A. Implements of Stone...................................... 42
a. Made by Grinding................................... 42
1. Mortars.......................................... 42
2. Flat Stones...................................... 46
3. Pestles.......................................... 47
4. Hammer-like Stones............................... 49
5. Flat Stones Pointed at Both Ends................. 50
6. Sinker-like Stones............................... 50
7. Cylindrical Stones............................... 56
8. Needle-like Stone Implements..................... 57
9. Tobacco Pipes.................................... 57
10. Various Polished Stones.......................... 59
b. Chipped Stones..................................... 61
B. Utensils of Bone, Horn, and the Teeth of Animals......... 66
Implements of Bone..................................... 66
1. Awl-like Tools................................... 66
a. Common Awls.................................... 66
b. Blunt Awl-like Implements...................... 69
c. Flat Awl-like Implements....................... 69
2. Needle-like Implements........................... 70
a. Straight Needles without Perforation........... 70
b. Curved Needles................................. 70
c. Needles with Eyes.............................. 70
d. Long Crooked Needles........................... 70
3. Rough Awl-like Implements of the Lower Strata.... 71
4. Implements of the Shape of Paper-cutters......... 72
5. Pointed Implements............................... 74
6. Saw-like Notched Bones........................... 76
7. Various Implements and Objects of Bone........... 79
Implements of Antler................................... 80
1. Chisel-like Implements........................... 80
a. Actual Chisels................................. 80
b. Chisel-like Implements of Varying Forms........ 81
2. Implements of Antler with Dull Rounded Ends...... 82
3. Pointed Implements............................... 82
4. Straight Truncated Implements.................... 82
Implements of Teeth.................................... 83
C. Implements Made of Shells................................ 83
INTRODUCTION.
California has but few characteristic archaeological remains such as are
found in the mounds of the Mississippi valley or the ancient pueblos and
cliff-dweller ruins of the South. In the shellmounds along this section
of the Pacific coast it possesses, however, valuable relics of very
ancient date. These are almost the only witnesses of a primitive stage
of culture which once obtained among the early inhabitants of this
region.
Some years ago Professor Merriam recognized the necessity of exploring
these ancient mounds and represented the facts to the University of
California. Mrs. Phoebe A. Hearst generously made the undertaking
possible by providing ample financial support for the exploration work.
UNIV. CAL. PUB. AM. ARCH. &. ETH. VOL. 7, PL. 1
[Illustration: Plate 1: Map of the east shore of San Francisco Bay in
the vicinity of Berkeley, showing the location of the Emeryville
Shellmound with several others in this region. Scale: 1 inch = about
three miles.]
One of the largest and best preserved shellmounds was selected as the
object of the present investigation, which was entrusted to Professor
Merriam and the writer. The mound selected is situated on the eastern
side of the Bay of San Francisco at Shellmound Station near Emeryville,
and is commonly known as the Emeryville mound. At present it forms a
conspicuous feature of the recreation grounds known as Shellmound Park
(pl. 1).
The water of the bay rises to within 130 feet of the base of the mound
(pl. 3) during high tide. The beach is then only one foot above the
water level, while the ground in the immediate vicinity of the mound is
from two to three feet higher. This ground is quite level and forms a
part of an extensive alluvial flat. A small creek, having its source
about three miles away, in the hills back of Berkeley, passes the mound
on its south side, at a distance of two hundred feet, and empties into
the bay. In summer the creek runs dry, but its bed furnishes a channel
for subterranean water. Another, lower mound, containing graves, lay on
the site of the Emeryville race-track near by, but it has been leveled
down during the construction of the track. The shellmound which was the
object of the excavation has the form of a truncated cone, with a
diameter of 270 feet at its base and 145 feet at the top, and rising 27
feet above the plain. On the north side its foot extends 100 feet
farther over the flat, a few feet higher than the level of the ground
about it.
Twenty-five or thirty years ago the shore line of the bay lay fifty feet
farther out; a pile set at that time is still to be seen at that
distance from the beach. It is above the water during high tide and
marks the coast line on this side of which floodland was sold by the
State. The top of the mound was not at that time crowned by the wooden
pavilion which is there at the present time. It was still ungraded,
having its natural conical form, and was covered with a wild growth of
bushes and brambles. The creek, as yet unregulated, followed its own
course and overflowed the land, causing it to become marshy. In the
seventies and eighties of the last century, railroad tracks were laid
along the eastern side of the mound, and took in a section of its
eastern foot. At that time a number of graves and Indian artifacts were
discovered. Few of these, however, found their way into the collections
of the University, then but recently founded.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN THE REGION.
Fages, the first traveler who passed through the country, from south to
north, traveled along the eastern shore of the Bay of San Francisco in
1774,[1] and came upon Indian settlements where he found a friendly
welcome. His account of this expedition however, fails to throw any
light upon the question whether or not the shellmounds were still
occupied at that time. The neighboring creek bears the name of
“Temescal” from a region between Berkeley and Oakland through which it
passes.[2] This name appears to be a mutilation of the Nahua word
“temazcalli,” hot-house, the name of sweat-houses in Mexico, and the
place may have been so named by Mexicans living on the Bay, from an
Indian sweat-house standing there. Hence it may be assumed that an
Indian settlement was in existence on the banks of this creek at a time
from which the name could pass over into the existing vocabulary.
Other evidences of early Indian settlements in this section of the
eastern shore country of the Bay are the shellmounds, twelve of which
may be found along the coast between Point Richmond and Alameda in a
stretch of twelve miles (pl. 1). They may be seen near Point Richmond
upon the eastern side, facing the peninsula, upon Brooks Island, near
Ellis Landing, northeast from Stege upon a marshy ground intersected by
narrow channels, near Seaver’s Ranch to the west from Stege, on Point
Isabel, in West Berkeley, in Emeryville, and in the eastern section of
Alameda between Mound, Central, and Lincoln avenues. There is also said
to have been one in East Oakland on the canal between Oakland Harbor and
Lake Merritt, but it has disappeared owing to building over that section
of ground. In all probability many others may have met with a similar
fate.
All these evidences of an early occupation of the country are but a few
of the mounds that skirt the Bay upon all sides, continuing along Suisun
Bay and the Sacramento and Feather rivers. Besides these, there are
numerous mounds dotting the coast land of Northern California, those
surrounding swamps and rivers along the Tulare and Kern lakes in
southern California,[3] and on the shore near Santa Cruz. Others are
found in the regions of San Luis Obispo,[4] of Santa Barbara,[5] and the
islands opposite that place.
-----
[1] Cf. H. H. Bancroft, The Native Races, 1886, II, p. 595.
[2] Cf. also “San Francisco Quadrangle” with the topographical maps of
California by the U. S. Geological Survey.
[3] Warren K. Moorehead, Prehistoric Implements, 1900, p. 258.
[4] Paul Schumacher, Smithson. Reports, 1874, p. 335 ff.
[5] Schumacher, Bulletin of the U. S. Geol. and Geogr. Survey of the
Territories (F. V. Hayden), 1877, III, p. 73 ff.; F. W. Putnam, Reports
upon Archaeological and Ethnological Collections from vicinity of Santa
Barbara, Cal., etc.; Report upon U. S. Geogr. Surveys west of the 100th
Meridian (G. M. Wheeler), 1879, VII, Archaeology. From more northern
sections of the Pacific Coast may be mentioned specifically the
shellmounds of Oregon (P. Schumacher, Bulletin, _l. c._), of Vancouver,
and of the mainland of British Columbia opposite (H. H. Bancroft, Native
Races of the Pacific States, 1886, IV, p. 739), also those upon the
Aleutian Islands, explored exhaustively by W. H. Dall (in U. S. Geogr.
and Geol. Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region, J. W. Powell,
Contributions to the North American Ethnology, 1877, I, p. 41 ff.).
Together with those of California these shellmounds are an important
counterpart to those found along the Atlantic coast, found from Nova
Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico, as well as in the river valleys of nearly
all the southern states (Charles C. Abbott, Primitive Industry, 1881, p.
439; Short, The North Americans of Antiquity, 1892, p. 106), and almost
all of which have been carefully studied in some of their aspects,
although not yet conclusively.
EARLY REFERENCES TO SHELLMOUNDS OF MIDDLE CALIFORNIA.
All the publications treating of the shellmounds of central and northern
California, which from the nature of their contents are different from
those of the coast and the islands of southern California, may be
condensed into the following bibliography:
The Smithsonian Reports of 1869 mention a collection of artifacts from
the shellmounds of Alameda county presented to the Institute by Dr.
Yates.[6] J. W. Foster, in 1874, speaks of a newspaper notice concerning
a shellmound in the region of San Pablo.[7] James Deans follows in 1876
with a short notice (together with drawings of some artifacts)
concerning a mound between Visitacion Valley and Point Bruno on the
western shore of the Bay.[8] A short notice by H. H. Bancroft,
accompanied by views of four objects, points to the great historical
value of the shellmounds. The Marquis de Nadaillac in his well known
work mentions the shellmounds in the vicinity of San Francisco.[9]
Moorehead in his work gives a few remarks on excavations in shellmounds
of central California.
-----
[6] Smithson. Reports, 1869, p. 36.
[7] Prehistoric races of the United States of America, 1874, p. 163.
[8] Journal of the Anthropological Inst. of Great Britain and Ireland,
1876, V, p. 489. The majority of these shellmounds have been graded
down.
[9] Prehistoric America, ed. by W. H. Dall, 1885, p. 50.
THE NATURE OF THE EXCAVATIONS.
The work of exploration was commenced by Professor Merriam and the
writer in February, 1902, toward the end of the rainy season, and was
finished early in May. Captain Siebe, the proprietor of Shellmound Park,
gave all possible assistance in the investigation. Owing to the presence
of the circle of trees around the truncated top of the mound it was
necessary to confine the excavations to a lateral section and a tunnel
extending from it toward the center of the mound. However desirable a
more extended section through the hill might have been, the results
obtained in these partial excavations are as a whole similar to those
which would have been obtained by a cut through the entire mound.
