hr See
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157
ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS
Numbers 43-48
No._16,
No. 17.
No. 18.
NQ. 19.
No. 20,
-
OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS ‘PUBLISHED. PREVIOUSLY
2A Preliminary Report on Archeological Explorations: at ‘Macon: Ga.,
by A. R. Kelly. Bull, 119, pp. v-ix, 1-68, pls. 1-12, figs. 1-7. 1938.
. The Northern Arapaho Flat Pipe and the. Ceremony of Covering the
Pipe, by John G. Carter. Bull..119, pp. 69-102, figs. 8-10. 1938.
. The Caribs of Dominica, by Douglas Taylor. Balk 119, PP. Lge
pls. 13-18, figs. 11-37. 1938.
. What Happened to Green Bear Who Was Blessed with a Sacred Pack,
by Truman Michelson. Bull. 119, pp. 161-176. 1938.
. Lemhi Shoshoni: Physical ‘Therapy, by Julian H. Steward. _ Bull. 119;
pp. 177-181. 1938.
. Panatiibiji’, an Owens Valley Paiute, be Julian BL. Steward, Bull. 119,
pp. 1838-195. 19388.
Archeological Investigations in the Corosal District of British Howalais, by Thomas and Mary Gann. Bull. 123, pp. vii—viii, A-57, 61-66, pls... 1-10, figs. 1-11; 1939.” :
Report on Two Skulls from British Loch eas by A. J. E. Cave. Bull.
123, pp. 59-60. 1939. Linguistic Classification of Cree and Méctamnat-Neatant Dialects, by Truman Michelson. Bull. 123, pp. 67-95, fig. 12. 1939.
. Sedelmayr’s Relacién of 1746. Translated and edited by Ronald L.
Ives. Bull. 123, pp. 97-117. 1939.
. Notes on the Creek Indians, by John R. Swanton, Bull. 123, pp. 119-
159, figs. 13, 14. 1939.
. The Yaruros of the Capanaparo River, Venesuela, by Vincenzo Petrullo.
Bull. 123, pp. 161-290, pls. 11-25, figs. 15-27. 1939.
. Archeology of Arauquin, by Vincenzo Petrullo.. Bull. 123, Pp. 291-295,
pls. 26-32. 1939.
3. The Mining of Gems and Ornamental Stones by American faidinie. by
Sydney H. Ball. Bull. 128, pp. ix—xii, 1-78, pls. 1-5, 1941.
. Iroquois Suicide: A Study in the Stability of a Culture Pattern, by
William N. Fenton. Bull. 128, pp. 79-138, pls. 6-8. 1941.
. Tonawanda Longhouse Ceremonies: Ninety Years after Lewis Henry
Morgan, by William N, Fenton. Riven 128, pp. 189-166, Pis. 9-18. 1941,
The Quichua-speaking Indians of the Province of falbaunes (Ecuador) and Their Anthropometric Relations with the Living Populations of the Andean Area, by John Gillin. Bult. 128, pp. 167-228, ‘pls. 19-29, figs. 1-2. 1941.
Art. Processes in Birchbark of the River Desert ‘Atonnets: a Ciekine boreal Trait, by Frank G. Speck. Bull. 128, pp. iil eeith, pls. 30-42, figs. 3-25. 1941.
Archeological Reconnaissance of Southern Utab, by. Julian H. Steward. Bull. 128, pp. 275-356, pls. 43-52, figs. 26-77. 1941.
A Search for Songs among the Chitimacha Indians in Louisiana, by Frances Densmore. Bull. 133, pp. 1-15, pls. 1-4. 1942.
Archeological Survey on the Northern Northwest Coast, by Philip Drucker; with Appendix, Early Vertebrate Fauna of the British Colembis Coast, by Edna M. Masher. Bull. 133, pp. 17-142, pls. 5-9, figs. 1-33. 1943,
(Continued on p; 3 of cover)
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157
ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS
Numbers 43-48
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1955
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25,D.C. - Price $2.75
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
SMITHSONIAN INstTITUTION, Bureau oF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY Washington, D. C., July 28, 1958. Str: I have the honor to submit the accompanying manuscripts, entitled ‘Stone Monuments of the Rio Chiquito, Veracruz, Mexico,”’ by Matthew W. Stirling; ‘“The Cerro de las Mesas Offering of Jade and Other Materials,” by Philip Drucker; ‘‘Archeological Materials from the Vicinity of Mobridge, South Dakota, by Waldo R. Wedel; “The Original Strachey Vocabulary of the Virginia Indian Language,” by John P. Harrington; ‘“The Sun Dance of the Northern Ute,” by J. A. Jones; and ‘Some Manifestations of Water in Mesoamerican Art,” by Robert L. Rands; and to recommend that they be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Very respectfully yours, M. W. Srirurne, Director. Dr. LronarD CARMICHAEL, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. Ir
No. 43.
No. 44.
CONTENTS
Stone Monuments of the Rio Chiquito, Veracruz, Mexico, by MIS GHHe MT ener in a ee ron ome es Pros ee Sree a The Cerro de las Mesas Offering of Jade and Other Materials, by bri prc Keres ae ei ie a re ee les Oe ee
. Archeological Materials from the Vicinity of Mobridge, South
Dakota, by Waldo RisWeder 252 see eee oe eels
. The Original Strachey Vocabulary of the Virginia Indian Lan-
guage, by John F; Harrington: 22422 2.0 0.2500 .525..5 2e cee
. The Sun Dance of the Northern Ute, by J. A. Jones_.--------- . Some Manifestations of Water in Mesoamerican Art, by Robert
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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 157
Anthropological Papers, No. 43 Stone Monuments of the Rio Chiquito, Veracruz, Mexico
By MATTHEW W. STIRLING
Swe, x ene +6 BrolA sume) ,olinpidD off
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CONTENTS
PAGE Tipe aby O6 UOT ya le ae a ig phot el ha ula (Ed on pete xh iene area
CCRT BTCC 00 ul a pg el air age a ep ee Mie ele eae ato ieee ae 7
Meseription Of WONMIMNGIRS o> eon a eo tn nat en ace 8
INGO rita rie Ty hele tee er ne a ce ere a cee A ne 8
ANU LCG} OOO AVES ON rete eal sik Se AP aE uN Toe cy Jy NW abel da stan hese nN 8
Miscellaneous stonete eens oe ne eee ae eee eee 8
Samp eOLen ZO: Sa ee eee ee Sen Se ee eae ae eet 8
TGR TUE STOTT OE THOTT RO ENGR co rs re as ee we ma ce 9
TANG Taya Wy Ga SS aN red | ae di ee le hy a la ead cll Reig eld lage pe IT Stk are be 9
a Oya OH COST IH Ppp Nl | Nl a yy lpg ee et i 40 onl neon ep 10
VEO TUITE TUG Ho ee eee ee ee a ce re ene cot eee Leanne ee oe 11
Nionume nthe: eer rere. on oer Oka hke oak es 2 eee eee peepee 11
IY opoybbia(sVoRr da pert, Means Ue drechh avi Ge Fatih att Sete lites wp be haar Air yf GN: 12
INIGTUITTN Tb ene re ee eee eer es 13
WSCC a EWS NCE N TY Pe a Marl i han lat leap nly b ys pt led ah Rg enecnel 13
AVIATION eee eee ene ee eee a ae 13
IMiGiimment (0 ease een eee SA Se ae ee ee ee ee 13
INilCoy ohh yonteh ayn dl 0 fieeebes tense p42 puch wpretl codon Be oy ere met os Maley hy Pie este 5 a ser 14
Mioniimente ity: = eee Bt co ee ee ee eet 14
ITO TUITE TU Ue ee er et eee nee eee 15
TAMA CCHy TIC IVES A yl Ys Se penta ae Na aly Bh Pee ADRS ct hep cesar coat) Be acpi payer dngs 15
INIOMUITHE TIGR UA oe ee eect erie eee eee re yee te eee ee ene 15
IWEGNMIMe Gr eae Lee reer ee ee a, Me eee re eee ee ee ee 16
Miscellaneous stones). 2220 seen ee ee ee ee 16
Potreros Nuevos: sheces tes han ee ee a eae se ee Ses aae ilt/
Descriphion. Of mOnumMontas.. 23 he a ee ee ee 18
Monumentid_ cies owed tee eo lyiniy, hog ae gabe ioe 18
ING Way eye SD VED ay rin? bee a share lg AB gc lee ve Ph Year oa 19
IMGIUMENt One ee eke) eet Be RL 2 ee ee ee ee 19
Stone snaker amon mee Seer). = bape Dares | ee ee ee 20
Generalkdiscissio mses 52 acer fede 1 ae pepe le yk ed a SPs ye ie oe ae ac 20
MASOTATUITS GILCU 2299 ote pe et Se ee ee Se ee 23
that covered the site Monument 1, @, c, Monument 2:6, stone vessels. _-2. 2. 52-25-2226
2. Rio Chiquito. 3. Rio Chiquito: 4. Rio Chiquito. 5. San Lorenzo. 6. San Lorenzo. 7. San Lorenzo. 8. San Lorenzo. 9. San Lorenzo. 10. San Lorenzo.
ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATES
FOLLOWING PAGE 1. Clearing a monument at San Lorenzo. Type of jungle growth
Gramtejcolimmns®: so 632 one ee eee eee
Monument 1 Monument 1 Monument 2 Monument 3 Monument 4 Monument 4
11. San Lorenzo: a, Monument 4; b, Monument 13_---_----------------
12. San Lorenzo. 13. San Lorenzo. 14. San Lorenzo.
Monument 5 Monument 5 Monument 6
15. San Lorenzo: a, Monument 8; b, Monument 10__.._.........--.«- 16. San Lorenzo: a, Monument 11; 6b, Monument 12_____-_-_---------- 17. San Lorenzo: a, Monument 7; b, Monument 9_-------------------- ieasan berenzo. Monument 9.02222 2202 oh se ee et 19) San lorenzo. ‘Trough-shaped stones.....-...-=-.-.-25+---.2-226= 20) isan orenzo... Monument tae 22.22 one oe ee 21. a, Potrero Nuevo, Monument 2. 6, San Lorenzo, Monument 14_-_-_-_- 22 sanvlorenzo. Monument (425 cess. 9 2 oko els eee ee Pe ROLrerO NUGVO: . MONUINGNG 22222082222 oA 24Pouero Nuevo... Monwmentdl.. 22.252. =. 4- o e Zoo FROLLCLOMNUG VO} |) Monument) oso 2a sone e enters = ee ee ee 26. Potrero Nuevo: a, Monument 3, side view; b, stone serpent--__------
TEXT FIGURE
1. Island of Tacamichapa and vicinity, southern Veracruz, Mexico___----
4
STONE MONUMENTS OF THE RiO CHIQUITO, VERACRUZ, MEXICO
By Matruew W. Stir.ine
INTRODUCTION
Some 50 miles inland from its mouth in the Bay of Campeche, the Coatzacoalcos River forks into two branches which rejoin after flowing their separate ways for about 12 miles, forming the Island of Tacamichapa in southern Veracruz (fig. 1). This island, about 12 miles long and 8 miles across, is famous as the birthplace of Malinche, mistress of Cortez and interpreter for his expedition. The west arm of the river at this point, being the smaller, is known as the Rio Chiquito. About 7 miles below the upper fork the Tatagapa River enters the Chiquito from the west. In the area between the Tatagapa and the Chiquito are a number of important archeological sites. In general the land here is low and level. The alluvial plains of the river are wide and the soil is deep and rich. The more elevated portions are covered with dense jungle, but there are wide stretches of savannah, covered with a heavy growth of tall zacate, and some areas of open swamp. The ground being level, the streams and sloughs which drain it are deep and sluggish.
Two or three miles above the mouth of the Tatagapa River, an isolated elevated ridge extends from the left bank of the Chiquito in a southwesterly direction. Although it is not continuous, this ridge terminates finally in the Cerro Encantado, the most conspicuous landmark in the region, some 10 miles distant. During the year 1936, a few natives built some houses at the east end of the ridge, on the banks of the Rio Chiquito, and made clearings for their milpas in the virgin jungle which covered the elevated land. The com- munity grew, and as the clearings exposed a number of large mounds on the site some historically minded settler named the new village Tenochtitlan.
Gradually the clearings extended southward along the ridge until in 1944, at a point about 2% miles south of Tenochtitlin, another archeological site was encountered in an unpopulated district known as the Terrenos de San Lorenzo.
Hearing a report of stone monuments at this place prompted me to
5
6 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Butn. 157
MINATITLAN
@ TEXISTEPEC
@LAS MESAS
© ALMAGRES
YS HIDAL GOTITLAN o
@ CAHUAPAN POTRERO CERRO NVEVO ENCANTADO iF a
SCALE /N MILES
Ficure 1.—Island of Tacamichapa and vicinity, southern Veracruz, Mexico.
visit the site in 1945, when preliminary investigations were made. When I returned in 1946 a full season of excavating was carried on, with supplementary work at the neighboring sites of Tenochtitlin and Potrero Nuevo. During both the 1945 and 1946 seasons I was aided in the field by my wife, Marion Stirling. In 1946 I was assisted by Philip Drucker who was concerned primarily with the stratigraphic work conducted at the three sites. Richard H. Stewart, of the National Geographic Society, also assisted in the work and was the official photographer of the expedition. I should like to also express my appreciation to Juan Del Alto and Marguerite Bravo, of Coat- zacoalcos, who first brought to our attention the existence of the San Lorenzo site. The entire project was part of the National Geo- graphic Society-Smithsonian Institution archeological program, the primary objective of which has been the study of the La Venta or Olmec culture. The work, as always, was made pleasant by the whole-hearted cooperation of the National Institute of Anthropology and History of the Mexican Government.
A brief account of this work has been published elsewhere (Stirling, 1947). The present report is to place on record the stone sculpture found during the work.
Antaper Par. STONE MONUMENTS OF RiO CHIQUITO—STIRLING r
RIO CHIQUITO
The modern village of Tenochtitlan is situated on and between two parallel ridges running in a north-south direction, and terminating at the Rio Chiquito. On the lower ridge nearest the river are a number of small mounds, but the principal earthworks are on the ridge 400 yards to the west. At the north end of this elevation there is a group of four big mounds, the largest being about 60 feet high. Its apparent height is much greater since the base merges into the slope of the natural elevation on which it is built. This mound forms the north end of a long rectangular court with parallel flanking mounds on the east and west sides and another mound at the south end. South of this group are more mounds, culminating in a large one at the south end of the elevation. On the floor of the court are two small low mounds, one at either end. From the high mounds a very fine view is had over the extensive plain below. Ten miles to the south the peak of the Cerro Encantado can be seen standing in isolated grandeur above the level plain. Two or three miles to the south are the heights of San Lorenzo, really a continuation of the same low ridge on which Tenochtitlan is situated. Although the village in part is built directly on a portion of the archeological site, I have called the latter Rio Chiquito since to name it for the village would result in endless con- fusion because of the famous site of Tenochtitlan in the Valley of Mexico. Just below the mound group there are exposed in the river bank two sherd levels, separated by several feet of sterile alluvium. The lowermost of these is 20 feet below the present surface of the ground and about at the level of the river surface at low water. The character of the material in the two occupation levels is apparently different. It is probable that we will be able to assign the greater number of the stone monuments to the period represented by the lower level.
In the course of excavating a stratigraphic trench in the river bank at this place, we encountered in the lower level two large granite cylindrical columns. Hach was 2 feet in diameter; one was 14 feet and the other 13 feet in length (pl. 4). These are similar both in material and dimensions to the stone column on the south end of the long mound at La Venta. It is probable that this area lying west of the river bank was the principal occupation site belonging to the mound group ceremonial center.
Stone monuments were neither of large size nor abundant at the Chiquito site, although it is not improbable that many may be deeply buried as were the stone columns. Being small, none were in situ at the time of our visit, but we were assured that those now in the village were all found in the immediate vicinity of the mound group.
8 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 157
DESCRIPTION OF MONUMENTS MONUMENT 1
Monument 1 was lying in the village of Tenochtitlin when we first saw it. According to the natives it was found in the vicinity of the nearby group of large mounds. The sculpture apparently represents an anthropomorphic jaguar seated on a human figure lying on the back cross-legged. Presumably the lower figure is that of a woman, and the act of copulation is depicted. This identification would be much less certain were it not for the fact that we later found a much more realistically carved monument (Monument 3, Potrero Nuevo) representing the same subject. The upper figure of Monument 1 is carved in the full round and considerably more care is used in forming it than is the case with the lower figure, which is flattened and some- what angular. The “jaguar” is shown with a long trailing ornament hanging down the lower part of the back, and what appears to be a headdress hanging over the back of the neck. On the chest is a circular gorget suspended from the neck. The heads of both figures are missing as are the forearms of the upper figure. The sculpture proper is mounted on a low flat base (pl. 2).
MONUMENT 2
Monument 2 is a small figure about 3 feet in length of a snarling jaguar lying in a crouching position, with the head turned to the side and the left foreleg raised alongside the head. The treatment is realistic and the general effect rather pleasing.
This stone was found in clearing near the mound group, and it had been brought into the village at the time of our arrival (pl. 3, a, C)-
MISCELLANEOUS STONE
Among the items encountered in clearing for the village were two small tetrapod stone vessels. They are more or less rectangular in form and have shallow rectangular depressions on top. On the front of each is carved a human face, and the two front supports are in the form of bent elbows, with the forearms extending upward on each side of the face (pl. 3, b).
Lying by the trail crossing the dip in the ridge south of the Rio Chiquito group is a human torso in stone. It appears to have been a rather slender statue of a standing figure. The two stone columns found in the river bank below the village have already been described.
SAN LORENZO
Riding south along the ridge from Tenochtitlan, one notes that the trail dips low for more than a mile, when it again rises steeply to the
Ao7a3) F* STONE MONUMENTS OF RIO CHIQUITO—STIRLING 9
heights of San Lorenzo where the archeological site is located. The series of ridges comprising the heights is really a flat-topped mesa of gravelly soil, cut through here and there by steep ravines. Some of this erosion may have taken place since the aboriginal occupation.
The stone monuments are scattered widely over the site, which ex- tends for approximately one-half mile. Unlike La Venta and Tres Zapotes where the majority of the monuments were standing in situ, the San Lorenzo monuments appear all to have been intentionally overthrown and many of them cast into the ravines. Paradoxically, however, most of them seem not to have been mutilated and are in better condition than the monuments at other Olmec sites. The dis- placing of the stones was apparently done by the later aboriginal oc- cupants of the site, as represented by the upper occupation level. Since the two levels are separated by a considerable time interval, it does not seem likely that a conquest took place. The later inhabi- tants evidently moved into an abandoned site and for some reason felt called upon to dispose of the monuments.
The mound structures at San Lorenzo are quite unimpressive. The principal mound is conical in shape, although it may originally have been a pyramid. It is about 25 feet in height and stands at the south end of a rectangular plaza which is enclosed by earthen embankments. ‘Trenches in the plaza revealed an occupational de- posit of about 4 feet. Below this are three or four floor levels close together. Sherds were not very abundant although several caches of whole pots were found. Figurines of the solid variety were present, but rare. The pottery is buff, black, or gray, with occasional incised decoration. A few other small mounds are erected near this central plaza, but they are without apparent regularity or orientation. Northeast of the central plaza, toward the edge of the ridge, the cultural deposit is much thicker, reaching a depth of 15 feet or more. In this section sherds are much more abundant than in the plaza itself. Cross-section trenches were made in all the principal mounds and in the occupied area, and the site itself was mapped.
The widely scattered stone monuments are striking and fairly abundant, seemingly out of keeping with the general inconspicuous nature of the mounds.
DESCRIPTION OF MONUMENTS MONUMENT 1 Monument 1 is a head, and, because of its large size, good state of preservation, and general artistic merit, is one of the most impressive of all of the San Lorenzo monuments. Over 9 feet in height, it is wide and thick and the heaviest of all the ColossalgHeads. When discovered it was lying on its back, head down on the slope of a small
10 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (BULL. 157
but steep arroyo about 300 yards southeast of the principal mound. The only damage it had suffered was the scaling off of a section above the right eye. The pieces were lying on the ground at the base of the head, and we later put them back in place with cement. The back is plain except for two pendent rectangles evidently represent- ing the hair hanging down. The features are carved in a manner that gives the impression of full realism. The lips are outlined with a narrow raised ridge which gives the mouth a very lifelike appear- ance. The headdress is simple, consisting of a broad median crest with a circular element over the forehead which terminates in four semicircular scallops where it meets the groove which passes around the front of the head. This groove, which is very similar to the one on the Colossal Head of Tres Zapotes (Stirling, 1943), is cut deep with right-angled edges, and looks as though it were made for some sort of inset. Although the upper lip is short, it is longer than in the other Colossal Heads.
Another respect in which Monument 1 resembles the Tres Zapotes head is in the treatment of the ears and the style of ear ornament worn. This is a rectangular object placed horizontally through the pierced lobe of the ear.
The eyelids are shown as narrow curving bands, and the iris is indicated by a slightly raised circle on the eyeball.
The head is approximately 9 feet 4 inches high and it is 6 feet 6 inches wide. ‘The mouth measures 37 inches across, the eye 21 inches, and the nose 25 inches (pls. 5, 6).
MONUMENT 2
Monument 2 was the first of the monuments at San Lorenzo to be found, and led to the discovery of the site. It lay completely buried under the trail which led southward along the heights from Tenochtit- lan. The trail exposed part of the stone, and a curious native cleared away part of the mud covering it, exposing one eye. Upon arriving at the site, we excavated it, revealing a head almost 9 feet in height. The head has suffered very little damage, although erosion has slightly obscured the fine carving of the features. It is the only head which has considerable decoration on the back, most of the rear flat surface being covered with small-element designs which are perfectly pre- served as a result of the head having lain on its back.
