As domestic utensils bivalve shells have held a place hardly inferior in
importance to that of the large univalves. Marine and fluviatile
varieties have been used indiscriminately, and generally in the natural
state, but occasionally altered by art to enhance their beauty or add to
their convenience. The artificial utensils do not, however, present a
very great variety of form, the alteration consisting chiefly in the
carving out of a kind of handle, by which device hot food could be eaten
without danger of burning the fingers. The handle, which may be seen in
all stages of development, is produced by cutting away portions of the
anterior and basal margins of the shell, leaving the salient angle
projecting; this angle is then undercut from the opposite sides so that
it is connected with the body of the valve by a more or less restricted
neck. The outer edge of the handle is frequently ornamented with
notches, and in a few cases a round perforation has been made near the
anterior tip for the purpose of suspension. In one case a rude design of
small circular depressions has been added to the upper surface. In the
finished implement the hinge, ligament, and teeth have been cut away,
the thick dorsal margin carefully ground down, leaving a smooth, neat
edge, and the anterior point, which was presented to the lips in eating
or drinking, was well rounded and polished. The whole surface of the
shell in the more finished specimens has been most carefully dressed.
Altogether, the fashioning of these spoons must be regarded as a very
ingenious performance for savages, and has cost much more labor than
would the attachment of a handle, for which purpose it is not improbable
the lateral notches may at times have been used. Our collections furnish
no examples of marine univalves worked in this manner; a few slightly
altered specimens, however, have been reported. Nearly all the specimens
of carved spoons that have come to my notice are made from a few species
of _Unio_.
It is a curious fact that most of these utensils have been made from the
left valve of the shell, which gives such a position to the handle that
they are most conveniently used by the right hand, thus indicating
right-handedness on the part of these peoples. In the national
collection there are two left-handed specimens, one from Nashville,
Tenn., and one from Union County, Ky.
Professor Putnam states that he has "examined over thirty of these
shell-spoons now in the museum [Peabody], and all are made from the
right [left] valves of _Unionidæ_, and so shaped as to be most
conveniently used with the right hand."[23]
By reference to Fig. 1, Plate XXIV, the probable manner of grasping and
using the spoon will be seen. It will also be observed that the left
valve of the shell is used to make the right-handed spoon, supposing of
course that the point of the spoon is presented to the lips, the hinge
corner being much less convenient for that purpose.
In regard to the use of these objects, which have occasionally been
taken for ornaments, it should be mentioned that very many of them have
been found within earthen vessels placed in the graves with the dead.
The vessels, in all probability, were the receptacles of food, the
spoons being so placed that they could be used by the dead as they had
been used by the living.
The specimen shown in Fig. 3, Plate XXIV, was obtained by Professor
Powell, from a mound near Nashville, Tenn. It is made from the left
valve of a very delicate specimen of the _Unio ovatus_,[24] and has been
finished with more than usual care. The entire rim is artificially
shaped, the natural shell being much reduced, and six notches ornament
the outside of the handle. The bowl of the spoon is nearly four inches
in length and two and one-half in width. Eight other specimens were
obtained from the same locality by Professor Powell. All are made from
the _Unio ovatus_, one only being left-handed. All are inferior in
finish to the specimen illustrated. The handles of a number are
rudimentary, and the margins and surfaces are but slightly worked.
The spoon illustrated in Fig. 4, Plate XXIV, is made from the left valve
of a _Unio alatus_ (?) and was obtained from a mound at Madisonville,
Ohio. It is an unusually well-finished and handsome specimen, and
notwithstanding its fragile character, is well preserved. A portion of
the point has, unfortunately, been broken away. The handle is ornamented
with four shallow notches, the anterior point being neatly rounded and
perforated for suspension. The edges of the utensil have been carefully
finished, and both the inner and outer surfaces have been ground down
and polished so that all the natural markings are obliterated, and the
surface shows the pearly marbling of the foliation. This specimen is
figured in an interesting paper,[25] prepared by Mr. Charles F. Low, as
an ornament, this use being suggested by its finish and decoration; but
as it was found in what was presumably a food vessel, and at the same
time resembles so closely the spoons of other localities, I take the
liberty of classifying it with them.
One of the most interesting collections of these utensils was made in
Union County, Ky., by S. S. Lyon. Our information in regard to this lot
of specimens is, unfortunately, quite meager, as Mr. Lyon's report gives
them but casual mention.
Fig. 2, Plate XXIV, illustrates the finest of these specimens on a scale
of one-half. The shell used is a large specimen of _Unio ovatus_, the
bowl of the spoon being about four inches long and three wide. As the
right valve has been used, the utensil is left-handed. The handle is
ornamented with two marginal notches; the basal point is long and
spine-like, and is deeply undercut. The anterior point is beak-like in
shape, the nicely made perforation holding, in relation to it, the
position of an eye, which, together with the comb-like notches above,
gives a pretty close resemblance to a bird's head. The point of the
spoon is broken away.
[Illustration: PL. XXIV--SHELL SPOONS.
1. Manner of grasping spoon.
2. From a mound in Kentucky. (1/2)
3. From a mound near Nashville. (1/1)
4. From a mound in Ohio. (1/1)]
The seven remaining spoons from this locality have a variety of handles,
all of which are notched on the outer margin, while a few only are
deeply undercut; all have been made from the left valve of the _Unio
ovatus_ (?) and are of medium size and ordinary finish.
Another specimen in the national collection comes from Henderson County,
Ky. The shell used is the _Unio ovatus_; the handle is notched on the
outer margin, but is only slightly under-cut; the thick margin of the
shell about the hinge has not been removed.
A spoon made from the left valve of a _Unio silignoidens_ (?) has
recently been obtained from a mound at Osceola, Ark.; it is but slightly
worked, having a series of small notches cut in the basal margin, toward
the front.
The Natural History Museum of New York contains a specimen of this
class, labeled as coming from Georgia. It has a rounded handle, without
either perforation or notches.
The Peabody Museum contains a very superior collection, consisting of
specimens from several localities. Six of these, made from _Unionidæ_,
mostly from the _Unio ovatus_, were obtained from one of the Bowling
mounds near Nashville, Tenn.; others crumbled on being handled and were
lost. Several others were obtained in the same region.[26] Two more were
found in an earthen vessel between two skeletons, in one of the Lindsley
mounds at Lebanon, sixty miles east of Nashville.[27]
In a stone-cist mound on the Big Harpeth River, Prof. Joseph Jones found
"a few large fresh-water mussel-shells, which were much altered by time.
These mussel-shells appeared from their shape to have been artificially
carved, and to have been used as ornaments and also as spoons or cups
for dipping up food and drink."[28]
Three fine specimens have recently been obtained from graves at
Harrisburg, Ark. They are but slightly worked as compared with the more
elaborate specimens. The hinge, teeth, and ligaments have been ground
down and a portion of the postero-dorsal margin removed, leaving the
posterior point and basal margin projecting for a handle. The surfaces
are well smoothed. The general outline of the shell is subtriangular; it
is three inches wide by four and one-half in length and is probably made
from the _Unio cuneatus_.
Beverly gives a plate illustrating two Virginia Indians, man and wife,
at dinner; on the mat by the woman is "a Cockle-Shell, which they
sometimes use instead of a Spoon." "The Spoons which they eat with, do
generally hold half a Pint; and they laugh at the English for using
small ones, which they must be forc'd to carry so often to their Mouths,
that their Arms are in Danger of being tir'd, before their Belly."[29]