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

H. H. Bancroft calls them semi-civilized ; yet all are classed in the 
general ethnic scale as "Indians." 

In the same sense, the mound builders of the Mississippi valley were 
"Indians;" but in the scale of civilization, their culture must grade 
with that of the highest type Indians, like the Moquis and Zunis and 
other advanced tribes of the South-west of the village or sedentary 
class tribes of the same race that, under different conditions and 
surroundings, built up the semi-civilization of ancient Mexico and 
of the pueblo districts. 

A careful examination of the specimens illustrated in the pre 
ceding pages will, we think, satisfy the unprejudiced inquirer that 
they are not inferior in grade to the best types of ancient art discov 
ered in the pueblo sections. Indeed, we doubt whether any existing 
collection of the prehistoric remains of the pueblo Indians will pre 
sent evidences of a more advanced condition of society than must 
have existed in the Mississippi valley during the mound building 
era, 

We have already suggested that the absence of the remains of 
pueblo or south-western architecture in the eastern mound section 
is readily explained. The large pueblo structures were the out 
growth of a peculiar environment. They were not suited to condi 
tions of life that existed in the alluvial valleys and primal forests of 
the Mississippi region. Had some of the adobe or grouted pueblos 
been erected in the humid, changeable climate of Ohio or Tennessee 
during the prehistoric period, it would scarcely be possible now to 
identify their remains. Their walls would have long since dissolved 
into the original clay. 

We have already considered the changed conditions that prob 
ably succeeded the decline and final overthrow of the power of the 
mound builders the period of tribal " reconstruction." Their 
culture doubtless left its impress upon the social condition of the 
Indian tribes of the South, who were found to be more advanced in 
the humble arts of domestic life, and more peaceable than the In 
dians of the North. 



CONCLUSION. 361 

Although a race apparently homogeneous was found in the 
Mississippi valley at the later period, many evidences of the more 
advanced state of the mound tribes still remained, and marked 
differences were found in the ethnic conditions of the various 
modern tribes.* 

Father Membre, who visited the Lower Mississippi country in 
1681, informs us that the natives of Arkansas " did not resemble 
those of the North, who are ail sad and severe in their temper; 
these," he states, " are far better made, honest, liberal, and gay ;" f 
and Father Hennepin also reported that the southern Indians, two 
centuries ago, were " civil, easie, tractable, and capable of instruc 
tion ;" but he declares that the northern Indians "were Brutes 
as fierce and cruel as any wild Beasts." J The natives of the 
South visited by these discoverers, it seems, still showed some 
of the characteristics of the village Indians of the West and 
South- west. 1 1 

The civilization of Peru had declined from its best estate when 
the Spaniards first appeared and trampled upon the power of the 

* Any estimate of the time that elapsed during these changes is necessarily con 
jectural. We have the impression, however, based mainly upon the condition of 
the remains found in the graves, that the tribes of the Stone Grave race were prob 
ably in a flourishing condition in the Cumberland valley four or five centuries ago. 
They may have been at the height of their power at an earlier period. We do not 
think it is necessary to attribute a greater age than eight hundred or a thousand 
years to any of the monuments or remains discovered in the Ohio or Cumberland 
valleys. The remains of the Stone Grave race seem to belong to a later period than 
most of the Ohio mounds and earth-works. . 

t Narrative of Father Membre ; Discovery of the Mississippi (Shea), page 
169. 

t A New Discovery, etc., page 157. London, 1698. 

II Father Maria reported in 1692 that the Tejas Indians of Texas, were easily 
evangelized, were docile, " and rather advanced in a kind of civilization." Wip- 
procht, Translation, State Library, Austin, Texas. 

The Tejas Indians of Texas " will compare favorably with Aztecs in their form of 
government, and with the Pueblos in their industry. Harby, Annual Report Amer 
ican Historical Association, 1894, pages 82, 83. 