The headdress proper is rather plain, the principal decoration being three large ovals in low relief with incised designs over the forehead. The lips are somewhat less full than usual, and are parted, revealing a row of upper teeth. Although almost as high and as wide as Monument 1, the stone is not as thick, and so viewed in profile it is somewhat flattened.
ANTaEOP. PAP. STONE MONUMENTS OF RIO CHIQUITO—STIRLING 11
Like Monument 3 it has had a number of hemispherical depres- sions ground into it. A curious depression is carved in the headband above each ear. A tassellike appendage hangs from each ear, and over this is carved a large circular ornament. Monument 2 is 8 feet 10 inches high and 5 feet 6 inches wide (pl. 7).
MONUMENT 3
Monument 3 is a head lying on the bottom of a deep and wild ravine about a half-mile in a direct line southwest of the principal mound. To reach it one crosses two other deep ravines from the trail leading south along the main ridge. It is located not more than 50 yards above the point where the ravine terminates in the swampy plain. Excavation was tedious because the head lies in a spring, and it was difficult to keep the excavation free from water. When discovered, the monument lay upside down.
The head is strongly carved and has a certain portrait quality. A slight frown is indicated by a groove at the base of the nose. The irises are indicated by circles as in a number of the other heads. The only damage it has suffered is the loss of most of the lower lip, but it is obvious that no teeth were shown. Scattered over the forehead and the top of the head or headdress are a considerable number of rather deep circular depressions, each of which has another small depression at its bottom and center. These are uniform in size and typically occur in pairs. What their purpose might be it is difficult to conjecture unless they were used to attach some extraneous decoration. They appear to have been made after the headdress design was completed. Monuments 2 and 3 at La Venta (Stirling, 1943, pls. 42, b; 43) have a series of similar depressions on them, as does Monument 2 at San Lorenzo.
The design on the headdress is geometric in character and rather elaborate. It consists of a series of four horizontal bands across the forehead, embellished with diagonal grooved lines. These geo- metric designs are carried on to cover most of the headdress. The rectangular elements in front of the ears are prolonged by the addition of a square section slightly smaller in diameter, to which is added a wedge-shaped pendant which extends straight down to the chin level. The ears are not shown (pl. 8).
MONUMENT 4
Monument 4 is a head found lying on its side almost completely buried in a section of dense jungle about 600 yards northwest of the main mound. It is in a perfect state of preservation, not a flaw marring it. In some ways it is the most individualistic in appearance of any of the heads.
12 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 157
The face is relatively narrow and the headgear high in proportion to the face. The eyes are done with fine realism, the lids being some- what narrowed and slanting downward to the outer corners. The circles representing the irises are placed toward the inner part of the eyeballs, but this does not create a cross-eyed effect. The headdress is unusual, a series of seven vertical elements terminating in three circles, extends above the right eye, while four horizontal elements, each incised diagonally are placed above the left eye. The rectangu- lar elements in front of the ears extend downward to the level of the base of the chin, and each has three evenly spaced ribbonlike elements extending backward along the side of the head.
Hach ear lobe is decorated with a circular disk from which hangs a pendant which curves backward. The face is completely free from surface erosion and has a remarkable skinlike texture. The ex- pression is stern but calm. In profile the features are rather flat.
Monument 4 is 5 feet 4 inches in height (pls. 9, 10, 11, a).
MONUMENT 5
In a ravine south of the main mound and close to the laguna was Monument 5, another buried head lying face down in the ravine bed. On turning it right side up it proved to be one of the finest of all the Colossal Heads. It is carved more nearly in true proportion than any of the other examples, the profile being in full relief instead of somewhat flattened. Viewed from any angle it is a splendid work of art. The majority of the heads were intended to be viewed full face, and suffer somewhat in effectiveness when seen from the side. Monu- ment 5 is in a virtually perfect state of preservation, the only defect being a small chip in the upper lip.
The headdress is more elaborate than on any of the other heads. Two jaguar paws, each displaying three toes with claws, are draped over the headband, one above each eye. The spaces between are decorated with a series of small-element designs consisting of circles and parallel lines. The usual rectangular element hangs from the headband in front of each ear. The ears have a circular disk or ornament on each lobe from which hangs a comma-shaped pendant curving backward. The treatment of the ears and the ear ornaments is the same as on Monument 4 and on Monument 2 at La Venta (Stirling, 1943, pl. 43). The back has the usual flat surface down the center and is plain except for a single groove carved horizontally across it. The lips are full and give the appearance of being slightly parted but the teeth do not show. The nose is standard in treatment but as has been mentioned, stands out from the other features in full
apni PaP. STONE MONUMENTS OF RIO CHIQUITO—STIRLING 13
relief. A notch in the headband over the bridge of the nose and modified supraorbital ridges give the impression of a slight frown. Monument 5 is 6 feet 4 inches high (pls. 12, 13).
MONUMENT 6
We found Monument 6 about a mile south of the central mound on the flat land below the heights. This head had apparently been carried there in ancient times. It had been broken off in such a way as to suggest that the body may have been in a recumbent posi- tion or that the complete monument may have had the form of Monument G at Tres Zapotes (Stirling, 1943, pl. 8, b). The head in its present state is 3 feet 4 inches high. The carving is Olmec in character and the head is in good condition. It is represented as wearing a peculiar flat headdress which entirely surrounds the crown in the form of a wide band (pl. 14).
The treatment of the features is somewhat different from the Col- ossal Heads. The eyes have a puffy appearance and the lids are shown as half-closed. In this respect they resemble the eyes on the Atlantean figures of Monument 2, Potrero Nuevo (pl. 23).
MONUMENT 7
At the edge of a ravine west of the central mound was the figure of a crouching jaguar or mountain lion. It is a very nice carving, realistic in treatment but with the body strangely elongated. The long tail extends along the right side of the body, passing under the right hind leg.
Except for the missing head, the figure is complete and undamaged. Our workmen referred to this monument as “‘E] Leon” and it does in fact resemble a mountain lion rather than a jaguar (pl. 17, a).
MONUMENT 8
Near “El Leon” at the edge of the ravine was a large rectangular stone, perfectly flat and well smoothed on the back. The flat surface of the face is decorated by six symmetrically placed celt-shaped depressions and a raised border around the edge. One end has been broken off. The stone in its present condition is 64 inches long, 47 inches wide, and 11 inches thick (pl. 15, a).
MONUMENT 9
This interesting object (Monument 9) was found on a narrow pro- jecting point overlooking a steep ravine west of the central mound. It appears to have been a stone fount in the form of a swimming duck,
265191—54——_2
14 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buue. 157
with the two webbed feet projecting in front under the breast. Wings are carved in high relief on the sides. On the center of the breast carved in relief is a quacking duck with open beak and flapping wings. On each side of this figure is a glyph which may represent rain or water. It consists of a wavy band from which hang three long and two short elements. A third glyph exactly similar but somewhat larger is shown on the rear. The top is hollowed into a basin but the upward projecting sides are broken off all around. On the right side a U- shaped opening has been cut through the wing, and a round hole in the bottom may have served as a water drain. The base is smooth and perfectly flat. The stone in its present condition is 37 inches in diameter and 16 inches high (pls. 17, 0; 18).
MONUMENT 10
In the bottom of a small ravine, the figure of a jaguar (Monument 10) was found inverted and buried, only the base showing before we excavated it. Just above it, on the south side of the same ravine, were scattered the curious trough-shaped stones described later.
The figure represents the classical Olmec anthropomorphic jaguar, shown in a seated position. It is undamaged except for the lower extremities. The head is rectanguloid in shape with notched fore- head, a horizontal ‘‘step” in the back of the head, reminiscent of the famous Kunz ax, a broad forehead band, narrow rectanguloid eyes with drooping outer corners, and the typical Olmec nose and “tiger mouth.” ‘The ears are long and narrow. The arms are held across the chest, each hand grasping a curious cestuslike object. This device is shown elsewhere in Olmec sculpture, one of the best ex- amples being on a jade figurine in the collections of the Cleveland Museum of Art. In the area on the chest between these is a glyph terminating in three triangles on the upper part.
Monument 10 is 47 inches high and 33 inches across (pl. 15, b).
MONUMENT Il
In the bottom of one of the heavily wooded ravines west of the central meund, we excavated an inverted and almost competely buried seated figure, possibly representing a woman (Monument 11). A cylindrical bar is held across the lap. The right hand is shown supporting the bar from underneath, palm up, while the left hand grasps the bar from above, palm down. The right end of the bar has been broken off, so it is impossible to tell if it terminated plainly as does the left end. It does not appear to represent a grinding stone.
The figure is very nicely carved, but unfortunately the head is missing (pl. 16, a).
ANTHBDP PAP. STONE MONUMENTS OF RIO CHIQUITO—STIRLING 15
MONUMENT 12
Monument 12 is one of the two carved stones lying on the ground at the east base of the central mound. It represents a seated woman holding in her arms an infant which appears to have a human body and probably a jaguar head. The head is missing from the figure of the woman. It now stands 23 inches high and is 27 inches wide (pl. 16, b).
MONUMENT 13
Monument 138, the second monument at the east base of the central mound, is a basalt sphere 115 inches in circumference (pl. 11, 6).
Two similar spheres were found at Cerro de las Mesas (Stirling, 1943, pl. 30, d), and one is reminded of the more spectacular examples from southwestern Costa Rica.
MONUMENT 14
Southwest of the central mound there is a circular laguna or pond about 30 yards in diameter. Only during unusually dry years does it become dry at the end of the dry season. At the eastern edge of this pond, and under water most of the year, is a large stone altar (Monument 14; pl. 21, b). This monument is remarkably similar to Altar 4, La Venta (Stirling, 1943, pl. 37), the dimensions of which it closely approximates, although the workmanship in general is inferior. Also, the basalt from which it is carved appears to be iden- tical with that from which Altar 4 was made, and is probably from the same quarry. When found, Monument 14 was lying on its back, face up, and the front surface had suffered considerable erosion. What remains of the carvings on the ends is well preserved. In form it is the conventional La Venta table-top altar. The front projec- tion of the table top is less than on Altar 4 of La Venta, and the arched niche in front is less deeply carved. The seated figure emerg- ing from the niche is almost in the full round. This figure is repre- sented as holding what may be the ends of ropes passing around the base of the altar. On the top is a raised rectangle as on Monument 2, Potrero Nuevo. On each end of Monument 14, under the pro- jecting table top, is a carving in low relief (pl. 22). On the south end is a single seated figure, wearing a wide-brimmed headdress surmounted by the clutching talon of a bird of prey. A number of droplike orna- ments are pendent from the brim of the headdress. From the ear lobe hangs a curved ornament. Around the neck is a double string of beads from which hangs a star-shaped gorget with a circle in the center. Each upper arm is encircled by an arm band, and a broad belt is worn about the waist. The features in profile are typically “Olmec”’ in character. The right arm is extended and is lightly
16 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLu. 157
grasped by the left hand. The stone is broken away at the right hand, but I suspect that when complete it was shown with a rope attached to the wrist as in the case of the figure on the south end of Altar 4, La Venta. The carving is in good condition, and consider- able skill was exhibited in its execution. An interesting effect of perspective is achieved in the handling of the shoulders. Directly in front of this figure are the remains of two deeply carved rectangular niches, no doubt carved subsequent to the original sculpture.
The north end, as with Altar 4 at La Venta, has only part of the decoration remaining, the major part of the surface having been carefully chipped away to create a new surface an inch deeper, in the form of an arch. In this surface, six deep rectangular niches of various size were carved. All that remains of the carving on the original surface is the upper part of the head of a man, including the eye and nose and a rather elaborate headdress with what appear to be curving feathers projecting from it. This carving had been ex- ecuted with as much skill as the more complete figure remaining on the opposite end.
Monument 14 is 11 feet 4 inches long and 6 feet high. It is 5 feet wide under the table top.
It is worth calling attention again to the similarity of this monu- ment to Altar 4 of La Venta which it resembles as to material, form, dimensions, and subject matter. In addition, both monuments have had the carvings at one end carefully defaced, and in the area thus produced, deep rectangular niches were excavated.
MONUMENT 15
Near the base of a small hill rising from the flat about one-half mile south of the heights of San Lorenzo, and just west of the trail, is a rectangular stone about 2 feet square, the upper part of which is broken off (Monument 15). It is carved as though it represented a chest elaborately bound in ropes. The ropes, which pass around the stone in pairs, enlace the corners and pass over and under each other as they cross on the sides and ends. On what appears to be the front surface, two elongated projecting pieces which passed over the ropes have been broken off. It is possible that a figure was seated on the upper surface and that these were the legs hanging down (pl. 20).
MISCELLANEOUS STONES
Some 400 yards southwest of the central mound is a steep ravine with a small stream of water. At one point, scattered from top to bottom on the south side of the ravine, were several dozen trough- shaped pieces of basalt, open at the ends, and in cross section having the form of a broad-based U. They were not quite uniform as to
AnTtaTT P47 STONE MONUMENTS OF RIO CHIQUITO—STIRLING 17
size, but each unit averaged about 32 inches long, 15 inches wide, and 10 inches high. With them were a lesser number of rectangular flat slabs of the same material, perfectly flat on one surface and slightly curved on the other. These were of adequate size to have served as covers to the trough-shaped pieces. This fact led me to speculate that they may have been joined end to end to form a covered aqueduct. No pieces were found joined in this manner, however, and it is a little difficult to see why so much labor was used in carving stone when wooden conduits would have served as well even though they would not have been so permanent. The hollowed-out pieces also resemble the wooden seats still used by the Cuna Indians of Panama and certain tribes of South America, but if use as seats were their purpose, it is difficult to explain why so many pieces were clustered together. Likewise there would be no explanation for the flat rectangular slabs. Later we discovered a second locality almost a half-mile southeast of this point where we found another group of six of these peculiar stones (pl. 19).
In the bottom of a ravine near Monument 3 we found half of a rectangular plain stone box about 3 feet long. It had been broken in two longitudinally.
About 100 yards east of the central mound was found the torso of a seated figure. The head, arms, and legs are missing. The remaining portion is 2 feet high.
In the bottom of another ravine near Monument 3, and under the roots of a huge Ojote tree, we excavated a large worked oval piece of basalt that could have served as a blank for carving a Co- lossal Head (pl. 1). In excavating around it we unearthed what appeared to be a metate leg, and a polished ax of blue jade, which had been sawed in two lengthwise.
Various other worked stones of undetermined character, both large and small, were found scattered over the site.
POTRERO NUEVO
Riding south from San Lorenzo along the elevated ridge for three- quarters of an hour, and then turning east for another three-quarters of an hour, one reaches the low flat bottom land of the Coatzacoalcos River. At this point at the base of the ridge, a narrow peninsula of high ground projects for about a quarter of a mile into the swamp. On this peninsula is situated the little village of Potrero Nuevo. From the village one may go by canoe through a slough which winds its way through the potrero and eventually reaches the river. In time of high water the entire potrero is inundated. At extreme high water, only the mounds are above water. In the dry season cattle are pastured on the potrero.
18 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buu. 157
The village is built on an archeological site consisting of a series of small rectangular mounds and squares or courts. Some of the modern houses are built on these mounds. The courts are formed by a fair- sized mound at one end, two parallel flanker mounds on the sides, and a smaller mound at the other end.
At the conclusion of our work at San Lorenzo, we conducted excavations at Potrero Nuevo for 7 days. The pottery encountered at Potrero Nuevo was in general in better condition than that at San Lorenzo and the sherd yield was very abundant. In general the ware types were similar to those at San Lorenzo but with a somewhat greater variety at Potrero Nuevo. Thin red ware with wedge- shaped tripod supports; gray ware with cascabel or cylindrical ‘‘can’’- shaped supports; incised bowls and ollas and vessels with red paint were characteristic of the ceramics. We excavated a well-made stone figurine in the form of a grotesque crouching old man. There was also a stone ball with a “stem” attached, and a strange tangled snake of stone about 2 feet high (pl. 26, 5).
Northwest of Potrero Nuevo in the low land on the route of a trail that was closed by fallen trees at the time of our visit is another mound group. ‘This would be an interesting site to investigate, as we bought from a native who found them there three figurines of San Marcos type. One is a standing, skirted figure with upraised hands, another is a monkey head, and the third is an effigy vessel support. Time did not permit our working this site, which may differ from others in the region.
DESCRIPTION OF MONUMENTS MONUMENT 1
Monument 1, which is badly broken, represents a human or an- thropomorphic jaguar figure sitting with legs tucked under. Draped over the lap is a realistically carved serpent, apparently, from the shape of the head and body, representing a fer-de-lance. The body of the serpent is lightly held by the left hand or paw of the seated figure in a very natural pose. Along the back of the figure extends an appendage which tapers slightly from the base upward. This might be a back ornament or it might represent a tail. Unfortunately, the upper part of the figure, including the head, is missing. The part remaining is very well carved and it must have been one of the best in the region (pl. 24).
The representation of the serpent is of considerable interest since, so far as I am aware, it is unique in Olmec art. The only other example known to me is the curious stone snake also from Potrero Nuevo (pl. 26, 6) which may or may not be Olmec.
ANTHEOP. PAP. STONE MONUMENTS OF RIO CHIQUITO—STIRLING 19
MONUMENT 2
About a mile south of the point where the trail to Potrero Nuevo joins the trail leading south along the heights from San Lorenzo is a high hill. From the top of this hill a fine view may be had in all directions. Six months before our arrival, the summit of the hill had been cleared of virgin jungle to make a new milpa. In the course of the clearing, the corner of what appeared to be a large rectangular stone was exposed. We excavated it and found it to be an exception- ally interesting carved altar, lying face down (Monument 2; pl. 21, a). Because of being almost completely buried, it is in a fine state of preser- vation. The front revealed two identical chubby Atlantean figures with arms upraised as though supporting the massive table top of the altar, which was carved on arectangular base. The front of the altar is carved with two pairs of conventionalized jaguar eyes, while a similar pair is shown on each end. The back is plain. A raised rectangular surface of smaller diameter surmounts the table top. The two figures are nude except for a breech apron and supporting cord. The hair is represented by vertical striations and is cut in “bangs” over the forehead. The features are ‘“Olmec” in character. This is the first representation of Atlantean figures in Olmec art and may be the earliest instance thus far known in the New World (pl. 23).
Like the other table-top altars at San Lorenzo and La Venta, the top projects in front and at the two ends, but not to the rear. Like- wise, all of the altars of this type are flat and free from decoration on the back. Probably, like the Colossal Heads, they were meant to be set against a wall.
MONUMENT 3
Monument 3 was found in the same vicinity as Monument 2 on the high elevation west of Potrero Nuevo. The subject, which is similar to Monument 1, Rio Chiquito, apparently represented copulation between a jaguar and a woman. The figure of the woman is repre- sented lying on the back with knees drawn upward along the abdomen and with bent elbows, the hands extending upward. The head, hands, and feet are missing. The body of the jaguar is missing except for the hind feet, the lower part of a double back ornament, and the tail. Ornaments in the form of bands with a decorative attachment in the rear are worn about both ankles. The portions of the jaguar which remain are much more animalistic than in Monu- ment 1, Rio Chiquito; the feet, claws, and tail definitely identifying the subject. As in the similar monument, this one is mounted on a low flat base. Although badly broken, enough remains to indicate that in its complete form Monument 3 must have been a strongly carved and striking piece of sculpture (pls. 25, 26, a). The episode
20 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buut. 157
represented must have been an important feature of Olmec mythology. It is particularly interesting in view of the frequent representation of part human and part jaguar figures in Olmec art, these often having infantile characteristics. The infant shown in Monument 12, San Lorenzo, appears to have a human body and a jaguar head.
STONE SNAKE
A curiously convoluted snake, carved from basalt, was dug from one of the small mounds at Potrero Nuevo in the course of building a house, a few days previous to our first arrival there. It was complete when found except for the head. Children broke it in several pieces, but fortunately none were missing. The lower coils were so arranged as to make a firm, flat circular base. The concept is unique and has nothing in common with the manner of representing coiled snakes during the Aztec period in the Valley of Mexico (pl. 26, 6).
GENERAL DISCUSSION
With the exception of the two large granite columns excavated near the river bank below the village of Tenochtitlin, all the stone monuments which we found were carved from basalt. The five Colossal Heads from San Lorenzo are remarkably similar in character to those from La Venta and Tres Zapotes. In some instances it does not seem improbable that the same artists operated in the three sites. While at first glance the various heads appear very similar, closer examination shows that this resemblance is probably due to the racial type represented, and each is actually quite individual in character. Close study of these heads leads me to the belief that they are actual portraits of prominent individuals. One char- acteristic that all the Colossal Heads share is a smooth, plane surface a foot or more in width that runs the full length of the back. With one exception (Monument 2 at San Lorenzo) these surfaces are practically devoid of decoration. It may be, therefore, that the heads were designed to be set up against a wall of some sort. This theory is strengthened by the fact that in general the sculptors designed the heads to be viewed from the front, or a three-quarters angle.
When Monument 4 at La Venta, the largest Colossal Head at that site, was excavated, a large chunk which had been broken from the lower jaw was found under the head. The outer surface of this was covered with a thin smooth white slip which had been painted a dark purplish red. This suggests the interesting possibility that originally the Colossal Heads had been painted.
The helmetlike headdresses that adorn all the Colossal Heads are probably an artistic conventionalization. In carving such large blocks of stone it would have been impractical to represent adorn-
AxTHROP. PAP. STONE MONUMENTS OF R{O CHIQUITO—STIRLING 21
ments such as feathers, sticking out as actually worn. The sculptors therefore showed them as lying flat against the head. This not only resulted in economy of material, but also prevented making what would have been a very fragile portion of the monument.
