Part 1

TRANSCRIBER NOTES:

Words contained within underscores, i.e. _a_, are in italics in the original.

Footnotes have been moved closer to their reference point in the text.

Additional Transcriber Notes can be found at the end of this project.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS

OF THE

American Museum of Natural History.

Vol. VI, Part I.

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE YAKIMA VALLEY.

BY

HARLAN I. SMITH.

NEW YORK: Published by Order of the Trustees. June, 1910.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS

OF THE

AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

VOL. VI, PART I.

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE YAKIMA VALLEY.

BY HARLAN I. SMITH.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

INTRODUCTION 7

GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION 9

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES 11

RESOURCES 21

THE SECURING OF FOOD 23 Points Chipped out of Stone 23 Points Rubbed out of Stone 26 Points Rubbed out of Bone 27 Bows 29 Snares 29 Notched Sinkers 30 Grooved Sinkers 30 Shell Heaps 34 Digging Sticks 35 Basketry 35

PREPARATION OF FOOD 36 Mortars 36 Pestles 39 Rollers 47 Fish Knives 50 Fire Making 50 Caches 51 Boiling 51

HABITATIONS 51 Semi-subterranean House Sites 51 Circles of Stones (Summer House Sites) 55

TOOLS USED BY MEN 57 Wedges 57 Hammerstones 58 Celts 62 Hand-Adze 64 Whetstones 65 Drills 66 Scrapers 67 Arrow-shaft Smoothers 69

TOOLS USED BY WOMEN 69 Scrapers Chipped from Stone 69 Scrapers Rubbed from Bone 71 Awls Rubbed from Bone 71 Needles 72 Mat-Pressers 73

PROCESSES OF MANUFACTURE 74

LIFE HISTORIES OF MANUFACTURED OBJECTS 74

WAR 75 Implements used in Warfare 75 Grooved Pebbles, Club-Heads, or Sinkers 75 Stone Clubs 76 'Slave-Killers' 80 War Costume 82 Fortifications 82 Wounds 82

DRESS AND ADORNMENT 83 Skins 83 Matting 84 Ornaments 87 Combs 87 Beads 88 Dentalium Shells 90 Pendants 92 Bracelets 99 A Costumed Human Figure 100 Deformation 105

GAMES, AMUSEMENTS, AND NARCOTICS 105 Games 105 Narcotics 106

ART 117 Paintings 119 Petroglyphs 121 Incised Designs 124 Notches 130 Circle and Dot Designs 130 Pecked Grooves 132 Animal and Human Forms 132 Coast Art 136

METHOD OF BURIAL 138 Burials in Domes of Volcanic Ash 138 Rock-slide Graves 139 Cremation Circles 142 Position of the Body 142 Property with the Dead 142 Horse Sacrifices 143 Diseases 143

CONCLUSION 143

BIBLIOGRAPHY 149

APPENDIX 152

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PLATES.

I. Chipped Points. Fig. 1 (Museum No. 202-8333), length 21 cm.; Fig. 2 (202-8338); Fig. 3 (202-8334).

II. Chipped Points. Fig. 1 (Museum No. 202-8115), length 3.8 cm.; Fig. 2 (202-8169 A); Fig. 3 (202-8196 A); Fig. 4 (202-8196 B); Fig. 5 (202-8142); Fig. 6 (202-8397); Fig. 7 (202-8366); Fig. 8 (202-8363); Fig. 9 (202-8368); Fig. 10 (202-8361); Fig. 11 (202-8359); Fig. 12 (202-8222); Fig. 13 (202-8203): Fig. 14 (202-8360).

III. Quarry near Naches River. House Site near Naches River.

IV. House Sites near Naches River.

V. Camp Sites near Sentinal Bluffs.

VI. Fort near Rock Creek. Rock-Slide Grave on Yakima Ridge.

VII. Terraced Rock-Slide on Yakima Ridge.

VIII. Rock-Slide Graves on Yakima Ridge.

IX. Cremation Circle near Mouth of Naches River. Grave in Dome of Volcanic Ash near Tampico.

X. Opened Grave in Dome of Volcanic Ash near Tampico.

XI. Petroglyphs near Sentinal Bluffs.

XII. Petroglyphs in Selah Canon.

XIII. Petroglyph in Selah Canon. Petroglyph near Wallula Junction.

XIV. Pictographs at Mouth of Cowiche Creek.

XV. Pictographs at Mouth of Cowiche Creek.

XVI. Pictographs at Mouth of Cowiche Creek.

TEXT FIGURES. PAGE.

