OHIO ARCHAEOLOGIST

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VOL.3 NUfllBER 3

MEUI SERIES JULY 1953 OHIO INDIAN RELIC COLLECTORS SOCIETY COLUMBUS.OHIO Vol. 3 - No. 3, July 53 THE PRESIDENT'S PAGE

The best measure of the vitality of any organization, is its rate of growth. We are getting in a lot of new members. The problem is to hold them year after year. The best way to do that is to provide them with something they can not find elsewhere. A chance to meet with people of like interests.

In fact the OIRCS is getting large enough to be unwieldy. If every member should attend a meeting it would be hard to find a hall large enough to hold all of us. But I would like the chance to attend such a complete meeting. Ohio is rather a large state. To drive from its far corners to Columbus entails four or five hours steady driving for a lot of us. Some just can not do that and so they miss all the fun.

Your president has given this subject a lot of thought, and he has discussed the matter with the heads of other similar state organizations. They have all advised that we do something on this order to increase interest and active participation by a greater proportion of our membership. Form a number of local chapters inside the ORICS. These would be informal with no officers except a chairman-secretary to handle correspondence between the various chapters and the parent organization. The formalities of a meeting could be dispensed with entirely. Meetings could be held in members homes, or in small public halls where available free. Meetings could be held as often as wished, and such chapters could initiate digs in their own area, keeping records but with each member keeping his personal finds. The Massachusetts society has been working an early hunters site for several years and their finds were important enough to be one of the main features of the last meeting of the Society for American Archeology.

Such local chapters would enable us to bring in members in parts of the state where we have very few although there are plenty of collectors. We are fortunate in having a few enthusiastic members in these areas who could form chapters drawing on the type of collector who is not interested enough to travel to Columbus for meetings. However, once he was in it would not be long before he would want to attend all meetings possible. The chairman-secretary could drop a card to the other secretaries telling of a meeting and so invite anyone who wished to drop in from other chapters. Think over this proposition and lets act on it.

The picnic was for your president at least, a huge success. The OIRCS is very fortunate to have Virgil Schaeffer for a member.

The public is interested in Indian lore and in Indian relics. Judging by the comparitive size of the groups before exhibits of fine pioneer antiques and before a display of very ordinary Indian artifacts laid out to tell the story of our red predecessors. They would glance in the windows at antiques but stop and read every word on the cards explaining the Indian display. This might be a hint to some people who believe the opposite to be true.

Lets have a good turn-out for the September meeting of the Warren County Serpent Mound. Your president is going to do a little surface hunting on that day if there is any well washed cornfields nearby.

-1- EDITORIAL PAGE

This is and has been a very busy year so far as our hobby is concerned. Quite a lot of meetings have been held in many sections and, in fact, I wonder if these haven't been too close together, which would have some effect on attendance. The Ohio Indian Relic Collectors Society met in Columbus, Ohio, May 17th at Ohio State Museum which was our annual meeting and election of officers. Election results were Arthur George Smith of Norwalk, Ohio, for president for second term; Mr. Lawrence Hicks of Columbus, Ohio, as vice president; H. C. Wachtel as Secretary and Treasurer and two directors, Mr. Mooney of Mt. Sterling and George Collins of Springfield, Ohio. Two weeks later, May 23 and 24th, a meeting was held at Dr. T. Hugh Youngs at Nashville, Tennessee, and on June 2lst the Ohio Indian Relic Collectors Society held their annual picnic at Virgil Schaeffer^'s cabin west of Dayton, Ohio. Two weeks later Earl C. Townsend, Jr. of Indianapolis, President of the Q I. R. C. S. held a meeting at his home in Indianapolis. As you see the dates are fairly close together which works somewhat of a hardship on members who have quite a distance to go. Lets hope that next year sees a more favorable arrangement of meeting dates, to spread this out and also change locations for more accessibility to different sections. Your secretary has been putting on a rather concerted membership drive. All members sending in their dues payments for current year of June 1, 195 3 to June I, 1954 have each been answered immediately by a personal letter enclosing a blank membership applications form in hopes that each member can interest at least one new member. We would also like to see our membership grow sufficiently that the printing expenditures for (4) magazines a year could be more easily met. At present time we barely scrimp through and have to watch pennies, when we should be improving our publications. When ideas are mentioned, everyone agrees they would be fine, but there it seems to end. No cooperation. Your editor was hoping to build up a nice section on questions and answers. Don't let him down. Send in your question, and also anyone who thinks they have a plausible answer, send it in also. The more ideas the better. You will notice on page 32 some excerpts from a few letters received by the editor. They may be of interest to the membership, and maybe enthuse other members to make a success of our questions and answers section. There is and has been talk of carrying a selling and trading section open to members. Lets hear your ideas on the above. NOTICE: There are quite a few members who haven't paid their 1954 dues as yet. The secretary-treasurer hopes the promise of some (4) interesting issues of Ohio Archaeologist will be the inducement to influence a quick remittance. Your dues are what makes our magazine possible. We have some fine articles coming. You will like them.

