Sections of Dentalium Shells. From neck, arms and legs of skeleton in
grave No. 34 (5) in a rock-slide near the mouth of Cherry Creek, below
Ellensburg. 1/2 nat. size.]
The tubular bead shown in Fig. 75 is made of brass, proving conclusively
that it is recent. It was found in grave No. 1 of the Yakima ridge,
which contained a number of other objects that might characterize the
grave as ancient were it not for the presence of brass beads. A smaller
but slightly shorter brass bead was found with this. It contained a
piece of stick, but this may be merely the remains of a rootlet many of
which had penetrated into the grave. The edges of the outer fold as well
as the ends of the bead are irregular and thinned out similar to the
corresponding parts of the copper beads shown in Fig. 74. This suggests
that the brass may have been pounded into sheets by the natives or at
least that factory-rolled brass was pounded by them in manufacturing the
bead. It also shows that this characteristic of the edges of copper
objects, while it may suggest that they were beaten out of native copper
and are consequently ancient, does not prove it. Tubular copper beads
with short sections of dentalium shell were found mixed all the way from
the top to the bottom of grave number 10 (5) in a rock-slide on the
north side of the Naches River about half a mile above its mouth. Some
of these were slightly larger than those shown in Fig. 74.
[Illustration: Fig. 75 (202-8148). Bead made of Brass. From grave No. 1
in a rock-slide of the Yakima Ridge. Nat. size.]
The bone tubes shown in Figs. 97 and 98 and those described on p. 105
under games, may possibly have been intended for beads or ornaments.
Beads were made of bones of birds in the Nez Perce region to the
east.[265] The perforated cylinder made of serpentine or steatite shown
in Fig. 99 may also have been used as a bead or ornament instead of for
gambling. Shell beads of disk shape such as are shown in Fig. 76 were
found in three places. Those figured were among the refuse of a grave in
a rock-slide near the head of Priest Rapids. Two were found in grave No.
7 (4) in a rock-slide on the northern side of the Yakima Ridge. A brass
button and three glass beads were found with them. Twenty-eight of them
were found in the grave of a child in a rock-slide on the west side of
the Columbia River near the head of Priest Rapids. All these beads seem
to be drilled from both sides or at least each end of the bore is
slightly larger than the middle. Somewhat similar disk-shaped beads,
apparently made of shell are found in the Nez Perce region to the
east,[266] the Thompson area to the north[267] and in the Fraser
Delta[268] of the coast country to the west.
[265] Spinden, p. 189.
[266] Spinden, Plate IX, Figs. 12 and 13.
[267] Smith, (d), p. 153; (c), p. 427.
[268] Smith, (a), p. 179.
[Illustration: Fig. 76 (202-8384). Beads made of Shell. From refuse of a
grave in a rock-slide near the head of Priest Rapids. Nat. size.]
_Dentalium Shells._ Dentalium shells, some broken or cut into short
sections, were found in twelve of the graves of this region. Two of
these graves were in domes of volcanic ash and probably old; five of
them were cremation circles, also ancient, while five were rock-slide
graves of which three were surely modern, and two probably so. It will
be seen that the dentalia beads are found in about equal proportions in
old and recent graves, there being seven examples of the former and five
of the latter. One lot of dentalia found in a cremation circle was
charred. None of the dentalia found in the rock-slide graves were
incised while in one of the graves in a dome of volcanic ash incised
dentalia were found together with the sculptured human form in antler
shown in Fig. 121 on which are represented what appear to be dentalium
shells forming parts of ear or hair pendants. Incised dentalia were also
found in two of the five cremation circles containing dentalium shells.
Some of the incised designs on dentalium shells are shown in Figs. 117
and 118. An idea of how the dentalium shells may have been used as
ornaments on arm bands and headdresses may be had by reference to Fig.
121 and p. 101. Somewhat similarly incised dentalium shells were found
at the large burial place at Kamloops in the southern interior of
British Columbia to the north,[269] and in the Nez Perce region to the
east bits of engraved dentalium shells are found in the graves of
children.[270] Strings of them were hung from the ears or fastened to
the braids of hair and dentalia were attached to the dresses of the
women.[271] Among antiquities they are found as far east as central
Wyoming. There are some dentalium shells decorated with windings along
lines somewhat similar in the collections from the Hupa of California.