362 ANTIQUITIES OF TENNESSEE. 

Incas; the Mayas had lapsed into barbarism, and their imposing 
structures of stone were in ruins, when discovered ; the Aztecs were 
less civilized than their predecessors, the Toltecs ; and the progress 
ive race of mound builders, who once doubtless formed a strong 
tribal alliance or confederacy in the Mississippi valley and adjacent 
sections, had also probably reached the zenith and decline of their 
power when Columbus set sail upon his voyage of discovery; but 
unmistakable evidences of their more advanced state have already 
been found in many ancient centers of their population and 
progress. 



THE END. 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Abbott, Dr. C. C., 239, 349, 354 

Adair, James, mentioned, 14, 73, 128 

Adzes of stone, 222, 259, 260 

Age of the stone graves, 50, 361 

Agriculture, Indian, 14 

Agricultural implements, 220, 222 

Alabama specimens, 187, 274, 333 

Algonkin Indians, 20, 355 

Amulets, 167 

Antiquity of America, 10 

Antiquity of the stone graves, 50, 361 

Architecture, ancient, 360 

Arizona, Indians of, 17 

Aristotle s rule, 353 

Arkansas, mounds of, 55 

Arrow making, 216 

Arrow points, 219 

Arrow shafts, stones for rounding, 263 

Artistic faculty of Indians, 15 

Arts and industries, 17, 25 

Arts of mound builders, 359 

Arts of Navajo Indians, 96, 97 

Arts, origin of, 357 

Awls of bone, 306 

Awls of copper, 301 

Axes of stone, 255 

Axes of Zunis, 255 

Aztecs, 11 

Aztec civilization, 357, 361 

Aztec picture, 351 

Bancroft, H. H., 11, 84, 96, 166, 330 

Bandalier, A. F., 38 

Banner or shield of natives, 96 

Banner stones, 294 

Bass, John M., 47 

Battle of Horseshoe, plan of, 57, 58 

Beads, 316 

Beads of shell, 316, 317 



Beads of stone, 321 
Beads of terra cotta, 320 
Biedma s account of mounds, 52 
Blackman, Dr. W. C., 50 
Bledsoe s Lick, Sumner county, 34 
Bone implements, 304-308 
Bone spatulae, 307 
Bone bird totem, 308 
Bone whistles, 283, 284 
Boone, Daniel, 7 
Borers of stone, or drills, 219 
Breast plates of shell, 321. See Gorgets. 
Brick or adobe remains, 25 
Brinton, Dr. D. G., 22, 23, 51 
Burial casket of pottery, 29, 30 
Burial, cave, 31 
Burial customs, 29, 30 
Burial houses, 70 

Byser cemetery, on White s creek, 100, 
162 

Cabeza de Vaca, 82 

Cahokia mounds, Illinois, 50, 61, 64 

California implements, 243, 271 

California pipes, 93 

California tubes, 281 

Calumets, 176-178 

Carr, Lucien, 14, 73, 115, 119 

Carthage mounds, Alabama, 186 

Cartier, the French discoverer, 8 

Castalian springs, Tennessee, 34, 108 

Catlinite, 80, 81 

Catlinite pipes, 199, 200, 210 

Cave burials, 3 

Celts, smooth stone, 256, 258 

Cemetery, O. F. Noel, 2 

Cemeteries, stone grave, 28 

Century magazine, 255 

(363) 



364 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Ceremonial implements of chipped stone, 

244, 250 
Ceremonial implements of smooth stone, 

294-296 

Charles, D. G., 59, 284, 303, 327 
Charlvoix, Father, 55, 348 
Charnay, D., 98 
Chatta-Muskogee tribes, 23 
Cherokee Indians, 20, 23, 359 
Chickasawj Indians, 20, 23 
Chimneys, 67 

