USA > Kentucky > The prehistoric men of Kentucky : a history of what is known of their lives and habits, together with a description of their implements and other relics and of the tumuli which have earned for them the designation of Mound builders > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17
NEEDLES, AWLS, AND THREAD.
When prehistoric man came to Kentucky he found a climate that for six months of the year demanded warm dressing. It therefore became essential for him to pre- pare clothing materials from the wild flax, cat-tail, wiry grass, lining of the bark of trees, or the skins of animals. That he understood the art of tanning is conclusively shown by the tools we find, which must of necessity have been used for this purpose. Celts, scrapers, and knives
[ 109 ]
The Prehistoric Men of Kentucky
all indicate beyond question that these people were adepts in the art of curing pelts for domestic use. The author was fortunate enough himself to find in one county a fragment of a bearskin which had covered the form of a dead chieftain. It may be asked, How do we know he was a chieftain? Answer, by the things that were placed at his side. No ordinary man would have had copper beads around his neck. No ordinary warrior would have carried a mica-plated pipe, and his position in the mound, in relation to the bodies interred with him, showed that he was the person to whom the memorial had been erected.
If the prehistoric man was to manufacture his gar- ments from skins, it was necessary for him to provide himself with awls or needles by which he could make holes in the skins through which he might pass thread of some kind, and to manufacture a knife which would cut his dressed hides. The awl was doubtless the first of his discoveries. This instrument is found far more frequently than the needle, and in almost every part of the State, either in graves or caches or in caves. They were generally made from the bone of the deer. The needles were sometimes made from the bone of the wild turkey or other bird. Many of these are smooth and worn at the point, indicating long and continuous use. The thread was either strips cut from the skins of animals, else the sinews of the deer, the bear, or wild cat, or twisted grass, flags, or bark lining. The size of the eye of the needles would indicate that they used pieces cut from the hide rather than the tendons. The awl served its purpose for possibly a long time, but human ingenuity, the same relatively in the savage as in the civilized man,
[ 110 ]
The Prehistoric Men of Kentucky
found it was inconvenient to twist the end of the thread and push it through the hole in the skin made by the awl, and in a little while he invented an awl with a hole in the end opposite the point. He thus evolved the needle. In this hole, as we place the thread in the needle, the strip of skin or thread was inserted, and when the awl was passed through the material it carried the thread with it, and thus much time was saved and great convenience added to the methods of preparing clothing, especially that which was made of skins. That these needles soon came into widespread use is shown by the large numbers found about the sites of villages and in the graves. The prehistoric people did the best they could with the material at hand. Of course a very fine needle could not be made with a piece of bone. Possibly, like the Peruvians, the prehistoric man might have used the honey thorn, which, while not as lasting as the bone, had a finer and smoother point, and would have pierced the garment or skin with much more readiness. The eyes of some of these needles are quite small, indicating one of two things-either that they used different sized materials for thread, or that they learned better to prepare the thread so as to be carried by smaller needles.
The most beautiful specimen of an awl that the author has seen is one found at the foot of the Louisville and Port- land Canal, in the city of Louisville. In excavating for the walls of the locks at Thirty-first Street, a large number of axes, awls, and flints of various kinds were unearthed. This particular one is nine and one half inches long, taper- ing beautifully from within two and one half inches of the head of the bone down to a point almost as fine as a darning needle. The preservation of this bone so many
[ 111 ]
The Prehistoric Men of Kentucky
hundreds of years in damp, wet soil in the bed of the river is a very unusual circumstance. An illustration of this and other awls will be found on page 106.
The needles in large part were the shape of those now used for sewing burlap sacks. On page 106 are several which are as symmetrical as any metal needle used for coarse sewing, as grain bags or those in which agricul- tural products are placed. These needles may not be as delicately fashioned as those of the present day, yet the awls, considering that they did not have the art of plac- ing wooden heads on the iron points, are quite as well adapted to the uses to which they were put by these pre- historic people as the awls of 1910. These awls or needles are a curious illustration of man's adaptability to his surroundings. In the climate of the United States, and in a large part of the States composing the temperate zone, these people could not live without adequate cloth- ing. They were not very long in reaching this conclusion. It required no great manifestation of intelligence to teach them that the animals which lived in the woods and roamed the forests were comfortable in winter, and that it was by reason of the skins they wore, and so man under- took to destroy the life of the animal that he might appro- priate its skin to his own protection from storms and winter's blasts.