-2- H. C. W. COMMENTS ON KNIVES WITH TANGS FOR OFF-SET HAFTING by M. W. Hill, Alexandria, Va. The word "tang", Webster defines as a projection or shand used to fasten an article to a handle. Every stemmed knife is therefore a tang-knife and so our use of the word tang-knives for those stone knives with a tang or stem out of line with the axis of the knife is not a proper classification of these tools prepared for an off-set haft. We should have a better name for this type of tools and it might be more descriptive to call them offset stemmed blades. I have been wondering for ten years what was the reason behind these de­ signs and after hafting about a dozen and trying them out in actual use I think we can conclude the offsetting of the haft was to obtain better visibility for the user when he needed to follow a definite pattern in the cutting and shaping of his mater­ ial. This idea was further strengthened when a few years ago I obtained a beauti­ ful Tang-knife from Calvert City, Ky. which was unique in one feature, namely, the tang was placed on the sharp edge of the knife and not as usual upon the back. The use of this knife would have been with the hand and knife edge below the mat­ erial and not above as usual. Here in use, only the point of the knife protrudes thru the material and the pattern is in no way covered by the hand of the user. This seems to me that experiments were undertaken by the knife designers to obtain better visibility and more accurate cutting to the line. It is probable that during the operation several pairs of hands were needed to keep the material stretched or that it was fastened to a frame-work of suitable size so as to re­ main in position during the cutting-out work. The utility knife as distinct from the weapons like two edged dirks or dag­ gers is* designed with a cutting edge and a back normally a strengthening member but not sharpened. So in flaked knife form while both edges are thinned, one is usually kept sharper than the other, also the sharp edge is curved for all or part of its length for better efficiency. Normally we would consider the curved edge the down or cutting edge and the other the back of the knife and this back edge is normally the edge equipped with the stem or tang. The best treatise I have read is a bulletin No. 3618 of date 5-8-36 pub­ lished by the Univ. of Texas and written by Dr. J. T. Patterson, covering 533 Tang-knives mostly from Texas. Dr. Patterson says tang-knives were used for skinning and fleshing knives with perhaps scalping and fighting on the side. It would seem in combat nothing but a straight line haft would survive so I think the use as weapons was excep­ tional. It is to be noted that none of the tangs Dr. Patterson has shown were tanged upon the cutting edge as is the knife from Calvert City. The material of which this knife is made is a fine ivory chalcedony with greyish streaks and so closely matching the material of several square base knives from Missouri that I believe the Calvert City artifact originated in Missouri. Specimens from Texas are the longest Tang-knives I have seen, one being over eight inches in length, these are very unusual and few are more than four inches in length and two and a half in width. Some are very small, one inch or less and must have been for delicate work like surgery or cutting the gut or sinew. A very curious design has two or more tangs on the knife usually upon the back-tang types, this allowed the haft to be moved into different angles with the axis of the blade. Tracings show most all of the well known forms and some that are unusual. The off-set knives were flaked from two forms of blanks, ovate and triangular, with the ovate predominating. From these blanks both curved and straight edged knives are produced, the latter I think were used for cutting birchbark or other thin material where the straight edge would avoid the splitting of the material on lines other than those desired. The variant forms of the minature knives were not toys but carefully de­ signed tools for delicate operations, possibly in surgery or the skiming of small birds and animals for use perhaps as fetisches. -3- One cannot help wondering that so many of the tangs are so small and weak in appearance and if the two Texas pieces No. 16 are examples of improved de­ signs, the stone-workers also thought the tangs needed strengthening. Notes upon the tracings are suggestive of uses but a few further comments might be in order. No. 11 is a good example of the rare double tang form. No. 12 a curious knife with one straight edge almost as wide as long. No. 13 a flake knife with unusually large notch and serrated edge, might be hafted or used in the fingers. No. 14 a toothed blade but definitely tanged, possibly a scarifier for ceremonial uses. No. 10 The unique bevelled blade would make a poor knife but might serve as a skinner and flesher if used with care so as not to break tang. No. 15 The "up side down" knife mentioned above. Unique form. It is most likely that the foo-set stem knives were unknown until the days of later and more cultured peoples with their new and diversified arts came into being and specialized tools were required to further them.

"TRACED

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BOLD LEfT BEVBLS DON'T B€LONG, OH i

"Oh, venerable Serpents of our forefathers, may all who look upon your graceful curves be reminded in future generations of the homage we pay to you. May you so remain until another age of ice or the possible fiery cataclysm of space destroy you. "

Could this be the prayer in the minds of the ancient supplicants, reverently bowing before their Serpent Gods? During those early times these serpents were probably a symbolic reference to the superstitions and fears of the contemporary civilizations. Now one can only hazard a guess as to the elaborate rituals which probably took place at inter­ vals in their primitive culture.

The Great Adams County Serpent Mound is, no doubt, one of the most publicized of any effigy in the world. Hardly any book on archaeology can be looked over without some notice of it in one form or another. This Serpent Mound was acquired by the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society through no effort on its part and, in fact, it was just about obli­ gated to take it over by the Trustees of Harvard University in 1900, the only stipulation being that it be kept up as a park.

Now, thousands of visitors come every year to view this magnificent handiwork of prehistoric peoples and leave with a feeling that they have viewed the mysterious. Should they not be told to drive 60 miles farther west in our great state and see its counterpart? A beautiful scenic drive through southern Ohio and they would behold another inspiring sight! "Another Serpent Mound! " What do you think their reaction would be ? Just this! Surely, Ohio, noted for its having the largest number of prehistoric earthworks of any state in the Union, is doubly blessed. Two Serpent Mounds - more of the serpent motif of the mysterious past.

The feathered serpent symbol played quite an important part in the Mexican and Central American Toltec and Aztec sculpture. The serpent also plays a part in the South and East Asiatic sculpture and mythology. Is there some connection between all these symbols? Was southern Ohio the nucleus of this cult in the United States?

The controversy regarding the different interpretations of "earth­ works" and "effigy Earthworks, " pertaining to this particular site, The Warren County Serpent Mound, seems somewhat absurd from the stand­ point of matter-of-fact reasoning and deductions. A visit to the site and actual observation of the earthwork is bound to leave one with only one conclusion.

1 Wright, Dr. George Frederick, "A New Serpent Mound in Ohio, " Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society Publications, Vol. 1 , 1909, PP. 1 - 12.

2 Wilson, Dr. Alexander S. , "The Naga and the Lingam of India and the Serpent Mounds of Ohio", Ohio Archaeologist and Historical Society Publications, Vol. 30, 1921, PP.77 - 39.

-6- To satisfy a very few, who have a doubtful attitude that it is an effigy mound, one must define the word "effigy. " An effigy is the representation of some object that is in the mind or imagination of its makers, so we will per­ force again have to say it is "An Effigy Serpent Mound. " We have an "Oppossum Mound", and effigy "Eagle Mound", and an effigy "Cross Mound" in Ohio, and they are designated and accepted as such. The lineness to an oppossum is not nearly so clearly defined as is the lineness to a serpent in the earthwork in question.

Now, as always, the very few skeptics will say that the earthwork in ques­ tion has been restored and that the original lines were not faithfully followed. This is entirely unfounded as the outline has been as much or more faithfully followed than in the restoration done on the Adams County Serpent Mound before 1900. Furthermore, there are any number of reputable people living today, in­ cluding the writer, who are very familiar with this earthwork as it existed be­ fore any restoration whatsoever had been done. This restoration was financed and carried out under the direction of Mr. John Holden of Morrow, Ohio, recently deceased, a reputable citizen of Warren County. He carried out the work due to his personal interest in helping to preserve the site. Speaking of the skeptics again: One of them never saw the earthwork before restoration, so would not be in a position to pass on its early phase; one other, in writing, says he never viewed the earthwork in its entirety, while another based his views on a sketch by another party.