The western slope of the mound, facing the bay, was selected as the
starting point for the operations. The entire work of excavation may in
a chronological order be divided into the following four stages.
_A._ The first lateral cutting in the mound. This was made in the
western foot of the mound, seven feet and a half above the level of the
bay and at a distance of fifty feet from the plateau. The trench was two
feet deep, eighteen feet long and six feet wide, its floor sloped
towards the center of the mound.
_B._ Tunnel construction. The tunnel formed the underground continuation
of the trench; it was the means of reaching the interior of the mound
and down to its original base. Hence the floor of the tunnel was made to
slope steeply inward. The tunnel was extended from the end of the trench
A for forty-two feet into the interior of the mound, and at its terminal
point it sank to two feet below the level of the bay. It was five feet
wide and six and a half feet high. Several distinct strata were cut
through by the tunnel section. Eleven feet of the length of the tunnel
extended under the plateau of the mound. This was still sixty feet from
the vertical center of the hill (pl. 4), but the observations made in
this interior part of the mound were of a relatively greater value than
those of the outer zone. Many difficulties were met during the
construction of the tunnel, among which the porosity of the soil was one
of the worst. The tunnel was therefore timbered and its sides sheathed.
Another difficulty was the ground water, of which there was often a very
strong flow when digging in the lower part of the tunnel. According to
the advance of the season, it was encountered at different depths, and
it grew less with the approach of summer. A small hand pump was used to
exhaust this water, but it barely answered the purpose, and it was often
with great difficulty that the inrushing water could be mastered.
_C._ The upper vertical cut of the entire mound. In order to obtain a
view of all the strata contained in the mound this section was
undertaken. The lowest parts of the mound having been thoroughly
explored by the construction of the tunnel, it was now sufficient to
make the upper sectional cut only as deep as the roof of the tunnel,
while its terminal point was fixed by the circle of trees on the summit
of the mound. Its greatest length from the mouth of the tunnel was
twenty-six feet. The sides of the cut were sloped in order to prevent
the fall of loose soil and to avoid the cost of timbering. The length of
this section at its lower end, near _b_ (pl. 4), was reduced from 26
feet to 19 feet, and the width to 10 feet along the entire foot of the
trench from _a_[10] to _b_. In pl. 5 there is shown the first cut into
the mound, before it had been made wider by five feet throughout its
length. In making this cut the earth was removed stratum by stratum. For
want of other marks of division, the dividing lines of the various
strata (I to VII) were chosen arbitrarily from the several visible lines
of structure, and they are marked in the diagram, pl. 4, by asterisks.
In order to obtain a uniform classification of the contents of the mound
it was thought necessary to introduce the same lines of division in the
sectional diagram of the tunnel: objects found there had been marked
previously by the distance of their position from the mouth of the
tunnel and their relative height. These strata in conformity with the
numbering of the upper ones were marked as numbers VII to X.
_D._ A series of pits was dug from the foot of the tunnel out to the bay
shore. The pits were made in order to ascertain the general outline of
the base of the mound under the cuts already made, as well as under the
unexcavated portion of the mound farther out toward its margin. The pits
are marked as _h_ in the interior of the mound, and as _i_, _k_, _l_,
_m_, toward its periphery. The two pits _n_ and _o_[11] are situated on
the outside of the superficial foot of the mound, at a distance of 35
feet and 67 feet from the nearest pit, _m_. It was here seen that the
terminal point of the foot of the mound lay between the pits _n_ and
_o_, the pit near _n_ showing only the debris of the shellmound, while
that near _o_ revealed nothing of it. These two pits were connected by a
trench, which gave an exceedingly interesting section of the margin of
the mound.
-----
[10] _a_ seems to have been situated at the intersection of the dotted
lines separating divisions _A_, _B_, _C_, pl. 4, fig. 2.—Editor.
[11] it _o_ referred to in the text seems to be represented in pl. 4,
fig. 1, by the west end of the cut extending from _n_ to _l_.—Editor.
THE BASE OF THE MOUND.
The mound consists mainly of a mass of broken or entire shells, ashes,
bits of charcoal, and some artifacts. This mass extends far above the
surface of the surrounding land and ends two and a half feet below the
level of the ground water and two feet below the general tide level of
the bay, and rests immediately upon a sharply defined yellowish alluvial
clay stratum. There is no indication of a rocky elevation which might
have served as an inducement for the original settlement, and would have
helped to raise the mound to its present height. Some of the charcoal
and small boulders brought here by man rest upon the clay soil. A slight
discoloration of the upper line of the clay stratum may have been caused
by a transitory plant growth during some early period, while there is no
indication of a crust of good soil which would be a sign of a longer
period of vegetable growth upon it.
The base of the mound is horizontal according to all indications gained
between pits _h_ and _m_. A slight variation of the level of the ground
near _h_ of but a few inches does not materially change this level.
Between _m_ and _n_, however, the original soil lies one foot and seven
inches lower for a distance of thirty-five feet, and from _n_ to _o_ the
level drops a foot lower. The mound was originally founded upon a site
rising two feet above the adjacent ground on its western side. A gravel
stratum of 8 inches in thickness near _o_, and of 4 inches near _p_, but
disappearing towards _n_, covered the clay which originally sloped to
the west. This gravel stratum was examined by Professor Lawson and
considered to be probably a fresh-water deposit and not a deposit formed
in the bay, as the gravel is more or less angular instead of much
water-worn. The mound terminates near _p_, 177 feet from its center,
where it runs to a point between layers of clay, which are above and
below it (pl. 4, fig. 1). It rises again toward the outside for the last
17 feet measured from the depression _n_, the difference being one and
one-quarter feet, thus varying from the rest of the base which inclines
to the west. A stratum of ferruginous clay, the same as that underlying
the base of the mound, is here inserted between the gravel stratum and
the characteristic mixture of which the mound is composed, and covers it
up even with the present surface of the soil. This raises the actual
height of the shellmound from 27 feet to 32 feet and the actual diameter
to at least 310 feet instead of 270 feet. The volume of the mound,
measured as a truncated cone, may be estimated as being 55,000 cubic
yards, or about 39,000 cubic meters.[12]
From what we know of the situation it is obvious that the mound was
rounded upon firm though still somewhat marshy land, near the bay shore
and close to the creek. The latter was the occasion of its location[13]
at this place. The ground must have been dry, since a gently rising
slope was selected. The soil was alluvial and relatively new, since it
has no overlying cover of good earth, yet it must have been dry long
enough to allow a thin growth of vegetation to cover it, causing the
slight gray discoloration of this stratum.
The situation of the base of the mound two feet below the water level
cannot be explained on the assumption that refuse from a pile dwelling
had been the first cause of its formation. This theory would presuppose
modes of living to be followed by the Indians of this coast for which
there is no parallel elsewhere, and which are not borne out by other
evidence obtained in the study of the mound. If the mound has not risen
from the water, then the former land surface must have sunk. The mound
could not possibly have sunk below the water level from its own weight,
for the original ground underneath it is still several feet higher than
that to the west, for instance, near _n_, and sections of the base upon
which the full weight of the mound rested, such as near _h_, are on the
same level with others over which the mound rose only 14 feet. Since the
sinking of the mound has not been brought about by local causes, it must
have been caused by a general subsidence of this coast region. Similar
subsidences of the coast, due probably to sliding motions, are frequent
phenomena on alluvial coasts.[14] Evidences of this are furnished
apparently by the shores of San Francisco Bay.[15] The ground under the
mound having a slope of two feet, it may be assumed that the original
foundation of the base was at least one foot above tide level.
Accordingly the coast must have sunk three feet since the formation of
this mound.[16] This sinkage was leveled up again to its former height
by later alluvial deposits, in consequence of which the originally dry
base of the mound is now situated two feet below the level of the bay,
while the surrounding flats are three feet above it.
It is to be noted that the younger alluvial deposit, near _o_ (pl. 4)
has a thickness of six feet.
Samples of soil taken from various parts of the clay stratum underlying
the base of the mound were subjected by Professor W. A. Setchell to
microscopical examinations, but no Diatoms were found in any of them.
Hence those strata were probably formed of alluvial deposits of the
creek, as Professor Lawson had at first suggested, and not of deposits
of the bay. This finding is entirely in accordance with the origin of
the gravel stratum as above stated.
The slope of the mound was an obstacle to the course of the creek when
it became swollen. In the natural course of things it deposited a bar
near the foot of the mound, which, when the edge of the latter gradually
extended, grew out over this new obstacle. The creek in the same manner
continued to heap up alluvial deposits against the latter. The
horizontal growth of the mound and the vertical growth of the
surrounding land took place simultaneously. This was the cause of the
brim-like upward curve of the edge of the mound as seen in the cross
section (pl. 4). While the mound increased about seventeen feet in its
periphery, the vertical alluvial accumulation was about one and one-half
feet. Hence the base of the mound peripherally increased one foot while
the ground grew one inch, showing that the alluvial growth of the soil
was much slower than the peripheral growth of the mound. About 310 cubic
yards or 240 cubic meters produce a growth of one foot in a mound 9 feet
high and about 300 feet in diameter at the base. If the peripheral
growth of the mound had continued with the growth of the soil, the foot
of the mound would have spread out so that the outer edge would rest in
the highest or surface layer of the present alluvium. The wedge-like
margin situated between alluvial strata is, however, proof that its
peripheral growth ceased a long time before the termination of the
alluvial accumulation in this region, as a result of which the alluvium
has spread itself over the foot of the mound. The alluvial deposit above
the wedged-in margin of the mound (at _p_) being 3 feet 8 inches in
thickness, and the alluvium deposited underneath it from the beginning
of the formation of the mound measuring only 1-1/2 feet, and assuming
the increase to have been absolutely uniform, a period two and a half
times as long has passed since the ceasing of its peripheral growth, as
had been necessary for a peripheral growth of 17 feet on each side. The
cessation of this peripheral growth of the mound, however, is not
identical with the cessation of its growth altogether. It took place
apparently when the mound began to grow more acutely conical in shape,
whereby it increased to twice its former volume. Assuming that the mound
was abandoned 100 years before the end of the alluvial growth of the
land in the vicinity, then according to formula
100 × 2/3_f_ = 2-1/2 × 1/3_f_
it might be concluded that the mound was probably 600 years old before
it was abandoned.[17] Several numerical values upon which the formula is
based are unfortunately so uncertain that the result may not be
considered as more than suggestive of the possible age.
