The two shell pendants from the Fredricks site were found with Burial 1 in 1983. Both of these pendants have single holes (see large pendant, small pendant). The hole in the larger one is slightly elongated and appears to have once been two holes so close together that after some wear they broke through, making the two holes one. The designs on both of the pendants are of the drilled-dot technique. Sizemore (1984) has described the design on the larger pendant as follows:
Beginning from the center are six punctated lines, each with a short segment hooking to the left at the line's end, thereby making a swastika-like design. The swastika is included within the Cross design category of Fundaburk and Foreman (1957:39), and is one of the most common designs on Southeastern gorgets. It is usually enclosed within a "Sun Circle" design. The swastika on this gorget is closely surrounded by a punctated circle, making up the inner border of a band of punctated chevrons or triangles with their apices pointing inward. Fifteen chevrons are visible; the rest have eroded. The bases of these figures rest on another punctated circle which almost completely encircles the gorget, with one segment in the top right portion having been eroded away. Outside of this circle there are three distinct punctated triangles similar to the others, and what seem to be parts of other triangular designs that are mostly eroded.
Sizemore (1984) also described the smaller pendant:
On the concave side, and emanating from the central perforation, is a six-pronged star design made of punctations. Encircling the end of these prongs seems to be two, possibly three, circles of punctations, the inner circle(s) made up of larger depressions than the outer and partially eroded circle of small dot-like punctations.
Sizemore noted that a pendant with a design very similar to the smaller pendant was found at the Irene Mound Site near Savannah, Georgia (Caldwell and McCann 1941:Plate XIX). Other pendants of the drilled dot technique were also found there, as well as specimens of the incised (and sometimes painted) rattlesnake style of gorget, which was found at Early Upper Saratown (31Sk1). The latter style has been found at numerous sites to the south and west from Tennessee to St. Catherine's Island off the coast of Georgia. The drilled-dot pendants, on the other hand, have been found exclusively to the north, primarily in Virginia, with the exception of the Irene Mound specimens (Sizemore 1984). The distribution of these pendants suggests that the Siouan area may have been at or near the boundary between southern and northern spheres of influence.
A badly corroded design resembling the one on the larger of the two pendants was scratched or incised onto the back of the metal spoon from Burial 8, another subadult. Other examples of pendants with similar designs made by this drilled dot technique were recovered from the Potomac Creek site, in northeastern Virginia, and the Irene Mound site near Savannah, Georgia (Caldwell and McCann 1941). Neither pendant from the Fredricks site is of the incised and painted "rattlesnake" style mentioned above.
In 1701, John Lawson (Lefler 1967:204) noted that:
They oftentimes make . . . a sort of Gorge, which they wear about their neck on a string; so it hangs on their collar, whereon sometimes is engraven a Cross, or some odd sort of Figure, which comes next in their Fancy.
If his observation is taken literally, one would expect there to be no limits to the stylistic variation on these pendants, except those bounded by the individual's imagination, yet there do seem to be set styles. If pendant blanks were being traded then people at specific localities could have individualized their ornaments within the limits ascribed by their group, be they techniques, style elements or motifs. It remains unclear whether or not specific elements or motifs were owned or controlled by groups or even individuals, yet these pendants may well have served as social identity markers that would probably have been worn while traveling. This would have allowed the wearer to transmit information about their cultural affiliations, place of origin, and quite possibly any associated allegiances as well.
