Art in Shell of the Ancient Americans
by William Henry Holmes · English · Gutenberg #42564 · 416,376 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Art in Shell of the Ancient Americans
Author: William Henry Holmes
Release date: April 20, 2013 [eBook #42564]
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Language: English
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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
Words that were printed in italics are marked with _ _.
Printing and spelling errors have been corrected. A list of these
corrections can be found at the end of the document. Inconsistencies in
spelling, hyphenation and between the List of Illustrations and the
actual titles of Plates have not been corrected.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION----BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.
ART IN SHELL
OF THE
ANCIENT AMERICANS.
BY
WILLIAM H. HOLMES.
CONTENTS.
Page.
Introductory 185
Implements and utensils 189
Unworked shells 189
Vessels 192
Spoons 198
Knives 201
Celts 203
Scrapers 205
Agricultural implements 207
Fishing appliances 207
Weapons 210
Tweezers 211
Ornaments 213
Pins 213
Beads 219
Perforated shells 219
Discoidal beads 221
Massive beads 223
Tubular beads 226
Runtees 228
Beads as ornaments 230
Beads as currency 234
Mnemonic use of beads 240
Pendants 255
Perforated plates 264
Engraved gorgets 267
The cross 268
The scalloped disk 273
The bird 280
The spider 286
The serpent 289
The human face 293
The human figure 297
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page.
PLATE XXI.--Natural shells as vessels 192
XXII.--Vessels artificially shaped 194
XXIII.--Vessel with engraved surface 196
XXIV.--Spoons 200
XXV.--Celts 204
XXVI.--Cutting and scraping implements 206
XXVII.--Weapons, agricultural implements, etc. 208
XXVIII.--Fishing appliances 210
XXIX.--Manufacture of pins and beads 214
XXX.--Pins, Atlantic coast forms 216
XXXI.--Pins, Pacific coast forms 218
XXXII.--Beads, perforated shells 220
XXXIII.--Beads, discoidal in form 222
XXXIV.--Beads, massive in form 224
XXXV.--Beads, tubular in form 226
XXXVI.--Beads, "Runtees" 228
XXXVII.--The wampum belt in treaties 240
XXXVIII.--Wampum belts 242
XXXIX.--Wampum belts 244
XL.--Wampum belt 246
XLI.--Wampum belt 248
XLII.--Wampum belt 250
XLIII.--The Penn belt 252
XLIV.--Strings of wampum 254
XLV.--Ancient pendant ornaments 256
XLVI.--Plain pendants, Atlantic coast forms 258
XLVII.--Plain pendants, Pacific coast forms 260
XLVIII.--Plain pendants, Pacific coast forms 262
XLIX.--Plain pendants, Pacific coast forms 264
L.--Perforated plates 266
LI.--Engraved gorgets, the cross 268
LII.--Engraved gorgets, the cross 270
LIII.--Engraved gorgets, the cross 272
LIV.--Engraved gorgets, scalloped disks 274
LV.--Engraved gorgets, scalloped disks 276
LVI.--Engraved gorgets, scalloped disks 278
LVII.--Scalloped disks, etc. 280
LVIII.--Engraved gorgets, the bird, etc. 282
LIX.--Engraved gorgets, the bird, etc. 284
LX.--Engraved gorgets, the bird 286
LXI.--Engraved gorgets, the spider 288
LXII.--Engraved gorgets, the rattlesnake 290
LXIII.--Engraved gorgets, the rattlesnake 290
LXIV.--Engraved gorgets, the rattlesnake 292
LXV.--Engraved gorgets, the rattlesnake 292
LXVI.--The serpent 292
LXVII.--Engraved gorgets, the human face 294
LXVIII.--Engraved gorgets, the human face 294
LXIX.--Engraved gorgets, the human face 296
LXX.--Engraved gorgets, the human face 296
LXXI.--Engraved gorgets, the human figure 298
LXXII.--Engraved gorgets, the human figure 298
LXXIII.--Engraved gorgets, the human figure 300
LXXIV.--Engraved gorgets, the human figure 300
LXXV.--Engraved gorgets, the human figure 302
LXXVI.--The human figure 302
LXXVII.--Sculptured frogs 304
ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS.
BY WILLIAM H. HOLMES.
INTRODUCTORY.
The student will find scattered throughout a wide range of archæologic
literature frequent but casual mention of works of art in shell.
Individual uses of shell have been dwelt upon at considerable length by
a few authors, but up to this time no one has undertaken the task of
bringing together in one view the works of primitive man in this
material.
Works of ancient peoples in stone, clay, and bronze, in all countries,
have been pretty thoroughly studied, described, and illustrated.
Stone would seem to have the widest range, as it is employed with almost
equal readiness in all the arts.
Clay is widely used and takes a foremost place in works of utility and
taste.
Metals are too intractable to be readily employed by primitive peoples,
and until a high grade of culture is attained are but little used.
Animal substances of compact character, such as bone, horn, ivory, and
shell, are also restricted in their use, and the more destructible
substances, both animal and vegetable, however extensively employed,
have comparatively little archæologic importance.
All materials, however, are made subservient to man and in one way or
another become the agents of culture; under the magic influence of his
genius they are moulded into new forms which remain after his
disappearance as the only records of his existence.
Each material, in the form of convenient natural objects, is applied to
such uses as it is by nature best fitted, and when artificial
modifications are finally made, they follow the suggestions of nature,
improvements being carried forward in lines harmonious with the
initiatory steps of nature.
Had the materials placed at the disposal of primitive peoples been as
uniform as are their wants and capacities, there would have been but
little variation in the art products of the world; but the utilization
of a particular material in the natural state gives a strong bias to
artificial products, and its forms and functions impress themselves upon
art products in other materials. Thus unusual resources engender unique
arts and unique cultures. Such a result, I apprehend, has in a measure
been achieved in North America.
In a broad region at one time occupied by the mound-building tribes we
observe a peculiar and an original effort--an art distinctive in the
material employed, in the forms developed, and to some extent in the
ideas represented. It is an age of shell, a sort of supplement to the
age of stone.
It is not my intention here to attempt at extended discussion of the
bearings of this art upon the various interesting questions of
anthropologic science, but rather to present certain of its phases in
the concrete, to study the embodiment of the art of the ancient American
in this one material, and to present the results in a tangible manner,
not as a catalogue of objects, but as an elementary part of the whole
body of human art, illustrating a particular phase of the evolution of
culture.
This paper is to be regarded simply as an outline of the subject, to be
followed by a more exhaustive monograph of the art in shell of all the
ancient American peoples.
Art had its beginning when man first gathered clubs from the woods,
stones from the river bed, and shells from the sea-shore for weapons and
utensils. In his hands these simple objects became modified by use into
new forms, or were intentionally altered to increase their convenience.
This was the infancy, the inception of culture--a period from which a
tedious but steady advance has been made until the remarkable
achievements of the present have been reached.
Rude clubs have become weapons of curious construction and machinery of
marvelous complication, and the pebbles and shells are the prototypes of
numerous works in all materials. Rude rafts which served to cross
primeval rivers have become huge ships, and the original house of bark
and leaves is represented by palaces and temples, glittering with light
and glowing with color.
The steps which led up to these results are by no means clear to us;
they have not been built in any one place or by any one people. Nations
have risen and fallen, and have given place to others that in turn have
left a heap of ruins. We find it impossible to trace back through the
historic ages into and beyond the prehistoric shadows, the pathway to
culture followed by any one people. The necessity for groping increases
with every backward step, and we pick up one by one the scattered links
of a chain that has a thousand times been broken. So far our information
is meager and fragmentary, and centuries of research will be required to
round up our knowledge to such a fullness as to enable us to
rehabilitate the ancient races, a result to be reached only by an
exhaustive comparative study of the art products of all peoples and of
all ages.
By collecting the various relics of art in shell I shall be able to add
a fragment to this great work. Destructible in their character these
relics are seldom preserved from remote periods, and it is only by
reason of their inhumation with the dead that they appear among
antiquities at all. A majority of such objects, taken from graves and
tumuli, known to post-date even the advent of the white race in North
America, are so far decayed that unless most carefully handled they
crumble to powder.
It is impossible to demonstrate the great antiquity of any of these
relics. Many of those obtained from the shell heaps of the Atlantic
coast are doubtless very ancient, but we cannot say with certainty that
they antedate the discovery more than a few hundred years.
Specimens obtained from the mounds of the Mississippi Valley have the
appearance of great antiquity, but beyond the internal evidence of the
specimens themselves we have no reliable data upon which to base an
estimate of time. The age of these relics is rendered still less certain
by the presence of intrusive interments, which place side by side works
of very widely separated periods.
The antiquity of the relics themselves is not, however, of first
importance; the art ideas embodied in them have a much deeper interest.
The tablets upon which the designs are engraved may be never so recent,
yet the conceptions themselves have their origin far back in the
forgotten ages. Deified ancestors and mythical creatures that were in
the earlier stages rudely depicted on bark and skins and rocks were,
after a certain mastery over materials had been achieved, engraved on
tablets of flinty shell; and it is probable that in these rare objects
we have, if not a full representation of the art of the ancient peoples,
at least a large number of their most important works, in point of
execution as well as of conception.
Man in his most primitive condition must have resorted to the sea-shore
for the food which it affords. Weapons or other appliances were not
necessary in the capture of mollusks; a stone to break the shell, or one
of the massive valves of the shells themselves, sufficed for all
purposes.
The shells of mollusks probably came into use as utensils at a very
early date, and mutually with products of the vegetable world afforded
natural vessels for food and water.
For a long period the idea of modifying the form to increase the
convenience may not have been suggested and the natural shells were used
for whatever purpose they were best fitted. In time, however, by
accidental suggestions it would be found that modifications would
enhance their usefulness, and the breaking away of useless parts and the
sharpening of edges and points would be resorted to. Farther on, as it
became necessary to carry them from point to point, changes would be
made for convenience of transportation. Perforations which occur
naturally in some species of shell, would be produced artificially, and
the shells would be strung on vines or cords and suspended about the
neck; in this way, in time, may have originated the custom of wearing
pendants for personal ornament. Following this would be the
transportation of such articles to distant places by wandering tribes,
exchanges would take place with other tribes, and finally a trade would
be developed and a future commerce of nations be inaugurated.
Results similar to the foregoing would spring doubtless from the
employment of substances other than shell, but that material most
closely associated with the acquisition of food would come first
prominently into use.
The farther these useful articles were carried from the source of supply
the greater the value that would attach to them, and far inland the
shell of the sea might easily become an object of unusual consideration.
Having an origin more or less shrouded in mystery, it would in time
become doubly dear to the heart of the superstitious savage, perhaps an
object of actual veneration, or at least one of such high esteem that it
would be treasured by the living and buried with the dead.
The material so plentiful on the sea-shore that it was thought of only
as it proved useful for vessels and implements, became a valued treasure
in the interior; its functions were gradually enlarged and
differentiated; it was worked into varied shapes, such as pendants for
the ears, beads for the neck, pins for the hair, and elaborate gorgets
for the breast; it served its turn as fetich and charm; and was
frequently used in the ceremonial jugglery of the mystic dance.
The slightest modification of these relics by the hand of man attracts
our attention, and from that infant stage of the art until the highest
and most elaborate forms are reached they have the deepest interest to
the student of human progress.
IMPLEMENTS AND UTENSILS.
UNWORKED SHELLS.
Some writers have suggested that the ancient peoples of the interior
districts must have held shells from the sea in especial esteem, not
only on account of their rarity, but also by reason of some sacred
properties that had, from the mystery of their origin, become attached
to them. It would appear, however, that shells were valued chiefly for
their utility and beauty, and that fresh water as well as marine
varieties were constantly employed. In their unworked state, for their
beauty alone, they are treasured by peoples in all grades of culture,
from the savage up through the barbarian stages to the most civilized
state. As they are most conveniently shaped for utensils and implements,
they have been of great service in the arts, and were thus of the
greatest importance to primitive peoples.
It must not be supposed that the natural shells found in graves were
always destined for use in an unworked state, but they should doubtless
in many cases be regarded as highly-valued raw material intended for use
in the manufacture of articles of utility and taste, in the tempering of
potter's clay, or in effecting exchanges with neighboring tribes.
As vessels for food and drink, and as cups for paint, many species are
most conveniently shaped. Good examples may be found in the _Haliotis_,
so plentiful on the Pacific coast, the _Helcioniscus_ of the Pacific
islands, the _Pattelidæ_ of Central and South America, or the _Pecten_
of many seas.
In their natural state they have a twofold interest to us--as utensils
they are the forerunners of many more elaborate forms that have been
evolved in more advanced stages of culture, and in their distribution
they give us important insight into the commerce and migrations of their
aboriginal owners.
_Pectens._--The Pectens are very widely distributed, and on account of
their beauty of form and color have been in great favor with all
peoples. They figure in the heraldic devices of the Middle Ages and in
the symbolic paintings of the ancient Mexicans. They have been employed
extensively by the ancient inhabitants of America as ornaments and
rattles, and many examples exhumed from graves, mounds, and refuse heaps
appear to have been used as utensils, cups for paint, and vessels for
food and drink. They are especially plentiful in the cemeteries of the
ancient Californians, from which Schumacher and Bowers have made
excellent collections, and specimens may be found in the great museums
of the country. A very good example of this shell (_Janira dentata_)[1]
is shown in Fig. 3, Plate XXI, which represents a paint cup from Santa
Barbara, Cal. This cup is still partially filled with dark, purplish,
indurated paint. Some were receptacles for asphaltum, while others,
which are quite empty, were employed probably for domestic purposes. The
species chiefly used on the Atlantic coast are the _Pecten irradians_
and _P. concentricus_. On the Pacific coast the _Pecten caurinus_ and
_P. hastatus_ are employed by the Makah and other Indians for rattles,
and it is probable that some of the rudely perforated specimens found in
our collections were intended for the same purpose.
_Clams._--Clams formed a very important part of the food of the ancient
seaboard tribes, and the emptied shells have been utilized in a great
variety of ways. The valves of many species are large and deep, and are
available for cups and dishes, and as such are not scorned even by the
modern clam-baker, who, like the ancient inhabitant, makes periodical
visits to the sea-shore to fish and feast. They were also used as
knives, scrapers, and hoes, and in historic times have been extensively
used in the manufacture of wampum. The hard-shell clam, _Venus
mercenaria_, on account of the purplish color of portions of the valves,
has been most extensively used for this purpose. A southern variety, the
_Mercenaria præparca_, is much larger and furnishes excellent dishes.
The soft-shell clam, _Mya arenaria_, has been an important article of
food, but the valves are not serviceable in the arts. The hen clam,
_Mactra ponderosa_, which has large handsome valves, has also been used
to some extent for utensils. On the Pacific coast the large clam,
_Pachydesma crassatelloides_, is known also to be similarly used.
_Unios._--Shells of the great family of the _Unios_ have always held an
important place in the domestic and mechanical arts of the savages of
North America. Their chalky remains are among the most plentiful relics
of the mounds and other ancient burial-places, and they come from
kitchen middens and the more recent graves with all the pearly delicacy
of the freshly emptied shell.
The valves of many varieties of these shells are well adapted to the use
of man. Not large enough for food vessels, they make most satisfactory
spoons and cups, and are frequently found to retain portions of the
pigments left from the last toilet of the primeval warrior and destined
for use in the spirit land. It is probable, however, that they were much
more frequently employed as knives and scrapers, and as such have played
their part in the barbaric feast of the primitive village, or have
assisted in the bloody work of scalp-taking and torture. They are pretty
generally distributed over the country, and their occurrence in the
mounds will probably have but little importance in the study of
artificial distribution. Very little trouble has been taken by explorers
and writers to identify the numerous species collected.