In Bulletin #25, September 1950, published by the O. I. R. C. S. an article appeared entitled "The Serpent Mounds in Ohio, " by the writer of this article. As a result, a committee was appointed September 24, 1950 and named "The Warren County Serpent Mound Committee". This committee faithfully applied itself in gathering all the data possible that was relevant to the subject. Under its able secretary, Mr. H. R. McPherson, correspondence was carried on to great length and the result was a compilation of data of over 450 pages, con­ sisting of photostatic copies of all the correspondence obtainable and much addi­ tional original data was compiled. Aerial views were made which showed the site as it now exists, which does not at all agree with some previous sketches.

Some experimental digging was conducted by Mr. McPherson and Mr. Kientz at the portion where the lines were shown extended and not closed as shown in a sketch made from memory but which some few still keep referring to. This excavating showed altogether a different cross-section than that through the earthwork proper.

The preponderance of the mass of evidence in the affirmative would stand up under any test and should overwhelmingly prove the point "that this is an authentic serpent mound" -- and worthy of preservation.

Two meetings were held in Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio. The first meet­ ing was a luncheon meeting at the Golden Lamb in Lebanon at which the Warren County Serpent Mound Committee members met with the members of the Warren County Historical Society and present as guest of honor was Mr. Arthur Hamilton of Lebanon, former speaker of the house in Ohio and now President of the Board of Directors of Ohio State Museum. A general discussion insued which outlined plans to follow in regard to acquiring the Warren County Serpent Mound for pos­ terity. Mr. Hamilton requested we furnish him with all the facts and he would gladly present them to the Board of Ohio State Museum.

-7- In the afternoon the group visited the site and enthusiastically approved the idea. The second meeting was held in the auditorium of the Courthouse in Lebanon when another resume of the findings were presented to an interested group of the War­ ren County Historical Society members. One meeting of the Ohio Indian Relic Collectors Society was set aside solely for the discussion and presentation of all the facts. This meeting was held at the Ohio State Museum in Columbus, Ohio, on November 18, 1951, and all the material uncovered by the committee, both pro and con, was presented by the secretary of the Committee, Mr. Harry R. McPherson, before a large attendance of the O.I. R. C.S. members, the representatives of the Warren County Historical Society and T. S. Baby of Ohio State Museum who took the negative side.

Mr. Earl C. Townsend, Jr. , President of the Indian Relic Collectors Society, presided as chairman. After all the evidence was adduced the report was placed be­ fore the body for a vote. The vote was 79 to 0 in approval that it was a "True Ser­ pent Mound" and that steps should be taken to acquire it as a future Public Park for the State of Ohio. Although these meetings have been held no actual program has ever been held out as a goal. Some concrete program should be arrived at that could be followed in the future. It will have to be through our Society and the Warren County Historical Society, as the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society is very disinterested in acquiring another site regardless of its importance or the fact that it should be.per­ petuated, since it would create another park to care for and the perpetuation of archaeological remains seems to be a thing of the past as far as the Ohio State Museum is concerned.

3 A resume of six (6) pages, which was a very concise by abbreviated report of the results of this meeting held at the Ohio State Museum on November 8, 195 1, ap­ peared in the "Ohio Archaeologist", Vol. 2, Number 1, January 1952. It is well worth anyones time to review this again and separate copies of this report will be available for anyone who should desire it. We will have to charge a nominal fee of 2 5 cents to cover the expense of printing and mailing. NOW - At our last meeting of March 15, 1953, a motion was passed to hold our September 13th meeting at the Warren County Serpent Mound site. The com­ mittee was asked to make the necessary arrangements with the owner and whatever contingencies that would be incurred. Every person who is interested in archaeology should be invited to attend and this should especially apply to the more learned branch of our hobby, the archaeologists of all the Universities and Museums who can be in­ duced to attend. I understand that the owner will be more than glad to have us hold our meeting at the site and he has already agreed to have everything in good shape and it will be a wonderful place to hold an early fall picnic. I feel sure that everyone who attends will feel more than repaid with the sight he or she will see. On page 9 you will see an artists sketch of the two Serpents which gives a com­ parison as to their relative size and shape. DO NOT MISS THIS MEETING. Everybody come and be a part of a worthy project.

H. C. Wachtel, 307 Elmhurst Rd. , Dayton, Ohio

3 McPherson, Harry R. , "Report of the Warren County Serpent Mound Committee", Ohio Archaeologist, News Service, Vol. 2, No. 1, January 1952, pp 12-17.

-8-

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INDIAN MOUND ESTATES RESTRICTED FOR YOUR SAFETY

,<• QCtlBCO 1TOC AT OFTKI F00 *UU. »*0»lATWN HE :• CMAC I. 3EAVER PtAu. , Co. iT«S. OEALTOOS BUILDEDS DEVELOPED* DAYTON ton IMS U.B.BU1UXN* THE ENON MOUND B7 David R. Collins, Springfield, Ohio

The Enon Mound, also occasionally referred to as The Knob Prairie Mound, is located in Section 31, Township 5, Range 9, Mad River Township, Clark County, Ohio. It lies about 300 feet south of Ohio State Route No. 4 as that highway approaches the village of Enon from the northeast.

This mound appears to be about 40 feet in height with a base diameter of 100 to 125 feet. It is in a remarkably good state of preservation.

