The Archaeology of the Yakima Valley Part 13

_Pendants._ Somewhat circular objects which might possibly be considered as beads are shown in Figs. 77 to 80 and are considered as pendants perforated near the centre. The first is a slightly asymmetrical disk, made of slate, which was found in grave No. 1 in a rock-slide of the Yakima Ridge. It is perforated at the centre with a large hole and at each end with a small hole. These perforations taper from each end and were apparently drilled. On each side there are four conoid pits about equi-distant from each other and the end holes arranged to form an oval about parallel with the edge of the object. On the reverse, there are only two of these pits, one on each side. The disk is 3 mm. thick.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 77 (202-8152). Drilled and Perforated Disk made of Slate. From grave No. 1 in a rock-slide of the Yakima Ridge. Nat. size.]

Fig. 78 ill.u.s.trates a thin square of copper with rounded corners, a thong of skin and a copper bead, found in grave No. 34 (5) of an infant in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek below Ellensburg. The hole in the centre of this little pendant has been punched. The presence of gla.s.s beads and iron in the same grave suggests that possibly this copper pendant was made of factory-rolled metal.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 78 (202-8238). Pendant made of Copper, Thong and Copper Bead. From grave No. 34 (5) of an infant in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek, below Ellensburg. Nat. size.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 79. b.u.t.ton made of Sh.e.l.l with Attached Bead made of Metal. From an Indian at Ellensburg. Nat. size. (Drawn from photograph 44506, 6-7. Original in the collection of Mr. McCandless.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 80 (202-8227). Perforated Disk made of Bone. From grave No. 31 (2) of a child in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek, below Ellensburg. Nat. size.]

The object shown in Fig. 79 is a sort of b.u.t.ton made of sh.e.l.l attached to which is a metal bead. It was secured from an Indian at Ellensburg and is in the collection of Mr. McCandless.[276] The edge of the sh.e.l.l disk is rounded. There are two perforations through the disk, one a short distance from the centre. The other is in the centre, into which the metal bead is welded. The hole in the bead is parallel to the surface of the sh.e.l.l disk but does not go through the bead.

[276] Museum negative no. 44506, 6-7.

Fig. 80 ill.u.s.trates a disk of bone about 1 mm. thick found in grave No.

31 (2) of a child in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek below Ellensburg. The edge is rounded, the perforation has straight sides and is slightly worn at the ends. This, together with certain faint parallel grooves running diagonally across the grain of the bone suggests that the object may be a portion of a factory-made b.u.t.ton.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 81. Pendants made of Slate. From McNeals Island near the mouth of Yakima River. 1/2 nat. size. (Drawn from photograph 44503, 6-4. Original catalogue No. 45 in the collection of Mr. Janeck).]

Pendants perforated at the end or edge are shown in Figs. 81 to 94, arranged according to material, as stone, copper, bra.s.s, iron and sh.e.l.l.

Fig. 81a ill.u.s.trates a pendant made of slate which was found with five others in a grave on McNeals Island near the mouth of the Yakima River by Mr. Janeck. It is 52 mm. long, 3 mm. thick by 24 mm. wide. The upper end is narrower than the lower and perforated closer to the end of the object than to the side edges. The perforation tapers from each side and shows striations caused by drilling. The lower end of the pendant is somewhat thicker than the upper end.[277] The pendant shown next in the figure bears the same catalogue number in Mr. Janeck's collection and was one of the same lot of six specimens. It is 70 mm. long by 19 mm.

wide and 3 mm. thick, is made of slate and similar to the other five specimens except that it bears six notches s.p.a.ced about equi-distant from each other on one edge, and that the perforation is irregular, apparently having been broken through rather than drilled. The edges of this pendant are rather flat and the lower end is bevelled off somewhat from each side like a celt. This pendant may have been made to represent the tooth of an animal.[278]

[277] It is No. 45 in the collection of Mr. Janeck and Museum negative no. 44503, 6-4.

[278] Museum negative no. 44503, 6-4.

