Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1904-09-23

acD were removed ana the cavities
We're filled with mineral pitch or
bitumen and aromatic herbs: then
wrapped and laid away, to be dug up
some thousands of years later for our
enlightenment. The parts removed
We're sealed in alabaster or other vases
and also placed in the tomb.
When an old Egyptian had some wine
made for medicinal and family use. he
felt so proud Of it that he had his name
made part of the jug handle. Here
are some Of the handles, the names still
on them.
Here are some masks of the Greek
and Roman period. 600 to 200 b. c.
Here is one of the four sacred boats
taken from tomb-probably the tomb
of great admiral or sea captain, for
who else should be honored thus? The
form of boat is not at all bad. even in
the light OF what we know today of
correct models. In the same case are
two pieces Of prehistoric Egyptian pot
terry, one with black top and the
other with dentate ornament - and
things that are prehistoric in Egypt
are very, very old.
II we could enter some prehistoric
Indians In the Olympian games at the
worlds fair, they would probably
show us the use of the hundreds of dis
colds that are here on show in the
anthropology section. These discoids,
some with holes through them and
some without, have been found in
many parts of the country. The dis
cold game, whatever it was, was of
continental popularity. Some north
western Indians have told us that the
disks were thrown or rolled along the
ground a convenient number of PAGES
where they were used rs targets for
spears, arrows, darts or other missiles.
Duck -on-a-rock comes as near to it as
any modern game. Some of the disks
are so perfect as to susges. that they
were made on lathe. Some were
also used as gorgetS or breast orna-
ments. One skeleton was found in the
Gartner mound by Mr.. Arthur B.
Coover with discoid lying close to
his head. The inference is that this
particular Indian was clever at the
game Of disks.
A stone with a hole through it pos
sessed mystical power in the mind
of the Indian as well as the modern
small boy But the bivalve with a
hole through it, which the Indian used
for the blade of hoe, possessed the
most practical mysticism. With the
shell hoe the Indian cultivated corn
and beans and probably some vege-
tables. A pretty successful sort of
| hoe it was, for modern invention has
not departed radically from the form.
There must have been good deal of
gardening done in prehistoric days, if
we may judge by the fine display of
shell hoes dug up by archaeologists at
the Gartner mound and village at Chill
licothe, o. In the Ohio section of an
thropology one may see what the an
cient Indian was busy about.
| "A HuluDcI huSC stOhC uASo tina
never saw labor, too big to WELD for
any practical purpose, were probably
ceremonial axes. The Indians had
their mystical doings and secret lodge
meetings, from which the women were
no doubt excluded lest they be taken
too long from their work. The Indian
of prehistoric days was long on cere-
mony at least, however short he may
have been in farming and manufac-
ture.
In the matter of mound building all
of us have not the correct notion. The
burial mounds that have been opened
in Ohio indicate that q considerable
number Of years elapsed during their
formation. They were the public
burying grounds. With the rude i'm
plements of the Indians it would not
have been an easy matter to dig a
grave, but it was comparatively easy
to scrape up basketful of earth and
carry it to the burial place to pour
over the dead. The use of the same
burial place for many years by a
community of Indians resulted in the
formation of considerable mound. In
the case of the Gartner mound and
village site at Chillicothe the excava'
tions showed that the mound was en-
tirely surrounded by the village.
The entire process of. making bone
fshhooks by the Indians is shown by
scraps Of work collected from the Ohio
mounds. A fiat piece Of bone was cut
into the shape of link perhaps two
inches long by five-eighths wide. This
method prevented the swapping Of the
hook in the bend. The link was then
cut apart in two places, making two