Chipped stone implements, 214 
Chisels of stone, 226, 227, 260 
Choctaw Indians, 23, 248 
Chungke game, 21, 264, 265 
Chungke stones, 264-267 
Cincinnati Tablet, 86, 237 
Cisco, John G., 46, 219 
Clark, Dr. W. M., 50, 104 
Clay pipes, 180-190 
Clinton, Governor De Witt, 13 
Clothing of natives, 268, 270, 336 
Cloth fabric, ancient, 268 
Collections of pottery, 174 
Collections at Hermitage, 205 
Conant, A. J., 28, 61, 62, 90, 271 
Cones, or rnullers, 289 
Cooper, Hon. W. F. s, farm, 29, 308, 314, 

330 
Copper implements and objects, 25, 242, 

298 

Copper, earrings of, 170 
Copper, native, 79, 80 
Copper, plated rings of, 168, 169 
Copper, plates of, Georgia, 342 
Copper, plates of, Illinois, 344 
Corn, cultivation of, 14 
Coward, D. R., 280 
Cradle board image of pottery, 112 
Cradles of Zunis, 114 
Crania, 114 

Crania in stone graves, 49 
Crania, rule of measurement, 115 
Crania, author s collection, 116, 124 
Crania, Dr. Jones s table of, 123 
Crania, Lucien Carr s table of, 125 
Crania of Tennessee and Missouri, 117 
Crania from Ohio cemeteries, 119 
Crania, artificial depression of, 119 
Crania of Peruvians, 120 
Crania of pueblo Indians, 120 



Crania of cliff dwellers, 121 

Crania, types of, 355, 356 

Crawfish totem, 248, 249 

Creek Indians, 23 

Cross, emblem of the, 299, 301, 302 

Currency, ancient, 90 

Gushing, Frank, 55, 68, 78, 120, 130 

Cut. ing knives of stone, 262 

Daggers, flint, 232-236 

Davenport Academy of Science, 30, 348 

De Ayllon mentioned, 7 

De Graffenreid earth-works, 336 

De Soto, 6, 55 

De Soto, relics of, 59, 303 

De Vaca, Cabeza, 51 

Dickinson, Dr. M. W., 89 

Discs of chipped flint, 250 

Discs or discoidal stones, 264-266 

Discs, small stone, 271, 272-288 

Discs of California, 271 

Discs or whorls, Swiss, 271 

Discs, spinning, or whorls, 271 

Discs, Alabama, 274 

Discs, serpent, 333 

Discs of shell. See Gorgets. 

Dog, the ancient, 146, 152 

Dog heads in pottery, 147, 148, 153 

Domestic animals, 146 

Dorsey, Rev. J. O., 66 

Douglass, A. E., 109, 170, 194, 201, 345 

Douglass shell gorget, 345 

Dresses of the natives, 96 

Dresses of mound builders, 90-93, 340- 

346 

Dresses of Navajos, 96 
Dresses of southern Indians, 96 
Drills of flint, 219 
Drinking cups, 142-144, 310 
Du Pratz, M., 23, 24, 56, 124, 128 
Dwellings of the natives, 65 
Dwight, President, quoted, 13 

Ear ornaments, 167, 287, 288, 341-346, 

349 

Earrings of pottery, 167 
Ear pendants or ornaments, 287, 341, 346 
Earth-works, 27, 28 
Earth-works of Sumner county, 32, 33 
Earth- works, Lebanon, 34, 35 



GENERAL INDEX. 



365 



Earth-works, Big Harpeth, 35-37 
Earth-works, Old Town, 39, 40 
Earth-works, West Harpeth, 40, 41 
Earth-works, Savannah, Tennessee, 43- 

45 

Earth- works near Centerville, 46 
Earth-works in Humphrey county, 46 
Earth-works in Madison county, 46 
Earth-works at Cahokia, 111., 61 
Earth-works near Nashville, 4 
Earth-works of modern Indian, 51, 58 
Effigy mound, Wisconsin, 348 
Elephant figure, 347, 348 
Elephant mound, 348 
Elephant pipes, 348 
Engraved stones, 86-90 
Engraved shells, 324, 352 
Etowah mound, Ga., 340-344 
European relics from mounds, 58, 59, 303 