A pendant made of steat.i.te and bearing an incised design in which part of the lines and holes are colored with red paint (mercury) is shown in Fig. 119. This was found on the manubrium of an adult skeleton supposed to be that of a man, in a grave covered with rocks on a low ridge about two and a half miles south of Fort Simcoe. The object is not necessarily recent because the coloring matter being mineral may have lasted a long time. In outline, it is of the form of a tall truncated pyramid. It is only about 6 mm. thick and its edges are rounded or somewhat sharp.

Across the base of the side shown in Fig. 119a extends a ridge which on the opposite side of the specimen is raised for only a short distance on the left. The Agency physician is of the opinion that the grave was very old and that steat.i.te does not occur near by but that the material must have been brought from Puget Sound. As the character of the art more closely resembles that of the Thompson River region where steat.i.te is frequently found, at least in the form of artifacts, it would seem that the material more likely came from there, if indeed it was not from a nearer source, perhaps in this very valley. The specimen is in the collection of Mrs. Lynch.

Fig. 82 ill.u.s.trates a long pendant made of copper found about one foot deep among the rocks over grave 34 (5) of an infant in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek below Ellensburg. The perforation at the top is punched, which together with the fact that gla.s.s beads and a piece of iron were also found in this grave, suggests that the copper is factory-rolled. The edges are rounded and thinned, possibly by disintegration, to almost a cutting edge. The thong by which it was suspended is of skin and attached by being pa.s.sed through the perforation and looped through a slit in the tip of the thong. Two somewhat similar pendants, (202-8235a, b) made of copper, were found near the legs in this same grave. The first is narrow at the top which is slightly concave in outline, and the perforation is punched. The sides are nearly straight. The lower end is about three times as wide as the top and is deeply concave in the middle and convex in outline from this concavity to the side edges. In each of the concavities is a notch.

These suggest that they are worn out perforations from which other pendants may have been suspended. The second pendant is of almost the same size and shape as that shown in Fig. 82. It has a somewhat fluted lower end but this characteristic may be partly the result of worn and decomposed perforations or merely of decomposition. The perforation at the top was punched and still retains a fragment of a leather thong. A small triangular pendant only 18 mm. in length, made of copper, (202-8251) was found inside the skull of a child in grave No. 37 (8) in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek. It is perforated near the most acute angle and also through the base. The perforations seem to have been punched and the corners have been rounded, possibly by decomposition. Fig. 83 shows a thin disk-shaped pendant made of copper from the same grave as the one shown in Fig. 82. The perforation near the upper edge is also punched. A fragment of copper (202-8185) was found in the northwestern part of cremation circle No. 17 (12) on the terrace northwest of the mouth of the Naches River. This may be a fragment of a copper ornament. It, and the specimen found in circle No.

15 const.i.tute the only finds of copper which were made in cremation circles. In its decomposed state it does not look like factory-rolled copper and may be native. The other fragment (202-8181) found in cremation circle No. 15 (10) at the same place may be factory-rolled copper. In the Nez Perce area to the east, small pieces of copper were attached to the dresses of women.[279]

[279] Spinden, p. 220.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 82 (202-8246). Pendant made of Copper. From about one foot deep among the rocks over grave No. 34 (5) of an infant in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek, below Ellensburg. 1/2 nat.

size.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 83 (202-8239). Pendant made of Copper. From grave No. 34 (5) of an infant in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek, below Ellensburg. Nat. size.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 84 (202-8245). Pendant made of Bra.s.s and Bead made of Copper. From about one foot deep among the rocks over grave No. 34 (5) of an infant in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek, below Ellensburg. 1/2 nat. size.]

The pendant shown in Fig. 84, also found near the one shown in Fig. 82 was made of bra.s.s. There are two perforations near the upper edge, the larger one of which is not circular, and a perforation tapering more from the concave side than from the other as well as a notch at the lower edge. The peculiarities of these perforations suggest that they were gouged out. The object is slightly concavo-convex. A skin thong is attached to the larger perforation at the upper edge by looping as in the case of the pendant shown in Fig. 82. On this is strung a cylindrical copper bead.

Fig. 85 ill.u.s.trates a pendant made of iron found in grave No. 35 (6) of a youth in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek, below Ellensburg. The next figure represents one of thirteen cone-shaped bangles or pendants also made of iron, found in the same grave. These were made by bending a thin sheet of the metal into the conical form.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 85 (202-8249a). Pendant made of Iron. From grave No.

