USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Madisonville > Indian Village Site and Cemetery Near Madisonville, Ohio > Part 6
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Flint Drills. Several flint drills are represented in a, of this plate. A considerable number of these were obtained from the cache-pits and general debris.
A few drills of like form, hafted in wooden handles, have been taken from cliff-houses and burial caves in the Southwest, which indicate in general the probable method of hafting the Madison- ville specimens. The most common way seems to have been to insert the broad end of the drill into a notch in one end of a handle six or eight inches in length, where it was secured with pitch and twine wrappings. This handle or shaft was twirled between the hands, or with the aid of some mechanical contrivance like the bow, which was in use for this purpose in the Southwest previous to the arrival of the Whites. Another method is shown by a speci- men from Colorado. A short stick was split through the center, and the broad face of the drill was placed between the two pieces at about equal distance from the opposite ends, with the drill
PEABODY MUSEUM PAPERS
VOL. VIII, PLATE 8
MADISONVILLE SITE a, Beaming tool made from the femur of the puma; b, c, Beaming tools made from the cannon bones of the deer; d, Beaming tool made from the spinal process of the buffalo; ~, Flint scrapers. (About $.)
一
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point projecting at right angles to the length of the stick. The two halves of the handle were then bound securely together. In use the handle must have been grasped with the drill projecting between the two middle fingers.
Skin-dressing Tools. On plate 8 are illustrated four bone beam- ers for removing the hair from skins which were first made wet and folded, or left in a pile until the hair became loosened by fer- mentation. The skin was then thrown hair-side uppermost over a rounded piece of wood or section of tree trunk. The beamer was seized with one end in each hand, and applied to that portion of the skin lying over the beam. A light scraping with the sharp edges of the tool rendered the skin clean and free from hair. By far the greater number of beamers were made from the cannon bones of the deer. Two of these are shown in b, c. Fragments of several hundred of these were obtained. They were usually broken near the middle as this was the thinnest and most fragile part of the tool. Only a comparatively small number of unbroken ones were recovered. Among these are a few which are unfinished and clearly show the process of making. One method was to widen and deepen the natural longitudinal groove on the broad face of the bone, probably with the rounded edge of a flint scraper, until the required sharp edges upon either side were produced. Another was to cut a longitudinal slit through the wall and scrape away the bone upon either side until the proper edges were formed.
As the edges became dulled by use they were again sharpened by scraping, and the process was repeated until, in many instances, the middle of the tool became so weakened that it apparently broke in use and was thrown aside.
Another favorite bone from which beamers were made was the long spinal process of the buffalo (d). These were less common than those made from deer bones. Fragments of sixty or seventy were recovered, together with a few perfect ones. Their length ranged from about eleven to sixteen inches. Other bones of the buffalo were rarely found in the refuse.
It is probable that during the occupation of this site, buffalo were not uncommon in the section of the Little Miami Valley which the village overlooked. If they were hunted to any great extent, how- ever, the Indians evidently brought the meat to the village upon the headland, leaving most of the bones, excepting such as were
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selected for the making of implements, in the valley. Zeisberger,1 who wrote in 1780, says the buffalo at that time were found near the mouth of the Muskingum, and were reported in considerable numbers along the Scioto.
Judging from the large number of bones of the deer in the refuse of the site, it seems to have been the favorite food animal of these Indians.
A very few beamers were obtained wrought from the larger leg bones of the deer and elk. The example shown in a, is made from a femur of the puma.
The more essential tools employed in skin-dressing are the beam- ers above described, and the scraper or " grainer," which is used for removing from the inner side of the skin the adherent fat and skin muscles, and also for " graining " or softening the skin as it dries. Various kinds of these instruments were in use by Indians in general. They were often made of the tibia of the deer, cut to a chisel-shaped edge which was notched or serrated to render it more efficient. This seems to be a much more practical tool than the adze-like scrapers with smooth edges used for this purpose by some of the tribes of the Plains region. There is no evidence, how- ever, that the people of this site used a bone " grainer " of this form. Another and equally effective tool of chipped flint seems to have been preferred.