1. Chipped Point made of Chalcedony 24 2. Chipped Point made of Chalcedony 25 3. Chipped Point made of White Chalcedony 25 4. Serrated Chipped Point made of Petrified Wood 25 5. Chipped Point made of Obsidian 26 6. Fragment of a leaf-shaped Point made of Chert 26 7. Point made of Bone 28 8. Point made of Bone 28 9. Scorched Point made of Bone 28 10. Point made of Bone 28 11. Point or Barb made of Bone 28 12. Point or Barb made of Bone 28 13. Net Sinkers made of Pebbles 31 14. Sinker, a Grooved Boulder bearing a Design in Intaglio 31 15. Sinker, a Grooved Boulder bearing a Design in Intaglio 33 16. Sinker, a Perforated Boulder 33 17. Fragment of Basket of Splint Foundation and Bifurcated Stitch 35 18. Fragment of a Mortar made of Stone 35 19. Mortar made of Stone 37 20. Mortar made of Stone 38 21. Pestle made of Stone 40 22. Pestle pecked from Stone 40 23. Pestle pecked from Stone 40 24. Pestle made of Stone 42 25. Pestle made of Stone 42 26. Pestle made of Stone 44 27. Pestle made of Stone 44 28. Pestle made of Stone 44 29. Pestle made of Stone 46 30. Pestle made of Sandstone 46 31. Pestle made of Stone 46 32. Pestle made of Stone 48 33. Pestle made of Stone 48 34. Pestle made of Stone 48 35. Pestle made of Steatite 49 36. Pestle or Roller made of Stone 49 37. Pestle or Roller made of Stone 49 38. Fragment of Hearth of Fire Drill 50 39. Wedge made of Antler 57 40. Hammerstone 59 41. Hammerstone 60 42. Hammerstone made of a Hard, Water-worn Pebble 60 43. Hammerstone 60 44. Hammerstone made of a Close-Grained Yellow Volcanic Pebble 62 45. Celt made of Serpentine 62 46. Hand-Adze made of Stone 64 47. Point for a Drill, chipped from Chalcedony 66 48. Point for a Drill, chipped from Chert 66 49. Scraper chipped from Petrified Wood 68 50. Scraper chipped from Agate 68 51. Scraper chipped from Chalcedony 68 52. Scraper chipped from Chalcedony 68 53. Scraper chipped from a Flat Circular Pebble 70 54. Scraper or Knife chipped from a Pebble 70 55. Scraper or Knife chipped from a Pebble 71 56. Awl made of Bone 72 57. Awl made of Bone 72 58. Spatulate Object made of Bone 72 59_a_. Object made of Steatite, probably a Mat Presser. _b_. Part of Incised Pictograph on Object shown in _a_ 73 60. Grooved Pebble 76 61. Club-head or Sinker made of Lava 76 62. Club made of Serpentine 77 63. Club made of Serpentine 77 64. Club made of Stone 79 65. Club made of Stone 79 66. Club made of Stone 79 67. Club made of Stone 81 68. Club made of Stone 81 69. War Implement or Slave Killer, made of Friable Stone 81 70. Diagram of Stitch of Fragment of Rush Matting 84 71_a_. Fragment of Matting, made of Twined Rush stitched together with twisted Cord. _b_ Diagram of Stitch of _a_ 85 72. Fragment of Open-Twine Matting, made of Rush 87 73. Comb made of Antler 88 74. Beads made of Copper, Glass and Sections of Dentalium Shells 89 75. Bead made of Brass 90 76. Beads made of Shell 90 77. Drilled and Perforated Disk made of Slate 92 78. Pendant made of Copper, Thong and Copper Bead 92 79. Button made of Shell with Attached Bead made of Metal 92 80. Perforated Disk made of Bone 92 81. Pendants made of Slate 93 82. Pendant made of Copper 95 83. Pendant made of Copper 95 84. Pendant made of Brass and Bead made of Copper 95 85. Pendant made of Iron 96 86. Pendant made of Iron 96 87. Pendant or Bead made of an Olivella Shell 96 88. Pendant made of (_Pectunculus_) Shell 96 89. Pendant made of Iridescent Shell 98 90. Pendant made of (_Haliotis_) Shell 98 91. Pendant made of (_Haliotis_) Shell 98 92. Pendant or Nose Ornament, made of (_Haliotis_) Shell 98 93. Pendant made of Shell 99 94. Pendant made of Oyster Shell 99 95. Bracelet made of Copper 100 96. Bracelet made of Iron 100 97. Bone Tube 106 98. Bone Tube bearing Incised Lines, Charred 106 99. Perforated Cylinder made of Steatite 106 100. Tubular Pipe made of Steatite 106 101. Tubular Pipe made of Green Stone with Stem 107 102. Pipe made of Steatite used by the Thompson River Indians at Spences Bridge in 1895 109 103. Form of the Flange-Shaped Mouth of the Bowl of some Thompson River Indian Pipes 109 104. Tubular Pipe made of Steatite 112 105. Fragment of a Sculptured Tubular Pipe made of Steatite 112 106. Pipe made of Limestone 112 107. Pipe made of Sandstone 112 108. Pipe made of Bluestone 112 109. Pipe made of Stone 112 110. Pipe made of Soft Sandstone 114 111. Pipe made of Steatite 114 112. Pipe made of Soft Sandstone 114 113. Pipe made of Steatite 116 114_a_. Incised Design on a Fragment of a Wooden Bow. _b_ Section of Fragment of Bow shown in _a_ 125 115. Incised Design on Bowl of Pipe shown in Fig. 107 126 116. Incised Design on Stone Dish 126 117. Incised Designs on Dentalium Shells 126 118. Incised Designs on Dentalium Shells 126 119. Incised Pendant made of Steatite with Red Paint (Mercury) in some of the Holes and Lines 127 120. Circle and Dot Design on Whetstone made of Slate 133 121. Costumed Human Figure made of Antler 133 122. Quill-flattener made of Antler 133 123. Fragments of a Figure 133 124. Fragment of a Sculpture with Hoof-like Part 134 125. Sculptured Animal Form made of Lava 134 126. Handle of Digging Stick made of Horn of Rocky Mountain Sheep 135 127. Pipe made of Stone 136 128. Sculptured and Inlaid Pipe made of Steatite with Wooden Stem 137 129. Sketch Map of the Yakima Valley 152