In the matter of thread, it is reasonably certain that the prehistoric man in Kentucky began with the use of strips of skin cut from the hides of the animals which he had killed. When these were tanned they were soft and pliable, but when they were untanned and used as raw- hide after drying they became rigid and lacked pliability, which is such an essential element in thread. Later on
[ 112 ]
-
The Prehistoric Men of Kentucky
he began to dress skins, and this made hi; th ead-using easier and its hold more continuous. After a while this prehistoric man discovered in taking bark from trees that there was a soft thread-like lining which, twisted or plaited, maintained its pliability and possessed quite a large degree of strength. And so he doubtless twisted the bark lining, and used that as thread when a very great degree of strength was not required. During this period it is likely that he discovered the use of certain grasses in Southern Kentucky which grew to a height of six or seven feet, which were strong and easily twisted, and so from these he managed to get another kind of thread. But later on he discovered that the fibre of the wild hemp or flax, when stripped from the pith, had strength, plia- bility, and continuity; so he manufactured thread from the lint of the flax or hemp. This thread could be made of much less size, while possessing greater strength, than all the other threads he made except that cut from the skins, either cured or uncured. In a little while he learned to put this on spools, sometimes of wood and sometimes of copper, and this would preserve his thread from being knotted, and when thus wound he could use it in a straight line from the spool or stock around which it was wound. Specimens of this thread, probably five hun- dred years old, were exhumed from a mound at Lebanon, Kentucky, wound about a copper spool, and thoroughly preserved from decay by contact with the metal, and is, barring natural wear and tear which would arise from exposure to the atmosphere and handling, in as good condition as it was when the prehistoric man wound it around the copper spool which he valued so highly, and which was not only one of his chief ornaments, but also
[ 113 ]
The Prehistoric Men of Kentucky
one of his most prized treasures. These spools have been found in many parts of Kentucky, notably in Central Kentucky, but the preservation of the thread is unusual and rare. Three of these copper spools, with thread on them, were taken from the same mound, and as stated elsewhere there is a demonstrable age of at least five hundred years to the mound in which they were deposited. The copper spool is the only thing of its kind that has passed the ordeal of the ages. The Mound Builder fashioned cups, dishes, and some other domestic implements from wood with stone knives, aided by fire, but these are so rare that the searcher almost questions whether the prehistoric man had aught to do with them. The metal spool was better fitted to defy the conditions which five hundred or a thousand years would evolve, and through the centuries which have elapsed since these people held Kentucky as their home, it has stood with its thread wound about it to speak of how this ancient people sewed, plaited, and wove.
WEAPONS AND MANNER OF USE.
The life of prehistoric man, judging by the large num- ber of fortifications existing in Kentucky to this day, must have been one of constant and general warfare. His weapons were all constructed for conflict at short range.
First was his ax of two kinds, grooved or grooveless. The indications are that these were used contempora- neously, and though this is not certain, their proxim- ity to each other in so many places would tend to
[ 114 ]
BONE IMPLEMENTS Johnson Collection
[ 115 ]
[ 116.]
POTS AND WATER JUGS From Trigg and Adjoining Counties
POTTERY VESSELS Largely from Northeastern Kentucky
POTTERY VESSELS From Southern and Central Kentucky
[ 117 ]
[ 118 ]
Hiekme .. Có
BOWLS FROM VARIOUS PARTS OF KENTUCKY
The Prehistoric Men of Kentucky
show that they were made during the same period. The grooved ax would be more reliable either in domestic use or in war than the grooveless ax, because of the grip of the handle, aided materially by the groove, permitting it to be held much more closely and to admit of heavier strokes and more constant action. The battle-axes vary in weight from one to thirty-two pounds. They were doubt- less so variant in weight by reason of the conditions that surrounded the makers, and also by reason of the ability of the user to carry either light or heavy weight. With handles from three to six feet and firmly bound with raw- hide, which could be obtained from several animals, these men were enabled to fasten the handle tightly around the ax, either grooved or ungrooved. These axes would require close contact in battle. They had flint saws or knives which enabled them to cut the hickory withe or sapling from which these handles were made. After soaking the handle in hot water, or for that matter in cold water, it could easily have been bent around the ax and tied with rawhide, which, by its contraction when dry- ing, would press the handle closely in the groove.
