45KT28/2086. Scraper, Type 2D, Component VIIA, Cayuse I Subphase.
 

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[232] SHELL ARTIFACTS OF ABORIGINAL TRADE

   The 34 specimens in this category represent at least six marine species whose distributions indicate lhat this area of the Plateau was tied to prehistoric trade routes reaching at least as far south as Monterey, California, and as far north as southern British Columbia. [232/233]

 

   Distribution of shell artifacts.
VII: B, 2; C, 4; D, 1; G, 2; H, 9; I, 5; undesignated, 10
 VI: 0
  V: 0 (preservation questionable)
 IV: 0 (preservation questionable)
 III: 0 (preservation questionable)
  II: 0 (shell not preserved)
   I: 0 (shell not preserved)
 und.: 1 (beach slough) [203/204]

   


Shell Ornaments

   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.

 

   Distribution of shell ornamentsts.
VII: B, 2; C, 4; D, 1; G, 1; H, 9; I, 5; undesignated, 9
 VI: 0
  V: 0 (preservation questionable)
 IV: 0 (preservation questionable)
 III: 0 (preservation questionable)
  II: 0 (shell not preserved)
   I: 0 (shell not preserved)
 und.: 1 (beach slough) [203/204]

   
 

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Introduction
Definitions
Setting
Cultural Record
 Introduction
 Vantage Phase
 Cold Springs
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Quilomene Bar
 Cayuse Phase
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  Prehistory

Typology
Stone Artifacts
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Bone/Antler Tools
Shell Artifacts
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Raw Materials
Methodology
Rockshelters
References Cited
Type 1 Dentalium Beads (Fig. 97, h)

   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).

 

   Distribution.
VII: B, 1; C, 4; D, 1; G, 1; H, 6; I, 5; undesignated, 8
 VI: 0
  V: 0 (preservation questionable)
 IV: 0 (preservation questionable)
 III: 0 (preservation questionable)
  II: 0 (bone not preserved)
   I: 0 (bone not preserved)
 und.: 0

  Comparable specimens.
   Collier et al., 1942: 93
   Crabtree 1957: Pl. XXVIII
   Mallory 1962: 46, 50, 51, 64-65
   Mills and Osborne 1952: 356
   Osborne 1957: 108
   Osborne 1959: 104
   Osborne, Crabtree, and Bryan 1952: 367-268
   Strong, Schenck & Steward 1930: 72; Pl. 11, m-n
   Smith 1899: 153
   Smith 1910: 90-91
   Smith 1913: 31; Pl. XII, g
   Weld and Weld 1962; 16

   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.

 

   Distribution.
VII: undesignated, 1
 VI: 0
  V: 0 (preservation questionable)
 IV: 0 (preservation questionable)
 III: 0 (preservation questionable)
  II: 0 (antler not preserved)
   I: 0 (antler not preserved)
 und.: 0

  Comparable specimens.
   Collier et al., 1942: 94; Pl. XI, k-m
   Fryxell and Daugherty 1962: 26
   Osborne 1957: 108
   Osborne, Crabtree, and Bryan 1952: 367
   Gunkel 1961: 220, Style 1
   Smith 1899: 153
   Smith 1910: 96; Fig. 87
   Smith 1913: 31
   Strong, Schenck, and Steward 1930: 72
   Weld and Weld 1962: 16

   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.

 

   Distribution.
VII: H, 1
 VI: 0
  V: 0 (preservation questionable)
 IV: 0 (preservation questionable)
 III: 0 (preservation questionable)
  II: 0 (shell not preserved)
   I: 0 (shell not preserved)
 und.: 0

  Comparable specimens.
   None.


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).

 

   Distribution.
VII: H, 2
 VI: 0
  V: 0 (preservation questionable)
 IV: 0 (preservation questionable)
 III: 0 (preservation questionable)
  II: 0 (shell not preserved)
   I: 0 (shell not preserved)
 und.: 0

  Comparable specimens.
   None.


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]

 

   Distribution.
VII: B, 1
 VI: 0
  V: 0 (preservation questionable)
 IV: 0 (preservation questionable)
 III: 0 (preservation questionable)
  II: 0 (shell not preserved)
   I: 0 (shell not preserved)
 und.: 0

  Comparable specimens.
   None.


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.

 

   Distribution.
VII: 0
 VI: 0
  V: 0 (preservation questionable)
 IV: 0 (preservation questionable)
 III: 0 (preservation questionable)
  II: 0 (shell not preserved)
   I: 0 (shell not preserved)
 und.: 1 (beach slough)

  Comparable specimens.
   None.


Shell Artifacts of Utility

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]

 

   Distribution.
VII: G, 1; undesignated, 1
 VI: 0
  V: 0 (preservation questionable)
 IV: 0 (preservation questionable)
 III: 0 (preservation questionable)
  II: 0 (shell not preserved)
   I: 0 (shell not preserved)
 und.: 0

  Comparable specimens.
   Carlson 1960: 569, 575, 582
   King 1950: 59, Fig. 16
   Smith 1899: 140, Fig. 35
   Smith 1907: 341, Fig. 128, b

   The undesignated specimen postdates Subcomponent VIIF.



Shell Ornaments of Local Manufacture

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.

 

   Distribution.
VII: H, 3; I, 4
 VI: 0
  V: 0 (preservation questionable)
 IV: 0 (preservation questionable)
 III: 0 (preservation questionable)
  II: 0 (shell not preserved)
   I: 0 (shell not preserved)
 und.: 0

   
  



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]

 

   Distribution.
VII: H, 3; I, 2
 VI: 0
  V: 0 (preservation questionable)
 IV: 0 (preservation questionable)
 III: 0 (preservation questionable)
  II: 0 (shell not preserved)
   I: 0 (shell not preserved)
 und.: 0

  Comparable specimens.
   Collier et al., 1942: 94, PL XI, k-m
   Osborne 1957: 109
   Osborne, Crabtree, and Bryan 1952: 367-68
   Smith 1899: 153
   Smith 1910: 90
   Strong, Schenck, and Steward 1930: 72.73; Pl. 11, 1



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.

 

   Distribution.
VII: I, 1
 VI: 0
  V: 0 (preservation questionable)
 IV: 0 (preservation questionable)
 III: 0 (preservation questionable)
  II: 0 (shell not preserved)
   I: 0 (shell not preserved)
 und.: 0

  Comparable specimens.
   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]

 

   Distribution.
VII: I, 1
 VI: 0
  V: 0 (preservation questionable)
 IV: 0 (preservation questionable)
 III: 0 (preservation questionable)
  II: 0 (shell not preserved)
   I: 0 (shell not preserved)
 und.: 0

  Comparable specimens.
   None.

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LAST REVISED: 24 DEC 2015