35 (6) of a youth in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek, below Ellensburg. 1/2 nat. size.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 86 (202-8248a). Pendant made of Iron. From grave No.

35 (6) of a youth in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek, below Ellensburg. 1/2 nat. size.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 87 (202-8393). Pendant or Bead made of an Olivella Sh.e.l.l. From grave No. 39 (1) of a child in a rock-slide near the head of Priest Rapids. Nat. size.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 88 (202-8388). Pendant made of (_Pectunculus_) Sh.e.l.l. From grave of a child in a rock-slide west of Columbia River, near the head of Priest Rapids. Nat. size.]

The remaining pendants are all made of sh.e.l.l. The one shown in Fig. 87 is a natural olivella sh.e.l.l with the top of the cone missing and found in grave No. 39 (1) of a child in a rock-slide near the head of Priest Rapids. A sh.e.l.l somewhat similar to this made into a bead was found in the Nez Perce region.[280] The pendant shown in Fig. 88 was found in the grave of a child in a rock-slide west of the Columbia River near the head of Priest Rapids. It is made of a small marine clam sh.e.l.l (_Pectunculus_), probably a young _Pectunculus gigantea_. The perforation pa.s.ses through the apex and has apparently been gouged from the outside. The ribs on the convex surface of the sh.e.l.l have been nearly effaced by grinding or polishing and the hinge also seems to have been smoothed so that only slight scars mark the depths of the teeth.

This sh.e.l.l certainly came from the Pacific Coast either in its natural condition or after having been made into this form. It is the only object made of this kind of sh.e.l.l which I have seen in the whole northwest. The pendant shown in Fig. 89 is made of iridescent sh.e.l.l possibly unio but probably haliotis. If the latter, it must have come from the Pacific Coast. It was found in the same grave. This grave contained no objects of white man's manufacture or anything suggesting that it was modern. A list of its contents will be found on p. 169. This pendant is of the form of an isosceles triangle. It is perforated through the more acute angle by a small hole which tapers as if drilled from each side of the object. The edges of the pendant are rather sharp in places and the lower one is concave in outline. This object may be compared with the pendant made of bone, found at Lytton,[281] which was considered to be a sap sc.r.a.per.[282]

[280] Spinden, Plate IX, Fig. 14.

[281] Smith, (d), Fig. 95.

[282] Smith, (c), p. 441; (b), Fig. 109.

The pendant shown in Fig. 90, from grave No. 37 (8) of a child in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek below Ellensburg, is made of haliotis sh.e.l.l which must have come from the coast and is rectangular in outline with slightly worn or rounded corners. The perforation at the top is larger at each end, while the one in the side is much larger on the convex side and only slightly larger on the concave side than in the middle. This perforation has been broken out. A somewhat similar pendant but smaller and with only an end perforation (202-8256) was found together with the sh.e.l.l pendant described on p. 98 near the lower jaw in the same grave. A larger pendant of this general rectangular form, with worn or rounded corners, perforated near the middle of one end, and with a second perforation lower down (202-8254) was found with this. One perforation is larger at one side of the object, the other at the other side. Three somewhat similar pendants or fragments of such pendants, one with the perforation broken out, another with a single perforation and still another with a double perforation like the one just described (202-8183) except two dentalium sh.e.l.ls were the only sh.e.l.l ornaments found in cremation circle No. 17 (12) on the flat northwest of the mouth of the Naches River. These were in the northeastern part of the circle.

In the northern and northwestern parts of cremation circle No. 15 (10) on this same flat were found a number of such pendants and fragments of pendants which have only one perforation so far as can be identified.

A much decomposed and fragmentary piece of sh.e.l.l, apparently of claw shape with a perforation at the base, several other pieces of similar shape and two triangular pieces of sh.e.l.l (202-8180-82) all of which were apparently burned, were found in cremation circle No. 14 (9) at the same place. A fragment of a sh.e.l.l ornament (202-8189) was also found in cremation circle No. 21 (16) at this place.

