PL. XXII—VESSELS.1. Shell vessel made from aBusycon perversum, Ind. (2/5)2. Earthen vessel made in imitation of shell, Mo. (3/4)
PL. XXII—VESSELS.
1. Shell vessel made from aBusycon perversum, Ind. (2/5)2. Earthen vessel made in imitation of shell, Mo. (3/4)
Among the more recent acquisitions to the national collection are two very fine specimens of theseBusyconvessels. One of these was obtained from a mound at East Dubuque, Ill. It is eleven inches in length by seven in width at the widest part; the exterior surface ishighly polished; the interior is less so, having suffered somewhat from decay; the beak is very long and slender, and has been used as a handle. The whole vessel has a dipper-like appearance.
The finest example of these vessels yet brought to my notice was obtained from a mound at Harrisburg, Ark., by Dr. Palmer, in October, 1882. It differs from the other specimens described in having an elaborate ornamental design engraved on the exterior surface. In shape it corresponds pretty closely to the first specimen figured, no part of the spire, however, being cut away; the interior parts have been removed, as usual. The surface is quite smooth, and the ridges on the inner surface of the spire are neatly rounded and polished. Its length is eleven inches, and its width seven. Plate XXIII is devoted to the illustration of this specimen. The entire exterior surface, from apex to base, is covered with a design of engraved lines and figures, which are applied in such a manner as to accord remarkably well with the expanding spiral of the shell. The upper surface of the spire is unusually flat, and has been ground quite smooth. It will be seen by reference to Fig. 2, Plate XXIII, that a series of lines, interrupted at nearly regular intervals by short cross lines and rectangular intaglio figures, has been carried from the apex outward toward the lip. Another series of lines begins on the upper margin next the inner lip of the shell, passes around the circumference of the upper surface, and extends downward over the carina, covering, as shown in the other figure, the entire body of the vessel, excepting the extreme point of the handle. The base of the shell, which is perforated, has a small additional group of lines. The lines of the principal series are, on the more expanded portion of the body of the shell, about eight inches long, and are interrupted by two rows of short lines and two rows of incised rectangular figures. The space between the latter contains the most interesting feature of the design. Three arrow-head shaped figures, two inches in length by one and one-half in width, are placed, one near the outer lip, another near the inner lip, and the third in the middle of the body, a little below the center. These figures are neatly cut and symmetrical, and resemble a barbed and blunt-pointed arrow-head. Near the center of each is a small circle, which gives the figure a close resemblance to a variety of perforated stone implements, one specimen of which has been found near Osceola, Ark. Whatever may be the significance of this design, and it is undoubtedly significant, it is at least a very remarkable piece of work and a highly successful effort at decoration. The pottery of this region which is generally highly decorated with painted and incised lines, contains nothing of a character similar to this, and it is probable that what I have come to consider a rule in such matters applies in this case; the design on the shell is significant or ideographic, that on the pottery is purely ornamental.
PL. XXIII—ENGRAVED VESSEL.Harrisburg, Ark.
PL. XXIII—ENGRAVED VESSEL.
Harrisburg, Ark.
For the purpose of showing the very wide distribution of vessels made from large seashells, especially theBusycon perversum, I introduce here descriptions of most of the specimens heretofore reported.
Dr. Rau, in his paper on ancient aboriginal trade in North America, states that in the collection of Colonel Jones, of Brooklyn, there is a vessel formed from aCassiswhich is eight and a half inches long, and has a diameter of seven inches where its periphery is widest. It was obtained from a stone grave near Clarkesville, Habersham County, Georgia.[7]
Two fine specimens of theCassis flammeawere taken from mounds in Nacoochee Valley, Georgia. They were nearly ten inches in length and about seven inches in diameter. The interior whorls and columellæ had been removed, so that they answered the purpose of drinking cups or receptacles of some sort.[8]
From a stone grave mound near Franklin, on the Big Harpeth River, Prof. Joseph Jones took two large sea-shells, one of which was much decayed. The interior surface of these shells had been painted red, and the exterior had been marked with three large circular spots.[9]
In the grave of a child, near the grave just mentioned, the following relics were found: "Four large sea-shells, one on each side of the skeleton, another at the foot, and the fourth, a large specimen, with the interior apartments cut out and the exterior surface carved, covered the face and forehead of the skull."[10]