As of the present date, 10 typical Colossal Heads are known. Five from San Lorenzo, four from La Venta, and one from Tres Zapotes. Stylistically these heads are so similar, and parallels in detail are such as to force the conclusion that no very great time interval could have elapsed during which they were made.
The table-top altars also connect the Rio Chiquito area with La Venta. The parallels between Monument 14 at San Lorenzo and Altar 4 at La Venta have already been pointed out.
Monument 2, Potrero Nuevo, is somewhat atypical with its At- lantean figures and lacking the arched niche in front and the end carvings. However, the general form, the raised rectangle on the top, and the jaguar motive are sufficient to class it with this group.
If the site at Potrero Nuevo proper is to be classed as Olmec, it is unique as regards the two serpent carvings. The draped serpent on Monument 1 is unusual because of the realistic manner of its por- trayal. It is flat, with a ridge along the back exactly like a real snake instead of the cylindrical conventionalization one usually sees employed in pre-Columbian art. The blunt triangular head also is realistic enough to identify the species as a fer-de-lance.
The curious tangled serpent from Potrero Nuevo is also unique because of its unusual form.
The two jaguar and woman monuments (Monument 1, Rio Chi- quito, and Monument 3, Potrero Nuevo) are interesting as possibly casting light on the half-jaguar, half-human form so characteristic of Olmec art.
The Rio Chiquito region, like the other Olmec-site areas of southern Veracruz and northern Tabasco, is far removed from the sources of basalt from which the great majority of the monuments are carved. The nearest source of basalt is in the region of San Martin Pajapan Volcano near the coast, or in the Tuxtla Mountains to the north. In the case of the Rio Chiquito this would be an air-line distance of more than 50 miles. It seems probable therefore, that the heavy pieces of basalt must have been transported by water, probably along the coast to the Coatzacoalcos River and then along the river or its tributaries to the site.
It is interesting to note that the two large columns of granitic schist found in the deeply buried site at Rio Chiquito seem to be made from the same material as the large column of the same dimensions on the south end of the long mound at La Venta, and therefore probably came from the same source.
22 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 157
The stone monuments from the region of the Rio Chiquito present an interesting addition to our gallery of Olmec art. Here, particu- larly at the site of San Lorenzo, the Olmec art of sculpture of large monuments in stone may be said to have reached its climax.
The elevated strip of land on which the Rio Chiquito sites are situated was in many ways ideal for the location of ceremonial centers. During the dry season the inhabitants could have extended their milpas over the broad alluvial plains and retreated to the high ground during the wet season. The navigable waters of the Coatzacoalcos River and its tributaries, as well as the network of interconnecting sloughs, gave easy access to a large territory. Since the Coatza- coalcos is the natural waterway across a large portion of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, access to the Pacific coast would have been easy. Archeological evidence, however, does not indicate that such contacts were strong. On the other hand, intercourse toward the north in the direction of the Gulf of Mexico was obviously carried on. It seems apparent that the Chiquito sites represent an upriver thrust stemming from locations nearer the coast, such as Tres Zapotes and La Venta. Whether or not a blending with centers of more southern origin took place awaits a detailed study of the ceramics of the Chiquito sites.
In every way the stone carving suggests direct communication between all of these classic Olmec sites. Not only are there close parallels in the art style, but the nearest source of the basalt used for the majority of the monuments is in the vicinity of the coast. The tedious operation of transporting these heavy stones, presumably by water, over such long distances suggests that peaceable relations were maintained over the region and quite probably there was intercom- munity cooperation and trade. Whether each center was an inde- pendent political entity or whether the entire area was subject to central control is a matter for speculation.
Mound building was a feature of all of the classic Olmec sites, the structures reaching considerable proportions at La Venta, Tres Zapotes, and Rio Chiquito. At San Lorenzo, despite the outstanding sculpture, the mounds were insignificant. It is possible that at San Lorenzo the site never reached its full development. At the present time the site is some distance from the river. It may be that at the time it was occupied, the channel touched the base of the high ground at the eastern edge of the site where the principal occupation debris exists. If a change in the course of the river was responsible for the abandonment of San Lorenzo, it seems strange that the monu- ments were not moved. Otherwise it would seem plausible to specu- late that the inhabitants moved to nearby Rio Chiquito, on the river, where the mound structures are impressive and the stone monuments few.
hous) PaP. STONE MONUMENTS OF RIO CHIQUITO—STIRLING 23
It is worth noting that if rich tomb burials such as exist at La Venta were present at San Lorenzo, we were unable to find them, although we conducted excavations of considerable extent in equiv- alent areas. The classic Olmec period at Tres Zapotes likewise lacked tombs and any evidence of lavish burials. There is more than a hint in this fact suggesting that La Venta was the regional center of the classic Olmec area and the place of residence of rich and probably powerful rulers. Not only was the central mound at La Venta 105 feet high, the largest of all, but the stone column enclosure containing the lush tombs is completely unique. The Rio Chiquito region, it would appear, was a prosperous but subordinate area.
LITERATURE CITED Strritinc, MatrHew W. 1943. Stone monuments of southern Mexico. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 138. 1947. On the trail of La Venta man. Nat. Geogr. Mag., vol. 91, No. 2, pp. 137-172. February.
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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 157
Anthropological Papers, No. 44 The Cerro de las Mesas Offering of Jade and Other Materials
By PHILIP DRUCKER
25
265191—54——6
CONTENTS
PAGE (EPO CUCHIOR os 28 = = =. 2 2.9 A REE, CO AY EP AE, A BN 29 The Cerro de las Mesas offering materials. /¢- 02-250 222s tl ek 30 IMUTINeS = 22244222 2 sou Se aoe aes <n ee PO SE ee Le 31 PIAGUeRo 225s 5222525 se etn ss <5 = = TO) DONARN DY 20 OU ew ee 45 Warspoolsy= 2222226 2225 - kee ew beens ves eee care esa MOR DS O8 51 Suiall flares. =4-<= == = SG) 1) BSA Le FIORE IA th Molnar 53 1 DFAS LS ae 8 SY Sarge ne Cee ir cE a cree ee a 54 Pere MOTIn POTTOEREGES: (i) seen em ee eee ee ae cee ee in 58 es ee aE NRE a 2 Ue Sie eee ere eel ED ee ee ee 58 TENE 70 (MNS BRS LI Sock Pa IEC oles MPP ane > aapene, mp Oe REY OER ee meee eee 60 DeaneellaneGusOOleCih= Sse a2 one ae ea eee ee ere eee ae 63 1D FSET i lea oll tac lead Ss eed ett (plein Ray Aha he py eae, Se 65 Mieerahure ertede ee rete ke Se 2 ee See aaa) Jes 67 ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES
FOLLOWING PAGE 27. Front, side, and rear views of Olmec figurine____-_-_---.----------- 68
28. Olmec figurine of hunchbacked (?) personage, of serpentine; and Olmeq (7) style skull pendant 4 .. 3 -e2 22 ee ee ee 68 29. Front and back of Zapotecan (?) style figurine plaque__-_-_---_------- 68 30. Large figurine of ‘‘crossed-arm style,” of diorite (?)--..------------- 68 Sie small jade figurines and figuring heads... 2.....222.8 5-059. 0 2 222e8 68 32. Front, side, and rear views of stone figurine_____-____--_----------- 68 Sot hignranie or dark-green, Stone... 9522 oho oN be oe 68 34. Small jade figurines and figurine heads-~..._.—.- 24. ..2-22--2+-s-s2. 68 35. Miscellaneous figurines, front and rear views_---------------------- 68 ao: vuscellancous, jade ObjeGts=.2.25c5 6-5) Pe oe Re ee 68 Se avuscellancoussnsurinesss seers 2 oe RS ee ee eee eee 68 Stok ad (240 | (2s an aa Mae ek Be ee a GERMS ES aie A ECE A LBERE ge ery Bets eRe Sp 68 39: Plaquelike ebjects/of unknown use. -2-=-\- 2 42 sashes 5458 eke 68 AAP IAINIGR £22 Meee ee ce ee Ae i as Ee ee 68 CoA AEA OER Toca I i o's a pF AS PS Og A eS ee eS 68 A ee AT SOOO Ane Hae ote sate a ra oe ee eee oe eee ee ae 68 Ao MHATRDOOLHATES2- 625. 26 AUN _ Pee Vee. PO ee, Bey at ee 68 AA icranioo) flames ey} Sri oh: | aster a Sheek AE Cee: ee ee 68 45. Earspool flares and decorated perforated disk.__-_----------------- 68 46. Small flares, perforated disks, and imperforate disks_____.---------- 68 274 Disks with large central perforauon...=5 2.2 22 ee 68 aoe StisCOlAnegus Obletukeas (ae aan ease ee ee ee ee ee 68 SUM Wscenaneous:Objeetas 6 ot noe. WE, Be We eed 68 SOu@erecionial perforators G7?) Sele = 4) - 22. oo eee 2 reek aoe ee 68 5)ASussphenraliand “pebblevbeadste.... 425 ao e222 ke 68
52. Subspherical, gadrooned, tubular “‘pebble,’”’ and miscellaneous bead yy Ra ed a eed RU a, Soe a eh et 68 5a. Lupular ane parrel-snaped beads. .2.220.— 2-222 25 Seer 68 54. Barrel-shaped, and short tubular beads-_-_-__-_--__------------------- 68
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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLt. 157
TEXT FIGURES
PAGE 2. Zanotecan (7) style figurine plage uA £3} = 2.2 5 ee eee 34 3. Original design on plaque shown in plate 38 a, a’___-_--_---_-------- 46 4. Two sides showing incised designs of fish plaque___-_____---_-------- 47 5. Jaguar-monster designs on ‘‘canoe’”’ plaque-__----------------------- 49 G Steps in manufacture of earspool flare-_.-..........-.....--~:-_-$ep 56 é.. Suggested hafting of decorated celt- 22 <. =. ..2...2--. 2.22526. oe 59 S. Decorated tipular DRG) 222. oe ee eG a 2 ee ee ee 62 9. Cross section of rectangular slotted objects of jade____-___---_------ 64
THE CERRO DE LAS MESAS OFFERING OF JADE AND OTHER MATERIALS
——
By Pump Druckir
INTRODUCTION
In the course of the National Geographic Society—Smithsonian Institution archeological investigations at the site of Cerro de las Mesas, in Veracruz, Mexico, in 1941, Stirling encountered an impres- sive offering of jade objects at the foot of a large mound through which he was driving a cross-section trench. He has described this find briefly in a popular article (Stirling, 1941). The present writer also mentioned this offering in his report on the ceramics of the site, pointing out that in view of the pottery associations, including both sherds contained in the mound mass and cache lots of vessels placed with burials in the mound, the jade cache was probably to be reckoned as belonging to the Lower II horizon (Drucker, 1943, pp. 11, 79). After that time we often discussed the desirability of making a detailed study of the jade objects, but, as with the weather, we did nothing about it. Finally, in the spring of 1952, Stirling arranged that the writer should make a brief trip to Mexico, to the Museo Nacional where the collection is housed, to study it. The present report is based upon that study.
Through the courtesy of the Director of the Museo Nacional, Dr. Eusebio Davalos H., the writer was able to examine and compare the jade specimens, both those in the storage vault and those on exhibit in the halls. It turned out, however, that the entire lot was not available: there were a few pieces which had been sent on loan to various local museums, etc. However, the bulk of the material was in the Museo Nacional, and it is believed that there are very few significant features or types among the unavailable specimens (which consist mostly of earspools and beads, according to the inventory prepared by Lic. Valenzuela in 1941 when the lot was received by the museum). A few pieces only will be described from photographs made in 1941 rather than from the 1952 study.
The writer wishes to express his gratitude to Arq. Ignacio Marquina, Director of the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia 6 Historia, to
29
30 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 157
Sr. Eduardo Noguera, of the same organization, and to Dr. Eusebio Davalos, Director of the Museo Nacional, for authorizing access to the collections and for providing every facility for studying them. Thanks are also due to Dr. W. F. Foshag, of the United States National Museum, for information on the mineralogy and source of the jadeites.
THE CERRO DE LAS MESAS OFFERING MATERIALS
The purpose of this paper is primarily descriptive, and to get on record some information about the Cerro de las Mesas jades. With as few sizable lots of jade objects firmly placed in space and time as there are—Monte Albin, and from the recently published reports, Uaxactun, Nebaj, and Kaminaljuyt are the sources of the principal exceptions—detailed comparative studies of Mesoamerican jade are not likely to be very rewarding. In certain cases similarities to materials from other sites or regions can be pointed out, but no very definitive conclusions can be drawn from these few comparisons. Similarly, certain peculiar forms may be, for all we know, distinctive local styles or they may be imports from some other archeologically little-known region. Or some of the peculiar forms may be cultural sports, of no particular significance.
Even after we have descriptions of a good number of jade collections whose proveniences are known, jade is likely to prove a difficult material to study. Not only were jade objects traded widely in Mesoamerica, but as has been shown repeatedly, some pieces were preserved a long time—as heirlooms perhaps, or treasures, or possibly even as objets d’art. A temporal placing of a piece of jade does not mean the same as the assignment of a ceramic type or trait to some level; all it gives us on the jade is a possible cut-off date for the type. Olmec jade figurines provide a neat example of difficulties of this sort that one may encounter. The objects are of course readily recognizable from the stylistic standpoint. Present evidence suggests the period, or at least principal period, of their manufacture was the Pre-Classic Middle Tres Zapotes-La Venta horizon (a prolonged Urban Formative phase immediately preceding the Classic Upper Tres Zapotes). Yet a few objects of this type occur in the cache at Cerro de las Mesas, presumably traded from the nearby Olmec region, in a period believed on other grounds to have been roughly contemporary with Upper Tres Zapotes. Consequently, if these various suppositions are correct, the objects had been made quite some time before they were buried under the steps at the front of the mound. They were kept pretty carefully, too, all this time, for they have no nicks or other signs of rough use. The Cerro de las Mesas data by themselves would mislead us entirely. As a matter of fact, the basis for the belief that the
Ast, S“* ~=CERRO DE LAS MESAS OFFERING—DRUCKER 31
Middle Tres Zapotes-La Venta period was the one in which the objects were made derives mainly from their occurrence plus their close stylistic kinship with the monumental sculpture at the one-period site of La Venta.
The several hundred specimens in the cache include a considerable number made of what appeared to be one or another variety of jadeite, or blends of jadeite and albite, all of which I designate ‘‘jade,”’ using the term in its loosest sense. However, I may easily have classed as “jade”’ a number of materials really quite different mineralogically. The second most abundant material is a soft, dull-surfaced tan to buff stone with lustrous streaks or areas of white and green. A fairly sizable proportion of the small figurines and figurine heads, as well as of the beads, are of this material. It was surmised at first that this stone was decomposed or altered (burned) jadeite. However, Dr. Foshag, who saw color transparencies of these pieces, along with brief descriptions, suggests they are probably calcite with inclusions of quartz and chlorite. There are a few objects of serpentine, a small number that may be of chloromelanite, basalt, and what Foshag designates meta-diorite. It would be beyond the scope of this paper and my competence to attempt to discuss the varieties of jadeite represented in the collection from a mineralogical standpoint. Fos- hag’s study of Mesoamerican jadeites and related materials, when available, should clarify a great many problems of both mineralogical and cultural import.
FIGURINES
The figurines from the cache are quite varied stylistically. Only a few of them can be assigned to known art styles. In another way also they form a rather heterogeneous lot, for some of them are per- forated for suspension either as pendants or beads. However, it seems preferable to describe all the objects which have been carved into representative forms together, no matter for what purpose they may have been designed, since after all we can only speculate as to the function of many of these objects.
Olmec figurines —Two of the figurines in the lot are very obviously Olmec in style and a third, a figurine head, probably belongs to the same school of art. The first of these is a small figurine carved in the full round of translucent bluish-gray jade (pl. 27). It is almost uniform in color with no mottling. It stands 12.1 cm. high, its maximum width is 7.6 cm., and maximum thickness (back to extended hands), 4.4 cm. In every respect the treatment is typically Olmec. Head-and-face outline is characteristically rectangular with elongated flat-topped head and heavy, squarish jowls. In profile, deformation of the head is clearly indicated. The eyes are elongated blunt ellipses
= 4 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 157
formed by drilling a series of contiguous holes with a small solid drill. Presumably they were intended to contain inlays as did the eyes of certain figurines from La Venta. Nose and mouth are framed by a continuous line that extends from the sides of the broad nose to the corners of the mouth. The nostrils are represented by two connect- ing conical pits. The everted upper lip is directly below the nose; the corners of the mouth are marked by drilled pits. Ears are typi- cally elongated ridges at the sides of the head, quite simplified, and are perforated with connecting conical drill pits. The body con- forms to the usual Olmec stylistic standards combining both realism and considerable simplification. The principal muscular masses on the shoulders, chest, back, and thighs are plainly shown. The limbs are disproportionately short. ‘The hands and feet have been sim- plified to blunt, rounded forms with grooves marking off the fingers and toes. The general proportions of head and body suggest that it may have been intended to represent an infant. In many respects this is an outstanding product of Olmec art.
The second Olmec figurine is a small standing figure of pale yellowish-green serpentine with black inclusions (pl. 28, a). The figure portrayed apparently is that of a hunchback, although viewed from certain angles it looks as though it may represent a man carry- ing a load on his back. The over-all height of the figure is 7.0 cm. Like the preceding, the Olmec stylistic characters of the carving are most obvious. It differs from the first figurine in that the eyes are shallow, sawed semilenticular grooves. They were apparently not intended to hold inlays. Vertical lines connect the sides of the nose and the edges of the mouth. Two intersecting conical perforations form the nostrils and two more drilled pits mark the corners of the mouth, separating the heavy, squarish upper lip, which begins just below the nose, from the lower lip. The head outline is elongated with squarish heavy jowls. The ears are elongated, simplified to rectangular form, and have biconical perforations through the lower tips. The arms, hands, legs, and feet are simplified. The surface of the stone of which the figurine is made is only moderately polished. It will be recalled that the series of figurines from La Venta included a number of serpentine and similar soft stones, as well as those of jade.
The third object, one which is less certainly of Olmec style is one in the form of a small skull of light gray-green opaque jade, finished with a moderately high polish (pl. 28, b). The specimen, although very highly stylized, very obviously represents a human skull. One suspects that the theme may have been suggested by the original form of the stone, and the design was adapted to utilize this original form to the maximum. This, if true, is quite unusual in Olmec art,
No dd)’ = CERRO DE LAS MESAS OFFERING—DRUCKER 33 at least in the examples currently recognized as pertaining to that style. The eye sockets are represented by two very shallow round- bottomed, drilled pits. A pair of wide shallow grooves diverge from the base of the rounded lump that represents the nose, swing in wide regular curves up the sides of the head, and end in short spirals just over the eyes. The mouth is indicated as a lenticular area formed by shallow sawed grooves, bisected by a similar sawed line and crossed by five vertical lines to indicate teeth. The back of the object is a smooth vertical surface. Two gradually tapering perforations near the rear of the upper portion of the head intersect, presumably for suspension, and another pair of conical perforations, one from the under side of the chin and one from the back, also intersect to provide another suspension point. The reasons for suggesting that this piece may be of Olmec origin are: (1) The bold simplicity of style; (2) the type of jade, which resembles some of that from La Venta; and (8) the fact that a few examples of representations of skulls, both in pottery and carved of rock crystal, have been found at La Venta itself. The over-all height of the object is 7.3 cm., maximum width 4.2 cm.
Zapotecan (?) figurine plaque.—A small flat specimen, which might actually be classed as a plaque rather than a figurine except that it is not provided with perforations for suspension, is carved with a figure stylistically very similar to the ‘‘Danzante’”’ figures of Monte Albin (pl. 29 and fig. 2). The material of which it is made is opaque medium- green jade with olive-brown spots. The object is 9.2 cm. in length, 5.9 cm. in width, and 1.0 cm. thick. The face of the object bearing the carving is very highly polished but not flat, having a slight concavity in its lower half. The back is unworked and unpolished. The figure is formed by sawed lines, cut in asymmetrically, that is to say, the cuts are not vertical, but have a steep face bordering the area outlined with a longer flatter slope away from the emphasized area, as though the sawing had been done at a slant. The personage is portrayed in a posture suggesting violent movement, with head thrown back and legs doubled up under him. ‘The eye is formed by a shallow, broad drill pit. The nose and mouth shown in profile lack the framing lines and heavy everted upper lip of the Olmec style. There is a small shallow drill pit at the corner of the mouth. The personage wears an elaborate earplug with a flowerlike pendant, as well as a belt and breechclout. Swirling spirals on the head suggest an elaborate hairdress. The whole concept of the figure reminds one very strongly of the aforementioned Danzante figures, particularly in the strength of depiction combined with the rather rubbery- looking, impossibly jointed limbs. Despite the anatomical dis- proportion and poor drawing, the figure gives the impression of a very
34 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 157
sophisticated style. On the back of the object at a point just below the back of the head a small drill pit was begun, but not put completely through.
Ficure 2.—Zapotecan{(?) style figurine plaque.
Figurines of “‘crossed-arm style.’,—Two pieces in the cache, while not too similar stylistically, are interesting because of their resem- blances to the figures with crossed arms described by Thompson from the El Baul region of Guatemala, and a fragmentary shell figurine from Nebaj (Thompson, 1948; and Smith and Kidder, 1951, fig. 19,c). The first was a rather large, somewhat crude figure of diorite (?) which was found lying on top of the objects of jade (pl. 30). It is the one referred to as a ‘monkey figure” in my report on the ceramics of the site (Drucker, 1943, pl. 58, c). It strikes one as being rather crudely made, the eyes being simply deep hollows appar- ently pecked out, the nose a flattish triangle, and the mouth an ellipse from which the center had been pecked out. On the back of the head a hairdress is suggested. 'The arms shown crossed over the breast are simply long flat strips set out by cutting away the material immediately adjoining. The sexual organs are indicated, an unusual feature in any of the regional art styles. 'The whole figure is angular and poorly proportioned. The feet merge into a rounded block of
NOdeT PaP. CERRO DE LAS MESAS OFFERING—DRUCKER 35
stone, which suggests that the object was either unfinished or else intended to be embedded in some plastic material as an architectural ornament. The figure is approximately 40.5 cm. high. The surface of the stone is rather rough; no attempt was made to smooth or polish it.