The pendant shown in Fig. 91 is nearly of disk form and made of haliotis sh.e.l.l. It is perforated at the more convex edge and was found with one very much like it in grave No. 34 (5) of an infant in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek. One was near the head and the other near the pelvis. Another specimen and a fragment of still another (202-8257a, b) and several other small fragments of decomposed sh.e.l.l (202-8258) were found near the lower jaw in grave No. 37 (8) in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 89 (202-8386). Pendant made of Iridescent Sh.e.l.l.

From the grave of a child in a rock-slide west of Columbia River near the head of Priest Rapids. Nat. size.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 90 (202-8255). Pendant made of (_Haliotis_) Sh.e.l.l.

From grave No. 37 (8) of a child in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek, below Ellensburg. Nat. size.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 91 (202-8234b). Pendant made of (_Haliotis_) Sh.e.l.l.

From grave No. 34 (5) of an infant in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek, below Ellensburg. Nat. size.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 92 (202-8252). Pendant or Nose Ornament, made of (_Haliotis_) Sh.e.l.l. From grave No. 37 (8) of a child in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek, below Ellensburg. 1/2 nat. size.]

The pendant or nose ornament shown in Fig. 92 is made of sh.e.l.l which in its much decomposed condition appears to be haliotis. This object was found on the lower jaw of a very much decomposed skeleton of a child in the same grave. The fact that a piece of copper, apparently factory-rolled, (202 8251) was found inside the broken skull suggests that this grave was modern. The object is nearly circular in outline, although slightly wider than high. The sides have disintegrated or were rounded off, to a rather sharp edge. There were apparently three perforations near the upper edge of the object, and it is broken so that it is impossible to see whether they were perforations for suspension or were made merely as a means of cutting out a portion of the sh.e.l.l in such a way that it could be clasped on to the septum of the nose.

Portions of this specimen and several other sh.e.l.l objects, found in the same grave were of a peculiar pink color.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 93 (202-8171). Pendant made of Sh.e.l.l. From near neck at south side of adult skeleton in grave No. 12 (7) covered with pebbles in bluff on north side of Naches River about twelve miles above its mouth. Nat. size.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 94 (202-8170). Pendant made of Oyster Sh.e.l.l. From near neck at south side of adult skeleton in grave No. 12 (7) covered with pebbles in bluff on north side of Naches River about twelve miles above its mouth. Nat. size.]

The sh.e.l.l shown in Fig. 93 was found near the neck at the south side of an adult skeleton in grave No. 12 (7) covered with pebbles in the bluff on the north side of the Naches River about 12 miles above its mouth. It has two perforations and what appears to have been a third perforation now broken out. A somewhat similar circular sh.e.l.l pendant which appears to have been made from the sh.e.l.l of the oyster was found with this and is shown in Fig. 94. One of these pendants was at the south shoulder, the other at the south side of the skull. A piece of wood in this grave suggests that it may not be an old one and that these disks may have been obtained from traders. The grave was apparently unique. The lower part of the inner decoration on each side of the face shown in Fig. 121 probably represents a sh.e.l.l pendant for the ear or hair. Disks of haliotis sh.e.l.ls were used as ear pendants in the Nez Perce region to the east.[283]

[283] Spinden, p. 220.

_Bracelets._ Bracelets are shown in Figs. 95 and 96. The one shown in Fig. 95 represents four of about the same size, all made of copper and from the arm of the skeleton found in grave No. 34 (5) of an infant in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek. The presence of gla.s.s beads in this grave suggests that the bracelets may be of drawn copper. They are not made of wire but seem to be rolled out of rather thick sheet copper. The edges of the fold are somewhat irregular but I do not consider that this proves the material to be native copper. The bracelet shown in Fig. 96 is one of three made of iron found in grave No. 31 (2) of a child in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek. The use of armlets of skin decorated with sh.e.l.ls or quills is suggested by the incisions on the arms of the costumed human figure made of antler shown in Fig. 121. In the Nez Perce region to the east arm and leg bands were worn[284] while in the Thompson area dentalium sh.e.l.ls were sometimes fastened parallel to each other on arm bands.