_Haliotis._--The _Haliotis_ affords one of the best examples of the
varied uses to which the natural shell has been applied by savage
peoples. Recent explorations conducted by the government exploring
parties in California have brought to the notice of archæologists and
the world the existence of a new field of research--the burial-places of
the ancient tribes of the Pacific coast. Many of the interments of this
region are probably post-Columbian. Several species of this beautiful
shell were used and are taken from the graves in great numbers, the
pearly lusters being almost perfectly preserved. Many were used as
paint-cups, and still retain dark pigments, probably ochers; one of
these, a fine example of the _Haliotis californianus_, is shown in
Fig. 4, Plate XXI. Some had contained food, and in a few cases still
retained the much-esteemed _chia_ seed, while in others were found
asphaltum, which was employed by these peoples in a variety of arts, the
rows of eyes in the _Haliotis_ usually being stopped with it, and in one
case, as shown in a specimen in the National Museum, it has been used to
deepen a cup by building up a rim around the edge of a shallow shell.
Many others are quite empty, and doubtless served as bowls, dishes, and
spoons, or were ready at hand for the manufacture of implements and
ornaments. Buried with the dead, they were designed to serve the
purposes for which they were used in life.
This shell probably formed as important a factor in the commerce of
these tribes as did the large conchs of the Atlantic coast in that of
the mound-builders and their neighbors. In recent times they are known
to have a high value attached to them, and Professor Putnam states[2]
that a few years ago a horse could be had in exchange for a single shell
of the _Haliotis rufescens_. This species is a great favorite toward the
south, and the _Haliotis Kamschatkana_, which furnishes a dark greenish
nacre, is much used farther north.
The rougher and more homely oyster-shell has also enjoyed the favor of
the mound-building tribes, and has probably served many useful purposes,
such as would only be suggested to peoples unacquainted with the use of
metal. Many species of the _Fissurella_ and _Dentalium_ shells were in
common use, advantage being taken of the natural perforations for
stringing, the latter being quite extensively used for money on the
Pacific slope.
In Fig. 2, Plate XXI, a cut is given of a _Mytilus_ shell paint-cup from
an ancient Peruvian grave. It is copied from Plate 83 of the Necropolis
of Ancon.[3] It is represented as still containing red paint, probably
cinnabar.
A great variety of the larger univalve sea-shells were used in the
unaltered state, the _Busycons_ probably taking the most important
place, species of the _Strombus_, the _Cassis_, the _Nautilus_ and
_Fasciolaria_ following in about the order named.
The _Busycon perversum_ has been more extensively used than any other
shell, and consequently its distribution in one form or other is very
wide. It is obtained along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from
Massachusetts to Mexico, and within the United States it is artificially
distributed over the greater part of the Atlantic slope. The uses to
which this shell has been put by the ancient Americans are so numerous
and varied that I shall not attempt to enumerate them here. They are,
however, pretty thoroughly brought out in the subsequent pages of this
paper.
From the employment of shells in their complete state their modification
for convenience is but a slight step, and when once suggested is easily
accomplished--holes are bored, handles are carved or added, margins are
ground down, useless parts are broken away, and surfaces are polished.
The columellæ are removed from the large univalves, and the parts used
for a great variety of purposes. The mechanical devices employed have
been very simple, such as flint implements for cutting, and rough stones
for breaking and grinding. Hand-drills were at first used for
perforating; but later mechanically revolving drills were devised.
[Illustration: PL. XXI--SHELL VESSELS.
1. From a plate in De Bry.
2. From a Peruvian grave.
3. _Pecten_, California grave. (1/1)
4. _Haliotis_, California grave. (3/4)]
VESSELS.
I shall not attempt to take up the various classes of objects in shell
in the order of their development, as it would be hard to say whether
food utensils, weapons, or ornaments were first used. It is also
difficult to distinguish weapons proper from implements employed in the
arts, such as celts, knives, hammers, etc., as it is probable they were
all variously used according to the needs of their possessors.
Having briefly treated of natural vessels, it seems convenient to go on
with vessels shaped by art. Early explorers in many portions of the
American continent record, in their writing, the use by the natives of
shells of various kinds as vessels. We have in this case historic
evidence which bears directly upon prehistoric customs. Indeed, it is
not impossible that the very shells used by the natives first
encountered by Europeans, are the identical ones exhumed so recently
from burial places, as many of the finer specimens of shell objects have
associated with them articles of undoubted European manufacture. A
notice of the earliest recorded use of these objects naturally
introduces the prehistoric use.
With many nations that were bountifully supplied with convenient earthen
and stone vessels, as well perhaps as others of the hard shells of
fruits, the sea-shell was nevertheless a favorite vessel for drinking.
Herrera describes the use of silver, gold, shell, and gourd cups at the
banquets of the elegant monarch Montezuma II, who "sometimes drank out
of cocoas and natural shells richly set with jewels." Other authors make
similar statements. Clavigero says that "beautiful sea-shells or
naturally formed vessels, curiously varnished, were used." In many of
the periodical feasts of the Florida Indians shells were in high favor,
and it is related how at a certain stage of one of the dances two men
came in, each bearing very large conch-shells full of black drink, which
was an infusion of the young leaves of the _cassine_ (probably _Ilex
Cassine_, L.). After prolonged ceremonies, this drink was offered to the
king, to the whites present, and then to the entire assembly.[4] It is a
remarkable fact that a similar custom has been noticed among the Moquis
of Arizona. Lieutenant Bourke witnessed the snake dance of that tribe a
few years ago, and states that in front of the altar containing the
snakes was a covered earthen vessel, which contained four large
sea-shells and a liquid of some unknown composition, of which the men
who handled the snakes freely drank. Vessels thus associated with
important ceremonial customs of savages would naturally be of first
importance in their sepulchral rites. De Bry, in the remarkable plates
of his "Brevis Narratio," furnishes two instances of such use. Plate 19
shows a procession of nude females who scatter locks of their hair upon
a row of graves, on each of which has been placed a large univalve
shell, probably containing food or drink for the dead, and in Plate 40
we have another illustration of this custom, the shell being placed on
the heap of earth raised above the grave of a departed chieftain. In
Plate XXI, Fig. 1, an outline of the shell represented is given; it
resembles most nearly the pearly nautilus, but, being drawn by the
artist from memory or description, we are at liberty to suppose the
shell actually used was a large _Busycon_ from the neighboring coast,
probably more or less altered by art. Haywood, Hakluyt, Tonti, Bartram,
Adair, and others mention the use of shells for drinking vessels, and in
much more recent times Indians are known to have put them to a similar
use.
On account of the rapidity with which they decay, we can know nothing of
surface deposits of shells by prehistoric or even by comparatively
recent peoples. It is only through the custom of burying valued articles
with the dead that any of these relics are preserved to us. When we
consider the quantity of such objects necessarily destroyed by time,
exposure, and use, we marvel at the vast numbers that must have been,
within a limited period of years, carried inland. In the more recent
mounds there may be found specimens obtained by the Indians through the
agency of white traders, but the vast majority were derived doubtless
from purely aboriginal sources. Many instances could be cited to show
that the whites have engaged in the trade in shells. Kohl, in speaking
of early trade with the Ojibways of Lake Superior, states that when the
traders "exhibited a fine large shell and held it to the ears of the
Indians, these latter were astonished, saying they heard the roaring of
the ocean in it, and paid for such a marvelous shell furs to the value
of $30 or $40, and even more."[5]
Cabeça de Vaca[6] traded in sea-shells and "hearts" of sea-shells among
the Charruco Indians of the Gulf coast nearly three hundred and fifty
years ago.
The form of vessel of most frequent occurrence is made by removing the
whorl, columella, and about one-half of the outer shell of the large
univalves. The body of the lower whorl is cut longitudinally, nearly
opposite the lip and parallel with it. The spire is divided on the same
plane, a little above the apex, giving a result well illustrated in
Fig. 1, Plate XXII. A very convenient and capacious bowl is thus
obtained, the larger specimens having a capacity of a gallon or more.
The work of dividing the shell and removing neatly the interior parts
must have been one of no little difficulty, considering the compactness
of the shell and the rudeness of the tools.
For nomadic peoples these vessels would have a great superiority over
those of any other material, as they were not heavy and could be
transported without danger of breaking.
In the manufacture of these vessels the _Busycon perversum_ seems to
have been a great favorite; this may be the result of the less massive
character of the shell, which permits more ready manipulation. The
spines are less prominent and the walls more uniform in thickness than
in shells of most other varieties found along the Atlantic seaboard.
Specimens of the _Strombus_, _Cassis_, and _Fasciolaria_ were
occasionally used. The specimen illustrated in Fig. 1, Plate XXII, is
from a mound at Ritcherville, Ind., and is now in the National Museum at
Washington. It is made from a _Busycon perversum_, and is ten and
one-half inches in length by six and one-half in width at the most
distended part. The body and spire have been cut in the manner described
above, and the interior whorl and columella have been skillfully taken
out. The rim is not very evenly cut, but is quite smooth. The outer
surface of the shell has been well polished, but is now worn and scarred
by use. The substance of the shell is very well preserved. A second
example, now in the national collection, is from an ancient mound at
Naples, Ill. It is very similar to the preceding, being made from the
same species of shell. It is eleven inches in length by seven in width.
The body of the shell is well preserved, the apex, however, being broken
away. A small specimen, also in the National Museum, was obtained from a
mound at Nashville, Tenn., by Professor Powell. It is three and a half
inches in length, and very shallow, being but a small portion of the
lower whorl of a _Busycon_.
[Illustration: PL. XXII--VESSELS.
1. Shell vessel made from a _Busycon 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 these _Busycon_ vessels. 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 is
highly 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.
[Illustration: PL. XXIII--ENGRAVED VESSEL.
Harrisburg, Ark.]
For the purpose of showing the very wide distribution of vessels made
from large seashells, especially the _Busycon 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 a _Cassis_ which 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 Clarksville, Habersham County,
Georgia.[7]
Two fine specimens of the _Cassis flammea_ were 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 of _Busycon_, 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, made from 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 species _Busycon perversum_ were taken out.[15]
Dr. Drake, writing of the Cincinnati mounds, mentions "several large
marine shells, belonging, perhaps, to the genus _Buccinum_, 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, probably _Buccinum_, 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]
A _Cassis_ of 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 the _Strombus
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 a _Busycon 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 of _Cassis_ from a mound in Muscatine County,
Iowa.[22]
Long, in his expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains in 1819,
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 fossil
_Baculites_ so 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 in an ancient grave 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.
SPOONS.
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 design of
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
of _Unio_.
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 of _Unionidæ_, 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 the _Unio 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
the _Unio ovatus_, one only being left-handed. All are inferior 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 a _Unio 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 of _Unio 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.
[Illustration: 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 the _Unio
ovatus_ (?) and are of medium size and ordinary finish.
Another specimen in the national collection comes from Henderson County,
Ky. The shell used is the _Unio 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 a _Unio 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 this
class, 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 from _Unionidæ_,
mostly from the _Unio 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 the _Unio 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]
KNIVES.
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 shells have 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.
CELTS.
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 a _Strombus 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 a _Busycon perversum_. The
handle is curved and neatly rounded, and the edge is beveled or
sharpened on the inside only.
[Illustration: 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 a _Busycon
perversum_, the other from a _Busycon_ or _Strombus_. The cutting edge
is wide and well sharpened. Two are from Cedar Keys, Fla., and are made
from thin-walled specimens of the _Busycon 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 a _Busycon
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 thick ridge
on the inside, is thought to have been cut from the base of a _Strombus
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 with
_English_ tooles, 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.
SCRAPERS.
The great majority of the scraping implements obtained from the mounds,
graves, and shell heaps are simply valves of _Unio_ or 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 a _Unio 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 specimens from the same
locality; all are made of the shell of the _Unio 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 a _Unio 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 a _Unio 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 perforated _Pecten_, 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.
[Illustration: 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. Perforated _Pecten_, Florida. (1/2)]
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.
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:
the _Indians_ seeing 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 almost _Abamocho_, almost as cunning as the
Devill."[43] And again the same author says: "An other work is their
planting of corne, wherein they exceede our _English_ husband-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.
[Illustration: 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.]
FISHING APPLIANCES.
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 plummets or 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 a _Busycon 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 the _Busycon
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-whorled _Busycon_ or a _Strombus_.
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 a _Busycon
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 a _Pachydesma_ or _Amiantis_.
A new-looking specimen from Santa Barbara, carved from a flat bit of
pearly _Haliotis_, 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-fourths inches 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 the _Haliotis_ or of the valves of the dark purplish _Mytilus
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.
[Illustration: PL. XXVIII--SHELL FISHING APPLIANCES.
1, 2, 3. Manufacture of hooks.
4, 5, 6. Hooks from graves, California.
7. Pendant or sinker, California.
8, 9. Pendants, Atlantic slope.
(1/1)]
WEAPONS.
It would hardly seem at first glance that shells or shell substance
could be utilized for weapons to any advantage. A close examination,
however, of some of the more massive varieties will convince us that
they could be made available. The specific gravity of some varieties,
such as the _Strombus_ and _Busycon_, is equal to that of moderately
compact stone, and with their long, sharp beaks they would, with little
modification, certainly make formidable weapons.
Dr. Charles Rau seems to have been the first to call attention to the
use of shells as club-heads by the tribes of Florida. In his valuable
paper on the archæological collections of the National Museum he gives a
very good description, which I copy in full:
"It further appears that the Florida Indians applied shells of the
_Busycon perversum_ as clubs or _casse-tetes_ by adapting them to be used
with a handle, which was made to pass transversely through the shell.
This was effected by a hole pierced in the outer wall of the last whorl
in such a manner as to be somewhat to the left of the columella, while a
notch in the outer lip, corresponding to the hole, confined the handle
or stick between the outer edge of the lip and the inner edge of the
columella. The anterior end of the canal, broken off until the more
solid part was reached, was then brought to a cutting edge nearly in the
plane of the aperture. A hole was also made in the posterior surface of
the spire behind the carina in the last whorl, evidently for receiving a
ligature by means of which the shell was more firmly lashed to the
handle."[48]
Mention of these objects is also made by Knight in a recent pamphlet,
the method of hafting being illustrated.[49]
Professor Wyman, in the Naturalist for 1878, describes and illustrates
an object of this class, made from a _Busycon_, which he is inclined to
regard as one of the conch-shells said to have been used by the Indians
for trumpets. It is presumably from one of the shell heaps on the St.
Johns River, Fla.[50]
In Fig. 4, Plate XXVII, I illustrate one of the National Museum
specimens. The posterior point is much reduced by grinding, the apex and
nodes are somewhat battered, and the whole surface of the shell is worn
and discolored. There are about a dozen specimens in the National
collection; in nearly all cases they are made from heavy walled
specimens of the _Busycon perversum_, and range from three to eight
inches in length. They are described as coming from three localities,
St. Johns River, Clearwater River, and Sarasota Bay, Fla. All were
probably obtained from shell heaps, and although ancient, two of the
specimens still retain rude and insignificant-looking handles of wood.
It will be seen from the foregoing that shells have actually been
employed as weapons, a use, however, which would probably never have
been suggested but for the great scarcity of stone along the southern
coast.
TWEEZERS.
A rather novel use of shells by the ancient Indians is mentioned by
early writers. The two valves of small mussels or clams were made to do
service as tweezers for pulling out their hair.
Adair, speaking of the Choctaws, says that "both sexes pluck all the
hair off their bodies with a kind of tweezers, made formerly of clam
shells."[51] Strachey states that shells were used by the Virginian
Indians for cutting hair. Beverly says of the Virginia Indians that they
"pull their Beards up by the Roots with Muscle-shells, and both Men and
Women do the same by the other Parts of their Body for Cleanliness
sake."[52] Heckewelder states that "Before the Europeans came into the
country their apparatus for performing this work consisted of a pair of
mussel-shells, sharpened on a gritty stone, which answered the purpose
very well, being somewhat like pincers."[53]
Fig. 5, Plate XXVII, reproduced from a plate in the Necropolis of
Ancon[54] represents two small _Mytilus_ shells pierced at the beak and
bound together with a cord. They were found in one of the ancient graves
of Peru, and may have been used for a similar purpose.