The sinking of the coast and the alluvial increase of the ground since
the first settlement of the mussel-eaters would in themselves give an
adequate measure for an estimate of the age of the mound if the measures
upon which both depend were not also unknown; according to Professor
Lawson, this probably occupied centuries at least.[18] At any rate, such
observations as have been made furnish good reasons for believing that
the founding of a settlement and the beginning of the heaping up of the
mound occurred at a remote date.
-----
[12] The shellmounds in the vicinity of the bay differ considerably in
shape and size. The majority appear as extended plateaus 10 to 12 feet
in height, others appear as slight undulations of the ground about five
feet in height. The truncated conical form is found more rarely; the
mound at Ellis Landing near Point Richmond approaches it somewhat in its
proportions. Many of these mounds cover acres of ground, _e.g._, the
mounds of Alameda, of Sausalito, of Sierra Point, of West Berkeley (in
its older form, now much changed). In tropical regions many shellmounds
are said to reach a height of 100 feet or more; this is known with
certainty of some in Brazil (cf. Nadaillac, _l. c._, p. 54), and also of
two near the dried-up mouth of the Ica river in Peru. Shellmounds as a
rule are much smaller. On the Atlantic coast near Smyrna a shellmound is
said to be thirty feet high (Short, _l. c._, p. 107), but the majority
of these mounds are less than four feet high (cf. Wyman, Amer.
Naturalist, 1868, I, p. 56 ff., and Abbott, _l. c._, p. 440), while many
of them extend over areas of more than two or three acres. A shellmound
near the mouth of the Altamaha river in Florida is estimated as having a
size of over 80,000 cubic yards (Smithson. Rep., 1866, p. 358). The
shellmounds of Denmark are only from 3 feet to 10 feet high, although
more than a thousand feet long (Ranke, Der Mensch, II, p. 552). Southern
California shellmounds generally are from 4 feet to 5 feet high (P.
Schumacher, Bull., _l. c._, p. 38; and Smithson. Rep., 1874, p. 337,
etc.). The same is the case with those mounds on the Aleutian Islands
explored by W. J. Dall. In Oregon there are some of at least 8 feet in
height (cf. Schumacher, _l. c._, p. 29).
[13] Shellmounds in the bay region are mostly in localities where there
is fresh water, a creek or a spring, generally the former. W. H. Dall
(Contributions, p. 34) observes that for the formation of shellmounds on
the Aleutian Islands two conditions are necessary, as a rule: running
water or a spring, and a site suitable for boat landing; one or the
other of these conditions lacking, no shellmounds are to be found. In
Oregon the shellmounds are generally to be found near a creek (cf.
Schumacher, _l. c._, p. 28). The same rule probably governs the
shellmounds of the East. D. G. Brinton found shellmounds in Florida
generally near running water (Smithson. Rep., 1866, p. 356), but he
supposes as the cause of this the greater abundance of shells near the
mouths of rivers, while it is certain that the presence of drinking
water was the main attraction.
[14] Parts of the eastern coast of the United States are sinking.
Several shellmounds on the Jersey coast are being washed away at present
(cf. Abbott, _l. c._, p. 448 ff.). The same may be observed with the
shellmounds near Ellis Landing on the Bay of San Francisco.
[15] Near the mouth of the valley of San Rafael a small hill rises from
the bay, the isolation of which from the mainland may be explained in
this way.
[16] Between the shellmounds of Emeryville and West Berkeley the shore
for a long stretch forms a steep bank up to twelve feet high, and broken
down by the water of the bay. Possibly the coast at this point formed a
promontory on the two sides of which these shellmounds were originally
founded, as in sheltered bays, similar to other mounds of this region.
[17] In that case the sinkage would have amounted to about 6 inches, the
alluvial increase to about 9 to 10 inches in a century.
[18] The rapidity of the sinkage of alluvial coasts varies greatly owing
to local conditions. For the Atlantic Coast the rate of sinkage is 2
feet per century (cf. Abbott, _l. c._, p. 449). Applying this same rate
to the eastern coast of the Bay, we would arrive at the absurd result
that the shellmound of Emeryville had begun to form in 1750, while that
date was presumably the end of its occupied state.
THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE MOUND.
The principal constituents of the mound are the shells. These have
nearly all crumbled into small fragments and are slightly mixed with
soil, which when damp gives the entire mass the appearance of pure soil.
When this is flooded with water the washing away of the sand produces no
noticeable change in its volume. This mass has mingled with it bits of
charcoal, bones of animals, ashes or cinders, and stones averaging about
the size of one’s fist and blackened by fire.[19] Marks of
stratification may be traced through almost the entire mound. Plate 5,
representing a photographic view of the excavation, shows the
stratification planes in the walls quite distinctly. The strata consist
of compact masses of more or less fragmentary shells, or of beds of
ashes or cinders. In many cases the latter seem to extend through the
entire mound. They are sometimes not thicker than a sheet of heavy
paper, but show the general direction of the bedding planes, and form a
clear contrast with the homogeneous, dark mass of broken shells.[20]
These planes become somewhat less distinct in the deeper strata.[21] As
in other shellmounds,[22] there were observed certain rounded masses of
shells intersecting the lines of stratification. These are caused by
holes, made by moles or other burrowing animals, being afterward
refilled with shells.[23]
In some shellmounds in other regions strata of earth and sand were found
between the shell layers. These give evidence of a temporary evacuation
of the shellmound. No evidence of this character was obtained in the
study of the Emeryville mound, where the only occurrence of a natural
vegetable soil is the surface cover of 1 to 2 inches in thickness, which
has formed since the mound was finally abandoned.[24] It is possible
that slight differences in the state of preservation of the shell
deposits which now mark the strata lines may have been caused by
differences in the length of time of occupation. Other explanations
might, however, be offered.
The lines of stratification mark clearly the gradual development of the
strata of the mound from the base until the present truncated cone was
formed. It is apparent that two different principles governed the growth
of the mound. At certain periods it tended to take on a shallow plateau
form. At other times a conical shape developed without the corresponding
increase around the base. According to the first principle the mound
grew in the form of a plateau to a height of from 9 to 10 feet. Near _C_
in pl. 4 the edge of the plateau still seems to be traceable, from which
point the strata inclined downward. At that period the mound resembled
in its proportions the old Indian camping places of the interior valley,
some of which are still occupied; or some of the shellmounds along the
Bay which have been abandoned at some earlier period. The undulating
lines of the strata, such as seen near _f_ and _g_, suggest
irregularities of the old plateau surface, similar to those which may be
observed in the surfaces of camp locations of the interior, which have
been abandoned for decades. The hollows from 20 to 40 feet in length
mark the sites of former sweat-houses or council-halls; these curves,
such as that from _f_ to _g_, may have a similar origin.[25]
The manner in which the mound was occupied for habitation varied in the
upper strata. With the growth of the mound the diameter of the plateau
decreased instead of expanding. From line _b_ upward the strata incline
obliquely toward the sides. This change in the manner of forming the
mound signifies a change in the character of its occupants. It would be
interesting to determine, if possible, the exact line where these two
types of growth have met. It might have been about 12 feet above the
base, so that the mound grew in the shape of a shallow plateau as far as
the middle of stratum V in pl. 4, and that it changed after this period
to its conical form.
-----
[19] The descriptions of nearly all the shellmounds explored in other
parts of the world tally exactly with this one; cf. Ranke, _l. c._, II,
p. 532, for the Danish Kjökkenmöddinger; Schumacher, on the general
similarity of shellmounds of the Pacific Coast with the mounds in
Denmark, Smithson. Rep., 1874, p. 355, etc.
[20] Although no shellmound is free from stratification marks, owing to
the gradual growth of the strata, Brinton maintains that this is the
case with shellmounds on the Atlantic Coast (Smithson. Rep., 1866, p.
356).
[21] Compare the interesting observations of Wyman (Amer. Naturalist, I,
p. 571) concerning shellmounds of New England, that there the shells of
the lowest stratum were softer and more crumbled than those of the upper
strata.
[22] Cf. Wyman, _l. c._, p. 365, on a shellmound in the vicinity of
Portland, Me.
[23] Similar holes made by moles may be observed occasionally upon old
shellmounds along the Bay, which if they had been refilled with shells
might also have assumed a rounded form. In such a manner may be
explained the finding of a modern steel knife, with the wooden parts
still well preserved, in one of the strata of the shellmound of West
Berkeley in a place to all appearances undisturbed.
[24] Cf. also Wyman, _l. c._, p. 571. The absence of true soil from the
interior of the mound is proof that at no time was the mound abandoned
by its occupants long enough to allow of the formation of such a
stratum.
[25] Somewhat smaller but quite similar hollows are still preserved upon
the surface of the shellmound of Ellis Landing, and are doubtless sites
of houses of that nature.
CONSTITUENTS OF THE MOUND.
_Shells._—The shell layers of the mound are composed principally of the
following species:
Oysters, _Ostrea lurida_.
Mussel shells, _Mytilus edulis_ and _Mytilus californianus_.