The earliest recorded information concerning The Enon Mound which has come to the attention of the writer is found in Beers History of Clark County, Ohio, published by W. H. Beers & Co. of Chicago, in 1881. On page 243 appears the following:-

"There are several mounds and other pre-historic works within the limits of this county. "The greatest is the mound at Enon. Some years ago, a party of young men, impelled by curiosity, dug a hole down through the center of the mound. One of them says: 'We found top soil all the way for thirty feet, when we came to a cave of curious construction; it was the shape of a bake-oven, and high enough for a man to stand upright in the center. It tapered down on the sides. On one side there was a door, that had evidently led from a ground entrance into the cave. In the middle of the cave was a pile of dirt and stone resembling an altar; on this were bones, charcoal ?nd some pieces of decayed wood, and one piece of partly charred wood in a good state of preservation. This wood was preserved, but the bones would not stand moving. After the party had satisfied their curiosity, they cut their names and date on the altar, filled up the excavation and left. "

Again on pages 730-31 the Mound is mentioned:-

"An object of curiosity and of unknown origin is the Knob Prairie Mound, an artificial elevation, originally about forty-nine feet in height, and covering about an acre. Among its early attractions was a wolf's den. An indentation on the northwest side indicates the place of entrance to their quarters in the interior of this mysterious structure. This mound was, in the early settlement of this place, covered with forest trees of the ordinary size and kind found in this locality. It lay immediately on the line of march of Gen. Clark's troops on the way to the memorable battle of Piqua, the centennial of which was celebrated in August, 1880, on the ground where the battle was fought. A portion of Gen. Clark's light horsemen rode to the top of this mound as they were on the march to the battle, from which they obtained an extensive view of the surrounding country. But this tower of observation was not elevated enough to give them a view of the village, about two miles away, that was so soon to fall before their superior powers. "

References to this Mound found in later books appear to be merely repetition, or excerpts from, the description contained in Beers History.

Shortly prior to May of 1952 the Mound and the acreage surrounding it was purchased by Mr. Charles I. Beaver of Dayton, Ohio, who thence proceeded to have the land platted and laid out in lots. The addition is known as "Indian Mound Estates". -11- The plat was accepted as an addition in Clark County by the Clark County Commissioners on May 26, 1952, and, as so accepted, it contained a dedication by the owner of all streets, parks and public grounds as shown thereon to the public use forever. As shown on the plat the Mound is designated as "Mound Park", and it is surrounded by a circular driveway. On May 29, 19^2 Mr. Beaver also petitioned for the annexation of the terri­ tory surrounding and including the Mound to the Village of Enon and on December 9, 1952 after completion of the essential preliminary steps the Council of the Village of Enon passed an ordinance accepting the territory as a part of the Village. Thus did Mr. Beaver recognize the historical and archaeological importance of this Mound and take the necessary steps for its preservation so far as it was in his power to do so. We who appreciate and treasure our pre-historic sites and monuments can be thankful that The Enon Mound territory was not attractive to the Federal Govern­ ment for locating an Army camp as at Chillicothe, or an atomic energy installation as in Pike County. In either case someone connected with the project would no doubt have found some "necessity" for the complete destruction of the Mound.

******

THE 1953 COVER DESIGN by Ben F. Ewbank Members of the Society have made various comments concerning the Ohio Archaeologist cover design for this year. While many like this design, a few have expressed some doubt that all the readers would understand what the design was intended to portray. Being the designer of this Year's cover, I will here attempt to explain something of its meaning. The outline of the State of Ohio, of course, is self-explanatory, and 1 felt that it would tie in with the design adopted to symbolize the Ohio SesquiCentennial. The unusual silhouettes on the front and back covers, however, have raised some questions. These designs are both Hopewell copper artifacts which are on display at the Ohio State Museum. The one portrayed on the front cover is believed to be a stylized serpent head effigy. This copper piece was discovered in 1892 by Warren K. Moorehead while excavating Mound No. 9 of the Hopewell group. Some comments on this mound and the artifacts contained therein, may be found in Fowke's Arch- eological History of Ohio, pages 343-347. For a good illustration of the artifact as found by Moorehead, see Archeol- ogical History of Ohio, pages 721 - figure 300. Also, in the same work, descrip­ tions of many copper pieces, as well as tested theories on the methods of manufac­ ture are mentioned on pages 71^ to 728. For an illustration of this serpent effigy as restored to original conformation, see Martin, Quimby and Collier, Indians Before Columbus, page 276 - figure 30. Other than the fact that it is of Hopewell manufacture, I have no definite in­ formation on the back-cover piece. 1 know some of the members can give more in­ formation on this piece. It is believed by many that ornaments of this type were used as medallions and fastened on the robes of the Hopewell men.

-12- CEREMONIAL PICKS by G. F. Meuser, M. D. In the accompanying illustration is shown a series of prehistoric artifacts commonly referred to as ceremonial picks. The term used is purely a discriptive one since there is no evidence to denote that they were ceremonially used or that they served the purpose of picks. They must have been highly prized by their abor­ iginal owners, since much effort was expended in the selection of the material from which they were made, and great care and craftmanship was exercised in reducing them from the natural stone or pebble to the graceful and symmetrical forms which represent the finished product. These ceremonial picks vary greatly in size and material. In length, they range from specimens six or seven inches long to those which measure upwards to twenty inches. All of them are slender and most of them are chisel-shaped, differ­ ing from the conventional chisel in that they taper, more or less from the center toward each end. The width seldom exceeds one and one half inches, and the height, at its greatest, is rarely more than two inches. The cross-section is either square or rectangular, a feature that seems to prevail especially in the harder and more mottled varieties of stone, or is D-shaped, as is usually seen in the less colorful or softer materials. The under side is generally straight and flat, but sometimes it is curved or arched, particularly in the hard, mottled specimens. The ends are typically edged, with varying degrees of keeness. Sometimes one end, most frequently the broadest, is sharply bitted, while the opposite one is indifferently sharpened, rounded or even pointed. There are some indications, in certain of these picks that they could have been hafted. In No.l, in the picture, there are well defined smoothly pecked areas on each side and on the top, in No. 4, are shallow incised grooves, on the sides only, and in the upper third, and in No. 7 there are slight roughenings on each side, at the middle, all of which could have been useful in fastening the picks in handles.

MATERIALS: Ceremonial picks were fashioned from stones which were either quite soft or extremely hard. Many of them, and especially the longer ones, are made of schistose or micaceous schist. Others are ofbanded slate, and one is of serpentine. The harder varieties, mottled granite, syenite and diorite predominate. I have never seen any of quartzite, porphyry or conglomerate materials. Perhaps lack of natural materials of adequate size, or extreme difficulty of manufacture from them discouraged their use. OCCURENCE: From what data is available, it would appear that the great majority of ceremonial picks are surface finds. Some, however, have been recovered from mounds. Wm. C. Mills, (Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society Publications, Volume XXXI, page 56^-567), mentions three of them. One double bitted, of granite and ten inches long was found in the Heinisch Mound, located in the City of Portsmouth. Another, "very similar, was taken from a mound at the mouth of Salt Creek, Ross County - - - while a third, practically a duplicate of either of the foregoing specimens, was taken from a mound near Cincinnati. The evidence, while not con­ clusive, seems to be that this type of ceremonial artifact is characteristic of the new culture under consideration". It will be noted that all three are of hard stone or granite. In another Publication of the Ohio Arch, and Hist. Society, Vol. VII, Moorehead pictures one, (Figure X, #2), that he terms a double pointed chisel. Quoting from his field notes, he states "At Green Camp, upon Mr. S. Porter's farm, there was a stone grave". Among other relics found in it was "a pick shaped cere­ monial". Aside from these few mentions, I know of no other instance of them being burial finds.