ORNAMENTS.
PINS.
Having studied the application of shell material to the various
utilitarian arts, I turn to the consideration of what may, with more or
less propriety, be called the arts of taste.
The skill acquired by the primitive artisan in shaping the homely spoon
or the rude celt served a good purpose in the more elegant arts, and
opened the way to a new and unique field for the development and display
of the remarkable art instincts of these savages. It probably required
no great skill and no very extended labor to fashion the various
utensils and implements of the outer walls of the univalves or the thin
valves of clams and mussels; but to cut out, grind down, and polish the
columellæ of the large conchs required a protracted effort and no little
mechanical skill. Of the various objects shaped from the columellæ,
beads are probably the most important; but a large class of pin-shaped
articles naturally come first, as they consist of entire or nearly
entire columellæ dressed down to the desired shape.
The use of these objects is still problematical. As they are found in
most cases deposited with human remains, they were doubtless highly
valued. They must have served a definite purpose in well-established and
wide-spread customs, as they are found distributed over a district
almost co-extensive with that occupied by other shell vestigia of marine
origin.
Let us first study the process of manufacture. A considerable number of
the larger species of marine univalves have been brought into
requisition. Various species of _Busycon_, _Strombus_, and _Fasciolaria_
offer almost equal facilities; the former, however, seems to have been
decidedly the favorite, the _Busycon perversum_ having furnished at
least three-fourths of the columns used. This result may be attributed,
however, to the fact that, for reasons already mentioned, the
_perversum_ was so universally employed for vessels, the axes extracted
from these being then ready for further manipulation. The outer case of
the shell being somewhat fragile it is probable that the sea has very
frequently broken it away, leaving the dismantled columella to be washed
ashore in a shape convenient for manufacture or for inland trade. If the
demand for these objects was very great, it is to be presumed that on
shores where they abound these shells were broken open and the columns
extracted for purposes of traffic. The State of Tennessee is found to be
the great store-house of these as well as other ancient objects of
shell. This is probably owing to two causes: first, that far inland,
where they were difficult to procure, and very costly, they were highly
esteemed, and hence consecrated to the use of the dead; and, second, the
conditions under which they were buried had much to do with preserving
them from rapid decay, while on the coast or when exposed to the
atmosphere they soon disappeared.
An interesting series of specimens illustrating the various stages of
manufacture of articles from the columella is presented in Plate XXIX.
In Fig. 1 a section of a _Busycon perversum_ is given. The position of
the columella and its relations to the exterior parts may be clearly
seen. The reverse whorl of the spire will be noticed, and the consequent
sinistral character of the groove. Fig. 2 illustrates the extracted
columella in its untrimmed state. A similar specimen is shown in Fig. 3,
Plate XXXI. It was obtained from the site of an old Indian lodge on the
island of Martha's Vineyard. This, with a number of smaller specimens,
may be seen in the National Museum. They show no signs of use, and were
probably destined for manufacture into pins or beads.
Columellæ in this state are very frequently found in the mounds and
graves of the interior States; a majority probably belong to the
_Busycons_, but a considerable number are derived from the _Strombidæ_.
A few specimens of large size may be seen in the national collection.
Fig. 3 represents a roughly dressed pin, of a type peculiar to the
Pacific coast.
Fig. 4 illustrates a completed pin of the form most common in the middle
Mississippi province.
Fig. 5 shows a rather rare form of pin, pointed at both ends. Bone pins
of this form are quite common.
Fig. 6 represents a nearly symmetrical cylinder.
Fig. 7 illustrates the manner of dividing the cylinders into sections
for beads.
[Illustration: PL. XXIX--MANUFACTURE OF IMPLEMENTS AND ORNAMENTS.
1. Section of _Busycon perversum_.
2. Roughly trimmed columella.
3. Headless pin, western form.
4. Tennessee form.
5. Pin pointed at both ends.
6. (Omitted.)
7. Manner of cutting into beads.
8. Derivation of a celt from _Busycon_.
9. Derivation of ornaments from _Haliotis_.
10. Derivation of ornaments from _Busycon_.
11. Bead with cylindrical, countersunk perforation.
12. Bead with conical perforation.
13. Bead with bi-conical perforation.
14. Bead imperfectly perforated.]
In 1881 some very important additions to the National Museum were made,
from the mounds of Tennessee. These include a great wealth of objects in
shell. From the McMahan mound at Sevierville, Tenn., there are a dozen
shell pins, all made from the _Busycon perversum_. The entire specimens
range from three to six inches in length; two are fragmentary, having
lost their points by decay. In shape these objects are quite uniform,
being, however, as a rule, more slender in the shaft than the average
pin. The heads range from one-half to one inch in length, and are
generally less than one inch in diameter. They are somewhat varied in
shape, some being cylindrical, others being conical above. The shaft is
pretty evenly rounded, but is seldom symmetrical or straight. It is
rarely above one-half an inch in diameter, and tapers gradually to a
more or less rounded point. The groove of the canal shows distinctly in
all the heads, and may often be traced far down the shaft. In a number
of cases the surface retains the fine polish of the newly-finished
object, but it is usually somewhat weathered, and frequently discolored
or chalky. These specimens were found in the mounds along with deposits
of human remains, and generally in close proximity to the head; this
fact suggests their use as ornaments for the hair.
Two illustrations are given in Plate XXX. Fig. 1 represents a fine
example, six and a quarter inches in length. The head is deeply grooved,
and is apparently cut from the middle part of the columella, the shaft
being formed from the spine-like basal point. The spiral canal, which is
clearly defined, makes but one revolution in the entire length of the
pin. In Fig. 5 a somewhat similar specimen is represented. Two fine
specimens come from a mound on Fain's Island, Tennessee River. The
larger one is made from the columella of some heavy shell, probably the
_Strombus gigas_. The head is cylindrical, and the shaft large, but
imperfect. The smaller is a little more than two inches in length, the
head being small and conical, and the point more than usually blunt.
Another specimen was obtained from a mound at Taylor's Bend, near
Dandridge, Tenn. The head is almost spherical, and the point broken off;
the whole surface is new looking and highly polished. A number of bone
pins pointed at both ends were obtained from Fain's Island, besides many
perforators and other well-made implements of bone.
Prof. C. C. Jones describes[55] a number of shell pins without
mentioning localities, stating, however, that such pins have been
obtained from a mound on the Chattahoochie River, below Columbus, Ga. He
publishes illustrations of two varieties. One, of the ordinary type, is
five and a half inches in length, one inch of that distance being
occupied by the head, which is an inch and a quarter in diameter. The
shank is an inch and a half in circumference, and, while tapering
somewhat, is quite blunt at the point. The other is of somewhat rare
occurrence, being pointed at both ends. An example of this variety is
given in Fig. 4, Plate XXX. They are usually small and short, seldom
exceeding three inches in length.
In the national collection there are ten fine pins, obtained by C. L.
Stratton from a mound on the French Broad River, fifteen miles above
Knoxville, Tenn. Four only are made from the _Busycon perversum_. The
largest specimen has a very large, cylindrical head, with an extremely
deep groove. The shaft has been at least five inches long, and is nearly
one-half an inch in diameter. Another fine specimen is five inches long,
very slender, and nearly symmetrical. A small, almost headless pin, not
quite one and a half inches in length, is peculiar in having a
longitudinal perforation. It has probably been strung as a bead. A
fourth specimen is five and three-quarters inches in length. The head is
well rounded above, and the shaft tapers gradually to a slender
symmetrical point. The other specimens from the same locality are in an
advanced stage of decay, the points being entirely destroyed.
The Peabody Museum contains a large number of very fine specimens of
this class. The most important of these were obtained from the
Brakebill, Lick Creek, and Turner mounds of Tennessee, by the Rev. E. O.
Dunning. The largest of these is upward of six inches in length. An
unusually symmetrical and well-preserved specimen from the Lick Creek
mound is nearly seven inches in length. One specimen only in this
collection differs from the type already described; this has been made
from a dextral-whorled shell; the head is somewhat spherical, but is
unusual in having an umbonate projection at the top. It is illustrated
in Fig. 6, Plate XXX.
Another small pin, which is about one and one-half inches in length, has
a poorly defined head, and would seem useless for the purposes
ordinarily suggested for the larger specimens.
A recent collection from Pikeville, Tenn., includes a number of
specimens made from the spike-like base of the _Busycon perversum_. They
are roughly finished, and taper to a point at both ends. The larger ones
are six inches in length and nearly one inch in diameter. All are
perforated longitudinally. This perforation is neatly made and about
one-eighth of an inch in diameter. In one specimen which has been broken
open two perforations may be seen running almost parallel with each
other, as if they had been bored from opposite ends and had failed to
meet. The length of these perforations is quite remarkable, and it is
difficult to understand how, with the primitive tools at the disposal of
these people, a uniform diameter could be given throughout. One of these
objects is shown in Fig. 3, Plate XXX.
Other States besides Tennessee have furnished a limited number of shell
pins. Their occurrence in a mound near Columbus, Ga., has already been
mentioned.
The national collection contains a fine specimen from Macon, Ga.,
collected by J. C. Plant. The Peabody Museum has a number from mounds on
the Saint Francis River, Ark. One of these is illustrated in Fig. 8,
Plate XXX. They differ from the pins heretofore described, being in all
cases unsymmetrical. The shaft is flat and somewhat curved, and joins
the mushroom-shaped head near one edge. This results from the peculiar
shape of the portion of the shell from which the pin is derived, the
head being cut from the peripheral ridge and the shaft from the body
below or the shoulder above. Two specimens of this class have recently
been obtained from a mound at Osceola, Ark. A profile view of one is
shown in Fig. 10, Plate XXX.
A pin of this class, from a burial mound at Black Hammock, Fla., is
described and illustrated by Professor Wyman.[56] From the fact of its
being perforated at the point, he regards it as a pendant ornament. He
states that it is cut from the suture, where a whorl joins the preceding
one. In this respect it resembles the specimens from Arkansas. It is
made from a _Busycon perversum_.
In the National Museum we have two specimens from Florida. One of these,
from Pensacola, is illustrated in Fig. 2, Plate XXX, and is of the
ordinary form. The other is a short, broad-headed specimen, illustrated
in Fig. 7, Plate XXX.
In the Peabody Museum are two small specimens of the ordinary type, from
a mound near Jamestown, Va. One of these, a small, pointed variety, is
given in Fig. 9, Plate XXX.
[Illustration: PL. XXX--PINS--EASTERN FORMS.]
In Volume VI of Schoolcraft's Indian Tribes, a pin, probably of shell,
is shown in a plate illustrating relics from South Carolina.
A few localities have furnished bone, stone, and clay pins similar to
these in shape. Specimens of the latter may be found both in the
National and Peabody museums. They were probably intended as stoppers
for bottle-shaped earthen vessels. Bone pins are generally headless, and
have in most cases been intended as implements for perforating and for
sewing. Mr. Schumacher found a pin-like object of bone on the island of
San Clemente, Cal. It resembles the shell pins pretty closely, having a
somewhat spherical head. It is figured by Professor Putnam in a recent
work.[57]
As already stated, the exact uses to which these pins were applied by
the mound-building tribes are unknown; various uses have been suggested
by archæologists. The favorite idea seems to be that they were
hair-pins, used by the savages to dress and ornament the hair. It would
seem that many of them are too clumsy for such use, although when new
they must have been very pretty objects. The shorter and headless
varieties would certainly be quite useless. Similar objects of bone or
ivory, often tastefully carved, are used by the natives of Alaska for
scratching the head, although it seems improbable that this should have
been their most important function.
Professor Dall suggests that some of the shell pins may have been used
as were the "blood-pins" of the Indians of the northwest coast. When
game is killed by an arrow or bullet, the pin is inserted in the wound,
and the skin drawn and stitched over the flat head, so that the much
valued blood may be prevented from escaping. A small, very tastefully
carved specimen of these pins is given in Plate XXXI, Fig. 4. It was
obtained from the Indians of Oregon. A similar specimen comes from San
Miguel Island, Cal.
It is possible that they may have served some purpose in the arts or
games of the ancient peoples; yet when we come to consider the very
great importance given to ornaments by all barbarians, we return
naturally to the view that they were probably designed for personal
decoration.
From the Pacific coast we have shell pins of a very different type. They
also are made from the columellæ of large marine univalves, and were
probably used as ornaments, doubtless to a great extent as pendants.
These objects have been obtained in great numbers from the ancient
graves of the California coast, at Santa Barbara, at Dos Pueblos, and on
the neighboring islands of Santa Clara, Santa Catalina, San Clemente,
and Santa Rosa. Professor Dall is of the opinion that the shell mostly
used is the _Purpura crispata_, the smaller specimens probably being
derived from the _Mitra maura_.
Such a very concise description of these objects is given by Prof. F. W.
Putnam in a recent paper that I beg leave to quote it here, omitting his
references to figures: "A columella was ground down to the required size
and shape, and made into a pendant by boring a hole through the larger
end. In order to make this pendant still more attractive, the spiral
groove is filled with asphaltum, or a mixture of that material and a red
pigment. Sometimes the spiral groove was so nearly, or even wholly,
obliterated in the process of grinding the columella into shape as to
make it necessary to enlarge or even recut the groove in order to make a
place for the much-loved asphaltum." Another form, made from another
shell, is described, the whorls of which are "loose and open, so that a
natural tube exists throughout the length of the spire; at the same time
the spiral groove in the central portion is very narrow; consequently it
has to be artificially enlarged for the insertion of the asphaltum,
which thus winds spirally about the shell. As the natural orifice at the
large end of the shell seems to have been too large for properly
adjusting and confining the ornament as desired, this difficulty was
overcome by inserting a small shell of _Dentalium_, or by making a
little plug of shell, which is carefully fitted and bored."[58]
The national collection contains upward of fifty of these pins, which
come from ancient graves at Santa Barbara and Dos Pueblos, Cal., and
from the islands of Santa Cruz and San Miguel. These vary in length from
one to five inches, the well-finished specimens seldom reaching one half
an inch in diameter. At the upper end they round off somewhat abruptly
to an obtuse point, but taper to a sharp point at the lower end,
something like a cigar. Two fine examples are shown in Figs. 1 and 2,
Plate XXXI. All show the spiral groove, and nearly all have portions of
the asphaltum remaining. The columellæ from which they are made may be
to some extent naturally perforated, but are certainly not sufficiently
so to permit the ready passage of a cord. The points are seldom sharp,
and are often broken off. A bit of _Dentalium_ inserted into the
perforation and set with asphaltum helps to enforce the point and to
guard against further breakage. The larger specimens are seldom
perforated transversely at either end, while the smaller ones are almost
always perforated at the larger end, which is slightly flattened. A good
example is shown in Fig. 5, Plate XXXI.
A peculiar bulb-pointed specimen is illustrated in Fig. 6, Plate XXXI.
The bulb is made from the upper end of the columella. There are six of
these pins in the collection.
The consideration of these pins leads naturally to the presentation of
other classes of objects manufactured from the columellæ of marine
univalves among which beads are the most numerous and important.
[Illustration: PL. XXXI--PINS--PACIFIC COAST FORMS.
1. Shell pin from San Miguel Island.
2. Shell pin from Dos Pueblos, Cal.
3. An untrimmed columella.
4. Bone pin from Oregon.
5. Shell pin from San Miguel Island.
6. Shell pin from San Miguel Island.
(1/1)]
BEADS.
I shall not attempt within the limits of this paper to give more than an
outline of this important division of my subject.
