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Shell Ornaments (Figs. 97, d, f-h; 98). Of the 34 shell specimens of aboriginal trade, 32 are ornaments or material for the manufacture of ornaments.
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Abstract Table of Contents Letters Figures & Tables Acknowledgements Introduction Definitions Setting Cultural Record Introduction Vantage Phase Cold Springs Frenchman Spring Quilomene Bar Cayuse Phase Characteristics Age Ethnography Salishan Stratigraphy Cayuse I Cayuse II Cayuse III Discussion Summation Models for Prehistory Typology Stone Artifacts Flaked Stone Percussion Ground Stone Bone/Antler Tools Shell Artifacts Metal Artifacts Raw Materials Methodology Rockshelters References Cited |
Number of Specimens. 26 Material. Dentalia. Measurements and description. The Dentalium shell is a small, cylindrical "tusk." At 45KT28 cut sections of shells were found as well as whole and fragmentary examples. The longest complete specimen was 4.5 cm. in length. Cut sections varied a great deal in length, some being as short as 0.5 cm. Technique of manufacture. The ends of Dentalia were ground off or short sections cut from larger shells. Comments. From the ethnographic record it is known that Dentalia were commonly used by many Plateau groups for ornamentation and as an informal medium of exchange (Ray 1942: 171,190).
The eight undesignated specimens span the entire component, two possibly being associated with Subcomponent VIIA. [233/234] Type 2 Olivella Shell Bead (Fig. (Fig. 97, f) Number of Specimens. 1 Material. Olivella biplicata, Sowerby. Measurements and description. This specimen is a tightly coiled gastropod, the topmost whorls of which have been ground off. It measures 2.2 x 1.2 x 1.2 cm. Technique of manufacture. Grinding. Comments. None.
This specimen postdates Subcomponent VIIE. Form 1 Abalone Gorget or Nose Pendant (Fig. 98) Number of Specimens. 1 Material. Blue abalone (Haliotis fulgens, Philippi). [234/235] Measurements and description. This specimen, which is manufactured from a thin excurved piece of shell, takes the form of a broad, full crescent, biconically perforated near the tip of each horn. It measures 3.5 x 2.8 x 0.15 cm. Technique of manufacture. Grinding, cutting, polishing, and perforating. Comments. Since blue abalone occurs only from Monterey to Lower California (Morris 1952:79), there can be no doubt that the material for this ornament, if not the ornament itself, was traded over a great distance.
Form 2 Scallop Shell Pendant Fragments (Fig. 97, d) Number of Specimens. 2 Material. (Patinopecten caurinus, Gould). Measurements and description. These specimens are small fragments of scallop shells which were once presumably pendants, perhaps similar to those reported by Smith (1899:152, Figs. 92-93). Technique of manufacture. These fragments show no signs of alteration. Comments. The Weathervane Scallop occurs from Alaska to Humboldt Bay, California (Morris 1952:15-16).
Farm 3 Pendant Fragment (Fig. 97, g) Number of Specimens. 1 Material. Either Butter Clam (Saxidomus giganteus, Deshayes) or Horse Clam (Schizothaerus nutallii capax, Gould). Measurements and description. This specimen is a large fragment, presumably of a pendant of trapezoidal or hexagonal outline. The shell is thick and well worked, though a few traces of both the internal and external surface structure remain. Technique of manufacture. Grinding and polishing. Comments. Both the Butter Clam and the Horse Clam are abundant along the Washington coast. [235/236]
Form 4 Horse Clam Fragment Number of Specimens. 1 Material. Either Schtzothaerus nutallii, Conrad, or its variety Schizothaerus nutallii capax, Gould, which is particularly common on the Washington coast. Measurements and description. This specimen is the unaltered fragment of a Horse Clam. Technique of manufacture. None. Comments. None.
Shell Artifacts of Utility (Fig. 97, e). The two specimens in this group represent an artifact type hitherto unreported east of the Cascade Mountains, though common enough along the coasts of Washington and British Columbia. Type 1 Mussel Shell Adze or Scraper Fragments (Fig. 97, e) Number of Specimens. 2 Material. California Mussel (Mytilus Califormicus, Conrad). Measurements and description. These specimens are bit fragments of what once were implements like those cited below. Presumably they took on the general outline of an adze, with a unifacially ground bit at one end. The specimens from 45KT28 are rather small fragments, but judging from their shallow arcs and the growth rings in the shell, they must have been made of sizable mussels. Technique of manufacture. Grinding and polishing. Comments. The California Mussel occurs from the Aleutians to Mexico (Morris 1952:20). However, artifacts of this type seem to be particularly well developed in the Straits of Georgia region of southern British Columbia. [236/237]
The undesignated specimen postdates Subcomponent VIIF. Ornaments. As it happens, all shell artifacts of local manufacture are beads and pendants which were recovered from Cayuse III subcomponents. The seven specimens in this category are made of fresh-water mussel shells which are locally available in the Columbia River and its tributaries.
Type 1 Disc Beads (Fig. 97, c) Number of Specimens. 5 Material. Fresh-water mussel shell. Measurements and description. These are flat, circular discs, the centers of which have been biconically perforated. One lacks a perforation and is thought to be a bead blank. These specimens average 1.0 cm in diameter and 0.3 cm. in thickness. Technique of manufacture. Grinding and perforating Comments. The use of disc beads both for decoration and as a medium of informal exchange was widespread in the Plateau during the ethnographic period (Ray 1942:172, 190). [237/238]
Form 1 Circular Pendant (Fig, 97, b) Number of Specimens. 1 Material. Fresh-water mussel shell. Measurements and description. This is a thin, circular piece of mussel shell which has been perforated near its edge. It measures 1.7 x 1.6 x 0.15 cm. Technique of manufacture. Grinding and perforating. Comments. None.
Form 2 Decorative (?) Object (Fig. 97, a) Number of Specimens. 1 Material. Fresh-water mussel shell. Measurements and description. This is a rather unusual specimen, oval in outline and measuring 1.5 x 1.0 x 0.2 cm. Its obverse side is smooth and noticably excurved. The reverse side is dished, or incurved, and the periphery is quite sharp. The perforation is large and oval, measuring 0.6 x 0.5 cm. At one end on the dished side, midway between the perforation and the periphery, there is a small carefully incised groove the function of which is not known. Technique of manufacture. Grinding and incising. Comments. None. [238/239]
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LAST REVISED: 24 DEC 2015 |