The second object of this general style is a small jade figurine just under 6.0 cm. long (pl. 31, f). The material is a light gray-green. The back is irregular and only moderately polished. The figure is indicated by a series of sawed lines which have been given slight relief by the cutting away of adjacent areas. The eyes are ellipses transected by horizontal sawed slits. The nose and mouth are formed by a large triangle extending from between the eyes to the base of the face, two transverse lines representing the base of the nose and the mouth. The arms are crossed over the breast. Three fingers are indicated on each hand by sawed grooves. At the base of the figure, a transverse sawed line seems to indicate the bottom of a kilt or skirt. The feet are simply indicated. A transverse per- foration made by two intersecting gently tapering drill holes, goes through the neck of the figure from side to side. It was obviously drilled before the lateral notches were cut in at the base of the head to separate head and shoulders. It may be that this object originally had a different form and was reworked into the figurine. Two pairs of intersecting conical perforations, one pair at the side and back of the head and the other at about the waist on the right-hand side of the figure, provide additional means of suspension.
I am by no means certain that these rather crudely portrayed figurines with the similar posture actually have any significant rela- tionship, but the possibility that they may have should not be overlooked.
Unclassified figurines.—There are a considerable number of figurines and figurine heads from the cache which as yet cannot be classified as belonging to any specific local style or time horizon. It is to be hoped that eventually some may be culturally identified. For the present they will be described and tentatively grouped on certain arbitrarily selected stylistic traits, which perhaps may turn out to have regional and/or temporal significance. The first such group will be one characterized by the use of relatively high relief for depicting some or all of the features. The first such figure is a rather large specimen 22.0 cm. high, of a light greenish-gray stone mottled with white, probably meta-diorite (pl. 32). It represents an individual in a standing posture wearing an elaborate necklace and ornamented belt and breechclout, with long hair hanging down the back. The eyes are long elliptical slits made by drilling a series of contiguous holes with a small hollow drill and breaking out the intervening partitions.
36 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 157
The form of the eyes suggests that they might have been intended for the insertion of inlays of other materials, as were the eyes of many Olmec figurines. The other facial features show a fair degree of realism. The large nose is boldly carved, the ears are simplified vertical strips at the lower ends of which elaborate earspools are indicated by double hollow drilling. The mouth is a wide shallow ellipse, the corners of which are marked by hollow drill pits. The necklace is indicated by a series of circles made with a fairly large hollow drill and ends in a large rectangular pendant on the figure’s chest. The belt ornament is a wide rectangle with rounded corners and a hollow drilled circle at its center. The belt, breechclout, and the figure’s long hair are indicated by parallel sawed lines. The body and limbs of the figurine are much simplified in treatment. In many respects this figure seems vaguely reminiscent of the Olmec style, but specific details of treatment make clear that it does not belong to that style. For example, the forehead, nose, and mouth, and par- ticularly the space between the nose and upper lip are non-Olmec. The degree of simplification of body and limbs is much greater in Olmec figurines and significant detail of muscular masses is suppressed, and, finally, the use of the hollow drill is, so far as known, not to be found in Olmec art.
Another fairly large figurine, not of jade but of a dark-green stone with black streaks, possibly chloromelanite, is stylistically somewhat different, but is done in a fairly bold relief (pl. 33). The face is sur- mounted by a headdress in the form of the muzzle of some animal. The eyes are large pyriform depressions in which no traces of drill pitsremain. The earspools are large incised circles with pits made by a small hollow drill at their centers. The nose and mouth are fairly realistically carved although the four teeth shown between the partly opened lips are disproportionately large. The body of the figurine has been so much simplified as to lack most anatomical detail. The hands which meet over the person’s belly appear to be holding some object. The fingers and toes are marked with short sawed lines. The lines separating the upper arms from the sides and separating the legs are made by broad shallow sawed lines rounded off by subsequent polishing. In profile the body is quite flat, and in low relief. The figurine stands 20.4 cm. high, 6.7 cm. wide, and has a maximum thickness of 2.7 em.
Another object in which fairly high relief was used by the carver is a little head of a brownish material containing streaks of dark and medium green, probably calcite with quartz and chlorite (pl. 31, g). The outline of head and face is that of an inverted triangle with heavily rounded corners and a slight notch at the top of the head. Raised masses at the two corners of the head suggest simplification
Rota FAP ~=CERRO DE LAS MESAS OFFERING—DRUCKER 37
of the headdress. The eyes are fairly large circles formed with a hollow drill, and give a staring owlish effect. The nose was laid out by sawing a triangle with its base at the mouth, its apex between the eyes. It was then carved into a high arched beaklike form. The corners of the mouth were marked by pits made by a small solid drill and connected by sawed lines. In profile the head has a bulging forehead, a deep, wide, sawed groove across the region of the eyes and the jutting beaklike nose previously mentioned. ‘Two sets of intersecting conical perforations drilled from the sides and the back of the head provide points of suspension, one at either side. The height of the head is 4.2 cm., maximum width 3.3 cm., maximum thickness 1.6 cm.
Another category of figurines and figurine heads, all decorated with flat low relief appears to include two stylistic groups or subgroups, but whether these possible stylistic differences have real significance as to time or place of origin is unknown. In one of these styles the mouth and nose (rarely the nose alone) are represented by a simple flat triangle sawed out so that the apex is between or just below the eyes of the figure. The treatment of these features is reminiscent of that of the Teotihuacén type figurines from Monte Albdn III (Caso, 1938, p. 9), except that the Cerro de las Mesas specimens entirely lack the strong relief of those from the highland, and might better be said to have been drawn rather than carved. In the other style the nose is formed by a continuation of the lines which encircle the eyes so that these lines descend downward and outward and are joined at the base by a horizontal saw cut, much in the fashion of the Early Classic jades from Nebaj (Smith and Kidder, 1951, pp. 33 ff.).
An example of the triangular nose and mouth style is one made from half of a large bead which was sawed through, leaving part of the biconical perforation clearly shown on its back (pl. 34, g). The features are indicated by a series of shallow sawed slits, two at each of the eyes. A sawed triangle with three horizontal cross lines rep- resents the nose and mouth. It is possible that this specimen was just being laid out for more elaborate working and was not finished because the saw cuts are quite shallow. It is made of an opaque light gray-green jade, the front of which is moderately well polished and the sawed back only slightly less polished. Two biconical drill holes perforate the sides of the head near the top. In one of them the bridge at the edge of the perforation has been broken out. The length is 3.8 cm., width 2.9 cm., thickness 1.5 cm.
A quite similar specimen, the eyes of which are marked by three horizontal saw cuts and the nose and mouth once more by a triangle with transverse sawed lines at its base, is pierced transversely for sus- pension by two biconical drill holes which enter at either side near
38 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 157
the top (pl. 34, d). A small notch at the center of the lower edge and two small notches on either side suggest that the object may have been reworked from some other form. Its over-all height is 4.5 cm., maximum width 3.2 em., and thickness 1.2 cm.
Another figurine representing a complete figure is made from a dense black stone, possibly basalt, and was one of those in which the original form of the pebble was very slightly modified (pl. 35, a, a’). It represents a standing figure with the arms folded across the belly. A horizontal line sawed just above the face presumably marks the hairline. The eyes are each formed by a single horizontal sawed slit, the nose and mouth are formed by a triangle with transverse lines across the base to indicate the mouth parts. Some cursory saw lines seem to indicate the legs, the feet of which are little protuberances probably left from the original unworked form. The back is unworked except for transverse lines at point of neck and waist. The lower part of the figurine retains the original irregular surface that slopes away sharply toward the feet so that the figure cannot stand upright.
Another small standing figure, likewise of a dense black stone, possibly a fine-grained basalt, in a similar posture except that the hands appear to be holding something, gives a faint suggestion of Olmec influence in its treatment (pl. 35, c, c’). The eyes are two horizontal sawed slits but an attempt had been made to give a more realistic treatment by a slight modeling of the cheeks just under them. On the back of the figure sweeping sawed lines mark off arms, waist, and legs. Feet and hands are delineated in a highly simplified fashion. The length of the object is 9.5 cm., width 3.0 cm., maximum thickness 1.6 cm.
A third small standing figure representing much the same posture strikes one as being perhaps the crudest of the whole lot (pl. 35, 5, 6’). It is made out of a dense olive-green stone. Encircling sawed lines indicate the neck, the upper and lower edges of the folded arms, the waist, knees, and feet. The head is simply the rounded end of the original pebble, with two small drill pits for eyes and a triangle for nose and mouth. There is no indication of ears or earspools, or any modeling whatsoever. The hands are separated by two slanting sawed lines, and fingers are represented by horizontal sawed lines. Two deep notches sawed vertically from either side mark off the legs. The length is 6.2 cm., width 2.7 cm., thickness 2.1 cm. There are no perforations for suspension or attachment.
A small head perforated at the upper end by connecting transverse conical drill holes also has mouth and nose made by a sawed-out triangle with three transverse saw cuts at the lower edge to indicate base of nose, lips, and mouth (pl. 34, h). The eyes are sawed ellipses with wide sawed lines transversing them horizontally. The elongated
Noda) T“® ~=€ERRO DE LAS MESAS OFFERING—DRUCKER 39
oval pebble from which this head was made was otherwise slightly modified and is not polished. It is 4.9 cm. long, 2.6 cm. wide, 1.8 cm. maximum thickness.
A small flat pebble which appears to be olive-green serpentine is framed by a rectangular border made by sawed vertical lines on the sides and a horizontal one across the upper edge that seems to repre- sent hair (pl. 34, 6). The eyes and mouth are irregular ellipses set off by sawed lines; the nose is simply a flat triangle, set off by sawed lines. The height of this object is 2.8 cm., width 2.7 cm., and maximum thickness 0.7 cm.
Two small beads, one of which is a thick ellipse in outline but fairly regular in form, and the other of which is so irregular as to sug- gest a small pebble, as slightly worked as possible, have faces carved on them in essentially the same fashion as the preceding figurines (pl. 36, 6, 6’, c, c’). The one of regular shape has elliptical eyes and two joining arcs that suggest eyebrows. The nose and mouth are formed by a triangle, the sides of which do not quite meet at the top. Two large abruptly tapered perforations transect the object from side to side, joining at or near the middle. The maximum height of this object is 2.5 cm., maximum width at perforations is 2.1 cm., thickness is 1.7 cm. The smaller irregularly shaped bead has eyes indicated by three slightly slanting parallel sawed lines on either side of the triangular nose. A saw cut at the lower edge is connected with a drilled hole from the rear of the object.
A very flat figurine head of mottled brown and bluish material is approximately rectangular with rounded corners in outline (pl. 34, c). The face is framed by a sawed line. The sides and top on the outside of the sawed line are cut by short saw lines to give the effect of either hair or a feather headdress. The eyes are irregularly shaped areas outlined by saw cuts and transversed by horizontal slits. The nose and mouth are formed by a single triangle, as described above. Two roughly made ellipses with drill pits at their centers indicate ear- spools. Three perforations from front to back were made with conical drills and provide means of suspension or attachment. The dimensions of this object are height 4.1 cm., width 4.5 cm., thickness 0.9 cm.
A small flat irregular fragment of jade was slightly modified by means of a few saw cuts into a small figurine (pl. 34, f). Two round raised areas accentuated by saw cuts form the eyes. The nose was laid out in the form of a triangle. The mouth is an irregular ellipse with a small drill pit at the center. Shallow sawed lines appear to be meant to indicate the arms, waist, and feet. A sort of round tab projects from one side and it has been notched at its edge by three saw cuts. A biconical perforation penetrates from front to rear along-
40 ' BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 157
side the head on the winglike side, and two drilled holes intersect from the other edge and back. The height of this object is 7.0 cm., maximum width 3.3 cm., and the thickness varies from 0.3 cm. to 0.8cm. In profile it is quite irregular.
Another small head distinguished by the use of hollow drill work is of opaque dark-green jade, highly polished on its convex front sur- face and moderately polished on its flat back (pl. 31, ce). The out- line is oval, the top being the wider end. The features are marked by a series of sawed lines for the most part. Hair or hairdress is indicated by angular U-shaped figure. The eyes are shallow oval pits whose lower margins are accentuated by arcs, apparently made with a hollow drill, that give an effect reminiscent of representations of Xipe. This, incidentally, is the only figurine of the triangular nose-mouth style to show evidence of the use of the hollow drill. The nose and mouth are formed by a triangle sawed out so that its apex lies between the eyes and its lower margin is transversed by three sawed lines which mark the base of the nose and the two lips. Three pairs of intersecting conical perforations, two at the sides of the head above the level of the eyes and one at the base of the chin, provide points of suspension or attachment. This object, although much simplified in treatment, differs from the others just described in giving an impression of excellent workmanship and sophistication of concept rather than crudity. The over-all height of the object is 4.7 cm., width 3.4 cm., maximum thickness 1.7 cm.
There are a smaller number of figurines of the second style, in which each line across the tops of the eyes is extended downward to outline one side of the nose, the two lines joining to form a single continuous one.
A small flat piece of pale-green jade, roughly rectangular with round corners and outline, has roughly elliptical sawed lines to represent the eyes (pl. 31, a). The nose is formed by an extension downward and outward of the outlines of the eyes, and the mouth is encircled with an ellipse. Transverse lines cross the eyes and the mouth. Vertical sawed lines at the top appear to indicate hair. Three small biconical perforations, one at either side and one a little bit off center below the mouth, pierce the object from front to rear. The height is 2.7 cm., width 2.9 cm., and the thickness 0.6 cm.
There are two examples of figurine heads with slightly more realis- tically depicted noses, though in both cases in the same general fashion, by extending the lines about the eyes. One of these is a flat slightly irregular fragment of pale grayish-green mottled jade (pl. 31, 6). The face is framed by sawed lines which join at the top to form a rough rectangle. Various curving saw cuts around the edge indicate an elaborate headdress. The eyes are encircled by sawed lines and tran-
Ant FAP) CERRO DE LAS MESAS OFFERING—DRUCKER 4]
sected by horizontal sawed grooves. The bridge of the nose is formed by extending the lines around the eyes downward and slightly inward. Near the bottom small semicircles have been sawed out to suggest wide flaring nostrils. The form thus suggests the ‘‘T-shaped’’ noses of certain Early Classic Nebaj jades. The mouth is sawed out and almost rectangular in form, a biconical perforation piercing it from back and front. Two small perforations at the sides intersect with two from the back. One of these side suspension points is broken out. The height of the object is 2.6 cm., maximum width 4.5 cm., and thickness 0.3 cm.
The other figurine with well-defined nostrils was made by a piece of calcite (?) (pl. 31, e). It seems to have a fairly elaborate headdress, although one side of the head has been broken off. The eyes, as in the preceding example, are roughly sawed ellipses. The nose is made by continuing the lines around the eyes downward and inward and near their base the wide alae are carved out somewhat irregularly. Some sawed lines below the face suggest an elaborate necklace. Other sawed lines suggest a belt and legs. The feet of the figurine are broken off. The front side retains a medium polish; the back is smooth but not polished. It shows the remnants of two sawed planes cut from opposite directions to leave a small septum which has broken off. The present height of the object is 6.6 cm., maximum width 3.1 cm., and thickness is 0.4 cm.
A small head made of a thin flat fragment of calcite (?) with white and green inclusions, has most of its features indicated by curving sawed lines (pl. 31, d). The nose is outlined by a continuation of the lines which curve around the eyes and are then brought down to meet the sawed line separating the mouth from the straight bottom of the nose. The eyes themselves are irregular ellipses outlined by sawed lines, and each transversed by a single sawed line. The mouth is represented by a similar sort of ellipse. The face is framed by a raised band left around it, broken at several points by lines which appear to indicate hairdress and earspools, and a profile face in the upper left corner, easier to see in the photograph than on the actual specimen. The earspools are marked by circles cut with a hollow drill. Three small semicircles, apparently made by applying a hollow drill at an angle less than 90° to the surface of the stone, occur at three points on the raised band. Two perforations near the upper end of the head and formed by intersecting conical perforations drilled from sides and back provide means of suspension. The object has a maximum height of 3.6 cm., width of 3.3 cm., and maximum thickness which varies a little over the entire object of 0.7 cm. The back of the head and face are neither polished nor decorated.
A small irregular pebble of mottled light and medium green jade is
265191—54——7
42 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buut. 157
similar to the preceding in that most of the features have been set out by sawed lines and a hollow drill has been used at certain points (pl. 34, a). The object has been made from a small pebble appar- ently little modified from its original form except for the fact that it has been sawed down one side. The face itself is framed by a more or less angular raised band marked by sawed lines. At top center five short vertical sawed lines appear to indicate hair or some sort of hair ornament. The eyes, as in the preceding head, are very irregular ellipses with horizontal sawed lines across their centers. Similarly, the nose is indicated by continuing the sawed lines that encircle the eyes downward and outward and joining them at the bottom by a transverse sawed line. The mouth is an irregular ellipse. The separation between the lips is marked by a short arc which may have been made with a hollow drill, and the lower lip is set off with a similar short arc. The earspools are circles made by a hollow drill with shallow single perforations at or near their centers. Two per- forations at the upper end are formed by intersecting pairs of conical drill pits put through from back and sides and at the bottom tip a connecting biconical perforation was drilled through from front and back. This rather crudely made little piece has a fair degree of polish on its front surface. It has a maximum height of 4.7 cm., width of 3.6 cm., and a maximum thickness of 1.8 cm.
Another small figurine which shows not only the head but a com- plete if somewhat stunted figure, made of an unidentified olive-green and buff stone, is shown standing with the hands brought together across the belly (pl. 34, e). The eyes are delineated by sawed ellipses, none too regular in form, and horizontal slits sawed across the middle. The nose was made by continuing the lines encircling the eyes down- ward and outward and ends abruptly in a horizontal sawed line. The corners of the mouth are marked off with arcs made by using a hollow drill at a slanting angle. Similarly made arcs represent the shoulders and two more outline one of the hands whose fingers are represented by two horizontal saw cuts. A slight raised area on top of the head suggests a topknot and the face is framed by a sawed line. Conical perforations are drilled in from the sides of the neck and inter- sect with similar pits drilled in from the rear. Aside from these suspension holes the back is not worked. The stubby legs are indi- cated by sawed arcs and a sawed notch separates the feet. The height of this object is 4.3 cm., width 2.6 cm., and maximum thick- ness 1.4 cm.
The remaining figurines and figurine heads are all rather aberrant among the materials from the cache. One is a head or face that looks as though it may have been broken from the complete figurine, since the back is rough and rather battered (pl. 36, d). It is made of a
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very dark green stone which is probably not jade. The eyes are formed by slightly raised areas ringed by two shallow ellipses. The nose was laid out as a triangle and shaped in rather high relief, taper- ing from the sides to a rather narrow crest or bridge. ‘The mouth has shallow drill pits at the corners and is somewhat squarish in outline, suggesting possible Olmec influence. The cheek bones and cheeks are well modeled in low relief. Under the rounded chin there is a slight recess to indicate the neck which continues up as a groove along the sides of the face to the top of the head. Intersecting conical pits were drilled from sides and back. The present height of this object is 5.3 cm., maximum width 4.0 cm., thickness 2.5 cm.
A very crude little object made of a compact dark olive-brown stone has what may be interpreted as a highly stylized face at one end, almost directly over two short stubby legs (pl. 37, c, c’). Three horizontal lines, one close to the top, one about the middle, and one just above the stubby “legs,” are cut into the object. At the upper end just below the uppermost line, two moderately deep horizontal cuts appear to represent the eyes, and between and below them is a raised triangular area which suggests the nose. The surface of the stone alongside and below the nose has been cut away nearly to the edge, leaving a narrow border, perhaps to represent hair, along either side. The back of the figure is unworked except for the central encircling line which continues all around. The length is 5.2 cm., width 3.5 cm., and thickness 2.0 cm.
A small flat piece of jade, medium grayish green in color with white mottling, was worked into a simple little figure suggesting a human form in profile (pl. 36, a). A sawed line ending in deep notches on either edge represents the neck of the figure. A short distance above that a deeply sawed notch suggests the mouth and a series of shallower saw cuts from the edge apparently are meant to indicate the base of the nose and the eye sockets. A shallow drill pit repre- sents the eye. A transverse line sawed across farther down the body of the figurine represents the waist and a little notch on the bottom suggests that the figure is intended to be shown in a kneeling or squat- ting posture. The obverse is plain but polished. There are no per- forations. The over-all length is 8.8 cm., maximum width 3.1 cm., thickness 0.7 cm.
A fragment of very bright green jade with a medium polish repre- sents a foot and looks as though it may have been broken from a large fairly elaborate specimen (pl. 37,d,d’). Viewed from above, it is nearly rectangular in outline with slight constrictions toward the heel. Three sawed lines at the tapered toe represent the four toes. These lines are continued on the underside. Transverse sawed lines mark off the areas of the sole of the foot. The craftsman apparently
44 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 157
made one peculiar error, for a high area that presumably was meant to represent the ball of the foot is immediately adjacent to the heel and a depression was carved out, for what should be the instep, between the toes and the raised area. The length of the object is 4.6 cm., width 2.0 cm., thickness (to the edge of the break) 0.9 cm.
