Part 8
+--------------------------------+---+---+---+ | District. | A | B | C | +--------------------------------+---+---+---+ |Kanawha valley, West Virginia | 1 | 4 | | |Davidson county, North Carolina | 1 | | | |Savannah, Georgia | | | 1 | |Eastern Tennessee | 5 | | 1 | +--------------------------------+---+---+---+
KEY: A = Slate. B = Sandstone. C = Schist.
4. Same outline but thicker; one face flat, the other convex. Represented by figure 134 (shale, from Jackson county, Illinois). The distribution of the form is as follows:
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | District. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | +-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |Eastern Tennessee | | 2| | 3| 1| 1| | |Haywood county, North Carolina | | | 1| 2| | | | |Davidson county, North Carolina| | 1| | | | | | |Savannah, Georgia | | | 2| 2| | | | |Kanawha valley, West Virginia | 1| | | | | | | |Jackson county, Illinois | | | | | | | 1| |Desha county, Arkansas | 1| | | 1| | | | +-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
A = Sandstone. B = Slate. C = Schist. D = Steatite. E = Talc. F = Argillite. G = Shale.
5. Same outline, but quite thick, approaching the “boat-shape” stones in form. In some the flat side is slightly hollowed out. A majority of them are not perforated. The type (figure 135) is of sandstone, from a mound at Adelphi, Ohio.
There are also, from Butler county, Ohio, Kanawha valley, West Virginia, and Savannah, Georgia, one each of slate; from Ross county, Ohio, two, and from Kanawha valley, and Cocke county, Tennessee, one each, all of sandstone. There are two (of sandstone and slate) from Kanawha valley, which differ from the others in having the sides parallel, giving them a semicylindrical form.
The pattern of the specimen illustrated in figure 136 (striped slate, from Butler county, Ohio, of which a number have been found in that state), may be classed between the gorgets and the boat-shape stones. The shorter end of the object has, sometimes, a projection or enlargement at the top, apparently for suspension, although no perforated examples have been found.
BANNER STONES.
Under the head of “banner stones” are placed ornaments having the ends at right angles to the perforation. The hole is drilled in a midrib, from which the faces slope by either straight or curved lines to the edges. The two halves of the stone are symmetrical. In most specimens one face is flatter than the other, even plane in some cases. Some specimens are finished to a high polish, before the hole is started; others have the hole completed with the exterior more or less unfinished. The specimens in the Bureau collection may be classified as follows:
_A._ Rectangular or trapezoidal, with sides and ends sometimes slightly curved inward or outward.
_B._ Reel-shape.
_C._ Crescentic.
_D._ Butterfly pattern.
The last three varieties may be considered as only modifications of the simple rectangular banner stones. By rounding off the corners of the articles or dressing them to sharp points, by cutting away portions from the sides or by trimming away the central portions at either or both ends of the perforations, all these different forms may be produced.
_A._ A typical specimen is illustrated in figure 137. It is of slate, and was taken from a mound in Kanawha valley, West Virginia. Another good example, shown in figure 138, is of sandy slate, from a grave in Monroe county, Tennessee. The geographic range of this type is wide, though the objects are not abundant.
+----------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | District. | A | B | C | D | E | F | +----------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |Montgomery county, North Carolina| 1| 1| | | | | |Kanawha valley, West Virginia | | | 2| | | | |Hancock county, Illinois | 1| | | | | | |Savannah, Georgia | 1| 3| | 1| 1| | |Eastern Tennessee | | | 2| 1| 1| 1| +----------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
KEY: A = Granite. B = Steatite. C = Slate. D = Sandstone. E = Compact quartzite. F = Diorite.
_B._ The reel-shape banner stones are somewhat variable, but are fairly illustrated in figure 139, representing a specimen of argillite from Sevier county, Tennessee.
A related form has the middle cut from one end, leaving two horn-like projections extending parallel with the hole. An example of this form, shown in figure 140, is of banded slate, from a mound in Kanawha valley, West Virginia.
_C._ The crescentic banner stones might better be termed “semilunar,” since most of them are flat at one end and curved at the other. Occasionally one has both ends curved and parallel, the sides also slightly curved, making the article reniform. Others have the ends straight and parallel, with the sides curved or like the zone of a circle. Two have a midrib for the hole, with the sides dressed down quite thin, as with the butterfly gorgets. All were finished in form before the drilling was done, though some had not received their final polish. The type is illustrated in figures 141 (steatite, from northwestern North Carolina), 142 (pagodite, from Rhea county, Tennessee), and 143 (sandstone, from Jefferson county, Tennessee). The last form is sometimes called a perforated ax, but the material and fragile make exclude it from every class except the ceremonial stones.