The use of beads seems to have been almost universal with peoples of all
times and of all grades of culture, and the custom of wearing them is a
relic of barbarism that promises to be carried a long way into the
future. All suitable natural objects have been brought into
requisition--animal, vegetable, and mineral. Shells from the sea,
precious stones from the mountains, and fruits from the forest have been
utilized; and claws of birds, teeth of animals, and even the nails of
the human hand have been worked into ornaments to gratify the barbaric
vanity of the "untutored savage." The flinty substance of the shells of
mollusks has been a favorite material at all times and with all peoples.
Especially is this true of the shell-loving natives of North America,
among whom shell beads have been in use far back into the prehistoric
ages, and who to-day, from Oregon to Florida, burden themselves to
discomfort with multiple strings of their favorite ornament; and this,
too, without reference to their value as money or their service as
charms. On the necks of brawny and unkempt savages I have seen necklaces
made of the highly glazed _Oliva_, or of the iridescent nacre of the
pearly _Haliotis_, that would not shame a regal wardrobe, and have
marveled at the untaught appreciation of beauty displayed.
Beads made of shell may have three divisions based upon derivation, and
three based upon function.
First, they consist of all smaller varieties of natural shells, pierced
for suspension, or only slightly altered, to add to beauty or
convenience; second, they are made of the shells of bivalves and the
outer walls of univalves; or, third, of the columellæ of the larger
univalves cut to the desired sizes, and shaped and polished to suit the
savage taste.
As to function, they may be classed as personal ornaments, as money, and
as material for mnemonic records.
PERFORATED SHELLS.
Under this head I shall examine briefly the manner of piercing or
altering the smaller varieties of shells preparatory to stringing. The
multitudes of perforated shells exhumed from the graves of our ancient
tribes afford a fruitful field of study, and our large collections of
more recent specimens serve to illustrate the manner in which they were
employed.
In Plate XXXII illustrations are given showing the various methods of
manipulation and perforation. In North America the _Marginella_, the
_Oliva_, and the _Cyprea_ seem to lead in importance.
Fig. 1 represents an _Oliva_, the apex of which has been broken away and
the rough edge ground down, producing a passage for a thread, which may
be introduced through the natural aperture below. This is a common
method of perforation in many widely separated districts, and with a
considerable variety of shells. The specimen figured is from a mound in
Cocke County, Tenn. It is an _Oliva literata_ from the Atlantic coast.
Fig. 2 shows a very usual method of treating small univalves. The most
prominent part of the lower whorl is ground down until the wall is quite
thin, and a small round hole is then drilled through it. The specimen
illustrated is a large _Olivella biplicata_, obtained from the island of
Santa Rosa, Cal.
Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate specimens from Mexico. Some thin-bladed
implement, probably of stone, has been used to saw a slit or notch in
the first convolution of the shell near the inner lip. Fig. 3 has one of
these perforations, and Fig. 4 has two. The shell is the _Oliva
literata_, from the Atlantic coast.
Fig. 5 is simply one-half of an _Olivella biplicata_ with the interior
parts extracted. It is made by cutting the shell longitudinally and
drilling a central perforation. The specimen figured is from San Miguel
Island, Cal.
Fig. 6 illustrates the manner of breaking out a disk preparatory to
making a bead. This disk, when perforated, is frequently used by the
Indians of the Pacific coast without additional finish.
Fig. 7 shows two examples of beads made from small specimens of the
_Olivella biplicata_; both extremities are ground off, leaving a rather
clumsy cylinder. The originals are from graves on the island of Santa
Rosa. Such beads are frequently worn at the present time.
One of the specimens shown in Fig. 8 is from a grave in Monroe County,
New York, and the other is from a mound in Perry County, Ohio. The shell
is the _Marginella conoidalis_, which has a wide distribution in the
ancient burial-places of the Atlantic slope. In making the perforation
the shoulder is often ground so deeply as to expose the entire length of
the interior spiral.
Fig. 9 represents a perforated _Cerrithidea sacrata_, from Santa Rosa
Island, Cal. The method of perforating employed is a usual one with
small shells of this form. Similar specimens come from many parts of the
United States. Beads of this and the preceding variety are said to have
constituted the original wampum of the Atlantic seaboard.
Fig. 10 illustrates a rude bead made from the spire of a univalve,
probably a small specimen of _Busycon perversum_. Most of the body of
the shell has been removed and a perforation made near the border. Three
of these specimens were found in a burial mound at Murphysboro, Ill.
Fig. 11 illustrates a perforated _Cyprea_ from the Pacific coast. This
is a recent specimen, which illustrates an ancient as well as a modern
method of perforation.
Fig. 12 shows a rather peculiar method of treating _Cyprea_ shells by
the tribes of the Pacific coast and the Pacific islands. The prominent
part of the back is cut or ground away, and the columella is partially
or wholly removed, a passage the full size of the natural aperture being
thus secured. This is also an ancient as well as a modern method of
treatment.
[Illustration: PL. XXXII--PERFORATED SHELL BEADS.
(1/1)]
Small bivalve shells are prepared for stringing by drilling one or more
holes in the center or near the margin, according to the manner in which
they are to be strung. Such beads have been in almost universal use by
primitive peoples, both ancient and modern.
Shells with natural perforations, such as the _Fissurellas_ and
_Dentalia_, are extensively employed by the west coast peoples, and
foreign varieties of the latter have been largely imported by Europeans,
and from very early times have been used by the tribes of all sections.
The natural perforation of the _Fissurella_ is often artificially
enlarged, and additional perforations are made near the margin. Examples
may be seen in Plate XLIX.
I shall include under the head of beads all small objects having a
central or nearly central perforation, made for the purpose of stringing
them in numbers. In shape, they range from straw-like cylinders, three,
four, and even five inches long, with longitudinal perforations, to
thin, button-like disks, two or more inches in diameter. In general the
cylinders are made from the columellæ of univalves, and the disks from
the outer walls of the same, or from the shells of bivalves. Of course,
there are forms that fall under no classification, such as disks with
perforations parallel with the faces, or cylindrical forms with
transverse perforations, while many small, pendant-like objects, of
varied shapes, are strung with the beads, and might be classed with
them; but these are exceptions, and can be described along with the
classified objects most nearly resembling them.
The grinding down and the perforating of natural shells is easily
accomplished, so that any savage could afford to decorate his person
with this jewelry in profusion. But the class of beads illustrated in
Plates XXXIII, XXXIV, and XXXV could not have been made without the
expenditure of much time and labor, and doubtless owe their existence,
in a measure, to mercenary motives. As they were made from the walls or
columellæ of massive shells, they must have been broken or cut out,
ground smooth about the edges, and perforated; this, too, with most
primitive tools.
DISCOIDAL BEADS.
In shape discoidal beads range from the concavo-convex sections of the
curved walls of the shell to totally artificial outlines, in such forms
as doubly-convex disks, cylinders, and spheroids. In size the disks vary
from very minute forms, one-tenth of an inch in diameter and
one-thirtieth of an inch in thickness, to two inches in diameter and
nearly one-half an inch in thickness. The thickness of the finished
beads is governed in a great measure by the thickness of the shell from
which they are manufactured.
The _Venus mercenaria_ of the Atlantic coast and the heavier _Unios_ of
the Mississippi Valley give a general thickness of from one-eighth to
three-eighths of an inch, while others, such as the heavy clams of the
Pacific, are very much thicker. The walls of univalves, especially near
the base, are often extremely heavy, while the smaller varieties of
shells furnish specimens of wafer-like thinness.
In Plate XXXIII a series of beads of this class is given, beginning with
the smaller disks and ending with those of large, though not the
largest, size.
In Fig. 1 I present two views of a minute disk, obtained, with many
others of similar shape and size, from a mound on Lick Creek, Tenn. The
perforations in these specimens, as well as in most of those that
follow, are bi-conical, and sufficiently irregular in form to indicate
that they are hand-made. Beads of this general appearance have been
found in a multitude of graves and mounds, distributed over a large part
of North as well as of South America. A vast majority of these beads are
doubtless of aboriginal make, as they are found in the oldest mounds.
Fig. 2 represents a minute form from Santa Cruz Island, Cal. The
peripheral surface is ornamented with a net-work of incised lines.
Fig. 3 illustrates a small cylindrical bead, with large perforation,
from a mound near Prairie du Chien, Wis. It was found, with a number of
others, near the neck of the skeleton of a child.
Fig. 4 represents a small spheroidal bead from the great mound near
Sevierville, Tenn.; it is neatly made and well preserved.
Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate specimens of roughly finished concavo-convex
disks, much used by both ancient and modern tribes of California,
Arizona, and New Mexico.
I essayed at one time to purchase a long necklace of these homely
ornaments from a Navajo Indian in Arizona, but soon discovered that it
was beyond my reach, as my best mule was hardly considered a fair
exchange for it. These beads are made from the _Oliva_ chiefly, but to
some extent from small bivalves.
This bead is not common in the mounds of the Mississippi Valley, but is
used by many modern savages. It seems to be the form called, by the
Indians of Virginia, "roenoke," which, according to Beverly, is made of
the cockle-shell, broken into small bits, with rough edges, and drilled
through in the same manner as beads.
Fig. 7 represents a smoothly cut bead of medium size, said to have been
obtained from a grave at Lynn, Mass. It has been cut from the curved
wall of some large univalve, and is very similar to modern specimens in
use over a greater part of the United States.
Fig. 8 belongs to a necklace brought from the northwest coast, and is
very much like the specimen shown in Fig. 7.
Fig. 9 is a well-made specimen from Sevierville, Tenn. The sides are
ground perfectly flat and the edges are well rounded. The shell is very
compact, and well preserved, and bears a close resemblance to bone or
ivory.
Fig. 10 represents a thin, fragile disk, from a mound in Southern
Illinois. It is made of a _Unio_, and separates into thin sheets or
flakes, like mica.
Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate two compact, nearly symmetrical specimens
from a mound at Paint Rock Ferry, Tenn.
Fig. 13 is from the same locality, and is hemispherical in shape.
Fig. 14 represents a button-like disk, with large conical perforation,
from a mound at Paint Rock Ferry, Tenn. It has probably been made from
the wall of a large marine univalve.
The fine specimen shown in Fig. 15 comes from a mound in Cocke County,
Tenn., and is unusually well preserved. It is very compact, having the
appearance of ivory, and has probably been made from the basal portion
of a large univalve. The perforation is extremely large, and is conical,
having been bored entirely from one side.
Figs. 16 and 17 represent two fine specimens from California. They are
nearly symmetrical, the faces being flat or slightly convex. The smaller
one has been coated with some dark substance--the result, probably, of
decay--which has broken away in places, exposing the chalky shell. The
edges are ornamented with shallow lines or notches. Such disks, when
used as ornaments, probably formed the central piece of a necklace, or
were fixed singly to the hair, ears, or costume. As long as these larger
specimens retained the color and iridescence of the original shell, they
were extremely handsome ornaments, but in their present chalky and
discolored state they are not prepossessing objects.
This plate will serve as a sort of key for reference in the study of
beads of this class, as the specimens are typical.
[Illustration: PL. XXXIII--DISCOIDAL BEADS.
(1/1)]
MASSIVE BEADS.
Beads made from the columellæ of univalves have generally a number of
distinguishing characteristics. They are large and massive, and rarely
symmetrical in outline, being sections of roughly dressed columns. They
are somewhat cylindrical, and often retain the spiral groove as well as
other portions of the natural surface. In cases where the form is
entirely artificial they may be distinguished by the sinuous character
of the foliation. The perforation is nearly always with the axis of the
bead, and is in most cases bi-conical. In Plate XXIX a series of cuts is
given which illustrates the various methods of perforation and shows
very distinctly the differences between the rude work of savages and the
mechanically perfect work of modern manufacturers. Beads of this class
are more decidedly aboriginal in character than those of any other
group, and are without doubt of very ancient origin. They are widely
distributed, and have been found in graves and mounds covering an area
outlined by Massachusetts, Canada West, Minnesota, Missouri, and the
Gulf and Atlantic coasts.
Figs. 1, 6, 7, 11, and 14 of Plate XXXIV represent typical specimens of
this class. In every case they are considerably altered by decay, rarely
retaining any of the original polish. All come from ancient burial
mounds, some of the interments of which probably antedate, while others
post-date, the coming of the whites.
The bead shown in Fig. 1 is made from the columella of a _Busycon
perversum_. It is a rude, tapering cylinder, with rounded ends and deep
spiral groove. The perforation is bi-conical and somewhat irregular.
This, with many similar beads, made of both dextral and sinistral
shells, was associated with human remains in the great mound at
Sevierville, Tenn.
The bead illustrated in Fig. 6 has been made from the column of some
dextral whorled shell. It was obtained from a mound on Lick Creek, East
Tenn. It is a typical specimen of average size, and illustrates very
well the large collection of this class of relics made by Dr. Troost.
Fig. 7 was obtained from a mound at Franklin, Tenn. It is cut from the
columella of a _Busycon perversum_, and is of the usual form, being a
heavy, short cylinder, rounded at the ends until it is somewhat
globular. The perforation is very large, and has been made almost
entirely from one end. The surface is much weathered, the firmer
_laminæ_ being distinctly relieved. Other specimens from the same
locality are much smaller.
Fig. 11 is from a grave in an ancient cemetery at Swanton, Vt., and is
similar to the preceding, having been cut, however, if correctly
represented, from a dextral whorled shell. The cut is copied from a
paper by G. H. Perkins.[59]
Fig. 14 illustrates a very large specimen of these beads from the Lick
Creek Mound, East Tenn. The surface is encrusted, stained, and decayed.
It has been made from the broad beak of a _Strombus_ or dextral whorled
_Busycon_. The perforation is symmetrical and bi-conical. Specimens
upwards of two inches in length and one and one-fourth in width come
from the same place. The larger perforations are three-eighths of an
inch in diameter at the ends and quite small in the middle.
Fig. 12 represents a large bead of symmetrical outline, made from the
columella of a _Busycon perversum_. The shape is artificial, with the
exception of a small portion of the spiral canal. The surface retains
much of the original polish, but exfoliation has commenced on one side.
The perforation is about three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter at the
ends and one-sixteenth in the middle. There is a slight offset where the
perforations meet. It is from a burial mound at Harrisburg, Ark.
The bead shown in Fig. 9 is one of a large number obtained from a mound
at East St. Louis, Ill. It is a symmetrical, well-polished cylinder. The
small portion of the spiral groove which remains indicates that it is
derived from a _Busycon perversum_. The perforation is neatly made and
doubly conical in shape. The symmetry, finish, and fine condition of
this bead lead to the suspicion that it may be of recent manufacture.
Its form is by no means a common one among ancient mound relics.
The bead represented in Fig. 10 is described and illustrated by Squier
and Davis.[60] This, with many similar specimens, was taken from a mound
in the Ohio Valley. It is made from the columella of some marine
univalve, and is well wrought and symmetrical.
Fig. 5 is a flattish, highly polished bead from Monroe County, New York.
The material, which resembles ivory, may have been obtained from the
tusk of some animal. It is slightly concave on one side and convex on
the other. The perforation is neatly made and of uniform diameter
throughout.
In Fig. 4 I present a bead of unusual shape; it is made from the basal
portion of some heavy univalve. The axis and perforation are at right
angles to the plane of lamination. The middle portion of the bead has
been excavated, producing a form resembling a labret or lip-block, in
common use by many tribes. It is from a mound on French Broad River,
Tenn. We have a bead of similar shape, but which has a lateral
perforation, from a mound at Nashville, Tenn.
Fig. 2 illustrates a spheroidal bead obtained from an ancient grave on
Santa Rosa Island, Cal. The form is unusually symmetrical and the
perforation neatly made, being small, doubly conical, and slightly
countersunk at one end. The surface is smooth and retains a little of
the original purplish hue of the shell, probably a _Hennites giganteus_.