Fabric, ancient, 268 

Fabric, impressions of, 269, 270, 300 

Family, totems, 247, 248 

Farming, Indian, 14 

Fish spears, 237 

Flint implements, 214, 220, 225 

Flint chisels, 226, 227, 260 

Flint daggers, 232, 236 

Flint knives, 228, 230 

Force, General M. F., 21, 22, 45 

Fork of shell, 314, 315 

Fortified towns of natives, 16, 32, 51, 52, 

53 

Forts, Indian, 32, 51, 53-58 
Forts of Iroquois, 56 
Fowke, Gerard, 68, 73, 273, 297, 321 
Fraudulent specimens, 354 
French traders, 16 
Fulton, Prof. R. B., 273, 221 
Funnel-shaped stone objects, 283 

Gaming stones, 264, 268 
Game of Chungke, 264, 265 
Genuineness of specimens, 353 
Georgia mounds, 184, 185, 340 
Georgia specimens, 184, 185, 340-342 
Gorgets of shell, 321 
Gorgets, plain forms, 323 
Gorgets, scalloped, 324 
Gorgets, bird design, 327 
Gorgets, serpent design, 329-334 



Gorgets, spider design, 335 
Gorgets, the human form, 336-352 
Graves or cemeteries, 28, 32 
Greek key pattern or fret, 87, 88 
Grooved stone axes, 255 
Grooved stone hammers, 257 

Hair, manner of dressing, 92, 93, 346 

Hall, Captain W. P., 29 

Halley, Geo. T., 113 

Halley, R. A., 109 

Hammers, stone, 257 

Handles of implements, 223, 228, 260 

Hatchets of stone, 221, 260 

Haywood, Judge, 29, 50, 282 

Hematite cones, 289 

Hematite objects, 290 

Henderson, Hon. W. A., 47, 134 

Hieroglyphic writings, 25, 89 

Hindoo Ganesa, 347 

Hoes, flint, 220, 223 

Holmes, W. H., 31/147, 270, 310, 313, 327, 

330-334, 337-339, 350-352 
Horn handles, 228, 260 
Houses of the natives, 51-53 
Houses, the remains of, 61 
Houses of New Mexico, 65, 68 
Houses of Arizona, 65, 68 
Houses of Iroquois, 66 
Houses of Mandans, 66, 74, 75 
Houses of cliff dwellers, 67 
Houses of Navajos, 78 
Houses, De Soto s account of, 68 
Houses of Cherokees, 69 
Houses of Cenis, 69 
Houses of Tounicas, 69 
Houses of Taensas, 69-76 
House site remains, 34, 35, 72 
Humboldt, Baron Von, 9, 347 
Hupa Indians, 216, 224 

Idols and images, 25, 98-112 
Idol worship, 111, 112 
Idols of pottery, 98, 102 
Idols of stone. 102-112 
Idol of Dr. Troost, 109 
Images. See Idols. 
Image, cradle board, 112 
Illinois specimens, 335, 344 
Implements of chipped stone, 214 
arrow points, 519 



366 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Implements of chipped stone con d 

of agriculture, 220 

mechanical, 220, 221 

handles of, 223 

scrapers, 224 

chisels, 226-227 

knives, 228, 230 

daggers, 232, 235 

swords and spears, 237, 240 

ceremonial, 228, 244 

totems, 245-250 
Implements of smooth stone, 253 

grooved axes, 255 

celts, 256 

adzes, 259 

chisels 260, 262 

axes oi Zunis, 255 

hammers, 257 

of lake dwellers, 260 
Implements oi pottery, 162, 163 
Impressions oi fabric, 270 
Indians, Creek, 12 
Indians, Natchez, 12-21, 23, 134 
Indians, Navajo, 12-78, 96 
Indians of New Mexico and Arizona, 12, 