They also used what is known as a battle-ax blade, that is, a thin piece of flint, oval in shape, about five by three and a half inches. By splitting the handle and placing the flint blade between it, and then binding with rawhide, they were enabled to fasten it very securely. These handles were about two or two and a half feet in length, and with the blade projecting on either side, be- came a dangerous weapon at close range.
The most damage, however, done by these prehistoric people was doubtless accomplished by the bow and arrow. The bows were about six feet in length, judging by the
[ 119 ]
1
The Prehistoric Men of Kentucky
strings which we have seen and one of which the writer has been able to secure from Salts Cave. They would be made of many woods, preferably of hickory, cedar, or ash, but hickory usually possesses greater strength than other timbers of similar size. It is not probable that they had any tools with which they could split the hickory trees. They would therefore be compelled to use the hickory saplings in the manufacture of bow staves.
The penetrative force of the stone-tipped arrow, driven by the strong and skillful arms of these prehistoric men, must have been very great. Quite a number of instances are known and specimens preserved in which they were driven practically through the larger bones of the body. The author has a human pelvis found in a cave in Meade County. Imbedded in this is a portion of a flint arrow- point, the position of which shows that it had been driven through the body, penetrating the bone on the opposite side from which it entered. The point reached into the socket of the hip joint. There it remained, causing ne- crosis of the bone, until by processes of Nature the wastage was stopped, and the point remained in the bone until the death of the individual, which the indications show occurred long after receiving the wound. In one instance an arrowhead was driven three inches into the bone of the leg just below its union with the hip, and evidently caused the death of the party into whom it had been shot. A number of instances are known in which these arrow- heads penetrated several inches into bone, and it was no unusual thing that they attained sufficient penetra- tive force to drive them through both coverings of the skull.
[ 120 ]
The Prehistoric Men of Kentucky
Three of these arrowheads that have come under the immediate observation of the author are not sharp at all, but rather blunt. The smaller triangular arrowheads, if sufficiently strong-and probably they were-could have been driven readily into bone without the use of any great force, but an arrow-point about three inches in length, and with a blunt point, thus driven into the bones of the body, demonstrates beyond all question that the power which was used in their propulsion must have been comparatively very great.
The wooden or cane shafts probably were tipped with many kinds of points, some beveled, some serrated, some triangular, some blunt, being fastened thereto with the sinew of the deer or other animal. There are some evi- dences, although not entirely conclusive, that these arrow- points were often tipped with poison. It is said that at one time the Shawnees in Western Kentucky were so well versed in the use of poisons that they could place them in springs and thus destroy their enemies, and also that quite large streams of water were impregnated with these dangerous elements. We sometimes comment upon the savageness of the methods of these people, but the poisoned arrow is no worse than the soft-nose or explo- sive bullet, which has been used by civilized nations in the memory of living people.
The next weapon was the spear. These carried points so large that they could not have been used with the ordinary bow. They must have been attached to a larger piece of wood or cane than the arrow-shaft. They were probably mounted upon cane or pieces of wood from four and one half to seven feet in length. They were doubtless used also in the destruction of the larger animals,
[ 121 ]
The Prehistoric Men of Kentucky
either bears or buffaloes, during the buffalo period in Ken- tucky. The spear would be much more formidable in close quarters with an animal even as large as the wild- cat than the bow and arrow. It would be comparatively as efficient as the bayonet of modern times.
Many of the flint knives were mounted on wooden handles. These sometimes measure from one to ten inches in length, and at very close range would become formidable weapons-not as formidable, however, as the battle-ax blade which has been described above.