Others of the same shape from this locality exhibit like
characteristics. A few similar specimens come from San Miguel Island.
Another large specimen from this locality is shown in Fig. 8. It is
somewhat flat, and is quite wide in the middle portion, tapering rapidly
towards the ends. The perforation is small and regular. The lines of
foliation are distinctly marked, but are not sufficiently characteristic
to indicate the part of the shell from which the bead is derived.
_Pearls._--Two of the most remarkable beads in the national collection
are illustrated in Figs. 3 and 13. The latter is an enormous pearl,
probably derived from the _Haliotis Californianus_. It is somewhat
pear-shaped, the base being rounded and the apex a little bent. The
transverse section is subtriangular. Having been buried for an unknown
period in the soil or sand, it has suffered greatly from decay, and has
probably lost considerably by exfoliation. The thin, chalky lamellæ come
away readily in concentric scales, exposing the iridescent _nacre_
beneath. The perforation is about one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter,
and seems to pass through a natural cavity in the interior of the pearl.
The smaller specimen given in Fig. 3 is in many respects, similar to the
large one. Another, of about the same size as Fig. 3 bears quite a
marked resemblance to a lima bean, and is pierced laterally, giving a
button like appearance.
These specimens were obtained from graves on San Miguel Island, by
Stephen Bowers.
[Illustration: PL. XXXIV--MASSIVE BEADS AND PEARLS.
(1/1)]
TUBULAR BEADS.
In Plate XXXV I have arranged a number of cylindrical beads, together
with a few others of unclassified form.
Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate the most common form of the ancient wampum, the
white example being made from the columella of a small univalve, and the
dark one from the purple portion of a _Venus mercenaria_. The specimens
represented belong to the celebrated "Penn belt," preserved in the rooms
of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
It is not known positively that beads of this particular shape were
employed in pre-Columbian times; but it is certainly one of the earliest
historical forms, and one which has been manufactured extensively by the
Indians as well as by the whites. They may be found both in very old and
in very recent graves, in widely separated parts of the United States
and British America, and have always formed an important part of the
stock of the Indian trader.
Figs. 3 and 4 represent a very large class of Pacific coast forms. These
are from the island of San Miguel. They are simple white cylinders, with
somewhat irregular bi-conical perforations. Many examples may be found
which taper slightly toward the ends. They are coated with a
rusty-looking deposit, which breaks away easily, exposing the chalky
substance of the shell. They range from one-half to three inches in
length, and from one-eighth to three-eighths in diameter. They are
probably made from the thick valves of the _Pachydesma crassatelloides_
or the _Amiantis callosa_. They were probably used as beads for the neck
and as pendant ornaments for the ears. The longer specimens may have
been worn in the nose. It is also said that beads of this class were
used as money.
Fig. 5 illustrates a very long, tubular bead found at Piscataway, Md. It
has been made from the columella of some large univalve. It is four and
a half inches long and one-fourth of an inch in diameter. The surface is
smooth, but a little uneven, and the ends taper slightly. The
perforation which has apparently been made from both ends, as there is
an offset near the middle, is quite regular, though slightly enlarged
near the ends.
A large number of beads of the class illustrated in Fig. 6, Plate XXXV,
were obtained from the ancient graves of San Miguel Island, Cal. They
have been made from one of the large bivalve shells of the Pacific
coast, probably the _Pachydesma crassatelloides_. The curvature of the
bead is the result of the natural curve of the valve from which it is
fashioned. The larger specimens are nearly five inches in length. In the
middle portion they are three-eighths of an inch in diameter. They taper
gradually towards the ends to the size of the perforation, which
averages about one-sixteenth of an inch. The curvature of the bead is so
great that there has been much difficulty in making the perforations
from opposite ends meet, and none of the larger specimens will permit
the passage of a wire, although the perforations lap considerably and
water passes through quite freely. It will be observed that the surface
of these objects is coated with a dark, rough film, which, when broken
away, exposes the natural shell. Such beads may have been used as nose
ornaments, but more probably formed parts of some composite ornament for
the neck or ear.
Fig. 7 represents a bone nose ornament obtained from the Pai-Ute Indians
by Professor Powell. Its shape is not unlike that of the curved bead
just described.
The large rude bead given in Fig. 8 is made from the thick lip or rim of
the _Haliotis Californianus_. This, with a number of similar specimens,
was obtained from an ancient grave at Dos Pueblos, Cal. The perforations
are all large and symmetrical. In one case the hole has been reduced at
the ends by inserting small bits of shell, through which minute passages
have been made.
In Figs. 9 and 10 I give two illustrations of a bead of rather
remarkable form. A large number of similar specimens have been brought
from Dos Pueblos, La Patera, and the islands of San Miguel and Santa
Cruz. They are made from the hinge of the _Hennites giganteus_, a large
bivalve, having a delicate purplish tinge. The shape results from the
form of the hinge; the curve is the natural curve of the shell; and the
notch near the middle of the convex side is the natural pit, often
somewhat altered by art to add to the appearance or to assist in
completing the perforation. The holes are generally very small, and have
been made with much difficulty, owing to the curvature of the bead.
Where by accident the perforation has become enlarged at the end, it has
been bushed by setting in a small piece of shell. The specimen figured
is perforated near the end for suspension, no longitudinal perforation
having been attempted.
Fig. 11 shows one of these beads in an unfinished state, the portion of
the hinge used being roughly broken out and slightly rounded. We have in
the national collection specimens of this class in all stages of
manufacture. Professor Haldeman has described and illustrated a number
of similar beads. He describes the rounded notch near the middle as
artificial, and considers it a device to help out the perforation or
facilitate the stringing. Professor Putnam, in the same work,[61] states
that the "notches were subsequently filled with asphaltum even with the
surface of the shell."
The curved bead illustrated in Fig. 12 is made from a _Dentalium
indianorum_ (?) by removing the conical point. These shells, either
entire or in sections, are much used by the Indians of the northwest,
both as ornaments and as a medium of exchange.
[Illustration: PL. XXXV--BEADS.
1, 2. Beads from the Penn Belt.
3, 4. Pacific coast forms.
5. Bead from Maryland.
6. A Pacific coast form.
7. A Pai-Ute nose ornament (bone).
8. Bead made from a _Haliotis_.
9, 10, 11. Beads made from hinge of _Hennites_.
12. Bead made from a _Dentalium_.
13. Bead from mound, Tenn.
(1/1)]
RUNTEES.
In Plate XXXVI I present a number of illustrations of a class of relics
which have occasionally been mentioned in literature, and which are
represented to some extent in our collections. As these objects resemble
beads rather more closely than pendants, I shall refer to them in this
place, although Mr. Schoolcraft considers them badges of honor or rank,
and treats them as gorgets. He describes them as consisting of a
"circular piece of flat shell, from one and a half to two inches in
diameter, quartered with double lines, having the devices of dots
between them. This kind was doubly perforated in the plane of the
circle."[62]
In "Notes on the Iroquois," by the same author, we have a much fuller
description. He says that "this article is generally found in the form
of an exact circle, rarely a little ovate. It has been ground down and
repolished, apparently, from the conch. Its diameter varies from
three-fourths of an inch to two inches; thickness, two-tenths in the
center, thinning out a little towards the edges. It is doubly
perforated. It is figured on the face and its reverse, with two parallel
latitudinal and two longitudinal lines crossing in its center, and
dividing the area into four equal parts. Its circumference is marked
with an inner circle, corresponding in width to the cardinal parallels.
Each division of the circle thus quartered has five circles, with a
central dot. The latitudinal and longitudinal bands or fillets have each
four similar circles and dots, and one in its center, making
thirty-seven. The number of these circles varies, however, on various
specimens. In the one figured there are fifty-two."[63]
Figs. 1 and 2 are copied from Plate 25 of Schoolcraft. The smaller was
obtained from an ancient grave at Upper Sandusky, Ohio, and the larger
from an Indian cemetery at Onondaga, N. Y. Others have been found at
Jamesville, Lafayette, and Manlius, in the latter State. The Indians,
according to Mr. Schoolcraft, have no traditions respecting this class
of objects, and we are quite in the dark as to their significance or the
manner in which they were used.
Mr. W. M. Beauchamp, of Baldwinsville, N. Y., has very kindly sent me
sketches of two of these objects. The originals were obtained from an
ancient village site at Pompey, N. Y. One is almost a duplicate of the
smaller specimen copied from Schoolcraft, but the other, which is
illustrated in Fig. 4, Plate XXXVI, presents some novel features. The
central portion of the face is occupied by a rosette-like design, which
consists of six sharply oval figures that radiate from the center like
the spokes of a wheel. These rays are ornamented with a series of
oblique lines, arranged in couplets. The margin is encircled by a narrow
band, similarly figured. Mr. Beauchamp expresses the opinion that these
specimens are of European origin.
The specimen shown in Fig. 3 belongs to a necklace now in the national
collection. This necklace was obtained from the Indians of New Mexico by
Lieutenant Whipple, and consists of three of these shell ornaments,
together with about fifty small porcelain beads. The shell beads are
strung at regular intervals. The specimen illustrated is ornamented with
a design in minute conical pits, arranged precisely as are the circlets
in the crosses and encircling bands of the New York and Ohio specimens.
The edges and surfaces are much worn by use. The substance of the shell
is well preserved, and has an ivory-like appearance although in the
specimen shown in the cut the lamination of the shell is distinctly
seen. The perforations in these three specimens are quite symmetrical,
and suggest the use of machinery. The method of perforation is identical
in all these specimens, and will be readily understood by reference to
the two sections given in Figs. 5 and 6. All of these specimens are
nearly circular; but the regularity of the outline is in some cases
marred by shallow notches produced by wear at the perforations. This
wear has been accelerated by the abrasion of the small beads with which
the disks have probably been strung.
It will be noticed that there is quite a close resemblance between these
objects and the "runtees" of the early writers. Beverly gives an
illustration of an Indian boy who is described as wearing a necklace of
these "runtees," which "are made of the Conch Shell, as the Peak is,
only the Shape is flat and like a Cheese, and drill'd Edge-ways."[64] A
portion of this illustration is copied in Fig. 5, Plate XXXVI. It will
be seen by reference to this cut that the manner of stringing
corresponds with the method in which the objects under consideration
would have to be strung.
[Illustration: PL. XXXVI--RUNTEES.
1. New York.
2. New York.
3. Arizona.
4. New York.
5, 6. Sections.
7. Manner of wearing.
(1/1)]
It is probable that the signification of the designs engraved upon these
ornaments will remain forever a matter of conjecture. It cannot be
affirmed that the cross, which occurs on the faces of most of the
specimens, has any particular significance, although it may represent
the points of the compass. That it may have some emblematic meaning is,
however, not impossible. I have counted the number of circlets on all of
the specimens with which I am acquainted. The result is shown in the
following table:
----------------+-------------------------+------------------+------
| In the cross. | |
+-------------------------+ In the |Total.
|Longitudinal | Transverse| circle, exclusive|
| arm. | arm. | of cross. |
----------------+-------------+-----------+------------------+------
No. 1 (Fig. 1) | 10 | 9 | 23 | 41
No. 2 (Fig. 3) | 10 | 12 | 27 | 48
No. 3 (Fig. 2) | 11 | 9 | 23 | 42
No. 4[A] | 9 | 9 | 20 | 37
No. 5[A] | 12 | 11 | 29 | 51
No. 6[B] | 9 | 9 | 20 | 37
----------------+-------------+-----------+------------------+------
[A] Schoolcraft: Notes on Iroquois, p. 233.
[B] From sketch by Mr. Beauchamp.
The central circlet having been counted with each arm of the cross, the
total number of circlets in each specimen will be one less than the sum
of the three columns.
These circlets may be numerals. The design may be significant of some
rank, the badge of a secret order, or the totem of a clan. The general
arrangement of the figures upon the face of these disks suggests an
incipient calendar.
These beads are doubtless American in origin, as nothing of a similar
form, so far as I can learn, occurs in European countries. The fact that
they are found in widely separated localities indicates that they were
probably used in trade since the advent of the whites. This is possibly
some form of bead held in high esteem by tribes of the Atlantic coast
when first encountered by the whites who have taken up its manufacture
for purposes of trade.
BEADS AS ORNAMENTS.
I have already spoken casually of the use of beads for personal
ornament, but it will probably be better to enlarge a little upon the
subject at this point.
Beads are generally found in the graves of ancient peoples in a loose or
disconnected state, the strings on which they were secured having long
since decayed. We cannot, therefore, with certainty, restore the ancient
necklaces and other composite ornaments; but we can form some idea of
their character by a study of the objects of which they were made and
the positions held by these objects at the period of exhumation. Much
can also be learned by a study of the ornaments of modern peoples in
similar stages of culture.
As a rule, the combinations in the pendant ornaments of the ancient
American seem to have been quite simple. Being without glass, and
practically without metals, they had few of the resources of the modern
savage. Their tastes were simple and congruous, not having been
disturbed by the debasing influence of foreign innovation, which is the
cause of so much that is tawdry and incongruous in the art of modern
barbarians.
A curious example of a modern necklace is given by Professor
Haldeman,[65] who had in his possession an Abyssinian necklace "composed
of European beads, cowries (_Cyprea_ shell), a triangular plate of
glass, two small copper coins, small spheric brass buttons, cornelian,
date-seeds, numerous cloves pierced through the sides, a fragment of
wood, a bit of cane, and an Arab phylactery."
Something can be learned of the practices of the ancient Americans in
the use of beads and pendant ornaments generally, by a study of the
remains of their paintings and sculptures--such, for instance, as may be
found in the Goldsborough manuscripts or the superb lithographs of
Waldeck, examples of which are given in Plate XLV.
In a number of cases necklaces of the mound-builders have been found
upon the necks of skeletons, just as they were placed at the time of
burial.
Captain Atwater in describing the contents of a mound at Marietta, Ohio,
makes the statement that on the breast of a skeleton "lay a stone
ornament, with two perforations, one near each end, through which passed
a string, by means of which it was suspended around the wearer's neck.
On the string, which was made of sinew, and very much injured by time,
were placed a great many beads made of ivory or bone."[66]
A similar necklace is described by Mr. Matson, in the Ohio Centennial
Report, p. 127. It was found on the skeleton of a little girl, and was
so made as to be larger in the center of the neck in front, tapering
almost to a point at the middle of the back. On page 129 of the same
volume much more varied uses of bead ornaments are suggested. Mr. Matson
describes four skeletons, on each of which shell beads were found. In
three cases they had been placed about the neck only; in the fourth,
nearly thirty yards of beads had been used. There were four strands
about the neck, crossing over on the breast and back and passing down
between the legs. Strings passed down the legs to the feet, and were
also found along the arms and around the wrists.
The arrangement of the various parts of a necklace or string of pendants
is found to be much alike the world over, consisting of a strand of
beads, small toward the ends and increasing in size toward the middle,
where a central bead or pendant of peculiar form or unusual size is
placed.
The practices of modern barbarians in the employment of beads as
ornaments are extremely varied. They are employed in dressing the hair,
in head-dresses and plumes, and pendants to these; as pendants to the
hair, ears, nose, and lips; as necklaces and bracelets; as belts for the
waist and sashes to be thrown across the shoulders; and as anklets and
pendent ornaments to all parts of the costume.