A few pieces in the collection appear to have been intended to represent animal forms. One interesting specimen is made of ser- pentine in the form of a small fish (pl. 37, a, b, a’, b’). The eyes are formed by moderately deep circles cut with a hollow drill. Sawed lines at the edges of the mouth and around the gills give the object a more realistic appearance although actually it is highly stylized. It is drilled from end to end, that is, from mouth to tail, by means of two tubular drill holes which intersected just over 6 cm. from the mouth, or roughly two-thirds of the way back. These holes are about 1 cm. in diameter and have a very slight taper toward the base, presumably due to added wear during the drilling process at the upper part of each shaft. The holes almost fail to meet, having an overlap of about half a centimeter. Subsequently the object was sawed in half longitudinally. Whether this was done because the drill holes did not meet properly cannot be determined. The object is 9.1 cm. long and 4.7 cm. in maximum width. The original thickness prior to sawing was apparently a little under 2 cm.
A small piece of pale-green jade was made by cutting what must have been a fairly good-sized cylindrical bead in half longitudinally (pl. 37, e, e’). The remaining piece is slightly less than a half cylinder in cross section. The lower end was broken off and repolished. A few shallow saw marks outline slanting elliptical eyes, the line across the muzzle, and what seems to be an indication of nostrils at the lower broken end. The top two biconical perforations, one on the face side, provide means of suspension and are connected by a sawed groove. The general effect is that of an animal head, but it is im- possible to try to guess the species represented. The present length of the object is 5.1 cm., the width is 1.8 cm., and the thickness 0.8 cm.
A small buff-colored pebble, probably of serpentine, was slightly modified into the form of an animal head, possibly that of a dog (pl. 49, h). Shallow drilled pits indicate the eyes. A transverse biconical perforation runs from side to side at the base of the ears and another perforation goes through the lower lip and into the saw cut that represents the mouth. The length is 5.4 cm.
A small carving representing a fairly realistic turtle, made, as I recall, of basalt or possibly diorite, and painted red, was found in the offering, but I did not find it with the collection in the Museo Nacional, and by some strange oversight no pictures of it seem to have been made in 1941.
Nod) ~©=—s« CERRO DE LAS MESAS OFFERING—DRUCKER 45
Two small representative objects of materials found with burial materials in Mound 30 may be added to our list, although they do not properly belong with the cache. One of these was a small carv- ing, possibly made from half of a subspherical bead, representing a monkey head (pl. 52, a, third row, middle). It has the characteristic wide crest on the head and protruding mouth parts. The eyes are small shallow drill pits. A transverse perforation runs through from side to side near the top of the head and two pairs of intersecting conical perforations connect sides and back just below the midpoint. The height of the object is 1.8 cm., the maximum width is 1.8 em., and the thickness is 1.3 cm.
The second little jade pendant from Mound 380 represents a highly stylized cicada (pl. 52, a, third row, middle). It is of bright-green jade with light-green mottling. In outline it is nearly elliptical with slight notches at the sides of the head and the base of the wings. Shallow saw cuts suggest the thorax of the insect, and two very shal- low drill pits near the upper rounded end, the eyes. A transverse biconical perforation pierces the object from side to side at about the level of the eyes. This little piece is well polished. Its length is 3.1 cm., the maximum width is 1.6 cm., and the thickness at the upper end is 1.0 cm.
A little pebble of light-green jade was very slightly modified into a form that vaguely suggests the head of a wood duck (pl. 49, h). A slight projection at one end was bisected with a saw cut to suggest the beak, and a few light cuts on the other end suggest the feathers. A transverse biconical perforation runs through from side to side. The length is 2.9 cm., the width 1.8 cm., and the thickness 1.2 cm.
PLAQUES
There are a number of objects among the materials from the cache whose use is not known but which suggest by their more or less flat form and laterally balanced perforations that they were intended for suspension, perhaps hanging from necklaces like some of the objects portrayed on the various stelae. These pieces are grouped here as “‘plaques.”’
The first of the plaques is a small trapezoidal object of very light translucent green jade with a faint mottling of light green and white (pl. 38, a, a’, and fig. 3). The two upper corners are decorated with highly simplified animal heads in profile, formed by a very few sawed lines and with circular depressions made by a hollow drill to represent the eyes. The sides and lower edge of the stone is marked off with a border formed by a lightly sawed line. The central portion between the heads is also decorated with an angular pattern of sawed lines.
46 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 157
Ficure 3.—Original design on plaque shown in plate 38, a, a’.
Four perforations equally spaced, two at the top and two at the bot- tom, provide means for suspension or attachment. 'These perfora- tions are biconical, drilled through from front and back. The front of the object, that is the side bearing the design, is well polished. The undecorated back has only a medium polish. This piece appears to have been a fragment of a larger plaque, the original design of which was ground down when the object was given its present form. Faint traces remain of an engraved face which was almost entirely removed in the reworking. This face is too faintly delineated to be photo- graphed, in fact it is very difficult to see at all except in just the right light. Stylistically this previous engraving seems to have a strong Mayoid flavor. Figure 3, from a drawing made by Covarrubias, brings out this character clearly. It may be noted also that several indentations along the edges of the plaque appear to be remnants of perforations originally drilled for suspension or attachment of the object. The piece measures 8.4 cm. along the top and 7.4 cm. along the bottom; one side, that on the viewer’s right, is 5.6 cm. long, and the other side is 5.8 cm. In cross section the object is a narrow ellipse, 0.75 cm. being the maximum thickness.
A second plaque is a narrow flat object of medium dark-green jade (?) with flecks of light green (pl. 40, c, c’ and fig. 4). It is decorated on both sides and the outline has been slightly modified into a form suggesting a conventionalized fish of some sort. On one side the decoration has been applied by means of sawed lines, the margins of which are more nearly vertical on one side than on the other, which serves to accentuate the particular area outlines. The figure has an irregular but almost round eye, and beginning below the eye a gaping mouth with up-curved snout. Curving lines behind the eye suggest
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gill openings. However, the head might be that of almost any stylized reptile or monster. Its identification as a fish is based on the abrupt breaks at top and bottom of the silhouette, a little more than two- thirds of the way back from the head, which give the effect of the ends of the dorsal and ventral fins of the fish, and the pair of pro- tuberances at the very end which suggest the fish’s tail. The surface of the object is fairly flat and the edges are rounded off rather sharply. On the opposite side is a lightly but accurately engraved design which may also represent some sort of fish. This pattern is turned just the opposite way to the more heavily carved pattern on the other side, that is, the belly of this fish lies on the same edge of the plaque as the back of the other one. The upper edge as seen from this view (or the lower edge in relation to the other side) is pierced by two bi- conical perforations situated one on and one just inside of a sawed line along one edge of the figure. This specimen, like the preceding, may perhaps be a reworked fragment of some much larger object. The maximum length of the specimen is 13.9 cm., the maximum width is 4.8 cm., and the maximum thickness is 0.7 cm.
A small object carved in the form of a dugout canoe is included among the plaques because on its base it has a set of four biconical perforations drilled through from base and sides to intersect, thus
Ficure 4.—Two sides showing incised deers of fish plaque. Cross section through head of plaque.
48 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 157
providing a means of suspension or attachment (pl. 38, b, b’, b’’). The object is made of translucent dark-green jade with a strong bluish-gray cast. The stone appears very similar to that from which the Olmec figurine was made. The “‘canoe”’ is roughly rectangular in plan viewed from above. The platformlike ends are of the same width as the central part of the object but are relatively thin, then merge abruptly into the “hull.” It is worth noting that real dugout canoes in use today in many parts of southern Veracruz are made with very similar wide flat projecting bow and stern. The central part of the canoe is hollowed out into a roughly rectangular depression. The flat projecting bow and stern bear between the margins formed by exten- sion of the gunwales engraved patterns which are beyond a doubt conventionalizations of the Olmec Jaguar-monster (fig. 5). The eyes in each case slope toward the center and have the form of narrow ellipses containing small circles to represent the pupils. A pro- nounced V-shaped notch has been cut from the upper edge and has its apex almost between the eyes. The mouth of each of these heads has a raised angular upper lip bordered on its lower side by a line to represent teeth and fangs, and finished off at the bottom with a characterized lower lip whose outline parallels that of the upper lip. As indicated, the two heads are as nearly identical as freehand draw- ings can be. It may be entirely fortuitous, but the Olmec figurine previously mentioned is of just the right width so that its feet fit snugly into the “canoe” and it stands up very solidly in the little vessel. Whether these two pieces were actually made to fit together or not, the stylistic features of the sharp clean engraving on the canoe indicate that it is of the same art style as the figurine. The upper surface and sides are highly polished. The base is smoothed but not polished. The specimen has a maximum length of 20 cm. and a maximum width across the gunwales of 5.6cm. The flat bottom of the “hull” is 10.4 em. long by 5.0 cm. wide and has a depth of 2.3 cm. on one side and 2.35 cm. on the other. One of the projecting ends is not quite level, rising to a height of 2.5 cm. on one side at the end. Another vessellike object of jade is in form almost rectangular with rounded corners, though there is a very slight taper toward the ends. It is of medium-green jade and well polished front and back. One side of the specimen is hollowed out into a shallow ellipse approxi- mately 0.6 cm. deep. A biconical perforation at one end just outside the margin of the excavated area and the other at the midpoint of one side just within the excavated area apparently were intended for suspension. The back of the object has two old partly ground down saw cuts transversed to the main axis of the piece. The specimen is 15.9 cm. long, 8.0 cm. in maximum width, and 1.1 cm. in maximum thickness. The face or excavated portion appears to have been quite
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Ficure 5.—Jaguar-monster designs on “‘canoe”’ plaque.
flat prior to the hollowing out of the depression. The back is regularly convex.
A large flattish perforated object suggests in its form that it is a part of an ornament or shallow vessel of some sort whose original form was intended to be that of a clamshell (pl. 40, a, a’). One end of the specimen is rounded off with a fairly regular arc; the other end has been sawed off, the cut being made from both sides until only a narrow septum remained which was snapped off. Upper and lower
50 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buuy. 157
edges are worked into gently rounded borders of varying width. One of these borders widens rapidly near the sawed off edge, apparently to indicate the hinge of a shell of a clam. Lightly sawed lines along and across this border serve to accentuate the hinge. In cross sec- tion the object again simulates the form of a clamshell, being hollowed out at a more abrupt angle on the hinge side, raising through a more gentle curve toward the lip edge. The back of the object curves abruptly at the edges and flattens out into two longitudinal planes formed by two original saw cuts which did not quite center on each other. A number of perforations were drilled through the object. Two perforations close to the edges about two-fifths of the way from the rounded tip were drilled through from front to back. A third perforation in the center of the sawed edge is formed by a pit drilled from the concave face which intersects one drilled from the edge. Two more perforations occur on the concave side of the object and are formed by pairs of intersecting conical pits drilled from edge and back. The jade from which this object is made is medium green in color with a grayish cast and is mottled and streaked with light and dark grayish-green areas. The piece has a maximum length of 19.6 cm., a width at the sawed edge of 10.0 cm., a maximum thickness of 1.7 cm., and the excavated portion has a maximum depth of 0.7 cm. This specimen is considerably larger and less well made than the jade plaque in the form of a clamshell from the columnar basalt tomb at La Venta.
Another object which appears to be a fragment of a pendant in the form of a clamshell is shown in plate 36, e. It is made of opaque medium-green jade mottled with dark green and with areas having a brownish tinge. One side is quite flat from edge to edge and undec- orated although it has quite a high polish. The other side has some very slight relief carving and a few lightly sawed grooves that appear to simulate the hinge portion of some clamshell. The outer and lower edge has been modified into at least four lobes. The upper edge on which the hinge is located is almost straight. The piece has been broken off just to one side of the hinge. On the right-hand edge al- most at the juncture of the first and second lobes is a biconical per- foration passing from side to side. The maximum length of the ob- ject is 6.8 cm., the maximum width (across the hinge) is 6.5 cm., and the maximum thickness is 1.1 cm.
Another plaque approaches in form a long narrow rectangle with rounded corners (pl. 40, 6). Near the middle of the round axis it is slightly constricted, having a wide shallow saw cut across each edge. This constriction is accentuated by a sawed line across the face. In side view the object tapers very slightly toward one end which rounds off from both sides to a blunt edge. It thus vaguely suggests a celt
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in form, although celts from this part of Mexico are not normally so thin and flat. The end opposite the blade is perforated at the mid- point, a conical perforation from the edge intersecting another from the back. The perforated end is decorated with a very simple design consisting of two transverse sawed lines and four short longitudinal lines. Between the transverse lines are three circles, one of which is not quite complete, made with a hollow tubular drill. Two incom- plete circles made in the same fashion are found on the blade-half of the piece. The undecorated back is less highly polished than the front. Near the blade end of the object is the remnant of a drill pit, indicating that the present specimen was sawed off a larger specimen or piece of jade. One edge also shows the remnants of a narrow septum between two saw cuts. The specimen is 16.0 cm. long by 5.2 cm. wide, with a maximum thickness of 1.3 cm.
Another object of very light green translucent jade with white mottling and streaks of medium-green color is rectangular in form with slightly rounded corners (pl. 48, 7). The edges are fairly evenly squared off. Two biconical perforations 1.9 cm. apart at the approxi- mate center of one of the long sides were made by drilling from the edge and one face. On the lower edge (assuming that the edge with the perforations would be the upper one when the object was sus- pended) are the remnants of the drill hole and some well-ground-down saw cuts. The object is moderately well polished over all. It is 9.1 cm. long by 3.0 cm. wide and has a maximum thickness of 0.7 cm.
EARSPOOLS
Among the materials studied there were a total of 36 large jade flares for earspools, and some fragments of others. The original inventory of the cache materials includes 12 more (including several fragmentary pieces) which were not accessible at the time of my visit, having been loaned to regional museums, etc. However, the 36 pieces available pretty well cover the entire range variation of types and subtypes.
Preliminary examination of materials indicates that more infor- mation must be assembled before we can work out an entirely ade- quate classification of earspool flares. The basic typology used here is that defined in the Kaminaljuyi report (Kidder, Jennings, and Shook, 1946). However, certain variant forms were found which have been classed as subtypes. It is not certain at present whether these subtypes are significant or not; that is to say, whether they actually have either a regional or temporal significance. For that reason the present classification is offered purely as a tentative one, pending the appearance of more typological studies from Mesoamerica.
It is worth commenting that a number of earspool flares from the
52 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [But 157
cache, in fact a considerable number, are so large and heavy that I am inclined to doubt that they could have been actually worn in the ears. Several possibilities suggest themselves: they may have been worn in masks or headdresses; they may have been used to adorn large idols; they may have been a sort of symbolic treasure to be dis- played in rituals; or they may have been deposited in the cache be- fore they were actually finished. In a number of the pieces the necks are very roughly drilled out by means of heavy biconical perforations that just barely meet and which leave thick, heavy walls (see pl. 41, d,e). Most of these same specimens are polished only on the face of the flare, the back and necks being only smoothed, or at most, very slightly polished.
Type A flares, as defined by Kidder, Jennings, and Shook (1946) are “connected by a comparatively narrow face curving gently into a wide throat ... face approximately circular in outline.’’ There were 10 specimens of this type available, among which there was only one obvious pair (pls. 42, a, g; 44, b, c, g, 7, k; 45, a, 6). The face diameters of the eight unpaired pieces range from 3.8 cm. to 6.5 cm.; the necks tend to be proportionately longer than those of the other varieties of flares, six of the eight having a height/diameter ratio of 0.34 and above. Of course it is not impossible that this difference is only apparent in view of the small sample, for the other two flares of this type were definitely short and stubby with a height/diameter ratio of 0.18 in both cases. All but two of these flares (one of the short ones and one of the long ones) had two diametrically opposed perforations drilled through the necks. The only pair in this group have broad shallow designs sawed into the faces. The designs con- sist of four equally spaced pairs of concentric angular U-shaped figures (pl. 45, a, b). One is slightly larger, having a face diameter of 10.2 cm. This same piece has a longer stem, with two diametri- cally opposed perforations. The smaller piece looks as though its stem had been cut down just below the level of the perforations.
Type B earspool flares as defined by Kidder, Jennings, and Shook (1946) are those in which the ‘‘face is relatively wide and tending to be flat rather than curving, breaks abruptly into the neck with but little throat.’’ Kaminaljuyt flares, on which this type is based, are also characterized by an extremely irregular facial outline. The goal seems to be the maximum utilization of colorful stone rather than any regularity of pattern. There is only one specimen from Cerro de las Mesas which conforms to all the characteristics of this type. A variation which we may designate tentatively Variant 1 of Type B has the same essential character of the wide, flattish face at right angles to the plane of the stem, but the outline of the face is approxi- mately circular. This is the most numerous form in the lot of ma-
AntHaor Par. CERRO DE LAS MESAS OFFERING—DRUCKER 53
terials from the cache. There are 16 specimens of this variety, including 2 pairs (pls. 41, a, 6, d, e; 42, e, f; 43, d, e, f; 44, a, e, h, 9). The size range of this group in terms of face diameters varies from 4.1 to 10.4 cm., 11 of the pieces having a face diameter 6.9 cm. or larger. The height/diameter ratio ranges from 0.20 to 0.45 with a majority of the specimens being 0.34 or less. It is not entirely clear whether this ratio is actually significant, smce some of the specimens show clear evidence of having been partly broken off and reground. Three of these pieces have no perforations in the necks, one has a single perforation, sawed through horizontally, and the rest have two diametrically opposed drilled perforations (except for one broken specimen in which only one drilled perforation remains).
A second variant, Variant 2 of Type B, is a similar form in which the outline of the face is rectangular with rounded corners (pls. 42, b, c; 48, a, b, c; 45, d). In a few instances the corners have been rounded off until the outline is very close to circular, and perhaps if we had a sufficiently large sample it might be found that this rec- tangular variant merges imperceptibly into the form with the cir- cular face, and hence the two would have to be combined. In one case in the present series the facial outline is definitely elliptical rather than rectangular. There are 11 examples of this variant of Type B in the series studied. Included among these is a pair, ob- viously cut from the same piece of stone, which have imperforate throat disks, neatly cut and wedged into place (pl. 45, d). (The throat disk of one of these flares has come loose and is lost at present, but photographs taken at the time of the finding of the cache show it in place very clearly.) The facial dimensions of these specimens range from one measuring 5.6 by 5.2 cm. to a large badly broken example which originally must have measured about 10.6 by 11.8 em. Aside from the one large flare from which the neck had been broken, all but one of the series had two diametrically opposed drilled perforations in the neck. All but one specimen had a height/diameter ratio of 0.34 or less, but since the necks of several specimens appear to have been broken off and reground, this ratio may not be par- ticularly significant.
SMALL FLARES
The cache includes a few pieces similar in form to the earspool flares, but of markedly smaller size (pl. 46, ay). It is impossible to say whether these were simply small earplugs or parts of earplugs, or whether they were parts of elaborate assemblages that went with the large flares in some fashion. There are 10 such specimens. ‘Two of them are definitely a pair, being of very nearly the same size and almost certainly cut from the same stone. Each has a biconical
54 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 157
perforation near the lip of the flare and both are much alike in general form. The disk diameter of both pieces is 3.4 cm. and both have an over-all height from face to stem of 0.9 cm. Another one of these objects has two pairs of diametrically opposed incisions in the rim of the flare. Its general proportions are about the same as those of the two preceding specimens. Only one of these small flares has two diametrically opposed drilled perforations in the stem. The general pattern suggests that the small flares were used differently from the large ones. The stems in all but three instances are proportionately much shorter than those of the large flares.
DISKS
There are several large disks of jade with a sizable central perfora- tion. It is quite possible that these may have been backings for earspools although there is no direct evidence to corroborate this suggestion. One of the most elaborate is a specimen of light-green jade of approximately 8.4 cm. diameter with a central perforation of 4.9 cm. diameter (measurements derived from comparison with speci- men of known size in same photograph). The central perforation is slightly off center and one side of the outer circumference is straight (pl. 45, c). Engraved about the specimen in a broad shallow well- polished type of incising are two figures which suggest highly stylized alligators.
A number of the other large undecorated disks of this type are fairly obviously large earspool flares whose stems have been cut off. Four of these pieces have two diametrically opposed biconical perfora- tions through them in addition to the large central perforation. Size ranges from 7.7 to 9.0 cm. in diameter, the central perforations being from 2.4 to 4.9 cm. across. In cross section the disks are nearly flat, except for the original taper of the edge of the flare (pl. 46, k, Z; 47, a, 6). Five others of approximately the same size lack such side perforations altogether. Two of these are very obviously a pair and appear to have been cut from the same light grayish-green trans- lucent pebble (pl. 47, c, f). Both are slightly elliptical in outline and about 0.9 cm. in average thickness. Maximum diameters are 8.0 cm. in both cases. Both have one highly polished face and rough unpolished backs. Three other pieces of the same general type appear to have been cut down from Type B earspools of the variety in which the flare is rectangular in plan with rounded corners (pl. 47, d, e). There are also three small disks ranging from 2.7 cm. diameter to 4.1 cm. with relatively large central perforations (0.9 to 1.8 cm. diameter), which correspond very closely in form to the small flares, and which are probably small flares from which the necks have been cut (pl. 48, a-c).
Aatter PAP. CERRO DE LAS MESAS OFFERING—DRUCKER ay)
In addition to the disks with large central perforations, there are several small disks with small drilled holes at their centers. Three of these are fairly round in outline with diameters ranging from 3.1 cm. to 3.6 cm., thicknesses from 0.4 to 0.5 cm. Two are of jade and are moderately well polished although they show on one face two sawed planes (pl. 48, e, f). The third appears to be of quartzite (?) and in addition to the small biconical perforation at the center has a single conical perforation 1.0 cm. out from the center (pl. 48, 0). A fourth object of similar type is a piece of jade with two parallel straight sides and the rest of the outline round with a very small center perforation (pl. 48, d). The distance between the straight sides is 4.1 cm. and the maximum diameter across the rounded sides is 4.5 cm.