INTRODUCTION.

The following pages contain the results of archaeological investigations carried on by the writer for the American Museum of Natural History from May to August, 1903,[1] in the Yakima Valley between Clealum of the forested eastern slope of the Cascade Mountains and Kennewick, between the mouths of the Yakima and Snake Rivers in the treeless arid region, and in the Columbia Valley in the vicinity of Priest Rapids. My preliminary notes on the archaeology of this region were published in Science.[2] Definite age cannot be assigned to the archaeological finds, since here, as to the north, the remains are found at no great depth or in soil the surface of which is frequently shifted. Some of the graves are known to be of modern Indians, but many of them antedate the advent of the white race in this region or at least contain no objects of European manufacture, such as glass beads or iron knives. On the other hand, there was found no positive evidence of the great antiquity of any of the skeletons, artifacts or structures found in the area. The greater part of the area was formerly inhabited by Sahaptian speaking people, including the Yakima, Atanum, Topinish, Chamnapum, and Wanapum, while the northern part of it was occupied by the Piskwans or Winatshmpui of the Salish linguistic stock.[3]

[1] A brief report of the operations of this expedition appeared in the American Museum Journal, Vol. IV, No. 1, pp. 12-14, January, 1904. It was slightly revised and appeared in Science N. S. Vol. XIX, No. 484, pp. 579-580, April 8, 1904, and Records of the Past, Vol. IV, Part 4, pp. 119-127, April 1905.

[2] N. S. Vol. XXIII, No. 588, p. 551-555, April 6, 1906. Reprinted in the Seattle Post Intelligencer for March, 1906, the Scientific American Supplement, Vol. LXII, No. 1602, September 15, 1906, and in the Washington Magazine, Vol. I, No. 4, June 1906. Abstracted in the Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, May, 1906.

[3] Mooney, Plate LXXXVIII

Near North Yakima we examined graves in the rock-slides along the Yakima and Naches Rivers; a site, where material, possibly boulders, suitable for chipped implements had been dug and broken with pebble hammers, on the north side of the Naches about one mile above its mouth; pictographs on the basaltic columns on the south side of the Naches River to the west of the mouth of Cowiche Creek; petroglyphs pecked into basaltic columns in Selah Canon; ancient house sites on the north side of the Naches River near its mouth, and on the north side of the Yakima River below the mouth of the Naches; remains of human cremations, each surrounded by a circle of rocks on the point to the northwest of the junction of the Naches and Yakima Rivers; recent rock-slide graves on the eastern side of the Yakima River above Union Gap below Old Yakima (Old Town); the surface along the eastern side of the Yakima River, as far as the vicinity of Sunnyside; graves in the domes of volcanic ash in the Ahtanum Valley near Tampico; and rock-slide graves in the Cowiche Valley.

We then moved our base about thirty miles up the Yakima River to Ellensburg, Mr. Albert A. Argyle examining the surface along the western side, en route. From Ellensburg, rock-slide graves and human remains, surrounded by circles of rocks, as well as a village site upon the lowland, were examined near the mouth of Cherry Creek. A day spent at Clealum failed to develop anything of archaeological interest in that vicinity, except that a human skeleton had been removed in the sinking of a shaft for a coal mine.

From Ellensburg we went to Fort Simcoe by way of North Yakima and near the Indian Agency observed circles of rocks, like those around the cremated human remains near North Yakima, and a circular hole surrounded by a ridge, the remains of an underground house. Crossing the divide from Ellensburg and going down to Priest Rapids in the Columbia Valley, no archaeological remains were observed except chips of stone suitable for chipped implements which were found on the eastern slope of the divide near the top and apparently marked the place where material for such implements, probably float quartz, had been quarried. On the western side of the Columbia, on the flat between Sentinal Bluffs and the river at the head of Priest Rapids, considerable material was found. This was on the surface of the beach opposite the bluffs and on a village site near the head of Priest Rapids. Graves in the rock-slides, back from the river about opposite this site, were also examined. Some modern graves were noticed in a low ridge near the river, a short distance above the village site. Crossing the Columbia, some material was found on the surface of the beach and further up, petroglyphs pecked in the basaltic rocks at the base of Sentinal Bluffs were photographed.