upon the open palm.' Of equal interest is a notched disk, 834 inches in diameter, found at Moundsville, Alabama, also described by Mr Moore and now in the Peabody Museum at Cambridge. The symbols engraved on one face include two human hands, each with an open eye in the palm, and three other unique figures which in their general style suggest the treatment of symbolic subjects by the ancient Mexicans.

It is observed that these plates are made of sandstone and kindred gritty materials, and this fact confirms Mr Moore's conclusion that they were used in grinding pigments. It is further observed that they are symmetrically shaped and neatly finished, and besides are embellished with various designs manifestly of symbolic import. That they were held in exceptional esteem by their owners is shown by their burial with the dead. These facts indicate clearly that the plates were not intended to serve merely an ordinary purpose, but rather that they filled some important sacred or ceremonial office, as in preparing colors for shamanistic use or religious ceremony. It may be fairly surmised that the pestles used in connection with these plates were also symbolic and yielded by their own attrition essential ingredients of the sacred pigments. It is a further possibility that drawings of sacred subjects were executed on the plates and, being ground off, entered also into the composition of the mixtures, imparting additional potency. These plates may well be compared with the pigment slabs of the Pueblo tribes and especially with some of the ancient plates (pl. XIII, e, f) described by Dr Fewkes2 which are embellished with animal forms in relief and with concentric lines and notched margins analogous to those of the mound specimens.

The engraved designs on these plates naturally give rise to speculation, and it is not surprising that the very general presence of notched and scalloped margins should suggest the theory that the plates were sun symbols. But a critical examination of the various markings and figures leads to the conviction that all are representative, in a more or less conventional fashion, of animal originals and that all were probably employed because of their peculiar esoteric

1 Moore in Journal of the Academy Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, XIII, 1905. 2 Twenty-second Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1904.

significance and relationship with the functions of the tablets. It is observed that the notches cut in the edges of the plates are in many instances carried inward over the plate in such a way as to suggest feathers as these are often formally treated in native art, and this leads to the surmise that the animal original might have been a duck—a symbol of wide distribution among the Indian tribes in the South; but recalling the occurrence of the feathered-serpent design engraved on the obverse of the Mississippi tablet a strong presumption is created that the original concept in the mind of the makers of these plates was, at least in some cases, the feathered serpent, a northern form of Quetzalcoatl, a chief deity of the middle American peoples.

With the ancient Mexicans and Central Americans the ceremonial grinding plate or metate was an object of unusual consideration and was elaborated to represent the forms of various animals. It is entirely in accord with aboriginal methods of thought that the metate plate, taking the place of the body of an animal god, should be regarded as possessing, through this association, the supernatural powers of the particular deity, or as being his actual body; and that the meal, the spices, the colors, the medicines, etc., ground upon it should be surcharged with supernatural potencies coming directly from and being part of the god himself. In view of these considerations the surmise seems warranted that the peculiar excavations found on the back of the Cincinnati tablet, already referred to, may have resulted from the removal of portions of the material of the plate itself to form part of sacred mixtures. A good illustration of the highly symbolic character of these grinding plates is furnished by a large Central American specimen weighing several hundred pounds, now preserved in the United States National Museum. The metate is supported by two sculptured human figures, male and female, joined beneath, whose heads appear at opposite ends of the utensil, the breasts of the woman falling within the rim of the plate. It may be fairly assumed that the symbolism embodies the idea of the perpetuity of life and continuity of flow of god-given sustenance, the materials ground on the plate partaking of the sacred life essence. It is possible that the graphic elements in our northern representatives of the sacred metate may have analogous symbolism.

A noteworthy feature of the engravings of the serpents and other figures on these mound tablets is the apparent maturity of the art, the intricate forms being skilfully disposed and drawn with a certain hand. These designs are not mere random products, but, like the copper ornaments, the earthenware decorations, and the shell engravings of the same region, are evidently the work of skilled artists practising a well-matured art which distinctly suggests the work of the semi-civilized nations of Mexico and Central America. These plates may be regarded as furnishing additional proof that the influence of the culture of middle America has been felt all along the northern shores of the Gulf of Mexico and has passed with diminished force still farther to the north.