In Kentucky there are no evidences of the cross-bow having been used. The five weapons which we have described completed the military accoutrement of these men, who must have spent a large portion of their lives in warlike scenes and exploits.
AXES, CELTS, PESTLES, AND MORTARS.
The stone ax was one of the most useful implements of prehistoric man. With it, aided by fire, he felled the forest trees, and in his warfare it was his most trusted and reliable weapon. The distribution of implements of this class is very general throughout the State, and there is little variance of form manifested in the different sections. Grooved axes are found alike in the mounds, stone graves, and upon the surface of plowed fields. Other than the changes worked by atmospheric agencies, those from the stone graves or plowed fields do not differ from those of the mounds. It is an interesting fact, however, that comparatively few grooved axes are found in con- nection with burials, either in mounds or stone graves,
[ 122 ]
7
The Prehistoric Men of Kentucky
while grooveless axes or celts occur frequently in both. The grooved forms vary in size from small specimens weighing scarcely an ounce to massive implements of twenty and even thirty pounds. The great majority, however, weigh between three and five pounds. The material used in their manufacture consists of almost every hard, tough rock found in Kentucky, and many not native to the State. In the author's collection of nearly three thousand axes and celts, there are specimens of marble, argillite, greenstone, diorite, syenite, granite, limestone, sandstone, quartzite, occasionally hematite, and even clay. A beautiful specimen of hematite comes from Trigg County, and some fourteen or fifteen years ago two of clay were found in Todd County near the Tennes- see line.
In many of the grooved implements a ridge has been left encircling the weapon, in which the groove is cut. Frequently the groove is formed in the body of the ax after the latter has been dressed into shape. In many the grooves extend entirely around the implement, in others about only three sides, leaving the back flat. In some cases the back is provided with a longitudinal groove, probably intended for the insertion of a wedge in order to tighten the ax in its hafting when it might work loose. That the prehistoric Kentuckian was an economist of labor is certain. Many specimens show that the edges had been broken or dulled and afterward resharpened. Often this process has been carried on until the blade is but a small fraction of its original length.
The numbers of these axes, both grooved and ungrooved, surpass calculation, and now and then, where some con- flict likely occurred, they are found in vast numbers.
[ 123 ]
The Prehistoric Men of Kentucky
Kentucky in pre-Columbian times must have been very heavily timbered. The fighting was always at close range. The spear would do well enough for some battles; the arrow, where there was some space, would accomplish its purpose; but in the close, fierce conflicts that must have been precipitated in the battles of those days, the ax was the chief worker. The use of these weapons required a very high order of courage. Those who are accustomed to war know that close range is the test of fighting quali- ties, and when in battle array, man to man, face to face, these contending legions met, there was sure to be an exhibition of very great bravery.
Grooved axes were mounted in two ways; first by splitting a withe, inserting the ax, and then binding it with rawhide on either side of the implement, or by bind- ing the withe around the ax and tying it with rawhide, which, when contracted, would render the mounting firm. It would be impossible to use these axes at all without a flexible handle. An ax weighing four or five pounds, rigidly fixed, where the handle would not yield as a result of the blow and thus relieve it of the force of the con- cussion, would be quickly shattered. Felling trees with stone implements was necessarily a tedious process, but with an ax weighing seven or eight pounds, mounted upon a suitable handle, the fibre of the wood could be bruised and then removed with a flint knife, or else par- tially burned, the charred portions being removed by means of the stone ax, and even a large tree, by either of these methods, could be cut down with a reasonable amount of labor.
It is more than probable that, in the evolution of the stone ax, the grooved ax succeeded the grooveless ax or
[ 124 ]
The Prehistoric Men of Kentucky
celt. Its adaptation to a handle made of wood, and the ease with which a connection between the ax and the han- dle could be made, would render it a great improvement on the celt or grooveless implement.