Clams, _Macoma edulis_ and _Macoma nasuta_.
Many other kinds of shells, including the following species, were found
scattered through the mound:
_Purpura crispata_ and _canaliculata_.
_Cerithidea californica._
_Helix_, two species indet.
_Cardium corbis._
_Standella_, sp.
_Tapes staminea._
Of these last species, the cockle, _Cardium corbis_, and the clam,
_Tapes staminea_, occur quite frequently.[26] All of these were used as
food by the occupants of the mound. The various species of _Helix_ were
probably also used, as they were in more recent times eaten by the
California Indians.[27] It may be, however, that this species lived on
the mound.
The state of preservation of the shells is proportional to their natural
hardness. Hence the shells of the Macomas are the most conspicuous,
those of the mussels, as the most perishable, are the least noticeable
ones in the mound. The relative frequency of occurrence in the case of
the three most important species depends on different circumstances.
The lower and the upper strata of this mound are composed of the same
varieties of shells, in which point it is different from many
shellmounds in other regions. It is, however, true that oyster shells
predominate in the lower strata, while _Macoma_ shells are more numerous
in the upper ones.[28]
Visiting the different shellmounds in the vicinity of the Bay, one finds
a general similarity in the kinds of shells composing them. Rarely one
or another variety of shell, the _Macoma_ or the cockle, or some other,
is found to predominate. This general homogeneity of composition in the
shellmounds around the Bay, and the small differences in the amount of
any particular species, indicates as a whole the general similarity of
the shell fauna at many points about the Bay during the period of
occupation of the mounds.
The Indian camping grounds in the interior, although quite similar in
form and origin to the shellmounds on the coast, when opened generally
present a great difference in appearance. Traces of shells are almost
unnoticed from the outside, yet large quantities supplied as food by the
rivers of the interior are doubtless to be found in them. These shells
have been found during excavations, or their use has been confirmed by
persons who observed the mode of living of the Indians of these regions.
The Indians also obtained salt-water mussels by trade, even in quite
recent times. From the fact that shells are not in evidence on the
surface of the camp grounds, one must conclude that their use
diminished.
_Bones._—Bones of vertebrates are also found in most of the
shellmounds. These together with the shells represent the debris of
their kitchens. No other shellmound has been seen where so large a
quantity of bones was observed as in that at Emeryville. Bones of land
and sea mammals, of birds, and of fishes were found in abundance
throughout the mound, and fairly evenly distributed in the strata. This
fact is the more remarkable since the shellmound at West Berkeley,
scarcely two miles distant, does not yield nearly such quantities of
bone as this one. The occupants of the mound at Emeryville at all
periods were huntsmen to a great degree, besides being fishermen; those
of the mound at West Berkeley seem to have depended largely upon
fishing; hence the stone sinkers were far more numerous in that mound
than at Emeryville.
So far the fauna of only the lowest strata up to 3 feet above the base
have been studied. The following species obtained in this horizon were
determined by Dr. W. J. Sinclair.
Deer, _Cervus_ sp.
Elk, _Cervus canadensis_.
Sea-otter, _Enhydrus lutris_.
Beaver, _Castor canadensis_.[29]
Squirrel, _Spermophilus_ sp.
Rabbit, _Lepus_ sp.
Gopher, _Thomomys talpoides_.
Raccoon, _Procyon lotor_.
Wild cat, _Lynx_ sp.
Wolf, _Canis_ sp.
Bear, _Ursus_ sp.
Dog, _Canis familiaris_.[30] (_?_)
Seal, _Phoca_ sp.
Sea-lion.
Whale.
Porpoise?
Canvasback Duck, _Aythya vallisneria_.
Goose?
Cormorant, _Phlaeocorax_ sp.
Turtle.
Skates, Thornbacks, and other fish.
No traces of cannibalism have been detected. Most of the hollow bones of
larger mammals, and even the smaller bones of the foot, were found to
have been split to get at the marrow.[31]
_Fireplaces._—These were generally known by beds several feet in length
consisting of charcoal and yellowish ashes. They occurred in many spots
throughout the mound. Numberless scattered bits of charcoal[32] and
pebbles, mostly about the size of one’s fist and blackened by fire, were
further evidences of the continuous use of fire in the preparation of
food. In no instance were there any stones set in rows for fireplaces,
such as have been observed elsewhere, as in a shellmound near Sierra
Point, where stones are plentiful.[33] A very peculiar feature of this
mound is a yellowish layer of ashes comprising the entire depth of
stratum II in pl. IV, and tapering towards the edge of the mound. Above
it lies only the uppermost stratum (I), that of vegetable soil. Though
calcined shells[34] occurred elsewhere in the mound, they were
especially numerous in this ash stratum, and in some spots all shells
were calcined. The origin of this ash stratum will be explained later. A
similar bed is to be seen in a central layer of the shellmound at West
Berkeley, and another one of similar thickness but shorter in a mound
near Sausalito.
_Human Remains and Relics._—A large part of the Emeryville mound
consists of remains which have been deposited here by man. Among these
are molluscan shells with bones of fish and mammals, used as articles of
food. In the narrower sense the human relics consist of the bones of
man, graves, and artifacts, which are all found in greater or less
abundance throughout the whole thickness of the mound. Actual human
bones were not found to be common in this part of the mound except in
stratum II, and in the graves of stratum VII. The artifacts obtained
were only those of very resistant material, such as stone or shell. All
other kinds, such as textiles of plant fibre, baskets, and implements of
wood, which doubtless have also existed, had disappeared. The more
resistant artifacts were distributed throughout all layers of the
mound.[35]
About 200 cubic meters of earth were removed and sifted during the
excavations, and yielded 600 artifacts of various kinds, averaging three
specimens to one cubic meter. The volume of the whole mound we computed
to be about 39,000 cubic meters, and it may be assumed that by
excavating the entire mound the yield would be about 100,000 specimens,
which indicates that many generations must have lived here to deposit
such a large number of objects of imperishable material alone.[36]
The same computation was applied to each separate layer in the mound,
and it was shown that the yield differed according to the section and
the stratum explored. The open cut _A_ yielded one specimen to .75 cb.
m., and the tunnel _B_ and the pits _h_ to _m_, six per cb. m. Section
_C_ yielded three artifacts to one cb. m. This computation shows that
sections nearer the center of the mound yielded the greater number,
those toward the edge a smaller number. It also appears that the lower
strata contained a larger percentage of artifacts than the upper ones.
If, however, the number of flaked chert fragments were subtracted from
the yield of the lower strata, their percentage would be much the same
as that of the higher layers. The following are the contents of the
various strata:
Stratum I had 20 artifacts per 15-1/2 cb. m. = 1.3 per cb. m.
Stratum II, 30 cb. m—133 objects = 4.4 per cb. m.
Stratum III, 20-2/3 cb. m—27 objects = 1.16 per cb. m.
Stratum IV, 11-3/4 cb. m.—41 objects = 3.5 per cb. m.
Stratum V, 9-2/3 cb. m.—34 objects = 3.5 per cb. m.
Stratum VI, 4-1/5 cb. m.—9 objects = 2.1 per cb. m.
Stratum VII, 2-4/5 cb. m.—10 objects = 3.5 per cb. m.
The specimens contained in the graves in strata VI and VII were not
counted in with the rest. This comparison shows mainly that stratum II
is the richest in implements. The connection of this fact with the
preponderance of ashes will be pointed out later.
-----
[26] Eight-tenths of all the shells found in the Oregon shellmounds
belong to the species of _Mytilus californianus_, _Tapes staminea_,
_Cardium nuttalii_, and _Purpura lactuca_ (Schumacher, Smithson. Rep.,
1874, p. 335).
[27] As by the Minooks and the Nishinams (Powers, _l. c._, pp. 348 and
430); and certainly the custom was a very general one.
[28] We were not so fortunate as was W. H. Dall in the shellmounds of
the Aleutian Islands in being able to make “a tolerably uniform
division” of the layers in the mound according to the various foods
used. (These layers were: “1, Echinus layer; 2, fishbone layer; 3,
hunting layer.” Contributions to North American Ethnology, I, p. 49.)
The shellmound of Emeryville presents a much greater similarity in the
kinds of food used during the different periods of its occupancy.
[29] Extinct in California, and in fact south of Washington; J. Wyman
found the remains of elk, wild turkey, and large auk in the shellmounds
of New England. The elk, though still in existence, is no longer to be
found east of the Allegheny Mountains; the wild turkey is still in
existence, but is not to be found in New England, while the auk lives
only in the Arctic regions, or at least not farther south than the
northern part of Newfoundland (Amer. Naturalist, I, p. 572).
[30] Also found in the shellmounds of New England.
[31] Cf. for shellmounds in Denmark: Ranke, _l. c._, II, p. 532, for
those of the Atlantic Coast, Wyman, _l. c._, p. 575 (New England) and
Abbott, _l. c._, p. 442 (New York).
[32] Analogous is the statement of Wyman, _l. c._, p. 564, about the
shellmounds of New England.
[33] Cf. also Hellwald, Der vorgeschichtliche Mensch, p. 449, on the
Kjökkenmöddinger of Denmark.
[34] Nadaillac, _l. c._, p. 50, states from uncertain authority that a
shellmound near San Pablo was said to consist of calcined shells
exclusively, which is certainly an exaggeration.
[35] It is alleged that there are shellmounds in the East which contain
no implements at all, and have been used for the gathering of mussels
only, and not as dwelling places (Abbott, p. 447, accord. to Charles A.
Woodley). Equally uncertain seems to be the distinction made by
Schumacher between shellmounds yielding few artifacts and those
containing a larger number, as representing a place for temporary or
permanent habitation. Similarly dubious is that classification which
considers the piling up of shells in various separate heaps as proof of
permanent abode and that of single mounds for the use only as temporary
stopping places (Smithson. Rep., 1874, pp. 337 to 338).