Father Rasles, writing of the Abnaki Indians of Canada in 1723, says:
"If you wish to see him in all his finery, you will find he has no other
ornaments but beads; these are a kind of shell or stone, which they form
into the shape of little grains, some white and others black, which they
string together in such a way as to represent different showy figures
with great exactness. It is with these beads that our Indians bind up
and plait their hair on their ears and behind; they make of them
pendants for the ears, collars, garters, large sashes of five or six
inches in breadth, and on these kinds of ornaments they pride themselves
much more than a European would on all his gold and jewelry."[67]
It is related of the New England Indians that more than a hundred years
ago, they "hung strings of money about their necks and wrists, as also
upon the necks and wrists of their wives and children. They also
curiously make girdles, of one, two, three, four, and five inches
thickness, and more, of this money; which, sometimes, to the value of
ten pounds or more, they wear about their middle, and as a scarf about
their shoulders and breasts. Yea, the princes make rich caps and aprons,
or small breeches of these beads, thus curiously strung into many forms
and figures; their black and white finely mixed together."[68]
It is further recorded that the New England Indians "wore ear-rings and
nose-jewels; bracelets on their arms and legs, rings on their fingers,
necklaces made of highly polished shells found in their rivers and on
their coasts. The females tied up their hair behind, worked bands round
their heads and ornamented them with shells and feathers, and wore
strings of beads round several parts of their bodies. Round their
moccasins they had shells and turkey spurs, to tinkle like little bells
as they walked."[69]
The Indian women of the New Netherlands also gave great attention to
personal decoration. One writer states that they ornamented the lower
border of their skirts "with great art, and nestle the same with strips,
which are tastefully decorated with wampum. The wampum with which one of
these skirts is ornamented is frequently worth from one to three hundred
guilders. * * * Their head-dress forms a handsome and lively appearance.
Around their necks they wear various ornaments, which are also decorated
with wampum. Those they esteem as highly as our ladies do their pearl
necklaces. They also wear bead hand-bands, or bracelets, curiously
wrought, and interwoven with wampum. Their breasts appear about half
covered with an elegantly wrought dress. They wear beautiful girdles,
ornamented with their favorite wampum, and costly ornaments in their
ears."[70]
Smith states, in writing of Powhatan, that he found him "reclining
proudly upon a Bedstead a foote high, upon tenne or twelve Mattes,
richly hung with manie Chaynes of great Pearles, about his necke, and
covered with a great Couvering of Rahaughcums,"[71] and the young women
who surrounded him wore "a great Chaine of white Beades over their
shoulders."[72]
The following is from Wood, whose quaint and graphic descriptions of the
New England Indians are always interesting: "But a Sagamore with a
Humberd in his eare for a pendant, a black hawk on his _occiput_ for his
plume, Mowhackees for his gold chaine, a good store of Wampompeage
begirting his loynes, his bow in his hand, his quiver at his back, with
six naked _Indian_ spatterlashes at his heels for his guard, thinkes
himselfe little inferior to the great _Cham_; he will not stick to say
he is all one with King _Charles_. Hee thinkes hee can blow down Castles
with his breath and conquer kingdomes with his conceit."[73]
Du Pratz, in speaking of the Louisiana Indians, says: "The women's
ear-rings are made of the center part of a large shell called bingo,
which is about the thickness of one's little finger, and there is a hole
in the ear about that size for holding it."[74]
Lewis and Clark found the Shoshone Indians of the Upper Missouri using
shells of the pearl oyster to decorate the collars of their fur tippets.
The children wore beads around their necks; grown persons suspended them
in little bunches from the ears, and the collars of the men were formed
either of sea-shells from the southwest or from twisted grass with
porcupine quills.[75]
Among the Carrier Indians of the Northwest both sexes perforate their
noses, and from them the men often suspend an ornament consisting of a
piece of an oyster shell or a small piece of brass or copper. The women,
particularly those who are young, run a wooden pin through their noses,
upon each end of which they fix a kind of shell bead, which is about an
inch and a half long, and nearly the size of the stem of a common clay
pipe. These beads they obtain from their neighbors, the At-e-nâs, who
purchase them from another tribe that is said to take them from the
sea-shore, where they are reported to be found in plenty.
It is also stated of the same Indians that "the young women and girls
wear a parcel of European beads, strung together and tied to a lock of
hair directly behind each ear. The men have a sort of collar of the
shell beads already mentioned, which they wind about their heads or
throw around their necks."[76]
The absurd extreme to which this passion for ornament is carried is well
illustrated by an example given by Swan, who, speaking of the tribes
north of the Columbia River, says that "some of these girls I have seen
with the whole rim of their ears bored full of holes, into each of which
would be inserted a string of these shells that reached to the floor,
and the whole weighing so heavy that, to save their ears from being
pulled off, they were obliged to wear a band across the top of the
head."[77]
When, however, beads are found in the graves in quantity, by thousands
or tens of thousands, we shall probably have to attribute to them other
than ornamental uses.
Captain Tom, of the Nishinam tribe of California, according to
Powers,[78] had nearly a half bushel of shell beads and trinkets. One
string of these, worn by his wife on special occasions, contained
sixteen hundred pieces; but these treasures were hoarded because of
their value as money rather than as ornaments.
The wampum belts used by many of the tribes of Indians are known to
contain enormous numbers of beads. One of the historical belts kept by
the Onondagas among their treasures contains nearly ten thousand beads.
The famous belt of William Penn has about three thousand.
Sir John Lubbock, in his "Prehistoric Times," expresses surprise at the
great number of beads sometimes found, instancing the Grave Creek mound
of Virginia, which contained between three and four thousand. This
number will, however, appear very insignificant when compared with a
collection such as the costume of the great King Philip could have
furnished.
Drake relates that Philip had a coat "made all of wampampeag," which,
when in need of money, he "cuts to pieces, and distributes it
plentifully among the Nipmoog sachems and others, as well to the
eastward as southward, and all round about."[79] By adding to this store
of beads the contents of two belts, one of which was nine inches in
breadth, and so long that when placed upon the shoulders it reached to
the ankles, we conclude that the greatest collection ever taken from a
prehistoric mound could not compare for a moment with the treasure of
this one historic chieftain.
A great deal of art is shown in the stringing and mounting of beads. The
simplest form is a single strand, a twisted string of vegetable fiber, a
strip of buckskin, or a bit of sinew being passed through the
perforations. Again, rows of strands are placed side by side and
fastened at intervals in such a manner as to keep them approximately
parallel, or the beads when long are put on equidistant cross strands,
the longitudinal strands serving to keep them in place; they are also
woven into the fabric by being mounted upon one of the strands before
twisting. It is also a very usual practice to sew them on strips of
cloth or buckskin, patterns being produced by using beads of different
colors. The manner of stringing in the manufacture of belts will be
given in detail under Mnemonic Uses of Beads.
BEADS AS CURRENCY.
It will probably be impossible to prove that the prehistoric peoples of
North America employed a medium of exchange in a manner corresponding to
our use of money. It is a well-known fact, however, that a currency of
shell beads was in general use throughout the Atlantic coast region very
early in the historic period.
Of all objects within the reach of savage peoples, shells, either in
their natural forms or in fragments artificially fashioned for
convenience of use, are the best adapted for such a purpose.
In examining the contents of ancient cemeteries and mounds where all
objects of value were to some extent deposited, we find no other relics
that could have been conveniently used for such a purpose.
It is not probable that objects subject to rapid decay, such as wood,
fruits, and seeds, could ever have come into general use for money,
although such objects are employed to some extent by savages in
different parts of the world. The unlimited supply or easy manufacture
of these objects would be against their use for this purpose, whereas
the difficulty of shaping and perforating the flinty substance of shells
would prevent such a plentiful production as to destroy the standard of
value.
Objects and substances having a fairly uniform value, resulting from
their utilitarian attributes, have been employed by primitive peoples as
standards of value; as, for instance, cattle, in ancient Rome; salt, in
Assyria; tin, in Britain, and cocoa, in Mexico. But such mediums of
exchange are local in use. With these articles this function is only
accidental. The utilization of shells for money would naturally
originate from the trade arising from their use as utensils and
ornaments in districts remote from the source of supply. Yielding in the
worked state a limited supply, and at the same time filling a constant
demand, they formed a natural currency, their universal employment for
purposes of ornament giving them a fixed and uniform value. They have
undoubtedly been greatly prized by the ancient peoples, but on the part
of the open-handed savage they were probably valued more as personal
ornaments than as a means of gratifying avaricious propensities.
Lewis H. Morgan, who had access to all the sources of information on the
subject, says that "wampum has frequently been called the money of the
Indian; but there is no sufficient reason for supposing that they ever
made it an exclusive currency, or a currency in any sense, more than
silver or other ornaments. All personal ornaments, and most other
articles of personal property, passed from hand to hand at a fixed
value; but they appear to have had no common standard of value until
they found it in our currency. If wampum had been their currency it
would have had a settled value, to which all other articles would have
been referred. There is no doubt that it came nearer to a currency than
any other species of property among them, because its uses were so
general, and its transit from hand to hand so easy, that everyone could
be said to need it." Yet he admits that "the use of wampum reaches back
to a remote period upon this continent"; and further, that it was an
original Indian notion which prevailed among the Iriquois as early at
least as the formation of the League. He goes on to state that "the
primitive wampum of the Iriquois consisted of strings of a small
fresh-water spiral shell called in the Seneca dialect _Ote ko-á_, the
name of which has been bestowed upon the modern wampum."[80]
Loskiel says that "before the Europeans came to North America, the
Indians used to make strings of wampom chiefly of small pieces of wood
of equal size, stained either black or white. Few were made of muscle,
which were esteemed very valuable and difficult to make; for, not having
proper tools, they spent much time in finishing them, and yet their work
had a clumsy appearance."[81]
Hutchinson is of the opinion that "the Indians resident northeastward of
the province of New York had originally no knowledge of this sort of
money or medium of trade."[82]
The great body of our historical evidence goes to show, however, that a
currency of shell was in use among the Atlantic coast tribes when first
encountered by the Europeans. Thomas Morton, in speaking of the Indians
of New England as far back as 1630, says that "they have a kinde of
beads in steede of money to buy withal such things as they want, which
they call wampampeak; and it is of two sorts, the one is white and the
other is a violet coloure. These are made of the shells of fishe; the
white with them is as silver with us, the other as our gould, and for
these beads they buy and sell, not only amongst themselves, but even
with us. We have used to sell them any of our commodities for this
wampampeak, because we know we can have beaver again from them for it:
and these beads are current in all parts of New England, from one end of
the coast to the other, and although some have endeavoured by example to
have the like made, of the same kinde of shels, yet none has ever, as
yet, obtained to any perfection in the composure of them, but the
Savages have found a great difference to be in the one and the other;
and have knowne the counterfett beads from those of their owne making
and doe slight them."[83]
According to Roger Williams also, the Indians of New England, as far
back as his observations extend, were engaged in the manufacture of
shell money as a well-established industry. It seems altogether
impossible that such a custom should have been successfully introduced
by the English, as the Indian is well known to be averse to anything
like labor excepting in his traditional occupations of war and the
chase, and if the whites had introduced it, would certainly have looked
to them for a supply by means of trade in skins and game rather than
apply himself to a new and strange art. Roger Williams says that "they
that live upon the Sea side generally make of it, and as many as they
will. The Indians bring downe all their sorts of Furs, which they take
in the countrey, both to the Indians and to the English for this Indian
Money: this Money the English, French and Dutch, trade to the Indians,
six hundred miles in severall ports (north and south from New England)
for their Furres, and whatsoever they stand in need of from them." Their
methods were also aboriginal, another indication that the art was not of
European introduction; and Williams states that "before ever they had
awle blades from Europe, they made shift to bore their shell money with
stones."[84]
That wampum was also manufactured farther south we learn from Lindström,
who is writing of the Indians of New Sweden: "Their money is made of
shells, white, black, and red, worked into beads, and neatly turned and
smoothed; one person, however, cannot make more in a day than the value
of six or eight stivers. When these beads are worn out, so that they
cannot be strung neatly, and even on one thread, they no longer consider
them good. Their way of stringing them is to rub the whole thread full
of them on their noses; if they find it slides smooth and even, like
glass beads, then they are considered good, otherwise they break and
throw them away."[85]
Although Beverly did not write until the beginning of the eighteenth
century, his statements are probably based upon accurate information.
Speaking of the Virginia Indians, he says that they "had nothing which
they reckoned riches before the English went among them, except _Peak_,
_Roenoke_, and such-like trifles made out of the _Cunk Shell_. These
past with them instead of Gold and Silver, and serv'd them both for
Money and Ornament. It was the _English_ alone that taught them first to
put a value on their Skins and Furs, and to make a Trade of them."[86]
From Lawson, who wrote in 1714, but whose statements deserve
consideration, we also learn that the money of the Carolina Indians is
"all made of shells which are found on the coast of Carolina, which are
very large and hard so that they are very difficult to cut. Some English
smiths have tried to drill this sort of shell-money, and thereby thought
to get an advantage; but it proved so hard that nothing could be
gained."[87]
Speaking of its use and value in New York, he remarks that "an
Englishman could not afford to make so much of this wampum for five or
ten times the value; for it is made out of a vast great shell, of which
that country affords plenty; where it is ground smaller than the small
end of a tobacco pipe, or a large wheat straw." * * * "This the Indians
grind on stones and other things until they make it current, but the
drilling is the most difficult to the Englishman, which the Indians
manage with a nail stuck in a cane or reed. Thus they roll it
continually on their thighs with their right hand, holding the bit of
shell with their left; so, in time, they drill a hole quite through it
which is a very tedious work; but especially in making their ronoak,
four of which will scarce make one length of wampum. The Indians are a
people that never value their time, so that they can afford to make
them, and never need to fear the English will take the trade out of
their hands. This is the money with which you may buy skins, furs,
slaves, or anything the Indians have; it being their mammon (as our
money is to us) that entices and persuades them to do anything, and part
with everything they possess, except their children for slaves. As for
their wives, they are often sold and their daughters violated for it.
With this they buy off murders; and whatsoever a man can do that is ill,
this wampum will quit him of and make him, in their opinion, good and
virtuous, though never so black before."[88]
Adair confirms the statements made by these writers, and adds emphasis
to the fact that the shell beads had, among the Cherokees and other
southern Indians, a fixed value as currency. "With these they bought and
sold at a stated current rate, without the least variation for
circumstances either of time or place; and now they will hear nothing
patiently of loss or gain, or allow us to heighten the price of our
goods, be our reasons ever so strong, or though the exigencies and
changes of time may require it."[89]
We find plentiful evidence in the stories of the early Spanish
adventurers that beads made from sea shells were held in high esteem by
the Indians of the south, but, so far as I am aware, there is no
statement indicating that they formed a well-regulated medium of
exchange.
In regard to the manufacture of wampum by the whites, the following
quotations will be instructive:
"Many people at _Albany_ make the _wampum_ of the _Indians_, which is
their ornament and their money, by grinding some kinds of shells and
muscles; this is a considerable profit to the inhabitants."[90]
"Besides the _Europeans_, many of the native _Indians_ come annually
down to the sea shore, in order to catch clams, proceeding with them
afterwards in the manner I have just described. The shells of these
clams are used by the _Indians_ as money, and make what they call their
wampum: they likewise serve their women as an ornament, when they intend
to appear in full dress. These wampums are properly made of the purple
parts of the shells, which the _Indians_ value more than the white
parts. A traveller, who goes to trade with the _Indians_, and is well
stocked with them, may become a considerable gainer; but if he take gold
coin, or bullion, he will undoubtedly be a loser; for the _Indians_, who
live farther up the country, put little or no value upon these metals
which we reckon so precious, as I have frequently observed in the course
of my travels. The _Indians_ formerly made their own wampums, though not
without a deal of trouble: but at present the _Europeans_ employ
themselves that way; especially the inhabitants of _Albany_, who get a
considerable profit by it. In the sequel I intend to relate the manner
of making wampum."[91]
"The article was highly prized as an ornament, and as such constituted
an article of trafic between the sea-coast and the interior tribes. * * *
"The old wampum was made by hand, and was an exceedingly rude article.
