The use of shell in the manufacture of fishing implements seems to have
been almost unknown among the tribes of the Atlantic coast, and with the
exception of a few pendant-like objects, resembling plummets or sinkers
of stone, nothing has been obtained from the ancient burial mounds of
the Mississippi Valley. Hooks of shell, however, are very plentiful in
the ancient burial-places of the Pacific coast, and are frequently so
well shaped as to excite our admiration. Hooks and other fishing
apparatus, in whole or in part made of shell, are extensively employed
by the present natives of the Pacific islands and among the numerous
tribes of the northwest coast, although bone and ivory are in much
higher favor for these purposes.
We cannot say with certainty for what purpose the various sinker-like
objects of shell were used. In all cases they are so perforated or
grooved as to be suspended by a string; but it is the custom of all
savage peoples to employ very heavy pendants as ornaments for the ears
or for suspension about the neck, and where stone could be secured for
such ordinary uses as the sinking of nets or lines, it seems improbable
that objects of shell, which form superb ornaments, would be so
employed.
That hooks were used to some extent by the Atlantic coast Indians is
proved by the association of bone hooks with other ancient relics. I am
not aware that their use has been noticed by early writers, who describe
at length, however, the capture of fish by means of arrows, spears, and
nets. The ancient Mexican manuscripts contain many drawings showing the
use of nets in fishing, but the use of hooks and lines is not suggested.
In the absence of positive proof as to the exact manner in which the
plummet-like objects were utilized, I shall for the present follow the
custom of the best authors and classify the heavier specimens as
sinkers. The smaller specimens will be described as pendant ornaments.
In Fig. 8, Plate XXVIII, a very handsome specimen from a refuse heap on
Blennerhasset Island, Ohio River, is shown. It has been cut from the
columella of a _Busycon perversum_, the reverse whorl being indicated by
the well-preserved spiral groove, and was suspended by means of a small,
well-made perforation near the upper end. The surface is weathered and
chalky with age.
Another specimen, from the same locality, differs but slightly from
this; the perforated end is broken away; the surface is deeply
weathered, and the more compact laminæ stand out in high relief.
Two specimens from Sarasota Bay, Fla., resemble these very closely in
shape and size; instead of a perforation, however, they are grooved near
the upper end. They are made from the columellæ of the _Busycon
perversum_. One of them is shown in Fig. 9, Plate XXVIII.
It is possible that a number of the small shells usually supposed to be
perforated for use as ornaments have been used for sinkers. One such
specimen, collected by Professor Velie in Florida, is preserved in the
national collection. It is made from an almost entire specimen of a
small but compact univalve--a dextral-whorled _Busycon_ or a _Strombus_.
A shallow groove has been cut near the basal point for the purpose of
attaching a line.
A fourth specimen, from Florida, is represented by a cast presented by
Professor Velie; it is three inches in length and nearly one inch in
diameter, and has been derived from the columella of a _Busycon
perversum_. It has a broad groove near the upper end, with a long,
sloping shoulder, the body being somewhat conical below. Other specimens
of similar character have recently been added to the national
collection. A grooved specimen of medium size was obtained from a mound
at Madisonville, Ohio, and is figured by the explorers.[45] A few
smaller specimens come from New York, and others from Kentucky, but they
were probably intended for ornaments, and as such I prefer to class
them.
From the Pacific coast we have a large number of examples, one of the
finest being illustrated in Fig. 7, Plate XXVIII. It is a flattish,
somewhat pear-shaped pendant, and has a neatly cut groove near the upper
end. It was collected by Bowers on the island of Santa Rosa, Cal., and
was probably made from a _Pachydesma_ or _Amiantis_.
A new-looking specimen from Santa Barbara, carved from a flat bit of
pearly _Haliotis_, represents a fish, the mouth, gills, body, and tail
being distinctly shown. It may have been used as a bait.
By far the most interesting examples of fishing implements of ancient
date have been obtained from graves in California; these are well
represented in the collections made by Schumacher and Bowers. A number
of specimens may be seen in the National Museum; one sinker from this
collection has already been described. Fish-hooks, however, constitute
the great majority of the specimens, and many of them are of such
unprecedented forms that they have been mistaken for ornaments. The
marked peculiarity consists in the great width of the body of the hook,
and the deeply involuted character of the barbless point, making it seem
impossible that a fish should be impaled at all. It may be that this
hook was intended only as a contrivance for securing bait, and that the
fish, having swallowed this, was unable to disgorge it, and in this way
was secured by the fisherman.
In Plate XXVIII, three of these hooks are illustrated. The method of
fastening them to the line is not well known, and the form does not
suggest it, except in a few cases in which the shaft is enlarged
slightly at the upper end. The head is never perforated, but is
frequently pointed, and may have been inserted in a head of some other
material and secured by means of asphaltum. The fact that portions of
this material still adhere to the upper part of the shaft confirms this
conjecture. None of these hooks are barbed. Similar hooks of bone,
exhibited in the national collection, have barbs on the outside, near
the point. Hooks resembling these are used by some tribes to secure the
ends of strings of beads.
Prof. F. W. Putnam has described a number of these hooks which belong to
the Peabody Museum. The largest is two and three-fourths inches in
length and one inch wide at the middle of the shank. These came from San
Clemente, San Miguel, and Santa Cruz islands, and the mainland about
Santa Barbara, and are accompanied by stone implements used in their
manufacture.[46]
The natives of Tahiti had fish-hooks made of mother-of-pearl, and every
fisherman made them for himself. They generally served for the double
purpose of hook and bait. "The shell is first cut into square pieces, by
the edge of another shell, and wrought into a form corresponding with
the outline of the hook by pieces of coral, which are sufficiently rough
to perform the office of a file; a hole is then bored in the middle; the
drill being no other than the first stone they pick up that has a sharp
corner; this they fix into the end of a piece of bamboo and turn it
between the hands like a chocolate mill; when the shell is perforated,
and the hole sufficiently wide, a small file of coral is introduced, by
the application of which the hook is in a short time completed, few
costing the artificer more time than a quarter of an hour."[47]
The specimens illustrated are made from the thicker portions of species
of the _Haliotis_ or of the valves of the dark purplish _Mytilus
californianus_. They are handsome objects, their surfaces being well
rounded and polished. In the collection there are specimens which
illustrate very well the process of manufacture. A series of these is
given in Plate XXVIII. Fig. 1 shows a small fragment broken out roughly
from the shell, probably by a stone or shell implement. Fig. 2 shows a
similar specimen in which an irregular perforation has been made. In
Fig. 3 we see a considerable advance toward completion; the hole has
been enlarged by rubbing or filing with some small implement, and the
outline approximates that of the finished hook. Figs. 4, 5, and 6
represent typical examples of the completed hooks. These range in size
from one-half to three inches in length, the width being but slightly
less. The skill acquired in the manufacture of such objects of use is of
the greatest importance in the development of art. It is only through
the mastery of material thus engendered that the arts of taste become
possible.
[Illustration: PL. XXVIII--SHELL FISHING APPLIANCES.
1, 2, 3. Manufacture of hooks.
4, 5, 6. Hooks from graves, California.
7. Pendant or sinker, California.
8, 9. Pendants, Atlantic slope.
(1/1)]