[36] W. J. Dall (contrib. _l. c._, I, p. 47) states that during his
excavations of the shellmounds of the Aleutian Islands he found on the
average one object in one-half ton of earth. This would be 2.63 objects
to one cb. m. The yield of the Emeryville shellmound is three objects to
one cb. m.
BURIALS.
Shellmounds originate on the accumulated refuse deposited by people who
have lived in the place when the heap has formed, and the mounds may
therefore be regarded as sites for dwelling places, or abodes for the
living, and not as mounds set aside as burial grounds by people living
elsewhere in the vicinity. Whenever these mounds were used for burials
it was not done in spite of their being dwelling places, but rather
because they were such.[37]
Many tribes of a low grade of civilization follow the custom of burying
their dead underneath their feet in the ground upon which they live, to
protect the graves of their dead against being disturbed and also to
enjoy the protection of the spirits of the departed against their
enemies. Wherever graves are found in shellmounds, in all parts of the
world, their presence is generally to be explained in this way.[38]
Ten graves containing skeletons were found during the excavations. They
were found only in the middle layers of the mound in a zone extending
from stratum VI to stratum VIII. The two lowest layers and the five
upper ones contained no evidence of interment, indicating that the
custom of burial underneath the dwelling places was observed in one
period only. We have no evidence concerning the location of the burials
previous to that period or subsequent to it. A burial site slightly
elevated above the plain was unearthed some years ago under a shellmound
near the principal mound in Emeryville, but as this probably dated from
the same period as the graves in the shellmound no light is thrown upon
the question.
In the upper strata of the mound there is, however, furnished evidence
of a different manner of disposing of the dead, which was observed
during the period of the deposition of strata II, III, and IV. During
the period represented by strata VI to VIII the dead were buried in the
ground. It has already been shown that stratum II consists mainly of
ashes and calcined shells, which cannot be regarded as kitchen-midden
deposit or as the remains of fireplaces, the latter forming an
inconspicuous part of the stratum. Another characteristic feature of
this layer is the high percentage of calcined bone implements found
there. Very common among them are awls, of which stratum II contained 44
calcined specimens, or 72 per cent. of the whole number. In the other
layers a much smaller number has been found, but the percentage of
calcined specimens is high. The supposition that these were accidentally
burned cannot be considered an adequate explanation, but the fact that a
number of human bones were found at the same place in the strata gives
weight to the theory that during the deposition of the upper beds the
inhabitants of this region practiced cremation of their dead, a custom
common among the California tribes of today. Then as now they were
accustomed to burn all personal belongings with the body.[39] This
accounts for the large number of calcined bone objects and shells in
stratum II. Doubtless a large number of shell-fish were thrown into the
fire as food for the departed on their long journey into the next world.
Doubtless the practice of cremation was not confined alone to the period
of stratum II. The percentage of calcined awls in other strata than this
suggests that the builders during the accumulation of stratum I, and
probably also of III and IV and parts of V, practiced this custom, but
to a less extent than in the period of stratum II, or mainly at other
places than the mound.
Eight of the ten graves containing skeletons lay close together in the
narrow space of the middle section of the excavation. Four were found in
strata VI and VII of the upper cut _C_. Four of the graves were those of
children, lying at different depths in the line of the tunnel. Two other
graves were isolated from the others, lying in the edge of the mound.
None of the burials were less than nine feet below the present surface.
The lowest grave, No. 10 (pl. IV, fig. 2), was 21 feet below the
surface. In accordance with the stratification lines of the mound,
graves 1 and 2, as well as 6, 8, and 9, may be considered as belonging
to the period of strata VII and VII_a_. The eight graves which lay close
together in the middle of the main excavation were distributed over a
space of about 90 square feet. The vertical distance from the uppermost
to the lowest of these was nine feet. As the tunnel inclines toward the
center of the mound it is not certain whether the cemetery extended
through the entire mound or was only around the margin of a settlement
on the summit of the mound at the time when it was in use. From the
depths at which the different graves were found, varying about nine
feet, it is clear that they were not constructed within a short period,
but that long periods intervened, during which the mound grew very
considerably through the deposition of refuse. P. Schumacher explored
the graves of Oregon, which lay at a depth of from 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 feet
below the surface, and probably the tribes of the Pacific Coast buried
their dead in comparatively shallow graves.[40] In the case of a child’s
grave (No. 9, pl. 4, fig. 2) it was seen by the stratification lines
that it was not made deeper than 1-1/2 feet below the surface. Assuming
this as being the general depth of the graves throughout the mound, then
the graves varying between 2-1/2 and 12-1/2 feet above the base of the
mound were dug at periods when the entire height of the mound was about
5 to 14 feet, hence the period of these burials would have to be placed
entirely during the time of the earlier plateau-like growth of the
mound. This period of burial is very closely followed by that of
cremation, the two possibly overlapping.
The preparation of the graves was not elaborate. A simple pit sufficed.
It was made large enough to place the body in it with the knees drawn
up. The sides of the grave were left bare. If a covering existed
originally it must have been of perishable materials, for none have been
found in excavation. The bottom of the grave, however, was prepared
somewhat like a bed. A layer of charcoal from one-half inch to one inch
thick is found at the very bottom, above that another layer of like
thickness of iron oxide. Upon this the body was laid on its side. It is
evident that the body was buried with its clothing and personal
ornaments, in exceptional cases with utensils or implements only. The
body was tightly bound at the knees before burial. Owing to climatic
conditions, causing excessive moisture in the strata, the greater part
of the material buried with the corpse has decayed and disappeared. Five
of the ten graves were entirely lacking in implements or other
artifacts.
Before burial the body was entirely covered with the red earth mentioned
above. This settled down upon the bones after decomposition and is still
adhering to them in some cases like a thick crust. The hands were placed
on the body in different ways. In several instances the left hand rested
upon the knees, while the other was raised to the mouth or to the crown
of the head. The corpse is usually laid upon the right side, generally
facing northeast. Associated with a number of skeletons were a variety
of interesting ornaments, including beads made from shells of _Olivella_
and other molluscs and from sections of bird bones strung together. With
skeleton No. 4 were associated a large number of perforated mica flakes.
The flakes of mica may originally have been fastened to a garment which
shrouded the dead, and when this decayed in the earth the flakes
remained there about the body. Beads of bird bone were found in the
mouth also, but their presence there might be explained by the settling
of the skull in the earth. Mica was much used by the Indians for
ornamentation. It has been observed in Peru in a number of cases in the
vicinity of graves, but circumstances did not show whether its presence
there was purely accidental or not. In the mounds of the middle west of
the United States there have sometimes been found ornaments of thin
plates of mica of round or oval form, provided with holes to fasten them
to the clothing.[41] Similar objects were found in West Virginia and
elsewhere. Pieces of mica 2 or 3 inches in size are reported to have
been found in mounds or in places suggestive of their use for religious
purposes.[42] Beads like the above mentioned from California, both from
graves and from living Indians, were pictured by Holmes.[43] With burial
six was a bone ring set with shell beads fastened on with asphalt. In
burial seven were numerous bone rings similarly decorated with shell
beads. Also in burial seven was found a large quartz crystal. One end of
the crystal is preserved unbroken. The other end is capped with
asphaltum in which numerous small shell beads are set. Quartz crystals
have been found elsewhere in California in graves.[44] The above
mentioned crystal, however, reminds us most strongly of a number of
crystals one foot in length and of the thickness of one’s arm, found
during the excavation of the western wall of the Temple of the Moon at
Moche (Trujillo), in Peru, now in the collection of the University of
California. These, too, had the coating of red coloring earth, the same
as the object shown on pl. 11, fig. 9, and were found under peculiar
conditions pointing strongly to their religious significance.
Several peculiar bone implements were obtained in burial eight.
The mode of burial seen here resembles that observed elsewhere in the
shellmounds of California, for example, near San Luis Obispo, and that
of other regions on the Pacific Coast (Oregon), and it is still followed
among the California Indian tribes. The burial of the corpse with its
knees drawn up has also been observed in Southern California[45] and
Oregon.[46] From the latter region also the varying positions in which
the corpses face is confirmed by Schumacher.[47]
To the layer of charcoal and red iron oxide which generally formed the
bed of the dead may be compared the “thick burned brick-like crusts” and
the “thin light colored crusts” found by Schumacher in Southern
California graves.[48] A large number of lumps of red coloring earth
were found throughout the mound, some of these showing marks of scraping
or cutting. In Southern California graves we find conditions resembling
these almost identically.[49] Up to recent times the California Indians
very generally painted their bodies, and there is undoubtedly a
religious significance in this practice of daubing the corpses and
associated objects with red coloring material, besides depositing them
on red earth. The custom of putting red coloring matter on the body of
the dead is found with many aboriginal tribes. So the Caribs in
Jamaica[50] paint the entire body of the corpse. The Santees of South
Carolina[51] painted face, neck, and hands of the corpse. The
Dakotas[52] painted the face alone. In a number of Peruvian mummies the
faces were painted red. Crania from ancient Peruvian graves that had
been disturbed at some early time were also found covered with red
paint.
The absence of implements is explained by Schumacher by the analogous
custom of the lower Klamath tribes, where the implements are laid upon
the grave instead of being buried with the dead.[53] This custom may
have prevailed in this shellmound.
It was an unfortunate circumstance that the exploration in Emeryville
occurred at a season of the year when the interior of the mound was
still very damp from preceding rains. For this reason none of the skulls
could be secured intact, and they will need to be carefully prepared
before use can be made of them for anthropological study. It may be
noted that none of them show striking eccentricities of form.
Following is a detailed statement of the occurrence and the contents of
each of the ten burials excavated.