One of the most effective skin-scrapers employed in recent times by the Eskimo, but now abandoned among tribes who have lost the art of stone chipping, is the form shown on plate 8, e-j. Among the Eskimo they were usually hafted in short wooden handles elaborately wrought to fit the hand perfectly. They were also sometimes hafted in ordinary straight handles.
Flint blades of this form with their scraping edges often beauti- fully serrated were recovered in large numbers from the general refuse of this site. They were probably hafted by inserting their narrower ends into straight wooden handles, and were doubtless used largely in skin-dressing, but were probably also employed in working bone and wood. It is not improbable that certain types of antler blades (plate 14, e, f) may also have been used as skin- scrapers.
1 David Zeisberger, History of the Northern American Indians, p. 59.
PEABODY MUSEUM PAPERS
VOL. VIII, PLATE 9
a
b
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g
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a-c, Chipped flint adse blades ground near the cutting edge; d, e, Adze blades; g, Hematite blade; A, Small slate blade or chisel; i-k, Grooveless axes. (About }.) The adse blades were probably hafted as shown in /, the grooveless axes as in l.
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Chipped scrapers of erratic shapes, such as occur in most collec- tions, examples of which are shown on plate 5, c, were very rare. Only about a dozen were found during the explorations by the Museum.
Grooveless Stone Axes. Perhaps the most highly developed stone implements from this site are the grooveless axes made of very compact varieties of stone, the majority being carefully formed and polished. Most of these were obtained from cache- pits. Three are illustrated in plate 9, i, j, k, and the common method of hafting is shown in 1. Sometimes the shorter blades of this type were set into a hole which did not pass through the handle; but in the majority of cases the haft was perforated and the upper end of the blade projected, as is conclusively shown by five prehistoric examples in their original handles which have been taken from the beds of streams in the Iroquoian and Algonquian areas. In the sixth hafted specimen known to the writer, the blade is set into a hole which does not perforate the handle.
The larger grooveless axes were probably used principally as im- plements for cutting wood, both with and without the aid of fire, while the smaller specimens may have been employed both as implements and weapons. Most references to stone axes among the Indians by the earlier writers probably relate to the grooveless type. In New England a few were in use in the first half of the Seventeenth Century. Johnson in 1654 refers evidently to this form as follows: " They had a small number of Mawhawks [tomahawks] Hammers, which are made of stone having a long pike on one side and a hole in the handle which they tye about their wrists." 1
Gookin refers to " tomahawks made of wood like a poleaxe with a sharpened stone fastened therein."" And Williams says that trees were felled with a " stone set in a wooden haft." 3
As the grooveless axe was evidently highly prized by the occu- pants of the Madisonville site, it undoubtedly continued in use till replaced by iron blades similar to those illustrated on plate 18, o-r. Very few small stone blades of this class were recovered during the exploration. One of hematite, typical of the miniature axes of this material from Ohio and the neighboring region, is figured (g). This was found in a cache-pit.
1 Edward Johnson, A History of New England, p. 114.
" Daniel Gookin, Historical Collections, Mass. Hist. Coll. Ist S. Repr. 1859, vol. i, p. 152.
* Roger Williams, Key into the Language of America, R. I. Hist. Coll., vol. i, p. 130.
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So far as the explorations of the Museum show, the grooved axe was unknown to the occupants of this site.
Stone Adze Blades. Very few stone adze blades were recovered. They seem to have held a subordinate place among the implements of this people. The antler blades so common here may have served their needs as well. They certainly were more quickly fashioned and there was an abundance of material from which to make them.
A few chipped stone adzes polished near the cutting edge were. found, nearly all from cache-pits. These belong to a type much more common in the region of the lower Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, than in the north. Three are illustrated on plate 9, a-c. They are made of a cream-colored chert or flint. The one shown in a, was found with a skeleton.
Two adze blades of polished stone of the ordinary form are figured in d and e. The larger of the two lay near the right femur of a skeleton in Trench D. The probable method of hafting these implements is shown in f. A small and finely finished blade of compact slate carefully polished is illustrated in h. This was probably used with the aid of fire in making the finer perishable objects of wood which were undoubtedly common among the people, and which the fragment of wooden food bowl, figured in e, plate 21, will serve to illustrate.
