The Antiquarian (serial) (1897) (14598297389)

Identifier: antiquarianseria01colu (find matches)

Title: The Antiquarian (serial)

Year: 1897 (1890s)

Authors:

Subjects: Archaeology Ethnology

Publisher: Columbus, Ohio : Landon Print. and Pub. Co.

Contributing Library: Duke University Libraries

Digitizing Sponsor: Duke University Libraries

Text Appearing Before Image:

,effigies, etc., all of which were charred,cracked, or cemented together by half-melt-ed copper. Bear tusks, tortoise shell pend-ants, bone effigies (some human), terra cot-ta and graphite slate rings, lance and spearpoints of quartz crystal, thousands uponthousands of pearl and shell beads. Therewere chalcedony knives in numbers.Our men (working with their fingerscautiously) cut their hands frequently. TheKeen little blades were hidden in the massand it was impossible to tell when near one.Claws, tablets, cylindrical pieces of coppercontaining charred reeds, etc. Several thousand fragments of largeobsidian spears and knives were near thebottom. Notwithstanding the evident de-sire on the part of primitive man to destroyeverything in his sacrifice to the dead, anumber of interesting and unique speci-mens were saved entire, though most ofthem were broken. Of the obsidian implements we securedmany ten, twelve or fifteen inches inlength. In Figure XLVII. I present one 256 THE ANTIQUARIAN.

Text Appearing After Image:

Fig. XL. THE ANTIQUARIAN. 257 of the finest curved knives (notched) everfound in America. The illustration is full size.Some of the broken ones, such as Fig.XLVIII., must have been over 15 incheslong. From the hundreds of fragmentssecured, several dozen additional imple-ments have been restored and now a fairlyrepresentative series is on exhibition.Some idea of the terrific heat to whichthey were subjected can be obtained fromFig. L. It is warped out of graceful form.Other half-melted specimens were metwith. Among the effigies is a graphite slatepipe representing a spoon-bill duck, restingupon the back of a fish. It is by far thebest sculpture from the Mississippi Valleymounds, but the illustration fails to do itjustice. The feathers are carefully delin-eated, the bird true to life. The fins are quite grotesque and unnatur-al. It is singular that the bird should be sotrue to life and the fish exaggerated. Be-yond a doubt the effigy has some peculiarceremonial significance. (See Fig. X

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1897

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