the
larger natural pearls associated with them, and after being baked hard,
had been "covered with a flexible mica," so as to resemble pearls.1
The mica was a silvery mica that may have been burned and would
pulverize into a gray powder with a pearly luster, as almost all micas
are too resilient to be attached in any other way.
Taking
up now the history of pearl discovery in the mounds, the first definite
record goes back to about 1844, when perforated pearls were found by
Dr. Edwin H. Davis2 on the hearths of five distinct groups
of mounds in Ohio, and sometimes in such abundance that they could be
gathered by the hundred. They were generally of irregular form, mostly
pear-shaped, though perfectly round ones were also found among them.
The smaller specimens measured about one fourth of an inch in diameter,
but the largest had a diameter of three quarters of an inch.
The
next great discovery of these Unio pearls was in the Porter group of
mounds, in the Little Miami Valley, explored by Prof. Frederick W.
Putnam, and Dr. Charles L. Metz, who procured over 60,000 pearls,
nearly two bushels, drilled and undrilled, undoubtedly of Unio origin ;
all of them, however, decayed or much altered, and of no commercial
value. In 1884 these scientists examined the Marriott mound, where they
found nearly one hundred Unio shells, and among other objects of
special interest six canine teeth of bears, that were perforated by a
lateral hole near the edge at the point of greatest curvature of the
root, so that by passing a cord through this, the tooth could be
fastened to any object or worn as an ornament. Two of these teeth had a
hole bored through near the end of the root on the side opposite the
lateral perforation, and the hole countersunk in order to receive a
large spherical pearl, about three eighths of an inch in diameter.
When the teeth were found, the pearls were in place, although chalky
from decay. Upward of 250 pearl beads were found here, concerning which
they say: "The pearl beads found in the several positions mentioned are
natural pearls, probably obtained from the several species of Unios in
the Ohio rivers. In size they vary from one tenth of an inch to over
half an inch in diameter, and many are spherical. They are neatly
drilled, and the larger from opposite sides. These pearls are now
chalky, and crumble on handling, but when fresh they would have formed
brilliant necklaces and pendants."3
It
is easy to see, even at a glance, that most of those in this great
deposit of 60,000 are true pearls. Many are very irregular in form, and
quite a number are the elongated, somewhat feather-shaped,
1,4 Exploration of the Edwin Harness Mound," 3 "Explorations in Ohio," from the Eigh-
Columbus, O., press of F.J. Heer, 1907, p. 76. teenth Report of the Peabody Museum, Cam-
2 "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Val- bridge, 1886, p. 462. ley," Squier & Davis, Washington, 1848, p. 232.