Anvils, Hammer-stones, and Grinding Stones. Thomas Hariot, writing of the Virginia Indians in 1587, tells us that each house- hold had stones for cracking nuts and for grinding shell and other materials.1 This statement would doubtless be equally true if ap- plied at that time to almost any tribe inhabiting the section east of the Mississippi.
Anvils, hammer-stones, and stones for grinding were very abun- dant on the site under consideration, and must have been common objects in all of the houses. The anvils, or pitted stones, as they are more commonly called, were of the type usually abundant on old village sites. Two of them are illustrated on plate 10, d, e. These stones vary considerably, some of them being much larger than the ones illustrated. Their form and size were, of course, determined by the water-worn stones from which they are made, for they are usually unmodified save for the depression pecked
1 Thomas Hariot, A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, Holbein edition, p. 25.
PEABODY MUSEUM PAPERS
VOL. VIII, PLATE 10
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MADISONVILLE SITE @ ,b, c, Grooved club heads; d, e, Anvils or pitted stones; f, g, Hammer-stones; k, i, Mortars or stones for grinding; j, Grinding stone and muller; k, Muller. (About }.)
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upon one or both sides. It is generally conceded that these house- hold objects are primarily anvils on which acorns, hickory and other nuts were cracked. The bones of food animals were probably crushed on the larger anvils. They also undoubtedly served for other domestic purposes. Some of the smaller ones are battered along their edges, the result of being used as hand hammers.
A considerable number of the round hammer-stones were found, of the type illustrated in f, g, such as occur upon many of the vil- lage sites east of the Mississippi. These are usually made of chert, quartzite or other hard varieties, and are thought to have been Used among other purposes for pecking or roughing out various stone implements.
A very large number of fragments of sandstone and limestone Were found, with one or more abraded surfaces, which had been Used for rasping or grinding in the making of various objects of shell, bone, antler, wood or the softer varieties of stone. In some instances these abrading stones were of special forms, like the grooved fragments of limestone shown on plate 21, f-h, which were evidently designed for finishing cylindrical objects of a nature similar to the shafts of arrows or arrowpoint flakers of antler. Slabs of limestone of various sizes were apparently used for grinding corn, acorns, paint and similar materials, one or both faces being worn smooth, or a depression formed by continued rubbing. Two of these are figured on plate 10, i and j. A shallow stone mortar probably for grinding paint or medicine is represented in h.
The pestles or mullers were mostly of the form shown in j, which is the type generally used by Indians of the Madisonville culture over a large portion of Ohio. Another and rarer form is illustrated in k.
Club heads, of the kind figured in a-c, plate 10, were not un- common. They usually consist of an oblong pebble unmodified with the exception of the encircling groove, although occasionally one is wrought over nearly the entire surface, and in the case of c, the form is wholly artificial. These, as a rule, show no signs of having been used as mauls; they were probably all club heads, the weapon being similar to the well-known warclub of the Plains tribes.
Several well-finished objects of unknown use with carefully ground faces, and made of compact altered slate were obtained
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during the exploration. Three of these are figured on plate 21, i-k. They do not seem to have been employed as grinding stones or for preparing sinew. With our present knowledge, no definite use can be assigned to them. Five or six small discoidal stones of the usual type were recovered; two are illustrated in 1 and m of this plate. The upper one is perforated, and accompanied a skeleton. The one shown in m, was obtained from a cache- pit. They are probably gaming stones, and like the shell gorgets with the characteristic eye markings, seem to connect at least a part of the material culture of this people with that of the tribes more to the south.
The so-called winged ceremonial stones, which form so attractive a group from Ohio, are represented in the collection from this site by a single fragment. This probably belongs to an older culture and doubtless bears no relation to the people under consideration.