Three other small flat objects of jade roughly elliptical in form have conical perforations at their centers and conical radial per- forations drilled from the opposite side from that in which the center perforation is made. These objects range from 1.9 to 2.4 cm. in maximum length and from 0.3 to 0.4 cm. in thickness.
There are four small imperforate disks and two similar objects whose form more nearly approaches that of a rectangle with rounded corners (pl. 46, m—p; 49, f, g). The largest of the disks, though not quite regular in shape has an average diameter of 7 cm. and is 0.6 cm. thick. Both faces and the edge are moderately well polished. Two other disks are very obviously two halves cut from the same piece of opaque grayish-green jade. ‘The polished faces are flat from edge to edge; the unpolished backs taper off in convex curves. The diameter of the two halves range from 5.5 cm. to 5.6 cm. One of the pieces is 0.7 cm. thick, and the other has a maximum thickness of 0.9 cm. The smallest disk is quite round in outline. This may have been the throat disk which originally was found in one of the pair of earspool flares found with throat disks in place. One of the imper- forate rectangular objects is 4.3 cm. long by 3.9 cm. wide with well- rounded corners. One side is highly polished; the other side has two sawed planes with an irregular break at their juncture. The maximum thickness is 0.6 cm. The smaller of the two rectangular objects is 2.3 cm. long by 2 ecm. wide, again with well-rounded corners. One side is very highly polished and the other is rough. Maximum thickness is 0.3 cm.
Earspool manufacture.—While the collection reveals little new data on jade-working techniques, there are a number of the flares for earspools that were carelessly or poorly made, or apparently were not quite finished at the time the offering was assembled, which between them show clearly the steps in the process of manufacture. This statement must be qualified slightly, for there are two possible
56 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL, 157
sequences in which these steps could have been applied, but it is probably noteworthy that either possible procedure differed from those used by various Maya, as reported by Kidder, Jennings, and Shook (1946, p. 124) and in the Nebaj report (Smith and Kidder, 1951, p. 39, fig. 6), and seem to duplicate the Teotihuacin method. Figure 6
SAW CUT =
rf)
SAW_CUT NK
d
Figure 6.—Steps in manufacture of earspool flare.
shows in schematic fashion what are believed to be the steps in the manufacture of a pair of jade flares. In a, the nodule of jade (perhaps already trimmed to a fairly even circumference) was drilled less than halfway through from both sides with a heavy-gage hollow drilli The cores thus left formed the necks of the two flares. The next step was probably that of sawing the nodule in half, as in 6, although step ec, involving sawing out the material between the back of the flare and the neck could have been taken at this time. Most important is that, in every flare in the offering on which indications of work methods could be seen, the horizontal sawing was done in four cuts. A little rectangular platform left from the junction of the cuts at the base of
Nod) ds CERRO DE LAS MESAS OFFERING—DRUCKER 57
the stem can be seen in various specimens (pls. 41, a’’, 42, c’’, 43, c’, b’). It may also be noted that the lapidaries who made the Cerro de las Mesas flares were not the most accurate of artisans. In a number of cases one or another saw cut went too far, leaving a deep cut on the base of the stem; in others, the hollow drill cut went too deep, or the nodule was not lined up properly either during the drilling or sawing the piece in two, for one side of the drill cut is deeper than the other. The next step was the drilling out of the throat, by means of two conical drill holes, the larger and deeper in every case in which indica- tions remain being that from the face. The final step or steps con- sisted in reaming out the throat, thinning and polishing the lips of the flare, etc. It is of course possible that the sequence of steps, as indicated earlier, may have differed slightly, beginning with step 3, sawing the nodule in two, then performing step d, drilling out the throat, and following up with steps @ and c, in that order. In any case, the difference from the Maya methods is probably significant. Discussion of earspool flares ——The discussion of earspool flares and other parts, or presumed parts of earplug assemblages from Cerro de las Mesas, brings out a number of points of difference in form, method of assembly, and even of manufacture of the pieces from those, for example, of highland Guatemala and other parts of the Maya area. The variants of the Type B flares show more kinship with Mexican highland forms, particularly, I believe, to those from Teotihuacan. We have no positive information on the assembly of the earplugs, but there are the significant negative data: the absence of the sort of backings found at Kaminaljuyt and Nebaj. The absence of shell and shell-and-mosaic backings at Cerro de las Mesas cannot be attributed to poor preservation, for, owing to peculiar soil conditions, shell and other calcareous materials suffered very little damage in the ground. If the disks with large central perforation actually had anything to do with the earplugs, something we can no more than guess at, they may have been backings, but were of a type quite different from the Guatemalan ones. Because of the way in which the offerings were dumped into the pit, it is not possible to tell whether any of the long perforated cylinders of jade were parts of earplug assemblies or not. It may be noted however that there are relatively few such pieces (which for descriptive purposes have been included with the ‘‘tubular beads’’), so presumably if the tubular elements were used with earplugs at all, such use was rather infrequent. The manufacturing processes appear to relate more closely to those of Teotihuacan, at least if the few specimens recovered by Linne are really typical of that Highland complex (Linné, 1934). Linné’s figure 279 shows a fragment of earspool flare apparently broken during manufacture; the throat was obviously being drilled out by means of two conical perforations (the 265191548
58 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 157
specimen itself seems to have been intended as a Type B variant with round outline). His figure 281, although neither the linecut nor the text make clear whether the throat was drilled biconically or not, shows use of hollow drill in cutting out the neck, and the same four horizontal saw cuts as noted in the Cerro de las Mesas specimens to remove the material between back and neck. The finished specimen, incidentally, was an example of the Type B variant with rectanguloid outline. CEREMONIAL PERFORATORS (?)
A number of elongated pointed objects, or fragments of such ob- jects, were found which resemble the ‘‘ceremonial perforators” (per- haps for ear, nose, and lip-piercing?) from La Venta. These speci- mens are shown in plates 49, a—c, e; 50, a-d. Four complete objects of this type were found in the cache. Two have expanded bases or handles, one having a slightly irregular bulbous end marred by a deep transverse saw cut. The handle tapers rapidly into a slender point, cylindrical in cross section. The other specimen has a flattened wedge-shaped handle that merges abruptly into an irregular, roughly cylindrical point. ‘The former piece is 14.6 cm. long, the latter, 13.6 em. The remaining complete pieces are even more similar in form. Both are evenly cylindrical for most of their length. At the “handle” end, they taper sharply to a blunt squared-off end. The points are worked down with more gradual tapers. ‘Two rather short specimens suggest in their form reworked broken tips of similar objects (pl. 49, c, e). Both are elliptical in cross section, not cylindrical. One has two deep conical drill pits near the reworked end, as though it had been intended to be perforated for suspension (pl. 49, e). A third reworked specimen looks as though the shaft had been ringed with a rather wide saw, then cut off square with a narrower one, leaving the end with a short steep bevel (pl. 49, a). The remaining pointed ob- ject has a quite cylindrical cross section and an irregular break at the handle end (pl. 49, 6).
CELTS
There were very few celts among the Cerro de las Mesas jades. One of these, short and stubby, with a slanted bit, suggests consider- able use and regrinding (pl. 49, k). A second example is long, flattish, and quite thin, being elliptical in cross section. It is 20.7 cm. long by 6.2 cm. in maximum width, and has a maximum thickness of 1.4 em. Another example, this time a smaller one, presumably of a slightly different function, has a biconical perforation just back of the bit. Like the preceding, this piece is rather flatter than the usual Meso- american celt and in addition tapers abruptly to a small pointed poll.
No 4d) «= CERRO DE LAS MESAS OFFERING—DRUCKER 59 It is 7.5 cm. long, 2.2 cm. wide, and has a maximum thickness of 0.8 cm.
One of the more unique pieces in the collection is the decorated celt shown in plate 36, f. The poll has been worked into a birdlike head with a heavy down-turned beak reminiscent of that of the Olmec Bird-monster. The outline has been accentuated by sawed lines above and below the back and alongside the upper end. The area just below the decorated head or between poll and bit has a very marked cavity which perhaps served to make the lashing more rigid. Two cylindrical perforations run transversely across the long axis of the celt in the same plane as the bit, one just above, the other just below the concave surface (fig. 7). Presumably these two also serve for lashing purposes, although it is possible the celt was made to be worn on a two-strand necklace, and not hafted. In general ‘style
Ficure 7.—Suggested hafting of decorated celt.
60 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [ BULL. 157
this piece is unquestionably Olmec, although no exactly similar ob- jects have been found among Olmec remains; this piece probably was a trade object, made to be used for ceremonial purposes. It is made of dark-green jade with a pronounced bluish cast, somewhat mottled, and definitely blue in tone at the bit end.
Four other celts were found which I could not locate in the collec- tions. Among them was a neatly made celt of alabaster, with green- ish tones. Valenzuela’s inventory gives its dimensions as 9.7 cm. long by 4.0 cm. wide.
BEADS
Beads of various types, totaling 303, were examined. In the cache, the beads did not occur in any definite patterns or rows, but appar- ently were thrown in unstrung, so we have no information on the way in which they were used. There does not appear to be any- thing very distinctive about the forms represented; most of them are fairly common throughout Mesoamerica.
Trregularly shaped beads —There are a good many beads which are little more than pebbles, ground smooth, polished, and drilled. They vary all the way from quite irregular shapes to a form approximating that of the ubiquitous subspherical bead. I am not completely satisfied with the way in which I typed these specimens; a check of the photographs suggests that some poorly made subspherical specimens— examples with a flat side, or small irregularity left from the original surface—were included which probably should have been counted with the subspherical beads. As a matter of fact it is very difficult to draw a hard and fast line between the two classes, since they more or less shade into each other, although extreme specimens of either type are quite obviously distinct. However, the photographs are not adequate material on which to base a revision of the original classification, so it will have to stand. Plates 51 and 52 show the range of the irregular or “pebble” forms. A total of 126 pieces was included in this category, although a more liberal treatment of the subspherical type would probably reduce this number by at least some twenty-odd. In size the pieces range from one with a maximum diameter of 3.1 cm. to a specimen whose greatest diameter is 0.9 cm. There is considerable variety in the type of stone used, only a rela- tively few being of what we regard as jade of high quality. A number are of other types of stone, chiefly calcite, with quartz and chlorite inclusions, and serpentine. Two rather flattish pieces are of a pale blue and white material that suggests turquoise (or amazonite?) in appearance. There is one group of about 30 pieces that may have formed a single string, since they are all small in size, are of mottled green and white jade, and are quite highly polished. The drilling
Soda) F 4?) CERRO DE LAS MESAS OFFERING—DRUCKER 61 pattern of this entire type, if it can be regarded as such, is very con- sistent, for 110 of the 126 pieces are drilled biconically, so that the perforations intersect close to the middle of the stone; in eight cases only is the intersection of the two drill pits markedly to one side or the other, and in eight instances only was the bead drilled with a single conical hole.
Subspherical beads.—There were 57 beads of fairly regular to quite regular form. In size they ranged from one whose greatest diameter (at right angles to the axis of the perforation) was 4.1 cm. to three beads whose maximum diameter was 1.1 cm. As in the preceding group, these specimens varied considerably both in color and polish. Only three had conical perforations; the rest were all drilled from both sides (biconically), and in all these cases the two drill pits met at about the center of the piece.
Gadrooned beads.—Beads with sawed cuts or arcs down the sides, parallel to the perforation, are really a subvariety of the subspherical type (pl. 52, 2 left-hand specimens in third, fourth, and fifth rows). There are seven of this form in the cache materials. The depth of the sawed lines varies greatly. In two instances, the lines are very light. Possibly they were not finished when deposited. The rest have pronounced grooves: one small bead, in fact, being cut away to the point of being cross-shaped in plan (pl. 52, third from left in fifth row). There is one of these beads in which the grooves are slightly spiraled clockwise. There are four beads with four grooves, one with five, one with seven, and one with three (these are spaced as though four were planned, however). All but one have biconical perforations. Sizes range from 2.3 cm. in maximum diameter (trans- verse to the perforation) to 1.5 cm. in the same dimension.
Tubular and “‘barrel-shaped” beads—While these two forms may be differentiated at some sites, they grade into each other in the Cerro de las Mesas series (pls. 53, 54). Several of the long, well-made pieces that would ordinarily be classed as ‘tubular’ show a very slight taper toward either end; a few of the ‘‘barrel-shaped”’ specimens have but slight taper, and, partly because of the rather wide openings of the perforations, appear to have square-cut ends. There are 33 definitely tubular specimens, 9 intermediate ones, and 52 that con- form to the definition of the barrel-shaped type. Incidentally, most of the last-named are in a group quite evenly graded in size and all of which are of calcite (?), suggesting that they may have been a single lot. A fragmentary specimen, larger than the rest, is of alabaster. In addition, there are 14 short stubby pieces with square-cut ends which seem more like modifications of one or the other of the foregoing types than of the subspherical form.
62 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 157
There are several decorated pieces in the tubular series. One of these (pl. 53, top row, left, and fig. 8) has a highly conventionalized face indicated by sawed lines and drill pits. The bead is 5.5 cm.
Ficure 8.—Decorated tubular bead.
long, and 1.2 cm. in diameter. Three specimens are decorated with lines that run in spirals down the long axis. (These are described from photographs, not the actual specimens.) The first, a massive piece 8.9 em. long and 2.3 cm. in diameter, has four (?) wide grooves al- ternating with an equal number of narrow ones, spiraling in a clock- wise direction. The lands bisected by the narrow grooves are about twice the width of the wide grooves. The rate of twist is about one complete turn in seven diameters. The second bead decorated with a spiral is encircled by two (?) lines that proceed in a counterclockwise direction, and appear to twist at the rate of about one turn in two and a half diameters. This specimen measures about 6.8 cm. in length, and about 1.6 cm. in diameter. The third, 4.5 cm. long, and 1.0 cm. in diameter, with slightly slanting rather than squared off ends, has a closely spaced pair of lines, circling in a clockwise direction, that made a complete turn in less than two diameters. Five specimens have encircling grooves about one or both ends (pl. 53, middle row). The most elaborate of these, a bead of brownish color (calcite apparently), 5.6 em. long and 1.1 cm. in diameter, has two wide shallow, somewhat irregularly cut grooves at each end. Two other pieces, also of calcite, have, respectively, one and two narrow grooves cut about one end. A fourth bead, a short stubby one, has a wide shallow groove at the middle, and the fifth is constricted at the end, probably having been cut off from a longer bead.
An approximation of the type of tubular bead with flared end occurs in the collection (pl. 53, bottom row, left). It is 6.6 em. long.
NO 44a) Par. CERRO DE LAS MESAS OFFERING—DRUCKER 63
It differs from the Kaminaljuyti examples of this type (Kidder, Jennings, and Shook, 1946, p. 113), in that there is no pronounced taper from the flared to the opposite end. The greatest diameter at the flare is only 0.6 to 0.7 mm. greater than that of the maximum diameter near the other end. Hence, this might conceivably be an imitation of the flared-end type, but patently was not made of a core cut out with a hollow tubular drill as the Kaminaljuyi pieces are believed to have been made.
Two specialized beads, both of which are of the transitional group, have multiple perforations. One of these, of light grayish-green jade with pronounced crystalline structure, has a hole drilled at either end (1.5 mm. from one end and 3 mm. from the other), both of which intersect the longitudinal perforation along the main axis of the bead, at an angle slightly greater than a right angle. The specimen is 2.9 em. long, and 1.5 cm. through the maximum diameter. The other bead has a single large perforation drilled vertically to intersect the longitudinal perforation, just to one side of the longitudinal midpoint. This piece is 2.5 cm. long, and 1.1 cm. through its greatest diameter.
One of the short tubular beads (this particular piece has rounder sides than most, but is proportionately longer and much flatter on the ends than the subspherical forms) has two pairs of small shallow drill pits spaced close together about its circumference, and a light saw cut below the pits, as though it had been undergoing the initial steps of carving when put in the cache.
Miscellaneous forms.—Two beads have a definitely angular outline, although with rounded corners (pl. 52, a, fourth row, right).
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS
Among the miscellaneous objects is a flat thin blade with serrated edges formed by sawing slanting lines from one side only (pl. 48, &). The form suggests a blade or projectile point, but the piece is probably a stylized, not very realistic copy of a sting-ray spine. The material is dark-green jade, moderately well polished on both sides, 7.6 cm. long by 1.9 cm. wide, and carrying a fairly even thickness of 0.3 cm.
Two peculiarly fashioned rectangular objects are without a doubt a pair, whatever they may have been. Just how they were meant to be used is not known. They are almost exactly of a size and are of the same opaque pale-green jade mottled with small areas of medium- green color (pl. 39, a, b). The stone is so much alike that they must have been sawed out of the same piece. Both are long narrow rectangles in form. The long sides are very nearly parallel but the ends are not quite square. The face of each piece shows traces of two planes formed by two longitudinal saw cuts that did not quite center. Each piece has a perforation about 2 cm. long drilled in from either
64 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (BULL. 157
end. These are slightly tapering holes that average a little over 0.7 cm. diameter at point of entry. At either end of both pieces other holes were drilled in from the face to intersect those just described. Between these perforations in the face a longitudinal saw cut was made in each piece, being cut through quite deeply; in fact, in the case of one specimen it very nearly goes through. .The cuts curve, being deepest at their centers, and indicate a rigid saw, not a cord saw, was used (fig. 9). A cord could be strung through each piece
Ficure 9.—Cross section of rectangular slotted objects of jade. a, a’, Large-bore drilled holes at ends of object; b, b’, drilled holes entering flat face at slight angle, and intersecting with a and a’; c, longitudinal sawed slot, partially intersecting 5 and b’.
longitudinally without showing on the surface. The objects give the impression of having been tools rather than ornaments despite their moderate over-all polish. It should be mentioned that one of them is considerably battered here and there along the edges and on one end. The other has no corresponding nicks. Both of the pieces have a maximum length of 19.5 cm. and a width of 4.4 cm. One has a maximum thickness of 1.4 cm. and the other of 1.3 cm.
Another object of unknown use is thin and flat, and has the form of a slightly irregular ovoid. It is of opaque dark-green jade mottled with very dark-green areas and small light-green spots. It is quite even in thickness and the edges are evenly rounded. At the narrower end it has a biconical perforation. Down the center is a long string- sawed slot 9.4 cm. long and 0.4 cm. wide with a short transverse slot joining the longitudinal one at the middle. The short slot is 1.2 cm. long. The object is moderately well polished all over. It has a maximum length of 15.7 cm., is 7.3 em. across the wide end and 5.7 cm. across the narrow end, and is 0.7 cm. thick.
A small object of calcite (?) with inclusions of quartz and chlorite is of an elongated semilunar form (pl. 49, 2). At the ends, a little nearer the straight than the curved edge, are two large conical per- forations. One face of the object is quite flat; the other is assym- metrically convex, being thickest near the curved edge. At the center of the curved edge is the remnant of a conical drilled pit which did not penetrate all the way through the stone. The object is 7.7 cm. long, 2.1 cm. in maximum width across the flat face, and 0.6 cm. in maximum thickness.
A rodlike object of the same material has three sets of three en- circling grooves, two wide ones with a narrow one between them,
AgtBROP: PAP. CERRO DE LAS MESAS OFFERING—DRUCKER 65
above the ends and middle (pl. 49, m). The back of the object is slightly irregular and the grooves do not go clear across. Two pairs of intersecting conical perforations, one at either end, were drilled from top and back edges. This object is 8.0 cm. long, 1.6 cm. wide, and 1.1 cm. thick.
A small flat pendant of opaque blue-green jade is 2.3 cm. long and 1.7 cm. wide (pl. 48, h). The general outline is approximately rectangular. It has a conical perforation near one end and a shallow drilled pit halfway down along one edge. Six shallow saw cuts tapering from the edge toward the central area of the stone give a form suggesting a highly conventionalized bird. The sawed face is highly polished and the other face has only a moderate polish. The thickness is 0.3 cm. Another pendant is a small very highly polished piece of green jade whose original form was apparently approximately that of a trapezoid. It has a small biconical perforation close to the narrower edge. It is 2.5 cm. long.
There was an imperforate sphere of pale greenish alabaster found among the offering. I apparently overlooked it in assembling the materials for study at the Museum. Valenzuela’s list gives its diam- eter as 5 cm.
A small rodlike object of light-green jade flecked with medium green was apparently made or broken from some larger object (pl. 49, d). Sawed grooves encircle the ends, one a short distance from one end, the other right at the point of fracture. Both ends are rough and unworked, although the rest of the specimen is moderately well polished. The cross section of the piece is elliptical, and one side retains traces of two longitudinal drilled holes which just barely intersected. These were made prior to the cutting out and working down of the present specimen. The length of the object is 6.5 cm., the width at maximum diameter is 0.9 cm., and the minimum diam- eter is 0.7 cm.
DISCUSSION
The foregoing, and I fear somewhat wearisome, descriptions of the specimens from the offering, bring out a few significant points. One of these is the need for more detailed typologies of Mesoamerican artifacts of jade and similar materials, especially those from controlled excavations, if we are to be able to make useful comparative studies, define regional styles, and recognize trade pieces when we see them. The great bulk of the objects from the offering are either of what appear to be ubiquitous forms, or else types that cannot be related with any certainty to other regions or epochs. Some of these may eventually prove to be Central Veracruz or even Cerro de las Mesas specializations, others may turn out to be imports. The few
66 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 157
pieces that we are able to identify will be discussed in the following paragraphs.