19, 35, 38 

Indians, Huron, 12, 13 
Indians, Iroquois, 6, 12, 13, 355 
Indians, Cherokee, 14, 20, 23, 248, 359 
Indians, Choctaw, 14, 20, 23, 248 
Indians, Chickasaw, 14, 20, 23 
Indian characteristics, 6, 8, 15, 22, 25, 26, 

66 

Indian fortifications, 57, 58 
Inscribed stones, 85, 89, 90 
Inscriptions, ancient, 25 
Insignia, 96, 240, 327 
Iowa pipes, 348 
Iron, no knowledge of, 25 

Jackson, General Andrew, 57, 58 

collection ot, 205 
Jars of pottery, 132-140 
Johnson, Capt. J. R. 105, 273, 295, 296 
Jones Col. C C., 58, 59, 103, 185, 186,215, 

239, 281 , 282 
Jones Dr. Joseph, 23, 27, 28, 29, 31, 35, 

36 40, 41. 46, 49, 80, 107, 118, 123, 

236, 258, 259, 269, 278, 301, 324 

Xaskaskia, Illinois, 7 



Kentucky specimens, 181, 194, 200 
Killebrew, Miss L., 168, 172, 175 
Kiowa Indians, 112 
Knives of stone, 255, 262 

Lake dweller s implement, 260, 270 
Lallemont quoted, 14 
Langley, Prof. S. P., 324 
Languages, native, 10, 11 
La Salle, 6, 68, 69 
La Vega s account of mounts, 51 
Longfellow, the poet, quoted, 81 
Lubbock, Sir John, 126, 281 

Maces of stone, 241, 244 

Madison county mounds, 46 

Maize, cultivation of, 14 

Maize mortars, 278 

Mallery, Col. Garrick, 85, 94, 111 

Mammoth, 347, 349 

Mandan Indians, 21 

houses of, 74. 75 
Marbles of terra cotta, 164 
Marine shells, 81, 82 
Marsh, Prof. O. C., 121 
Marquette, 6 

Mason, Otis T., 196, 216, 217 
Mastodon, 347, 349 
McAdams, W., 61 
Medicine tubes, 281 
Mexican analogies, 337, 342, 347-350, 351, 

355, 356, 357 

Mexican civilization, 11, 105 
Mexican picture, 347, 350 
Mexican pottery, 88, 357 
Mexican remains, 62, (53, 98 
Mexican teocalli or mounds, 356 
Miami Indians, 19 
Missouri pottery, 61, 62 
Money, shell, 89, 318 
Moorehead, Warren K., 151 
Moqui Indians, 359 
Moqui vase, 87 

Morgan, L. II., 11, 19, 59, 63, 65, 66, 69 
Morrow, Frank, 151, 153 
Mortars, stone, 278 
Mortuary customs, 35, 38 
Mound builders, origin of, 62, 63, 122, 

355, 359 

Mound builders, picture of, 90 
Mounds and earth-works, 27, 28 



GENERAL INDEX. 



367 



Mounds and earth -works 

of Sumner county, 32, 33 

near Lebanon, 34, 35 

at Old Town, 39, 40 

West Harpeth, 40, 41 

at Savannah, Tennessee, 43-45 

Parish, 46 

near Centerville, 46 

of Humphreys county, 46 

Madison county, 46 

Mt. Penson, 46 

at Cahokia, Illinois, 61 

construction of, 63, 64 

of Ohio, 63 

effigy of Wisconsin, 63 

of Natchez Indians, 56 

of Choctaws, 56 

modern, 58, 59 

accounts of the Spaniards, 51, 52 

accounts of Cabcza de Vaca, 51 

accounts of De Sota, 51, 52 

of Arkansas, 55 
Mullers or cones, 289 
Muscogee Indians, 23 
Musical instruments, 283, 284 
Myer, W. E.. 107 