Fishing Implements. On plate 11, a-f, are illustrated a number of fish hooks made from fragments of the leg bones of deer or other large animals. These are usually grooved near the end of the shank for the attachment of the line. The one shown at a, however, is perforated at this point. Hooks in the process of making are shown in g, h, i. The fragment of bone was perforated near one end, probably with a flint drill, and grooved or cut through with flint knives. The piece was removed between the grooves which intersect at the perforation, and the hook finished by cutting and grinding. The variation in the size of the hooks perhaps indicates the wide range in the species of fish sought. One broken hook was obtained cut from a unio shell.
The harpoon points shown in j-n of this plate are made of antler. Their bases are irregular and do not seem to have been so carefully fitted to the socket in the shaft as is usual among northern tribes. · A peculiar feature of the point, m, is the double barb and double perforation for the line. The harpoons, of which these are a part, were probably used principally in taking large fish. Most of these points are from the general refuse of the village site, but one speci- men (1) was found with a skeleton.
Awls and Needles. Some of the more typical awls and needles are illustrated on plate 12. Mat needles made from deer ribs, such as were probably used principally for sewing together flag leaves in making mats for house coverings, are shown in a-c. Compara-
PEABODY MUSEUM PAPERS
VOL. VIII, PLATE 11
g
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MADISONVILLE BITI , Bone fiab-hooks; g-i, Unfinished fish-hooks showing process of making; j-n, Harpoon points of antler. (About }.)
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tively few were found as they are exceedingly fragile and perish- able. These needles seem to indicate that mat coverings were used upon the houses of this village. The mats were undoubtedly of the type so widely distributed in Canada and the northern por- tion of the United States, which are made of a double layer of flag leaves, so fastened together that the junction of the edges of the leaves in each layer is covered by the central portion of each leaf Of the opposing layer. When properly adjusted these mats make a practically waterproof covering.
A number of fragments of needles made of antler and having a circular cross-section were found, most of them showing more or less curvature. Two are illustrated at the left in e. In the third example figured, the upper portion has been much reduced in size, and notches were cut near the tip to which the thread was probably tied.
Several well-polished thin perforators of bone with sharp points were recovered, two of which are shown in d.
A series of antler pins is figured in f. They are well made and vary from one and three-fourths inches to eight inches in length. While they may have been used as bodkins, it seems probable that they were designed for another purpose.
The other implements shown upon the plate are mostly bodkins or perforators such as abound in the refuse of this village site. They are made from various bones of birds and quadrupeds, the tarsal bones of the turkey (g, h), and the ulnae of the deer (k), being favorites. They were used in basket making and for many other purposes.
A number of the type figured in h, made from the upper portion of the tarsal bone of the turkey, are notched along the upper part, as shown at the left in the figure. This is probably to prevent the fiber or thong wrapping, which sometimes serves as a protection to the hand in similar perforators, from slipping.
The specimen shown in i, is a half of a broken beamer made of the cannon bone of the deer. The end has been ground to a thin edge. The implement would be an effective one for use in the construction of coarse splint basketry. Only a few of these were obtained.
Antler Blades. Many blades were found, of different forms and sizes, made of elk antler, but it is difficult to determine their various functions with any degree of certainty. There were several of the
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type illustrated on plate 13, a, b, each provided with a deep notch on the inner side near the upper end. In a, the upper portion has been broken off through the original notch, and repaired by cutting a second notch below, more shallow than the first and showing little wear. In the type specimen, b, considerable wear is present at the sides and back, near to, as well as within, the notch. The distribution of the worn surfaces seems to indicate hafting in the manner shown in d. All blades of this form have the base of an antler branch at their back, the lower portion of which in some specimens is considerably worn. It is probable that this abrasion was produced by a withe or stout thong arranged somewhat as in the drawing.
Another blade of similar shape, but probably hafted in a some- what different manner, is illustrated in c. Upon either side, near its upper end, are shallow notches much worn. These indicate that the hafting must have been similar to that indicated in e.
The cutting edges of these instruments are sometimes well pre- served, but they nearly all show wear. Some have the peculiar striae noticeable on certain stone blades generally supposed to have been used as hoes. This wear occasionally extends upward for a considerable distance above the edge. and it is very likely that they may have been used as mattocks. Others may have been employed in working charred wood for which their edges were well adapted.