In a small mound opposite the city of Nashville, Tenn., Professor Jones found "a large sea-conch." The interior portion or spiral of which had been carefully cut out; it was probably used as a drinking vessel, or as the shrine of an idol as in a case observed by Dr. Troost.[11]
Two large shells ofBusycon, from which the columellæ had been removed, were obtained from the Lindsley mounds, sixty miles east of Nashville, by Professor Putnam.[12]
Professor Wyman, writing of the mounds of Eastern Tennessee, says that "among the implements are well-preserved cups or dishes, made of the same species of shell [Busycon perversum] as the preceding, but of much more gigantic size than those now found. One of them measures a foot in length, though the beak has been broken off. When entire its length could not have been less than fourteen or fifteen inches. These shells probably came from the Gulf of Mexico, and found their way into Tennessee as articles of traffic. The dishes are made in the same way, and not to be distinguished from those found in Florida at the time of the first visit of the Europeans, or from those, as will be seen further, found in the ancient burial mounds. The great similarity in the style and make of these dishes renders it quite probable that they were manufactured in Florida."[13]A number of similar dishes, madefrom the same shell, were obtained from mounds at Cedar Keys, Florida, by Professor Wyman.[14]
Francis Cleveland, C. E., who, in 1828, had charge of the excavation known as the "deep cut" on the Ohio Canal, informed Colonel Whittlesey that at the depth of twenty-five feet in the alluvium several shells belonging to the speciesBusycon perversumwere taken out.[15]
Dr. Drake, writing of the Cincinnati mounds, mentions "several large marine shells, belonging, perhaps, to the genusBuccinum, cut in such a way as to serve for domestic utensils, and nearly converted into a state of chalk."[16]
Mr. Atwater states that "several marine shells, probablyBuccinum, cut in such a manner as to be used for domestic utensils, were found in a mound on the Little Miami River, Warren County, Ohio."[17]
ACassisof large size, from which the inner whorls and columella had been removed to adapt it for use as a vessel, was found in Clark's mound, on Paint Creek, Scioto Valley, Ohio.[18]This specimen is eleven and a half inches in length by twenty-four in circumference at the largest part. It is further stated that fragments of these and other shells are found in the tumuli and upon the altars of the mound-builders. In digging the Ohio and Erie Canal, there was found, near Portsmouth, its southern terminus on the Ohio River, a cluster of five or six large shells, which appeared to have been thus carefully deposited by the hand of man. They were about three feet beneath the surface. The columellæ of some large shells, probably theStrombus gigas, were also discovered.[19]
Several large marine shells were found in a mound near Grand Rapids, Mich. They were all hollowed out, apparently for carrying or storing water, and in one case perforated at the upper edge on opposite sides for suspension by a cord or thong.[20]
Mr. Farquharson mentions a vessel made from aBusycon perversum, obtained from a mound near Davenport, Iowa. The shell has been cut through about an inch above the center; it is thirteen inches in length by seven in width, and has a capacity of nearly two pints.[21]He also describes a large specimen ofCassisfrom a mound in Muscatine County, Iowa.[22]
Long, in his expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains in1819, speaks of a large shell which seems to have been reverenced as a kind of oracle. This may have been one of the large, brilliantly-colored fossilBaculitesso common in the upper Missouri region. His description will be given in full in treating of the sacerdotal uses of shells.
In the Naturalist for October, 1879, Mr. Frey describes a sea-shell drinking vessel, somewhat modified by art, having a length of four and one-half inches. This, with other relics, among which were many shell beads, was found inan ancientgrave in eastern New York, probably in the Mohawk Valley.
These vessels of shell have also served as models for the primitive potter. The ancient peoples of the middle Mississippi district were extremely skillful in the reproduction of natural objects in clay, and it is not surprising that they should imitate the form of the shell.
In the Peabody Museum is an earthen vessel copied from a shell vessel of the class just described, the characteristic features being all well imitated. It is about nine inches wide, eleven long and four deep. It is neatly made, and ornamented with the red and white designs peculiar to the pottery of this region. It was taken from one of the Stanley mounds, Saint Francis River, Ark.
A small earthen vessel made in imitation of these shell vessels is illustrated in Fig. 2, Plate XXII. It is of the ordinary blackish ware so common in the middle Mississippi district. The general shape of the shell is well represented; the sides, however, are nearly symmetrical and the spire is represented by a central node, surrounded by four inferior nodes. It is four inches wide and five and one-half long. Three others represent shell vessels, somewhat less closely, the spires and beaks being added to the opposite sides of ordinary cups.