Olmec specimens.—Cerro de las Mesas, of course, was not an Olmec site, although it is situated close to the northwest boundary of the Olmec region of southern Veracruz and western Tabasco. There are actually rather fewer definitely Olmec style pieces in the offering than we might expect to find among the neighbors of those skilled lapidaries. ‘Two figurines, the canoe-shaped ‘‘plaque,” the decorated celt, and perhaps the death’s head, exhaust the list, unless the so- called ‘ceremonial perforators” are discovered to be an Olmec trait (they have not yet been reported from other regions, although three similar objects of jade, two of which are bipointed and one of which has one sharp and one blunt tip, come from Teotihuacin (Gamio, 1922, pl. 121). The plaques in the form of clamshells suggest another parallel, although it must be noted that we found evidence of a cult associated with shells and other marine forms at Cerro de las Mesas. It also appears that most of these pieces should be attributed to the La Venta (Middle Tres Zapotes) phase of that cul- ture, since as far as we know now, that rather long period represented the florescence of the pure strain of Olmec art. However, ceramic and figurine cross checks between Cerro de las Mesas and Tres Zapotes indicate that the horizon designated Lower I at the former site was contemporary with at least part of the Middle or La Venta phase, and Lower II, from which the offering comes, was coeval with Upper Tres Zapotes. Hence the pieces must have been kept as heirlooms for a considerable length of time before they were placed in the offering pit beneath the stairway of the mound. The esteem in which the specimens were held, if they really were treasured all that time at Cerro de las Mesas, as well as the scant number of them, reemphasizes a point Stirling and I have been making ever since the Cerro de las Mesas dig: not only was that site not Olmec, but it seems to have had relatively little contact with Olmec culture throughout the contemporary periods.
Highland influence.—Similarities of certain earspool flare types and methods of manufacture to published specimens from Teotihuacén have been mentioned. If the assumption is correct that the highland pieces used for comparison are typical, we have additional cor- roboration of the ceramic evidence that indicated that highland (Teotihuacaén, and later Mixteca) influence was the predominant one during the history of the site. Some archeologists are coming around to the view that perhaps Teotihuacén culture itself was derived from the Gulf Coast, but the fact that in post-Teotihuacdin times Cholula lacquer polychrome ware was either imported in some
Sot) Y)~) CERRO DE LAS MESAS OFFERING—DRUCKER 67
quantity or was duplicated at the coast site, and strongly influenced the local ceramic pattern, might be taken as a hint that there was an old, well-established route of communication and diffusion from highland to the coast. The Danzantelike figurine plaque may well have been imported via the same route from its Oaxacan place of origin, if its style has been correctly identified.
Maya and Mayoid specimens.—Aside from the nearly obliterated engraving, which seems to have a definite Maya flavor, on the small plaque, there are no pieces that can unhesitatingly be singled out as representing Maya art. Yet many of the small flat pendants in figurine form (both heads and full figures), in a nebulous way remind one of small anthropomorphic pendants from the Maya area, partic- ularly those in which the nose is formed by a continuation of the lines marking the tops of the eyes, or the eyebrows. If one compares them with, for example, the small flat heads in the Rossbach collec- tion (Lothrop, 1936, especially figs. 58 and 59), or with some of the Nebaj specimens (Smith and Kidder, 1951, figs. 52 a, c, g; 53 6, ¢; 58 c (3)), a generic similarity may be noted. Common traits, in addition to the subject matter, include the use of small flat, often odd-shaped pieces of stone; carving in very low relief—actually, drawing is a better term, for there is little or no third dimensional representation; the cuts are wide and shallow, and the lands between them of even height; the hollow drill was frequently resorted to for marking circles and arcs.
If these objects in the Cerro de las Mesas offering are simply trade objects, and none was made locally in imitation of the exotic pieces, they indicate little actual Maya influence, and there probably was very little, except in the most indirect manner. None of these figurine-pendants are unfinished, as though they were in process of manufacture (locally), when the offering was made. In this they differ from the earspool flares believed to be of Teotihuacéin type, which were interred unfinished, the throats incompletely reamed out, etc., suggesting that at least part of their manufacture may have been carried out at the site itself, following techniques prevailing in the highland.
LITERATURE CITED Caso, ALFONSO. 1938. Exploraciones en Oaxaca, quinta y sexta temporados, 1936-1937. Inst. Panam. Geogr. Hist. Publ. 34. México. DrvuckKER, PHILIP. 1943. Ceramic stratigraphy at Cerro de las Mesas, Veracruz, Mexico. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 141. Gamio, M. 1922. La poblacién del Valle de Teotihuac4n. Vol. 1. México. JENNINGS, JESSE D. See Kipprr, ALFRED VINCENT, ET AL.
68 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 157]
KippErR, ALFRED VINCENT; JENNINGS, JESSE D.; and SHoox, Epwin M. 1946. Excavations at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Carnegie Inst. Washington Publ. 561. See also Smitu, A. L., and Kipper, A. V. Linn, SIGVALD. 1934. Archaeological researches at Teotihuacdn, Mexico. Ethnogr. Mus. Sweden, n.s., Publ. 1. Stockholm. Loturop, SAMUEL KIRKLAND. 1936. Zacualpa; a study of ancient Quiché artifacts. Carnegie Inst. Washington Publ. 472. SHoox, Epwin M. See Kippmr, ALFRED VINCENT, ET AL. Smitu, A. L., and Kipper, A. V. 1951. Excavations at Nebaj, Guatemala. Carnegie Inst. Washington Publ. 594. Stirtine, MatrHew W. 1941. Expedition unearths buried masterpieces of carved jade. Nat. Geogr. Mag., vol. 80, No. 3, pp. 277-302. TuHompson, J. Eric 8. 1948. An archaeological reconnaissance in the Cotzumalhuapa region, Kscuintla, Guatemala. Carnegie Inst. Washington Publ. 574, Contrib. Amer. Archeol. and Hist., vol. 9, No. 44.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
265191—54—
9
BULLETIN 157 PLATE 27
ront, side, and rear views of Olmec figurine.
4
I
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 28
a, Olmec figurine of hunchbacked (?) personage, of serpentine; b, Olmec (?) style skull pendant.
BULLETIN 157. PLATE 29
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
‘onbejd ouiinsy apAqs (2) uvda}0de7 Jo yorq
WO
¢
q pure ‘yuouy ‘v
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 30
Large figurine of ‘‘crossed-arm style,”’ of diorite (?).
BULLETIN 157 PLATE 31
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
“speoy oulin
Sy pue soulinsy ope
[BUS
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
BULLETIN 157 PLATE 32
Front, side, and rear views of stone figurine.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
BULLETIN 157 PLATE 33
Figurine of dark-green stone: front, side, and rear views.
BULLETIN 157 PLATE 34
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
‘spray oulmnsy pur sourmnsy apel jews
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 35
Miscellaneous figurines, front and rear views.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 36
CM.
Miscellaneous jade objects. a, a’, crude figurine; b, b’, c, c’, figurine beads; d, figurine head; e, fragment of clamshell-shaped plaque; f, f’, f’’, decorated celt.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 37
as
i
Miscellaneous figurines. a’ and b’ are views of a and b turned upside down to show back (inner) surfaces.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 38
Plaques. For original design of a, a’, see figure 3. b, b’, b’’, Olmec “‘canoe” plaque.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 39
’
ie 6 Ad es cS, |
Plaquelike objects of unknown use (both sides of each ot the three pieces are shown). a@and b are of nearly identical size.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
BULLETIN 157 PLATE 40
Plaques. a, convex, a’, concave, sides of clamshell-shaped plaque. Obverse of b is smooth
and plain.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 41
Earspool flares. (In pls. 41-54 the prime or primes after a letter indicate other views of the same specimen designated by the same letter.)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 42
Earspool flares.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 43
Earspool flares
265191—54 10
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 44
Earspool flares. (Note that, through the writer’s error, the order of specimens shown in- side view (middle photograph) was altered.)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 45
d Q.4 2
i c cM.
Earspool flares and decorated perforated disk. a, a’, b, b’, pair of decorated earspool flares; c, decorated perforated disk; d, one of pair of earspool flares found with throat disk in place. (c, Courtesy National Geographic Society.)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157. PLATE 46
Small flares, perforated disks, and imperforate disks.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 47
Disks with large central perforation.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 48 |
Miscellaneous objects.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 49
cM.
Miscellaneous objects. Lower group shows different view of same specimens indicated by corresponding letters in upper group (primes inadvertently omitted in makeup).
BULLETIN 157. PLATE 50
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
(‘Aqats0g stydeis0a4H [RuCIye NY AsoqINOD)
Pp
“@
) $10} e10j.10d [etuoWotoc)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 51
Subspherical and “pebble” beads.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 52
CM.
Subspherical, gadrooned, tubular, “pebble,” and miscellaneous bead types.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 53
Tubular and barrel-shaped beads.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 157 PLATE 54
wi by
Barrel-shaped, and short tubular beads.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 157
Anthropological Papers, No. 45
Archeological Materials from the Vicinity of Mobridge, South Dakota
By WALDO R. WEDEL
265191—54——_11
69
My ee Pad ae phirra ven yas 4 og + aa ; VRIES PAVTR VAL ACE BEM &) vA, i ie’ Nocti ue nif. Jd. ae mel Tah atria dl. pvnenenarewrern : és 4 ‘ “ \ ( ae ts WL EU ‘ t my el : ; ‘ ee ¥ F em “ SAY cehhs Be ~ . [ ry Waetiilhy) f pone | etd 1 BIR Ia: fyi rt? fyaul "i 7 - . : i wa i holes SRE GG j rs Vy i | A ona. f hie ie peieaet wow orem tines ‘ : a abs vo , ' 4 i = ac Bd i f ! i ' } "id e A eine a aw Eh TO LO | keen a i o j : ' : ¢ neon by yi] n a , ‘ art off on ane) ee ; m 4 NI ae ' , iM \ : 2 ah ey [ 7 i ou TKI Wie Mh g : 7 r 1 a a ; ar : hone si Pie ep ine
CONTENTS
PAGE
Hhiknge[s (504 iitcy1 a © aeeeeee | Es. 5 OLS ee 5 eee |; eer, See OO | he Ra ee ee Cee a 73 fine environmental backeround #2 2) 22. 2 ue J ee 75 Résumé, of Arikara Iistory (5A Me BAe er ee Ieee, ole Pee eat 77 “ameatimont of the datas. <b atk Arh te edt ee 84 Dites:-and) bunial Gata te Oe eo ye OE et Ee te 86 Site J-and @emetery Is = 4) Spy ee ole bt See ok 86 SSUES, 2 BCs GTM EGET I ith 18 sarc a a OR le sh cP ek 89
Site sian COMOCery Osan ce fa ek Bee A Ee pce doe 95
DItE 4 anos Cemetery 22 12.6 std nd feel ae ea ee ee ca 96 Apne apiackss. -F 6 A Ss 2 OTL lee TEE ae he ue Re 102 WORRY apo te Ng 3 See Ae ery seb eat ie oy oe ba oe eh Se le ah 102 Obiectsiofichippedistones2 43s 4e_ ey at ee es 108 Obieets,of eranundistone.. 2h mtr!) be erg Bee ek es 109 Objects of unworked stone; pigments_--___-____________-_______-_- 114 Obietis Or eons pt baa ae hk A reas ee ee. Sih 118 Objects Granger. 27 UA CORE fee Ot ee le et Sie 20 Oe 132 Obiectsioftshellac ate suitse Lee 8 Serre eerie Bit fairl 5 sie kel A 133 Objects of pernshableanaterialsee 4. sese se eee pee ee eee 136 Leatherwork, hairwork, and quillwork_______._____-___-_____- 136
WIGOG WHITE: = Se. ak Pd ns ce en Stone kee Le eae 141
Vereal remaing = 22. Seo oe oe ear ak pias Aes AES See ee 145
Objects of: Huropean manufactures se 2 Lb Le ie ge es SS 146
aR ONE pe eo 4. cess Rind Satan a oe Pe Ot ate ak ee ht 146
Glass and earthen ware i= 20h ce i ee 149
rapier, Trae cle T Re as che eB da tk a ere Bb Reed 155
REIN cr ck wg nd a a ges 160
White mie hal., oa ot yee bad See De eG ee ee 163 Miscellaneous trade arti¢less0502. . 228) _ Soh. eu. ge 165
Résimi6 C2 821 Beare ee oe. ee me oa yey dg phe ee pe at 2 eee 166 ATTINKENDETSPE CULV meat a nok wind Bh fh Be cate a RE oe Ry ey eS 174 Cultural relationships 9... 3. Sey Oe as ee 176 SoU eed CE TEEN US an 53 aE KS ie A RR el te Ava eis Re Sipe eae Tats A A Siw en ret yc 179 Conclusions and general discussion... 2 L- ee eee eee ee 180 WHETAUUPO CILEG ys ae eee ce ome ee ne a ee Set Oe a ee 185
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
Ts
10.
11.
12.
ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES
FOLLOWING PAGE
Small pottery vessels from Cemeteries 2 and 4, near Mobridge, S.
Catlinite and other ground-stone objects from sites near Mobridge, S. Dak. a-c, Cemetery 2; d, g, Cemetery 4.__.....-_.-_________ Red pigment (a, 6), ground stone (c-e), and Halymenites fossil (f), from -burials- near ‘Mobridge; 8: Dak-=---====:2.[26Sie7_208 1 os Spatulate bone objects, or “quill flatteners,’’ from Cemeteries 2, 3, and 4; near-Mobridge; 'S.-- Dale: = <=<.=2<22<22 2525-222 ae an oS Miscellaneous bone artifacts and wood-hafted iron knife (f) from burial sites: near -Mobridge, 5: Dak---.<-<:=:2222222222e7 et Oa Perforated claws, teeth, and phalanges, and metal ear ornaments, from burial sites near Mobridge, S. Dak___-___-..-.-----.-.- _- Ornaments of shell and gypsum, and hair pipes, from burial sites near Mobridge; S.-Dale =< 2=2+2-~ 2-290 CIG 198098 DOW LOW GE 10 WOOT Miscellaneous articles of hair, leather, wood, and metal from Ceme- tery-4; near-Mobridge; §.-Dak~~--22+-2222222222222¥oe Be Wooden club (a, length 75 em.), wood-backed mirror, and leather rosette, from Cemetery 4, near Mobridge, S. Dak_______--_---___ Metal lace trim on wool shirt from Grave 11, Cemetery 4, near Mo- bridge, 8. Dak. Suggested arrangement of lace at shirt opening and-on shoulders (a), and-on-cuffs (6; €}= 222.224.2220 ee Details of lace shown in plate 66: front (a) and reverse (6)_________- Native and trade glass and earthenware objects from burial sites near Mobridge; §.-Date: =). 222 cost ie SU ee ee ee Miscellaneous trade metal objects from burial sites near Mobridge,
TEXT FIGURES
Map showing location of burial sites investigated by M. W. Stirling in 1923, in the vicinity of Mobridge, S. Dak_____..--_--.------~- Incised decoration on spatulate bone implement from Grave 4, Ceme- tery.2, noar Mopriuiee, po aks 252. 2 8 eo oe eee Method of fastening porcupine quills to leather, showing additional sewing element (a) of sinew; Cemetery 4, near Mobridge, S. Dak_-
72
188
188
188
188
188
188
188
188
188
188
188
188
188
188
188
188 188
PAGE
76
125
138
ARCHEOLOGICAL MATERIALS FROM THE VICINITY OF MOBRIDGE, SOUTH DAKOTA
By Watpo R. WEDEL
INTRODUCTION
The archeological materials with which this report is primarily concerned were collected by M. W. Stirling, then assistant curator of ethnology, United States National Museum, during the month of June 1923. They originate chiefly from excavations at four burial sites which, with certain nearby and presumably culturally associated village sites, are located on the banks of the Missouri River between Grand River and Elk Creek, north of Mobridge, S. Dak. In addition to the archeological collections brought back from the field, there is in the Division of Physical Anthropology, United States National Museum, a series of skeletal remains from the same sites, representing approximately 110 individuals. A preliminary statement on the arch- eological findings has been published (Stirling, 1924), as have certain measurements of the skeletal materials (Hrdlitka, 1927, pp. 60-66); but definitive reports have not been available.
Despite the lapse of nearly 30 years since these collections were gathered for the National Museum, they have lost no part of their interest or potential significance. In considerable part, they originate in a comparatively well-documented site which can be identified beyond cavil as Arikara, and whose period of occupancy (circa 1803- 32) can be estimated with a possible error of not more than 3 or 4 years at the beginning and less than a year at the terminal date. These latest materials, fortunately, include perishable items that are seldom recovered from sites unprotected as these are against the vagaries of climate. Moreover, some of them can be checked against the remarkably exact pictorial evidence left us by Catlin and Bodmer, contemporary artists who saw in actual use, and faithfully painted, many of the objects about to be described in this paper. Other and obviously related materials are almost certainly from earlier sites, so that the entire series offers interesting insights into the changing culture of one of the foremost native peoples in this section of the Missouri Valley.
%3
74. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 157
Finally, there is the fact that the cultural materials from all four sites are accompanied by well-preserved skeletal series; and since the series culminate in a historic Arikara population, itself a key group for racial studies in the Plains, the physical variability as seen in culturally related sites spaced in time ought to be of the highest interest. Strange to say, despite the demonstrable richness of this upper Missouri region for the study of human prehistory, no comparable body of data corre- lating cultural and somatological materials on the Arikara—or for that matter on any of their neighbors—has yet been published. All this, plus the stubborn fact that the Federal water-control program on the Missouri will all too soon efface a great proportion of the sites from which alone can come the basic data for study of human prehis- tory in the region, give an added timeliness to the present paper.
As will become apparent in the course of this study, I am under a heavy debt of gratitude to many individuals for their assistance. To Dr. M. W. Stirling, now director of the Bureau of American Ethnology, I am particularly obligated for his generosity in permitting me to study and publish the materials he collected, and for freely placing at my disposal his field records and other data. Dr. W. D. Strong, Columbia University, has been most helpful in extending advice on the location and nature of the sites involved, in furnishing me with maps for study, and in providing additional burial data collected by himself. Paul Cooper, field director of the Missouri River Basin Surveys, also aided me with maps, site information, and other materials, and, in addition, he was, perhaps unwittingly, in large part responsible for my under- taking this project.
To professional colleagues, anthropological and otherwise, at the National Museum, I am obligated for their unending patience in the identification of various materials and in guiding me through the maze of specialized data required in the analysis of the materials. Among these colleagues I wish to thank especially the following: John C. Ewers, Division of Ethnology, and M. T. Newman, Division of Physical Anthropology, with whom I have had numerous discus- sions that were uniformly to my benefit; E. P. Henderson, Division of Minerals; G. A. Cooper, Division of Invertebrate Paleontology and Paleobotany; H. A. Rehder and J. P. E. Morrison, Division of Mol- lusks; D. H. Johnson and H. W. Setzer, Division of Mammals; Herbert Friedmann, Division of Birds; Mendel L. Peterson, Department of History; W. N. Watkins, Section of Wood Technology; J. R. Swallen and A. C. Smith, Department of Botany; G. B. Griffenhagen, Division of Medicine and Public Health; and Grace L. Rogers, Section of Tex- tiles. J. E. Anglim drew figure 12.
Outside the Museum, I have had the able assistance of S. P. Young and Raymond Gilmore, Fish and Wildlife Service; Glenn A. Black,
Aaa, ARCHEOLOGY, MOBRIDGE, S. DAK.—WEDEL 75 Indiana Historical Society, in the identification of trade beads; and of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the identification of certain hair specimens.
Last but not least, to my wife, Mildred Mott Wedel, who read the entire manuscript and made suggestions for its material improvement, besides foregoing many things during the long evenings and week ends spent in its preparation, I am under especially heavy obligation.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL BACKGROUND
The Mobridge locale (see fig. 10) is in north-central South Dakota, roughly 1,275 miles above the mouth of the Missouri and at an eleva- tion of about 1,500 to 1,800 feet above sea level. The region gen- erally consists of rolling plains, once more or less completely grass- covered, with rugged hilly zones mainly along the dissected margins of the stream valleys. The Missouri winds through a flat-floored trench from 1 to 2 miles wide, bordered alternately by alluvial bot- toms and by steep shale bluffs, some of which attain a height of nearly 300 feet. Stands of cottonwood, willow, oak, and other deciduous trees are found almost exclusively on the bottoms, the islands, and along the immediate stream banks. Three miles northwest of Mo- bridge, the Grand River joins the Missouri from the west; and 2 miles farther upstream, Oak Creek enters from the northwest. Both these tributaries, like the lesser creeks that join the mainstem from time to time, flow in tree-lined valleys. Some game animals still inhabit the wooded areas, but in greatly reduced numbers; and the larger forms, such as bison and antelope, are no longer found in the locality.!
Climatically, the Mobridge area is characterized by long, cold winters and hot, dry summers. Recorded temperature extremes range from —44° to 116°; and the frost-free growing season is approx- imately 100 days. Annual precipitation averages close to 16 inches, of which about two-thirds falls from June to September. Drouths, and resultant crop failures, sometimes occur.
As the above data suggest, the locality is one of some uncertainty from the standpoint of agriculture, whether native or modern. It is evident, however, that the challenge was more or less successfully met by the Indians throughout a period of as yet undetermined length, for within a radius of 10 miles of Mobridge there are 30 or more sites of semipermanent villages whose inhabitants probably subsisted partially on domestic crops. With a few exceptions, most of these still await systematic investigation and identification.
1See Tabeau (Abel, 1939, pp. 55-98) for a first-hand description of the Missouri Valley and its natural resources in the early nineteenth century.
Ey a
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Fraurejl0. (For legend, see opposite page.)