On plate 14 are illustrated the more common forms. The type represented in d, e, f, was the most abundant. They vary in length from about four to nine inches, and many of them were probably hafted after the manner of adzes. Others, especially those with irregular edges, may have been used as hoes or digging implements in the planting and the care of gardens. One cannot readily understand how implements with edges like those in d and c, could be used advantageously for the ordinary purposes of an adze or scraper, while their employment as digging implements, might tend to produce this irregularity which would in no way im- pair their value.
Blades with straight or rounded edges, as in e and f, may have served as scrapers in skin-dressing or similar work.
The specimen illustrated in d, is especially interesting as it shows the marks of the binding material, probably bark or split roots, which secured the blade to its handle. The tool had evidently
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PEABODY MUSEUM PAPERS
VOL. VIII, PLATE 12
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MADISONVILLE SITE o-e, Bone needles for sewing mats; e, Bone needles; d, g-1, Bodkins; f, Antler pins. (About }.)
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been in or near a fire which consumed the bindings, leaving the blade blackened and charred where the burning wrappings came in contact with it.
A number of specimens are perforated as indicated in a, b, c, but the holes show little wear. The perforations probably served in some way for securing the lashing which bound the implement to its handle. The specimen, c, has notches near its upper end to assist in hafting. The example illustrated in b, has less conspicuous notches near its upper extremity and also a small notch upon either side below the perforation. The original length of a few of the blades has apparently been much reduced by repeated sharpening.
Beaver Tooth Chisels. The Indians who inhabited the Madison- ville site, as well as nearly all the tribes living in the beaver country, used the incisors of this animal for chisels or cutting implements.
Chisels made from the upper and lower incisors are illustrated in plate 15, e. The lower incisors are much more commonly used for this purpose as the curvature is less. The hard outer enamel of these teeth can be ground to a keen edge, and the tool is ad- mirably adapted for making the smaller and more delicate objects of wood, bone and antler. These blades were hafted in short handles, usually of wood or antler. Antler hafts, some of which were probably used with beaver tooth blades, are found on certain Ohio village sites, but none which could be definitely attributed to this use were obtained at Madisonville. One handle of antler is shown in f, plate 15. This, however, more probably served in hafting a small flint blade.
All of the beaver tooth cutting implements obtained during the Museum exploration were of the chisel type. None of the side cutting knives, such as occur also with this form in New England and certain other sections, were found.
Historical references to the use of these implements are rare. Captain John Smith 1 writes of the Virginia Indian:
to make the noch of his arrow, he hath the tooth of a Beaver, set in a sticke, wherewith he grateth it by degrees.
He also says that bone fish hooks were worked out in the same way - " grated as they noch their arrows."
In the collections of the Peabody Museum are two old beaver tooth chisels in wooden hafts, which were obtained years ago from
1 Voyages and Discoveries, Arber edition, vol. i, pp. 364-365.
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the Eskimo of Bristol Bay. The sharpened tooth is inserted into a curved perforation running from one end through to the side of the handle. As the tooth becomes shortened by regrinding, it is adjusted by being pushed forward from the side of the haft.
The remarkable wood cutting habits of the beaver undoubtedly exerted a marked influence in the choice of the incisors of this animal for blades of cutting implements, and it is in keeping with what we know of the workings of the unsophisticated Indian mind if supernatural powers were attributed to these tools.
Musical Instruments. About twenty of the flute-like objects of the type shown in plate 15, d, made from the long bones of birds, were found during the explorations by the Museum. They are mostly small, and judging from the unbroken specimens recovered the number of finger holes range from five to nine, the usual num- ber being five or six. The holes were commonly about one-half inch apart, but in one specimen the centers of the perforations are placed about one-fourth inch from each other, too near, it would seem, for its successful manipulation by the fingers of an adult.
These instruments are, of course, distinct from the bone whistles of the modern Plains tribes which have no finger holes, and they differ materially from the small bone flutes of the Pueblo region which have a large orifice near one end like the modern flute.
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