As domestic utensils bivalve shells have held a place hardly inferior in importance to that of the large univalves. Marine and fluviatile varieties have been used indiscriminately, and generally in the natural state, but occasionally altered by art to enhance their beauty or add to their convenience. The artificial utensils do not, however, present a very great variety of form, the alteration consisting chiefly in the carving out of a kind of handle, by which device hot food could be eaten without danger of burning the fingers. The handle, which may be seen in all stages of development, is produced by cutting away portions of the anterior and basal margins of the shell, leaving the salient angle projecting; this angle is then undercut from the opposite sides so that it is connected with the body of the valve by a more or less restricted neck. The outer edge of the handle is frequently ornamented with notches, and in a few cases a round perforation has been made near the anterior tip for the purpose of suspension. In one case a rude designof small circular depressions has been added to the upper surface. In the finished implement the hinge, ligament, and teeth have been cut away, the thick dorsal margin carefully ground down, leaving a smooth, neat edge, and the anterior point, which was presented to the lips in eating or drinking, was well rounded and polished. The whole surface of the shell in the more finished specimens has been most carefully dressed. Altogether, the fashioning of these spoons must be regarded as a very ingenious performance for savages, and has cost much more labor than would the attachment of a handle, for which purpose it is not improbable the lateral notches may at times have been used. Our collections furnish no examples of marine univalves worked in this manner; a few slightly altered specimens, however, have been reported. Nearly all the specimens of carved spoons that have come to my notice are made from a few species ofUnio.
It is a curious fact that most of these utensils have been made from the left valve of the shell, which gives such a position to the handle that they are most conveniently used by the right hand, thus indicating right-handedness on the part of these peoples. In the national collection there are two left-handed specimens, one from Nashville, Tenn., and one from Union County, Ky.
Professor Putnam states that he has "examined over thirty of these shell-spoons now in the museum [Peabody], and all are made from the right [left] valves ofUnionidæ, and so shaped as to be most conveniently used with the right hand."[23]
By reference to Fig.1, Plate XXIV, the probable manner of grasping and using the spoon will be seen. It will also be observed that the left valve of the shell is used to make the right-handed spoon, supposing of course that the point of the spoon is presented to the lips, the hinge corner being much less convenient for that purpose.
In regard to the use of these objects, which have occasionally been taken for ornaments, it should be mentioned that very many of them have been found within earthen vessels placed in the graves with the dead. The vessels, in all probability, were the receptacles of food, the spoons being so placed that they could be used by the dead as they had been used by the living.
The specimen shown in Fig. 3, Plate XXIV, was obtained by Professor Powell, from a mound near Nashville, Tenn. It is made from the left valve of a very delicate specimen of theUnio ovatus,[24]and has been finished with more than usual care. The entire rim is artificially shaped, the natural shell being much reduced, and six notches ornament the outside of the handle. The bowl of the spoon is nearly four inches in length and two and one-half in width. Eight other specimens were obtained from the same locality by Professor Powell. All are made from theUnio ovatus, one only being left-handed. All areinferior in finish to the specimen illustrated. The handles of a number are rudimentary, and the margins and surfaces are but slightly worked.
The spoon illustrated in Fig. 4, Plate XXIV, is made from the left valve of aUnio alatus(?) and was obtained from a mound at Madisonville, Ohio. It is an unusually well-finished and handsome specimen, and notwithstanding its fragile character, is well preserved. A portion of the point has, unfortunately, been broken away. The handle is ornamented with four shallow notches, the anterior point being neatly rounded and perforated for suspension. The edges of the utensil have been carefully finished, and both the inner and outer surfaces have been ground down and polished so that all the natural markings are obliterated, and the surface shows the pearly marbling of the foliation. This specimen is figured in an interesting paper,[25]prepared by Mr. Charles F. Low, as an ornament, this use being suggested by its finish and decoration; but as it was found in what was presumably a food vessel, and at the same time resembles so closely the spoons of other localities, I take the liberty of classifying it with them.
One of the most interesting collections of these utensils was made in Union County, Ky., by S. S. Lyon. Our information in regard to this lot of specimens is, unfortunately, quite meager, as Mr. Lyon's report gives them but casual mention.
Fig. 2, Plate XXIV, illustrates the finest of these specimens on a scale of one-half. The shell used is a large specimen ofUnio ovatus, the bowl of the spoon being about four inches long and three wide. As the right valve has been used, the utensil is left-handed. The handle is ornamented with two marginal notches; the basal point is long and spine-like, and is deeply undercut. The anterior point is beak-like in shape, the nicely made perforation holding, in relation to it, the position of an eye, which, together with the comb-like notches above, gives a pretty close resemblance to a bird's head. The point of the spoon is broken away.
PL. XXIV—SHELL SPOONS.1. Manner of grasping spoon.2. From a mound in Kentucky. (1/2)3. From a mound near Nashville. (1/1)4. From a mound in Ohio. (1/1)
PL. XXIV—SHELL SPOONS.
1. Manner of grasping spoon.2. From a mound in Kentucky. (1/2)3. From a mound near Nashville. (1/1)4. From a mound in Ohio. (1/1)
The seven remaining spoons from this locality have a variety of handles, all of which are notched on the outer margin, while a few only are deeply undercut; all have been made from the left valve of theUnio ovatus(?) and are of medium size and ordinary finish.