Six examples of these tablets are brought together in pl. xIII. They represent three widely separated localities and differ considerably in appearance, although all are probably mortar plates. All bear more or less clearly defined traces of bird-serpent symbolism. Most of these have been referred to in the preceding paragraphs, but descriptions may be given in this connection. a is a discoidal plate of "metamorphic gneiss," 104" in diameter and 3%" in thickness, obtained by Moore from a mound at Moundville, Alabama. Both faces seem to have served for grinding pigments. The obverse has three concentric marginal lines representing the body of the creature symbolized, and the periphery has thirteen feather scallops. The reverse is slightly concave, and shows traces of the light gray pigment ground upon it. b is a discoidal tablet of sandstone from the vicinity of Moundville, Alabama, and is described in some detail in a preceding paragraph. While the well drawn rattlesnakes are represented without recognizable feather elements, the periphery of the plate has seventeen notches marking off as many undeveloped feather scallops. c is a rectangular plate of "fine-grained gneiss," 14" in length by 91⁄2" in width and 5%" in thickness. Both faces are flat, one showing traces of red and the other of cream-colored pigment. The obverse has two marginal engraved lines and the ends have five exceptionally deep feather scallops. d is the Cincinnati tablet, already sufficiently described. e is a small, oblong, bird-form tablet of blackish argillite from the Gila valley, Arizona, the length being 4" and the thickness 34". The bird represented

is manifestly the eagle. The head is well suggested and the divided tail, partly broken away, is ornamented on the back with lines indicating feathers. The palette surface is slightly concave and partially surrounded by a raised band that may represent a serpent. The reverse of the body is evenly convex. f is a tablet of dark argillite, subrectangular in shape, obtained from the Gila valley, Arizona. It is 43%" in length and 1⁄2" in thickness. The upper surface, which is slightly convex save at the center, which is depressed, is surrounded by an incised line outside of which is the rounded margin ornamented with groups of notches, probably symbolizing the bird. A groove extends around the periphery, and the reverse, or back, is irregularly convex.

To this list may be added the small, roundish tablet obtained from Cochise county, Arizona, shown in figure 9. It is made of an impure variety of nephrite, and is 41⁄2" in diameter and 1⁄2" in thickness. The upper surface is slightly concave, and the margin is formed of the looped body of the rattlesnake with characteristic markings.

The small size of most of the tablets referred to indicates that they could hardly have been used for any purpose other than the grinding of pigments or medicines, and the peculiar symbols associated with them warrant the

conclusion that they were intended for use, in part at least, in preparing substances sacred to the bird-serpent deity of the native pantheon.

WASHINGTON, D. C.

PRESERVATION OF AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES;
PROGRESS DURING THE LAST YEAR;

NEEDED LEGISLATION1

BY EDGAR L. HEWETT

Prior to 1904 the only act of our Government looking toward the preservation of our antiquities was the reservation and restoration, by act of Congress of March 2, 1889, of the Casa Grande ruin in Arizona. During the last fifteen months a definite policy of preservation has rapidly developed, so that at present it may be said that approximately three-fourths of all the remains of antiquity that are situated on lands owned or controlled by the United States are under custodianship more or less efficient, and that the despoliation of ruins for commercial purposes is in a fair way to be stamped out. Following are the various steps that have been taken :

1. All ruins that are situated on the national forest reserves have been placed under the care of forest rangers and all unathorized excavation or collecting prohibited. Forest rangers are clothed with power to arrest offenders, accordingly all ruins so situated are adequately policed. This is a rapidly growing class, as forest reserves are being created constantly in the Southwest, where antiquities are most numerous. Already about fifty percent of the southwestern ruins are within the limits of forest reserves and in time from two-thirds to three-fourths of them will be included. The Forest Service now protects the following reserves upon which important archeological remains are situated :

In Colorado: Montezuma forest reserve.

In Utah: Aquarius and Sevier forest reserves.

In New Mexico: Pecos, Gila, Lincoln, and Jemez forest reserves. The recently created Jemez forest reserve includes the vast arche

1 Abstract of paper read before the American Anthropological Association and the Archæological Institute of America in joint meeting at Ithaca, New York, December 28, 1905.