Narvaez, Pamphilo de, 7 

Natchez Indians, 21, 23, 134 

Natchez Indians, mounds of, 55 

Native races, origin of, 10, 62, 63, 122, 355 

Navajo Indian, 78, 95, 97, 35$ 

Navajo Indian art, 78, 96, 97 

Navajo Indians houses, 78, 356 

New Mexico, tribes of, 17, 359 

New Orleans, 7 

Nicklin, J. B., 137, 175, 217, 273 

Noel stone grave cemetery. 2, 174 

Obsidian, 79, 80 

Ohio cemeteries, 119, 356 

Ohio implements, 297 

Ohio mounds, 63, 67, 357 

Ohio pipes, 177 

Oliva literata shells, 317 

Origin of mound builders, 62, 63, 122, 

355, 359 

Origin of native races, 122 
Ornamented banner stone, 87 
Ornamented pottery, 136, 137, 144, 151, 

157 



Paint cups, 275, 276, 277 

Palgrave quoted, 9 

Palaeolithic implements, 217 

Parkman, F. W., 66, 93 

Parish mound, 46 

Pearls, 316, 320 

Peet, Rev. S. D., 296 

Pendants of stone, 241, 242, 291, 292 

Pendants of shell. See Gorgets. 

Peruvian skulls, 120 

Peruvian pottery, 158 

Pestles of stone, 277, 279 

Pictographs in stone, 90, 93 

Pigmy graves, 29 

Pins of shell, 315 

Pioneers, western, 16 

Pipes, 84, 176 

the calumet, 176, 178 

historic accounts of, 176-178 

Ohio, 177 

of pottery, 180 

idol and image forms, 182, 188 

animal forms, 187, 207 

tube forms, 190, 195 

platform, 195, 197 

catlinite, 199,. 200 

disc forms, 199, 201 

modern, 210 

elephant forms, 348 
Plan of earth-works 

Sumner county, 33 

Lebanon, 34 

De Graffenreid works, 36 

Old Town works, 39 

West Harpeth works, 40 

Stone fort, 41 

Savannah works, 43 
Plan of battle of horseshoe, 57 
Plan of Mandan house, 74, 75 
Plastering trowels, 76, 163 
Plates of stone, 274 
Plummet of flint, 225 
Ponce de Leon, 7 
Population, aboriginal, 14, 52 
Potter, Prof. W. B., 72, 349 
Pottery remains, 17, 25, 128-174 

southern, 128 

De Soto s account of, 128 

of Cherokees and Natchez, 128 

Du Pratz s account, 128 

of Mandans, 129 



368 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Pottery 

of Louisiana Indians, 130 

manufacture of, 131 

decorated, 134, 136 

large vessels of, 159, 160 

trowels, 162 

kilns, 46, 135 

of Mississippi, 156 

of Illinois, 50, 61 

of Missouri, 61, 158 

of Arkansas, 94, 146, 158 

of Figians, 173 

of Pueblos, 357 

burial casket, 29, 30 

beads, 230 

pipes, 180, 181, 190 

images of, 99, 100 

bottle, 171 
Powell, Major J. W., 10, 30, 152, 325 

331, 340, 345, 349 
Priapus, worship of, 109, 110 
Pueblo architecture, 65, 67, 68, 360 
Pueblo arts, 130, 131, 360, 357 
Pueblo pottery, 357 
Pueblo burials, 35, 38 
Pueblo totems or emblems. 63 
Pueblos, early knowledge of, 24 
Putnam, Prof. F. W., 27, 28, 31, 34, 49, 
58, 60, 70, 73, 119, ;i22, 138, 139, 140, 
152, 183, 269, 286, 299, 300, 355 

Roberval, the discoverer, 8 
Robertson, historian, 8 
Ramsey s history, 19 
Rattles of terra cotta, 164 
Rau, Dr. C., 23 
Relics of De Soto, 59, 303 
Religious ideas, 111, 112 
Riggs, C. W., 95 
Riggs portrait bowl, 94 
Rings of pottery, 167, 168 
Rings of stone, 286, 287, 288 
Rock shelf houses, 47 