Another specimen in the national collection comes from Henderson County, Ky. The shell used is theUnio ovatus; the handle is notched on the outer margin, but is only slightly under-cut; the thick margin of the shell about the hinge has not been removed.
A spoon made from the left valve of aUnio silignoidens(?) has recently been obtained from a mound at Osceola, Ark.; it is but slightly worked, having a series of small notches cut in the basal margin, toward the front.
The Natural History Museum of New York contains a specimen of thisclass, labeled as coming from Georgia. It has a rounded handle, without either perforation or notches.
The Peabody Museum contains a very superior collection, consisting of specimens from several localities. Six of these, made fromUnionidæ, mostly from theUnio ovatus, were obtained from one of the Bowling mounds near Nashville, Tenn.; others crumbled on being handled and were lost. Several others were obtained in the same region.[26]Two more were found in an earthen vessel between two skeletons, in one of the Lindsley mounds at Lebanon, sixty miles east of Nashville.[27]
In a stone-cist mound on the Big Harpeth River, Prof. Joseph Jones found "a few large fresh-water mussel-shells, which were much altered by time. These mussel-shells appeared from their shape to have been artificially carved, and to have been used as ornaments and also as spoons or cups for dipping up food and drink."[28]
Three fine specimens have recently been obtained from graves at Harrisburg, Ark. They are but slightly worked as compared with the more elaborate specimens. The hinge, teeth, and ligaments have been ground down and a portion of the postero-dorsal margin removed, leaving the posterior point and basal margin projecting for a handle. The surfaces are well smoothed. The general outline of the shell is subtriangular; it is three inches wide by four and one-half in length and is probably made from theUnio cuneatus.
Beverly gives a plate illustrating two Virginia Indians, man and wife, at dinner; on the mat by the woman is "a Cockle-Shell, which they sometimes use instead of a Spoon." "The Spoons which they eat with, do generally hold half a Pint; and they laugh at the English for using small ones, which they must be forc'd to carry so often to their Mouths, that their Arms are in Danger of being tir'd, before their Belly."[29]
From a very early date shells must have been employed quite extensively by the ancient Americans as implements, as weapons for war and the chase, as appliances for fishing, as agricultural implements, and as knives, gougers, scrapers, perforators, etc., in a variety of arts. It is a noteworthy fact, however, that our collections do not abound in objects of these classes, and our literature furnishes but little information on the subject. Our interest lies chiefly in such of these objects as have been shaped by the hand of man, but to illustrate their use we will find it instructive to study the various ways in which the natural shellshave been employed. In this manner we may trace the origin and development of artificial forms.
As we have seen in the early modification of food utensils the beginning of the art of cutting and shaping shell, which in time led to the manufacture of objects of taste, and probably proved an important step in the evolution of native American art, so in this convenient and workable material, as employed in the mechanical arts, we witness the inception of many important human industries, and in the rude machines constructed from shell probably behold the prototypes of numerous works in stone and metal. It cannot be supposed that such of these objects as we do possess are of very ancient date, as the material is not sufficiently enduring. It is also improbable that such objects would, as a rule, be so frequently deposited in graves, as food vessels or objects of personal display, and objects not so deposited must soon have disappeared.
The early explorers of the American coast make occasional mention of the employment of shells in the various arts. As many of these notices are interesting, and have an important bearing upon the subject under consideration, I will present a number of them here. Among a majority of the American Indians, knives of stone, obsidian, jasper, and flint were in general use, but it would seem that shells artificially shaped and sharpened were also sometimes used for shaping objects in wood and clay, in preparing food, in dressing game, and in human butchery.
Strachey informs us, in volume VI of the Hakluyt Society, that when the omnipotent Powhatan "would punish any notorious enemy or trespasser, he causeth him to be tyed to a tree, and with muscle shells or reedes the executioner cutteth off his joints one after another, ever casting what is cutt off into the fier; then doth he proceede with shells and reedes to case the skyn from his head and face."[30]
Such knives were also used by Powhatan's women for cutting off their hair.[31]
A number of authors mention the use of shells as scalping-knives.