After the discovery, the Dutch introduced the lathe in its manufacture,
polished and perforated it with exactness, and soon had the monopoly of
the trade. The principal place of its manufacture was at Hackensak, in
New Jersey. The principal deposit of sea shells was Long Island, where
the extensive shell banks left by the Indians, on which it is difficult
to find a whole shell, show the immense quantities that were
manufactured."[92]
The name _wampum_ is often applied to shell beads indiscriminately, but
frequently has a more restricted significance, referring to the small
cylindrical varieties used in strings and belts. It was known first in
New England as _wampumpeag_, _wampompeage_, _peag_, _wompam_ and
_wampum_; the Dutch of New Sweden knew it as _seawan_, _sewant_, and
_seawant_, while on the Virginia coast, it was called _peak_, a roughly
made discoidal variety being known as _ronoak_ or _roenoke_, and heavy
flattish beads pierced edgeways were called _runtees_. It is probable
that all of these names are American in origin, although there is some
difference of opinion as to their derivation. Loskiel says that _wampom_
is an Iroquois word meaning muscle, but according to Morgan, who is
probably the best modern authority on this subject, the word _wampum_ is
not Iroquois in origin but Algonkin, as it was first known in New
England as _wampumpeage_.
Roger Williams, speaking of the money of the New England Indians,
probably the Narragansetts (Algonkin), says that "their white they call
_Wompam_ (which signifies white); their black _Suckanhock_ (_Sácki_,
signifying black)." In another place he gives the word _wompi_ for
white. Wood mentions two varieties of beads known in New England
_wampompeage_ and _mowhackees_. The latter is probably derived from
_mowêsu_, which, according to Williams, also signifies black.
It would seem that we have but little evidence of the ancient use of
shell money amongst the tribes of the Mississippi Valley or the Pacific
coast; yet we are not without proofs that it came into use at a very
early date throughout the entire West, and even today the custom is by
no means obsolete. The ancient burial places of the Pacific coast are
found to contain large quantities of beads precisely similar to those
now used as money by the coast tribes.
Lewis and Clark, speaking of traffic among the Indians of the Columbia
River, state that shell beads are held in very high esteem by these
people, and that to procure them they will "sacrifice their last article
of clothing or their last mouthful of food. Independently of their
fondness for them as an ornament these beads are the medium of trade by
which they obtain from the Indians still higher up the river, robes,
skins, chappeled bread, bear grass."[93]
The _Dentalium_ shell has always been the favorite currency of the
peoples of the Northwest and is highly valued, especially by the inland
tribes. It is frequently found in ancient graves at great distances from
the sea-shore. A few specimens have been found in burial places in the
Ohio Valley, but we have no means of determining the source from which
they were derived. As the modern use of this currency has but little
archæologic interest, I will not enlarge upon the subject here. For
further information the reader is referred to the following authors:
J. K. Lord, The Naturalist in British Columbia, Vol. II, pp. 20 to 26;
R. E. C. Stearns in the American Naturalist, Vol. III, No. 1, and in
proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Vol. V, Part II,
p. 113; W. H. Pratt in proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural
Sciences, Vol. II, Part I, p. 38; and Stephen Powers in Vol. 3,
Contributions to North American Ethnology, pp. 21, 24, 30.
MNEMONIC USE OF BEADS.
One of the most remarkable customs practiced by the American Indians is
found in the mnemonic use of wampum. This custom had in it a germ of
great promise, one which must in time have become a powerful agent in
the evolution of art and learning. It was a nucleus about which all the
elements of culture could arrange themselves. I shall not at present
undertake to divest the custom of adventitious features such as have
been introduced by contact with European influence. Yet there is no
reason to fear that any of the important or essential features have been
derived from outside sources. It is not possible from any known records
to demonstrate the great antiquity of this use of wampum. It does not
seem probable, however, that a custom so unique and so wide-spread could
have grown up within the historic period; nor is it probable that a
practice foreign to the genius of tradition-loving races could have
become so well established and so dear to their hearts in a few
generations.
Mnemonic records are known to have come into use among many nations at a
very early stage of culture. Picture writing as developed in the north
is but another form of mnemonic record, a fact, a thought, a verse of a
song being associated with an ideographic design, more or less
suggestive of the subject. The Peruvians had their _quipus_, in which
the record was made by associating things to be remembered with knots
made in cords of different colors, each combination having a fixed
association. The Mexicans had gone further and had achieved a system of
picture writing that was very unique and curious, in which a phonetic
element had already made its appearance, while the Mayas could boast the
discovery of a true phonetic system with an alphabet of twenty-seven
sounds.
The mnemonic use of wampum is one which, I imagine, might readily
develop from the practice of gift giving and the exchange of tokens of
friendship, such mementos being preserved for future reference as
reminders of promises of assistance or protection. In time the use of
such mementos would develop into a system capable of recording affairs
of varied and complicated nature; particular facts or features of
treaties would be assigned to particular objects, or portions of
objects. With this much accomplished, but one step was necessary to the
attainment of a hieroglyphic system--the permanent association of a
single object or sign with a particular idea.
The wampum records of the Iroquois were generally in the form of belts,
the beads being strung or woven into patterns formed by the use of
different colors. By association simply they were made to record
history, laws, treaties, and speeches--a fact, a law, a stipulation, or
a declaration being "talked into" a particular part or pattern of the
design with which it was ever afterwards associated, thus giving
additional permanency to tradition and bringing it one step further
forward in the direction of written records. Such records were, of
course, quite useless without the agency of an interpreter. Among the
Iroquois, according to Morgan, one of the Onondaga sachems was made
hereditary "keeper of wampum," whose duty it was to be thoroughly versed
in its interpretation. But knowledge of the contents of these records
was not confined to the keeper, or even to the sachems. At a certain
season each year the belts were taken from the treasure-house and
exposed to the whole tribe, while the history and import of each was
publicly recited. This custom is kept up to the present day. It is
recorded by Ruttenber that among the Mohicans a certain sachem had
charge of the bag of peace which contained the wampum belts and strings
used in establishing peace and friendship with the different
nations.[94]
Aside from records wampum was used in the form of strings and belts for
a variety of purposes; some of them were probably mnemonic, others only
partially so, being based either upon its association with the name of
some chief or clan, or upon a semi-sacred character resulting from its
important uses. It was employed in summoning councils, and the messenger
who journeyed from tribe to tribe found in it a well recognized
passport. When a council was called it was presented by the delegates
from the various tribes as their credentials; it was used in the
ceremony of opening and closing councils, as was also the calumet; it
assisted in solemnizing oaths and in absolving from them; white, it was
a messenger of peace; black, it threatened war, and covered with clay,
it expressed grief. "White wampum was the Iroquois emblem of purity and
faith, it was hung around the neck of the white dog before it was
burned; it was used before the periodical religious festivals for the
confession of sins, no confession being regarded as sincere unless
recorded with white wampum; further than this, it was the customary
offering in condonation of murder, although the purple was sometimes
employed. Six strings was the value of a life, or the quantity sent in
condonation, for the wampum was rather sent as a regretful confession of
the crime, with a petition for forgiveness, than as the actual price of
blood."[95] We readily recognize the influence of the Christian
missionary in a number of these symbolic uses of wampum.
The literature of wampum would fill a volume, but I forbear presenting
more than will give an outline of the subject, confining myself to such
quotations as will serve to show clearly the extent and importance of
this ancient custom and its attendant practices.
The method of handling the belts of wampum in the presence of ceremonial
assemblies is extremely interesting, and cannot be better presented than
in the words of eye-witnesses.
The following is quoted from Brice, who is describing a council held in
the Muskingum Valley in 1764:
"An Indian council, on solemn occasions, was always opened with
preliminary forms, sufficiently wearisome and tedious, but made
indispensable by immemorial custom, for this people are as much bound by
their conventional usages as the most artificial children of
civilization. The forms were varied, to some extent, according to the
imagination of the speaker, but in all essential respects they were
closely similar throughout the tribes of the Algonkin and Iroquois
lineage.
"They run somewhat as follows, each sentence being pronounced with great
solemnity, and confirmed by the delivery of a wampum belt: 'Brothers,
with this belt I open your ears that you may hear; I remove grief and
sorrow from your hearts; I draw from your feet the thorns that pierced
them as you journeyed thither; I clean the seats of the council-house,
that you may sit at ease; I wash your head and body, that your spirits
may be refreshed; I condole with you on the loss of the friends who have
died since we last met; I wipe out any blood which may have been spilt
between us.' This ceremony, which, by the delivery of so many belts of
wampum, entailed no small expense, was never used except on the most
important occasions; and at the councils with Colonel Bouquet the angry
warriors seem wholly to have dispensed with it. * * * And his memory was
refreshed by belts of wampum, which he delivered after every clause in
his harangue, as a pledge of the sincerity and truth of his words.
"These belts were carefully preserved by the hearers as a substitute for
written records, a use for which they were the better adapted, as they
were often worked in hieroglyphics expressing the meaning they were
designed to preserve. Thus at a treaty of peace the principal belt often
bore the figure of an Indian and a white man holding a chain between
them."[96]
From an account of a council held by the Five Nations at Onondaga nearly
two hundred years ago, to which the governor of Canada sent four
representatives, I make the following extract: "During the course of the
proceedings Cannehoot, a Seneca sachem, presented a proposed treaty
between the Wagunhas and the Senecas, speaking as follows: 'We come to
join the two bodies into one. * * * We come to learn wisdom of the
Senecas (giving a belt). We by this belt wipe away the tears from the
eyes of your friends, whose relations have been killed in the war. We
likewise wipe the paint from your soldiers' faces (giving a second
belt). We throw aside the ax which Yonondio put into our hands by this
third belt.' A red marble sun is presented--a pipe made of red marble.
'Yonondio is drunk; we wash our hands clean from his actions (giving a
fourth belt). * * * We have twelve of your nation prisoners; they shall
be brought home in the spring (giving a belt to confirm the promise). We
will bring your prisoners home when the strawberries shall be in
blossom, at which time we intend to visit Corlear (the governor of New
York), and see the place where wampum is made.'
"The belts were accepted by the Five Nations, and their acceptance was a
ratification of the treaty. A large belt was also given to the
messengers from Albany as their share. A wampum belt sent from Albany
was, in the same manner, hung up and afterwards divided."[97]
This indicates a most extravagant use of belts; but since it is probable
that as many were received in return this was a matter of little
importance. The great profusion of wampum used in some of the later
treaties is a matter of surprise. In a council held between four Indian
ambassadors from New England and the French thirty-six fine large belts
were given by the ambassadors to thank them that their people had not
been treated with hostility.[98]
"The appendix to the second volume of Proud's History of Pennsylvania
contains the journals of Frederick Christian Post, who was sent by
Governor Denny, in 1758, to make a treaty with the Alleghany Indians;
and in delivering the governor's answer to the chiefs, on his second
visit in the same year, after proposing to them to unite in a treaty of
peace which had lately been concluded with the Indians at Easton, and
producing sundry belts, one of which was marked with figures
representing the English and the Indians delivering the peace-belt to
one of the commissioners, he proceeds to say: 'Brethren on the Ohio, if
you take the belts we just now gave you, as we do not doubt you will,
then by _this belt_'--producing another and using their figurative style
of speech--'I make a road for you, and invite you to come to
Philadelphia, to your first old council-fire, which we rekindle up
again, and remove disputes, and renew the first old treaties of
friendship. This is a clear and open road for you; therefore, fear
nothing, and come to us with as many as can be of the Delawares,
Shawanese, or the Six Nations; we will be glad to see you; we desire all
tribes and nations of Indians who are in alliance with you may come.'
Whereupon a large white belt, with the figure of a man at each end and
streaks of black representing the road from the Ohio to Philadelphia,
was then given to them."[99]
Lafitau, whose statements are considered unusually trustworthy, as they
were based chiefly on personal observation of the Indian tribes of
Canada, gives the following very instructive account of the mnemonic use
of wampum:
"All affairs are conducted by means of branches [strings] and necklaces
[belts] of porcelain [wampum] which with them take the place of
compacts, written agreements, and contracts. * * * The shell, which is
used for affairs of state, is worked into little cylinders of a quarter
of an inch in length and large in proportion. They are distributed in
two ways, in strings and in belts. The strings are composed of cylinders
threaded without order one after another, like the beads of a rosary;
the beads are usually quite white, and are used for affairs of little
consequence, or as a preparation for other more considerable
presents.[100]
"The belts are large bands, in which little white and purple cylinders
are disposed in rows, and tied down with small thongs of leather, which
makes a very neat fabric. The length and size and color are proportioned
to the importance of the affair. The usual belts are of eleven rows of a
hundred and eighty beads each.
"The 'fisk,' or public treasure, consists principally of these belts,
which, as I have said, with them, take the place of contracts, of public
acts, and of annals or registers. For the savages, having no writing or
letters, and therefore finding themselves soon forgetting the
transactions that occur among them from time to time, supply this
deficiency by making for themselves a local memory by means of words
which they attach to these belts, of which each one refers to some
particular affair, or some circumstance, which it represents while it
exists.
"They are so much consecrated to this use that besides the name
_Gaïonni_, which is their name for the kind of belts most used, they
bestow that of _Garihona_, which means a transaction; that of
_Gaouenda_, voice or word, and of _Gaianderenfera_, which means grandeur
or nobility; because all the affairs dignified by these belts are the
endowment and province of the _agoïanders_ or nobles. It is they who
furnish them; and it is among them that they are redivided when presents
are made to the village, and when replies to the belts of their
ambassadors are sent.
"The _agoïanders_ and the ancients have, besides this, the custom of
looking over them often together, and of dividing among themselves the
care of noting certain ones, which are particularly assigned to them; so
that in this way they do not forget anything.
"Their wampum would soon be exhausted if it did not circulate; but in
almost all affairs, either within or without, the law requires a reply,
word for word, that is to say, for one belt one must give another, to be
of about the same value, observing, however, a slight difference in the
number of beads, which must be proportioned to the rank of the persons
or nations with which they treat.
"They do not believe that any transaction can be concluded without these
belts. Whatever proposition is made to them, or reply given them, by
word of mouth alone, the affair falls through, they say, and they let it
fall through very effectually, as though there had been no question
about it. Europeans little informed or little concerned about their
usages have slightly inconvenienced them on this point in retaining
their belts without giving them a similar response. To avoid the
inconvenience which might arise from this they acquired the style of
giving only a small quantity, excusing themselves on the plea that their
wampum was exhausted; and they supplied the rest with packages of
deer-skin, in return for which they were given trinkets of small value,
so that transactions between the Europeans and them have become a sort
of trade.
"Although all the savage nations of America make various kinds of
ornaments of shells, I believe that it is only those of North America
who employ them in transactions. I cannot even affirm that all of these
do."[101]
A very complete account of wampum is given by Loskiel, from whose work
the following extract is made:
"Four or six strings joined in one breadth, and fastened to each other
with fine thread, make a _belt of wampom_, being about three or four
inches wide, and three feet long, containing, perhaps, four, eight, or
twelve fathom of wampom, in proportion to its required length and
breadth. This is determined by the importance of the subject which these
belts are intended either to explain or confirm, or by the dignity of
the persons to whom they are to be delivered. Everything of moment
transacted at solemn councils, either between the Indians themselves or
with Europeans, is ratified and made valid by strings and belts of
wampom. Formerly, they used to give sanction to their treaties by
delivering a wing of some large bird; and this custom still prevails
among the more western nations, in transacting business with the
Delawares. But the Delawares themselves, the Iroquois, and the nations
in league with them, are now sufficiently provided with handsome and
well-wrought strings and belts of wampom. Upon the delivery of a string,
a long speech may be made and much said upon the subject under
consideration, _but when a belt is given few words are spoken_; but they
must be words of great importance, frequently requiring an explanation.
