A very important group of shell ornaments represent, more or less
distinctly, the human face. By a combination of engraving and sculpture
a rude resemblance to the features is produced. The objects are
generally made from a large pear-shaped section of the lower whorl of
heavy marine univalves. The lower portion, which represents the neck and
chin, is cut from the somewhat restricted part near the base of the
shell, while the broad outline of the head reaches the first suture of
the noded shoulder of the body whorl. The simplest form is represented
by a specimen from a mound at Sevierville, Tenn. It is a plain,
pear-shaped fragment, with evenly dressed margin and two perforations,
which take the position of the eyes. A sketch of this is presented in
Fig. 1, Plate LXIX. Similar specimens have been obtained from mounds in
other States. A little further advance is made when the surface of the
most convex part is ground away, with the exception of a low vertical
ridge, which represents the nose. Further on a boss or node appears
below the nose, which takes the place of the mouth, as seen in Fig. 2.
From the elementary stages exhibited in these specimens a gradual
advance is made by the addition of details and the elaboration of all
the features. A corona encircles the head, the ears are outlined
(Fig. 5, Plate LXX), the eyes are elaborated by adding one or more
concentric circles or ovals, brows are placed above, and groups of
notched and zigzag lines extend downward upon the cheeks. The node at
the mouth is perforated or cut in intaglio in circular or oblong
figures, and the chin is embellished by a variety of incised designs.
Illustrations of the various forms are given in Plates LXIX and LXX.
These objects are especially numerous in the mounds of Tennessee, but
their range is quite wide, examples having been reported from Kentucky,
Virginia, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas, and smaller ones of a
somewhat different type from New York. In size they range from two to
ten inches in length, the width being considerably less. They are
generally found associated with human remains in such a way as to
suggest their use as ornaments for the head or neck. There are, however,
no holes for suspension except those made to represent the eyes, and
these, so far as I have observed, show no abrasion by a cord of
suspension. Their shape suggests the idea that they may have been used
as masks, and as such may have been placed upon the faces of the dead in
the same manner that metal masks were used by some oriental nations.
Among the large number of interesting objects of shell obtained from the
McMahan Mound at Sevierville, Tenn., were a number of these shell masks.
In the notes of the collector they are mentioned as having been found on
the breast or about the heads of skeletons. The example shown in Fig. 1,
Plate LXVII, is a medium-sized, rather plain specimen from the
above-named locality. It is seven and one-fourth inches long and nearly
six inches wide, and has been made from a _Busycon perversum_. The
margins are much decayed, and the convex surface is pitted and
discolored. The inside is smooth, and has a slight design rudely
engraved upon it. Of a very different type is the specimen shown in
Fig. 2. It is new looking, and well preserved. The slightly translucent
surface is highly polished, and the engraved lines are quite fresh
looking. It was collected by J. D. Lucas, and is labeled Aquia Creek,
Va. It is five and one-half inches in length by five in width, and is
apparently made from some dextral-whorled shell. The outline is somewhat
rectangular, the upper surface being pretty well rounded and ornamented
with a corona of incised lines, which are arranged in six groups of four
each. Inside of these a single incised line runs parallel with the edge,
from temple to temple. The eyes are represented by small circles with
small central pits, and the lids are indicated by long, pointed
ellipses. From each of the eyes a group of three zigzag lines extends
downward across the cheek, terminating near the edge of the plate,
opposite the mouth. These lines may be interpreted in two ways: First,
if the object is a mourning mask, made with especial reference to its
use in burial, they may signify tears, since, in the pictographic
language of many tribes, tears are represented by lines descending from
the eyes, and, with other nations, running water is symbolized by curved
or zigzag lines; in the second place, these lines may represent figures
painted upon the face during the period of mourning, or they may simply
represent the characteristic lines of the painting or tattooing of the
clan or tribe to which the deceased belonged. It is not at all
improbable that these objects were further embellished by painted
designs which have been obliterated.
The nose is represented by a flat ridge, which terminates abruptly
below, the nostrils being indicated by two small excavations. The mouth
is represented by an oval node, in which a horizontal groove has been
made.
[Illustration: PL. LXVII--THE HUMAN FACE.
1. Mask-like ornament, Tennessee. (1/2).
2. Mask-like ornament, Virginia. (3/4).]
The most elaborately engraved example of these masks yet brought to the
notice of the public is shown in Plate LXVIII. It was obtained by Mr.
Lucien Carr from a large mound, known as the Ely Mound, near Rose Hill,
Lee County, Virginia, and is described and illustrated by that gentleman
in the tenth annual report of the Peabody Museum.[151] Wishing to
present this fine specimen to the best advantage possible, I have had a
large cut made from a photograph furnished by Professor Putnam, curator
of the Peabody Museum. Parts of the design which were obscure I have
strengthened, following the guidance of such fragments of lines as were
still traceable, or by simply duplicating the lines of the opposite
side, as these designs are in all cases bi-symmetrical.