Sacred houses of natives, 70 
Safford, Prof. J. M., 267 
Salt manufacture of, 82, 159 
Savannah works, 43 
Schumacher, Paul, 194 
Scepters of stone, 241, 244 
Scrapers, 224 



Sellers, Col. George E., 159, 217 

Serpent emblems, 96 

Serpent gorgets, 332, 334 

Serpent totem, 166 

Settlement of America, 122 

Sharpener of stone, 263 

Shawnee Indians, 20, 21, 22, 252, 359 

Shell objects, 309 

Shell beads, 317, 321, 341, 346 

Shell cups, 310 

Shell fork, 314 

Shell money, 90, 318 

Shell bracket, 316 

Shell spoons, 312, 313 

Shell pins, 315 

Shell gorgets, 321 

Shoshone Indians, 12 

Sioux Indians, 21 

Skulls. See Crania. 

Smith, Capt. R. D., 302 

Smoking, 176 

Southern Indians, 13, 14, 24, 361 

Spades of stone, 295 

Spatulae of bone, 307 

Spearheads of flint, 307, 319 

Spider gorget, 335 

Spinning, 268, 271 

Spindle whorls, 271, 272 

Spoons of shell, 312, 313 

Stelle, J. Parish.. 44 

Stevenson, Janies, 130, 131, 135 

St. Louis Academy of Science, 61 

Stone barrows, 47 

Stone fort, 41, 42 

Stone graves, 5, 28, 29, 31, 32, 50 

age of. 50, 361 

of Illinois, 356 

of Missouri, 28 

Stone Grave Race, 5, 19, 20, 28, 49 
Stone trumpet or tube, 282 
Sun worship, 23, 111 
Swiss implements, 229, 260 
Swords of flint, 237, 238 
Symbol of cross, 299, 301, 302, 329, 345 
Symbolism, 332, 336, 345 

Table of stone, 289 
Tablets, pierced, 291, 293 
Tatoo marks, 94, 349 
Tecumseh, Indian chief, 22 
TenKate, Dr., 35, 120 



GENERAL INDEX. 



369 



Teocalli of Mexico, 356 

Terra cotta beads, 320 

Terra cotta bottle, 171 

Terra cotta figures, 167 

Terry, James, 202, 203 

Thomas, Dr. Cyrus, 19, 20, 59, 72, 73, 101, 

129, 178, 193, 304, 342 
Tobacco, 176 
Totems, 167, 245, 246, 250 
of the bird, 291, 308, 327 
of the crawfish, 248, 249 
of the turtle, 165, 247, 250 

Towns of natives, 51, 52, 53 

Trade, aboriginal, 79, 83, 84 

Traders, French, 16 

Trees, growth and age of, 50, 55 

Troost, Dr. Gerard, 28, 80, 109 

Trowels of pottery, 162 

Trowels for plastering, 76, 163 

Tubes of stone, 280, 285 

Tubes, medicine, 281 

Turtle of terra cotta, 165 

Turtle of flint, 250 

Turtle family, 247 



Tamlin, Col. Lewis, 186 
Tuscaluza, the chief, 96 
Tylor, Dr. E. B., 348 

Ulloa, the Spanish governor, 8 

Verrazano, 7 
Vincennes, town of, 7 

Walled towns of natives, 51, 52 
Wampum, 90, 318, 319 
Warfare, Indian, 19 
Weaving, 268, 293, 300 
Whistle of stone, 283 
Whistle of bone, 284 
Whorls, spinning, 267-271, 272 
Wilder, Gen l J. T., 179, 180, 201,273 
Wilson, Sir Daniel, 20, 121 
Winchell, Prof. A., 348, 355 
Woman in Pictograph, 91, 93 
Wood, remains of, 49 

Zuni Indians, 101, 130, 131, 174, 352, 359 
cradles of, 113, 114 
implements, 255 



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