Kalm, speaking of the Indians of New Jersey, says that "instead of knives, they were satisfied with little sharp pieces of flint or quartz, or else some other hard kind of a stone, or with a sharp shell, or with a piece of bone, which they had sharpened."[32]
The Indians encountered by Henry Hudson during his first voyage, in making him welcome, "killed a fat dog, and skinned it in great haste with shells which they had."[33]
Beverly asserts that before the English supplied the Virginia Indians with metallic tools, "their Knives were either sharpen'd Reeds, or Shells,and their Axes sharp Stones bound to the end of a Stick, and glued in with Turpentine. By the help of these they made their Bows of the Locust Tree."[34]
Drake, in his "World Encompassed," speaking of some of the southern tribes of South America, probably the Patagonians, says that "their hatchetts and knives are made of mussel-shells, being great and a foot in length, the brickle part whereof being broken off, they grind them by great labor to a fine edge and very sharpe, and as it seemeth, very durable.[35]* * * Their working tools, which they use in cutting these things and such other, are knives made of most huge and monstrous mussell shells (the like whereof have not been seen or heard of lightly by any travelers, the meate thereof being very savourie and good in eating), which, after they have broken off the thinne and brittle substance of the edge, they rub and grind them upon stones had for the purpose, till they have tempered and set such an edge upon them, that no wood is so hard but they will cut it at pleasure with the same."[36]
According to Sproat, shell knives were used by the Indians of Vancouver's Island in carving the curious wooden images placed over graves.[37]
Ancient shell knives are very rarely found in collections. Such specimens as have come to my notice could as well be classed as scrapers or celts. We will probably not be far wrong in concluding that such implements were used for scraping and digging as well as for cutting. As a rule, knives proper were simply sharpened bivalve shells. The scrapers so frequently mentioned were doubtless often the same, but probably more frequently portions of the lower whorl of the large univalves.
Implements of this class are generally made from the lower part of large univalves. They were probably used in a variety of ways, with handles and without. The spine-like base of the shell forms the shaft, the blade being cut from the broadly expanded wall of the lower whorl. Nearly all the specimens in the national collection have been obtained in this way. In Plate XXV three very fine examples are figured. The specimen illustrated in Fig. 1 is more than usually well fashioned, and is extremely massive, having the proportions and almost the weight of typical stone celts. It is five inches in length, two and three-fourths in width, and nearly one inch through at the thickest part.
The edge is even and sharp, and but slightly rounded; the beveled faces are quite symmetrical, and meet at an angle of about 35°; the faces are curved slightly, following the original curvature of the shell, and the sides are evenly dressed and taper gently toward the upper end which shows some evidence of battering. The surface of the specimen is slightly chalky from decay. It has been made from aStrombus gigas, or some equally massive shell. It was collected at Orange Bluff, Fla., by T. S. Barber. A profile view of the same specimen is presented in Fig. 2. The specimen shown in Fig. 3 was found in Madison County, Ky., and is the only one in the national collection from the Mississippi Valley. It was obtained from a mound, but in what relation to the human remains I have not learned. It is fashioned much like the specimen just described; it is one and a half inches in width at the upper end, and two inches wide near the cutting edge. It has also been made from a very massive shell.
Fig. 4 illustrates a specimen from St. Michael's Parish, Barbadoes, West Indies. It is made from the basal portion of aBusycon perversum. The handle is curved and neatly rounded, and the edge is beveled or sharpened on the inside only.
PL. XXV—SHELL CELTS.1. Orange Bluff, Fla. (3/4)2. Orange Bluff, Fla. (3/4)3. Madison County, Ky. (3/4)4. Barbadoes, W I (3/4)
PL. XXV—SHELL CELTS.
1. Orange Bluff, Fla. (3/4)2. Orange Bluff, Fla. (3/4)3. Madison County, Ky. (3/4)4. Barbadoes, W I (3/4)
In the national collection there are about twenty of these objects; six are from Tampa, Fla.; four of these are fragmentary; the remaining two are short and triangular, and have been made, one from aBusycon perversum, the other from aBusyconorStrombus. The cutting edge is wide and well sharpened. Two are from Cedar Keys, Fla., and are made from thin-walled specimens of theBusycon perversum. The larger is six and one-half inches in length by three in width toward the base; the other is about one-half as large. Both are rudely made, and show the effects of use. Five came from East Pass, Choctawhatchie Bay, Fla. Two of them are fragmentary; one of the entire specimens is very well made, and has a regularly beveled, oblique edge, while another is remarkable in having a curiously worn edge, which is deeply serrated by use or weathering. The majority of these specimens are from ancient shell heaps. Three are from St. Michael's Parish, Barbadoes, West Indies, one of which has already been described.
Professor Wyman, in the Naturalist for October, 1868, illustrates two of these celt-like implements from the fresh-water shell heaps near St. Johns, Fla. One is made from a triangular piece cut from aBusycon carica, so as to comprise a portion of the rostrum, which serves as a handle, and a portion of a swollen part of the body, which terminates in the cutting edge of the tool. The sides and apex are smoothed and rounded, while the base is regularly rounded and ground to an edge like that of a gouge, but with the bevel on the inside.
