The Archaeology of the Yakima Valley Part 10

_Mat Pressers._ Mat pressers, or objects that are considered to be such, made of stone are commonly found in the area immediately to the south.

No objects recognized as such were found by us in the Thompson River region, and from the coast of British Columbia and Was.h.i.+ngton there is only one. It is made of stone[210] and was found at Cadboro Bay near Victoria. Specimens made of wood are very common among the present natives of the same coast. A ground soapstone object from the Nez Perce region is considered by Spinden an arrow-shaft polisher,[211] but seems to me more likely to be a mat presser of the type found in the region immediately south of the Yakima area.

[210] Smith (b), Fig. 146.

[211] Spinden, Plate VII, Fig. 34.

The object shown in Fig. 59 which may be an unfinished pipe, is of the form of a flattened cylinder, made of steat.i.te and was found at Prosser in the southern part of the area here considered. The surface is marked with incised figures, part of which are ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 59b and described on p. 124. The groove on one side suggests that it may have been used as a mat presser such as are used to string cat-tails and tule stalks. The cylindrical bore in the top is 25 mm. deep by 10 mm. in diameter and its top is funnel-shaped. The original is in the collection of Mr. Spalding.[212]

[212] Museum negative no. 44504, 6-5.

PROCESSES OF MANUFACTURE.

The processes of manufacture employed in this area as indicated by the archaeological objects found include fracturing by chipping and flaking, pecking or bruising, grinding, polis.h.i.+ng, cutting by grooving and breaking, incising, whittling and gouging, and drilling. The materials worked by each of these processes may be seen among the specimens here figured and described. Spinden states[213] that in the Nez Perce area chipped implements were made by the men and that the pecked artifacts were made by the women.

[213] Spinden, p. 185.

LIFE HISTORIES OF MANUFACTURED OBJECTS.

The story of the manufacture of the objects found from the securing of the raw material to their finished and to their worn out and broken condition is not shown completely in the case of more than one cla.s.s of objects, viz., chipped implements, but in a number of cases the signs of manufacture have not been entirely obliterated and some specimens are figured and described which are undoubtedly in process of manufacture.

Plate III, Fig. 1 shows a quarry from which material for the manufacture of chipped implements was obtained. A description of this has been given on p. 16. Here could be seen the hammers, one of which is ill.u.s.trated in Fig. 40, that were used in breaking up the raw material, and the material in various stages of chipping and flaking together with the waste products. In Plates I and II may be seen the more or less completed chipped implements. If points of antler were used as flakers, they were either not found or recognized by us. According to Mr. Cotton, there are numerous chips within the "fort" mentioned on p. 82. One other example of a series ill.u.s.trating the life history of an object may be mentioned, namely, that of the pestles. Many oblong pebbles suitable for pestles without being changed from their natural form were seen in both the Yakima and the Columbia Valleys. Other pebbles required but slight shaping to bring them to the required form. Fig. 22 ill.u.s.trates such a pebble which is in process of shaping by pecking or bruising and Fig. 43 shows a suitable tool for executing the work. After being fully shaped by this process such pestles were polished but the materials used for this purpose, whether sandstones and similar abrasives, the horse tail rush or the bare hand, are not known.

WAR.

_Implements used in Warfare._ The objects considered under hunting on p.

23 _et seq._, such as chipped points for spears, arrows and knives may have served in warfare; so also may bows, mentioned on p. 29. Others that were considered as tools, on p. 57 _et seq._, such as the celt and hand-adze, may have been used as weapons in war times; but there are some objects that were probably useful only in warfare. Prominent among these are the club-heads and clubs, made of stone, shown in Figs. 60-68.

No clubs made of copper, antler or whale's bone have been seen by us that are certainly from this region although it will be remembered[214]

that such were found in the Thompson River region, lying to the north, that the latter are common on the coast of British Columbia and Was.h.i.+ngton[215] to the west of this area and that one of whale's bone labeled from the upper Columbia River has been figured in my report on the archaeology of Puget Sound.[216]

[214] Smith (d), Figs. 81 and 82; (c), Fig. 359.

[215] Smith, (b), Figs. 165-171.

[216] Smith (b), Fig. 166d.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 60. Grooved Pebble. From the Yakima Reservation near the Gap. 1/2 nat. size. (Drawn from photograph 44455, 2-4. Original in the collection of Mr. Janeck.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 61. Club-head or Sinker made of Lava. From the Yakima Reservation near the Gap. 1/2 nat. size. (Drawn from photograph 44503, 6-4. Original in the collection of Mr. Janeck.)]

