Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 50.djvu/509

Rh ornament seen in the upper right-hand corner of d'  in Fig. 5 be such. This was a bit of human breastbone, pierced in the center, and suggested at once the idea that it might have been worn as a fetich, or possibly was merely a war trophy—the breastbone of mine enemy.

Bone and shell seem to have furnished the chief material for the tools and ornaments of the inhabitants of this old village. The most common bone implements found were those shown in Fig. 5, g, finely pointed and polished from the ulna of a deer's leg. Here, again, as in the mortar and pestle, we find a very early and a very valuable artificial form reached by easy transition from a natural object which was somewhat adapted to the uses aimed at, and which was probably first employed without any endeavor to adapt it artificially. We judged, as a matter of course, that these sharp bone points were used for tipping spears, as they are well adapted to such a purpose; but all the traditions of the neighborhood insist that they were used for ornaments, and that with bunches of bright feathers, attached by strings of sinew, they were stuck into the hair. One bone needle was found, but the small size of this implement and its easy destructibility make it



surprising that even one was discovered. One of our most unique finds was a set of bone whistles shown at a, Fig. 5. They were made from the long leg bones of some waterfowl, and are evidently intended to furnish a variety of sounds, if we may judge from their varied length and the different positions of their holes.