This author states that another specimen, obtained at Old Enterprise, shows clearly that it was detached from the shell by first cutting a groove and then breaking off the fragment. He also gives two views of a small shell celt which, from the exterior markings and the thickridge on the inside, is thought to have been cut from the base of aStrombus gigas. "The broad end is ground to a blunt edge like that seen in most of the stone chisels from the other States, and the other is ground to a blunt point."
These implements are frequently mentioned by early explorers. In Plate 12 of the "Admiranda Narratio," an Indian is represented[38]with a shell implement, scraping away the charred portions from the interior of a canoe which is being hollowed out by fire. The same implement was employed for removing the bark from the tree trunks used.
Catlin, in speaking of the Klahoquat Indians of Vancouver's Island, says that "a species of mussel-shell of a large size, found in the various inlets where fresh and salt water meet, are sharpened at the edge and set in withes of tough wood, forming a sort of adze, which is used with one hand or both, according to its size; and the flying chips show the facility with which the excavation is made in the soft and yielding cedar, no doubt designed and made for infant man to work and ride in."[39]
Wood, speaking of the Indians of New England, says that "their Cannows be made either of Pine-trees, which before they were acquainted withEnglishtooles, they burned hollow, scraping them smooth with Clam-shels and Oyster-shels, cutting their out-sides with stone-hatchets."[40]
The method of hafting these implements, when used for axes and adzes, was doubtless the same as that employed for stone implements of similar shapes. This is illustrated in Fig. 2, Plate XXVII, the handle being securely fastened by cords or sinews. It will be seen that but one of the specimens mentioned comes from the interior, and that from Madison County, Ky.
The great majority of the scraping implements obtained from the mounds, graves, and shell heaps are simply valves ofUnioor clam-shells, unaltered except by use; yet there is a widely distributed class of worked specimens, which have been altered by making a rough perforation near the center of the valve, and by the grinding down and notching of the edges. A very fine specimen is illustrated in Fig. 3, Plate XXVI. It is formed of the left valve of aUnio tuberculosus. It was taken from a mound at Madisonville, Ohio, and is now in the national collection. A similar specimen from the same locality is illustrated in an account of the exploration conducted by the Scientific and Literary Society of Madisonville.[41]I have seen four other fine specimensfrom the same locality; all are made of the shell of theUnio tuberculosus(?). It will be seen by reference to Fig. 3 that the posterior point of the shell is much worn, as if by use, while at the opposite end, near the hinge, the margin has been slightly notched. The large specimen, figured in the Madisonville pamphlet, as well as all other examples from this locality, are also much worn at the posterior end, and slightly notched on the anterior margin. The perforations are roughly made, and nearly one-half an inch in diameter.
I have carefully examined all the specimens of this class within my reach, probably twenty-five in all, most of which are in the national collection, and I find them all very much alike. They are from two to five inches in length, have rude central perforations, and are worn by use at the posterior point, and notched on the anterior margin. The blunting of one end by use calls for no explanation, but the purpose of the perforation is a little obscure. It may have been used for convenience in transportation, but more probably for attaching a handle. On discovering that a notch had in all cases been made at the upper end, I became convinced that the latter use was intended. Whether the supposed handle has been long or short, or attached longitudinally or transversely, I am unable to determine.
In Plate XXVI, Figs. 4 and 5, two methods of hafting are illustrated. If used for striking, the long handle would be the more suitable, but if for scraping, dressing skins, scaling fish, or shaping wood or clay, the handle suggested in Fig. 5 would be the most convenient. The clam-shell agricultural implements, so frequently mentioned by explorers along the Atlantic coast, were attached to handles in the manner of hoes or adzes, as shown in Fig. 2, Plate XXVII. It is possible that the specimens under consideration may have been hafted in this manner.
A perforated valve of aUnio gibbosus, which has probably been used as a knife or scraper, is shown in Fig. 1, Plate XXVII. It was obtained from a cave near Nashville, and is now in the national collection.
Another interesting variety of shell implement is shown in Fig. 1, Plate XXVI. It was obtained from the Oconee River, near Milledgeville, Ga., and is made from the left valve of aUnio vericosus. Its perfect state of preservation indicates that it is of quite recent manufacture. A deep, sharply cut groove encircles the beak and hinge of the shell, and the posterior margins are considerably worn. A few shallow lines have been engraved on the smooth convex surface of the valve. The position of the groove suggests the method of hafting shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 6, Plate XXVI, represents a perforatedPecten, which may have been used as an implement or as part of a rattle. It was collected by Mr. Webb on the west coast of Florida.