+---------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | District. | A | B | C | D | E | F | +---------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |Savannah, Georgia | 1 | | 1 | 1 | | | |Western North Carolina | 2 | | | | 1 | | |Montgomery county, North Carolina| 1 | | | | | | |Kanawha valley, West Virginia | | | | | | 2 | |Eastern Tennessee | | 1 | | | 2 | | +---------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
KEY: A = Steatite. B = Slate. C = Granite. D = Reddle. E = Pagodite. F = Talc.
_D._ The “butterfly” gorgets are so named from their resemblance to a butterfly with expanded wings. The sides or wings are usually quite thin, either semicircular or like a spherical triangle in outline. The perforated mid-rib is shorter than the wings and carefully worked. A good example, shown in figure 144, is of ferruginous quartz from Monongahela, Pennsylvania, and that illustrated in figure 145 is of banded slate from Kanawha valley. There is also one of the latter material from Lewis county, Kentucky.
An aberrant form is elliptical in section at the middle, round or nearly so at the ends, the sides expanding rapidly from end to middle by double curves. It is represented by figure 146 (ferruginous quartz, from Kanawha valley, West Virginia), and by a specimen of quartzite from Union county, Mississippi.
BOAT-SHAPE STONES.
There are two types of relics, perhaps ceremonial, for which no use has been determined, and which are named from their general resemblance to the form of a boat. They are as follows:[107]
_A._ With flat face more or less hollowed, sides triangular and parallel. A number are not perforated. The type is shown in figure 147 (striped slate, from Davidson county, North Carolina).
+--------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | District. | A | B | C | D | E | F | +--------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |Davidson county, North Carolina | | 1| | | | | |Southeastern Arkansas | 1| | 2| 1| | | |Savannah, Georgia | | | | | | 1| |Eastern Tennessee | | | 1| | 1| 1| +--------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
KEY: A = Compact quartzite. B = Slate. C = Sandstone. D = Porphyry. E = Barite. F = Steatite.
_B._ Coming to a point at each end; flat side, deeply hollowed; perforations near the ends, with a groove between them in which the suspending cord rested. Some have a flattened projection in which the groove is made. The type (figure 148) is of steatite, from a grave in Sullivan county, Tennessee. The distribution is as follows:
+------------------------+---+---+ | District. | A | B | +------------------------+---+---+ |Central North Carolina | 3| | |Eastern Tennessee | 2| 1| |Savannah, Georgia | | 1| +------------------------+---+---+
KEY: A = Steatite. B = Slate.
PICKS.
The relics known as picks from their form and not at all from their function vary considerably in size. Not all are perforated. A good example, shown in figure 150, is of striped slate, from Knox county, Ohio. There are also in the collection, from Union county, Mississippi, one specimen of greenstone; from Jackson county, North Carolina, one of slate, and from Montgomery county, North Carolina, one each of steatite and slate. The last named is the half of a larger one that was broken at the part drilled, and has had a hole drilled near the larger end of this fragment, which has not been reworked.
SPOOL-SHAPE ORNAMENTS.
Relics of spool shape, probably ornamental rather than industrially useful, are not uncommon in copper, though very rare in stone. The specimen shown in figure 151 is of sandstone, from Jackson county, Arkansas. There are also, from Prairie and Lonoke counties, one each of sandstone, and from Jackson county two of the same material; from Clark county there is one of pinkish slate, with the stem drilled between and parallel to the faces, the others with stems drilled lengthwise.
BIRD-SHAPE STONES.
Stone relics of bird form are quite common north of the Ohio river, but are exceedingly rare south of that stream. A good example, shown in figure 152, is of granite, from Vernon county, Wisconsin, and the collection embraces another specimen, of sandstone, from Kanawha valley, West Virginia.
According to Gillman, bird-shape stones were worn on the head by the Indian women, but only after marriage.[108] Abbott[109] quotes Col. Charles Whittlesey to the effect that they were worn by Indian women to denote pregnancy, and from William Penn that when squaws were ready to marry they wore something on their heads to indicate the fact. Jones[110] quotes from De Bry that the conjurers among the Virginia Indians wore a small, black bird above one of their ears as a badge of their office.
SHAFT RUBBERS.
The shaft of an arrow is straightened by wetting and immersing it in hot sand and ashes, and bringing into shape by the hand and eye. To reduce the short crooks and knobs it is drawn between two rough grit stones, each of which has a slight groove in it; coarse sand is also used to increase the friction.[111]
Again, a rock has a groove cut into it as wide as the shaft and two or three times as deep. Into this the crooked part of the shaft is forced, and by heating or steaming becomes flexible and can be easily made straight, which shape it will retain when dry.[112]
A somewhat different device for the same purpose appears in the Bureau collection. It is illustrated in figure 153 (of fine sandstone); there was another part to correspond with that shown. The specimen is from Monongahela, Pennsylvania.