-13- They are not peculiar to any area in Ohio. They are found sparingly in all sections, except, perhaps in the extreme eastern portion. Outside of Ohio, they are found in Michigan, Indiana, Eastern Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee.

OPPOSITE PICTURE Ceremonial picks from the collection of G.G. Meuser, M. D.

No. 1 - Double bitted, of polished Diorite. Shows definite evidence of having been hafted - Preble County, Ohio.

No. 2 - Double bitted, of highly polished black Schistose. Hancock County, Ohio.

No. 3 - Double bitted, of highly polished Diorite. Both edges very keen. Preble County, Ohio.

No. 4 - One end bitted; the other end pointed. Darke gray slate. Williams County, Ohio.

No. 5 - Double bitted, of glossy red-green micaceous Schist. Montgomery County, Ohio.

No. 6 - Double bitted, of greenish Serpentine. Scioto County, Ohio. No. 7 - One end pointed; the other end bitted. Glossy beautifully mottled, dark and light green granite. Williams County, Ohio. No. 8 - One bitted. Green and black mottled granite. Pike County, Ohio. No. 9 - Double bitted, of finely mottled green and brown granite. Morgan County, Ohio.

-14- 3 3 THE HILLIARD SITE LAKEWOOD, OHIO by Arthur George Smith

The HILLIARD site was located on the east bluff of the Rocky River and on the fossil beach of Pleistocene Lake Whittlesey at the point where it crosses the valley. The site was bounded on the west by the river bluff and extended eastwards along the ridge to the junction of Hilliard and Indianola Aves. , though artifacts were fairly frequent as far east along Hilliard to Atkins Ave. It extended southwards about 100 yards across the present line of Hilliard Ave. Its northern extent is bounded by the present Indianola Ave. Home building, grading and the relocation of Hilliard Ave. with the bridge approaches have destroyed all traces of the site. This was an ideal camp site. The soil was dry and well drained sand, it was on a main east and west trail along "Center Ridge" with a good path down the river bluff to the shallow ford across the river. In spite of these advantages there is no evidence that the later Erie or Iroquian tribes ever used it. Possibly because it was exposed to the full sweep of the winter winds across the valley. When T first knew this site, much of it had already been destroyed by the gravel pits at its west end. There were tales of skeletons having been found in the past close to the river bluff and of artifacts having been found with those burials. At one time this site was known as the McQuarne farm and was locally famous for the profusion of relics found on it. These have now been thrown away as trash or dispersed by commercial dealers. Before 1910 there was a little evidence left of a mound that had been leveled by the plow. Here the artifacts were the thickest and here was the spot where most of the scarcer types were found. Carved sandstone objects, odd bits of ground slate, and one Olivella shell with the spire ground off to form a bead. One piece of ground slate was a piece of an Adena type "gorget" with all the broken edges ground smooth. It is of green and black banded slate with a l/4 inch fault through the stone. I never heard of any pots being found with the burials on this site, nor did I, or any of the collectors known to me, ever find even one sharde on site. Whenever I hunted this site I made a practice of searching the banks of the gravel pit for burials, pits or postholes. Oddities found in this manner include a piece of stalagmite, with sharp edges to the break, found just below the plow line, a small cannonball found by tracing a disturbance in the shingly- gravel for three feet down, and a waterworn end scraper found on the floor of the pit. The gravel pit walls revealed a large fireplace, almost eight feet across, paved with flat stones burned red by fire. One of these proved to be a notched nets inker. This fireplace was just below the plow line and was quite shallow. No artifacts other than the netsinker were found in it, but there were numbers of clam shell chunks of charcoal, some large, a quantity of ashes and a few flint chips burned by the fire.

-18- One burial was found near the east end of the site. The body was slightly flexed and below the knees there was a large axe of green and purple slate, fully grooved and very thin for its size. Over the left ear of the skull was an oblong hole that might have been made by a small grooved axe or a small thick celt. Near the scapula was a small celt of chipped metamorphic green sandstone, weathered almost white, and in the grave fill was a small thick triangular blade of grey chert, possibly but not certainly, of Ononadaga chert which was present on this site. It had been burnt. The celt was most probably an accidental inclusion.

Using diagnostic types of chipped artifacts as clues, the sequence of occupation of this site seem to be as follows.

Early Hunters - One very poorly made fluted point of an exotic blue- grey quartzite, plus a tip of the same material. One of several narrow percussion chipped blades is light- gray chert that is a minority material on the Shoop site (Witthoft, personal communication 1951). It is the only specimen of this stone in the writers collection. Two chips of light brown chert with abundant tiny spher­ ical white quartz inclusions and fossil casts are of a stone never seen elsewhere than on this site and on the Witthofts Shoop Site in Pennsylvania by either the writer or by Witthoft. (WUthoft 1952 p470) This is evidence of the presence of the same people at both sites. All of the above material was found in one area not over fifty feet across at the eastern edge of the site.

A basal fragment of a large Yuma type point.

Laurentian - Various specimens one of true Ononadaga chert from New York.

Archaic - Various specimens. Bannerstone, etc.

Adena - Early type tapered stem and the classic square stemmed points.

Fragments of Adena type gorgets. (Webbs traits 113, 116)

Hopewell - Various shallowly side notched and hook notched points of large size. Chips of the pink and white chalcedony used for flake knives. However no lamellar flakes were observed. Point Penninsula - Several broken semi-lozenge type points, one of large size approaching the "Astabula" type.

Flint traits other than projectile points.

Narrow oval percussion chipped blades.

Wide oval and heartshaped blades with only oned edge re­ touched.

Round based straight drill, percussion chipped D shaped cross section.

Snubnose end scrapers. -19- Side Scrapers. Side notched hafted scrapers, (bunts) Thick backed single edge knives. "Fish knives" beveled and unbeveled. Heavy "choppers". Ground stone traits.

