Chapter 3 of 25 · 1219 words · ~6 min read

Chapter IV.)

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“The artizans of both sexes were instinct with the esthetic impulse; in one region they were devoted to quillwork, those of the next area to carving wood and slate; the ones living across the mountains produced whole costumes adorned with bead-work; the tribes of the central area erected elaborate earthworks; workers on the Pacific Coast made matchless basketry; those of the Southwest modeled and decorated pottery in an endless variety of shapes and colored designs. The Indians north of Mexico were generally well advanced in the simpler handicrafts, but had nowhere attempted massive stone architecture.”

The Committee on Archæological Nomenclature presented its completed report at the Baltimore meeting of the American Anthropological Association, 1908. This was published in the _American Anthropologist_, January-March, 1909, page 114. Pottery was classified first, but as I begin with chipped implements I present the classification of pottery last.

[Illustration:

FIG. 20. Showing strong massive shank for securing to a shaft or handle. ]

[Illustration:

FIG. 21. First two objects beveled—the one to the left showing strength of cutting-edge. The one to the right shows a different mode of attachment. (See Sellars’s article, Chapter IV.) ]

CLASSIFICATION OF PREHISTORIC ARTIFACTS, MADE BY THE COMMITTEE ON NOMENCLATURE

ARTICLES IN STONE

_Chipped Stone_

I. Knives and projectile points.

Larger—5 cm. (2 inches) or more in length.

Smaller—less than 5 cm. (2 inches) in length.

Types.

1. Without stem.

(A) Without secondary chipping (flakes).

(B) With secondary chipping.

(a) Pointed.

(a´) At one end.

Base concave.

Base straight.

Base convex.

Sides convex.

One side convex, one side straight.

(b) Ends convex.

(b´) At both ends.

2. With stem.

(A) Stem expanding from base—with or without barbing.

(a) Base concave.

(b) Base straight.

(B) Stem with sides parallel—with or without barbing.

(a) Base concave.

(b) Base straight.

(a) Base concave.

(b) Base straight.

II. Scrapers.

Types.

1. With one or more scraping edges.

2. Without or with notch (including circular.)

III. Perforators.

Types differentiated by

1. Cross-section.

(A) Round.

(B) Quadrangular or irregular.

2. Stem.

(A) Without stem.

(B) With stem.

(a) Stem expanding gradually.

(b) Stem expanding suddenly.

IV. Hammer-stones.

Types.

1. Spheroidal.

2. Discoidal (a) “Pitted.”

(b) Not “pitted.”

3. Elongated (a) Grooved.

(b) Not grooved.

_Ground Stone_

I. Problematical forms.

1. Laminæ (i. e., flat “spuds,” “gorgets,” and pendants.)

Types.

(A) Spade-shaped.

(B) Ovate.

(a) Sides concave (not common).

(b) Sides straight.

(D) Spear-shaped.

(E) Rectangular.

(a) Sides concave.

(b) Sides straight.

(F) Shield-shaped.

(G) Pendants.

(a) Celt-shaped.

(b) Rectangular.

2. Resemblances to known forms.

(A) Animal-shaped stones.

(B) Boat-shaped stones.

(a) Longer, resembling true “bars.”

(b) Shorter, “ridged” or “expanded gorgets.”

(D) Spool-shaped stones.

(E) Pick-shaped stones.

(F) Plummet-shaped stones.

(G) Geometrical forms.

(a) Spheres.

(b) Hemispheres.

(d) Cones.

3. Perforated stones with wings.

(A) Wings with constant rate of change of width.

(a) Wings expanding from perforation.

(b) Wings with sides parallel.

(B) Wings with varying rate of change of width.

II. Tubes and tube-shaped stones.

III. Beads.

IV. Pitted stones other than hammer-stones.

[Illustration:

FIG. 22. Indians quarrying and hammering quartzite boulders. From 15th _Annual Report_, Bureau of Ethnology. Designed by Holmes. ]

[Illustration:

FIG. 23. Direct percussion. Manner of striking where the edge is sharp. ]

ARTICLES IN CLAY

Simple vessels in clay may be presumed to cover all forms except eccentric or conventionalized (i.e., animal-shaped) forms on the one hand, and discs and pipes on the other.

[Illustration:

FIG. 24. (S. about 1–3.) A chipped hoe or digging-tool, and four specimens from the ancient quarries near Herndon, Tennessee. Phillips Academy collection. A complete nodule is shown in the lower right-hand corner. The others are broken nodules, showing the concretionary character of the flint. ]

It is suggested by the Committee that members of the American Anthropological Association having occasion to describe clay vessels, may classify them: first, as to material, as consisting of clay, sand, shell, and their combinations, and as possessing certain general ground-color; second, as to manufacture, as sun-dried or fired, as coiled or modeled—with the variations and steps of each process; third, as to form; fourth, as to decoration, as plain, stamped, incised, or painted. With regard to form, the Committee begs to offer the following definitions and suggestions in classifications.

(NOTE. In all cases measurements are considered as referring to an upward direction.)

A simple vessel must consist of a body, and may have a rim, neck, foot, handle, or any combination.

1. Body: A formation capable of holding within itself a liquid or a solid substance.

2. Rim: (A) A part of the vessel forming the termination of the body. (B) A part of the vessel recognizable by a change in the thickness of the material in the terminal sections.

3. Neck. A part of the vessel recognizable by a more or less sudden decrease in the rate of increase or decrease of the diameter.

4. Foot. An attachment to the vessel which serves as support to the body when upright.

5. Handle: A part of the vessel consisting of some outside attachment, not serving as support.

Body: It is suggested that in comparing the forms or cross-sections of vessels particular attention be paid to the proportion of the diameter to the height, to the rate of change of this proportion, to the place of change of direction in this proportion, and to refer to the following definitions of the two dimensions:

Height: the distance from the base to a horizontal plane passing through the most distant part of the rim.

Diameter: the distance from any one point on the sides to any opposite point on the sides, measured on a plane at right angles to the height.

Base: the point of contact or a plane of contact of the body with a horizontal surface.

Types. Body: These are so varied, depending on relative height and diameter of the cross-section, that an analysis is too cumbersome to be of service to general reference.

Neck: 1. Expanding.

2. Cylindrical.

3. Contracting.

4. Combinations.

Lip: A part of the neck or body recognizable by a suddenly increasing diameter of neck or body, that continues increasing to the rim.

[Illustration:

FIG. 25. (S. about 1–2.) Cores and flake knives from the ancient quarries, Flint Ridge, Licking County, Ohio. Material: light pink, white and brown chalcedony. Phillips Academy collection. ]

Foot: 1. Continuous.

(A) Expanding.

(B) Cylindrical.

(D) Combinations.

Feet: 2. Not continuous.

Differentiated by

(A) Number.

(B) Angle with the horizontal.

(a) Expanding upward.

(b) Perpendicular.

Handles. Types.

Differentiated by

1. Number.

2. Position on the vessel.

(A) Body.

(B) Neck.

(D) Combinations.

3. Form.

(A) Continuous with body or neck.

(B) Not continuous with body or neck.

(a) With constant direction.

(b) With varying direction.

(A′) Round.

(B′) Flat.

(C′) Coiled.

Here ends the Committee’s Classification, but there should be added, I feel convinced, articles in bone, shell, copper, hematite, mica, and cannel coal. Copper has been classified by Mr. Charles E. Brown, while I have grouped bone, shell, and hematite.