TUBES.
As the use of stone tubes by the Indians has given rise to considerable discussion, the following references to the various ways in which they have been employed may help to settle it.
Schoolcraft observed that the Dakota Indians used a horn tube in bleeding; one end was set over the cut, and the other vigorously sucked.[113] Powers says that the Klamath Indians use tubes for smoking,[114] while H. H. Bancroft says that the Acaxees of Mexico employ “blowing through a hollow tube” for the cure of disease,[115] and also that the Indians of southern California inhale smoke of certain herbs through a tube to produce intoxication.[116] According to C. C. Jones the Florida and Virginia Indians used reeds in treating diseases by sucking or blowing through them, and also used them in cauterizing; and he observes that the Indians of Lower California employed similar processes, using stone tubes[117] instead of reeds. Hoffman illustrates the removal of disease through the agency of a tube of bone by a Jĕs´sakīd´ or medicine-man of the Ojibwa.[118] Read calls attention to the fact that the old Spanish writers describe a forked wooden tube, the prongs being inserted in the nostrils, while the other end was held over smoldering herbs, and suggests that the Indians may have used stone tubes in the same way.[119]
The Indian mode of inhaling smoke would produce the same result, whether drawn through the mouth or into the nostrils.
The use of stone tubes for astronomical purposes, which has been discovered by some imaginative writers, is, of course, absurd; nevertheless they are useful in viewing distant objects on a bright day, especially when looking toward the sun.
Nearly all of the tubes made of soft material with tapering perforation seem to have been gouged rather than drilled. Schumacher observes that the California Indians drilled their tubes from both ends and enlarged the hole from one end by scraping, the mouthpiece being made of a bird bone stuck on with asphaltum.[120]
There are five classes of stone tubes in the collection of the Bureau, as follows:
_A._ One end flattened and expanding into a wing on either side. This class is illustrated by figure 154 (from Kanawha valley, West Virginia). The corners of this specimen have been trimmed off; the typical form is indicated by the dotted lines. There are also from the same locality one of quartzite, and from Ross county, Ohio, one of sandstone.
_B._ Conical; the bore more tapering than the exterior. Represented by the specimen shown in figure 155, of sandstone, from a mound in Kanawha valley, West Virginia.
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+ | District. | A | B | C | D | +------------------------------+---+---+---+---+ |Sevier county, Tennessee | 1| | | | |Savannah, Georgia | | 1| | | |Western North Carolina | | 1| 1| | |Kanawha valley, West Virginia | 2| | | 1| +------------------------------+---+---+---+---+
KEY: A = Sandstone. B = Steatite. C = Slate. D = Clay slate.
_C._ Hour-glass shape, usually but not always with a narrow ring or projection around the smallest part. Exterior with gently curving outlines; the perforation is usually in the form of a double cone, with the points at the smallest part of the tube, which may or may not be midway between the ends. A good specimen, illustrated in figure 156, is of steatite, from Sevier county, Tennessee.
_D._ Of nearly uniform diameter inside and out; section circular, elliptical, or flattened on one side. This form is exemplified by figure 157, a specimen from North Carolina. There are also one each from Caldwell, Haywood, and Montgomery counties, North Carolina, all of slate.
_E._ Round or elliptical in section, ¾ to 2½ inches long; probably beads. The collection includes specimens from Bradley county, Tennessee, of steatite; from Savannah, Georgia, of ferruginous sandstone; and from Union county, Mississippi, of jasper.
PIPES.
So much has been written concerning pipes that few references seem necessary, and none will be given except from Col. R. I. Dodge, who, after an experience of many years among the Plains Indians, says that the latter have different pipes for different occasions, as the medicine pipe, peace pipe, council pipe, and a pipe for common use. Each is sacred to its own purpose.[121]
In an article so highly prized by its owner, great pains would be expended to give an ornamental appearance to one which would be used on important ceremonial occasions; and it would be carved or worked in a manner gratifying to its maker or the one for whom it was intended. This fact, and the statement quoted above, will explain the great variety in form from a limited area. Still, in some sections of the country there are certain types that prevail, and may be in some cases peculiar to these localities; such, for instance, are the long stemmed pipes from western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.
In many pipes of soft stone the bowl is gouged out instead of drilled.
The pipes in the Bureau collection embrace the following classes:
_A._ Stem with an elliptical or somewhat triangular section; the bowl near one end, leaving a projection in front; stem hole in long end. The form is shown in figure 158. From Caldwell county, North Carolina there are two similar pipes of steatite. Another, from Preston county, West Virginia, differs only in having the stem hole in the short end.