It is interesting to note the many kinds of axes that are found. Some of the very crudest possible forms are stone taken from any source, about the size of the desired implement, and broken, pecked, or rubbed into some sort of shape resembling an ax. The skilled stone worker would produce an instrument shapely and well finished, while the man who did not have the means at his command to secure a highly polished and finished ax, would himself, without any very great labor and in a careless and un- skilled way, put the stone into some sort of shape as would have the appearance and serve the purpose of an ax. The well-finished granite ax of course would demand a large expenditure of time and work. They are comparatively rare, and were likely used by those who had sufficient of the good things of life at that period to justify them in having some of its luxuries.
The remains show that there were children's axes, and great care was exercised by these people to provide implements which small-sized boys could use with readi- ness and ease. The largest specimen of the grooved ax which has been found in Kentucky, so far as the writer knows, is shown on page 93. It weighs thirty-two pounds, and was found in Christian County. This magnificent specimen is fifteen inches long by eight and one half inches wide. The groove encircles it. The head is rounded, and there is also a longitudinal groove along the back for the insertion of a wedge, in order to tighten it in the handle. The second largest ax found in Kentucky is
[ 125 ]
The Prehistoric Men of Kentucky
made of a hard stone unknown to the writer. It is thir- teen and one half inches in length by eight inches wide, and weighs thirty pounds. The third ax weighs eighteen and a half pounds, is eleven inches long and seven inches wide. It is made from a bowlder of hard, dark colored material. From these large implements they run down through all lengths and shapes and sizes, until the baby axes are reached. Whether these smallest axes were used as beads or ornaments or charms there is no way now to determine, but they have the perfect ax form, and, if used as axes at all, they must have been used by the children in their play.
On page 94 is an unusual product of the ancient ax- maker. It was found near Somerset, in Pulaski County, about the waters of the Cumberland River. It is grooved, and there is a skeleton face carved upon its head. The mouth, nose, and eyes are perfectly distinct, and upon the side of the implement opposite this skull-like face may be seen a complete skeleton worked in relief. This imple- ment is highly polished, and is one of the most interesting and unusual specimens known. Another very unusual ax is shown upon the same plate. It was either made for a ceremonial instrument or was a combined tomahawk and ax. The head of the ax is brought to a sharp point, while the blade widens into a fan-like appearance. The material appears to be quartzite.
Celts or grooveless axes are much more numerous than are the grooved varieties. Many of these were probably not designed to be mounted on handles but were held in the hand when used, either as chopping implements or in the dressing of skins. Yet from speci- mens discovered in other parts of the country it is evident
[ 126 ]
[ 127 ]
CUPS, BOTTLES, DISHES, AND POTS From Southwestern Kentucky
POTTERY VASES About one ninth actual size. Southern and Central Kentucky [ 128 ]
.o.
[ 129 ]
CUPS, SPOONS, AND WATER BOTTLES One third actual size
[ 130 ]
CUPS, DISHES, AND WATER BOTTLES From Southwestern Kentucky. Lower row, W. P. Taylor Collection
The Prehistoric Men of Kentucky
that they were frequently mounted on wooden handles. The handle at the point where the celt was to be mounted was enlarged, and a hole made in it of sufficient size to retain the head of the implement. Thus held, it would make a most serviceable weapon or tool.
PESTLES.
Pestles are found in all portions of Kentucky, and played a most important part in the domestic service. It would be an interesting study to work out the problems involved in the food preparation. It is easy to see how they pounded the corn, eliminating the husks and the heart and reducing it to coarse meal, in which form it would be more palatable, easier to chew, and more readily digested. The discovery of the appliance of heat to this end must have been accidental. To determine this pre- supposed, in the first place, a knowledge of fire, and second, the use of vessels which would hold water and which could be subjected to heat to warm the water, and thus soften the particles of mashed corn or other materials, and render them more readily assimilated by the human body.
In Kentucky the Mound Builders only needed to crush or grind three things-corn, meat, and nuts. The earliest method of doing this was probably by the use of two flat stones, between which the materials could be pre- pared. After a time this method became cumbersome, and rounded pestles were made. With the introduction of the rounded pestle of course would come the mortar, in order that the material which was to be crushed could be placed more directly under the blow of the implement,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.