PL. XXVI—SHELL IMPLEMENTS.1. Scraper, Georgia. (1/1)2. Probable manner of hafting.3. Implement from a mound, Ohio. (1/1)4. Probable manner of hafting.5. Probable manner of hafting.6. PerforatedPecten, Florida. (1/2)
PL. XXVI—SHELL IMPLEMENTS.
1. Scraper, Georgia. (1/1)2. Probable manner of hafting.3. Implement from a mound, Ohio. (1/1)4. Probable manner of hafting.5. Probable manner of hafting.6. PerforatedPecten, Florida. (1/2)
The first explorers of the Atlantic seaboard found many of the tribes cultivating the soil to a limited extent, corn being the chief product. The methods and appliances were exceedingly primitive, and the implements employed, whether wood, bone, stone, or shell, possess but little interest to art.
Unworked shells, lashed to rude handles, served all the purposes as well as if wrought out in the most fanciful manner. The large, firm valves of clam-shells were most frequently used, as the following extracts will show.
"Before the Indians learned of the English the use of a more convenient instrument, they tilled their corn with hoes made of these shells, to which purpose they are well adapted by their size."[42]
A further reference to this shell is found in Wood's New England Prospect: "The first plowman was counted little better than a Juggler: theIndiansseeing the plow teare up more ground in a day, than their Clamme shels could scrape up in a month, desired to see the workemanship of it, and viewing well the coulter and share, perceiving it to be iron, told the plowman, hee was almostAbamocho, almost as cunning as the Devill."[43]And again the same author says: "An other work is their planting of corne, wherein they exceede ourEnglishhusband-men, keeping it so cleare with their Clamme shell-hooes, as if it were a garden rather than a corne-field, not suffering a choking weede to advance his audacious head above their infant corne, or an undermining worme to spoile his spurnes."[44]
Other writers make but the most casual mention of this subject. De Bry gives, in Plate XXI, Vol. II, a picture in which a number of natives are engaged in cultivating their fields. In Fig. 3, Plate XXVII, I give an enlarged cut of one of the implements employed; the original drawing has probably been made from memory by the artist, and the cut serves no purpose except to give an idea of the general shape of the implement and to suggest the manner of hafting, if indeed the implement is not made wholly from a crooked stick.
PL. XXVII—SHELL IMPLEMENTS.1. Shell implement, Tennessee.2. Probable manner of hafting celt.3. Implement illustrated in De Bry.4. Shell club-head, Florida.5. Shell implement, Peru.
PL. XXVII—SHELL IMPLEMENTS.
1. Shell implement, Tennessee.2. Probable manner of hafting celt.3. Implement illustrated in De Bry.4. Shell club-head, Florida.5. Shell implement, Peru.
The use of shell in the manufacture of fishing implements seems to have been almost unknown among the tribes of the Atlantic coast, and with the exception of a few pendant-like objects, resembling plummetsor sinkers of stone, nothing has been obtained from the ancient burial mounds of the Mississippi Valley. Hooks of shell, however, are very plentiful in the ancient burial-places of the Pacific coast, and are frequently so well shaped as to excite our admiration. Hooks and other fishing apparatus, in whole or in part made of shell, are extensively employed by the present natives of the Pacific islands and among the numerous tribes of the northwest coast, although bone and ivory are in much higher favor for these purposes.
We cannot say with certainty for what purpose the various sinker-like objects of shell were used. In all cases they are so perforated or grooved as to be suspended by a string; but it is the custom of all savage peoples to employ very heavy pendants as ornaments for the ears or for suspension about the neck, and where stone could be secured for such ordinary uses as the sinking of nets or lines, it seems improbable that objects of shell, which form superb ornaments, would be so employed.
That hooks were used to some extent by the Atlantic coast Indians is proved by the association of bone hooks with other ancient relics. I am not aware that their use has been noticed by early writers, who describe at length, however, the capture of fish by means of arrows, spears, and nets. The ancient Mexican manuscripts contain many drawings showing the use of nets in fishing, but the use of hooks and lines is not suggested.
In the absence of positive proof as to the exact manner in which the plummet-like objects were utilized, I shall for the present follow the custom of the best authors and classify the heavier specimens as sinkers. The smaller specimens will be described as pendant ornaments.
In Fig. 8, Plate XXVIII, a very handsome specimen from a refuse heap on Blennerhasset Island, Ohio River, is shown. It has been cut from the columella of aBusycon perversum, the reverse whorl being indicated by the well-preserved spiral groove, and was suspended by means of a small, well-made perforation near the upper end. The surface is weathered and chalky with age.
Another specimen, from the same locality, differs but slightly from this; the perforated end is broken away; the surface is deeply weathered, and the more compact laminæ stand out in high relief.