Thin winged "bannerstone". Undrilled U shaped crescent. One holed pendant drilled from both faces. Rectangular two holed gorget drilled from both faces. Two holed gorget of Adena type. Carved sandstone effigies (?). One smeared with red ochre. Stone ball. Fully grooved axe. Large celts of showy igneous rock round poll. Small celts of fine grained igneous rock square polled. Small celts of slate thin square polled. One of these has a hollow ground edge. Small celt of metamorphic sandstone chipped ground edge. Large adze of metamorphic sandstone with pebble inclusions. This was pried out of the foundation wall of the log cabin on the site. Cupstones. Notched shingle stone netsinkers. Naturally perforated claystone pebbles. Unfinished celts, chipped slate blanks for gorgets, chips broken out of the edges of celts by impact in use. CONCLUSIONS. This site was used by a long succession of peoples during the Early Hunter, Archaic and Woodland time, but not by the later Indians be­ cause of its lack of defensibility and exposure to winter winds.

Bibliography. Webb, William S. The Adena People, University of Kentucky. Reports in Anthropology and Archaeology Vol. VI Lexington, Ky. 1945. Witthoft, John. A Paleo-Indian Site in Eastern Pennsylvania. An Early Hunting Culture. Proc. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pa. 1952.

Smith, Arthur George. A grooved Axe of Slate. Ohio Archaeologist, Vol. 3 No. 1, N. S.

-20- c

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Convex Fracture-Base Projectile Points by Lynn Munger, Angola, Indiana In handling several thousand flint arrow-heads and spears the recurrence of a specialized form every few hundred pieces finally registers as something more than a coincidence. These specimens as traced have been gleaned from several thousand pieces and have a similar pattern of manufacture on all points of comparison. The base has been fractured in a covex arc, then ground; the barbs are very wide set and seem to be a combination of a stem and notch. Note the similarity and study the contours of these pieces then see how many, if any, occur in your collection. For want of a descriptive name I have referred to

1. Steuben Co., Ind. Reddish striped chert. 2. Noble Co. , Ind. Blue-grey hornstone. 3. Steuben Co. , Ind. Flint-ridge colored flint. 4. DeKalb Co. , Ind. Cream chert. This one is interesting as it was originally a fracture-base, but was re-chipped in ancient times. 5. Branch Co. , Mich. White chert resembling Illinois flint. 6. Whitley Co. , Ind. Pinkish-mottled chert. 7. Williams Co. , Ohio. Brownish-grey flint. * * * * The Porphyry birdstone shown on opposite page was found in La Grange County, Indiana near the Elkhart County Line on the northwest side of Stone Lake. A farmer found it along the edge of a lane. It was brought in to Dave Warner of Howe, Indiana. Now in the collection of LaDow Johnston of Toledo, Ohio. The picture is practically life size and remarkable for material and smalles of the holes. _T 1 _ On May 23-23, 13^3, an invitational meeting was held at Dr. T. Hugh Youngs' residence in Nashville, Tennessee. This was the first open meeting held at Dr. Youngs and it is hoped that at some future date another such meeting should occur.

Mrs. Young was just as enthusiastic a hostess as the Dr. was a host, and the success of the meeting was to a great extent attributed to her efforts, from the in­ ception of the idea, the hand-painted invitations to the personal welcome and enter­ tainment at her home. A meeting such as this entails a great amount of planning, work and expense.

This meeting was an opportunity to see one of the finest collections ever assembled by any one individual, and it is doubtful if many museums in the country have as many outstanding pieces in their collections, as you will find displayed in The Young Museum. His display is very artistically laid out in special cabinets made to specifications to show pieces to best advantage.

The collection is comprised of Dr. Young's original collection which he gathered over the years and the gradual assimilation of various outstanding private collections which he has acquired in recent years. The later collections combined with the original has contributed greatly to make his collection the cream of the artifacts found in the Central United States since the time these collections were formed, as they were lifetime collections formed over the past years. To enumerate a few: (1) The birdstone collection of Dr. Rolland Bunch of Muncie, Indiana, was one of the first acquisitions and comprised around 1 10 birds which Dr. Bunch had spent a lifetime collecting. (2) The birdstone collection of Mr. Ringeisen of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was another outstanding collection of birds. (3) Most of the birdstones from Judge Claude U. Stone collection of Peoria, 111. The combination of above collections with smaller groups from Boudeman, Cassell and others makes the collection of birdstones by far the largest in any one collection. Somewhere around 340. (4) The Byron Knoblock collection of Quincy, Illinois is admirably displayed to show that outstanding collection of banners and discoidals. (5) The Bannerstone Ben Nussbaum collection of Fairbury, Illinois is also in­ cluded and makes a very outstanding layout. (6) The Fain King collections was another addition of fine material. (7) Last but not least, is the Dr. Kramer collection of Columbus, Ohio, of which most of us are familiar due to its speciality of fine Ohio Flint Ridge material, which shows off to great advantage in the Young Museum.

These collections, are all held intact in Dr. Young's collection and it is to be hoped that they so remain for future visitors to view when they visit the museum.

A prize drawing was held at the dinner served Sunday 24th by Dr. Young and the prizes were also furnished by Dr. Young. Mr. Harvey Gordon drew first prize of a fine birdstone.

Pictured on the opposite page is Dr. and Mrs. Young before the sign post showing the different states represented at their meeting. Ohio was especially well represented, of which we can be justly proud, only #2 5. The other view on the re­ verse side of this picture is a group in one of the tents provided for display and selling and trading material. Most of us will recognize most of the persons pictured. The Youngs are now on an extended vacations trip through the west, northwest and all interesting points along the way and will not be home for two months, so the museum will be closed for that period. -24-

