Gorgets: Seminole warrior and slate gorets

Before the introduction of metals including steel and silver, Native Americans used slate, shells, and other natural materials for their amulets and gorets.  Here Seminole warrior, Os-ce-o-lá, The Black Drink, is wearing a silver gorget. In 2019, USGS scientists helped to provide a detailed photographic record of slate gorgets and fragments found along the banks of the Patuxent River in Maryland.