Two specimens from Sarasota Bay, Fla., resemble these very closely in shape and size; instead of a perforation, however, they are grooved near the upper end. They are made from the columellæ of theBusycon perversum. One of them is shown in Fig. 9, Plate XXVIII.
It is possible that a number of the small shells usually supposed to be perforated for use as ornaments have been used for sinkers. One such specimen, collected by Professor Velie in Florida, is preserved in the national collection. It is made from an almost entire specimen of a small but compact univalve—a dextral-whorledBusyconor aStrombus. A shallow groove has been cut near the basal point for the purpose of attaching a line.
A fourth specimen, from Florida, is represented by a cast presented by Professor Velie; it is three inches in length and nearly one inch in diameter, and has been derived from the columella of aBusycon perversum. It has a broad groove near the upper end, with a long, sloping shoulder, the body being somewhat conical below. Other specimens of similar character have recently been added to the national collection. A grooved specimen of medium size was obtained from a mound at Madisonville, Ohio, and is figured by the explorers.[45]A few smaller specimens come from New York, and others from Kentucky, but they were probably intended for ornaments, and as such I prefer to class them.
From the Pacific coast we have a large number of examples, one of the finest being illustrated in Fig. 7, Plate XXVIII. It is a flattish, somewhat pear-shaped pendant, and has a neatly cut groove near the upper end. It was collected by Bowers on the island of Santa Rosa, Cal., and was probably made from aPachydesmaorAmiantis.
A new-looking specimen from Santa Barbara, carved from a flat bit of pearlyHaliotis, represents a fish, the mouth, gills, body, and tail being distinctly shown. It may have been used as a bait.
By far the most interesting examples of fishing implements of ancient date have been obtained from graves in California; these are well represented in the collections made by Schumacher and Bowers. A number of specimens may be seen in the National Museum; one sinker from this collection has already been described. Fish-hooks, however, constitute the great majority of the specimens, and many of them are of such unprecedented forms that they have been mistaken for ornaments. The marked peculiarity consists in the great width of the body of the hook, and the deeply involuted character of the barbless point, making it seem impossible that a fish should be impaled at all. It may be that this hook was intended only as a contrivance for securing bait, and that the fish, having swallowed this, was unable to disgorge it, and in this way was secured by the fisherman.
In Plate XXVIII, three of these hooks are illustrated. The method of fastening them to the line is not well known, and the form does not suggest it, except in a few cases in which the shaft is enlarged slightly at the upper end. The head is never perforated, but is frequently pointed, and may have been inserted in a head of some other material and secured by means of asphaltum. The fact that portions of this material still adhere to the upper part of the shaft confirms this conjecture. None of these hooks are barbed. Similar hooks of bone, exhibited in the national collection, have barbs on the outside, near the point. Hooks resembling these are used by some tribes to secure the ends of strings of beads.
Prof. F. W. Putnam has described a number of these hooks which belong to the Peabody Museum. The largest is two and three-fourthsinches in length and one inch wide at the middle of the shank. These came from San Clemente, San Miguel, and Santa Cruz islands, and the mainland about Santa Barbara, and are accompanied by stone implements used in their manufacture.[46]
The natives of Tahiti had fish-hooks made of mother-of-pearl, and every fisherman made them for himself. They generally served for the double purpose of hook and bait. "The shell is first cut into square pieces, by the edge of another shell, and wrought into a form corresponding with the outline of the hook by pieces of coral, which are sufficiently rough to perform the office of a file; a hole is then bored in the middle; the drill being no other than the first stone they pick up that has a sharp corner; this they fix into the end of a piece of bamboo and turn it between the hands like a chocolate mill; when the shell is perforated, and the hole sufficiently wide, a small file of coral is introduced, by the application of which the hook is in a short time completed, few costing the artificer more time than a quarter of an hour."[47]
The specimens illustrated are made from the thicker portions of species of theHaliotisor of the valves of the dark purplishMytilus californianus. They are handsome objects, their surfaces being well rounded and polished. In the collection there are specimens which illustrate very well the process of manufacture. A series of these is given in Plate XXVIII. Fig. 1 shows a small fragment broken out roughly from the shell, probably by a stone or shell implement. Fig. 2 shows a similar specimen in which an irregular perforation has been made. In Fig. 3 we see a considerable advance toward completion; the hole has been enlarged by rubbing or filing with some small implement, and the outline approximates that of the finished hook. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 represent typical examples of the completed hooks. These range in size from one-half to three inches in length, the width being but slightly less. The skill acquired in the manufacture of such objects of use is of the greatest importance in the development of art. It is only through the mastery of material thus engendered that the arts of taste become possible.