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRY RAYMOND McPHERSON

Teacher, printer, publisher; authority on archaeological and historical memorial areas, their development and administration: these are among the more important activities which accentuate the productive life, up to the present, of Harry McPherson. Mr McPherson was born October 17, 1891, on a farm near New Paris, Preble County, Ohio, of Scotch-Irish parentage, where he spent his boyhood with his parents, Joseph Oran and Mary E. (Trucksess) McPherson. After attending the local elementary school he graduated from the New Paris High School in 1909. He attended Earlham College from 1909 to 1911, and taught in the Jefferson Township, Preble County, elementary schools from 1910 to 1913. Moving to Eldorado, Preble County, in 1913, Mr. McPherson edited and published the Eldorado Bee until 1927 and, in addition, operated a printing plant. During three years he was a leader in local and county civic affairs, especially during World War I. Despite his business and professional activities, McPherson found time to indulge his life-long interest in Ohio history and archaeology. As early as 1919 he began visiting the Ohio State Museum, of which he became a life member a year later. Recognizing his interest and ability, the late Arthur C. Johnson, then president of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, appointed him a member of several committees, including the Fort St. Clair committee and the committee on Historical Societies. The wisdom of this appointment was to be reflected through the years by untiring and constructive service along diverse lines, as recorded in the records of the Society. It was to be expected, naturally, that McPherson's earlier accomplishments should center in his native county. Realizing the historic importance of the site of old Fort St. Clair, of Indian war days, and the desirability of its preservation, he took the initiative in organizing the Preble County Historical Society as a means to that end The Society came into existence on September 3, 1921, with Mr. McPherson as its president. He rallied county support for the organization and as its representative before the State Legislature secured funds for purchase of the site and the area on which it is located. Fort St. Clair State Memorial was but one of several to be added to the list during McPherson1 s incumbency.

Along with his interest in local history, McPherson was equally concerned with the prehistory of his native county. In the meantime he had visited and studied the archaeological explorations conducted by the Society, and with the consent and guidance of Director William C. Mills carried through.the examination of three prehistoric burial mounds in the vicinity of New Paris. These were the Lee Mound in Monroe Township, in 1920; the Pence Mound, in Jefferson, 1922; and in a small mound on the James Marshall farm, 4 miles east of New Paris, in 1923. The results of these explorations, which were published in the Ohio Archaeologist , furnished valuable information as regards the aboriginal inhabitants of Preble County.

-27- With this background of interest and achievement in the Ohio story it was eminently logical that McPherson should be invited to become a member of the staff of the Ohio State Museum; it was equally logical that he should accept the invitation, although it entailed a financial loss on his part. Assuming his new position in the autumn of 1927, he served for a time as Business Agent for the Society and as an assistant in library activities, such as indexing, completing files, publication and editing.

Shortly thereafter, plans which for some time had been pending were finally brought to completion, and McPherson was placed in direct charge of State Parks, in custody of the Society, with the title of Curator of State Memorials. It was in this capacity that he made his most single contribution to his native state. Space will not permit a detailed record of McPherson's development and administration of Ohio's State Memorials through the decade from 1928 to 1938; however, the story is fully re­ corded in his special and annual reports as recorded in the Society's Quarterly.

As was true in other quarters, public appreciation of the import­ ance of preserving Ohio's historic monuments, and the means for so doing, were not too evident, even as late as 1928. The some 15 areas which had been taken into custody had come into existence in a haphazard manner; most of them were undeveloped, and inadequately staffed; public interest was apathetic and, consequently, state appropriations were meager. The newly appointed Curator was faced with the task of correcting these handicaps and, as it developed, the further task of developing and administer­ ing some 25 additional areas—all within a period of little more than a decade.

Among these 25 additional parks, for which McPherson was directly or indirectly responsible, both as to acquisition and maintenance, were: Fort St. Clair, Tarlton Cross, Williamson Mound, Fort Recovery, Glacial Grooves and Inscription Rock on Kelleys Island, McCook Memorial, Mound- builders and Octagon State Memorials, Miamisburg Mound, Zoar, Custer Memorial, Fort Jefferson, Campus Martinus, Falle n Timbers, Turkey Foot Rock, Seip Mound, and Buffington Island.

A survey of the situation resulted in the obvious fact that funds were the first requisite for the development and administration of the State Memorial system, and that securing these funds through state appropriation could be effected only through cooperation of legislators and public of counties in which given memorials were located. As a preliminary, the Curator was faced with the duty of appraising the actual financial needs of a given memorial area, and of close cooperation before finance committees with county repre­ sentatives.

Through affiliating with and attending meetings of State and National Park organizations, the Curator acquainted himself with approved procedure

-28- and operation. It was evident that if Memorial areas were to secure public appreciation through use of such areas, certain facilities, in addition to routine maintenance, must be provided. These included adequate roadways leading to the areas; (to be provided in part through cooperation of State Highway department and County Commissioners); parking areas, picnic facilities, shelter houses, foot trails, and com­ fort stations. Even with adequate funds, which little by little became available, these improvements could not be effected without trained personnel, adequately remunerated. Increasing state appropriations were supplemented, fortunately, by Federal Works projects of the I930's. Civilian Conservation Corps and National Youth Administration camps were secured for areas where their services could be utilized, with valuable results. In addition to the task of restoring certain mounds and earthworks, subsequent to exploration or as a result of erosion, the Curator ren­ dered numerous supplementary services. Almost constantly in the field, and covering numerous areas of the state, he solicited and received numerous volumes of newspapers, quantities of manuscript material, pioneer and archaeological specimens, needed by the Museum.

Realizing the need of some legal means whereby the Society could acquire important historic and archaeological sites, and perhaps prevent unjustified exploitation of others, the Curator prepared and successfully guided through the legislature, a bill legalizing such action. The Curator was one of the first in Ohio to apply archaeological research methods in locating the location and structural details of a historic site. During the summer of 1930 he excavated the site of old Fort Jefferson, in Darke County, and recored architectural details and secured many "relics" pertaining to occupancy of the structure.

Since 1938, Mr. McPherson has held positions of trust in Columbus, among them, chief clerk of Selective Service; supervisory service staff, Curtis-Wright Columbus plant; and at present is employed by a Columbus printing company. As an avocation, Mr. McPherson continues his studies of Ohio history and archaeology. He has spent much time exploring the ancient village sites and burials ground in the lower Scioto Valley, and in addition to many artifacts reflecting the material and social culture of the Ohio aborigines, he has discovered a number of bird and animal skeletal remains which are new to Ohio. McPherson is a member of several archaeological and historical organizations, and has served as editor of the magazine the Ohio Arch­ aeologist. During 1950-51, he was secretary of a special committee

-29- appointed by the Ohio Indian Relic Collectors Society to study the so- called Warren County Serpent Mound, and to determine if possible whether or not the earthwork was intended as an effigy. The 350-page report, just completed, shows a preponderance of evidence favoring the effigy theory.