Having described a great number of relics exhumed from this mound, Mr.
Carr goes on to say "that the most interesting of the articles taken
from this grave was an engraved shell made from the most dilated portion
of the _Strombus gigas_, and carved on the convex side into the likeness
of a human face." It measures 138 millimeters in length, by 120 in
breadth. It is perforated with three holes, "the two upper of which are
surrounded with circles, and represent eyes; between these is a raised
ridge of shell, in place of the nose, and below this is a third hole,
which is just above a series of lines that were probably intended as the
mouth. Four lines, parallel to each other during three-fourths of their
length, begin at the outer corner of the eye and are zigzaged to the
lower jaw, where they are drawn to a point. The concave side of the
shell is perfectly plain, and still preserves its high polish, though
the right portion of the face on the carved or convex side shows the sad
effects of time and exposure."
Although I have not had an opportunity of examining this specimen
closely, I am inclined to the opinion, judging by its outlines, that the
shell from which it was made has been sinistrally whorled, and hence a
_Busycon perversum_. I should also prefer to consider the hole beneath
the nose as representing the mouth, as it certainly does in many other
cases, and the peculiar figure--the three vertical lines which extend
downward from the hole and the two banded figures that cross them at
right angles--as a representation of some painted or tattooed design
characteristic of the builders of the mound.
[Illustration: PL. LXVIII--SHELL MASK.
Virginia.
(1/2)]
Other examples of these objects are represented in Plate LXIX. Of
especial interest I may mention the specimen shown in Fig. 4, obtained,
with other similar examples, by Professor Putnam, from the Lick Creek
mound, in East Tennessee. The perforations which represent the eyes are
surrounded by two concentric circles, and the zigzag lines beneath are
supplemented by two sets of pendant figures formed of notched lines, the
two longer of which extend down the sides of the nose, the others being
connected with the lower margin of the eye. In one example four parallel
lines pass from the mouth downward over the chin.
Fig. 3 represents a specimen from the Brakebill Mound, East Tennessee.
The mouth is not indicated, and the nose is but slightly relieved. Each
eye, however, is inclosed by a figure which extends downward over the
cheek, terminating in three sharp points.
[Illustration: PL. LXIX--THE HUMAN FACE.
1. McMahan Mound, Tenn.
2. McMahan Mound, Tenn.
3. Brakebill Mound, Tenn.
4. Lick Creek Mound, Tenn.
5. Aquia Creek, Va.
6. Mound, Ely County, Va.]
So far as the specimens at hand show, this peculiar embellishment of the
eyes and mouth is characteristic of Virginia and East Tennessee. A small
specimen from Georgia, now preserved in the Natural History Museum at
New York, has a somewhat similar ornamentation of the eyes. This
specimen is shown in Fig. 6, Plate LXX.
In Fig. 8 of the same plate we have the representation of a face modeled
in clay, on which a number of incised lines, similar to those engraved
on shell, have been drawn. The crown of notches is also present. The
specimen has been illustrated by Professor Jones.[152] It is now in the
museum of Natural History at New York, and was probably obtained from
the Etowah Valley, Georgia. Examples in stone are also numerous, and
show certain features in common with those in shell.
Fig. 9 is from Northern Ohio, and is carved from a nodule of iron ore.
The very beautiful little head shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is from a cave at
Mussel Shoals, Ala. It is made of shell, and is somewhat altered by
decay. The crown is peculiarly notched, and resembles a very common
Mexican form. The notch in the middle of the forehead can be traced to a
division in the head-dress noticed in the more elaborately carved
Mexican specimens.
The example shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is copied from a rather rude cut
given by Schoolcraft, who describes it as follows: "This well-sculptured
article was discovered in the valley of the Kasauda Creek, Onondaga
County. The material is a compact piece of sea-shell. It still preserves
in a considerable degree the smoothness and luster of its original
finish. * * * At the angle of the temples are two small orifices for
suspending it around the neck. The entire article is finished with much
skill and delicacy."[153]
The very rude specimen presented in Fig. 7 is from a mound at Franklin,
Tenn. It seems to have been some natural form, but slightly changed by
art. A somewhat similar specimen from a mound in Tennessee may be seen
in the Peabody Museum.
The cut presented in Fig. 5 is taken from Jones's Antiquities of
Tennessee, page 48. The specimen was obtained from the stone grave of a
child at the foot of a mound near Nashville, Tenn. It has diamond-shaped
eyes, a feature of very rare occurrence in the art of this region.
[Illustration: PL. LXX--THE HUMAN FACE.
1, 2. Shell ornament from a cave, Alabama. (1/1)
3, 4. Shell ornament from New York. (1/1)
5. Shell ornament, stone grave, Tennessee.
6. Shell ornament from Georgia. (1/1)
7. Shell ornament from Tennessee. (1/1)
8. Face modeled in clay, Georgia.
9. Face carved in iron ore, Ohio.]