No. 1, pl. IV, fig. 2, was found 9 feet below the present surface; it
may be contemporaneous with the graves of stratum VII (as 6 and 9). The
skeleton was that of an adult, drawn up in the usual manner. It was laid
on its right side and was facing east. The left arm rested upon the
knee, the right hand on the crown of the head, where also was found a
cockleshell. The skeleton lay on a bed of red soil; the bones were
slightly reddened. No associated objects.
No. 2. Skeleton of an adult, found at a depth of 9 feet in the outer
part (A) of the excavation; neither red earth nor associated objects
present. The burial dated probably from the same period as the
preceding.
No. 3. Grave of a young person, about 15 years of age, in stratum VI.
The skeleton was facing northwest. No artifacts or other associated
objects.
No. 4. Grave of an adult, in stratum VI. The skeleton lay from east to
west upon a double bed of charcoal and red earth. Interspersed in the
soil were found a great quantity of flakes of mica 1 to 1-3/4 inches in
diameter, rhomboidal, triangular, and irregular in shape, and each with
a hole at one end (see pl. 11, fig. 18); also a quantity of beads made
of bird bones were found upon the cranium as if they had formed part of
a net drawn over it; others lay along the sides of the head and along
the temples.
No. 5. Skeleton of an adult lying from east to west and facing north.
Stratum VI. The cranium shows a lupus-like mutilation of the nose (fig.
2). No ornaments.
[Illustration: Fig. 2.* Skull showing lupus-like mutilation of the nose.
× 1/2. [*Fig. 1 has been omitted owing to double references in the
manuscript.—Editor.]]
No. 6. Grave of a child a little over a year old, found in the tunnel in
stratum VII_a_, at a depth of 17 feet below the surface. It lay from
north to south upon a bed of charcoal and red earth. Various ornaments
and other articles were taken from this grave, all covered with red
earth. A number of shell beads, both flat (cf. pl. 11, figs. 6_a_ and
6_b_), and concave forms (pl. 11, figs. 5_a_ and 5_b_) lay in rows from
the neck down along the body, and were originally necklaces; two bored
round pieces and two oblong ones (pl. 11, figs. 1 and 2) of _Haliotis_
shell had completed the necklace. An unusual object (pl. 11, fig. 8)
found here was a flat ring three-eighths of an inch wide,
three-sixteenths of an inch thick, neatly made of stone, both surfaces
being decorated with a number of shell beads, originally 11 to 12 on
each side, fastened with asphaltum. This object may have been a pendant,
but doubtless it possessed talismanic virtues.
Shell beads like the larger convex ones of _Olivella_ sp. have been
pictured by Holmes as objects belonging to early and modern Indians of
California. Possibly they also resemble the shell coin “Kolkol” of the
modern Indians, which is made of _Olivella biplicata_, according to
Powers, and was strung in such a manner that the beads faced each other
in pairs, but are not much in use in modern times.
A shell ring of similar proportions as above, but differing through its
inferior material and the absence of decoration, has also been pictured
by Holmes as coming from Illinois, and as being an ear ornament
presumably, while the object described above could not have served that
purpose.
No. 7. Grave of a child about one year old, found in stratum VIII, about
21 feet below the surface of the mound. The body lay upon the usual bed
of charcoal and of red earth and all the little bones were thickly
covered with red coloring matter. The grave was as rich in artifacts as
the preceding one. A number of small shell beads (as in pl. 11, fig. 6)
were found near the wrist. The following objects were taken from the
earth about the body:
Three oblong ornaments, bored, of _Haliotis_ shell (pl. 11, fig. 1), a
number of very small shells of _Olivella_ sp. having bored ends, which
fact shows that they were used as ornaments; 11 bead-like rings of bone,
each being about one inch long and seven-sixteenths of an inch thick;
each has a band of asphaltum in which three or four small shells were
imbedded (pl. 11, figs. 10, 11). While these rings may have been mere
ornaments, the following unusual object (pl. 11, fig. 9) taken from the
same grave must without doubt have talismanic importance. It is a piece
of quartz crystal 2-15/16 inches long and 1-1/2 inches thick, having
perfect lateral edges and points; the broken base of the crystal is
capped with asphaltum in which numerous small shell beads are set.
All these objects were thickly coated with red coloring matter. For the
small ornamental _Olivella_ shells compare similar ones from Santa Rosa
Island, California, pictured by Holmes (l. c., fig. 7). The bone ring
resembles the thick bead-like bone ring taken from another of the
graves, stratum VII_a_, of the mound.
No. 8. Burial of an adult, in stratum VII, found above the tunnel. The
body in the usual squatting position was placed from north to south,
facing east, upon a bed of red earth and was itself colored red. This
grave contained besides objects of personal adornment a number of bone
implements. The former consisted of a number of beads made of bird bone
(types similar to object pl. 11, figs. 15 to 17) and a like number of
_Olivella_ shells bored at the lower end (pl. 11, fig. 3); they were
scattered in the earth about the body. One of the _Olivella_ shells was
perforated on its side (pl. 11, fig. 4). Several of the bone beads were
connected in twos by thinner bones (pl. 11, fig. 15). It may be assumed
that the bone beads and shells had been fastened to a garment that
served as a shroud for the body but has now disappeared.
The bone implements taken from this grave have the shape of paper
cutters; there are five in all, representing two distinct types. Three
are made of a hard bone (pl. 8, fig. 4) and are imperfect at their upper
ends; the form is that of a horn, the worn edges show their use as
tools; the other two objects (pl. 8, fig. 5) are made of a much softer
bone; they are unfinished at their lower ends. The two types are
distinct, although it is difficult to compare them in their very
imperfect condition. The upper end of the implement of the second type
shows two hooked projections connected by an outward bending of their
rims. They have each a hole on the lower edge of such a size as to admit
a finger, to facilitate the handling of the tool. Neither of these types
was met in other parts of the mound.
An _Olivella_ shell with side perforation similar to that of plate 11,
fig. 4, from a grave on Santa Rosa Island has been represented by
Holmes[54]. Bone beads similar to that of figs. 16 and 17 on plate 11
were found in nearly all the strata of the mound; two of these are shown
in figs. 13 and 14 of the same plate, the former, 1-8702, from stratum
IV, the latter, 1-8743, from stratum V. It also has a remnant of a
former axle-like connection with another bead as was shown in fig. 15
from stratum V. Bone beads have been widely used as objects of adornment
by the California Indians, as is the case with many tribes in other
parts of the world[55]. With the Yokuts bird bone pieces of 2-1/2 inches
in length at one time represented a value of 12-1/2 cents.
No. 9. A child’s grave, in stratum VII_a_, in the tunnel about 18 feet
below the surface. The associated objects were convex shell beads (cf.
pl. 11, figs. 5_a_ and 5_b_) and a cockleshell upon the crown of the
head (cf. grave No. 1).
No. 10. Grave of an infant with very delicate bones. It was found in the
lowest part of section VIII, 23 feet below the surface.
-----
[37] See P. Schumacher, Bull. _l. c._, p. 38, for burials in the mounds
on the Island of San Miguel.
[38] Virchow found them in the Spanish shellmounds (Ranke, _l. c._, II,
p. 533), while in those of Denmark they are absent. Schumacher (Smiths.
Rep., 1874, p. 337) states that he observed shellmounds in Southern
California which had been temporary abodes only and were devoid of
graves; while D. G. Brinton asserts that in Florida graves occurred in
natural shellmounds, while artificial shellmounds were free of them (_l.
c._, 1866, p. 357). Such general statements cannot be accepted unless
they are supported by observations over larger fields than these.
[39] H. C. Yarrow, Introduction to the mortuary custom among the North
American Indians, 1880, p. 58, points out that this custom was general
among those Indians who cremated their dead.
[40] Bulletin U. S. Geol. and Geogr. Survey, III, p. 34. In other places
shellmound graves lie deeper; thus sometimes three to six feet on the
Island of San Miguel (P. Schumacher, Bull. _l. c._, p. 38).
[41] Charles Rau, Ancient Aboriginal Trade in North America, Smithson.
Rep., 1872, p. 361 (from G. Squier).
[42] _l. c._, p. 360.
[43] Art in Shell, Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1880
to 1881, pl. XXIII, fig. 6.
[44] P. Schumacher, Smithson. Rep., 1874, p. 349.
[45] Central California, cf. also Moorehead, _l. c._, p. 259.
[46] P. Schumacher, Bull. _l. c._, p. 34.
[47] F. W. Putnam, Rep. upon U. S. Geogr. Surveys, _l. c._, p. 30;
Schumacher, Smithson. Rep., 1874, p. 341.
[48] Smithson. Rep., 1874, p. 342.
[49] Putnam, _l. c._, p. 22; Schumacher, Smithson. Reports, 1874, p.
350.
[50] Yarrow, Introduction to the Study of Mortuary Customs among the
North American Indians, 1880, p. 54.
[51] Schoolcraft, Archives of Aboriginal Knowledge, 1860, IV, p. 156.
[52] Yarrow, _l. c._, p. 71.
[53] Bulletin _l. c._, p. 34.
[54] Art in Shell, pl. XXXII, fig. 2.
[55] W. H. Dall, for instance, found them among other places in
shellmounds on the Aleutian Islands (Smithson. Contrib., 1878, No. 318,
pl. 10, No. 17261.)
AGE OF THE MOUND.
The shellmounds of the environs of San Francisco Bay are almost the only
witnesses of a practically unknown period in the early history of this
region.[56] They appear to us at first investigation unintelligible,
both as regards the beginning and the end of the period during which
they served as human abodes. For a solution of the problem before us the
most diverse kinds of investigations must be carried on, before the
principal facts of this history can be clearly brought out.
Shellmounds can be found along almost all parts of the inhabited coast.
