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114 University of California Publications in Am. Arch. and Ethn. [Vol. 20

foothill country above the lower San Joaquin, that such curved
obsidians were used among them, and presumably also among the
Yokuts about Stockton, as artificial claws by dancers or religious
performers impersonating bears. Several of the pieces illustrated by
Meredith and Holmes3 possess much the shape of bear claws and a
groove for attachment. Whether or not all thepe curves are to be
interpreted as having been so used, is less certain. At any rate they
were not beyond the capacity of the ordinary California Indian to
produce. Ishi, the last Yahi, on being shown the design in 1914,
easily made several imitations.4
(4) Clay balls, averaging smaller than a fist, more or less baked.
A minority are incised, usually with rows of small punch marks.
Holmes speaks of them somewhat noncommittally as sling shots, pre-
sumably for hunting waterfowl. Jones, as will be seen, regards them
as substitutes for cooking stones in an alluvial region.
(5) Cylindrical jars or "vases" of steatite.
(6) Haliotis ornaments, from one or two to five inches long, which
to Holmes suiggest a double-headed bird, while Meredith likens them
to banjos. They consist usually of a round or oval portion with a
neck from which two or three tabs project on each side, like the keys
of a stringed instrument. A perforation shows that they were worn
with the neck or head hanging down. Ornaments of this type occur
not only in the Stockton district, but on Suisun bay.5
(7) Etched bird bones, with somewhat more elaborate geometric
incisions and a higher polish than are usual in California. These are
not mainly whistles, as Holmes says. The majority were ornaments,
probably either for wearing in the ear or for holding in the hand in
dances, perhaps usually with feathers inserted.
It thus appears that a local type of culture once flourished in the
region of the San Joaquin delta, on which Jones' notes may serve to
throw light. The types having been shown in the writings of Holmes"
and Meredith,7 no illustrations are appended here.8
3 Moorehead, fig. 394; Holmes, pl. 25.
4 Anthropological Museum of the University of Californiai, numbers 1-19871
to 19873.
5 University Museum, numbers 1-4972, Vallejo; 1-16806, Benicia; 1-17070 to
1-17072, Isleton; 1-17080, Isleton.
6 Op. cit., pls. 23-28.
7 In Moorehead, op. cit., figs. 394-400, 402, 404-405, 408, 410-414, 426.
8 The objects recovered by Jones near Stockton are catalogued as numbers
1-3117 to 1-3367 in the University Museum. 1-3142 is a cylindrical jar of mag-
nesium or mica; 1-3355, a clay bead; 1-3352-54 and 1-3144-48, decorated clay
balls; 1-3117-18, and 1-3122-41, plain clay balls; 1-3169-3345, fragments of
clay balls.