_Grooved Pebbles, Club-heads, or Sinkers._ The grooved spheroid pebble, shown in Fig. 60, was found on the Yakima Reservation near Union Gap and is in the collection of Mr. Janeck. There are two encircling grooves which cross each other at nearly right angles. These have been made by pecking. At one intersection of the grooves, the object shows signs of battering such as may have resulted from pounding with it, or such as may have been made to form a pit for the reception of a handle end. It is probably a club-head, net sinker or gaming stone[217] similar to those used in the Thompson River region.[218] In the Nez Perce region[219] to the east unworked river boulders sewed in skin, were used for the heads of war clubs which were sometimes also used in killing game. This kind of club is the same used by the eastern Indians, according to Lewis[220] and was probably introduced. The spheroid specimen made of hard lava, possibly trap, shown in Fig. 61, was found on the Yakima Reservation near Union Gap, and is also in the collection of Mr. Janeck. There are three grooves, marking great circles at right angles to each other. These have been made by pecking. At each pole or the intersection of two of these grooves, at the top and bottom in the ill.u.s.tration, and in each area marked out by the grooves is a pit making a total of ten. In the equatorial grooves are the remains of two parallel strings, each twisted to the right or contra-screw-wise, made up of two strings twisted to the left and remains of a fabric of loose mesh overlying the strings. It measures 70 mm. by 63 mm. by 57 mm.[221]

A club-head made of stone with a handle covered with rawhide and horsehair, was seen by us in the collection of Mr. Janeck. The head is grooved, circular in cross section, and has conoid ends. It consequently resembles the stone clubs of the eastern Plains. The objects shown in Figs. 14-16 and considered as sinkers, may have been fastened to handles and used as heads for war clubs or as 'canoe smashers' in warfare.

[217] Smith (d), Fig. 39; (c), p. 440; Teit (a), p. 279.

[218] Museum negative no. 44455, 2-4.

[219] Spinden, pp. 188 and 227, also Fig. 5^5.

[220] Lewis, p. 189.

[221] Museum negative no. 44455, 2-4.

_Stone Clubs._ The club[222] shown in Fig. 62, is made of serpentine.

The handle is oval but approaches a lenticular form in cross section.

There are eighteen notches across one edge of the k.n.o.b and eight on the other. The blade is of the characteristic form with lenticular cross section but thicker than the thin type of stone clubs of this form such as are found near the coast.[223] The tip is rather blunt. The reverse is the same as the obverse. It is from Methow River, Okanogan County and here ill.u.s.trated from a sketch by Mr. Charles C. Willoughby of the original in the Peabody Museum, Harvard University.

[222] First mentioned on p. 414 and Fig. 174a, Smith (b).

[223] Smith (b), Fig. 172a, b.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 62. Club made of Serpentine. From Methow River, Okanogan County. 1/4 nat. size. (Drawn from sketches by Mr. Charles C.

Willoughby. Original catalogue No. 64795 in the Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Ma.s.s.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 63. Club made of Serpentine. From the Yakima Valley, between Wenas Station and the Gap above North Yakima. 1/4 nat. size.

(Drawn from photographs 44453, 2-2, and 44500, 6-1. Original catalogue No. 44 in the collection of Mr. Janeck.)]

The club shown in Fig. 63 was found in the Yakima Valley on the west side of the river between Wenas Station and Upper Gap above North Yakima. It is made of serpentine of a mottled yellow, brown and green color. It is 26 mm. long, and of the form of a rather thick, elongated apple seed, with the upper and lower ends cut off. The top is of the form of a symmetrical celt with a dull edge and is bevelled about equally from each side. The handle, which is 22 mm. thick, is the thickest part of the object, rather oval in section and merges into the blade, which is paddle-shaped, lenticular in cross section and terminates in a celt-like end which is dull and bevelled about equally from each side.[224] It is catalogue No. 44 in the collection of Mr.

Janeck.[225] A club of this general type has been found as far east as Sand Point, Idaho, the most eastern occurrence, as was mentioned on p.

413 of my "Archaeology of the Gulf of Georgia and Puget Sound," where all the clubs of this type from Northwestern America are discussed. On the west, they seem to range from the Klamath Valley to the head of Puget Sound.

[224] Smith (b), p. 417.

[225] Museum negatives nos. 44453, 2-2, and 44500, 6-1.

The club, shown in Fig. 64[226] is made of stone and has a blade rather lenticular in cross section, but bulging somewhat so that it reminds us of the clubs of the lozenge-shaped cross section.[227] It is 265 mm.

long, by 25 mm. thick. The handle is somewhat lenticular, but tends to be hexagonal in section, with rounded corners and meets the blade abruptly. There is a saddle-shaped k.n.o.b at the top with an incised geometric design in the hollow. The upper part of the right edge of this k.n.o.b is flat with two incisions across it, while the lower part is rounded. A stone club with similar handle is known from Puget Sound.[228] The specimen is catalogue No. 40 in the collection of Mr.

Janeck, and was secured by him from the York collection. It was originally collected from an Indian woman on the Yakima Reservation.[229]

[226] First shown in Smith (b), Fig. 177a.

[227] Smith (b), p. 415.

[228] Smith (b), Fig. 177b.

[229] Museum negatives, nos. 44453, 2-2 and 44500, 6-1.