Rods) * «=~ ARCHEOLOGY, MOBRIDGE, 8. DAK.—WEDEL 77
RESUME OF ARIKARA HISTORY
The history of the Arikara prior to the closing decades of the eighteenth century is very imperfectly known, and exhaustive treat- ment of the subject cannot be attempted here. Northernmost of the Caddoan-speaking peoples, they were also the last major group of that stock to come into direct contact with White chroniclers. The evidence of linguistics and tradition indicates that they were at one time in close association with the Skidi Pawnee, who resided in historic times in what is now east-central Nebraska (Wedel, 1936); but the time and place of separation remain uncertain. Inferentially, the split took place somewhere in the region south or southeast of the Niobrara River, from which area the Omaha claimed to have dis- possessed the Arikara and forced them northward up the Missouri (Fletcher and La Flesche, 1911, p. 75). There is documentary evidence that the Arikara were established somewhere in present southern or southeastern South Dakota by the early eighteenth century.
Among the earliest, if not actually the first, comments pertaining to the Arikara are those by Bourgmond in 1717 and by Renaudiere in 1723. The former in 1714 ascended the Missouri as far as the Platte River of Nebraska; whether he subsequently went up still farther, or learned through hearsay of the tribes higher up, is not certain. At any rate, in an enumeration of the tribes residing along the Missouri, Bourgmond (de Villiers, 1925, p. 62) observed that above the Smoking River ? (i. e., the Niobrara or White?) and the Mahas blancs, ‘‘one finds three villages called Aricaras; their commerce is in furs like all the other savages. They have seen the French and they know them .. . Still higher, on the said river, there are 40 villages of Caricara; they are on both sides of the river. They are very numerous... .” This information by Bourgmond is presumably the basis for certain representations on the Delisle map of 1718 (Paullin, 1932, pl. 24; Tucker, 1942, pl. 15), whereon the Aricara appear on the next northerly tributary of the Missouri above the R. du Rocher (probably the Big Sioux River; see Mott, 1938, p. 245) and 40 Villages des Panis are shown to the west on the Missouri itself. The Re- naudiere memoir, dated August 23, 1723 (Margry, 1886, vol. 6, p. 395), and probably not based on first-hand observation, merely notes
2“. |. s’appellent par les Sauvages Nidejaudege, que les Francais appellent la riviere Fumeuse; le sable
volant comme de la fumee, et rend l’eau de la riviere toute blanche et boueuse. Elle est tres rapide et affreuse dans les grosses eaux ...’’ (de Villiers, 1925, p. 62).
Ficure 10.—Map showing location of burial sites (Cemeteries 1-4) investigated by M. W. Stirling in 1923, and some of the principal known village sites, in the vicinity of Mobridge, S. Dak. Inset: Some Arikara locations after ca. 1743.
78 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 157
that 10 leagues from the Mahas “‘you find the nations of the Ricaras; they are allied with the Mahas and wandering like them . . .”” Needless to say, it is impossible {to pinpoint the localities alluded to in the documents just cited;
For most of the eighteenth century, there seems to be little extant documentary material on the Arikara. Spanish traders ascending the Missouri apparently did not reach the tribe until the 1790’s; and I have been unable to track down concrete information as to the nature and extent of Arikara contacts with French and English traders from the East and North. There are, to be sure, a few leads. When the elder Verendrye in 1738 visited the Mandan some- where on the Missouri in present North Dakota, he was informed (Burpee, 1927) that ‘‘at a day’s journey from the last of their forts were the Panaux, who had several forts, and beyond them the Pananis ...”’ both of whom “built their forts and lodges in the same way in which they themselves [i. e., the Mandan] did. . .” Unlike the Mandan, both the Panaux and the Pananis, he was told, were provided with horses. Nearly 5 years later, in March 1743, Verendrye’s sons spent 2 weeks with a people they called the Gens de la Petite Cerise, whose fort was situated ‘‘on the bank of the Mis- souri.” They were informed that at a distance of 3 days’ journey “there was a Frenchman who had been settled there for several years.” Just before their departure for the Mandan towns, 16 days to the north, they buried an inscribed lead plate on an eminence near the fort. Discovery of this plate in 1913 on a hill near Fort Pierre, S. Dak., suggests that the village or fort of the Gens de la Petite Cerise, where the two younger Verendryes sojourned in 1743, may have been at one of the several archeological sites situated in the vicinity of Pierre. ‘There is no conclusive proof, so far as I am aware, that any of the native peoples referred to by the Verendryes as the Panaux, the Pananis, and the Gens de la Petite Cerise were actually the Arikara; but such fragmentary data as are given regarding their mode of life seem to me to lend support to the view that the Arikara may well have been the people, or one of the people, about whom they were writing.
Concerning the location of the Arikara during the 40 years immedi- ately following the Verendrye expeditions, I have found no eyewitness accounts. In 1785, Governor General Miro mentioned (Nasatir, 1930, p. 536) the ‘‘seven villages of the Arricaras or Riis . . . located along the Missouri nearly 400 leagues from its mouth. They are about 900 men-at-arms. ... 7% Lewis and Clark, writing in 1804 pee league, Miro’s estimate would place the Arikara near White River, which enters the Missouri from the west about 1,000 miles above the mouth of the latter. Bad River, variously known in
earlier days also as the Teton or Little Missouri, joins the Missouri about 1,120 miles above its mouth; the Cheyenne enters at circa 1,170 miles.
Rouen Par. ARCHEOLOGY, MOBRIDGE, S. DAK.—WEDEL 79
but referring to the same period as Miro, stated of the Arikara (Coues, 1893, vol. 1, p. 162) that ‘' ... They were originally colonies of Pawnees, who established themselves on the Missouri below the Chayenne [Cheyenne River], where the traders still remember that 20 years ago they occupied a number of villages. From that situa- tion a part of the Ricaras emigrated to the neighborhood of the Man- dans, with whom they were then in alliance. The rest of the nation continued near the Chayenne till the year 1797, in the course of which, distressed by their wars with the Sioux, they joined their countrymen near the Mandans .. .”
Beginning in the final decade of the eighteenth century, the picture of Arikara movements becomes appreciably clearer, owing in large part to the activities of the Commercial Company for the Discovery of the Nations of the Upper Missouri, at St. Louis, and later to the numerous exploring, trading, and other expeditions that ascended the Missouri from time to time. For a semihorticultural village-dwelling tribe, the Arikara are seen to be at this period a surprisingly restless and mobile people. By 1795, they had been reduced by smallpox from 32 villages and “four thousand warriors,”’ according to Trudeau (Beauregard, 1912, pp. 28-31), to two villages with “about five hundred fighting men,” situated on the west (right) bank of the Missouri about 3 miles below the mouth of the Cheyenne.* From here the Arikara, or a considerable part of them, moved some 250 miles upriver to settle for a brief time a short distance below the Mandan villages near the later Fort Clark, N. Dak.’ Somewhere in this locality they were visited the following year, 1796, by Evans, who said that the Arikara village was 10 leagues below the Mandan on
4“Tn ancient times the Ricara nation was very large; it counted thirty-two populous villages, now de- populated and almost entirely destroyed by the smallpox which broke out among them three different times. A few families only, from each of the villages escaped; these united and formed the two villages now here, which are situated about a half a mile apart upon the same land occupied by their ancestors... {From Trudeau journal, 1795 (Beauregard, 1912).]’’
5 On their ascent of the Missouri in the fall of 1804, Lewis and Clark observed the remains of several re- cently abandoned villages which they attributed to the Arikara. These included: (a) one just above No Timber Creek [present Chantier Creek, Stanley County, S. Dak.] on the west bank of the river, where ‘‘the Panies had a Village five years ago’’; (6) one about 5 miles below Cheyenne River, on the west bank, undated; (c) a walled village of 17 lodges on La hoo catt island [presumably present Lafferty Island, 4 or 5 miles below Cheyenne Agency], which “ . . . appears to have been deserted about five years . . .”” and where dwelt «« . .. the Ricreries in the year 1797 . . .”’; (d) a stockaded village of about 80 closely spaced lodges which “« . . . appear to have been inhabited last spring . . .,’”? some 5 miles below present Swan Creek, Walworth County; (e) a fortified village or ‘‘ Wintering Camp’’ of about 60 lodges which “‘ . . . appears to have been inhabited last winter ... ,’’ at or just below the mouth of Moreau River; and (f) the walls of a village, undated and not tribally identified, on ‘‘Grous Island” [present Blue Blanket Island ?] 8 or 9 miles below Grand River (Thwaites, 1904-5, vol. 1, pp. 172-183).
During their descent in 1806, Lewis and Clark camped again just below No Timber Creek, and Clark’s journal includes the following under date of August 25: ‘‘. . . a little above our encampment the Ricaras had formerly a large village on each side which was destroyed by the Seioux. there is the remains of 5 other villages on the S W side below the Cheyenne river and one on Lehocatts Island. all those villages have been broken up by the Seioux . . .” (Thwaites, 1904-5, vol. 5, p. 360). In his Summary Statement of Rivers, Creeks, and Most Remarkable Places, Clark records at 5 miles below Cheyenne River“ . . . the upper of five old Ricara Villages reduced by the Seioux and abandoned .. .”’
80 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 157
the south side of the river, and that there was here a fort built 3 years before and continuously occupied by traders from Canada (Nasatir, 1931 b, pp. 450-451). A letter dated St. Genevieve, April 10, 1796, by James Clamorgan, director of the Commercial Company, speaks of the need for medals “‘for the two Ricara villages”’ (ibid., p. 455; cf. also Zenon Trudeau, Jan. 15, 1798, in Houck, 1909, vol. 2). Difficulties with the nearby Mandan caused the Arikara to move down- river again within a few years, but apparently not as far as the Cheyenne River. A clue to the time of this southward move is given by Lewis and Clark, who in 1804 near present Hensler, N. Dak., saw on the right bank of the Missouri, ‘‘two old villages of Ricaras, one on the top of the hill, the other in the level plain, which were deserted only five years ago’? (Coues, 1893, vol. 1, p. 177). This date, if correct, would place the return of the Arikara downriver at about 1799.°
By 1803, the Arikara were settled in a group of three villages on the west side of the Missouri a few miles above the Grand River. Here, in October, 1804, they were visited by Lewis and Clark, who reported them living in three villages—one on an island (modern Ashley Island) 4 miles above Maropa River (now Oak Creek), the other two on both sides of a small unnamed creek 4 miles upriver. The island site was abandoned before 1811; according to Bracken- ridge (Thwaites, 1904-7, vol. 6, p. 111), its inhabitants had “removed a few miles farther up .. .”
The upper villages seen by Lewis and Clark had a somewhat longer existence. They were the principal residence of the Arikara when Bradbury and Brackenridge traveled up the Missouri in 1811. In August, 1823, in reprisal for Arikara depredations against Ashley’s fur traders, the village was shelled by United States troops under Colonel Leavenworth; and in consequence, the Arikara again moved upriver to a point near the Mandan winter villages a short distance below the later site of Fort Clark (Maximilian, in Thwaites, 1904-7, vol. 23, p. 224). According to Dale (1918, pp. 85, 125), they were committing various outrages near the Mandan villages, as well as “in the Platte country’? during the months following the shelling; and in the winter of 1825 the Ashley-Smith party ascending the Platte was informed that 100 Arikara were camped on the Arkansas River in present eastern Colorado. Maximilian, on the other hand, indicates that in the spring of 1824 they removed from the vicinity of the Mandan and apparently reoccupied the villages where they had been attacked by Leavenworth. They were still at this location
6I have attempted to reconcile the Le Raye journal of 1801-03 (Robinson, 1908, pp. 150-180) with the contemporary historical sources used in this sketch, but without success; and I am inclined to view with misgivings the account attributed to Le Raye.
Nous) TY» ARCHEOLOGY, MOBRIDGE, S. DAK.—WEDEL 81
in 1832 when Catlin, passing on the steamer Yellowstone, painted a view of the village, which he said contained 150 lodges incompletely surrounded by a palisade (Catlin, 1913, vol. 1, p. 229). Apparently, the site was permanently given up soon thereafter, for when Maxi- milian passed the spot on June 12, 1833, he said that “. . . it is not quite a year since these villages had been wholly abandoned .. .” Its abandonment was attributed by Maximilian to several factors: Arikara fear of the Sioux, their expectation of further chastisement at the hands of the Americans, crop failure due to drought, and the scarcity of bison.
For the next few years, the Arikara appear to have remained away from the Missouri, leading a nomadic life in the plains far to the west and southwest. They spent the winter of 1834-35 hunting with their Skidi Pawnee kindred on the upper Platte in Nebraska, return- ing in spring with the Skidi to their village on the Loup River north- east of present St. Paul, Nebr. By May 1835, when the two tribes had been living together for 8 months, friction between them had reached the point where the Skidi were contemplating driving away their unwelcome guests, 2,200 in number, according to Allis (Dunbar and Allis, 1918, p. 701). On learning of the imminent arrival of Colonel Dodge and his dragoons, the Arikara hastily departed to the west. Dodge subsequently was in council with them “about one day’s march above the forks of the Platte River’; and in August, on his return trip to Fort Leavenworth, he met a party of Pawnee and Arikara at a Cheyenne village on the upper Arkansas (Dodge, 1861).
In 1837, the Arikara returned to the banks of the Missouri, this time to Fort Clark; and the following year they took over the nearby Mandan village whose original inhabitants had removed upstream following the devastating smallpox epidemic of 1837. Here they re- sided until the destruction of Fort Clark in 1861, after which they too moved farther upstream. In 1862 they were building a new village on the south bank of the river opposite Fort Berthold (Mor- gan, 1871; U. S. Office of Indian Affairs, 1863, p. 194) and from this point they finally moved across the river to join the Mandan and Hidatsa. In this general locality they have since resided.
Incomplete as they undeniably are, the historical data just re- viewed have interesting implications for the study of Arikara history and prehistory. For one thing, they suggest that the Arikara villages until the last decades of the eighteenth century were mainly situated below the Cheyenne River. Moreover, with few exceptions, the historic allusions to occupied towns, as also to abandoned sites, by Trudeau, Lewis and Clark, Bradbury, Brackenridge, and others, place these features on the west (right) bank of the Missouri. For the most part, unfortunately, the references apply to a time after
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the smallpox epidemics of the eighteenth century had done their work, when the Arikara were said to be only a remnant of their for- mer numbers.
We cannot be sure, of course, to what extent the Arikara and their early chroniclers inflated the estimates of the former numerical strength of the tribe. Archeology has already shown, however, that the remains of earth-lodge villages, both fortified and unfortified, some of very considerable size, and many with some traces of contact with White men, occur in great number along both banks of the Missouri throughout most of its course in present South Dakota. Some of these may have been temporary and late winter villages; at others, the Arikara may have been only the last of a series of occupations; and it is very probable that not all are to be ascribed to the Arikara. Granting these qualifications, the feeling still per- sists that a considerable number of these historically undocumented sites very likely are of Arikara origin. Unless it be assumed that, for environmental” or other reasons, the Arikara moved about as fre- quently in their earlier days as they did after 1790, which seems rather improbable, we then have the problem of segregating and accurately dating the village sites that belong to the heyday of the Arikara, whether in the early eighteenth century or, as seems possible, even earlier. Also to be evaluated is the role of the westward-pushing Sioux in forcing abandonment of the earth-lodge villages on the east bank—a factor that might have been of minor importance until the Arikara had been considerably reduced in numbers by smallpox. It would certainly seem to be more than mere accident that the his- torically documented villages and village sites ascribed to the Arikara do not include some of the many late prehistoric and protohistoric sites now known to exist along the east bank of the Missouri in South Dakota, as well as on both banks between the Cheyenne and Grand Rivers. Isuspect that when further controlled data on the archeology and physical anthropology of the Arikara are available, it will be evident that they were, in fact, a numerous and powerful people with a long history of occupation of the Missouri Valley in what is now South Dakota.
Our primary concern here is with archeological materials from four burial sites situated north of Mobridge, S. Dak. Since these all yielded various quantities of evidence of Indian-White contacts, it is in order to comment briefly on the native settlements historically stated to have stood in the same locality. As already noted, these seem to have been three in number at the beginning of the nineteenth
7 According to Tabeau, the Arikara ‘‘cultivate only new lands, being forced to change their habitation often for want of wood which they exhaust in five or six years. The Mandanes, also tillers of the soil, are
more constant in their homes; because the timber begins to increase in their territory and the larger points are far better supplied with trees’’ (Abel, 1939, p. 69).
ANTHRO. Par, ARCHEOLOGY, MOBRIDGE, 8. DAK.—WEDEL 83
century; references to earlier villages, if such references exist, have escaped my notice. The documented locations include one island site, of which all traces have apparently vanished; and, 5 or 6 miles upstream, two nearly contiguous sites, variously known as the Leaven- worth, or Lewis and Clark, Site. Contemporary observations were made at these villages by Tabeau, a French trader residing with the Arikara in the island village from 1803-5 (Abel, 1939); by Lewis and Clark in 1804; by Bradbury, and also by Brackenridge, in 1811; and finally, by Catlin in 1832 and Maximilian in 1833. To these eye- witness descriptions can be added a preliminary account of archeo- logical excavations in 1932 by Strong (1933; 1940, pp. 366-370) at the Leavenworth Site. Strong’s investigations, when published in full and supplemented by the present recounting of skeletal and cultural materials from the associated burial grounds, will give an unusually complete archeological check on Arikara material culture as described by the early White visitors to the occupied villages.
From the various contemporary accounts, it appears that the Leavenworth Site consisted of approximately 150-160 circular earth lodges placed without regularity in two groups about 80 yards apart, and on opposite sides of a small stream [now known as Elk or Cotton- wood Creek]. Brackenridge says the village ‘appeared to occupy about three-quarters of a mile along the river bank . . .” According to Bradbury, it was “‘fortified all round with a ditch, and with pickets and palisadoes, of about nine feet high.’ Catlin reported this stockade in ruinous condition when he passed the town in 1832. Numerous horses were to be seen around the village, according to © Brackenridge, who noted further that “amongst the Arikara, the dead are deposited in a grave as with us, which I think, clearly proves their origin to be different from that of their neighbors . . .” Catlin’s paint- ing in 1832 shows what appear to be poles on the summit behind the east part of the village, probably indicating the location of the burial ground.
Several of the early nineteenth century observers stated that the villages represented by the Leavenworth Site were inhabited by the remnants of formerly distinct bands of Arikara. According to Lewis and Clark, there were 9 or 10 such subtribes ‘‘who had formerly been Seperate, but by Commotion and war with their neighbours have Come reduced and compelled to come together for protection . . .” (Thwaites, 1904-7, vol. 1, p. 188). Elsewhere, they asserted that the two lower villages, evidently including the west half of the Leaven- worth Site, were occupied by those Arikara who, sometime before 1797, had emigrated from the Cheyenne River locality to the Mandan, and who “‘may be considered as the Ricaras proper. The third village [on the east side of Elk Creek] was composed of such remnants of the
84 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buu 157
villages as had survived the wars; and as these were nine in number, a difference of pronunciation and some difference of language may be observed between them and the Ricaras proper, who do not under- stand all the words of these wanderers’ (Coues, 1893, vol. 1, p. 162.)
Brackenridge (Thwaites, 1904-7, vol. 6, p. 122) stated that . . . These villages are the remains of 17 distinct tribes . . .”
As to the other three sites from which burial-ground materials are to be here considered, I have been unable to find any historical docu- mentation. Two of these are on the west bank of the Missouri just above Oak Creek, which enters the Missouri below Ashley Island. The third is on the east bank about a mile northwest of the town of Mobridge. The evidence itself indicates that these are probably earlier than the Leavenworth material; but by how many years I have no means of determining at present.
“c
TREATMENT OF THE DATA
In analyzing and presenting this material, I have been confronted with several problems that should be noted here. First and thorniest of all is the manner in which the collections were processed at the time of accessioning. The materials, as already indicated, are from four sites, but by no means in equal proportion. The permanent catalog record comprises about 150 cards, many of which pertain to lots rather than to individual specimens. The collection probably comprises in the neighborhood of 1,000 items. Unfortunately, in many cases the specimens were simply grouped into categories by material or type, assigned a single group catalog number, and then given no more detailed provenience data than ‘‘From grave,” or ‘Found with infant burial,’ or even merely “Vicinity of Mobridge, South Dakota.” Thus, it is often impossible to determine from which of the four burial sites involved a given specimen or group of specimens was taken.
This difficulty I have been able to overcome in part by painstakingly working through the field record and charting the artifacts found in association with each grave. Specimens of rare or unique type, or those which are distinctive for other reasons, could often be traced to their exact provenience. But in the case of other objects, as for example, certain glass beads, all specimens collected were strung or lumped together despite their certainly diverse origin, and it is now impossible to segregate those from any given site.
Faced with this rather discouraging situation, I have chosen to treat the entire collection by categories rather than by sites. Thus, the ceramic remains are considered as a unit, then the stonework, the bone, shell, etc. Wherever possible in the descriptive sections, I have indicated the origin of the specimens as to cemetery and, if feasible, as to grave. Table 2 (p. 169), generalized from a’much more
Aanie) ?) ~~ ARCHEOLOGY, MOBRIDGE, 8. DAK.—WEDEL 85
detailed working chart, indicates the distribution of specimens or ma- terials by individual graves and cemeteries as determined from the field records; and if this table is consulted along with the descriptive text, the materials become much more meaningful.
Another problem involves the designation of sites. All of those from which material is included in this discussion have been variously designated from time to time. Largely for my own convenience, but also to minimize error in transcribing information from the field notes to this report, I have retained the simple numerical designations used in the field by Stirling. As already intimated, four sites are chiefly involved—three on the west (right) bank of the Missouri, in present Corson County, and one on the east bank, in Walworth County. Stirling refers to the village sites as Site 1, Site 2, Site 3, Site 4, etc. The burial ground presumed to