_B._ Same form of stem; no projection in front, the bottom of the stem curving up gradually into the front of the bowl. This type is represented by figure 159 (of steatite, from a mound in Loudon county, Tennessee). There are also, from Kanawha valley, West Virginia, an example of talcose slate, and from Caldwell county, North Carolina, one of steatite.
_C._ Stem having a midrib in which the hole is bored. One of steatite, from Caldwell county, North Carolina, has a prow; the others have not. Another of steatite from Loudon county, Tennessee, has a slender projection below the bowl, as if for a handle. The axis of the bowl and that of the stem meet at any angle between 100° and 170°. Figure 160 represents a typical specimen, of steatite, from a mound in Sullivan county, Tennessee. There are also, from Caldwell county, North Carolina, and Kanawha and Preston counties, West Virginia, one each, and from Sullivan county, Tennessee, two, all of steatite; and there is an example from Kanawha valley, West Virginia, of material not identified.
_D._ With bowls and stems either round or square; very large. A good example (figure 161) is of red sandstone, from southeastern Missouri; it is the only pipe in the entire collection of the Bureau on which is shown any attempt at ornamentation. From Jefferson county, Tennessee, and Savannah, Georgia, there are one each, of steatite.
_E._ Cylindrical bowl, with a square-edged groove around it near the middle, below which the bottom has a somewhat celt like form, with stem hole in one side. A small hole is drilled near the edge at the bottom, probably for the purpose of suspending feathers or other ornaments. The type is represented by figure 162 (of limestone, from Crawford county, Wisconsin). Pipes of the same form are found also in central Ohio.
_F._ Round stem from one-half inch to 10 inches long; bowl at extreme end, set on at various angles from nearly a right angle to almost a straight line. Good examples are illustrated in figure 163 (steatite, from Caldwell county, North Carolina) and 164 (also of steatite, from a mound in Monroe county, Tennessee). The other specimens in the collection are distributed as shown in the table:
+--------------------------------+---+---+ | District. | A | B | +--------------------------------+---+---+ |Eastern Tennessee | 4| 7| |Caldwell county, North Carolina | | 22| |Chester county, South Carolina | | 1| +--------------------------------+---+---+
KEY: A = Sandstone. B = Steatite.
_G._ Same form of stem, short, with flange around the top of the bowl. Represented by one of sandstone, from a mound in Monroe county, Tennessee (figure 165), and three of sandstone and two of marble from eastern Tennessee.
_H._ Small, stem more or less squared, bowl upright. There are two examples of this class from Monroe county, Tennessee, each having a flat projection or ridge on top of the stem, which is perforated for attachment of ornaments. The type, represented in figure 166, is of clay slate, from Monroe county, Tennessee. It will appear from the following table that the distribution of this form is limited:
+-----------------------+---+---+---+ |District. | A | B | C | +-----------------------+---+---+---+ |Savannah, Georgia | 1| | | |Eastern Tennessee | 1| 1| 2| |Western North Carolina | | | 3| +-----------------------+---+---+---+
KEY: A = Sandstone. B = Clay slate. C = Steatite.
_I._ Egg-shape bowl, stem hole in the side. One from Bradley county, Tennessee, of argillaceous limestone, has a hole drilled from end to end, but no stem hole. It may have been made so intentionally, or the drilling may have been carried too far and the specimen left unfinished. The type is of barite, from Sevier county, Tennessee (shown in figure 167). Another specimen, from McMinn county, Tennessee, is of argillaceous limestone.
_J._ Form like last, with a flange around the top of the bowl. A typical specimen, shown in figure 168, is of steatite, from Loudon county, Tennessee. There are, also, from Preston county, West Virginia, one of sandstone, and from Caldwell county, North Carolina, two of steatite.
_K._ Bowls egg-shape, but quite long and sometimes rather pointed at the bottom; stem hole in the side. This class includes the following: From Savannah, Georgia; Roane county, Tennessee; and Adams county, Ohio, one each of sandstone; from Holt county, Missouri, one of micaceous sandstone; from Kanawha valley, West Virginia, one of indurated red clay, possibly catlinite; and from Caldwell county, North Carolina, three of steatite.
CHIPPED STONE ARTICLES.
MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURE.
The chipped implements in the Bureau collection, are nearly always made of some form of flint or similar chalcedonic rock, as it is easily chipped and can be brought to a keen edge or point. Sometimes quartz, quartzite, argillite, or even a more granular rock is used; but this is infrequent, and is due to the scarcity of the more desirable material.