Mr. McPherson and wife, Edna M. , reside at 1116 Franklin Avenue, Columbus, Ohio. A daughter, Mrs. Marian Baylies, and her husband, Lt Col. W. R. Baylies, reside in Little Rock, Arkansas. There are two grand-children.

Prepared by the undersigned, who was closely associated with the subject of this sketch, and so consequently speaks as a "first-hand reporter".

January 1, 1952

H. C. S. (H. C. Shetrone) (Director Emeritus, Ohio State Museum)

Editors Note: - I realize that it is not really customary to give a Biographical Sketch when that person is very much on the active list as is Mr. McPherson, but the editor thought it would be well to present it at this time due to its bearing on the article in this issue under "Preserve Us" on pages 6-9 inclusive as it will show his capabilities and background in the wonderful work he did in gathering together the material concerning the Warren County Serpent Mound.

-30- Dear George, Real blustery today, the wind a howling gale out of the west. I was planning another trip to Shelter Island to work on the Smith site but did not venture over. I spent three half days last week surface hunting. Found hardly any­ thing, a few scrapers and netsinkers and the like. All the good spots are planted to rye. I took one full day last week on that Smith site. Located one deep pit about noon. Worked in it till quitting time and finished cleaning it out. It was four by five feet in diameter and five feet deep. Filled with shells of every species of shell fish we have here. In the bottom of the pit in the clay was a pot. It was so badly shattered by the weight of the earth that I took it out in 1 12 small sherds. It is decorated, and a typical pot of this region. The clay in the pit had been burned reddish which shows that this pit had been used as a cooking pit before using it as a trash pit. Near the pot on the clay was a nice little well rubbed paintstone. Probably the lipstick of some squaw who laid it down when she put the pot on to boil. I found another larger paintstone in the fill of the pit, but not another item that had been worked. This pit was only 20 feet from Burial #5, a middleaged female with a cache of bone needles and awls at her side, and 866 Marginella shells around the neckbones. The first record of Marginella for this end of Long Island. There also was a bone awl at her neck. Presumably it had been used as a pin to hold a blanket together at the time of burial

Roy. (Roy Latham, Long Island, N. Y. ) ***** NEW MEMBERS Beer, Donald J. , 233 Wood St. , Mansfield, Ohio. Brock, Winfield, French Lick, Indiana. Calhoun, C. Raymond, Savannah, Ohio. Doss, D?nny, South Carrollton, Kentucky. Drake, C. G., Union City, Georgia. Gebhart, B. R. , 634 Maple, Celina, Ohio. Harrick, Ruth, M. D. , 26 Sheldon Ave. , S. E. , Grand Rapids, Mich. Lasick, Dr., L. P., 740 Whittier St. , Columbus 6, Ohio. Leidy, Wulmer J., RR#1, Box 116, Bartlett, Illinois. Long, Arthur R. , Mammoth Spring, Arkansas. Mewhinney, H. , The Houston Post, Houston 1, Texas. Miller, Don C. , Waldron, Indiana. Myers, C. William, RR #3, Ashland, Ohio. Neuhauser, David, 513 W. Washington St. , Napoleon, Ohio. Peters, E. B. , RR#1, Calvert City, Kentucky. Ricles, Thomas C, 209 Elmwood Place, Newark, Ohio. Schmidt, Robert J. , 7740 Woodstock Rd. , Ferfuson21, Missouri. Schwing, Albert, RR #1, Harrison, Ohio. Verba, Joseph, 740 Whittier St. , Columbus 6, Ohio. Wittlig, H. T. , 425 Fifth St. , Marietta, Ohio. Yates, George A. , 3391 Broadwry, Grove City, Ohio.

-31- MISCELLANEOUS Excerpts from letters and questions Please find enclosed check for $3 - my membership dues in the club for the coming year. I would not want to miss one copy of the Ohio Archaeologist. ***** Inclosed you will find my check for $3. 00 for renewal of my membership in the Ohio Indian Relic Collectors Society. The "Ohio Archaeologist" is the best publication of its kind in the U. S. today. Recently you brought up the question of accepting advertisements for publi­ cation in the Journal. I think it would be fine to have a page of advertisements in the back of the Journal, providing honest advertisers were allowed to advertise. Maybe it would be a good idea to limit advertisements to club membership. Some of the older or larger collectors perhaps have material they would no longer wish to keep that would be appreciated by the beginners and small collectors, and in addition this would be an additional source of income to the Society. I hope most of the members agree with me in this and that we will soon see some relics offered for sale in the "Ohio Archaeologist". ***** I am interested in obtaining back issues of the Ohio Archaeologist. I would like to buy a copy of all issues you have prior to July 1952. You are to be commended for the fine job you have been doing on the publi­ cation and now the new series for '53 is better than ever. ***** May 1 ask you a favor? My boy and I have all the issues of your magazine since Vol. 2 No. 1. Is it possible to get Vol. 1 Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4? We would sure like to have them. As to the last page in the last issue "Something New", I think that is excellent. Also in addition to it may be added a classified page For Sale, Exchange, Wanted, Etc. This is just a suggestion because the job being done on this publication is simply grand. (QUESTION) Just one more thing please. Some­ where I saw a description of the article and how and where it was found. It said by Moorehead explorations in Ross County. A sketch (rough) is on the back of this paper. If you know where a photo and description can be found please let me know. ***** Advertising in the Bulletin would bring in some money, but I will use any in­ fluence I have to prevent commercial dealers advertising with us. Private adver­ tisements of a personal member collection for sale I would approve heartily. The old "Archaeological News" foundered through running dealers ads. Folks got stung and then took it out on the "News". ***** I came home from work last night and was greeted by my family and the "Ohio Archaeologist. " I have already read it from cover to cover and I thought I'd drop you and the society a letter and let you know how much the wife and I enjoy it. The new series is really something special. ***** NOTE - The above are excerpts from just a few of the letters received by the Secretary. Does the general membership agree with the above and if so let us know and we will see what can be done under censorship of the directors. (Editor) QUESTIONS Is there a jet black flint and is it found in Ohio? Chas. Kisling, Washington C.H. , O. 4th Excerpt above. Hoe-shaped object of black obsidian with notches 5 l/2 wide x 6 3/4". Roy Smith, 135 East Court, Bowling Green,