In California as well as in other parts of the world they originate by
the accumulation of remnants of food, especially the shells of the
mollusca which are used as articles of diet. In the midst of the
remnants of food cast aside by him, man clung to his place of abode,
raising it more and more above the general level of the ground through
the gradual accumulation of these materials. Hence these localities
represent, in certain stages of human development, true but nevertheless
low types of human dwelling places. The manner of procuring the
essentials of life by collecting shells in itself indicates a low form
of human existence. In all parts of the world, even today, people may be
seen on the shore at low water gathering for food the shells uncovered
by the retreating tide; and although under the changed conditions of
life they raise no shellmounds, these people always belong to the lower
classes of society, and lead in this manner a primitive as well as a
simple life. Peoples depending for food upon collecting shells are
usually not agriculturists, but fishermen, and perhaps hunters as a
secondary occupation. Their implements are of the rudest kind, made of
bone, stone, wood, and the like. Industries of a more highly developed
kind, _e.g._, the dressing of ore and working it up into various
implements, remained unknown to them, except in perhaps a few instances.
Thus it seems natural to connect the origin of shellmounds in general
with the work of prehistoric generations, _i.e._, man of the stone age.
The only condition necessary for their origin is, that the people who
raised them lived somewhat close together and therefore possessed a
certain social organization. For only in many centuries or even in tens
of centuries could even large groups of men pile up such enormous
quantities of kitchen debris into hills which come to form prominent
features of the landscape. Though little is definitely known, the
beginnings of human social organization evidently reached back into
Quaternary time, just as is the case with the beginnings of human
ornamentation. There is therefore no good reason why the origin of the
shellmounds could not date back to Quaternary time. In this connection
mention must be made of the fact that, according to Cook,[57] stone
implements of argillite, which would consequently be attributed to the
palaeolithic man, were found in a shellmound of New Jersey. The well
known shellmounds of Denmark, the so-called “Kjoekkenmoeddings” (_i.e._,
“Kitchen debris”), which first attracted the attention of scientists to
the remnants left by prehistoric men, are not so old.[58] Nevertheless,
it has been possible to prove by them that Denmark had at the time of
their origin a flora considerably different from that of the present,
and that the Auerhahn, too, lived there, which does not exist in Denmark
today. J. Wyman, a very careful explorer of the shellmounds of New
England, does not consider the Atlantic shellmounds of this continent as
old as those of Denmark.[59] He seems to have taken this view because he
met with no authentic proofs of a greater age. These were difficult to
obtain. Yet he calls attention to the finding of traces of the auk, the
wild turkey, and the elk in those shellmounds, _i.e._, animals which no
longer exist in the region of shellmounds investigated by him. According
to him, their disappearance took place in historic times.
In determining the age of the Emeryville mound we note first the fact
that no traces of typical Quaternary animals were found in it. It is
interesting to find that this mound resembles those just mentioned in
regard to the finding of traces of the beaver, an animal no longer met
with in this region. It was found in one of the lower strata of the
mound. How far it reaches upward cannot as yet be decided, since the
large number of bones taken from the upper beds have not all been
examined. Since the time that remains of this animal were deposited in
the lower strata of the mound, the beaver has retreated from this
region, in fact from the whole of California, in a northerly direction,
possibly up to Washington. When it left this region is not known. We
cannot, however, be certain that this retreat may not have commenced in
recent times.
Another fact of importance in fixing the age of this mound is found in
the apparent change of level of the strata upon which the original
layers of the mound were placed. As nearly as can be determined, the
original fundament upon which the mound stands has sunk at least three
feet. The base of the mound, formerly probably one foot above the usual
high water level[60] of the bay, lies at present two feet below. If the
mound with its environs had not since grown above the level of the
original floor, it would be inundated completely for several hours twice
a day. The length of time required for such a subsidence we can of
course not determine with any exactness, as no measure of subsidence is
available. In all probability it is to be taken an indication of
considerable antiquity.
Further facts upon which an approximation of the age of the mound may be
based are of a purely anthropological nature. Usually the early period
in which man made use solely of flaked stone tools is contrasted with
the later age when polished as well as chipped stone implements were
used. In the very lowest stratum of the hill, almost down at the base,
there were found stone implements of the well known palaeolithic
turtle-back form. A pestle fragment which came from the lower stratum of
the mound, though having a completely disintegrated exterior, seems to
have originally been artificially rounded. A mortar fragment found low
down may have originated from an implement which was formed, as is often
the case, out of a common boulder. But before it broke from this object
the mortar was deeply worn out, just as others that have come down to
our times. Also, the deep concavity of its rims speaks for long
continued wear. The next stratum (two to four feet above the base of the
mound) yielded the fragment of a pestle of irregular, not rounded cross
section. Here a common oblong pebble may have been used as a pestle.
Besides these, the two lower strata furnished only an oval, flattened
pebble, probably used as a hammer, the only one of its kind in the whole
mound.
These four stone implements represent the only specimens of the two
lowest strata of the mound which are not chipped. A little above these
the excellently polished tool 1-8925 (pl. 10, fig. 9) was found (in
stratum VIII). This is the only one of such workmanship before the IVth
stratum upwards. Therefore it is by no means impossible that rubbed or
polished stone implements, excepting mortars and pestles, were unknown
at the time of the origin of the lower strata, and that their use was
rather limited in the succeeding strata. But the presence of mortar
fragments and pestles in the lowest strata points toward a higher
development of the human type than is usually expected of men who use
flaked tools only.
It will have become evident from the foregoing remarks that the general
zoological, geological, and anthropological facts which are available
for fixing the age of the mound offer only indefinite evidence;
uncertain even for an approximate dating of the time of the mound’s
beginning. They do not preclude the possibility of an age numbering many
centuries; neither do they prove it. Under such circumstances it seems
proper to take into account some more general considerations which
appear in a study of the shellmounds of the bay as a whole.
We shall probably not make too great a mistake if we estimate the number
of the larger shellmounds around the Bay of San Francisco to be over
100. So many and such enormous shellmounds can not possibly have been
constructed by human hands unintentionally in any small number of
centuries. Furthermore, they form a link of a larger chain of similar
mounds which stretch northerly along the coast and inland from Southern
California to beyond Vancouver and possibly still farther; _i.e._, a
distance of 18 degrees of latitude. The extension of such a similar
manner of life over so great an area speaks of itself for the work of a
great number of centuries. Even the complete development of this
peculiar mode of existence, as represented in these mounds, must have
taken centuries. And this is the more probably true since in those
earlier stages of cultural evolution advances in the manner of living
were infinitely more difficult than they were later. Under these
circumstances it is only possible to assume that the origin of the
shellmounds in this region represents a historical development of more
than a thousand, possibly many thousand years.[61] If this holds good
generally for the origin of shellmounds among which the one at
Emeryville is, judged by its height, the character of its contents in
the lower strata, and the observed geological facts, by no means the
youngest, we have still to consider on the other hand the limits of the
time up to which these mounds may have been inhabited.
For a long time it has been customary to consider the last as well as
the first occupation of the shellmounds as belonging to the remote past.
The fact that in California no shellmound is known which is now
inhabited or has been inhabited in historic time would speak for this
assumption. However, many instances point to habitation of the mounds in
the most recent times, not only in a few places, but in different parts
of the whole inhabited world. And this cannot surprise us; for we can
see primitive man reach into the most recent, nay, even the present
time, in various parts of the globe. Thus, as is well known, the first
discoverers described the Indians of the Gulf of Mexico as men “living
in houses of mats erected upon hills of oysters.”[62] R. Schomburgh
attributes a large number of mounds made of snail shells, observed by
him near the mouth of the Orinoco river, to the Warrow Indians, who are
still living in that neighborhood. In the desolate coast lands of the at
present dry mouths of the Ica river in Peru there are two enormous
shellmounds which the writer has visited. Even now there remain large
parts of the wooden huts which were left behind on these shellmounds by
the last shell-eaters. Painted pot-fragments, patches of woven fibres,
and all kinds of bones lie scattered about. It would be an easy matter
to show that the last inhabitants of the hill exhibited the later
cultural conditions which prevailed during the time of the Incas in the
valleys of Pisco and Ica, about 1460 A.D.
Returning to California, there can be no doubt that the hill-like camp
places of the Indians in the interior of the country represented a local
variation of the shellmounds along the shore. The form and structure of
these camping places resemble the shellmounds of the coast. The material
differs in part, since the inhabitants of the inland had fewer shells at
their disposal. These camping places were inhabited by the Indians quite
recently, or are even now inhabited.[63] The time when the shellmounds
of the Bay shore were vacated by their owners was therefore probably not
very long ago. With this view coincides the fact that in the upper
strata of the shellmound burial is represented by cremation; a form of
burial observed up to the most recent times among the Indians of
California. The white immigrants settled first on the seacoast, and it
is therefore natural that the aborigines retreated earlier from their
shellmounds than their brethren in the interior did from their camp
places.
Thus, while the history of the shellmounds of this region probably
reaches back more than a thousand years into the past, it must have
extended almost to the threshold of modern times. The fact that their
roots reached far back into the prehistoric period of California does
not prevent our seeing the tops developing almost to the present day.
-----
[56] Powers, _l. c._, p. 375.
[57] Quoted by Abbott, _l. c._
[58] Cf. J. Ranke, Der Mensch, II, p. 536. Those shellmounds are placed
in the earlier stone age of the current geologic periods.
[59] _l. c._, p. 571.
[60] On an average once in every 14 days the high tide reaches a higher
mark, which, however, is not considered here.
[61] In a similar manner, Abbott, _l. c._, p. 449, closes a long general
exposition of the reasons which speak either for or against a relatively
great age of the shellmounds on the Atlantic coast, with the estimate of
an age of at least 1,000 years. His deductions are based upon geological
reasons (the sinking of the coast) and the dissimilarities of the
cultural remains found in the mounds. Peculiarly enough, D. G. Brinton,
reasoning from the analogy of the cultural character of the shellmounds
with that of the Indian tribes which the explorers met in this country,
thinks he has found an argument against a comparatively high age of the
shellmounds. W. H. Dall considers the lower strata of his well-explored
Aleutian shellmounds to have an age of about 1,000 years.