Whenever the speaker has pronounced some important sentence, he delivers
a string of wampom, adding, 'I give this string of wampom as a
confirmation of what I have spoken'; but the chief subject of his
discourse he confirms with a belt. The answers given to a speech thus
delivered must also be confirmed by strings and belts of wampom, of the
same size and number as those received. Neither the colour nor the other
qualities of wampom are a matter of indifference, but have an immediate
reference to those things which they are meant to confirm. The brown or
deep violet, called black by the Indians, always means something of
severe or doubtful import; but the white is the colour of peace. Thus,
if a string or belt of wampom is intended to confirm a warning against
evil, or an earnest reproof, it is delivered in black. When a nation is
called upon to go to war, or war declared against it, the belt is black,
or marked with red, called by them, the _colour of blood_, having in the
middle the figure of an hatchet in white wampom. * * * They refer to
them as public records, carefully preserving them in a chest made for
that purpose. At certain seasons they meet to study their meaning, and
to renew the ideas of which they were an emblem or confirmation. On such
occasions they sit down around the chest, take out one string or belt
after the other, handing it about to every person present, and that they
may all comprehend its meaning, repeat the words pronounced on its
delivery in their whole convention. By these means they are enabled to
remember the promises reciprocally made by the different parties; and it
is their custom to admit even the young boys, who are related to the
chiefs, to their assemblies; they become early acquainted with all the
affairs of the State; thus the contents of their documents are
transmitted to posterity, and cannot be easily forgotten."[102]
It is to be presumed that if a treaty or a promise were broken, the belt
would be released from its office and in the same form, or worked into
another, could again be used. Otherwise the records, if properly kept,
would in time become extremely cumbersome.
The repudiation of a treaty and of the wampum which accompanied it is
recorded by Brice. It was at a council held at Miami, in 1790, between
Mr. Gamelin and a number of tribes. Mr. Gamelin in beginning his speech
presented each nation with strings of wampum, but "the Indians were
displeased with the treaty, and after consultation returned the wampum,
saying: 'From all quarters we receive speeches from the Americans and
not one is alike. We suppose that they intend to deceive us. Then take
back your branches of wampum.' The Pottawatomies were better pleased
with the speeches and accepted the wampum."[103]
Another good example which illustrates the manner of canceling treaties,
confirmed by wampum, is given by Mr. Gilpin:
"When Washington, then but a youth of twenty-one, was intrusted by the
colonial governor of Virginia with a mission to the western wilds of
Pennsylvania, where the French from Canada were then penetrating and had
already established, as was believed, four posts within our limits and
were seeking to unite the natives in alliance against us, * * * he found
that such an alliance had indeed been formed. He found that they had
exchanged with the French, as its symbol, a wampum belt on which four
houses were rudely embroidered--the representations of the posts which
were to be defended, even at the risk of war. Influenced by his
remonstrances, the Indian sachems consented to withdraw from the
alliance; but they declared that the belt of wampum must be returned
before the agreement could be abolished; and one of the sachems repaired
to the French commander in order to restore to him the token of the
warlike compact, and to proclaim the intention of the red men to take no
part in the impending struggle."[104]
Heckewelder relates that "it once happened that war messengers
endeavored to persuade and compel a nation to accept the belt by laying
it on the shoulders or thigh of the chief, who, however, after shaking
it off without touching it with his hands, afterwards, with a stick,
threw it after them, as if he threw a snake or toad out of his
way."[105]
It is remarkable that other objects were not more frequently used for
mnemonic records. We can only explain the partiality shown to wampum on
the supposition that the idea of value was not entirely lost sight of
and that importance was attached to a record which in itself merited
preservation. Yet instances of the use of other objects are often met
with. Parkman states that "the figures on wampum belts of the Iroquois
were for the most part simply mnemonic. So also were those carved in
wooden tables, or painted on bark or skin, to preserve in memory the
songs of war, hunting, or magic."[106]
At one of the councils at Onondaga in 1690, a treaty was pledged and
recorded in wampum by all the contracting parties but the New England
colonies, which sent a wooden model of a fish as a token of their
adherence to the terms of the treaty.[107]
Hunter, speaking of the manners and customs of the Osages, states that
"they use significant emblems, such as the wing of the swan and wild
goose, wampum, and pipes, in overtures for peace, while arrows, war
clubs, and black and red painting, are used as indications or
declarations of war. Any article, such as a skin painted black, or the
wing of a raven, represents the death of friends, and when colored or
striped with red, that of enemies. Amongst the Canada Indians when peace
was conceded, a reddened hatchet was buried as a symbol of the oblivion
of all past hostility between the contracting parties. A mutual exchange
of neck ornaments sealed the treaty after its terms were debated and
determined. But all was not yet over, for the chiefs on each side
proffered and accepted presents of rare articles, such as calumets of
peace, embroidered deer skins, &c. This kind of ceremonial barter being
terminated to their mutual satisfaction, or otherwise, the conference
broke up."[108]
Gumilla says that the Oronoco Indians ratify their treaties with sticks
which they give reciprocally,[109] and the Araucanians, according to
Molina, carry in their hands, when they conclude a peace, the branches
of a tree, regarded as sacred by them, which they present to each
other.[110]
I have already enumerated the various kinds of beads and shown the
sources from which they were derived and the uses to which they were
applied. I have yet to describe the manner in which they are strung or
combined in strings and belts.
The beads chosen as most convenient for stringing or weaving into
fabrics were small cylinders from one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch
in diameter, and from one-quarter to one-half an inch in length. White
strings or belts were sufficient for the expression of simple ideas or
the association of simple facts, but the combinations of colors in
patterns rendered it possible to record much more complicated affairs.
In belts used for mnemonic purposes the colors were generally arranged
without reference to the character of the facts or thoughts to be
intrusted to them, but in a few cases the figures are ideographic, and
are significant of the event to be memorized. Strings cannot be utilized
in this way.
_Wampum in strings._--From Mr. Beauchamp's notes I have compiled the
following brief account of the use of strings of wampum among the modern
Iroquois. Six strings of purple beads united in a cluster represent the
six nations. When the tribes meet the strands are arranged in a circle,
which signifies that the council is opened. The Onondagas are
represented by seven strings, which contain a few white beads; the
Cayugas by six strands, all purple, and the Tuscaroras by seven strands,
nearly all purple. The Mohawks have six strings, on which there are two
purple beads to one white. These are illustrated in Fig. 2, Plate XLIV.
There are four strings in the Oneida cluster; these contain two purple
to one white bead. The Senecas have four strings, with two purple beads
to one white. The three nations which were brothers are represented by
similar clusters.
When a new chief is installed the address delivered on the occasion is
"talked into" ten very long strings of white wampum. Three strings,
mostly white, represent the name of the new chief. One of these clusters
is shown in Fig. 1, Plate XLIV.[111] When a chief dies he is mourned on
ten strings of black wampum. If he has merely lost his office, six short
strings are used.
According to Mr. Beauchamp, possession of beads gives authority, and
they are also used as credentials, or, as the Indians express it,
"Chief's wampum all same as your letter." Such of these strings as
remain in existence are still in use among the Iroquois, and are
considered very precious by them, being made of antique hand-made beads.
In the literature relating to our Indian tribes we find occasional
reference to the use of strings of wampum in ways that indicate that
they were invested with certain protective and authoritative qualities,
doubtless from their association with the name of some chief, clan, or
tribe.
It is recorded that on one occasion Logan, the Mingo chief, saved a
captive white from torture by rushing through the circle of Indians and
throwing a string of wampum about the prisoner's neck. Through the
virtue of this string he was enabled to lead him away and adopt him into
his family.
A somewhat different use is mentioned by Pike, to whom a Chippewa chief
made a speech, during which he presented his pipe to Mr. Pike to bear to
the Sioux. Attached to the pipe were seven strings of wampum, which
signified that authority was given by seven chiefs of the Chippewa to
conclude peace or make war.[112]
_Wampum belts._--In the manufacture of belts a great deal of skill and
taste have been shown. The large figured varieties were intricate in
design and extremely pleasing in color. Belts of wampum beads were
probably used simply as a part of the costume long before they became
the vehicles of tradition, and beads were doubtless used in other parts
of the costume in a similar manner. It is said that in New England they
were made by the women; in later times it is probable that the whites
engaged to some extent in their manufacture.
Mr. Morgan gives such a good account of the details of belt making that
I beg leave to quote him in full:
"In making a belt no particular pattern was followed; sometimes they are
of the width of three fingers and three feet long, in other instances as
wide as the hand and over three feet in length; sometimes they are all
of one color, in others variegated, and in still others woven with the
figures of men to symbolize, by their attitudes, the objects or events
they were designed to commemorate. The most common width was three
fingers, or the width of seven beads, the length ranging from two to six
feet. In belt making, which is a simple process, eight strands or cords
of bark thread are first twisted, from filaments of slippery elm, of the
requisite length and size; after which they are passed through a strip
of deer-skin to separate them at equal distances from each other in
parallel lines. A piece of splint is then sprung in the form of a bow,
to which each end of the several strings is secured, and by which all of
them are held in tension, like warp threads in a weaving machine. Seven
beads, these making the intended width of the belt, are then run upon a
thread by means of a needle, and are passed under the cords at right
angles, so as to bring one bead lengthwise between each cord and the one
next in position. The thread is then passed back again along the upper
side of the cords and again through each of the beads; so that each bead
is held firmly in its place by means of two threads, one passing under
and one above the cords. This process is continued until the belt
reaches its intended length, when the ends of the cords are tied, the
end of the belt covered and afterward trimmed with ribbons. In ancient
times both the cords and the thread were of sinew."[113]
In another place Mr. Morgan states that belts were also made by covering
one side of a deer-skin belt with beads, probably by sewing them
on;[114] a method which is everywhere common in the use of glass beads
in modern work, but is not noticed in any of the mnemonic belts now
extant. It is a remarkable as well as a lamentable fact that none of the
great collections of the country can boast the possession of a wampum
belt. Considering their importance in our early history, and the great
numbers that at one time must have been in existence, this is rather
extraordinary. I have taken considerable pains to collect accurate
representations of a number of examples of the ancient belts for this
work, and am only sorry that I am unable to present them in color--the
only method by which they can be adequately shown. As those which have
come to my notice represent but a few localities, I shall insert
descriptions of a number from regions as remote as possible. There is,
however, great uniformity in design and method of construction; the
result, probably, of their international character. From Heckewelder I
quote the following:
"Their belts of wampum are of different dimensions, both as to the
length and breadth. White and black wampum are the kinds they use; the
former denoting that which is good, as peace, friendship, good-will,
&c.; the latter the reverse; yet occasionally the black also is made use
of on peace errands, when the white cannot be procured; but previous to
its being produced for such purpose, it must be daubed all over with
chalk, white clay, or anything which changes the color from black to
white. * * * A black belt with the mark of a hatchet made on it with red
paint is a war belt, which, when sent to a nation, together with a twist
or roll of tobacco, is an invitation to join in a war. * * * Roads from
one friendly nation to another are generally marked on the belt by one
or two rows of white wampum interwoven in the black, and running through
the middle, and from end to end. It means that they are on good terms,
and keep up a friendly intercourse with each other."[115]
A belt accepted by the Indians of Western Pennsylvania from the French
in a treaty which secured to the latter four forts within English
territory had embroidered upon it four houses, pictographic
representations of the forts.
Another example of the belts used in Pennsylvania, upwards of a century
ago, is described in Beatty's Journal. The Delawares, in explaining to
Beatty a former treaty with Sir William Johnson, "showed a large belt of
wampum of friendship which Sir William Johnson had given them. On each
edge of this were several rows of black wampum, and in the middle were
several rows of white wampum. In the middle of the belt was a figure of
a diamond, in white wampum, which they called the council fire. The
white streak they called the path from him to them and them to
him."[116]
Loskiel states that "the Indian women are very dexterous in weaving the
strings of wampom into belts, and marking them with different figures,
perfectly agreeing with the different subjects contained in the speech.
These figures are marked with white wampom upon black, and with black
upon the white belts. For example, in a _belt of peace_, they very
dexterously represent, in black wampom, two hands joined. The belt of
peace is white, a fathom long and a hand's breadth."[117]
In Plate XXXVII I present a fac-simile reproduction of a plate from the
well known work of Lafitau,[118] in which we have a graphic yet highly
conventional representation of a council or treaty in which wampum belts
were used. It is probably drawn from description and is far from
truthful in detail. The more important facts are, however, very clearly
presented. No information is given either of the people or the locality.
The scene is laid in the middle of a broad featureless plain, the
monotony of which is broken by three highly conventionalized trees. The
parties to the treaty are ranged in two rows, placed, face to face. The
chief who speaks stands at the farther end holding a belt in his right
hand. Three other belts lie upon the mat at his feet, while a fifth is
shown on a large scale in the foreground. The patterns can not be
clearly made out, but in a general way resemble very closely the designs
woven into the belts of the Iroquois.
[Illustration: PL. XXXVII--USE OF WAMPUM BELTS IN INDIAN COUNCIL.
_Facsimile_ of a plate in Lafitau.]
The small belt shown in Fig. 1. Plate XXXVIII, is probably one of the
most recent examples. The cut is copied from Plate 1 of the Fifth Annual
Report of the Regents of the University of New York on the condition of
the State Cabinet of Natural History, p. 72. The beads of which it is
composed formerly belonged to the celebrated Mohawk chief, Joseph Brant.
They were afterwards purchased from his daughter by Mr. Morgan. In 1850
they were taken to Tonawanda, in the State of New York, and made into
this belt. The trimmings are apparently of ribbons, and the symmetry and
uniformity of the whole work give it a new look not noticeable in the
other specimens. The design consists of a row of dark diamond-shaped
figures upon a white ground. It is now preserved in the State Cabinet of
Natural History at Albany.
A belt of unusual form is shown in Fig. 2, Plate XXXVIII. It was kindly
lent by Mrs. E. A. Smith, of Jersey City, by whom it was obtained from
the Mohawks. It is 26 inches (251 beads) in length and in width varies
from three inches (11 beads) at one end to about one inch (5 beads) at
the other. It is bifurcated at the wide end, five rows having been
omitted from the middle of the belt for about one-third of the length.
Near the middle of the belt one row of beads is dropped from each side.
Between this and the smaller end at nearly equal intervals it is twice
depleted in a like manner. The beads are quite irregular in shape and
size, but rather new looking and are strung in the usual manner, the
longitudinal strings being buckskin and the transverse small cords of
vegetable fiber. The ends and edges are all neatly finished by wrapping
the marginal strings with a thin fillet of buckskin. The figures are in
white beads upon a ground of purple. The form of this belt indicates
that it has been adapted to some particular use, the placing of cords at
the corners and shoulders suggesting its attachment in a fixed position
to some part of the person or costume.
[Illustration: PL. XXXVIII--WAMPUM BELTS.
1. Mohawk Belt.
2. Mohawk Belt.]
In Plates XXXIX, XL, XLI and XLII, I present a series of illustrations
of the wampum belts belonging to the Onondagas. They are preserved as a
most precious treasure by these people at their agency in Onondaga
County, New York. The drawings were made by Mr. Trill from a series of
minute photographs made from the original belts by General J. S. Clark,
of Auburn, New York. These were obtained for me by the Rev. W. M.
Beauchamp, of Baldwinsville, New York, who has also very kindly
furnished many of the facts embodied in the following descriptions.[119]
These belts are made in the usual manner, and present a great variety of
shapes, sizes, and designs. Their full history has never been obtained
by the whites, and it is not probable that the Indians themselves have
preserved a very full account of their origin and significance. They are
all ancient, and, judging by their appearance, must date far back in the
history of the League. Many of them are quite fragmentary, and fears are
entertained that they will gradually fall to pieces and be lost. It is
to be hoped that measures will b
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