In 2008, the Democratic Party gathered in Denver for its 2008 convention. There, a donkey named Mordecai became the first official live mascot in the history of the party, giving a new meaning to the expression political animal. This Democratic symbol aimed to provide a few light-hearted moments at the convention.
Variously known as cupstones, anvil stones, pitted cobbles and nutting stones, among other names, these roughly discoidal or amorphous groundstone artifacts are among the most common lithic remains of Native American culture, especially in the Midwest, in Early Archaic contexts.
Taaffeittes, musgravites, and spinels are found among other stones in the gem gravels of Sri Lanka and Tanzania. Spinels are not an uncommon part of the mix but water worn as they are, they cannot always be easily defined by their crystallization or color.