Dentalium shells used as nose ornaments, ear pendants or parts of
ornaments and as beads were also found in the Thompson region.[272] A
few were found on the coast in the Fraser Delta,[273] but while they are
to be seen in collections from living Indians and recent graves they
were not found among antiquities elsewhere on the coast of British
Columbia and Washington.[274] It seems noteworthy that while the shells
are plentiful on the coast where they are used by the modern people they
could only have been obtained in the Thompson River region and the
Yakima Valley by barter. In the north, they were imported until recently
through the Chilcotin country from the region north of Vancouver
Island.[275] In the Yakima Valley, however, they were probably brought
in by a more southern route and from places further south on the coast.
My impression is that the Fraser Valley was not used as a route for the
importation.
[269] Smith, (c), Fig. 379.
[270] Spinden, p. 181, Plate IX, Fig. 15.
[271] _Ibid._, p. 220.
[272] Smith, (c), pp. 425 and 427, (d), pp. 134 and 153.
[273] Smith, (a), p. 180.
[274] Smith, (b), pp. 319 and 387.
[275] Smith, (c), p. 408.
_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.
[Illustration: 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 illustrates 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 glass beads and iron in the same grave suggests that possibly this
copper pendant was made of factory-rolled metal.
[Illustration: 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.]
[Illustration: Fig. 79. Button made of Shell 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.)]
[Illustration: 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 button made of shell 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 shell
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 shell disk but does not go through the bead.
[276] Museum negative no. 44506, 6-7.
Fig. 80 illustrates 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 button.
[Illustration: 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, brass, iron and shell.
Fig. 81a illustrates 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 spaced 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 steatite 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 steatite 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 steatite 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 illustrates 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 glass 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 passed 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 constitute 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.
[Illustration: 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.]
[Illustration: 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.]
[Illustration: Fig. 84 (202-8245). Pendant made of Brass 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 brass. 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 illustrates 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.
[Illustration: 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.]
[Illustration: 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.]
[Illustration: Fig. 87 (202-8393). Pendant or Bead made of an Olivella
Shell. From grave No. 39 (1) of a child in a rock-slide near the head of
Priest Rapids. Nat. size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 88 (202-8388). Pendant made of (_Pectunculus_)
Shell. 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 shell. The one shown in Fig. 87
is a natural olivella shell 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 shell 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 shell
(_Pectunculus_), probably a young _Pectunculus gigantea_. The
perforation passes through the apex and has apparently been gouged from
the outside. The ribs on the convex surface of the shell 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 shell 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 shell which I have seen in the whole
northwest. The pendant shown in Fig. 89 is made of iridescent shell
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 scraper.[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 shell 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 shell 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 shells were the only shell 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 shell, apparently of claw
shape with a perforation at the base, several other pieces of similar
shape and two triangular pieces of shell (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 shell 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
shell. 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 shell (202-8258) were
found near the lower jaw in grave No. 37 (8) in a rock-slide near the
mouth of Cherry Creek.
[Illustration: Fig. 89 (202-8386). Pendant made of Iridescent Shell.
From the grave of a child in a rock-slide west of Columbia River near
the head of Priest Rapids. Nat. size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 90 (202-8255). Pendant made of (_Haliotis_) Shell.
From grave No. 37 (8) of a child in a rock-slide near the mouth of
Cherry Creek, below Ellensburg. Nat. size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 91 (202-8234b). Pendant made of (_Haliotis_) Shell.
From grave No. 34 (5) of an infant in a rock-slide near the mouth of
Cherry Creek, below Ellensburg. Nat. size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 92 (202-8252). Pendant or Nose Ornament, made of
(_Haliotis_) Shell. 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 shell 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 shell in
such a way that it could be clasped on to the septum of the nose.
Portions of this specimen and several other shell objects, found in the
same grave were of a peculiar pink color.
[Illustration: Fig. 93 (202-8171). Pendant made of Shell. 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.]
[Illustration: Fig. 94 (202-8170). Pendant made of Oyster Shell. 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 shell 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 shell pendant which appears
to have been made from the shell 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 shell pendant for the ear or hair. Disks of
haliotis shells were used as ear pendants in the Nez Perce region to the
east.[283]
[283] Spinden, p. 220.