(Contributions, _l. c._, p. 53.)
[62] Abbott, _l. c._, p. 44.
[63] The old Indian camping place at Knight’s Landing (on the Fair
Ranch), at the mouth of a tributary of the Sacramento river, was
inhabited, according to authentic information (T. Coleman), as late as
1849 by 150-200 “Digger” Indians. They departed in 1865. The shells, of
which only a small number have been found, are of _Mytilus_. A similar
mound in Colusa county, 20 miles to the northwest, is still populated by
Indians. The Wintun Indians are still accustomed to obtain shells for
food by diving into the river. This caused Powers (_l. c._, p. 233) to
surmise that a race somewhat like theirs might have erected these
shellmounds.
CULTURAL STAGES REPRESENTED.
If we attribute to the shellmound an age representing many centuries,
cultural differences should be indicated in the successive strata. For
it is impossible that the cultural state of one and the same place
should have remained stationary for many centuries and, even judging by
the mass alone, the mound could not have reached such a height in less
than a considerable number of centuries. In attempting to discover
possible cultural differences we unfortunately meet with several
difficulties. The action of the climate has destroyed in all the strata
the objects which consisted of perishable materials. Only the more
resistant things remained. But the perishable materials are frequently
those in which the decorative sense of man expresses itself most easily,
and in which cultural differences are most distinctly shown. A further
unfortunate circumstance arises from the general trend to simplicity and
primitiveness of the tools of the inhabitants of all shellmounds. So
that the visible cultural differences which would generally appear with
a people of changing forms of life are imperfectly expressed. Finally,
many objects give only partial evidence as regards form and use, for
they were often mutilated previous to their deposition in the strata.
In examining the implements of successive layers of the mound we find
that awls and certain knife-like tools found in nearly all known
shellmounds are met with in all of the strata, while ornaments
consisting of _Haliotis_ shells and other simple objects of decoration
made of shells, corresponding in general appearance to those which are
still in use among the Indians, are met with in the graves of the VIth
to the VIIIth strata. In the deepest strata, however, there have not
been found any bone beads, ornaments of _Haliotis_ shells, or saw-like
tools such as are known above the VIIIth stratum. Thus there is some
support for the suggestion that cultural differences are expressed in
the history of the mound.
One of the most striking differences indicating a change in the
character of the people whose cultural stages are represented in the
successive strata is found in the different forms of burial. The use of
cremation appears for the first time in the 4th stratum and extends to
the upper, completely undisturbed stratum (II). In the IVth stratum out
of 11 bone awls only 4 are calcined, while in the IInd stratum 44 in 61.
In the latter the great amount of ash intermingled with calcined human
bones becomes very noticeable. Powers relates in his great work on the
California tribes that most of them practiced cremation, and concerning
the Karok, Yurok, and Wintun he relates that they bury their dead, while
the Yokuts under certain circumstances make use of both customs. The
inhabitants of the upper strata of the mound may undoubtedly be assumed
to have followed the customs of the majority of modern Californian
tribes in the disposal of their dead. Contrasting with this custom is
burial in the ground. In this connection interesting evidence is
furnished by the strata of this mound: here at least cremation was
preceded by interment. In strata IV to VIII of this mound we find this
custom prevailing, and we are forced to assume it to have been practiced
by the population living on the mound during the time from the
deposition of the lower part of stratum VIII to that of the middle of
stratum V. In their manner of burial the knees were drawn up, resting
upon the side, resembling on the whole the mode of burial in the
shellmounds of Santa Barbara county in California, and in those found in
Oregon. Instead of suggesting that the mode of burial is a recent one,
the findings in the lower strata of the mound at Emeryville might hint
that possibly the shellmounds of Southern California and Oregon are
older than is at present believed. The Yokuts likewise bury their dead
with drawn up knees, but whether lying on one side is not mentioned.
Also of the Wintun detailed information as regards their mode of burial
is missing. But even if a majority of tribes should still practice the
form which prevailed in the middle strata of the mound, this would not
change the fact that the whole mode of burial at this place designates
an earlier ethnical stage. The manner in which the inhabitants of the
lower strata of the mound—say from the bottom portions of the VIIIth
stratum to the bottom of the Xth—buried their dead is not known,
because no graves or other evidences of burial appear in them. It is not
impossible that their mode of burial differed again from the two kinds
of burial found in the strata lying above.
Another striking difference between the upper and lower layers is found
in the characteristic implements of the strata. This difference is best
represented by a comparative table. In order to understand this better,
we give the relative volume of earth moved for each stratum. In the
table the volume of the VIIth stratum (about 100 cubic feet) has been
taken as the unit. Bracketed figures in the different columns denote the
number of objects which might have been expected as the proportional
content of one of the middle strata. In the last two columns the
contents of the IXth stratum have for practical purposes been used as a
basis.
Rubbed* Flaked Rough
stone
Relative stone implements Knife-like awl-like
Layers Contents implements Obsidians excepting implements implements
obsidian
I 5.5 2[5] 2[2] — [6] —[8]
II 10.6 24[10] 11[5] 6[10] [13] —[16]
III 7.3 3[7] 4[4] 4[7] [9] —[11]
IV 4.2 4 2 4 [5] —[6]
V 3.4 4[4] 1[1] 5(2) [4] —[5]
VI 1.5 —[1] —[1] 3 [1] —[2]
VII 1 —[1] 2[1] 6 } [1] —[1]
*VII 2.2 —[2] —[-] 9 } 1[2] } [11]
VIII 7.4 1[7] 1[4] 24 }28 1[9] }5 —[3]
IX 3.3 —[3] 1[2] 62 } 4[4] 5[5]
X 1.8 —[2] —[1] 17 } —[2] 4[3]
*Except mortars and pestles.
Parentheses in the 4th column denote the number of chipped stones which
may actually be assumed as tools.
It is evident that the character of the objects in the upper strata is
entirely different from that of the implements which are found in the
lower beds. Well polished stone implements and obsidians diminish the
nearer we come to the bottom. The sporadic occurrence of a well polished
stone implement in the 8th stratum of the first column has an entirely
abnormal aspect, in view of the otherwise complete absence of such
objects from the VIth stratum downward. The abnormal increase of objects
of the 1st and 2nd kinds in the IInd stratum is doubtless due to the
custom of throwing their possessions into the fire during the cremation
of the dead. Still, the IInd stratum yielded a sufficient number of
fragments of similar objects which were evidently lost in other ways. So
few are furnished by the contents of the lower strata that their limited
use is apparently indicated. In fact, even the Vth stratum shares this
poverty, for its four polished implements are only represented by
fragments of metate-like stones and a tablet of slate, polished on one
side. In the lower strata flaked stones (of local materials), bone
splinters of an awl-like shape, and knife-like tools of bone
predominate. Among the flaked stones, real implements are very numerous;
they are missing in the upper strata. Their technique is primitive. On
one side they are flat and are worked on the other side only. This
working, too, is crude, and the finishing primitive. The turtle-back
form is present. Different kinds of scraper-like tools of primitive
form, and of drill-like sharpened stone fragments, must have been more
common implements in the hands of the inhabitants of this stage than
among the dwellers on the upper strata, where these tools are lacking.
A well formed implement of flaked stone, worked on both sides, was found
low down in stratum VIII (a spear-like blade, pl. 10, fig. 14). Strata
IX and X offer nothing similar. The leaf-like blade from stratum VIII
(pl. 6, fig. 20), where a crude workmanship is paired with an attempt at
more regular sharpening of the edges, does not favor the view that the
inhabitants of the mound had been well versed from the beginning in the
production of chipped implements.
Very remarkable is the occurrence together of crude splinters of bone,
which show from long use their real value as tools, and the neat, almost
elegant, knife-like implements. Among the latter we find the only
ornamental fragment of a tool of bone obtained during the whole course
of the excavation. The people who used the splinters of bone for their
tools were not so primitive but that they possessed elegant objects of
bone, and not so far advanced but that they were often satisfied with
such primitive implements as common bone splinters. But both classes of
these typical tools are markedly different from what the upper strata of
the mound offer in the line of implements. Hence the people of the lower
strata must have represented a somewhat different mental type or a
different degree of mental training.
It seems advisable, from what we know, to separate the older inhabitants
who had settled here and raised the foundations of the mound up to the
middle part of the VIIIth stratum, from the later population of the
grave period. They may have been neolithic, they may have been connected
with the following generation by some common traits, although there is
little evidence for this; but the two people certainly differed in
cultural characteristics.
The race that commenced building in the middle of the 8th stratum was
apparently less different from the population of the upper strata than
from its predecessors. But differences can here, also, be discovered.
The chipped tools of local materials still continue for some time (about
to VII_a_), and obsidian seems to have come to them as a rather rare
material. Only a few bone implements from grave 8 are extant in this
group of strata. Contrasted with the usage of the people of the upper
strata is also the use of bone arrow blades, which the last inhabitants
of the mound apparently did not possess. They had not yet departed from
an extended employment of bone as a working material; a fact usually
more characteristic of a primitive people than of one further advanced.
One observation should still be made in this connection. It is a
striking fact that in the fifth stratum and its immediate proximity a
number of objects appear, the likeness of which was not found elsewhere
in the whole mound. They are:
(1) Fragments of metate-like stones, stratum V.
A long, dull, chisel-like tool of horn, from stratum V.
A tablet of slate polished on one side, stratum V.
(2) Pieces of antlers, truncated for use as tools, stratum V, and a
knife-like implement, stratum V.
It seems possible that such sporadic types of tools were left by a
people that only temporarily inhabited the mound. Since, however, up to
the present time parallel investigations have furnished but little
material, such an hypothesis cannot be tested as to its exactness; nor
is it possible to state from what region they might have come.